The return to lockdown
What the editorials said
A second national lockdown was imposed on England this week, to avert what the Prime Minister described as a “medical and moral disaster” for the NHS. Pubs, restaurants, gyms and non-essential shops are to remain closed for four weeks, and there are strict curbs on travel and socialising. Unlike in spring, the Government has insisted that schools, colleges and universities will stay open. In a bid to mitigate the economic impact, the furlough scheme is being extended through November: and this time the self-employed can also claim support worth 80% of their profits. Many
MPs in Boris Johnson’s own party opposed the measures, but MPs nonetheless voted in support of the plan by a majority of 516-38.
By contrast, Wales’s devolved government – which two weeks ago introduced a “firebreak” lockdown – said that rules on household mixing would be relaxed from Monday. In Scotland, a new five-tier system of restrictions came into force this week.
“Better late than never,” said The Independent. Johnson was first urged by the Government’s Sage group to adopt stricter restrictions in September, but resisted as he “thought it was more important to keep the economy going”. And when, on 13 October, Labour’s Keir Starmer called for a two-week circuit-breaker lockdown, he was called an “opportunist”, insisting such a policy would be “disastrous” for the country. Now, he has finally caved in, unveiling a raft of new measures at a delayed press conference on Saturday, hours after the plans were leaked to newspapers. The PM is once again asking us to make extraordinary sacrifices, said The Times. His challenge now is to “make sure that the sacrifice is worth it”.
Balancing health and wealth is difficult, said the Daily Mail. Yet the economic fallout from this lockdown – the countless businesses wrecked, the millions who could lose their jobs, the “looming epidemic of poverty” – could kill at least as many as the virus will. This depressing development risks inflicting untold damage, agreed The Sunday Telegraph. The PM has a tough task managing the virus; but this time, he has made entirely the wrong call.