Local lockdowns by stealth – it is all looking rather chaotic
A big problem with bringing in new lockdowns is that so many people are now vaccinated and don’t feel the same risk or believe that they could be spreaders.
The major fact needs to be repeated that in terms of hospitalisations the pandemic has just about been stopped.
I live in one of the affected areas and my reading is that it is going to be very difficult to impose and maintain travel bans on a voluntary basis. Many people don’t see the point especially as they were just getting their lives back together again.
An issue for ministers is that confidence in them has hardly been helped by the manner in which the new lockdown news came out. It appeared and still appears to be shambolic. You don’t slip out what is a major announcement by a post on a government website before a weekend without the associated publicity that would be normal. It appeared as though ministers were not totally convinced about what was happening.
My guess is that the next YouGov poll will have the Tory lead somewhat down on the 18% of last week.