What is this if not a national lockdown?
It’s a subject more divisive than Brexit. One side argues that life simply must go on, with a virus no more deadly than a nasty strain of winter flu. The others blame every rise in infections on those who “break the rules”. “Covidiots” comes the cry, though it is far from certain which faction it refers to.
Meanwhile, the disabled are stigmatised for their inability to wear masks. As someone with a heart condition that leaves me breathless upon exertion, I myself am exempt. Yes, I do have a lanyard that states it, but I don’t wear it as I see it much as the yellow star I have not yet sewn on my sleeve.
The oft quoted example of Sweden is still used to show lockdowns don’t work, but would it not be better to use a country that has locked down to prove that? Peru stands out as the ultimate proof that restrictions of freedom only make the matter worse. Seven months of closed borders and a severe restriction on movement have led to 33,000 Covid deaths in a population of just 32 million. It’s the highest death toll pro-rata in the world.
Here, Boris assures us that we will only return to a national lockdown as a last resort. Yet what do we have now if it is not just that? Even the World Health Organisation have stated that lockdowns do not work. So it would seem Johnson’s Junta are desperate to avoid calling this one.
Can you imagine Dominic Cummings in a SAGE meeting. “Let’s call it a tier system, that sounds so much better.” Matt Hancock probably salivating at the thought of wielding even more power, the ability to threaten specific areas with harsher measures. Boris is still “following the science” by sticking with two of the few scientists NOT to sign the Great Barrington Declaration.
Dare any businessman complain that his area is in Tier 2 and he’s threatened with Tier 3 if people do not obey the rules. It is rather ironic that Andy Burnham has opposed a Tier 3 lockdown in Manchester while his party – they of the red magic money tree – call for a “circuit-breaker” lockdown to add to the misery.
What is certain is that we ARE now in a national lockdown, albeit one of different levels. No one in the country is free to go about their business and daily life without being affected by these ill-thought out diktats; Medium, High and Very High give the game away. There are no such things as Low or No.
The Libertarian Party are more relevant now than at any time in our history. We need to oppose this lockdown, or this Orwellian half-life of work and no play goes on costing lives. For those who are mentally strong even, is it life? Or existence? For those affected by it, cancer and heart patients untreated, suicide rates soaring, lives will end, quite literally – in tiers.
Martin Day – Party Secretary