LONDON (AP) – British lawmakers agreed on Thursday to extend emergency measures against the coronavirus for six months, allowing the conservative government to maintain its unprecedented powers to restrict the daily lives of UK citizens.
The House of Commons voted to extend powers to September and approved the government’s roadmap to gradually ease Britain’s strict coronavirus blockade over the next three months.
The great conservative majority of Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Parliament guaranteed the measures passed by a decisive margin of 484-76. But Johnson faced rebellion from some of his own party’s lawmakers, who argued that the economic, democratic and human costs of restrictions outweigh the benefits.
The Coronavirus Act, passed a year ago when Britain went into confinement, brought a wide range of temporary health, economic and social powers to deal with the pandemic. It gives authorities the power to stop protests, close deals, restrict travel and stop people suspected of having the virus.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that Parliament had to take “extraordinary measures in response to this extraordinary threat”.
But conservative lawmaker Mark Harper, a leading skeptic of the blockade, said he did not “hear a single good answer” about why the British government needed to extend “draconian” powers for another six months.
Democratic opposition liberals opposed the extension, with leader Ed Davey saying he gave ministers “a blank check to use draconian powers they don’t need”. Former Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn also spoke out against them, saying “our freedoms are at stake”.
Britain recorded more than 126,000 deaths from coronavirus, the highest number of deaths in Europe. But the UK’s rapid vaccination program has so far administered at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to more than half of its adult population, a record much better than the much-criticized vaccine launch in the European Union.
Virus infections and deaths in Britain have dropped dramatically in the last month, although they are increasing in much of Europe.
Simon Stevens, chief executive of England’s National Health Service, said on Thursday that British hospitals were treating about 4,000 patients with coronavirus, up from 34,000 in mid-January. He said the health system’s coronavirus alert level should be reduced from 4 to 3 on a five-point scale because pressures on the system have eased.
The British government is gradually lifting the national blockade. The children returned to school on March 8 and shops, hairdressers and open-air restaurants are due to reopen on April 12, followed by closed places on May 17. The remaining restrictions expire on June 21, if the country does not face a new virus outbreak.
Hancock said that infections are likely to increase with the opening of society, but thanks to vaccines this would not automatically mean more deaths related to the virus. But he said it is still right to proceed with caution.
“We must restore the freedoms that we all cherish, but in a way that does not put the (National Health Service) at risk,” he said.
Some lawmakers have been concerned about suggestions that people in Britain may have to prove that they have been vaccinated to travel, attend mass events or even go to the pub. The government is studying proposals for “coronavirus status certificates” and says it will outline its plans next month.
Johnson acknowledged that there were “moral complexities” around the proposal, as some people cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
The idea of “pub passports” has been heavily criticized by restaurant and bar owners. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of the commercial agency UKHospitality, said the idea was “simply impractical”.
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