Do any of arch-lockdowners regret it?

[Refractory]

Just that really.

I haven’t really been on MN since 2020 because I found the near complete support for lockdown far too upsetting.

the lockdowners in my life seem to not think about it much. For them, it’s just over.

with hindsight do you wish you’d been more sceptical?

would love a civil conversation about this.

I broke a few rules in lockdown, but I was in support of it at the time. I worked in an office throughout it, didn't wfh because I did it for a few days and hated it. Now, I cannot believe we all went along with it. Queues outside supermarkets, swerving people when out walking, tables and chairs distanced in pubs. It was crazy. Never again. I've never had Covid btw.

Covid was a different virus to flu, more similar to SARS and MARS. But it’s not a flu virus. I don’t know why people think it’s the same - other than similar symptoms.

It was also a new virus. So it was unknown how people would react, or how it could mutate initially.

Code for “I was wrong but i feel too stupid to admit it so I’ll just throw in the word conspiracy theorist to make myself better”

This pretty much sums it up for me. We can't change the past.

Besides all those people who died eh?

I now understand why people 50 years ago used to say ‘don’t talk about the war!’

I've just remembered another reason lockdown was quite nice. Everyone near me discovered the use of their legs and started walking. I caught up with so many people out and about. One friend was amazed it was only a mile to town and they could walk it 🙄.

I don't regret it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing so it's easy to say things should have been done differently now.

If it should happen again, I imagine things would be done differently.

Let me just point out though, I fully understand that lockdowns has been the cause of some massive issues regarding mental health (DD has OCD & PTSD, luckily her psych team went to remote sessions which were vital to maintain her mental health).

It’s criminal that we have slashed the funding for mental health services when we absolutely needed to increase them post pandemic. I am incensed by the government’s behaviour over the pandemic, the ‘let the bodies pile high’, the parties, the sheer contempt they have showed us, whilst all the time throttling the money CAMHS & adult mental health needed, and still needs.

Utter bastards.

I followed the rules. It was, in the grand scheme of things, a relatively short time.
Life has moved on now.

God help some of you people if you’d been around in the War!

Agree with this.

I’m no fan of the Tories but in fairness they were dealing with the unknown and they did the best they could. The lockdowns, while unpleasant for some, undoubtedly saved lives.

I can’t understand why some people are still obsessively (with the benefit of hindsight) picking over life and death decisions made under immense pressure. It really is time to move on with your lives now.

I would have respected the need for lockdown more if:

1. The government had done it early, kept it short, and did it only once.
2. The government made an exit plan. "We've locked down; the plebs are suitably terrified, they will hang on our every word. Oh, the national debt is going to increase very rapidly indeed: what do we do now?!"
3. The government admitted at the very start that lockdowns would cause massive damage, and showed regret for this damage: the closest we got to that was the phrase "with a heavy heart". So far, there has not been a shred of remorse or regret from the government about lockdown damage, resulting suicides, small businesses destroyed, or from the "opposition" who clamoured for more lockdown; now, they will have to deal with lockdown fallout, while not mentioning it.
4. The government admitted that they could not control the virus, they could only lessen the harms. The increasing desperation to be "seen to do something" is what led to increasingly absurd measures, such as telling the public not to buy Easter eggs.
5. The government treated the public like adults, instead of preaching and moralising as if to five-year-olds, and saying "do as I say, not as I do".
6. The government had not used fear porn to "control" the public. By their own admission, they did this deliberately.
7. Partygate was of course terrible, but I think it distracted from the real issue: massive lockdown damage. Maybe the revelation of Partygate was a good thing: it proved that the government did not believe their own hype. Without Partygate, we might have had a fourth, fifth or sixth lockdown by now.

Other people will feel that vague disease warnings are now just part of the wallpaper. This. There is a constant drip-drip from the media that disaster is always just around the corner. This is why it was so hard to take any of the covid stuff seriously, because the media is constantly crying wolf. I've been sceptical of "disasters" peddled by the government and the media for a long time. We are constantly being fed fear porn, only the government didn't bother with subtlety in 2020. I haven't forgotten other campaigns of fear over the years:

1. England will be gridlocked by people "flocking" to see the eclipse, in 1999. (Remember remember how the covidiots were "flocking" to beaches in 2020?)
2. The Millennium Bug will wipe everything out.
3. Terrorists are around every corner.
4. Paedophiles are around every corner.
5. Your mobile phone is frying your brain.
6. Weapons of mass destruction, so we must lock down go to war.
7. More recently, Starmergeddon. The fear of this has echoes of "terrible things will happen if you vote for plank of wood Starmer", and even on Mumsnet some of the threads have this vibe. Yes, I know, Starmer wanted more lockdown: but Boris Johnson's recent speech was like a more hysterical version of how he might have done the covid briefings without his script. "If you want to kill granny, be my guest, and give her a good hug this Christmas, we need to reduce the population anyway, we pay out too much in pensions."

