Opinion: ‘Lockdown - I wish I had been wrong’

Councillor Shaz Nawaz, Labour Group leader on Peterborough City Council writes:
Peterborough during lockdown.Peterborough during lockdown.
Peterborough during lockdown.

A second lockdown is in place.

I wish I had been wrong.

I wish it hadn’t been necessary. This second lockdown is a product of tragedy: more people getting the coronavirus, more people being admitted to hospital, more people dying, more empty spaces that loved ones once had filled.

I share the frustrations of my party’s leader; if only the government had embraced the idea of a circuit break lockdown rather than derided Sir Keir (pictured), then perhaps we wouldn’t be in this situation. There is no satisfaction to be found in the Conservative Government having embraced Labour’s policy, only regret, and a demand that the government do better in future.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Our local MP is in an unusual position; when my previous column calling for a “circuit break” was published, he criticised it as being unnecessary. Well, now his own leader disagrees with him. What does that say about the representation we have here?

Our local council also is in a peculiar way: we suggested that Peterborough vie to become a City of Culture. The council duly copied our proposal to create a culture hub. We called for our city to become a “leading digital city” for both transport and digital technology including creating an innovation hub; what do we find? This idea too has been lifted and shifted to appear as if it belongs to the Conservatives.

We are approaching the end of the first year in office of this Conservative Government. It’s worth asking: what is it for? What are its ideas? And how well is it doing?

We can see they only have one idea, which is Brexit. For good or ill, this process will reach its conclusion in January. But beyond that, they appear unable to come up with suggestions of their own: when the coronavirus hit, the government seemed pulled hither and yon by tabloid headlines. If the public was fearful, it felt that it could embrace a full lockdown. When the restrictions were loosened, anyone who sounded a note of caution was called a naysayer. Then when the grim calculus of the disease became too much to ignore, they picked up Labour’s policy, except they implemented it when its costs were far higher.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Our local administration is just as tired. This was evident in their recent “happy talk” about a café culture, even though we were just about to enter the dark days of autumn. For the record, I support a café culture, so long as it is implemented properly and in a holistic manner. We need to invest in all areas of our city, not just the city centre.

We have an MP who does as he is told, toes the party line, and refuses to engage in independent thinking even when it is in the interests of the city. The mathematics of the pandemic were obvious to all: they did not belong to Labour alone. Why didn’t he ring the alarm bell and shout that we needed a change of policy on a circuit break before it was too late? If he was so forward thinking about the future of Peterborough, why is it that he can only adopt policies which others have previously proposed?

A day will come when the coronavirus will be contained; I think, however, this period’s record will be etched into the memory of the nation. When it came down to it, the times called for bravery and ideas, and the Conservatives were found wanting. I suspect the electorate will remember. I suspect also that when faced next with a choice between a genuine article and an imitator, that they will vote for the former.