babu M
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- Mar 4, 2010
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ACCORDING to former Conservative Leader and now Tory peer, Lord William Hague, lockdown is a "disaster for our society."
Lord Hague’s reasoning is down to the fact the lockdown measures the UK has been experiencing will cause an “economic crisis” for hundreds of thousands of people. As unemployment figures are set to be released on Tuesday, Lord Hague wrote in The Telegraph about how lockdown was like Dunkirk, describing it as “a heroic operation, but the result of a massive failure”. The former foreign secretary also says the two-metre rule should now be scrapped and the “belated” quarantine policy abandoned to save the economy.
Lord Hague is clear in saying that there can be no “second lockdown” because of how dire the consequences have been.
Listing some of the societal issues the UK has faced during the pandemic, he talked about many facing depression, family breakdown and despair.
As well as undetected cancers, social tension, poverty, debt and missed education.
This is followed by advice for the government to swallow its pride and take the advice of Tony Blair by introducing mass testing for millions
The hope is that by doing that the government would avoid shutting down the economy any further if there is a second peak in the virus.
In his column, Lord Hague writes: “We now know that a lockdown is not a temporary blip or a paid holiday, but a disaster for our society. It is increasing inequality, social tension, and unaffordable debt.”
“Such a disaster cannot under any circumstances be repeated. There can be no second lockdown.”
He adds: “A lockdown is like Dunkirk – a heroic operation in itself but the result of a massive failure. I am not singling out the Government for that, for this has been a failure at multiple levels: a failure by the whole world to prevent the trading of wild animals for consumption; by China to report the initial outbreak openly; by our and many other countries to prepare for this type of pandemic.”
But he says the lockdown has allowed the UK to learn “crucial lessons” such as the vital importance of mass testing.
Lord Hague believes the Government could use the experience gained in other countries such as Denmark, France and Germany to scrap the two-metre rule.
He adds: “We can now see that it is not necessary to have a two-metre separation between people to keep the virus in a retreat where it is already at a low level.”
The hospitality industry has been pressuring the government this week to review the two-metre rule, as they’ve stressed the fact hundreds of thousands jobs rest on decisions being made this week.
Lord Hague insists that if the government don’t spend weeks agonising over the decision they may be able to save the hospitality sector.
His comments come amid rising tension in the Conservative Party over the Government’s handling of the crisis, with increasing numbers of Tory MPs urging Mr Johnson to reduce the 2m threshold in favour of alternative precautions such as the greater use of face masks.
The Office for National Statistics will on Tuesday released the first official figures showing how much unemployment has risen since the start of the pandemic, which is expected to show a record monthly rise in jobless numbers.
SOURCE:Coronavirus Warning: Lord Hague warns lockdown is a 'disaster for society'