MIKE HILL: Don’t let lockdown ease lead to a false sense of security

Anne Marie Plas, from South London, says she was overwhelmed by public support for the Thursday ritual, but it is better to stop it when it was at “its peak” and that she shared some of the opinions that some people have about it becoming politicised.

She said: “I think the narrative is starting to change and I don’t want the clap to be negative.”

The Dominic Cummings debacle, which has raged throughout the week, shows how increasingly the Coronavirus pandemic is becoming politicised.

Whilst there is no doubt in my mind that the Prime Minister showed poor judgement in the Cummings case and defended the indefensible, the fact that my own mother, whom I haven’t seen since Christmas, bangs on her pan on a Thursday night and draws comfort from listening to the sounds reverberating around her right across her town, summarises things nicely for me; yes we are clapping for our carers and for all key workers, but we are also clapping for ourselves, for our neighbours, our communities and for hope. There’s nothing political about that.

Now I know we’ve often hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons over recent years, culminating in the pathetic and complete misrepresentation of Hartlepool folk that was Channel 4’s Skint Britain, and that for some reason, whenever it comes to politics, especially around general elections, our town has been a magnet for the press; as if we are a barometer of what’s going on in this country.

Yet where are they now when we are arguably leading the fight against COVID 19 in the region, and our communities are standing loud and proud in the teeth of this hidden killer?

The majority of Hartlepool people have abided by Government advice, stayed home and stayed safe.

With that advice changing the town is getting busier and with that comes very different frustrations like the traffic jams on Brenda Road because of Burger King.

But we really must not let the recent easing of the lockdown lead us into a false sense of security.