Rishi Sunak might have opposed lockdowns but we should still be following the science on Covid
Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold. Rishi Sunak, loyal chancellor throughout the pandemic, has waited until now to voice his resentment about the Covid-19 lockdowns, and reveal his opposition to them in cabinet. He says that the Covid emergency “empowered the scientists” – as if it was a bad thing to have medics and epidemiologists guiding policymaking during a once-in-a-century pandemic with an unfamiliar but potentially deadly microorganism.
Funnily enough, this opposition was expressed at the very same cabinet meetings when Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, apparently also made her doubts clear. The prime minister, Boris Johnson was also reluctant, according to reports. One might wonder how the lockdowns came to happen. The policy, publicly pursued so enthusiastically at the time, seems to have had remarkably few friends then, and even fewer now.
Mr Sunak goes so far as to suggest the advertising campaigns were designed to “scare people”, though the novel coronavirus didn’t need much assistance in causing widespread anxiety. Ms Truss has suggested, rashly, that there will be no more lockdowns. Either she can foresee the evolution of the virus, or she is ruling out a “last resort” public health measure that will save lives if a more infective and more dangerous coronavirus variant emerges.
