He’s got a point folks
Good Morning Britain co-host Piers Morgan has questioned the wisdom of lifting lockdown restrictions for the Christmas period after the same wasn’t done for other religious festivals in the United Kingdom.
Morgan’s comments came on Wednesday’s edition of the ITV morning show, during which he responded to reports that Downing Street was considering relaxing lockdown rules over Christmas to allow people to see family and friends.
More than two weeks into the second national lockdown, Tuesday saw the confirmation of 598 coronavirus deaths in a 24-hour period; the highest daily death toll since May.
Morgan’s passionate statement came after he read a comment from a viewer who said that there would likely be “five days of utter madness just because it’s Christmas – we had lockdown for other religious festivals”.
'I don't think the entire health of the nation should rest on whether we can gorge on turkey for a couple of days. We have to be selfless.'@piersmorgan asks why the country should be allowed to gather for Xmas when restrictions were not lifted for other religious festivals. pic.twitter.com/W2VEmW7GPh
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) November 18, 2020
“Yes we did actually,” he replied. “Why should the christians get it easier? Seriously, why should we? Why should we be the ones that have to have our festival saved when we didn’t do that for other religious festivals in the last few weeks?”
It was then pointed out by Susanna Reid that Diwali, which is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, took place during lockdown last weekend. Morgan responded, saying: “It’s a good question. We’re all in this together, or we’re not.
“I don’t think the entire health of the nation should rest on whether we can gorge together on turkey for a couple of days. Because personally, I think we have to be slightly selfless about this.”
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, business secretary Alok Sharma has said it is “too early” to say whether restrictions could be eased for Christmas:
“I want to have my mum and dad around, I want to have members of my family around that Christmas table.
“I just think it’s too early to be reaching any conclusions on that. What none of us knows right now is what the infection rate is going to be in different parts of the country… As we get to 2 December the government will set out more details.”
