The scientists are panicking.  And shouting. 
Ferguson still in the picture, giving questionable advice.
Yet Boris & Co. pursue the same tired strategy. Don’t they know the old adage ?

When you’ve dug yourself into a hole, stop digging.

One can only guess as to their motivations.

• After Boris’ brush with CoVid, he has become fixated. I’m sure it was frightening and worrying. But if he can’t take a balanced view, in reality he should be excluded from decision making on this critical view.
• “We will be guided by the science“.
  It’s a very useful slopey-shoulder technique.
  It’s not OUR fault. THEY told us to do it.   
  Not only is infantile decision making (decision avoidance).
  THERE IS NO SCIENCE. Just extrapolations and assumptions from a very narrow group of scientific opinion. Contrary advice and opinions are readily available.
• they’re frightened of criticism that they let the virus get out of control. But there are many more contagious diseases which are just as dangerous as CoVid. In those cases, we rely on tried & tested hygiene and prevention management techniques. We don’t close down the country, as a whole or in selective regions.
• etc. etc.  The list of flawed government thinking goes on.

The reality is that there is only one metric which matters.
Hospital admissions and the ability of the NHS to cope.
Wasn’t that what it was all about in March? Protect the NHS. Well, the NHS has shown in itself able to cope with CoVid, with near-empty CoVid wards and almost irrelevant levels of admissions.

And this is the graph which says it all.

But they prefer to pay more attention to this one.

N.B. : on the BBC, they tend to show them in the reverse order. Frighten them first. Rely on the fact that people won’t read to the end.

Get a grip, Boris & Co.

There are far more serious health issues facing the country.
There are far more serious economic issues facing the country.
There are far more serious social justice issues facing the country.
There are far more serious [insert your concern] facing the country.

Increasing the size of fines may scare those who would obey the law anyway.
It has no impact on the behaviour of those who don’t care anyway.

• So pack away your misguided strategies.
• Do the job you were appointed to do : to guide and manage the country.
• Don’t abdicate your responsibilities to an extremely small group of unrepresentative scientific opinions.
• And if you continue to behave like a child having a tantrum, don’t be surprised if the Great British Public treats you like a child having a tantrum.