We must take Covid variants like Omicron seriously, but the cycle of panicked, last-minute rules cannot continue
Throughout Britain’s Covid emergency, the public have overwhelmingly supported drastic but necessary measures to combat the virus – even at the cost of their personal freedom. As the Alpha variant threatened to cripple the NHS in January, 85% of people supported lockdown – as near universal as you are likely to achieve in a democratic society – with only 11% opposed, and of those just over half opposed strongly.
From the beginning, the prevailing criticism among the electorate has been that Boris Johnson’s administration has been too slow and soft in reacting: in the first weeks of the crisis, two-thirds believed it should have acted faster.
Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist
