New health chief seen pushing against UK lockdown

Newly appointed British Health Minister Sajid Javid is expected to lead calls for the ending of lockdown as soon as possible because of fears of the economic impact of continuing to enforce some measures to restrict the spread of the coronavirus.

Javid previously served in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Cabinet as chancellor of the exchequer, before stepping down from the post shortly before the pandemic hit. He returned to frontline politics at the weekend when he replaced Matt Hancock, who resigned because of the outcry over his affair with a work colleague, breaking lockdown rules.

Javid was due to make his first statement in his new role on Monday evening, and according to an unnamed source quoted in The Daily Telegraph, he is "a real lockdown skeptic. He's convinced that in a few years' time, with the economic costs so high, everyone will be thinking 'Why the hell did we do that?' The tilt in the Cabinet has just shifted quite considerably."

It is claimed his opposition is not purely based on economic grounds. Previously, he has spoken of his concern that lockdown has damaging social costs, with knock-on effects for problems such as domestic abuse and even extremism.

Significant problems

Johnson's roadmap out of lockdown, announced earlier in the year, had earmarked June 21 as the day when all restrictions would be lifted. But with the Delta variant in particular continuing to cause significant problems, that date has been put back to July 19, which Johnson has cautiously referred to as a "terminus point".

In the run-up to the 2016 Brexit referendum, Javid, who was then secretary of state for business and industry, published an article on his own website, since deleted, entitled "The only thing leaving the European Union guarantees is a lost decade for British business", only to then serve as chancellor in Johnson's Brexit-backing government.

A similar about-turn on the subject of lockdown, however, seems unlikely. When he arrived at his new ministry on Sunday, Javid said: "We are still in a pandemic, and I want to see that come to an end as soon as possible and that will be my most immediate priority to see that we can return to normal as soon and as quickly as possible."

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today program, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, the umbrella group representing National Health Services in England, pleaded with Javid to be a "voice of caution" in Cabinet, to ensure the health service is not put under any more pressure.

"The number of cases in hospital are rising. We have to keep a careful eye on it," he said.

"It's not just the number of patients, but it's the impact on hospitals in having to take precautions in relation to the infectious nature of the disease."