Britain’s curtain twitchers will save the lockdown

As lockdown marches towards its sixth week, the vast majority of Brits are digging deep, staying home and trying to make the best of the circumstances. Not every democracy with a strong tradition of liberty is complying in the same way: witness the anti-lockdown protests in the USA. In fact, our government seems to have been taken by surprise at the extent of the British people’s compliance with the restrictions on our freedoms.

Of course, there are always exceptions, but I think that the UK has two inbuilt advantages when it comes to the effectiveness of the coronavirus lockdown. They are the National Health Service and the British ‘national character’.

The NHS provides us with an army of world-class, dedicated, compassionate professionals, risking their own wellbeing to care for others. NHS care is free at the point of use and, as a state provider, the NHS can be deployed directly by the government in the fight against the virus.