Government must put their trust in the British people as they plan to unlock the lockdown
Faced with a set of unprecedented challenges, the government have done brilliantly to focus on getting the Coronavirus pandemic under control.
They’ve done well but that’s not to say that it has got everything right. For example, who understands the decision to allow some 15,000 people, to walk through every day without testing or quarantine at our ports and airports? This cannot be right particularly as many seem now to be coming in to do seasonal work when 1.4 million British people have had to sign on for benefits and are available to do that work.
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Yet on the vital decision, the government has been right that these weeks in lockdown, to support our brilliant frontline staff in the NHS, will get COVID 19 under control. Yet people are now asking as we extend lockdown, when we will we get the economy started again?
Sadly, instead of answering this question, it seems to raise alarms bells in government, worrying that the public will suddenly assume that the lockdown is over and return to the streets.
However, I believe they are wrong. Notice how the lockdown has already led to a significant change in behaviour by the British public, taking politicians and advisors by surprise. People have stuck to the lockdown so well that is working better than was expected. I therefore believe firmly that we must not now treat the British public like children. They are quite capable of understanding the difference between the need to continue the lockdown and plans to lift it.
That’s why we need to make plans. A proposal by two eminent economists, Ormerod and Lyons has laid out a way to get the UK economy up and running, controlled like a red, amber and green traffic light and sector by sector. They show that getting the economy going is as much about lives as about business and that people’s positive behaviour should now form the basis of the exit strategy decisions.
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The public has got it; they know that it is still all about how people influence others and not just about whether they catch the virus themselves. But businesses need to plan, people need to prepare and those planning transport need to understand how to get going again. None of this happens overnight.
The British people put their trust in the government during this pandemic, now the government must put their trust in the British people as they plan to unlock the lockdown.
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