Eat, drink, shop. Its our national duty to get our lives back – The Sun

THERE is no doubt that the greatest danger of this pandemic going forward is the overwhelming and in most cases unnecessary fear that has swept the nation.

Its this irrational terror that has this week seen parents refuse to send their kids back to school, healthy young folk avoid public transport, and one in five of us choose not to leave home altogether, according to one study.

Many of my friends in their 30s and 40s have embraced this crisis like a lengthy summer retreat they never thought theyd get to experience.

A chance for reflection, new exercise regimes, learning how to make bread and long drunken picnics are all part of their new lifestyles while off work being paid on the governments generous furlough scheme.

But the problem is that this false sense of utopia is almost certainly disguising imminent mass redundancies if the economy continues to crater as the population rejects many of the usual trappings of capitalism.

So the pressure is on us now.

While you might feel another six weeks in the garden is a preferable option for your new zen-like lifestyle, I wager thats an irresponsible choice.

Its a decision that could see your favourite businesses close for good. Its a decision that could cost your kids jobs in the future. Its a decision that could cripple public services.

Besides, when you emerge again, surely you want the experience of the great British high street and the ability to go to your favourite local or restaurant?

Surely you dont really want a life where you never leave your property and wait for a drone run by a tax-avoiding foreign company like Amazon to drop your supplies into the garden?

This is no longer some unrealistic dystopian future, these changes are happening right now.

Microsoft in the UK this week sacked its journalists and replaced them with news-creating robots.I wish I was joking.

Thats why it is now our national civic duty to eat, drink and shop, if you can afford to do so. Doesnt sound so bad, does it?

Book that holiday. Go on, the ridiculous quarantine is unlikely to last beyond a month

Get on the bus to work. The risk is negligible.

Visit the outdoor market this weekend and buy some takeaway pints from your local pub.We need to keep independent businesses alive.

And, most importantly, prepare to shop like you never have before as the sale to end all sales begins at malls up and down the country on June 15.

What about the danger, I hear you ask?

We have spent a life of taking risks because thats the only sort of life worth living, whether it be as basic as getting in your car or as extreme as paragliding.

Risks, of course, need to be calculated, so well be alert and sensible. But only to the point where it doesnt take away all pleasure.

Former Chancellor Lord Norman Lamont, who is 78, was brave enough to come on my talkRADIO Drivetime show this week and say we need to ditch social distancing altogether in the near future to avoid economic catastrophe.

Its not a politically correct view, but I tend to agree.

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The World Health Organisation said again this week that a one-metre distance is all thats required.

That must be adopted by the government as soon as possible. It will make shopping and travel experiences far more realistic and, quite literally, stop most pubs, restaurants, bars and nightclubs going out of business.

Its time for the British public to stand up for the life that we want and the experiences that we love because this is the ultimate case of use it or lose it.

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Eat, drink, shop. Its our national duty to get our lives back - The Sun