Since Boris Johnson was elected with a thumping majority of 80 events have over taken his premiership. It was assumed that the biggest political headache would be Brexit. That proved not to be the case and in less than 3 months Coronavirus was upon us and all that has entailed. Sadly we have just copied the actions of the Chinese Communist Party, which is essentially to withdraw freedoms from their people, which is precisely what lockdown has done. Surely we are not Communists. Has it come to this? The Conservative Party needs to consider what we want society to look like in the future. As Thatcherite liberal conservatives we have believed in 'small state' and 'individual freedom'. This should stand even in times of crisis and perhaps more so.
In managing this crisis the absolute world beating outstanding success of this Government has been the vaccines. Why is that? Because we utilised what we believe in; private enterprise. We have been the single most successful country, save Israel in acquiring enough jabs for our citizens due to the brilliance of venture capitalist Kate Bingham and the foresight of our Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
As we come out of this pandemic we must not lose sight of what we believe in. The fundamental freedoms we hold dear, individual choice, sound money and a small state. Over the last few months talk of vaccine passports has been a hot topic and still is. There has even been talk of them to gain entry to Conference. This we cannot allow, it would be the most illiberal and un-Conservative of measures. Vaccine passports themselves would set a dangerous precedent.
As a Party we defeated ID cards and Boris was in no small measure part of that pressure. As we said then it allows the creeping control of the state. Nothing has changed. We know that there is talk of sections in the app asking about any convictions, your diet, drinking etc, etc. It cannot be conservative to police what events we can go to. Inevitably pursuing this direction will only see a rise in illegal underground events which the Police will have to deal with, creating a huge headache. What happened when prohibition was introduced in the States? Criminal gangs took over the supply with the alcohol having no checks for safety. Would not the same happen with nightclubs if a vaccine passport is required for entry? Not only is it illiberal, but it is insane.
Vaccines have brought an escape from serious illness with Coronavirus. Hospitalisations are drastically reduced as a result. This has been achieved by voluntary vaccination which should continue. All the top 9 cohorts who were at most danger from Covid are now protected and have been for a long time. We now need to open up society fully and stop any talk about vaccine passports. Conference seems a good place to start. Rishi Sunak has done a fabulous job with the furlough scheme, but that needs to end in September and the App causing the pingdemic needs to go to. People need to go back to work, the economy needs to start working at full-capacity again. We need to be able to travel again without domestic hindrance and welcome tourists to our shores.
The October Conservative Party Conference should be a time of renewal for us. We will be seeing many friends whom we've not seen since October 2019. Let's help Manchester's economy as we always do by going to their bars with no restrictions and deciding how Boris can lead us to take advantage of the Brexit and vaccine bonus. After all Boris owns both. We should not become a poorer country either economically or less liberal as a result.
