Just where is the public’s mandate for the renewal of the Coronavirus Act?

When the Coronavirus Act was first brought on over a year ago, the government said that it would be just for a few weeks.

That has extended and extended to the point that the Act has become like a never ending story, except in this case, it has been a nightmare one.

At the beginning of this crisis, it was stated, rightly or wrongly, that draconian curtailments of our liberties and freedoms were an essential part of tackling the covid-19 virus. They were always stated to be short term, on the lines of short term pain for long term gain.

Time and again the government came up with new and novel reasons for renewing lockdown restrictions and its legal framework of the Coronavirus Act.

Why more MP ‘s did not stand up on this important issue really beggars belief.

A number of them have spoken up against the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill, almost oblivious to the fact that they have been exercising double standards. You cannot logically support the Coronavirus Act renewal and then be against the other Bill. The two are interlinked.

It is all these inexplicable points which add to the increasing lack of confidence, not just in the government, but in the opposition as well.

In fact, more and more people are coming to the conclusion that the nation would not be in this sad state of affairs if it had not been for the performance of the opposition. If they had played a more constructive part in analysing the government’s coronavirus policies instead of behaving like lapdog poodles who want a bigger mess to be made, life might have been different.

We have had mistake after mistake made by the government, often costing the taxpayers billions, but where is the scrutiny by the opposition ? Virtually non- existent .

It only encourages the government  to risk being more sloppy with policies, because, bottom line, they know they will always get the opposition’s support.

If the opposition had conducted themselves more positively, and been like terriers with investigating the government’s covid-19 policies, they would have been doing what the public expect them to do.

Even more so, if they had put forward viable alternatives, but let’s face it, they haven’t.

It is not as though there are not alternatives, the world is full of countries who in different respects, have performed much better than the UK. Here it is deemed that we cannot deviate from what the government scientists and advisors say. If the government are not putting their views to scrutiny, it is clear the opposition is not doing so either, but that is exactly what the opposition should be doing.

The opposition  originally broadly supported the government as they say it as in the national interest.

There might have been a case for that for a short while, but not for potentially a year and a half !

The nation deserves better of its opposition.

If there is not effective opposition, it shatters the bedrock of our democratic party system.

It means the public confidence in it is seriously undermined.

The public expect opposition parties to come up with well researched, clear and concise alternative policies, and that is exactly what they are not doing.

It only leads to bad government, with senior Ministers considering their positions so unassailable that they can take risks, follow their own hobby horses, and even let incompetence slip in.

A few Conservative MP’s valiantly step in and do their bit, but their influence on government policy is clearly close to nil. The government knows that the whips will keep most Tory MP’s in line, knows that the opposition will fall in line, so basically they do not need to listen to anyone. That is not beneficial for the good government of the country.

Let’s look at what the opposition could have done:

As a bare minimum they could have put in an amendment that the Coronavirus Bill was only renewed just for a month.

They would have been likely to succeed because the Tories who disagree with the government on this would probably have increased in number because they would have had the motivation to do so.

There is no motivation of Tories to rebel at present because the consequences are many, including less Ministerial opportunities and even losing the party whip.

We now have a form of theatrical government where there are scenes played out to give the illusion of democracy and accountability, but instead hiding the meaningless system we currently have.

We have seen the disadvantages for effective government when there is just a slim majority.

Conversely, a government with two large a majority clearly has disadvantages too.

It is abundantly clear that what we have at the moment is just not working well for the country.

If some kind of change either from the government or the opposition, then the public will just lose faith in how they are governed, and that can lead to all sorts of dire outcomes.

If we look at what other factors have come out of the renewal of the Coronavirus Act, they are at least twofold:

 Firstly, the impression given by the government that they were going to rush the Bill through with scant notice and ride roughshod over any alternative points of view.

This is one of the most fundamentally important Acts in British Parliamentary history, yet it was dispensed with in less than a day. Is this the level of democratic decision making which we are to expect now ? That the government makes decisions and Parliament just rubber stamps them ?

There was no time to lobby MP’s on this major political decision.

Most MP’s only received letters from their constituents and campaign groups a day or two before the “debate.”

Virtually no one, whether a constituent or a campaign group had an opportunity even for a zoom type meeting with MP’s. The MP’s themselves went into this debate barely able to consider the concerns expressed to them and it was not fair on them either. However, they did not take the option of voting No to the Renewal, on the basis that good government decisions require time for both consideration and debate, so they come out guilty as charged on this one.

It does not help that the public’s perception of MP’s is that they have barely suffered compared with the rest of the country.

Their pay and conditions are largely the same, and they did receive £10,000 extra each to help improve being able to work from home. The public see MP’s as living in some sort of ivory tower, immune to the suffering of many of their citizens.

Many citizens and campaign groups are enraged that both the government and most of their MP’s failed to have the courtesy of engaging with them on this Act which, let’s face it, affects the lives of every single person in the country.

Secondly, the government and indeed the opposition, has shown a cavalier attitude to freedom of speech and freedom to protest issues.

While the Coronavirus debate was on, there was not the usual level of activity of people in Parliament square to make their voice heard for important issues. The reason ? Protest, including the normal lobbying of MP’s was effectively outlawed by the Act. It was simply not possible to obtain permission to do so. As the spokesperson for the National Alliance – For Freedom from Lockdowns- an umbrella co-ordinating body- I received a warning type letter from the Police, saying it was against Coronavirus regulations and could not be allowed. When we then called off the event and left it to our supporters to lobby MP’s outside Parliament in ones and two’s, even this was not permitted and they were told to go home. Only Piers Corbyn, who had turned up to be supportive, was permitted some form of political lobbying, because London Mayoral candidates are given some leeway. All this, though is part of the bizarre semi-democratic situation we live in.

Unless there is some pretty immediate change in government decision making and the opposition actually becomes one, it is inevitable that the public will call for change themselves.

I can see an official Parliamentary Petition being debated, which calls for a national referendum on the subject of abolishing the Coronavirus Act and a return to the freedoms we had taken away from us.

Anthony Webber

Independent Political Commentator

Spokesperson for the National Alliance- For Freedom from Lockdowns

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