Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2025

Ex-Supreme Court judge says UK must learn to live alongside Covid-19

Ex-Supreme Court judge says UK must learn to live alongside Covid-19

Lord Jonathan Sumption, who is also a medieval historian, wrote an article in which he said: 'Our ancestors lived with far worse epidemic diseases without rushing to put their heads in a bag'. Lord Sumption believes that Sweden's approach of no lockdown would be better . He notes the spike in cases in countries who have lifted lockdowns recently.
Ex-Supreme Court judge Lord Jonathan Sumption today called on Britain to learn to live alongside Covid-19 because 'there have been far worse diseases'.

Lord Jonathan, who is also a medieval historian, praised Sweden's approach to the pandemic, after the nation bucked the global trend and opted against a lockdown.

In his piece for The Telegraph, he said Sweden had a 'substantially lower' death rate than Britain — but admitted it was 'fashionable' to rubbish its approach.

Official figures show Sweden has suffered 564.4 coronavirus deaths for every million people. In comparison, the rate in the UK is 674.06.

He wrote: 'Their hospitals were never overwhelmed. They never closed their schools. The predicted damage to their economy is about half of ours.'

Writing that 'we cannot keep running away', he added: 'Our ancestors lived with far worse epidemic diseases without rushing to put their heads in a bag.'

Lord Sumption discussed how the Government was forced into lockdown on March 23 by a report from former government adviser Neil Ferguson.

The epidemiologist was nicknamed 'Professor Lockdown' for his grim modelling that predicted 510,000 coronavirus deaths in the 'worst-case scenario'.

Professor Ferguson quit his role on SAGE in May after admitting to breaking his own lockdown rules to allow his mistress to stay at his home.

His Imperial College London team's report added that a lockdown would only work if it was kept in place until there was a vaccine, Lord Sumption noted.

Otherwise the coronavirus — scientifically known as SARS-CoV-2 — would inevitably return, most likely even stronger than before.

Lord Sumption added the report noted aggressive isolation policies 'merely push all transmission to the period after they are lifted'.

This has been seen in countries which have recently lifted lockdowns, with a spike in cases seen in nations such as Spain, Germany, Japan and Hong Kong.

Lord Sumption, last year's BBC Reith Lecturer, believes there were only three options the Government could have taken in terms of lockdown.

These were: No lockdown, indefinite lockdown or lockdown for long enough for NHS intensive care capacity to catch up.

He added that intensive care units seemed to catch up with capacity within a month so the Government's decision to lift lockdown in June was 'six to eight weeks after it had lost any justification even by its own logic'.

And he went on to say that he believes the Government seems to be suggesting that the 'R-number' can be kept below one with social distancing alone, rather than a lockdown.

The R number, or reproduction number, refers to how many people an infectious person spreads the virus to. If it is higher than one, then the number of cases increases exponentially.

Lord Sumption added that if the Government is correct in that belief then the nation could have stuck with strict social distancing measures in March, rather than opting for a lockdown.

He went on to discuss how the UK should go about leaving lockdown and how social distancing should continue indefinitely until a vaccine has been created.

He wrote: 'Our whole transport infrastructure, the buildings in which we work, play and eat out, depend on our being close together.

'We have surrendered our liberty to the virus. Are we to surrender our humanity as well?'

He believes that the only reason the UK and Europe were hit so hard by coronavirus is because of a 'false sense of security'.

While diseases such as Mers, Sars, Ebola, Zika, Asian flu, Hong Kong flu, H1N1 and HIV, all happened in the last 20 years, they barely touched Europe.

He adds that a major UK pandemic was at the top of the National Risk Register since it was published in 2008.

It estimated that a new strain of flu could cause between 50,000 and 750,000 deaths in the UK.

While Lord Sumption admits that Covid-19 is a serious disease, he puts it 'at the bottom end of the scale' when it comes to historical diseases.

He wrote: 'For some people, social distancing will remain a sensible precaution. The rest of us should respect their choice but drop it and get on with out lives.

'We cannot keep running away.'
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×