The government and the media need to learn the lesson of the boy who cried wolf. Fear porn should be used sparingly, otherwise it loses its effectiveness.

"Lockdown is over, what's done is done."
No it isn't, as far as I am concerned. The massive precedent has been set. The observations of how much people can be terrified into obedience have been noted by behavioural scientists all over the world. The threat of future lockdown is still silently there, waiting in the wings. Notice that the smiling politicians setting out their stalls for today are agreeing about one thing: "Whatever you do, don't mention lockdown". Partygate meant that this government could not so easily call lockdown again; the next government will not have this stigma. Sooner or later, the public will forget the horror of lockdown. (I won't - I will remember it for ever.) The inquiry looks set to conclude "We should have locked down harder, faster, longer, and we will next time." Any mentions of the damage lockdowns caused to children's education and mental health are being shushed as quickly as a child saying "mummy, why does that man only have one leg?". Certain billionaires keep letting slip mentions of "the next pandemic" with great certainty. As far as I am concerned, lockdown will only be "over" when politicians admit to the massive damage lockdowns caused, admit that lockdown and fear porn was a political choice, and stop blaming it on "the pandemic". My only hope is that there will be a seismic shift when this generation of children who were so badly treated by lockdown grows up, and says "never again".

Yes, my thoughts exactly!

This was not a war against an enemy we could see, the virus was not human. It was not the same. The use of that analogy is similar to the bullying phrases used during the lockdown.

Couldn't disagree more.

Of course we need to dwell on it. We actually need to thoroughly research it.

So typical someone comes on here starts potentially upsetting thread and doesn't bother commenting again. Don't engage!

I always thought it was a bit pointless for a few reasons really.

1. We’re an island, had we done what New Zealand did and immediately closed our borders then everyone could have been out and about normally. Instead, people were allowed to come and go singing Happy Birthday 🙄
2. Because essential workers had to go out to work, it made it even more pointless because they would surely have been bringing virus’s back to their families.
3. Being able to go out once a day also made it pointless. Were we suddenly free from the lurgy for 60 mins?

However, I still followed the rules…

It didn’t really need hindsight just not bowling over anyone who raised the damage at the time

Not you in particular but generally and definitely on here

We broke the rules, except for the first lockdown. Next time I’ll follow no rules, in fact I’ll go to a country that is less strict . I feel we were blackmailed into the vaccines. I’m very pro vaccines.

Arguments that we shouldn't rake it up are very silly.

That set of lockdowns may be over, but the impact of them certainly isn't. It'll be felt for a very, very long time. The rise in childhood obesity that it caused could be affecting that age group for the rest of their lives, for example.

And then also, there are going to be more pandemics. We'll need to decide whether we want lockdown to be a permanent part of the toolkit or not.

Working in the NHS I saw first hand the difference lockdown made pre vaccines.

That’s the trouble - unless you actually saw the impact of course you’d see it as a minimum a massive inconvenience (and granted it had other more negative impacts on others). But really and truly, having been in the thick of the London waves, we were falling over. My friend is a mortuary manager - they are still traumatised and having therapy around what they dealt with. They’re definitely not the same as they were. So in terms of keeping the NHS going, I totally saw the point.

Agreed with lockdown and would lockdown again if a future pandemic happened

Speaking from a purely personal point of view.
I am self employed, I managed to keep a small contract to do from home, I was able to claim a payment from the government as well, because my previous taxation showed that I had indeed been impacted by lock down. It was enough to get by.
We had the most glorious weather here, and I have a garden, a seafront and parks near by. My Boris walks were a bonus that I did not get in when I was hard at work.
I got to know my elderly neighbours because I had a phone check with them daily, and picked up the odd bit of shopping.
I was on the government testing scheme, and I had Covid 3 times. I was totally unaware of this. I was symptom free, I followed the rules, and I am glad I did, I only hope I did not infect anyone.
I fully understand for others it was hell on earth, but for me personally, no I do not regret lock down.

What is an "arch lockdowner"?

I assumed it's someone who followed all the lockdown rules themselves, stayed home etc, but reading other replies it feels like people have some other description in mind.

Someone who was abusive to others?

I think it's important to differentiate between those who simply followed the then guidance and rules, believing they were doing the right thing and those who were aggressive and insulting to others.

I was not sceptical of the lockdowns or the decisions they made, they were far better qualified and informed than I was.
For us, even though we've all had COVID a few times and we lost my best friend to Cancer during 2020, Lockdown was one of the best years we've had. Early morning walks, home schooling, playing in the garden when school work was completed (usually by 11am!), all this meant I had 2 very relaxed, chilled kids (9 turning 10 and 7 turning 8 at the time) who absolutely thrived emotionally and educationally.
Honestly? I there are days I wish we could go back to it minus the pandemic.

I work in further education so I see the damage it has done for a lot of young people in every aspect every day but it really was a magic time for my family.