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Tory COVID rebels proclaim ‘attacks on liberty’ while voting for authoritarian policies

Where were all these Conservative ‘freedom fighters’ when Parliament passed the Police Bill?

By Henry Porter
Tory COVID rebels proclaim ‘attacks on liberty’ while voting for authoritarian policies
Boris Johnson has come under increasing pressure from members of his own party over COVID restrictions
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There was something rather chilling about last night’s Conservative Party rebellion against Boris Johnson’s new COVID regulations.

A short time after Johnson had pleaded his case in front of the 1922 Committee, 99 of his MPs decided to ignore him and vote in the name of liberty against emergency measures designed to protect the public and NHS against the Omicron COVID variant. Other Tories, such as the former prime minister Theresa May, abstained.

The size of the rebellion was shocking enough but the strength and heedlessness on display may signal a hitherto unidentified mutation in the party. It suggests that right-wing MPs are tiring of the Johnson premiership simply on the grounds that it is too moderate.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0