The Coronavirus Act should not be extended for another six months – here’s why

Today, the government will ask MPs to vote to renew for a second six month period, the emergency Coronavirus Act parliament passed at breakneck speed back in March.

Throughout the pandemic, Liberal Democrats have supported and continue to support all necessary measures to keep people safe – including the lockdowns and face-covering requirements. Yet we will oppose the renewal of the Coronavirus Act itself. Here’s why.

The 348-page Coronavirus Act went through parliament in just three days in March, without a single vote. Recognising the gravity of the crisis facing the country, Liberal Democrats and other opposition parties worked constructively with the government to ensure vital emergency measures were in place before we went into lockdown.

However, as I and my fellow Liberal Democrats argued at the time, many parts of the act have serious implications for people’s wellbeing, rights and freedoms. Most alarming to me was and is the watering down of the rights to care for elderly, disabled and vulnerable people, as the act relaxes the duties on local authorities to assess and meet people’s care needs.

As a carer for my disabled son, I understand just how hard caring is, at the best of times. I know how important it is for families to get the support they need. I also know that this pandemic is making caring so much more difficult. According to the Disabled Children’s Partnership, three quarters of families with disabled children had their care stopped altogether during lockdown.

Just imagine what that has meant for those families, on top of all the other hardships of lockdown, having the lifeline of caring support cut off completely. Just imagine what it meant for those children. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of other vulnerable people, whose access to care was either stopped, reduced or remains under threat.

The government should not be compounding lockdown hardships by reducing people’s rights to care, especially given that – by ministers’ own admission – there is currently no need to do so.

To make matters worse, I have received legal advice from the Disability Law Service that warns the way the government has reduced disabled people’s rights – without consultation – breaches international law under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Boris Johnson and his Conservative ministers may not care about upholding the rule of law, but the Liberal Democrats certainly do.

And speaking of the rule of law, the number of people wrongly prosecuted under the Coronavirus Act is also incredibly concerning. The Crown Prosecution Service has reviewed all 141 charges under the act since March, and has found that every single one was a mistake.

My colleague Layla Moran even told me of a constituent in Oxford who had been charged, convicted and fined under powers that only apply to Wales! Clearly, the combination of different emergency laws and government guidance has caused confusion among police and prosecutors – as well, apparently, inside Number 10.

In fact, the emergency laws used to stop the spread of coronavirus – such as the national lockdown in March, the local lockdowns since then, the rule of six and the requirements to wear face coverings – are not part of the Coronavirus Act at all, but have all been brought in separately under the 1984 Public Health Act.

The government therefore does not need the Coronavirus Act to enforce lockdowns, self-isolation or face covering rules – all things the Liberal Democrats will continue to support where and when they are necessary.

It didn't need to be this way. I wrote to the prime minister earlier this month, urging him to bring forward new legislation – with cross-party support – to replace the Coronavirus Act. To keep the parts that are still necessary and bring in new measures to tackle the next phase of this crisis. But also to ensure that elderly, disabled and vulnerable people get the care they need. Sadly, Boris Johnson has ignored those calls, and is instead asking MPs to simply grant ministers all of these powers until April.

Unless these concerns are addressed, the Liberal Democrats simply cannot support giving Johnson and his government a blank cheque for another six months.

Ed Davey is leader of the Liberal Democrats and the MP Kingston and Surbiton