Were they trying to scare us into complying

[Butterflyfluff]

I think it’s fair to say throughout this pandemic there has been a lot of instances where we’ve been told something in order to produce a predefined reaction

I’m thinking specifically about the mysteriously released details of further restrictions - these always seemed to me to just be to ‘soften us up’ as, when they were officially announced, we’d all got our heads round them even if we didn’t like them

I wonder now if all this talk of schools not going back until after Easter and hospitality not opening until after that is more of the same

Is it over exaggeration to get us to do all we can to slow the spread as most of us don’t want restrictions to last that long?

The numbers seem to be dropping off pretty quickly now so restrictions still being in place more than 2 months down the line seems extreme

Yes this is correct... Much like the terrifying new variant that will kill and extra 3 people per 1000 of over 60s.... Just when our numbers are dropping, vaccines are increasing and they are shitting themselves that we will get complacent.

Not saying they don't have a point but it is definitely their tactic.

But it's what will happen if people don't follow the rules. I think they are scare tactics because they could become a reality if people carry on in the way they have been.

There are far too many people approaching this as exaggerated which then gives them the 'reason' they were looking for to bend the rules. This then creates more of a problem.

There isn't really any getting away from the catastrophic consequences this virus is having, I'm not sure what the government would gain from telling us things that aren't true. They don't have anything to gain by keeping us locked up and making us panic, do they?

And they look lifted restrictions after the November lockdown after four weeks and the rates shot back up it's a fine balancing act .

Absolutely. It's exactly how it works.

My friend and I are having this discussion now. She believes schools will be back Easter the earliest. I think the Government will be pressurised into Feb as planned.

Because people are fucking idiots and seem to fail to understand. The numbers are reducing THANK GOD but until the general populace are vaccinated we need to hang fire on lisening restrictions. The government acted too late, now we are paying the price, along with families mourning their loved ones.

Of course they were. It's what governments do. Other politicians (e.g Tony Blair) have been subtler and more skilled with it; it's just so painfully transparent when done by Saint Boris and his merry men, because all the previous U-turns give him away. It's been discussed that they're deliberately underselling the vaccine, so that people don't fight over it, and so that they don't share murderous hugs when granny has been jabbed. New variant just as the R-number is below 1? How convenient. New variant just before Christmas? How convenient.

I'm sure that the government are having one last push at scaring everyone as much as they possibly can; I think they realise the tide is very slowly turning, people are starting to see through the spin and scaremongering, and they won't remain in obedience school much longer, while their mental health and businesses are collapsing around them, children's lives are being destroyed, and the smug wealthy politicians are saying "we know best, be good, stay safe, it's all your fault, nothing to look at with what we're doing, we're keep oppressing you until we get bored with this game, we'll keep throwing mixed messages at you to keep you confused and docile, next slide please." The fact that illegal parties are happening, and people are making long journeys like Dominic Cummings did may be a reflection of the public mood. The government are trying to deflect from this, demonising the rebels, but they won't be able to keep this up for ever. I feel heartened every time one of these is reported.

I'm sure that their plan B is to suddenly switch the gloomy narrative to "loooooooooooooooook! The vaccine is working!!!!!!!", if they think the public might stop meekly supporting lockdown.

Scare tactics are needed because some people are too stupid to do the right thing.

The government shared this fact with us right at the start early last year. Fear and social manipulation were publicly listed as means of getting people to comply. Why is anyone surprised that the government are still trying to use fear to control the population?

The government shared this fact with us right at the start early last year. Fear and social manipulation were publicly listed as means of getting people to comply. Why is anyone surprised that the government are still trying to use fear to control the population?

Agree. Except for when the PM's chief adviser broke the rules and everyone in the cabinet not only failed to condemn him, but actually praised him as doing the right thing.

Yet 2 women driving a few miles for a socially distant walk with a picnic coffee are fined. How can they expect us to take this seriously when they are so shit at applying the law?

Another thing that i dont like is my local police force are always shaming people on SM for.breaking the rules. Fair enough they may have. Broken the rules but for the police to actually put out posts on Twitter saying that people travelled x miles to.do y inviting comments about "covidiots". Is that really what we have become as a society? Maybe we should get the stocks back in the town centres

The government said at the beginning that they consulted with behavioral scientists so I agree that their actions are to illicit certain responses from the public.

Yes they're ramping up the fear factor. Has anyone heard the (now retracted) radio ad claiming that joggers are "highly likely" to have covid 19 and saying "if you bend the rules, people will die". Not to mention the "look in my eyes" advert campaign. It's disgusting.

@wanderings great post & well said!

@ChocOrange1

Yes they're ramping up the fear factor. Has anyone heard the (now retracted) radio ad claiming that joggers are "highly likely" to have covid 19 and saying "if you bend the rules, people will die". Not to mention the "look in my eyes" advert campaign. It's disgusting.

It really is

The government said at the beginning that they consulted with behavioral scientists so I agree that their actions are to illicit certain responses from the public.

I think this pisses me off more than anything else - I don’t like being ‘played’

I'm really upset with the TV adverts including the covid miasma one with the green clouds floating everywhere and the look into their eyes advert. I mean, we can't advertise Macdonalds incase it makes kids obese but we can scare the life out of them instead?

Of course they were trying to scare us. The government are skilled enough to take us with them by being honest. They’d rather raise the odd eyebrow and make the odd throwaway remark here that suggests we’re all going to die.

That should be aren’t skilled enough.....

Or the horror of the South African variant which has been confirmed to have infected 77 people.

@CloudPop

Or the horror of the South African variant which has been confirmed to have infected 77 people.

At the start of the pandemic in this country, there was an awful lot of cynical eyerolling at the 'overreaction' and 'fearmongering' about coronavirus, because it had only infected a handful of people in the UK by then. Look where we ended up just a few weeks later. If we wait until there are lots and lots of cases of the SA strain, before we think it's worth worrying about, we'll be leaving it much too late.

@marshmallowfluffy

The government said at the beginning that they consulted with behavioral scientists so I agree that their actions are to illicit certain responses from the public.

I find the most terrifying part of the whole thing the blind acceptance of such large swathes of the public without even the merest hint of critical thinking

Throughout this pandemic, it’s dawned on me just how easy it is to manipulate and coerce a population, who are (judging by what’s seen on here as an example) only too happy to jump on any dissenting voices as ‘covidiots’ and do the governments bidding for them.
It’s also exposed just how biased our media are and how much of a government agenda they are happy to profligate without any degree of balance

Not a particularly comfortable state of affairs imo

I find the most terrifying part of the whole thing the blind acceptance of such large swathes of the public without even the merest hint of critical thinking

I hate this kind of sneering attitude to those of us who have chosen to comply @Undisclosedlocation

No one I know is "blindly accepting". My family, my close friends (and me of course) looked at the facts and chose to stick to the rules as it made sense to do so. Not because we were stupid sheep.

Yes and it's been working an absolute treat, despite the fact that as PP said, they haven't exactly tried to keep it a secret.