Local lockdowns must be explained
Britain’s local lockdowns are spreading confusion and resentment. From tomorrow, new restrictions come into effect in Liverpool City Region, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough. The leader of Knowsley Council in Merseyside has asked if they go far enough. The metro-mayor of Liverpool City worried they were a “Hotel California”: once in them, you never leave. And the mayor of Middlesbrough, Andy Preston, said a ban on mixing indoors in businesses betrayed a “monstrous lack of communication and ignorance”. He says he is prepared to defy it.
The patchwork of lockdowns is now absurdly complex: on Tuesday, even the Prime Minster struggled to explain new rules in the North East. As well as the national rule of six, there will now be seven local regimes, on top of the variations between devolved nations. One of our readers reports that they own a second home in Conwy, which they cannot visit, but if they rented a holiday cottage in Anglesey, they could drive past their second home on their way there.
The Government would say that if things appear convoluted, that’s because the spread of the coronavirus is uneven and it is trying to balance disease control with keeping as much of society going as possible. Under such an analysis, it is inevitable that we will face niggling trade-offs: if schools are to stay open, for example, pubs must stop serving by 10pm, and restrictions will tighten wherever Covid spikes. But the trigger for local measures has been unclear, and the scientific rationale behind the measures often mysterious. Why is it a rule of six – not five, or seven?
The Government threatens to get tough if people disobey, but does it not grasp that popular consent is undermined by measures being hard to follow, arbitrary and poorly explained? A three-tier coding system – traffic lights, in effect – is expected to be announced next week, promising some muchneeded clarity, but we still need to understand motivation, and actions must have real legitimacy. Mr Preston insists that many of his local businesses have made themselves safe already: is the Government listening to local advice?
This Wednesday, MPS won the right to have a say in the national rules, which is a sensible step forward – but the local level is where the real inconsistencies lie. Parliament should operate greater scrutiny over that, too.