Don’t play political games with city, PM | Cheer for football fans

(Christian Adams)

Don’t play political games with city, PM

Newspapers are always calling for transparency. There is an element of self-interest — we report the news and this requires some level of openness (or carelessness) from the Government.

But transparency also plays an important role in the effectiveness of policy. Research shows that people who perceive government decision-making to be transparent are more likely to view it as fair and more willing to accept the final decision. T

The Government should bear this in mind as it introduces the latest system of tiered restrictions in England. The public deserves to know the metrics by which entry into the new tiers will be underpinned. If their community is placed in Tier 3, the Government must be able to say why.

There can be no space for opacity or decisions taken behind closed doors for political gain, rather than based on data and people-first decision-making.

So a message to the Prime Minister — do not play political games with the lives and livelihoods of Londoners. We went into lockdown 2 for spurious reasons.

Do not keep our city in effective lockdown just to appease parts of the North. Decisions of life and death — for people and businesses — must be taken on the basis of scientific data, on a map of infection rather than a map of constituencies.

There is a broader lesson here. The greatest threat not only to our Covid exit strategy but our system of government is the erosion of public confidence in our institutions. And not just that the public stops trusting government but that government stops trusting the public.

At no stage during this pandemic have we played down the difficulty inherent in many of the decisions facing the Government. But when the choice is between different versions of bad, the best thing ministers can do is focus on clarity, data and proper communication.

Any Prime Minister who now puts his career first will — and should — pay a heavy price later.

Cheer for football fans

For many football fans, the announcement that up to 4,000 people will be allowed back into football stadiums when lockdown ends on December 2 is second in good news only to the development of a Covid-19 vaccine.

It is also a huge relief for small clubs, which are reliant on gate receipts in order to stay afloat. We have long called to get fans back into stadiums where it was safe to do so as part of our Bring Back The Fans campaign, fronted by the great Ian Wright.

The Arsenal legend spoke to us after the announcement about his excitement and the hope that it will bring to millions.

To be safe, clubs must now work out logistics around toilets, ticketing and turnstiles — logistics that may be prohibitively costly. Sadly, it will also not be an option for clubs in areas placed in Tier 3.

But it is an opportunity to start proving that clubs can get larger crowds back in stadiums, even if there may be no singing or chanting officially permitted.

Football is not, as former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly remarked, more important than life or death. But it is a venue for escapism, to cheer your team and be part of something bigger than oneself.

Let’s hope it is not long before our stadiums are open once again.