As economic reality hits, the folly of a nationwide lockdown is laid bare

sir – The true folly of lockdown is now hitting home; it was clearly motivated by panic on the part of the Prime Minister.

The Tories have destroyed the very reason for their existence – a strong economy. Recovery will be long and hard, as people are now so scared, and so work-shy, that it will be years before normality returns.

FP Forbes

Eastbourne, East Sussex

sir – Given the damage this pandemic is doing to the economy and welfare of the country, will there ever come a point at which the measures to eliminate the virus become more painful than the virus itself?

Stephen Rees-jones

Dulverton, Somerset

sir – I am a chubby white bloke in his early 70s with a mild disability. I feel appalled and guilty that the economy and the prospects of people much younger than me are being needlessly damaged. Come on, Boris, be bold: rigorously safeguard old people’s homes, and trust my generation and vulnerable people to take the necessary precautions – assisted by mandatory, regular testing.

Jonathan Rush

Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire

sir – It is undoubtedly a mistake to engender conflict between young and old, since all of us will suffer the economic and health consequences of a rising infection rate. The only way to prevent this is renewed vigilance, and avoidance by politicians of policy based on false optimism rather than realism.

Allowing the young to acquire herd immunity, although it may have seemed an attractive option earlier in the pandemic, is not now tenable because, inconveniently, a significant proportion of symptomatic infections – even among the young – are proving to result in long-term health consequences.

Dr David Shoesmith

York sir – In the Government’s approach to this crisis, balanced consideration of the overall national interest seems to have been subordinated to – or perhaps even ousted by – two questionable criteria. These are, first, to avoid – or at least minimise – any adverse public response; and, secondly, to ensure that, when the inevitable happens, politicians can shift any blame on to others.

Thus, for example, ministers claim merely to be “following the science” – which effectively amounts to saying: “We are not responsible (unless the ‘science’ succeeds, in which case we will hog the credit).”

A similar principle applies to the pledge to “Protect the NHS”. There are many good, and in the present instance brave, individuals in the health service – but the NHS should be judged as an organisation. As such it has shown itself to be inefficient while consuming huge sums of public money.

Andrew Newcombe QC

Combe Down, Somerset