The Covid wars in the Tory party aren’t going away any time soon, not least because MPs are expecting a change of policy on the tiered system later this month. But rebels aren’t just demanding a more localised approach to the tier system. They also want a change of tone from ministers.
There was fury in the party when the government used Public Health England analysis predicting 4,000 deaths a day by December to justify the second English lockdown. This model has become known among lockdown sceptics as the ‘dodgy dossier’ because of problems with the data used — yet it has still surfaced during presentations to backbenchers from officials. Some suspect a political push from health ministers to continue — as they see it — ‘scaring’ the public without cause.
Senior Conservatives feel this attitude is counter-productive and has led to rebellious sentiment on their benches unnecessarily.
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