22nd October, 2021 – The Social Democratic Party (SDP) opposes calls by the British Medical Association (BMA) for the government to introduce its ‘Plan B’ pandemic measures which include mandatory face coverings, vaccine passports and increased home working.
Such measures would inflict substantial damage to Britain’s economy, social fabric, and public health despite deaths and hospitalisations from Covid-19 being largely non-existent. Rising cases within a largely vaccinated population do not justify restrictions, as the link between cases and fatalities has been substantially weakened.
As the government’s official figures show, the daily death rate from Covid-19 has not risen above 200 since March. The current rise in cases represents a wave of largely asymptomatic infections. Simply put, any strain the health service comes under from flu and Covid-19 would solely be due to incompetence and under-provisioning on the part of the NHS and the government.
The NHS exists to serve the British people, not the other way around. It is unreasonable to set Britain on the path to routine seasonal restrictions for the sake of a health service that is chronically unable to meet the basic goal of protecting the nation’s public health.
“If the BMA’s advice were taken, we’d be making the same mistakes as in previous lockdowns,” says SDP Leader William Clouston. “It’s understandable that doctors wish to protect the NHS as we approach winter, but the government’s job is to assess the wider costs of such restrictions and to the impact on our embedded rights and freedoms. The vaccinations have provided a huge degree of protection to the public. It makes no sense at all to back track now – we need to go forward and take the win.”