Do you think ‘Freedom Day’ should be delayed?

The government faces a difficult choice in the next few days.

Ministers are considering delaying the final stage of the road map out of lockdown following jittery warnings from scientists about the spread of the Indian variant.

Some are pushing for restrictions to remain in place until as late as the start of English school holidays on 23rd July.

Many people are desperate to see the return to normality promised by the final stage of the government’s roadmap to lifting lockdown.

But ministers always said 21st June was not set in stone – and could be affected by changes in the pandemic, including the emergence of new variants.

It would seem that all politicians have differing views on our exit from restrictions and it’s a tough balance weighing up the science vs the coninued negative impact on the economy.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday there was a “challenging decision” to be made over the further lifting of Covid restrictions on 21st June.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has said any delay to England’s road map for easing lockdown would only be for a couple of weeks owing to the success of the vaccination programme.

Mr Hunt, who chairs the Health and Social Care Committee, said he was “feeling quite optimistic that we are going to see the restrictions lifted” as “being double-jabbed” works against the Delta variant of coronavirus first identified in India.

“So, if Freedom Day ends up being put back a couple of weeks so we can get more people double-jabbed, I think it will only be a temporary setback,” he told Times Radio.

If you were in charge of making the final decision, what would you do?