No room for delay

Whenever politicians say they are keeping a policy under review, they usually mean that they don’t want to take a decision. This is especially true when the evidence for making that decision is already available, but it is a hard call to make. So it is with the two-metre rule for social distancing. The Government says this is now “formally” under review, yet it will not be concluded until July. Why on earth not? As the Prime Minister observed yesterday, the virus has been so suppressed that the chances of meeting someone carrying it are remote; so why the delay?

The importance of ending this burden on businesses, schools and the travel industry was underscored by the Chancellor yesterday. He conceded that unless the economy gets moving, millions of jobs will be lost. Today, all retail shops can reopen after a three-month shutdown and desperately need the customers, who are constrained from visiting both by a fear of going out and the two-metre distance requirement.

The UK is almost unique in the world in enforcing this rule, apparently because our scientists will not give the Government the clearance to change it. The advisers are bound to tell ministers that a bigger distance is “safer”, as experts must have told governments overseas. But whereas they have opted for lesser distances, we persist with two metres.

This is causing problems everywhere. Schools cannot reopen. Shops have to reconfigure their premises. Bars, cafés, restaurants and the rest are to be allowed to reopen on July 4. But they need to know the outcome of this review well before that date because they need to assess their likely viability. They deserve better than this dither.