Tiers vote: MPs pass draconian Tier rules by 291-78 but Boris sees strong backbench rebellion

MPS have passed draconian Tier rules in the House of Commons by 291-78 tonight – but Boris faced strong rebellion from around 50 of his own backbenchers.

The PM earlier suggested he could chop the areas down into smaller chunks as he desperately tried to woo his backbenchers to back his toughened up Tiers plan ahead of tonight’s crunch vote.

And ahead of the vote tonight, the PM made a direct plea to his own MPs to “stick together”.

He told them on a private Zoom call: “It is like we are at the end of a six hour journey and the kids are going crazy on the back seat asking ‘are we nearly there yet?’”

The PM said he knew “everyone’s patience is really now at an end but we are nearly there and if we all want to get there together, we are going to have to keep going.”

He insisted: “I don’t want to be doing any of this, I’m a conservative, I didn’t come into politics to intervene in businesses.”

And earlier the PM set out major concessions to MPs to try and persuade them to back the Government tonight in a vote.

He promised that he would be looking at a more local tiers system in future when the measures get reviewed in just two weeks’ time.

He told MPs in the Commons today: “We do want to be as granular as possible to reflect the reality of the epidemic.

“As we go forward and I mean this v seriously the gov will look at how we can reflect as closely as possible what is happening on the ground for local people, at the human geography and spread of the pandemic.”

And he vowed that the Tiers system would only continue past February 2nd if MPs vote for them – meaning they would be in place for two months as a minimum.

He also offered 30,000 drinks-only pubs an extra £1,000 grant to try and help them make ends meet – as revealed by Trending In The News this morning – “recognising how hard they’ve been hit by this in what is their typically busiest month”.

But already they have said it is a drop in the ocean to what they need to survive.

Boris told MPs and the nation this afternoon that they are not far away from the end of restrictions – once the vaccine is able to be rolled out.

He insisted: “All we need to do is hold our nerve… until these vaccines are rolled out and indeed into our arms.”

He argued that the Tiers system would not be another lockdown and from tomorrow the public can go out again to gyms, shops and swimming pools.

The PM said: “This is not another lockdown. Nor is this the renewal of existing measures in England.

“The tiers that I’m proposing would mean that from tomorrow everyone in England, including those in Tier 3, will be free to leave their homes for any reason.

“And when they do they will find the shops open for Christmas, the hairdressers open, the nail bars open, gyms, leisure centres, swimming pools open.”

MPs have been holding frantic discussions with the Health Secretary, who are furious about being put into higher tiers than they feel they deserve.

This morning John Penrose shared a letter from the Health Secretary suggesting that the regions may be able to be carved up into smaller bits than before – in what would be a huge climbdown to the rebels.

It led to MPs for areas in Kent, which has been shoved from Tier 1 to Tier 3, cry that the rules were unfair on their areas with lower cases.

The same happened in North Somerset, where rates are mostly low but it has been brought into line as a result of higher clusters of cases nearby.

Boris and the Government had previously defended the system, saying they have to apply blanket rules over big areas.

The PM has said that if restrictions weren’t put on bigger authorities, it would let the virus run out of control.

Government sources have suggested that the rebellion tonight could be as high as three figures.

But MPs slapped down the suggestion – saying it was likely to be as low as a third of that.

Steve Baker tweeted: “That is an absurd over egging… This is an agonising decision for many MPs today.”

The 10pm curfew passed through the House of Commons in October, despite a sizeable Tory rebellion.

42 Tories – and two tellers – voted against – and dozens more abstained.

MPs stood up in the Commons to express their worries over the new system.

Conservative former minister Andrea Leadsom suggested that the risk of non-compliance with lockdown restrictions is “very great”.

She said: “I want to support my Government and my Prime Minister in the lobby this evening, but I can’t and won’t inflict deliberate harm on my constituency unless I can see for myself that to do nothing would be worse.”

Senior Tory Sir Graham Brady added: “If Government is to take away fundamental liberties of the people whom we represent, they must demonstrate beyond question that they’re acting in a way that is both proportionate and absolutely necessary.

“Today, I believe the Government has failed to make that compelling case.”

Tory MP Damian Green said the public not backing the measures would mean that normal life won’t be able to get back to normal as quickly as possibles.

He argued: “I’ve had the most angry emails over a weekend since the Dominic Cummings trip to Barnard Castle.”

But Bernard Jenkin, another critic of the Government’s strategy, said he would be backing them today as there was “no alternative”.

According to one MP, three people told the PM they would be voting against when he entered the tea room this lunchtime.

Robert Syms said: “he headed for tea room – first 3 Tories he talked to told him they were against!”