Please find below my speech from last night, which sets out why I voted for the Government’s Tiering system.
As I outlined in my speech, I did this with a heavy heart. In no way do I believe all the restrictions are perfect. I specifically called for pubs in Tier 3, and wet pubs in Tiers 2 an 3 to be allowed to operate. Yet with these being the restrictions that the Government had put forward at this moment, I had no choice but to vote for them.
It would also have been foolhardy to undo all the good work in the last four weeks by allowing the country to potentially open up again. With news this morning that the Pfizer vaccine will begin to be rolled out next week, and with other vaccines still waiting to be approved for rollout, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
