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Tory MP says he is investigating whether lockdown breaches human rights law

Member of Parliament for Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, Steve Baker in Downing Street London, for a Cabinet meeting amid speculation Prime Minister Boris Johnson will impose a national lockdown in England next week. (Photo by Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images)
Steve Baker said Tory lockdown sceptics were 'reassured' by some of the messages coming out of government but needed to know more before deciding which way to vote. (Getty)

A Tory MP has said he is investigating whether government-imposed lockdown measures breach human rights law.

Brexiteer Steve Baker, deputy chair of the COVID Recovery Group (CRG) of Tory MPs, said coronavirus restrictions are “a major infringement on a right to a family life”.

Boris Johnson is facing significant internal opposition over plans to move England back into a three-tiered system of restrictions after the country’s second national lockdown ends on 2 December.

The prime minister, who is reportedly also planning to relax restrictions over Christmas to allow for "limited socialising", is due to detail his “winter COVID plan” on Monday.

But a letter from the CRG, which is sceptical about continuing restrictions after 2 December, is said to have been signed by 70 Conservative MPs.

The MPs say they will not back the measures without scientific evidence they “will save more lives than they cost”.

The CRG letter says: “We cannot live under such a series of damaging lockdowns and apparently arbitrary restrictions and expect our constituents to be grateful for being let out to enjoy the festive season only to have strict restrictions imposed on them afterwards that cause them health problems and destroy their livelihood.”

Only Mark Harper, the former chief whip, and former Brexit minister Baker have been publicly identified as signatories so far.

Baker told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is a major infringement on a right to a family life. I'm looking at the European Convention on Human Rights as I speak to you.

“There are various caveats that allow governments to infringe upon the rights for the purposes of protecting public health but I would like the government to acknowledge just how deeply the government is infringing on people's rights in dealing with this pandemic and assure the public we will be returning to the normal situation on human rights once the vulnerable are vaccinated.”

His comments prompted many to accuse Baker of “hypocrisy”, given he voted to repeal the convention in 2016, which was incorporated into UK domestic law under the Human Rights Act 1998.

Read more: Scientists hail Oxford University vaccine breakthrough

Labour peer Andrew Adonis tweeted: “Did I just catch Steve Baker on Today using the European Convention on Human Rights to criticise the lockdown? The same Steve Baker who wants us to repeal the ECHR?”

Speaking on Today, Baker said while the MPs were “reassured” by some of the messages coming out of government, they needed to know more before deciding which way to vote on the post-lockdown restrictions.

“It is still the case that where there are restrictions we still want to be sure they are going to have an impact on the transmission of COVID and we want to know that whatever is proposed they will save more lives than it will cost,” he said.

“I think we will have to hear what the prime minister says before we decide how we are voting. There is of course always a danger colleagues will vote against.”

Pedestrians wearing a protective face covering to combat the spread of the coronavirus, pass a COVID-19 information sign reading "STOP the spread" as they walk past a Christmas tree in Covent Garden in central London, on November 22, 2020, as the four-week national shutdown imposed in England continues, forcing people to stay home and businesses to close owing to a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will confirm that coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England are to end on December 2, his office said Saturday. The lockdown will be followed by a return to a three-tiered set of regional restrictions as part of the government's "COVID Winter Plan", it added in a statement. (Photo by Tolga Akmen / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
The prime minister is set to detail his 'winter COVID plan' on Monday amids reports he is to relax restrictions over Christmas. (Getty Images)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a statement on the defence review via video link from 10 Downing Street. (Photo by House of Commons/PA Images via Getty Images)
It is expected that after the national lockdown ends, the government will allow for 'limited socialising' and a return to tiered coronavirus restrictions. (Getty Images)

Baker said there is a “fundamental structural problem with the way science is being handled”.

“Sage is being put on a pedestal,” he said.

“What we should have is competitive advice, and the prime minister should have three teams to challenge their advice because what we've currently got is monopoly expert advice.”

Dr Gabriel Scally, a Northern Irish public-health physician and a former regional director of public health for the South West of England, opposed this view, tweeting: “MPs should not be working with fringe scientists whose ideas have been rejected overwhelmingly by the scientific community, who are consistently proven wrong, and whose social media are being flagged for COVID-19 misinformation.”

On Sunday, chancellor Rishi Sunak said providing the MPs with the evidence they want would pose huge challenges that could mean difficulty with getting Parliament’s approval for the restrictions.

Read more: Map shows risk of Brits catching COVID in family Christmas gatherings

Sunak said it is “very hard to be precise” on the economic impacts of individual restrictions.

He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “What you will see next week when we have the spending review, alongside that will be a set of forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility ... which will show the enormous strain and stress our economy is experiencing, the job losses that you mention, the forecasts of what will happen, and it's right that we consider those in the round as we consider the best way to fight the virus.”

Earlier on Monday, scientists hailed the news of the latest successful trial of a coronavirus vaccine, saying they “can see the end of the tunnel”.

The results of a large-scale trial of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and manufacturer AstraZeneca has been welcomed by health experts and the government.

Overall, the vaccine was revealed to be 70% effective against coronavirus. However, it can be up to 90% effective when one half dose is given followed by a full dose at least one month apart.

Watch: Steve Baker says he ‘voted against lockdown with a heavy heart’

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