Thread by @bobscartoons

A theory on the government's approach to herd immunity:

The scientific advisors understood from the beginning that herd immunity was essential as a way of coping with this new strain of flu.
However, the politicians understood very quickly that it would make them look bad.

As soon as the orthodoxy was established that all deaths from Covid were 'a tragedy' (but no other deaths mattered) and the concept of herd immunity was decried as evil by blue ticked celebrities, Johnson decided he couldn't be seen to intentionally implement the policy.

"What's the thing that will make me look as if I am most determined to avoid as many deaths as possible?" he probably asked Whitty. The answer was clearly a national lockdown.
During lockdown, the scientists were asked to come up with a way of getting herd immunity...

...without the public realising that's what was happening.
This was the plan:
1. Eat Out To Help Out: A bizarre strategy, supposedly to boost the hospitality sector, by offering a complicated meal deal. The true aim of which was to get us out of our houses and mixing with others.

But people were terrified because they had been bombarded for months by government and media fear propaganda. So...
2. Mandate face masks: The scientists knew that masks did nothing to stop the spread of the virus. In fact, they knew that masks probably made it worse. But...

...suddenly telling everyone to wear them (citing a couple of dubious studies they had just commissioned) made it LOOK as though the government really, really didn't want the virus spreading around. It also made most people feel like they were safe to leave their homes.

3. Go absolutely nuts with testing: By incessantly testing as many people as possible, the government were able to show cases rocketing and, crucially, act as though that was a bad thing. This cemented the idea that they definitely, absolutely were not going for herd immunity.

In fact, it was exactly what they wanted to see. Then they moved back into a process of locking everyone up again. Possibly because by this point, a lot of evidence suggested that confinement made no difference to the spread.

But, crucially, the 'optics' of lockdown still meant people thought the government were behaving in the kindest, most compassionate way.
None of this excuses the disgusting immorality of what they have done. It's just a possible explanation for the mad politics of it all.
End.

Just to add, this is simply a theory that developed in converation with a close friend about all this. I thought it was an interesting idea, worth sharing.
I'm not entirely convinced myself that this is what happened.
It could be one element of a much more complicated disaster.