The former Brexit minister joined the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) and said he was “looking forward to helping” the backbenchers in their bid to remove all pandemic restrictions as quickly as possible. Dozens of Conservative MPs are a part of the group and its highly organised set-up has led to humiliating Tory revolts in the Commons on coronavirus restrictions in the past.
Just before Christmas the CRG has responsible for the coordinated revolt over the introduction of vaccine passports, with more than 100 Conservative backbenchers refusing to back Mr Johnson’s plan to beat the Omicron variant.
His biggest rebellion to date, the size of the rebellion was far bigger than the Government had been anticipating and send shockwaves through No10 after the Prime Minister was forced to rely on the Labour Party to ensure the policy passed through the Commons.
Lord Frost sensationally quit the Cabinet last month as he criticised the Prime Minister for being too heavy-handed with Covid restrictions.
In his resignation letter he cited “concerns about the current direction of travel” of Government policy.
He said the UK needed to “learn to live with Covid” and must “not be tempted by the kind of coercive measures we have seen elsewhere”.
Support for the CRG from a political heavyweight such as Lord Frost will only heap further pressure on Mr Johnson, who is already wrangling with how to best tackle the threat of the Omicron Covid variant while keeping his party on side.
Opposition politicians have accused the Prime Minister of failing to introduce further restrictions to fight the highly transmissible strain because he is worried about backlash from his party.
Sir Keir Starmer has claimed Mr Johnson is “too weak” to lead the country through the pandemic.
The Prime Minister says he has rejected calls for further Covid restrictions as the data currently does not support further intervention.
“I think the way forward for the country as a whole is to continue with the path that we’re on,” he said yesterday.
However, vowing not to hesitate to act if necessary, he added: “We’ll keep everything under review.”
More to follow…
