DUP MP for East Antrim Sammy Wilson has slammed “Government ministers across the UK” for instilling “fear in the population”.
Taking to his Twitter account, the MP wrote that the tactic being employed was the instillment of fear in order to bring about a new lockdown in Northern Ireland and across the UK. His comments come as thousands of people descended on both London and Belfast over the weekend to protest mandatory vaccines, lockdown measures and Covid passports.
Government Ministers across the UK know that the formal declaration of a new lockdown would be politically unacceptable. In an act of political cowardice, it appears the tactic being employed is to instil fear in the population and create a lockdown by stealth.
— Sammy Wilson 🇺🇦🇬🇧 (@eastantrimmp) December 19, 2021
Mr Wilson also criticised the chair of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland, Dr Tom Black. In media interviews conducted recently, Dr Black urged people in the North to “batten down the hatches” as Christmas approaches. He also argued that Covid restrictions in place in Northern Ireland, which includes the recent introduction of Covid passports, “are not extensive enough”, adding he believes that “we should not be socialising at all”.
In his tweet posted to social media last night, Mr Wilson took a radically different line on the handling of the recently discovered Omicron variant, writing that the “formal declaration of a new lockdown would be politically unacceptable”.
He added: “In an act of political cowardice, it appears the tactic being employed is to instil fear in the population and create a lockdown by stealth.” It comes as Boris Johnson’s Cabinet Office Minister Lord Frost, resigned on Saturday night over the British government’s proposal to enforce Plan B Covid restrictions.
In his resignation letter, he reminded the Prime Minister of his promise that the lifting of restrictions in the summer would be “irreversible”.
Meanwhile, Stormont ministers are taking part in ongoing discussions about the situation surrounding new Covid restrictions ahead of a formal meeting to take place this Wednesday, when it is expected that new restrictions will be announced to be introduced after Christmas.
Last month, the DUP voted against the introduction of Covid passports in the region. Northern Ireland’s First Minister, the DUP’s Paul Givan, has blasted Covid passports, a measure which means people now have to provide a vaccine passport or proof of a Covid test result to access restaurants, pubs and nightclubs, as “divisive” and rushed as he argued it should not go ahead. Last week, after a debate on the issue, a vote took place at Stormont on introducing Covid passes, during which the regulations were passed by 59 votes to 24.
Whilst the DUP opposed the ‘shambolic’ scheme, Sinn Féin, SDLP, Alliance and UUP ministers backed it. It means the regulations are now legally enforceable and venues who breach them could face fines of up to £10,000. The measure, however, has already caused a significant level of upheaval judging by reports since its imposition. Belfast Live carried a report today that a Belfast restaurant owner was left gutted after more than 100 no-shows over the weekend. Traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for the hospitality industry, droves of restaurant owners have voiced their frustration after people failed to show up for pre-Christmas bookings.
Speaking to BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme on Monday, Eamon McCusker, who owns AM/PM, the Cabaret Supper Club and the Chubby Cherub, said over half of his bookings cancelled on Friday morningfollowed by over 100 no-shows on Saturday.
The frustrated businessman told the radio programme “We went into Friday with over 700 bookings. We were in early in the morning and then the phone started ringing and from between 9.30 and 12.30, over half of those bookings had cancelled. That was an amalgamation of both corporate bookings and your standard bookings from the public.
“We became pretty disconsolate answering the phone over that two to three hour period and then compounding that, we had a multitude of no-shows.
“Our bookings reduced from over 700 to 323 and then we had up to and around 100 no-shows so it was pretty demoralising to be honest,” Mr McCusker said, adding that it was a similar story on Saturday night.
He added: “It wasn’t an erosion of bookings, it was a cliff edge dropping over the top. If there’s an erosion of bookings you can cut your cloth to fit but with this scenario, it’s compounded by the fact that you have all of your product in and staff in. From our point of view, we were looking at probably our best Christmas ever for bookings.”
Other prominent business owners voicing outspoken opposition to the scheme include Ian Cyde, the boss of a popular Co Down Steakhouse and Colin Johnson, the managing director of the Galgorm.
"On the Nolan Show on the 10th of December, restaurant owner Ian Clyde and Colin Johnson, the managing director of the Galgorm, both claimed that the introduction of the vaccine passport system has cost their business immensely." https://t.co/C7Ht1f8B5s pic.twitter.com/3h4GzX7SnQ
— Citizen Journalists (@citizenjournos_) December 14, 2021
Mr Clyde, proprietor of the Bronte Steakhouse in Banbridge also took to social media on Friday night to say his business has been “decimated by so called Covid passports” on what should have been one of the busiest nights of the year, adding that bookings were “dropping like flies”.
During last Tuesday’s debate at Stormont before the vote on vaccine passports, Unionist TUV politician and barrister Jim Allister said the introduction of the measure was “a step too far”. The video was widely shared on social media, gaining support from members of the public including business owners who are impacted by the passport scheme in the North.
Mr Allister pointed out that the rule was inconsistent, seeing as those working within the hospitality sector didn’t need to be double jabbed, yet those wishing to enter such venues are being asked to present proof of vaccination. He made the point that although you cannot enter bars or restaurants without a Covid passport, you can get on public transport freely without a pass, questioning the logic of the measure and its inconsistency.
“This Covid certification proposal is a step too far,” he said during the debate, as he outlined that he himself has received two Covid vaccines as well as a booster shot. The TUV MLA said the regulation“causes distinction and differentiation” and “picks out those in our community who for whatever reason” have chosen “not to be vaccinated and it sets them apart”.
He also asked the Assembly how it planned to measure the success of a Covid passport scheme, adding: “What’s the criteria by which you’re going to judge it’s failure or success?”