DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Don’t bow to the high priests of lockdown
To all our readers longing for glad tidings at Christmas, Wednesday was truly a day of hope.
Four British studies concluded that Omicron was far milder than Delta… vaccines were well capable of warding it off… and sufferers were highly unlikely to need hospital treatment.
This research was bolstered by data from South Africa, suggesting the variant had already peaked there with no serious effect on hospitalisations or fatalities.
A day of celebration and relief? Not to the perpetual naysayers, for whom the flood of positivity barely registered.
They certainly have little respect for Boris Johnson, or sympathy with the immensely difficult burden he bears. They just want to see him fall
BBC news programmes, for example, gave the studies a grudging welcome – before bringing out a stream of Jeremiahs to say they couldn’t be trusted.
(To be fair, they were right to be cautious about the UK Health Security Agency claim that Omicron was 50 per cent less severe than Delta. The figure was revised up yesterday to an even better 70 per cent.)
These pessimists focus relentlessly on high infection rates rather than the mildness of the variant, and warn the NHS could still be overwhelmed.
As always, broadcasters wallow in this gloomy narrative. So often, they side reflexively with the authoritarian Left, and anyone opposed to plunging the country back into crippling purdah is accused of wanton irresponsibility.
It feels as if they would revel in an explosion in hospitalisations and deaths for which the Government would be blamed.
They certainly have little respect for Boris Johnson, or sympathy with the immensely difficult burden he bears. They just want to see him fall.
Yet, for all the mistakes and self-inflicted wounds, Mr Johnson has handled this pandemic far better than he’s given credit for – certainly better than the EU.
He deserves great credit for the vaccine miracle, and his Government’s employment support strategy has resulted in our having the strongest growth in the G7.
He was also entirely right to delay bringing in draconian Omicron restrictions recommended by scientists until more was known. There are good indications now that they won’t be necessary.
By contrast, Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford have saddled Scotland and Wales with new lockdown measures – just as the data points to the variant being manageable without them.
Heaven knows what price the devolved economies will pay for their reckless haste. But of course they know they’ll always be bailed out by Westminster.
The Government must turn a deaf ear to the drumbeat of doom. Curbs and lockdowns bring incalculable harm.
They should only be countenanced as a last resort – not, as the alarmists would like, the default position at the emergence of every new Covid strain.
Stick to the Tory way
With energy bills set to rise by 50 per cent in the spring, a profound cost of living crisis is hurtling down the track.
At the same time as families are hit with a £60 a month increase for light and heat, the steep National Insurance rise also kicks in.
At the same time as families are hit with a £60 a month increase for light and heat, the steep National Insurance rise also kicks in
High inflation will probably bring interest and mortgage rate rises. And a little further off, corporation tax hikes will hit jobs.
The Conservative way – and the best way – to help families and businesses through this squeeze would be to lower taxes. For all our sakes, let’s hope the PM rediscovers his Tory instincts.
Spare a thought for the Queen on her first Christmas since the death of her beloved husband – her ‘strength and stay’. She will no doubt bear the grievous loss with customary stoicism, but the day will inevitably be tinged with deep sadness. To her, and all our readers, we send our very best Christmas wishes.
Source: Read Full Article
