Meanwhile, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has accused the Prime Minister of making a mistake in not bringing in restrictions sooner. The new lockdown, if agreed, will essentially take the UK back to where it was in March, with the exception that schools and universities will remain open.
No question a lot of Tories are very angry
However, BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg suggested all was not well in the Tory ranks.
She tweeted: “Been talking to MPs ahead of Prime Minister’s lockdown statement.
“No question a lot of Tories are very angry, not just about the decision, but about how it’s been handled, and No 10’s attitude to those arguing for a different course.
Laura Kuenssberg has suggested up to 40 Tories could rebel (Image: GETTY)
Boris Johnson speaking on Saturday (Image: GETTY)
“Senior MP says ‘I’ve just had enough of being lectured or accused of being mad, bad, or dangerous to know’.”
Ms Kuenssberg explained: “A lot of concern about precedents being set – Charles Walker even planning to ask Prime Minister for a written constitution to underpin rights he believes are being ridden over roughshod right now by pandemic measures.
“But – while some of the wannabe rebels are well known like Sir Graham Brady, only a dozen or so at the moment are prepared to say publicly right now they will vote against government plan on Wednesday, others estimate as many as 40 might rebel.”
JUST IN: China ‘running out of patience’ and could ‘take Taiwan by force’
One of Laura Kuenssberg’s tweets (Image: Twitter)
With Labour certain to back the proposals, there is no chance of the lockdown plan being defeated, Ms Kuenssberg said.
However, she added: “The level of Tory support does matter, backbenches already pretty hacked off after very bumpy few months.”
Speaking last month, Mr Walker, Tory MP for Broxbourne and the deputy chairman of the 1922 Committee which Sir Graham chairs, said the threat of the virus had been overplayed.
DON’T MISS
London lockdown: New COVID rules ‘inevitable’ – Sadiq Khan ‘alarmed’ [INSIGHT]
Act now, Boris! Doctors issue urgent COVID alert to PM [ANALYSIS]
Lockdown announcement: How to financially prepare for a ‘second wave’ [EXPLAINED]
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee (Image: GETTY)
Charles Walker MP is one of those opposed to the idea (Image: GETTY)
He told BBC Radio 4′s PM programme: “We just can’t save every life. Because the cost to the living is too high.”
Mr Walker added: “The pandemic is not rampant. This is an illness that very sadly really afflicts the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
“Our focus should be on protecting them, not limiting the life chances of young people and people of middle age who are responsible for running and owning businesses.”
Support bubble factfile (Image: Express)
Mr Ross, who replaced Jackson Carlaw as the party’s leader north of the border earlier this year, told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme today: “I’ve said that I don’t think anything should have been ruled out and it probably was a mistake of the Prime Minister to rule out a national lockdown, because if this virus has shown us anything it’s that you can’t rule anything out given the way it develops and how cases can go up and come back down again.
“We thought in August that in Scotland and across the UK that we’d really got on top of this virus and here we are, a few months later, clearly back into a situation where there is a concerning level of people being infected from the virus and sadly being still admitted into ICU and losing their lives as a result of COVID.”
Speaking on Saturday as he introduced the new measures, Mr Johnson said: “When I told you two weeks ago that we were pursuing a local and a regional approach to tackling this virus, I believed then and I still believe passionately that it was the right thing to do.
Laura Kuenssberg is the BBC’s political editor (Image: GETTY)
“Because we know the cost of these restrictions, the damage they do, the impact on jobs, and on livelihoods, and on people’s mental health.”
However, he added: “It is crucial to grasp this that the general threat to public health comes not from focusing too much on COVID, but from not focusing enough, from failing to get it under control.
“And if we let the lines on those graphs grow in the way they could and in the way they’re projected to grow, then the risk is that for the first time in our lives, the NHS will not be there for us and for our families.”
