The merest hint of a Covid setback and out they come – the merchants of doom.
They are all followers of the authoritarian Left, including politically-motivated scientists and Labour opportunists. These people are desperate to shut down British life.
The Omicron variant may be less harmful than the Delta strain. This is despite the fact that there are almost no cases of Omicron in the UK.
Yesterday’s calls were led by Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon, both leaders of the Scottish and Welsh Nationalist Movements.
Omicron was present in South Africa since a while, but there have been no increases in deaths.
These zealots still demand a return to draconian restrictions – despite the hideous collateral damage they would cause to the health and wealth of this country.
Calls were made yesterday by Mark Drakeford, Nicola Sturgeon, and Welsh leaders for the Nationalist Party.
In contrast with Boris Johnson’s sensible and proportionate measures, they want an eight-day quarantine for everyone coming into the country (a hammer blow to the beleaguered travel industry), a return to working from home (a hammer blow to the hospitality sector) and – inevitably – another taxpayer handout for more furlough.
If they threw in compulsory social distancing and internal travel restrictions, we’d be all the way back to spring 2020.
This isn’t 2020. The vaccine rollout has been successful, as well as Covid treatments that have reduced the number of deaths to only a small fraction of what was previously possible.
Boris Johnson at a press conference, after Omicron cases were confirmed in Britain last week
We have also seen the crippling damage lockdown does to children’s education, to mental health, to the NHS and the economy.
Mister Drakeford and Miss Sturgeon may feel comfortable with unlimited restrictions. However, many people do not.
The people want all the liberties they had pre-pandemic, to be restored in their entirety and permanently for their families, particularly for their children.
However, there are signs of school disruptions that could be more alarming. Already, teachers unions call for universal mask-wearing as well as the return of student bubbles.
Meanwhile, ministers say all children (and adults) who come into contact with an Omicron case must isolate for ten days – even if they test negative for the virus.
This risks recreating the summer ‘pingdemic’ madness, when a million healthy pupils had to stay off school because of over-enthusiastic test and trace rules. They must be looked after this time.
Omicron is available. It may present a serious risk, but the evidence so far suggests it won’t.
What’s certain is that there will be other strains in the future, most relatively harmless.
We will cause irreparable harm to the country and the economy, if we panic lockdown every time there is a new arrival.
Green jobs dividend
You may recall those grim predictions about Brexit leading to a massive exodus for multi-nationals. Or was it just a slogan about levelling up?
Both of those myths were disproved by two announcements made yesterday. Nissan is building its new £13billion electric car plant in Sunderland and BP is to create a vast green hydrogen facility on Teesside.
The companies could choose to be located anywhere they wanted for their clean-energy initiatives.
Nissan is building its new £13billion electric car plant in Sunderland
That they chose the UK is a huge vote of confidence in this country’s workforce and our economic future.
The fact that they chose to live in the North East industrial area shows how levelling up is more than just a pipe dream.
Both are oil producers and car manufacturers.
They should be part of the solution.