British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tightened the corona rules in England against great resistance from within our own ranks and with the votes of the opposition brought through parliament. On Tuesday evening, after an emotional debate, the MPs voted with a majority for the measures that include tightening the mask requirement, compulsory vaccination for medical staff and the particularly controversial 3-G certificates for nightclubs and major events.
When voting on the evidence, 369 MPs voted for and 126 against. According to the BBC, came almost 100 of the votes against from the ranks of Johnson’s Tory party. This is the biggest rebellion against Johnson since his election victory in 2019. Johnson has a majority of 79 votes in the lower house, so he was only able to bring the current tightening through parliament with the votes of the opposition.
Tory MP Charles Walker, who is a member of the rebels, told the BBC after the vote that Johnson still had a lot of support in the party, but had gone a step too far here. The rebellion was a “cry of pain” from the conservatives, who see the vaccination records as a significant curtailment of individual freedoms and personal responsibility. When asked whether the deviants would block further tightening that might become necessary because of the Omikron variant, Walker said: “Not necessarily. But: the mood has changed. “