Steve Brine spoke in the big public health debate in the House of Commons this evening as England moved from lockdown back to the tiered system.
The MP for Winchester & Chandler's Ford told MPs that our area has seen a 55% drop in cases in recent days yet leaves lockdown 2.0 in a higher tier than it went in. And he questioned the involvement of local representatives in arriving at this decision.
He made a plea for more localised tiers that respect different areas and asked Minister to treat his constituents as grown-ups as e look towards the December 16 review point.
Mr Brine welcome a return to tiers but, not least having spoken to those struggling in the hospitality business locally, said he could not support the regulations before MPs because of Hampshire's inclusion as a whole in Tier 2 and the "worst of all worlds" local pubs and restaurants now find themselves in. "They can open but the trade is not there, and because they are in tier 2, the financial support is not there either", he said.
In the vote that followed, MPs voted by 291 votes to 78 in favour of the regulations. Steve Brine deliberately abstained.
Earlier in the debate, Steve intervened on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask specifically about support for hospitality. Watch here what was said.
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