FOREST MP Mark Harper says the Government “made it impossible” for him to support their new tough Covid tier restrictions, as he and 54 other Tory rebels voted against the new rules in the Commons.

Another 16 Conservative MPS abstained with the bulk of Labour members, as the new measures, which include tough new restrictions on the hospitality sector, passed by 291 votes to 78 in Tuesday night’s (December 1) vote.

Mr Harper, who chairs the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, said they "very much regret that in a moment of national crisis so many of us felt forced to vote against the measures that the Government was proposing".

He added that PM Boris Johnson "must find a way to... end this devastating cycle of repeated restrictions and start living in a sustainable way until an effective and safe vaccine is successfully rolled out across the population".

He added: “I wanted to support the Government in this evening’s vote, but they have made it impossible for me to do so by not providing sufficient evidence their approach will do more good than harm.”

Explaining his stance to Forest constituents before the vote, he said: “This evening, I will regrettably be voting against the new Covid tier system.

“Why? The Government has still not provided any evidence to MPs that the specific restrictions proposed will do more good than harm.

“Evidence that supports the claim that hospitals will be overwhelmed without these severe rules has also not been forthcoming, despite it being repeatedly asked for.

“There is no doubt that Covid is a deadly disease to many and it is vital that we control its spread effectively.

“But we must give equal regard to other lethal killers like cancer, dementia and heart disease, to people’s mental health, and all the health implications of poverty and falling GDP.

“As someone who worked in business, and indeed ran my own business, before I was elected as your local MP in 2005, I need to see strong evidence from the Government before I can look businesses and workers in the eye and recommend that these severe restrictions are worth the impact on their livelihoods.

“On the current lack of evidence, I simply cannot do this.

“These are difficult decisions and to get them right Government should be much more transparent about the information on which they are based.”

In his speech to the Commons during the debate, the 2019 Tory leadership candidate said: “It’s about doing the right thing that is going to be effective, and that’s why I wrote to the PM with 70 colleagues asking for as much information as we could have about the effectiveness of the measure being proposed, and that’s … not whether they are going to be too tough, but whether they are going to be effective enough.

“They definitely come with big economic cost and I want to know if we are going to pay those economic costs and costs on people’s lives and livelihoods.

“I want to know that they are going to have the effect of suppressing the virus, and we simply don’t have that information. and the modellers that work for SAGE are very uncertain even about the effects of tiers as a whole, let alone individual measures.

“I’m also concerned from talking to my local NHS about the pressure on the health service, but again I ask for the modelling and forecasting about NHS capacity.

“That was leaked before this lockdown we are in at the moment, but never published, never substantiated, and the specific forecast in that leaked information turned out to be wrong.

“All I ask is that ministers share with the House the modelling and forecasts that they have seen that have led them to come to the conclusions that they have… they have so far failed to do so.”

Speaking afterwards, Mr Harper said: “We were promised comprehensive amounts of information showing a balance had been struck between driving down Covid, long-Covid health harms and the impact on the economy, and we weren’t given that… and I find that very disappointing.

“I don’t want to be in this position, I want to support the Government, but I’m afraid the Government have made that impossible for me today.

“They’ve not shown any evidence that specific measures are going to be effective… I want to know the cost is worth it…

“They’ve made lots of claims about the NHS being overwhelmed, but they haven’t published any of the information they presumably have seen, and I’m afraid I’m not prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt, because before this lockdown, information was leaked to justify (it) based on overwhelming the NHS.

“None of that was published, and it turned out to be wrong, and all I ask is the Government should take MPs and the public into their confidence and share the information that they have got, make the argument and I think they would find more people willing to go with them on it.”

Under the new rules, the Forest of Dean and neighbouring South Herefordshire constituencies will be in the Tier 2 high alert band following the end of the four-week lockdown on December 2, meaning that pubs can only operate if customers are served a “substantial meal”.

Meanwhile, draconian new rules in Wales means that in neighbouring Monmouthshire, pubs will be banned from selling alcohol in house from Friday until at least December 17 and must close by 6pm, while cinemas and other entertainment venues must shut.