Comment
Why is it that just as we unlock there is - yet again - a new reason to be cautious?
The vaccines seem to work against the Indian variant, so why the hysteria?
17 May 2021 • 11:59am
The British people have stoically shivered through this wintry spring, clinging on to the hope of an indoor pint today, and even to the prospect of being allowed to meet more than 6 people inside from 21 June. Then, right on cue, as if following the playbook of the conspiracy theorists, just as the re-opening reaches these milestones, a new variant appears, from India this time, provoking calls from the government’s scientific advisers to pause the roadmap journey and maintain restrictions. The prime minister warned that the new variant could cause serious disruption to plans for further lifting of restrictions.
International leisure travel is still banned from the UK – and the prime minister has said he cannot guarantee that overseas holidays will open up from 17 May, as originally mooted. The government says it hopes people will be able to travel to and from the UK to take a summer holiday this year, “but it is still too soon to know what is possible”. Ministers advise people “not to book summer holidays abroad until the picture is clearer”. With just.