Britain now needs hope and courage

Britain is slowly getting back to its old self. Businesses have either reopened or have a date for doing so; travel restrictions are lifting. Discrepancies remain, such as advice against cruises or bizarre guidance that says a beautician can trim a beard but not pluck an eyebrow, and it is still a national scandal that so many schools are shut. Nevertheless, the Government is shifting from telling us what we can’t do towards encouraging us to do what we can – a spirit encapsulated in Rishi Sunak’s bold mini-budget – and the good news is that the number of cases has fallen, suggesting that easing the lockdown has not precipitated a second wave.

Some still insist we are going too far, too soon, but the country has to move forward and it absolutely cannot return to the deep freeze of the past few months. We are going to have to learn to live with Covid-19. The UK would not be alone in reaching that conclusion: this week, Jean Castex, the new prime minister of France, described the economic and human consequences of the lockdown in his own country as “disastrous” and said that France’s economy is predicted to shrink by nine per cent this year.

Avoiding another devastating lockdown requires a balance between tracing and controlling the spread of the virus while encouraging the economy to adapt to its existence and reopen as widely as possible. That means a three-pronged strategy, starting with public education. Ultimately, it is down to the individual to evaluate risk for themselves – to decide when it’s safe to go to the office, the gym or meet family – and the state must support that assessment with solid, reliable information. What is the rate of infection in my area? What are the risks of taking a train to work? Let people act upon their own common sense.

Second, the Government has to put in place the structures necessary to keep the country on top of the pandemic. Again, there is good news in this direction. The role of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) is being slimmed down, perhaps to focus on long-term issues such as coping with winter; the Joint Biosecurity Centre will pick up where Sage left off, potentially allowing ministers to take direct control of the virus response. Test and trace remains imperfect; it’s not far off its target, however, of reaching 80 per cent of contacts. And the NHS is building capacity for second spikes.

That said, the Government needs to make sure that by the time schools do return in the autumn, the entire public sector is fully operational; that officials are working from the same script, transport is better managed, unions have woken up to their responsibilities to the public and the machinery of state is functioning as efficiently as possible.

Third, the task now of scientists is to find answers to the known unknowns of coronavirus. Is there asymptomatic transmission? What is the role of children in spreading the virus? And does having antibodies mean someone is immune? In which case, how widespread is that immunity? Rather than involving scientists in rules about weddings or sharing changing rooms, these are the kind of questions that have profound implications for how we manage the disease, and therefore they should be the main priority.

Comparisons have been invited between this Government and the New Deal administration of Franklin D Roosevelt, which – despite its many deficiencies – undoubtedly combined a rejuvenation of government machinery with a can-do spirit that held the United States together during the Great Depression. Roosevelt famously said that the only thing his nation had to fear was fear itself, and while the threats of economic collapse and a deadly disease are worth worrying about as well, there is truth in the warning that despair is dangerous, even deadly.

Britain needs hope and courage. It needs the public sector, private enterprise and the scientific community to work together not just to control Covid-19 but to try to crack it.

The country has to move forward and it absolutely cannot return to the deep freeze of the past few months