Consequences

I'm getting a bit confused by all these people who maintain the lockdowns have resulted in an explosion of cancer cases because people were unable to get appointments, and hence lockdowns themselves were to blame, proving the were a bad idea.

I do wish they'd explain their logic, as I can't see any - unless I'm missing something. I agree that if we'd had earlier lockdowns the NHS would not have been so overwhelmed, leaving capacity for cancer referral appointments, but it's the severity and length of the lockdowns, which in turn was due to them being late, that caused the problem in the first place.

Had there been no lockdowns at all, despite rising cases and deaths, then the situation would have been infinitely worse, not better, as the NHS would have been overwhelmed for longer and to a higher degree. The lockdowns were a consequence of Covid and the cancer timebomb is a consequence of the quite necessary lockdowns caused by Covid.

On top of that, had there been no lockdowns at all, people would still have not visited their GPs for fear of catching Covid at the surgery or in hospital. If anything, the lockdowns, albeit late, improved referrals compared to the alternative.

The only instance in which lockdowns themselves would be the cause is when lockdowns are unnecessary due to very low or zero case numbers that are stable and an R number of less than 1. That happens at the end of a pandemic, not the start of a spread where the growth of cases is exponential and you can't afford to take risks about the unknown.

I'm also somewhat pissed off with all these people flocking to amber travel areas. 

The government's first responsibility, in exchange for my vote, is to protect me and my property - which is why we have laws against murder and theft - yet they say we shouldn't travel to amber areas while simultaneously making it possible, with no consequences if you do. The excuse is that it's simply advice and people should use their common sense. 

Well, in that case the laws against robbing banks and homes or murder should perhaps be changed to mere advice with no consequences - people can just use their common sense. The courts and police would be relived of an enormous burden to the taxpayer and prisons could be emptied.

How about speed limits? They could also be changed to advice, with drivers urged to use their common sense. Similarly, why bother with customs and immigration controls - just advise people not to smuggle or enter the country illegally and use their common sense. 

Whole swathes of government could be scrapped and replaced with much cheaper advisory bodies telling us to simply use our common sense. If people insist on continuing to murder, steal, speed, smuggle or enter the country illegally - well, they're just not using their common sense.

The purpose of rules and consequences is to protect you from idiots and psychopaths - and anti-lockdowners who don't believe Covid is dangerous to many and is spread by proximity.