And these replies are exactly what I am talking about. Sorry but no - there is not some insane plan for the government to keep restrictions forever just to stay in control. That is just not happening. Full stop.
Are the governments policies flawed - yes.
Have the government used the crisis to funnel money to their mates? - yes.
But to suggest that the above means they have this grand agenda is simply a conspiracy theory no better than flat earthers or the people who claim 5g causes covid.
Answer this - if this was actually a plan to make restrictions last as long as possible (forever as some people are claiming), then why vaccinate people at all? Why reduce restrictions when they have been?
Sure, the governments response to this pandemic is deeply flawed (though I suspect we disagree on why). But to suggest that means they are planning to keep restrictions for as long as possible to keep control. Its just mad. And I am bitterly disappointed that people are being lured in by the conspiracy theorists. Don't you think that maybe, just maybe, the government would like to see the back of this just as much as we would? That having a crisis like this offers a huge number of chances for people to find fault in the government and they would much rather have an easier more normal time where most of the population are distracted by the pub / sports etc etc?
Sometimes the answer is much simpler than a grand conspiracy - incompetency.
The government, and especially the PM, have found themselves well out of their depth. So much so that they have had to make u turn upon u turn and have essentially backed themselves into a corner on multiple decisions time and time again. Have they tried to use all of this to their advantage in several different ways - of course. But that doesn't mean there is a grand plan with all of this.
Even if this is a genuine reason to keep lockdown going, as time moves on the vaccine rollout will see hospitalisations and deaths continue to drop to the point more questions will be asked about why the focus is on cases and why restrictions are staying in place for so long.
Which is why, despite the conspiracy theories above, once deaths and hospitalisations drop significantly (which once again, require most of the 9 prioritiy groups to be covered, not just the top 4 as they are mainly just the deaths, the hospitalisations are mainly the other groups), we will see restrictions being removed bit by bit as we did last year.