Robert Peston Robert Peston

Three questions that will determine Boris’s next lockdown steps

Getty images

Here are the outstanding questions to be taken by the Prime Minister and the coronavirus strategy committee he chairs (CS) today about how far lockdown will be eased on 4 July and thereafter.

First, on socialising inside where we live; will we be allowed to meet with anyone we like indoors in groups of up to half a dozen, or will we be restricted to socialising with a single family or household of our choice with whom we would form a long-term ‘bubble’?

This is a choice between a rule more likely to be actually followed, namely the permission to mix with whomever we like so long as there are no more than six of us, versus a rule that the scientists believe is more likely to reduce the risk that the rate of viral transmission will increase dangerously again.

To put this in a nutshell, if the British people are now largely in a mindset to bend whatever rule is being set – and post the Barnard Castle eye test, they probably are – is it better to have a rule that is intrinsically more likely to limit viral transmission, than one that starts off being risky-ish and becomes very risky when bent?

If that is how Boris Johnson frames the decision, and I would expect it will be, then he will go for the two-household bubble.

Robert Peston
Written by
Robert Peston
Robert Peston is Political Editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show Peston. His articles originally appeared on his ITV News blog.

Topics in this article

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in