MPs to vote on extending emergency Covid powers to autumn

MPs will vote later on extending emergency coronavirus laws in England for another six months amid warnings of a "checkpoint society".

The government says the measures are still needed to deal with the pandemic as the country moves out of lockdown.

Some Conservative backbenchers have expressed concerns about the extent and length of the powers set out in the Coronavirus Act.

A group of lockdown sceptic Tory MPs is calling for a suspension of the rules.

The Coronavirus Act came in to force in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic with ministers pledging to use the measures "when strictly necessary".

The law gave the government wide-ranging powers unlike others seen before - from shutting down pubs, through to detaining individuals deemed at risk as part of efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

MPs will be asked to extend it until the end of September as well as voting on England's roadmap out of lockdown and the continuation of virtual proceedings in the Commons.

The legislation has been given a two-year lifespan but the regulations have to be approved every six months.

Labour has indicated it will support the extension but a handful of Tory backbenchers are expected to rebel.

The chairman of the 1922 committee of Conservative MPs, Sir Graham Brady, said he would be voting against because "it is important we make the case for a return to normality and trusting people with their own lives".

He said: "These powers were given by Parliament to government last march as a very temporary set of extreme emergency measures. Nobody then envisaged that they would still be in place a year later, still be in use 18 months on.

"I think we need to be very cautious about the dangers of normalising what is actually a very extreme policy response.

"We need to keep control of this and make sure we don't see a permanent transfer of these powers to government."

The deputy chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of lockdown sceptics, Conservative Steve Baker, said the vote was a "rare opportunity" for MPs to "say no to a new way of life in a checkpoint society".

He said he was reassured by the prime minister's comment at the Liaison Committee on Wednesday that "anything that is redundant will go".

Mr Baker said "at the very least" this must include "draconian police powers" which he said had a "100% unlawful prosecution record".

He said he will table an amendment to the motion asking ministers to suspend those powers and he called on the government to support it.

Concerns have also been raised about so-called vaccine passports for pubs after the prime minister suggested that ministers were looking in to it.

It is understood a government review will examine how someone's status could be stored securely, potentially on their phone, and the venues where it could apply.

It is thought the review could conclude in May to coincide with the wider re-opening of hospitality in England.

The leader of the Covid Recovery Group, Conservative Mark Harper, said the idea of vaccine certificates to enter pubs was "unconscionable" and raised "practical, moral and ethical issues".

"We've asked young people to do a lot over the last year and I think the least we can do is to get the economy open, so that their futures are not damaged any further," he said.

He questioned why the measures need to remain in place until the autumn, when under the roadmap for easing lockdown in England, most restrictions should be lifted by 21 June.

The government says only necessary and proportionate measures will remain to deal with the virus.

Speaking on a visit to west London, the prime minister rejected suggestions he was no longer concerned about protecting individual freedoms.

He said: "The libertarian in me is also trying to protect individual's fundamental right to life and their ability to live their lives normally and the only way really to restore that for everybody, is for us to beat the disease.

"The best path to freedom is down the cautious but irreversible roadmap that we've set out. That's what the freedom lover wants."

His comments come as the health secretary Matt Hancock said he could see an "end" to the pandemic that would involve managing coronavirus "more like flu" with repeated and updated vaccinations.

"I'm confident that's where we can get to. I want to get to a position where we can have an updated vaccine in weeks or months, not a year," he said.