It’s a case of being seen to be doing something
WHEN lockdown was first introduced at national level, it is true to say that many of us were unhappy with the instructions we were being given. After all Britain is supposed to be a free society, having as few restrictions as possible on the way we live our lives.
Yet despite having one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 infections, North East Lincolnshire was to be treated the same as other parts of the country where the disease was more widespread. Nevertheless in those days prior to Cummings driving to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight, we accepted the new rules as a temporary measure to deal with the pandemic among us.
As conditions improved and the death toll fell, we believed things would gradually get back to normal. Which generally is what has happened. More shops opened, then hairdressers, cafes and pubs. The Premier League started playing behind closed doors, joined by horse racing and more recently Test cricket.
Now gyms, open-air theatres and other such attractions will soon be on the agenda.
But there is one area where far from going back to pre-lockdown days, life is becoming more limiting. Which is gradually making the wearing of face coverings compulsory.
Now if that’d been the case back in March, then I’d have understood the reasoning behind this. For we saw the pictures of crowded tube trains in London, along with the uncontrolled queues outside some of our largest shops. (how in fact can you do so if you are eating or drinking?), why therefore is there the desire to make people wear one in places where social distancing is being observed? Like others I won’t disobey the law, though I do think face coverings act as a deterrent if you are wanting to go out.
And they are further proof of a move way from a free society to one where nanny knows best, and we must do as we are told.
Not that us plebs had a nanny, unlike those in the Tory cabinet.
Tim Mickleburgh, Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.