To: Keir Starmer (Labour Leader) and all members of the NEC
This CLP/Branch notes that:
- the Tory government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has already led to more than 100,000 deaths – one of the highest per capita death tolls in the world – plus many suffering with virus-related long term health problems;
- this has resulted in the UK experiencing the deepest economic recession for any major economy;
- countries that have adopted a ‘Zero Covid’ strategy – such as New Zealand, Vietnam, Australia and China – have the lowest death tolls and suffered the least economic contractions due to the pandemic.
We believe that:
- the Tories’ approach which allows the virus to spread (‘herd immunity’/’living with the virus’) is responsible for this disaster – the evidence indicates it is not possible to live safely with this virus;
- Britain urgently needs to adopt a ‘Zero Covid’ strategy, to stop the situation deteriorating even further and more deadly mutations arising;
- such a strategy requires a serious lockdown – not the partial lockdowns introduced by the Tories. All non-essential workplaces, nurseries, schools, colleges and universities need to be closed, the test, track, trace and isolate system should be completely overhauled so that it works, full economic support provided to everyone affected and border controls/quarantine measures need to be introduced that are capable of halting the spread of new cases arriving from abroad;
- the lockdown should only be lifted when the level of new infections has been suppressed to the point where the virus can be eliminated – any earlier will simply result in the virus spreading again, many more dying and further economic damage;
- vaccinations play a part in suppressing the virus, but are not sufficient on their own to eliminate it;
- suppressing the virus is a necessary precondition for economic recovery.
We call on our Party Leader to campaign for such a ‘Zero Covid’ strategy and to stop supporting the Tory government’s disastrous policies on this pandemic.
Email addresses for Keir Starmer and NEC members can be found here:-
https://www.clpd.org.uk/resource/nec-members-and-contact-details/
For Further information
Independent Sage: https://www.independentsage.org
Zero Covid Coalition: https://zerocovidnow.org
Articles/Statements
Independent Sage – A Better Way To Go – Towards A Zero Covid UK – 7/7/2020
Richard Horton, The Lancet – The case for No-COVID – 30/1/2021
Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs statement – For A Zero Covid Strategy – 9/9/2020
