Reckless British Behaviour

By Asad Mirza For once maverick Boris Johnson seems to have taken a correct step, but he faced public and his partymen’s ire over the decision.
To counter the Corona pandemic, different countries adopted different strategies and took different safety measures, almost everywhere these steps were supported and adhered to willingly by their citizens. However, the response of the British public and some politicians too in this regard seems to be quite different. Many had opposed the earlier lockdown rules and last week they also resisted the new safety measures proposed by the Johnson-administration.
Last week the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a rebellion by his own party’s backbenchers in the House of Commons. Members of his party refused to vote in favour of the new three-tier coronavirus system that replaced the national lockdown in England from December 3 onwards.
The proposals passed as expected despite the level of dissent from within the Conservative Party. With Labour MPs whipped by the leadership to abstain on the vote, 291 MPs in total voted in favour and 78 against the new rules.
55 Tory MPs opposed the plans, which makes for Johnson’s biggest rebellion since the general election. The previous largest was over the 10 p.m. curfew, opposed by 44 Tories.