TODAY on TCW we start a roll-call of Conservative MPs courageous and principled enough to have announced their intention of voting against the government on Wednesday and against another national lockdown. They are:
1. Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale West)
2. Esther McVey (Tatton)
3. Philip Davies (Shipley)
4. Charles Walker (Broxbourne)
5. Desmond Swayne (New Forest West)
6. John Redwood (Wokingham)
We are sure more can be persuaded to join, especially if we all write to our MPs today and especially too if they are portrayed not (as Guido would have it) as ‘Lockdown Spartans’ but as what Lockdown sceptics are – sane, rational and principled men and women who refuse to bow to government fundamentalism and authoritarianism.
Here is a template email suggested by Lockdown Sceptics which seems pretty good to me:
Dear Member of Parliament,
This week you will be called upon to authorise a second lockdown across England. As your constituent, I urge you reject this proposal on the grounds that lockdowns are ruinous to lives, livelihoods and liberty.
Lives are lost when other medical services are suspended. Lives are ruined by depression and domestic violence which accompany lockdowns. Livelihoods are destroyed and countless families impoverished with future generations left to bear the costs of this ruinous policy. Liberty is suspended as the government rules by decree. Parliament is sidelined and its constitutional role seriously diminished.
Lockdown is not only a cruel and blunt instrument for dealing with Covid-19, it is singularly ineffective. That’s why we are facing a second lockdown so soon after the first. We’re told that hospitals are about to be overwhelmed. But how much confidence should we have in epidemiological models when their forecasting record to date has been so poor?
Evidence from around the world reveals no correlation between lockdowns and coronavirus fatalities. In fact Peru, the country with the highest fatality rate, had one of the earliest and strictest lockdowns. By contrast Sweden, which had no lockdown, has suffered no excess deaths this year. A policy of ‘focused protection‘ for the vulnerable offers a viable alternative approach to a second lockdown.
We have reached a critical moment in our country’s history. If you truly care for the health and welfare of the nation, or are concerned about the future of Parliament, our constitution and liberties, you must reject this second lockdown.
