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Labour is “very sympathetic” to a bid by Conservative MPs to increase parliamentary scrutiny over coronavirus restrictions in England, shadow justice secretary David Lammy has said.
Senior Tory Sir Graham Brady has tabled an amendment which would allow MPs to vote on changes to lockdown rules.
Several Tory MPs and the Lib Dems have also signalled support for the move.
The government has said it is working closely with MPs “to ensure they could hold the government to account”.
Mr Lammy told the BBC’s Andrew Marr he was “very sympathetic” to the amendment.
“We need more transparency… and we should be debating the regulations and rules for the country,” he said.
However he avoided committing support to Sir Graham, pointing out that Labour would table its own amendment and would wait and see if it was selected by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle this week.
In March, Parliament passed the Coronavirus Act. It gave the government powers to respond to the pandemic, including moves such as postponing local elections, closing down pubs and allowing courts to use live links.
The powers granted by the act were time-limited and can only be extended with the House of Commons’ approval.
MPs will be asked to renew the powers on Wednesday, however several have expressed concern, arguing they should be able to debate and vote on changes to lockdown restrictions before they are implemented.
Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme Conservative Steve Baker said “How do people think that liberty dies? It dies like this with government exercising draconian powers, without parliamentary scrutiny in advance, undermining the rule of law by having a shifting blanket of rules that no-one can understand.”
BBC parliamentary correspondent Mark D’arcy says the initial steer is that it is unlikely the Speaker would select Sir Graham’s amendment, meaning it would not be put to a vote
But, he says, the Speaker does consider the breadth of support for an amendment, including its level of cross-party appeal, so support from Labour figures would influence his decision.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey also said he was “hugely sympathetic” to moves by Conservative rebels and accused the government of failing to come to Parliament “when it should have done”.
However he added that the amendment “did not go far enough” arguing that the original Coronavirus Act “failed people”.
Specifically he pointed to a clause in the law which took away parts of councils’ duty to provide care for disabled people.
“For the government to legislate to take away peoples’ rights to care I think is outrageous,” he said.
The government has said it is “determined to take the right steps to protect” those who are most vulnerable to the disease and that the care provisions implemented in the Coronavirus Act are only intended to be used when absolutely necessary.