No soundbite for every lockdown scenario

Sir, – We have learned in the last few days that even at a time of national crisis the four countries of the UK can pull apart and there is seemingly very little anyone can do about it.

Up to now, the public response to the coronavirus has been disciplined, resolute and impressive.

The measures taken seemed to be working, but at the moment of maximum danger, the consensus has fallen apart.

Most commentators acknowledge that going into lockdown will be much easier than coming out of it.

We can see now this is true, and then some.

But the claims by many that the messages are now confused are difficult to fathom.

It is not the general public who are screaming they are confused, but a whole range of political activists, commentators and opposition politicians.

Anyone who has witnessed the social media storm of the past few days will be concerned about the general levels of stupidity apparent among our political commentators.

They need to understand this.

There is no simple soundbite available for gradually relaxing the current lockdown, getting different people in different geographic locations, occupations and risk categories to do different things at different speeds according to their individual circumstances.

No spin doctor could come up with such a slogan. But this is what is required of us.

It will be apparent to anyone paying attention that people have already started to break out.

We see it in public spaces in England, but it is also happening in rural areas of Scotland like Highland Perthshire where we suddenly have the queues again at local supermarkets from people arriving from out of town. The reality is that people are rebelling, and we need to recognise that and release a bit of pressure.

I feel that replacing “Stay at Home” with something along the lines of “Be careful when you are out” is entirely appropriate.

I would agree that “Stay alert” does not convey the message we need, but just when I was thinking the first minister might be right about this, she informs us that we should “remain vigilant”. This is the politics of hair splitting and small differences.

When this is all over, constitutional reform within the United Kingdom is inevitable.

There needs to be restraint on power at all levels, because if this can happen in regards to health, then we could see similar confusion in many other areas as well.

The reality at present is that Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland have areas of high incidence of the virus, and huge areas where it is barely present at all. The situation is the same only different for everyone.

Victor Clements. Mamie’s Cottage, Aberfeldy.