Entertainment
Phillip Schofield firmly against extending lockdown: ‘Suicide is up, anxiety is through the roof and businesses are folding’
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Phillip Schofield slammed any suggestion the government should extend lockdown during a segment on Monday’s This Morning.
Ministers are said to be considering pushing back the final step of easing lockdown restrictions by two weeks, amid concerns over rising cases of the highly transmissible Delta – or Indian – variant.
Discussing the news that complete freedom – which the public was originally told would be from June 21 – could be pushed to July 5, Phillip shared his disappointment in the government’s potential verdict.
Julia Hartley-Brewer and Matthew Wright were guests on the show to discuss the potential change, who said the lengthening of lockdowns has been a political decision, not a medical one.
Even though Phillip has been a strong proponent of lockdowns, he debated whether extending the latest one was necessary when Covid cases are dropping and so many people are suffering mentally and financially.
‘It’s pretty hard to pin down what anyone’s thinking here, whether it’s Matt Hancock or Boris Johnson,’ the host said.
‘You saw businesses that spent a fortune on their Perspex screens and making their businesses safe and they got shut down anyway.
‘Why is it a political decision then? We can see as clear as day that deaths are thankfully down, we can see hospital admissions are flat, we can see it was all to protect the NHS but the NHS isn’t under pressure.’
Matthew explained that there were ‘political decisions very early on’ for the UK to not go into the first lockdown.
‘When other countries were going into lockdown those countries had a lot lower death rate than us. Every decision about Covid is political,’ he said.
Regardless, Phillip expressed concern for the negative effect multiple lockdowns have had on the public and wanted a clearer answer to his question.
‘If suicides are up, if anxiety is through the roof and businesses are folding, there’s a pub near me, that’s gone, then what political decision keeps that happening?’ the host questioned.
Matthew responded: ‘There are other countries who have carried on like normal because they made political decisions different from ours, stronger decisions some might argue, and we’re playing catch up.’
Step four of the Government’s road map out of lockdown would see all legal limits on social contact removed, with nightclubs allowed to reopen, while restrictions on performances, weddings and mass events would also be lifted.
When asked if ‘Freedom Day’ could go ahead in two weeks, Matt Hancock told Sky News: ‘It’s too early to make a final decision on that. The Prime Minister and I and the team will be looking at all the data over this week.
‘We’ve said that we’ll give people enough time ahead of the June 21 date.’
The Health Secretary will address Parliament this afternoon.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.
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