We must see the bigger picture and not rely solely on one body’s advice

If asked how to cut deaths on the road it is entirely conceivable that Public Health England would suggest banning all vehicles. While its job is solely to focus on public health outcomes, the job of politicians is to listen and then add in a balanced view of everything else, pointing out that though it may be that a vehicle ban will cut road deaths, the damage to livelihoods, the economy and our freedoms cannot justify it.

Unfortunately, throughout the coronavirus nightmare, politicians have been guilty of a dereliction of that basic duty. Instead of listening to the one-dimensional approach of PHE and scientists and then factoring in all the competing consequences, the Government has just ploughed on, unquestioningly accepting the blinkered public health view without taking into account the other effects.

The result has been devastating. Figures from the Office for National Statistics estimate that the lockdowns and anti-covid measures will lead to the deaths of 200,000 of us in the mediumto-long term due to missed treatments, under-diagnosis, loss of jobs and tax revenue, and general economic damage, with disadvantaged people suffering most. Bristol University puts the figure as high as 560,000.

When lockdown began in March, I launched a Blue Collar Conservatism podcast to chronicle the effects of Covid and ran it until September. I interviewed people on an array of issues from care homes to children’s nurseries, high street businesses to online businesses and spoke to students, teachers, police, the military and nurses on Covid wards. A picture emerged even then of a section of society I’ll call “the overlooked” as the scientists’ focus narrowed on the Covid condition and “flattening the curve”.

In Parliament, I hold a position on the Panel of Chairs, meaning I get called upon to chair debates in Westminster Hall, which gives me a unique view of what’s happening in the country as I hear MPS raise matters of concerns to their constituents.

With increasing regularity, I’ve been hearing harrowing accounts of “the overlooked” – the cruel separation of families, the spiralling death rate from dementia (up 52 per cent from January to July), the 25 million lost GP appointments, the 19 million lost dental appointments, the million jobs lost so far. Research by Forgotten, a group representing 2.9 million businesses, shows 93 per cent of them don’t think they will be around in March 2021.

Earlier this week I chaired a debate on the collapse of charitable donations, more specifically the shortfall of £7.8 billion for medical research and development expected between now and 2027, and its long term impact. This has happened as lockdown has closed charity shops and stopped fundraising as people cannot gather. This debate took place the day after we celebrated scientists from Oxford University creating a vaccine.

So, as we prepare to go into another form of lockdown, one can only hope that MPS who vote on this next week will look at the issues in the round. I hope they look at the areas most affected and ask how can that serve the country and what does it do to the levelling-up agenda?

Let’s learn the lessons of this year. We know far more about Covid now. We must look at the bigger picture, at the impact of these restrictions and ensure the cure is not worse than the virus.