Wed 04 October 2020:
British MPs voted in favor of a new national lockdown in England by 516 to 38, a majority of 478.
The lockdown will start on Thursday and last until Dec. 2, when it legally expires and parliament will vote on what replaces it.
The government won the vote by 516 to 39, a majority of 477.
The prime minister told MPs a second lockdown was needed to “contain the surge” in Covid cases – but rebels warned it would wreck businesses and lives.
Johnson said he was “not prepared to take the risk with the lives of the British people,” and that without a fresh lockdown there would be deaths “on a grievous scale” and the National Health Service (NHS) would likely be in “extraordinary trouble” next month.
He told parliament: “Of course I can’t say exactly where the epidemiology will be by Dec. 2, but what I can say is that the national measures that I hope the House will vote on tonight, are time-limited.
“It is not that we choose to stop them, they legally expire. So whatever we do from Dec. 2 will require a fresh mandate and a fresh vote from this House.
“And as I have made clear, it is my express intent that we should return to a tiered system on a local and a regional basis according to the latest data and trends.”
The Tory rebels included former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 committee of backbenchers. Former Prime Minister Theresa May abstained.
It comes as the government said a further 492 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19. This brings the UK total to 47,742.
The number of deaths reported on Wednesday is the highest daily figure since 19 May, when 500 deaths were reported.
The lockdown in England includes the closure of pubs, gyms and non-essential shops. It will replace the three-tiers of regional restrictions across England for four weeks, until 2 December, when the tiers will be re-imposed.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
