Three years on, there is a new generation of lockdown sceptics – and they’re rewriting history | Richard Seymour

Now academics on the left have joined the anti-lockdown chorus. Yet their Covid theories rely on a travesty of the factsWas the pain worth it? Between March 2020 and March 2021, the UK hadthree national lockdowns. The goal was to control the spread of Covid-19. Essential businesses were closed, as were schools and universities, and “stay at home” orders meant families and friends were often kept apart. At the time, the government was unenthusiastic about lockdown and many Tories opposed it. Lord Sumption, for example, insisted that if it weren’t for lockdown, people could have “a perfectly normal life. ”Now a new chorus of lockdown sceptics includes people who position themselves on the left, such as the historianToby Green and his colleagueThomas Fazi. They have joined the ranks of the Tory right in saying that the public, which strongly supported lockdown and even wanted to gofurther andfaster than the government did, were misled by an apocalyptic campaign by medical professionals overstating the benefits and understating the costs of lockdown.Richard Seymour is a political activist and author; his latest book is The Twittering MachineContinue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Coronavirus Health Infectious diseases Science Society World news UK news Politics Source Type: news