Freedom Day: Led By Donkeys video shows how government mistakes delayed end of coronavirus lockdown

A video arguing that government failures to deal with the Delta variant of coronavirus caused lockdown easing to be delayed has gone viral.

The video, posted by anti-Brexit campaign group Led By Donkeys, alleges that Boris Johnson’s lacklustre measures against the latest strain extended lockdown, and it has been viewed almost 700,000 times.

The video was released today on 21st June, which may ring a bell as it was supposed to be the last stage in Johnson’s optimistic roadmap to freedom - when all remaining measures against coronavirus were set to be binned. However, due to rising cases of the Delta variant, first discovered in India, the government decided to delay the final stage of lockdown easing to 19 July.

The video suggests this was not inevitable and presents a timeline of notable dates in the development of this subplot of the crisis like 24th March, when the variant was discovered and 8th April, when New Zealand suspended travel from India. In doing so, they make the case that Johnson was slow to act.

It says:

“23rd April, India is finally added to the red list. Three weeks have passed since the new variant was first identified in the UK, in which time 20,000 passengers have flown from India to British airports, while the number of local authorities reporting cases of the variant has risen from two to 128.

“The new variant is now circulating widely in Britain. The stable door is being shut weeks after the horse bolted.”

Reacting to it, people on social media applauded the group for slamming the government’s response:

What a shambles.