Any remaining doubts where most of the Conservative party sits on the government’s two-metre rule was put to bed with today’s Commons debate on the issue. Tory MPs lined up this afternoon to criticise the social distancing policy, and in many cases call for it to go immediately.
Although the government has attempted to calm the party by putting the two-metre rule under review, MPs are increasingly impatient over its existence and view it as the number one problem policy. Speaking in today’s debate, several Conservative MPs didn’t just call for it to go once the review was completed but for it to face the axe today. Former minister Tobias Ellwood said ‘one metre is the right decision, now is the right time – not in two weeks’. Others including John Redwood also pushed for it to be cut to one metre now.
While others were slightly more sympathetic to the government’s position, the recurring line from Tory MPs is that it needs to go by the time the hospitality industry is permitted to reopen in part.
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