A trio of Covenanters: Jane Stevenson MP, Steve Baker MP and Sir John Hayes MP
Jane Stevenson said that a mandatory approach to vaccination defies conservative principles.
The vast majority of my constituents and the British people will do everything asked of them by the Government, without it needing to be mandated. They have been incredible throughout this pandemic; they have acted in the interests of themselves, their families, their communities, their cities and their towns.
I humbly ask the Government to get back to our Conservative principles of trusting the British people. […] I make a last plea to the Government; in order to go forward together as a nation, we have to stop passing never-ending regulations and move forward in a voluntary, community, public-spirited way.
The job of government is to create the conditions of virtue to do the right thing. That means strengthening the family, community and the nation to foster a culture of generosity and reciprocity. This is the only way to fight Covid 19.
Elsewhere, Steve Baker MP revealed his communitarian persuasions by sponsoring a debate on ‘Co-operatives and Mutual Societies’ quoting the 20th century classical liberal Ludwig von Mises:
Society is cooperation; it is community in action.
And, ultra traditionalist Sir John Hayes MP did not let us down in his question to the Foreign Secretary on the review in to the Human Rights Act:
The Secretary of State is to be commended on the statement, but will he be clear that we need to challenge the very principle of natural rights, which gave rise to the Human Rights Act? It has had the effect of emphasising individual interest above social solidarity, weakening communal will and undermining the sovereignty of this Parliament, which is and always has been the primary guarantor of Britain’s rights.