During last night’s vote for changes to Coronavirus measures, which saw 100 Conservative MPs vote against the Government, the Isle of Wight MP voted for, against and had no vote recorded for three of the proposals.
The vote held on Tuesday evening saw Government plans approved for the introduction of Covid passes in some venues, to make face masks compulsory in most indoor settings, as well as mandatory vaccinations for NHS workers.
Bob Seely voted as follows:
- Against – Mandatory NHS jabs
- Against – Covid passes
- For – Face coverings
Seely: Fed up with dubious forecasts and ridiculous extrapolations
Earlier in the day, Bob Seely told the House that he would vote in favour of the motion on face masks and daily tests. However, he said he would note support Covid passports or the mandatory jab.
Seely explained,
“Threatening the jobs of 73,000 NHS staff seems to be a very odd way of trying to support the NHS.
“There is a wider issue that I want to raise that has coloured my judgement and I’ve heard nothing on the following points.
“I am fed up with dubious forecasts and ridiculous extrapolations the kind of which many of us have talked about. Academics, have talked about Imperial forecasts as being hysterical, inflated, consistently over confident, lurid, flawed, spectacularly wrong. What has the government got to say about the incredibly questionable extrapolations that it’s used.
“I’m tired of the leaks, Omicron, it’s suddenly been leaked could kill 75,000, well it could do but it may not. And all these doomsday forecast leaked at critical moments erode public trust.”
He went on, and you can watch his full speech below.
Earlier in the day he had also tweeted the following:
- 1/16 Re #Covid; Last time, I voted with Gov’t. This time, less so. At mo, it appears we MAY have 4 votes; extending facemask use, change from isolation to testing, & possible votes on mandatory jabs & vaccine passports. We’ll find out in next 24 hrs. #VaccinePassports
- 2/16 I’m mindful of need to support Gov’t, so considering ‘yes’ to first two BUT against vaccine passports and mandatory jabs, if that’s what Parliament is asked to vote on. Concerns with Covid policy are below Down pointing backhand index
- 3/16 Too many false reassurances. We were told #vaccines Syringe were our exit. What went wrong? Where’s the planning to ensure resilience, so society can function? Why booster rollout slow? How has Gov’t increased capacity in the NHS to cope?
- 4/16 Too many dubious forecasts. Why has so much UK #covid forecasting been so wrong? Why have reputable academics described some forecasts as being: ‘almost hysterical’, ‘overconfident’, ‘inflated’, & ‘lurid’. Why focus always on worst case (i.e. most unlikely)?
- 4a/16 https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-11-30/debates/BDFDB48B-B6FF-4DC0-97A0-100DF3A42151/PublicHealth#contribution-FBCFA99C-B272-4603-B330-1A399B8AD2C1
- 5/16 … and for that matter, why does BBC uncritically report flawed forecasts? Why also does it interview Communist academics, who have a v. specific view of human freedom, without mentioning their politics? #BBCbias
- 6/16 Too many convenient leaks. Omicron ‘could’ kill 75k. ‘Could’ = might & may, but also might not & may not. I’m tired of doomsday forecasts leaked at critical moments. Please stop trying to scare us, it has undermined trust. People don’t know what or who to believe.
- 7/16 I don’t like the attitude: ‘when in doubt, lock folks down’. It’s bad science, ethics & politics. It’s the precautionary principle gone too far. We need foresight & planning, not panicked lurching. Gov’t said we had to learn to live with Covid. Gov’t MUST keep schools open.
- 8/16 Following the science? Sorry, this statement is misleading; it implies only one outcome. 1. Science is interpretive & shaped by a) inputs & b) desired outcomes. 2. On vaccine passports, 70 pages of evidence from Scotland produced no evidence, so why are we adopting?
- 8a/16 Also, I don’t understand, if two jabs aren’t enough, why does vaccine passport with proof of two jabs makes sense? Unless it is to agree the principle of health passports, which we should not be rushing as it’s a big change with big implications. #followingthescience?
- 9/16 Lack of context. Gov’t & experts have failed to contextualise COVID stats, presenting them in isolation. Was this to a) increase knowledge or b) to manipulate people into compliance? I fear latter. ‘Nudge Unit’ tactics appear clever-clever but corrode public trust.
- 10/16 The result? Many folks (esp. young & old) now petrified of #Covid & hysterical forecasts, but less aware to other threats. Gov’t should present info in a balanced way, instead of scaring the hell out of people.
- 11/16 Gov’t has adopted a narrow view of public health, esp. given vaccines. Where’s assessment of damage of: unemployment, underemployment, debt, depression, pressures on families. What about massive damage to education? Poverty kills, so how many will die from that?
- 12/16 More widely, no proper debate on choices? How to judge human life v most human life years? Subtle but important differences. Is this the first pandemic in history where the young were barely affected but paid a massive price?
- 13/16 Also Gov’t disinterest in virus origins bizarre. Why? The only place a bat virus in Wuhan likely came from was Wuhan lab, by leak or by Frankenstein ‘gain of function’ tests (and why did Internet giants try to silence this debate?
- 14/16 This matters at most basic level, if leaks happen, would it not be sensible to at least review global rules for storage of viruses? Are we so scared of offending China that we can’t even have this conversation?
- 15/16 Labour are unfit for office, but we need to raise our game. Gov’t must focus on making long-term decisions, putting nation on sound footing post-EU and planning to ensure life continues in the Covid age. Instead: too many media errors – more ‘gates’ than a farmyard.
- 16/16 Reason for possible scale of Tuesday rebellion: a) specific measures we’re voting on, b) accumulated concerns over Covid (see above), and c) Conservative MPs sending a message.
Mask down
Later in the chamber the Isle of Wight MP was caught with his face covering lowered down over his chin when Shadow Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, explained that,
“The biggest danger is that the virus sweeps through the health and social care workforce, knocks a load of people out in the middle of the busiest period for the NHS and then the system topples over.”
Read the legislation in full on the Government Website.
Article edit
10.10am 15th Dec 2021 – Vote for Covid Passes changed to Against (it initially stated no vote recorded when we first looked). Thread of tweets also added
