Protecting the NHS & Saving Lives

Today we vote on on the measures to enable a further, month-long, lockdown of the UK.

I don't take this vote lightly. But I have decided to vote to support these measures.

In March we were in a very different position - we knew little about the virus, how it spread, or what the long-term impact of it might be.

Now, eight months on, we are in an entirely different position. From a starting point of zero, we have capacity to test up to 500,000 people every day, and understand far more about this virus, its spread and impact.

We also, after the first lockdown and then further regional measures, understand the impact of restrictions on the economy, on business' ability to pick up again in 4 weeks time, on people's mental and physical health. The impact on all of these will be worse this time.

That we are here is regrettable but it is not a unique situation. France and Germany have both enacted new lockdowns recently.

I raised in the House a short time ago that I worry about people complying with measures this time around. My mailbag is full of people who are rightly concerned about strategy, and more questioning than they were in March. I find myself in the same boat.

How many claims by experts and politicians have been overblown? Do they stand up to scrutiny? Is taking action to save lives and protect the NHS worth the cost to the economy, jobs, mental health, and issues like long-term poverty? These are the questions I've been asking.

I've weighed a considerable amount of evidence and had the opportunity to speak to both Ministers and independent experts. Having done so, I believe that voting to enact this lockdown now is the right thing to do. It goes against every instinct in my body to restrict people's freedoms once again, but the cost of not doing so to lives, and to the ability of the NHS to operate, is too great.

The judgement that I've had to make is whether the fundamentals of the fight against this virus are about to change. The tools to doing this are testing, treatments and vaccines.

Ministers, experts and officials are clear in their belief that we are turning the corner on all of these. Mass testing is starting across Liverpool. Progress in delivering a vaccine is steady and clinical trials are showing positive results. And work on treatments is beginning to roll out through the work of the Vaccine Taskforce.

These are great reasons to be positive, but the proof will be in the pudding. While I'm voting for these measures now, I want to see two things delivered by the government during the next month:

• a clear roadmap out of this, and an economic recovery plan for the North, and

• a plan B if the tools above do not come to pass. We cannot continue through a cycle of lockdowns forever.

In the last lockdown I was amazed by how the community across Furness pulled together and looked after the most vulnerable. We need to find that spirit and resolve once again, and I have no doubt that we will.

Finally, plenty of people have reached out to me with questions about this lockdown and how it will affect them, their businesses, and their families. I can't promise to have an answer to all of these immediately but my team and I stand ready to help.

If you have a question, drop me an email at: simon.fell.mp@parliament.uk