A former council leader has fumed that the government’s coronavirus lockdown ‘infringes our basic human rights’ claiming that people still ‘have the right to carry out actions even if they are not in our best interest’.
Nick Clarke, who led Conservative-run county council during the coalition years before joining UKIP, took to Twitter to claim that he still ‘has the right to carry out actions’ regardless of the lockdown.
The politician turned ‘business mentor’ wrote: ‘The problem with this protracted lockdown is that it infringes our basic human rights to associate, socialise and to self-determination.
‘We all have the right to carry out actions even if they are not in our best interest. I don’t know anyone who has died from the virus’.
He added: ‘We must not get used to being given permission by governments to carry on our lives. Liberty is too important to be taken for granted.’
He acknowledged that it’s ‘probably sensible for those living in urban areas to maintain a lockdown’ but the Suffolk resident said ‘for those living in the rural areas it doesn’t make sense’.
His comments were met with criticism after it was reported by local newspaper The Royston Crow.
Cllr Mike Sergeant, a Labour member of Cambridge City Council, said that ‘Nick Clarke might be happy to endanger himself but the problem is that he is endangering everyone else and especially key workers’.
Local Lib Dem councillor Lucy Nethsinga tweeted: ‘So Leavers like Nick still don’t want to listen to experts, and will only stay at home when they do know someone who has died?
‘Thank goodness most people are willing to listen and learn from the experience of others.’
Brian Hepburn wrote: ‘So Nick, because you don’t know anyone who has died of the virus, all’s well in your world. Have you any empathy?’
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