Sir Charles Walker, the vice chair of the the backbench Conservative 1922 Committee, has escalated his attack on Matt Hancock, the health secretary, over the plan to threaten anyone lying about visiting a “red list” country with up to 10 years in jail. Walker was reasonably robust on the World at One (see 2.11pm), but on Sky New just now he let rip even further. Walker said:
Are we really going to lock people up for 10 years for being dishonest about the fact that they’ve been to Portugal?
By all means give them a fine, give them a hefty fine, a few thousand pounds. Are you really seriously suggesting, secretary of state, that we’ve got enough prison capacity to start locking up 19-year-old silly kids for 10 years?
What a stupid thing to say, I mean a really stupid thing to say, that demeans his office and his position around the cabinet table.
Source: Guardian Coronavirus UK Live Blog
Baffled Ape 