Think Tanks
 Printable version
|
Every delay “adds to human and economic cost” of lockdown, says IEA expert
Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs and author of the recent briefing paper Liberty after the Lockdown, responded to Boris Johnson’s announcement on Sunday evening.
“Is the policy to manage the virus or eradicate it? Does the government have a plan or is it stalling for time? Every delay adds to the human and economic cost of lockdown.
“Mr Johnson is still not being straight with the British people. The original strategy sought a balance between controlling the outbreak with protecting people’s livelihoods and liberty. There are worrying signs that the government has now been swayed by the most hysterical voices in the commentariat towards seeking to avoid the death of anyone of any age at any cost.
“The absence of the NHS from the new slogan is a tacit admission that the crisis used to justify the lockdown has passed. Having granted itself extraordinary draconian powers on the pretext of an emergency, the government shows little sign of relinquishing them.
“As the lockdown begins to kill more people than the virus and the economy suffers the biggest hangover in history, keeping tens of millions of healthy people in a form of quarantine will become dangerously unsustainable.”
Notes to Editors
For media enquiries please contact Emily Carver, Media Manager: 07540770774.
Liberty after the Lockdown is available to download from the IEA website
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.
The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
