ONE of Bradford's MPs was one of just a dozen Conservative MPs who rebelled against the Government last night and voted against a third national lockdown.

Philip Davies, the outspoken MP for Shipley, was among the 12 rebels, along with two tellers, who defied the Government to oppose lockdown last night.

Also among the rebels was Mr Davies' wife Esther McVey. A number of Tories also abstained on the vote, which included former Prime Minister Theresa May.

MPs were voting to officially pass the regulations for a third national lockdown, triggered by a huge spike in cases partly fuelled by a new, more transmissible variant of Covid-19.

A total of 524 MPs voted in favour of lockdown, while 16 voted against.

Imran Hussain (Bradford East), Judith Cummins (Bradford South), Naz Shah (Bradford West), Robbie Moore (Keighley), Tracy Brabin (Batley & Spen), Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley), Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) and Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) all voted in favour of lockdown.

It means that it is now law for people to stay at home as much as possible, only leaving for certain reasons such as exercise, essential shopping, for medical reasons, to work if you cannot work from home, or to escape abuse.

Schools and non-essential retail shops have also been closed in an effort to try and stop the spread of infection.

The Government is also pledging to get at least one dose of the vaccine to all people in the top four cohorts classed as most vulnerable by February 15, to protect those most at risk from dying of Covid-19.

Yesterday, reported deaths passed the 1,000 mark for the first time since the first wave in April, a grim milestone for Britain. 

More than 62,000 people tested positive yesterday, the highest number throughout the whole pandemic, and 1 in 50 people in England currently have Covid-19.

Despite lockdowns showing to be the best way to reduce the number of infections and stop the spread of Covid-19, Philip Davies said on Tuesday he is against the "arbitrary restrictions".

He also quoted the "99.5 per cent survival rate of Covid-19", ignoring that not all people admitted to hospital with the virus die, with many requiring days or weeks of treatment and many suffer from serious long-term effects from the virus which has caused tens of thousands of people serious lasting damage to their health, which all puts added strain on the NHS.