Mixed messages aren’t helping nation already scared out of its wits
The confusion around the Government’s coronavirus messaging was perfectly illustrated by two Cabinet ministers buying their breakfast at Pret A Manger on Tuesday.
When Liz Truss, the International Trade Secretary, emerged from the sandwich shop wearing a mask – but Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, came out with his face uncovered – it showed that the ever-changing rules were flummoxing even those running the country.
Today Boris Johnson is expected to give another landmark speech urging the nation to get back to work after the Governor of the Bank of England warned people’s “fear” of commuting was “holding back the country”.
Yet with Downing Street continuing to emit mixed messages about what the public should and should not do – and millions of workers still on furlough until October – some are starting to question the directions on the Prime Minister’s latest road map.
Mr Johnson’s concern that the economy is not recovering as quickly as hoped has been echoed by Andrew
Bailey, the Bank of England chief, who told Tory MPS on Wednesday he was shocked by deserted city centres such as central London. But with the latest official guidance, issued on July 10, still advising businesses and workplaces to “make every reasonable effort to enable working from home as a first option,” is it really any wonder the capital is so empty?
Page 11 of the “Working Safely During Coronavirus” guidance clearly states that “everyone should work from home, unless they cannot work from home”, while the message remains that public transport should only be used for “essential” journeys.
The Prime Minister is expected to loosen the guidance on both today – but some Tories fear it may be too little too late. As one veteran Conservative put it: “The Government is guilty now of having scared the public so much that they are now completely irrational about Covid-19.”
A survey yesterday found that 65 per cent of Britons would still not feel comfortable commuting to work via public transport. The poll by Roadmender Asphalt found 69 per cent would rather cycle or drive, while 35 per cent believe working in a traditional office environment will have a negative impact on their mental health. Ministers have already expressed concern that car usage is currently only at around 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels despite public transport running well below capacity. Even though face coverings have been mandatory on public transport since July 15, rail usage remains at 16 per cent while bus usage is at 31 per cent.
The confusion over masks has proved problematic not only for the public but politicians. Ministers in the Department of Health were left exasperated on Wednesday when Matt Hancock said people should be wearing a face covering in places such as Pret – only for the Government to contradict the Health Secretary by insisting you didn’t need to wear a mask to buy a sandwich.
The official guidance has now been updated to say that, besides mandatory use in shops and supermarkets from July 24, people are now “strongly encouraged to wear a face covering in other enclosed public spaces where social distancing may be difficult and where you come into contact with people you do not normally meet”. But many are questioning why the Government is waiting another seven days before making masks mandatory – having originally concluded face coverings offer little protection to either the wearer or others. If people are forced to wear masks in shops from next Friday, why is it OK not to wear them today? The new rule has been designed to encourage people back into the shops but Desmond Swayne, the Tory MP for New Forest West, said it was actively putting his constituents off returning to the high street.
Face coverings are one of the “mitigations” that form part of the Government’s new “one metre plus” distancing rule but that too has sparked bewilderment with some businesses still following the two metre rule. “One metre plus” was intended to get cafés, bars and restaurants up and running – along with Rishi Sunak’s “eat out to help out” scheme of giving people 50 per cent off meals from Mondays to Wednesdays in August.
Yet with Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s own Chief Scientific Adviser, having just commissioned a major report suggesting the UK must prepare for a second wave now or risk 120,000 deaths this winter, it may need more than a Bogof deal to entice people to finally abandon the “Stay At Home” message. Some Tories are furious about the “reasonable worst case scenario” report. One MP raged: “Bad science has panicked everybody. The Government is going to struggle to get everyone back to work unless it pulls the furlough money. When people are being paid to stay at home, why on earth would they go into the office?” Most parents with children
‘The Government is guilty now of having scared the public so much that they are completely irrational about Covid-19’
‘With schools closed, there’s absolutely no way we could get all the staff back into the office. It’s impossible’
cannot “return to work” until September at the earliest, even if they wanted to.
Adrian Bryant, who runs ADM Computing, which employs about 80 people in Kent, said some of his employees had been left with childcare commitments when retail reopened and partners went back to work. “With schools closed ... there’s absolutely no way we could get all the staff back into the office. It’s impossible.”
Little wonder, then, that employers are reporting a significant number of workers requesting flexible working.
Research by the Chartered Institute of Personal Development yesterday found that almost two in five (37 per cent) of employees will be working from home on a regular basis once the crisis is over, compared to just a fifth (18 per cent) who did so before lockdown.
Mr Hancock has suggested the right to work from home could be more strongly enshrined in law as a result of the pandemic having demonstrated how successful mass home-working could be.
Yet today we expect the PM to say precisely the opposite, once again highlighting the mass of contradictions faced by the British public as it strives to go back to a normal that no longer exists.