Lifting the lockdown; why caution is required from Boris Johnson – Bernard Ingham

Certainly the Covid-19 vaccination programme is roaring ahead. Roughly one million people are being inoculated every two days.

Cases, deaths and the infection rate are tumbling under lockdown and pressure on hospitals is easing.

But barely a third of the adult population has so far been jabbed and mutations of the virus remain problematic.

We can also be pretty certain that youngsters will go mad when released. They are energetic and naturally rebellious and, above all, want a good time.

It may be that they are relatively immune to Covid, but that does not mean they cannot infect others. On the other hand, our vaccination success has pretty well immunised the most vulnerable.

But the last thing Boris and the economy need in the general desire to see the restrictions swept away is another spike in cases. It would be no good for schoolchildren whom we need to get back in class.

As for the economy, it has taken a fearful pounding.

The Bank of England is immensely optimistic about our bouncing back to economic health if not, for some time, wealth.

But since the pandemic has so far cost at least £400bn (over and above a soaring national debt of more than £2 trillion (thousand billion), we need a national effort of wartime intensity – and soon – to repair the damage.

As ever, our dire economic straits don’t stop all those who demand ever more from an empty public purse to ease their position while waving an admonitory finger at any idea of raising taxes.

It is left to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to square this circle in next month’s Budget without damaging enterprise, innovation and effort.

But the Prime Minister this weekend cannot ignore the economic implications of his decision. His balancing act just gets more difficult the better the prospect of conquering Covid-19.

In short, nobody can blame him for being cautious. We have had three lockdowns already and we do not need a fourth.

For this reason I take a dim view of those who are clamouring for certainty. There is no certainty in this life – except death and taxes. It is suck it and see.

I therefore expect him to try to get children back in school after, I trust, a crash programme to immunise teachers to cut the ground from under the feet of their pesky unions.

Now that the most vulnerable are inoculated he might reasonably concentrate jabs on all those in essential services and others who cannot work at home to reduce risks.

That would pave the way for a progressive easing of restrictions on shops, hospitality, leisure and entertainment.

It would also be in line with our economic needs. And the more people are immunised, the easier it will be to let the pent up economic forces steadily loose.

But my guess is that masks and social distancing are with us for some time yet since Covid, just like ‘flu, is here to stay.

You may think I have caught Boris’s cautionary bug. But common sense based on experience teaches care and restraint as distinct from such dictatorial edicts as up to 10 years’ imprisonment for lying about having been in a blacklisted country. That piece of extreme nonsense has made Boris’s job more difficult this weekend.

Which brings me to the real constraint within which he is operating.

Ironically, it is the very freedom 
we know he espouses and which has made the past year so traumatic for 
him.

Let us not get worked up about the excesses of the police and others in trying to enforce the lockdown. These are inevitable in the best of societies – as ours is.

Instead, let us acknowledge that in reaching his conclusions Boris does not have the advantage of dictatorships that brutally enforce their will. He has to find a balance between protecting the population with minimum damage to the economy and the least interference in their normal lives.

That is how he should be judged. And how we should judge the irresponsible who kick over the traces in exploiting their freedom and their fellow men with Covid scams.

Freedom incurs responsibility, as Margaret Thatcher often said. And responsibility at the best of times restricts it.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click here to subscribe.