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Boris Johnson was urged by a well-known Conservative MP to lift any Covid-19 ban by the end of this month, or face major infighting within his party as well as difficult leadership hopes later this year.
Mark Harper, chairman of the Tory Covid Recovery Group, said Johnson should announce by January 26 – after most of the current laws are over – that he will not do so.
A former Tory official told the Financial Times newspaper that Johnson could face a leadership crisis after the May local election unless he changed his approach and confirmed he was still a voter.
Harper said after the existing plan B – especially working from home improvement, wearing a mask in public places and going to Covid – Johnson should swear he would never come back, even if it was new.
“The problem is that they want to agree with us, then they say they want to keep the sanctions or they can’t,” Harper said. “It simply came to our notice then.
“If I were in the hospitality business I would be very nervous about investing, growing my business, and putting myself at any risk because I do not know what will happen.”
Harper agrees that Covid will be the most popular in the community, but wants Johnson to address it through a new vaccination for skeptics, setting up private hospitals and medical care, instead of closing.
“Sometimes you have to say, whatever happens, whatever happens, we do not respond by closing down other parts of the country,” he said. “That is not a fixed responsibility.”
Asked when Johnson would announce the end of the Covid ban, Harper said: “If not, when?”
He warned that if Johnson asked the MP to extend the B plan by January 26, he would face more terrorists than was seen in December, when about 100 MPs voted against Covid.
“I think there have been a lot of protesters,” he said. “I think intellectual conflict is now very low.” He wants the separatist laws, which expire in March, to be replaced by a voluntary approach.
Harper, who did not do well against Johnson in the Tory leadership in 2019, has denied that CRG, which has about 70-80 members, is becoming a party within the party.
He said Tory MPs and voters – including those who elected the Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire last month – wanted to see a change in “the prime minister’s approach to government”.
“What happens next depends on whether they do it differently,” he said. “Even if we see proper dialogue in the cabinet, the government is working well – while you are not looking to the government for answers – I am trying to keep the money flowing.”
Asked if he thought Johnson would be in trouble if he failed to change, and the Tories rigged the May local elections, Harper said: “I do.” But he added: “It is in his hand.”
He said: “Conservative councilors should ask themselves: Will I sit in my seat? They look at the polls and think about who can help them secure their seats.
“Conservative members of the public have asked this question in the past and have decided that it is necessary to take action. The Prime Minister is in the contract of employment.”
Nadhim Zahawi, secretary of education, on Sunday said Britain is changing Covid from “plague to plague” but acknowledged that “the next two weeks will be difficult”.
Zahawi said it would “help” if the separation period is reduced from seven days to five days, but this will only happen if advised by the UK Health Security Agency.
The minister also told the BBC that there was no hope for the government to reduce the free trial. “We do not want lateral tests to be abolished,” he said.
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