The liberty of millions sacrificed to stop the Government looking bad
sir – The second lockdown is not about protecting the NHS, it is about justifying the forced removal of millions of people’s liberty in order to prevent them from becoming fatality statistics that could negatively reflect on the Government’s ability to manage the crisis.
Our freedom is considered a very low priority when weighed against the Government’s need to protect itself. Neil Mckenzie
Windermere, Cumbria
sir – Never mind that contracting the virus is not a death sentence; never mind that acting as if it is results in the ruination of countless livelihoods; never mind the incalculable psychological damage inflicted on our society; never mind the devastating and long-term damage to the economy; never mind that lockdown merely delays the chance of contracting the virus rather than avoiding it altogether; the one important thing is that this Christmas has been saved. Possibly.
Philip J Ashe
Leeds, West Yorkshire
sir – If people’s livelihoods are sacrificed, what kind of Christmas will they celebrate?
Lord Shinkwin
London SW1
sir – I have written off Christmas and pray we can save Easter.
Gordon Moser
Barkingside, Essex
sir – Here in rural Suffolk, our Covid rate is a seventh of the highest in England, according to the latest figures.
Whatever the reasons for this statistic, why is it that, here, we will have to endure an unnecessary lockdown when the previous regional tier system was far more appropriate and effective?
Our local economy and personal well-being will suffer over the next month, without justification.
Peter Kievenaar
Chelsworth, Suffolk
sir – My elder brother died aged 83, the longest-lived male member of my
family. I am 79. I might be lucky and exceed his age, but very possibly I might not.
Owing to the restrictions of government lockdowns since March, I have lost perhaps a quarter of the life remaining to me. I would rather take my chances with the virus. It kills less than 1 per cent of those it infects, but old people disproportionately.
I think that most of my elderly friends would rather enjoy what life is left than isolate themselves.
To those who say it is an unpleasant disease, I would say: tell me of a pleasant one. We all have to die of something.
Nicholas Wightwick
Rossett, Denbighshire
sir – Sir Graham Brady and a large proportion of the population have failed to grasp the severity of Covid in the United Kingdom. There is much talk of loss of freedoms, but we, the world, are in this together. It is beholden on all of us to do as we are asked by the combined wisdom of our public-health experts.
Every government is trying to balance too many spinning plates at once. There will never be a definitive approach at any one moment. Boris
Johnson is doing what he thinks best in an impossible situation. And my favourite paper should be behind him.
In New Zealand, where I am a British expatriate, we did as we were asked – freedom or otherwise. We’re not complacent, but, for now, it has worked. If the British remain belligerent there won’t just be a PPE shortage – there won’t be enough hand-carts to go round either.
David Conroy
Christchurch, New Zealand
sir – The treatment is worse than the disease. Time to stop the treatment. Jamie Buchanan FRCS Sedlescombe, East Sussex
sir – Many things in the lockdown rules may irritate the innocent, but banning golf – a harmless, lifeaffirming, solo, outdoor and healthy pursuit – must take the biscuit. I can go for a walk, but not with a stick and ball. Frank Rooney
Stocksfield, Northumberland
sir – I have an urgent business meeting in Stockholm on Friday. I may be some time.
Graham Low
Malpas, Cheshire