NHS funding must be found to avoid need for lockdown
John Daniels questions whether we should expect the NHS to be resourced for Covid – thus freeing us of the need for lockdown – because it is such a rare event (MetroTalk, Thu).
He makes the comparison of paying for snowploughs to sit idle just in case we get an unusually heavy snowfall.
Although I agree to a point, I don’t think this equates to a reason for not giving the NHS extra funding needed for emergencies such as this one.
John points out that the taxpayer would have to foot the bill but has that not always been the case?
I would prefer a tax system for a ‘rainy day’ – raise National Insurance by 50 per cent (which is not a huge amount) and have that set aside for emergencies.
This crisis is the first in my living memory and I’m sure that after a few years the extra payments would add up substantially, meaning it would not be necessary to hit the taxpayer when an emergency does strike again.
Better financial national planning should be the order of the day, or am I missing something here?
Geoff Hall, Croydon
I’m a self-employed window fitter. Can somebody explain why I and my mate, Silvano, cannot visit family or friends, yet we can go into customers’ homes to fit windows, which is not essential? And after a hard week’s work, we can’t even relax with a nice cold pint!
Brabo, Birkenhead
We are being bamboozled by the government. We don’t have lockdown but partial lockdown. For lockdown to actually work, close the airports, stop trains and buses, and shut universities, colleges and schools. Two weeks would be enough.
As regards the ‘official’ statistics dished out by the professors, stop it!
Tony Kramer, London
So are we in lockdown 2.0? Or is it just pubs, bars, restaurants and non-essential shops closed? Everything else goes on as normal. What a joke.
Construction Worker, Chigwell
Given every aspect of our lives, culture, society and economy is being methodically destroyed by tyrants (repeated illogical lockdowns due to a virus most recover from), isn’t it time politicians were tested for dangerous psychological traits?
Denise, London
Why close places of worship (unless for private prayer) and gyms? At mine, we socially distance and both are cleaned thoroughly. The gym takes my temperature upon entry. We gain mental
Golf provides a mental and physical workout and a social boost
or spiritual wellbeing from the former and physical fitness in the latter.
Bernard, London
So where in England is Dominic Cummings going on holiday before lockdown 2.0 ends on December 2? John Lewis, Liverpool
Patrick (MetroTalk, Thu) says older people should quit blaming the young for spreading the virus but it’s a fact that under-35s spread it more than over-35s. He also says it’s older folk who have left the world in debt. It’s because
young people aspire to own luxury things (iPhones, flash cars) but don’t have the money to buy them. It seems to me this world is enjoyed by the younger folk and paid for by the old’uns.
Col Blake, Ealing
The government dropped a huge clanger at the outset of this virus. It should have said that we are all vulnerable to catching it.
What has happened now is there are millions of morons out there spreading this killer.
Clifford Greenhalgh, via email