Labour rebels follow the rule of six as Commons renews Coronavirus Act

The British people do not want to “throw in the sponge, they want to fight and defeat this virus”. Boris Johnson called a press conference last night to give the nation a pep talk. Full of the usual hopeful bluster, the Prime Minister promised to get students home for Christmas – as if his government had not been complicit in cramming thousands of 18-year-olds into campus accommodation. What followed, from the chief medical and scientific officers, was a far more gloomy reminder that the fight against Covid is not going well.

Keir Starmer in response called for an “urgent review” into whether the local lockdown strategy is actually working. The demand reflects the argument he put forward during PMQs, when he highlighted that of the 48 areas to have entered local lockdown, only one had seen those additional restrictions removed. Reminding MPs that the Prime Minister previously described the approach as a “whack-a-mole strategy”, he pointed out: “That implies that at some point the mole goes down.”

MPs last night overwhelmingly voted in favour of renewing the emergency powers granted under the Coronavirus Act, with 330 voting in favour and just 24 against. The Speaker refused to select any amendments to the legislation, including the much-discussed Brady amendment that would have forced parliament votes on future coronavirus-related restrictions. Instead, the rebels will have to be happy with the assurance that “wherever possible” the government will hold parliamentary votes before introducing national measures (but not local ones).

Labour criticised the vote as an “all-or-nothing motion”, but the party backed the government. An interesting group of six Labour MPs – Rebecca Long-Bailey, Dawn Butler, Kevan Jones, John Spellar, Graham Stringer and Derek Twigg – defied the Labour whip to join six Tory rebels, Caroline Lucas and the Lib Dems in rejecting the extension.

The papers feature more high-profile breaking of Covid rules. Stanley Johnson has been photographed out shopping without a mask, while Jeremy Corbyn was caught at a dinner party with too many guests. He has apologised for the mistake. Shadow mental health minister Rosena Allin-Khan said he was right to apologise and take responsibility, pointing out that Dominic Cummings failed to do so. She also said Corbyn “should pay a fine”, which would cost his household at least £400.

Labour is continuing to apply pressure on the Chancellor, as party analysis shows almost three million jobs are at risk in small-and-medium-sized businesses. Today is the last day on which employers can issue notices if they are planning to lay off between 20 and 99 people before furlough support is fully withdrawn at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has a busy day ahead as he marks the start of Black History Month with a visit to the Museum of London alongside Marsha de Cordova. The Labour leader will then join Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green on a Zoom call with students, following Labour’s demand that the government take urgent action to support the mental health of those self-isolating at university.