Tory rebels warn that small businesses will revolt over lockdown

Tory MPs in lockdown mutiny: Rebels warn of a revolt among small business owners and furloughed workers if clear exit strategy is not revealed

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Tory MPs have warned there will be a revolt unless ministers spell out their plan to get Britain out of the coronavirus lockdown.

At a meeting of the backbench 1922 committee, MPs lined up to raise concerns that thousands of businesses will go under if restrictions are not eased when they are reviewed in a fortnight.

The committee’s officers last night met the chief whip to relay the strength of feeling.

The backbench 1922 committee have warned Dominic Raab (pictured) and the government there will be a revolt among small business owners unless ministers spell out their plan to get Britain out of the coronavirus lockdown

Constituents are expressing growing frustration to Conservative MPs about the effect the coronavirus measures are having on small firms. A member of the 1922 executive said there is now a belief ‘across the party’ that the Government needs to explain its strategy for leaving the lockdown.

‘We need to articulate a plan for how we begin to lift aspects of the lockdown and the pace at which that will go,’ they said. ‘The real concern for any MP is the number of small businesses that are in touch with us saying how difficult things are. There is a change of mood. Coming up to the end of this week, people are expecting to be paid and some won’t be because they have lost their job.’

Ministers have refused to explain how they plan to relax lockdown measures in the future, arguing that it would distract from their key message that people must stay at home now.

But at yesterday’s 1922 committee meeting, Tory MPs argued that ‘people are capable of having two thoughts in their mind at once’.

One of those who attended said the key demand that backbenchers wanted to relay to ministers was simply: ‘Give us the plan.’

They added: ‘Foremost in people’s minds is the need to protect life of course, but we can do that with testing capacity and contact tracing. There will inevitably be flare-ups, that is the case when you are lifting restrictions, but if you can keep on top of those as other countries have shown, you can begin to ease the measures.’

A member of the 1922 executive said the ‘initial urgency’ when the lockdown was brought in a month ago is ‘now being replaced by the economic reality’.

The new governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey (pictured), said that Britain should be cautious about easing restrictions as it could hurt businesses more to do so prematurely

They said the message relayed from the backbenches to the chief whip last night was: ‘We appreciate what you are doing, but we cannot go on like this forever.’ The lockdown measures, first introduced last month, were last week extended by a further three weeks until May 7.

Last night it was claimed that as many as two-thirds of Cabinet ministers favour a significant easing of restrictions at the next review.

But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the Prime Minister, last night warned: ‘We are not out of the woods yet.’ He told the daily Downing Street Press conference: ‘That’s why the measures we introduced must remain in place for the time being. The greatest risk for us now, if we eased up on our social distancing rules too soon, is that we would risk a second spike in the virus with all the threats to life that would bring and then the risk of a second lockdown.’

The new governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, told the Daily Mail yesterday that Britain should be cautious about easing restrictions as it could hurt businesses more to do so prematurely. A Government source last night said ministers shared Tory MPs’ concerns about the economy, but fear lifting the lockdown too early could cause even greater damage. 

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