WHEN even the professional pessimists at Sage think a Covid prediction is too gloomy, you’re on a sticky wicket.
Yet that’s the situation doctors’ trade union the BMA finds itself in, after urging extra Covid restrictions to prevent an apocalyptic winter for the NHS.
Instead, the Government’s science advisers Sage argue that vaccines mean a return to January’s hospitalisation levels is “highly unlikely”.
They expect daily admissions to peak at just a quarter of those in the second wave — still too high but not near enough to justify a damaging semi-lockdown.
Perhaps the BMA — if they can spare a moment from planning petulant strikes — could look at Israel, where the booster jab rollout has already swiftly hacked the legs from under Covid’s resurgence.
Top-up vaccinations are the key to keeping a lid on Covid here too, so yet again we are indebted to our readers for heeding our call this week to put rocket boosters under the rollout.
In the 48 hours after our front-page rallying cry on Wednesday, booster bookings leapt to nearly half a million.
Keep up the good work, and we can jab through the Covid wall, freedoms intact.
Gruel to be kind
NEWS that Rishi Sunak’s ministerial colleagues can expect “plain porridge” from next week’s Budget is a relief.
Why? Because after unparallelled spending to nurse the UK through the pandemic, the Chancellor has to be the grown-up in the room.
It is simply unsustainable to be spending as if there is no tomorrow while we are £2.2TRILLION in debt and rising.
That’s especially the case given our run of historically low interest rates looks to be nearing the end, which could jack up the cost of servicing that debt.
The usual suspects — Labour, lobby groups and the BBC — will scream blue murder at the first sign of financial prudence, as they always do, but Rishi must know being popular isn’t a prerequisite of his job.
Having the courage to act in the best long-term interests of the economy is.
Choud dare he
ANJEM Choudary has never shown any squeamishness when it comes to talking about other people getting killed.
So the cowardly hate cleric has some nerve in whining about death threats he receives on social media.
He even lies that laws to rein in online hate are only for non-Muslims.
Our laws exist to protect all citizens from harm, regardless of religion. That even applies to fiends such as Choudary.
To prove it, we urge anyone threatening this terrorism cheerleader to cease.
And Choudary?
He might at least spare us the sickening self-pity.
