The UK Parliament approved, on Tuesday (14), a new package of measures to contain the coronavirus in the country, but the backstage of the vote exposed weaknesses in the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The set called “Plan B” provides for actions such as the mandatory use of masks in most closed places and the requirement of a vaccination certificate in certain occasions, such as nightclubs and large events, and the vaccination of health professionals.
According to the government, the measures are justified by the need to ensure that British hospitals do not collapse in the coming weeks as the country identifies a growing number of cases of the omicron variant — there were more than 4,700 records until this Tuesday, with at least ten people hospitalized.
Despite approval of the measures, the vote exposed a split in the government. In analyzing the first measure, the demand for masks, 441 voted in favour, but 41 were against — 38 of these from the Conservative Party, the same as Boris, while 46 supporters of the prime minister abstained.
The most sensitive points were the requirement of the health pass (approved by 369 to 126 votes) and the vaccination of health professionals (385 to 100). Both had 96 supporters of Boris who rebelled and voted against, as well as 36 abstentions. .
Prior to the vote, politicians and former allies of the prime minister had already taken a stand against the measures. Lawmaker Andrew Bridgen, for example, said some lawmakers were determined to “draw a limit on any further erosion of civil liberties.”
Steve Baker, who was deputy secretary of brexit (the UK exit from the European Union), said that “these measures are misguided, disproportionate and there is not enough evidence that they are necessary”.
Former Minister David Johnson described the introduction of the health pass as “totally wrong”. “People should certainly be encouraged to get the vaccine, but ultimately they have to take responsibility for their own health,” he argued in an interview with Reuters news agency.
Boris, for his part, has spent the last few days making a series of incisive statements about the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday (12), the prime minister spoke of an inevitable “strong wave” of omicron in the United Kingdom. On Monday (13), he announced the first death related to the new strain in the country and asked people to dismiss the idea that the mutation is milder.
This Tuesday, just before the beginning of the debates before the votes in Parliament, the prime minister again alerted his office about the imminence of a “huge increase” of cases of omicron among the British, which would justify the imposition of the measures foreseen in the Plan B.
During the session, Health Secretary Sajid Javid also announced the end of travel restrictions imposed on 11 African countries. According to him, the measure has lost meaning now that the transmission of omicron in the United Kingdom and in the world has taken place in a community way, and no longer from travelers.
Despite the victories on Tuesday, the British leader finds himself in a difficult moment. As had been predicted by analysts, the prime minister only managed to get Plan B approved because he received support from opposition lawmakers.
There were even conservatives who used the vote as an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with Boris Johnson’s administration. For them, the man who led the party to a sweeping victory in the 2019 elections is wasting the party’s success through mistakes and scandals.
Boris, for example, is the revolt of public opinion with a party that would have been held in Downing Street, the seat of government, during the 2020 Christmas season, when face-to-face celebrations were prohibited due to sanitary restrictions. The episode led to the resignation of an adviser to the prime minister last week and continues to yield accusations of hypocrisy at the highest levels of the government.
Last Saturday (11), the tabloid Sunday Mirror published a photo that shows Boris and two of his employees also meeting in Downing Street for a kind of virtual quiz — although the rules in force at the time prohibited this type of meeting indoors.
Boris was also blamed last week for a renovation of his official residence using undeclared funds from a private donation. The Electoral Commission fined the Prime Minister’s party 16,200 pounds (BRL 121,000) for failing to report the donation of 67,800 pounds (BRL 499,000), and the Conservative Party will have to pay another 1,550 pounds (BRL 11.4 thousand) for the irregularity.
There are also complaints against Boris for trying to change parliamentary rules to help political allies, for his lavish vacations abroad, for his government’s dubious ties to some companies, and for allegations of patronage in the appointment of seats in the House of Lords (equivalent to the Senate) .
Despite dissatisfaction with the prime minister’s management, however, Conservative Party members say there is still no climate to think about replacing him — mainly due to the lack of a name that gathers enough support to form a majority in Parliament. .
Speaking on anonymity to Reuters, a veteran of the premier’s party said Boris on a bad day is better than any other candidate for the job on a good day. The British leader is known for his escapism, the ability to sidestep one or another scandal in his personal or political life. But the backlog of complaints has taken a toll on their popularity ratings.
A poll by the Opinium Institute for the Observer newspaper registered a four-point drop in approval for the Conservative Party, which was rated positively by 32% of respondents. The Labor Party, the main opposition party, rose to 41%, its best rate since 2014.
Boris’s ratings at the individual level are also at their lowest since the 2019 election. His approval rating (35%) has dropped 14 points in two weeks, and 57% of respondents said the prime minister must resign —9% from more than in the previous survey.
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