London's Mayor, Sadiq Khan, on Sunday called on people to stay at home after the extent of overcrowding on the UK capital's train, Tube and bus networks was revealed.
London, I urge you not to use public transport for anything other than essential journeys - please stay at home this weekend.
— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) January 17, 2021
If you must travel, @TfL’s advice is to plan your journey between before noon and after 18:00 on weekends. More info below.
Videos emerged of London Underground carriages and platforms thronged with commuters not keeping distance, several of whom were ignoring the requirement to wear face masks.
"We are in lockdown and it is meant to be only essential workers travelling to work," Roman Catholic priest Father Grant Ciccone told The National on Friday.
"This enclosed space is a Petri dish where the new variant can spread from person to person.”
Fr Ciccone was critical of the government and Transport for London, calling on them to enforce travel restrictions.
London Underground blamed the chaotic scenes on staff shortages but the root of the problem is more complex.
This was made clear to Mr Khan when he followed up his initial tweet with another, stressing that the safest place for everyone was at home.
He was reminded by one aggrieved tweeter, Adam, that for many staying at home meant unpaid bills and possible eviction.
Might be the safest thing to do but people can’t stay home because if I stay home are you going to stop my council evicting me are you going to come and keep me warm when I have no gas or electricity no I don’t think so I’ll work until it’s a law that we can’t go outside
— Adam eazy Chilvers (@adam_eazy) January 17, 2021
The situation illustrates the problem when public health aims are not aligned with fiscal policy.
Throughout the pandemic the government has been criticised for failing to provide the necessary financial support to see Britons through the pandemic, despite spending nearly £300 billion ($407bn) in 2020 to fight the virus and its wider economic effects.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent England into its third lockdown in less than 10 months at Christmas but compliance, while better than for lockdown 2 in November, has yet to match that of the first lockdown in spring.
Earlier on Sunday, UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab suggested that the government could ease the restrictions in March, as the UK mass vaccination programme builds up.
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London's teeming tubes
