Now Is The Time To Plan

SAGE (The World Health Organisation's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts) has made recommendations which the Government is not fully implementing. Sir Keir Starmer opposes the Government’s approach yet also seeks to only partially implement SAGE’s advice.

The latest data from PHE (Public Health England) continues to show only 3% of new infections come from hospitality venues yet they are being forced to close. The majority of infections come from the workplace, schools and universities. The Prime Minister has the difficult job of controlling the spread of the virus whilst trying to support the economy. The biggest killer for business and the economy is the inability to plan. This then feeds down to employees, the unemployed and soon to be unemployed, sadly hitting the financially weaker members of society even harder.

To fully embrace SAGE’s advice and support the economy and health of society the Government should implement a nationwide two-week circuit breaker now and every three months until the virus is under control. These lockdowns should include schools & universities and will naturally run in line with normal academic holidays. Outside of these lockdowns all businesses should be allowed to open at all times (no more unsubstantiated 10pm curfew rules) subject to them actively implementing COVID-secure policies, with management responsible for enforcement.

This clear plan of action would enable businesses and people to plan, with businesses fully operating for 85% of the year (44 out of 52 weeks). Knowing there will be a two-week lockdown every three months is substantially cheaper and easier to implement than short-notice ad hoc closures. This will give significantly more job security than at present, where the rules strongly incentivise making redundancies and cutting back where possible as opposed to growth planning.

This follows SAGE’s advice as the strongest way to limit the spread of the virus and is a politically astute move as it also supports the economy, jobs, and the health and wellbeing of the population.

This letter was sent to my MP, Lucy Frazer, on Monday 19th October 2020

This article was updated slightly on Monday 26th October 2020