Funny how the Tories only care about civil liberties when it comes to Covid

Boris Johnson gave a press conference on Monday evening following his earlier announcement that he was going to lift all remaining Covid restrictions – “freedom day”, as sections of the press dubbed it. He was flanked by his chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty and his chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. Both were desperately trying to look as if they didn’t know that lifting the restrictions was contrary to all medical advice.

The British Medical Association has said: “The decision to remove all restrictions is not based on current evidence and is premature. It clearly hasn’t been guided by data or done in consultation with the healthcare profession.” Chris Hopson, of NHS Providers, has said: “Whilst [we] recognise the ongoing cost of these regimes, it is clear that the government should err strongly on the side of caution before dismantling or scaling back them back.” And the World Health Organisation has said: “It is important that there is no premature promising that restrictions will end at a particular time.”

The secretary of state for health, Sajid Javid, had obviously heard the medical advice. He fought to the end to get enough money to maintain a decent testing regime. But he was overruled by the Treasury and by Johnson himself. Instead, the prime minister did indeed promise to end restrictions on 24 February, in a bravura performance both in parliament and at his press conference. He was brazenly ignoring the medical and scientific advice, and claimed that the worst was over.

Midway through the press conference, Sir Patrick, quoting a US colleague, said pointedly: “The one thing that this virus has taught us is not to be cocky.” Yet supreme cockiness characterised Johnson’s performance on Covid. Sir Chris was less pointed than Sir Patrick, but he was very clear that the number of people being infected with Covid remained high, emphasised the number of people still in hospital, and attacked the idea that it is a trivial disease.

The announcement on lifting Covid restrictions received a rapturous reception from Tory MPs. Which was the whole point. Our prime minister does not care about public health; he only cares about shoring up his position inside his own political party. A police investigation, along with the threat of a vote of no confidence, still hangs over his head.

He has shown that he will do literally anything, even endanger people’s health, to keep his backbenchers happy and himself in his job. Tory MPs have shown repeatedly that they have no interest in freedom and civil liberties for trade unionists, Black people, or working people generally – but strangely, when it comes to Covid, that is all they talk about.

Sir Patrick made one important point. He said that “the virus feeds on equality, thrives on inequality”. But government arrangements for ending Covid restrictions will hit the poorest people hardest, and will exacerbate inequality. Covid has the hardest impact on poor people, Black people, and those from ethnic minorities. At the same time, Sir Chris was clear that relaxing restrictions would lead to an increase in infections.

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Paying for tests will obviously be more challenging for those with low incomes and people on benefits. Even if they can afford the test and want to self-isolate, under the new arrangements, workers will only be able to claim sick pay from day four of being off work. And self-isolation payments will end altogether.

Statutory Sick Pay is already inadequate, and cutting it means that low-paid workers will be unable to stay at home. It was galling to hear the prime minister say gaily that German workers seem more willing than British workers to take time off when they are ill. One reason for this might be that in Germany, sick pay is 100 per cent of a worker’s salary, but in the UK it is only 19 per cent.

Talking about “personal responsibility” is ridiculous, considering that he and his staff displayed the utmost personal irresponsibility in repeatedly breaching the government’s own Covid rules.

There is no question that, for Johnson, “living with Covid” means ignoring it. He is also happy for the poor and medically vulnerable to pay the long-term price for his short-term political crisis.

Diane Abbott is the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington