Nottingham Trent University sociology professor Robert Dingwall has ruled against lockdown restrictions after signing a letter seen in the Daily Express.
The letter called for the end to mass testing, mandatory face masks, and physical distancing no later than June 21.
It further adds that any consideration of immunity passports must be ceased.
The letter concluded: “We have learned that a good society cannot be created by an obsessive focus on a single cause of ill-health.
“Having endured the ravages of 2020, things are very different as we enter the spring of 2021. It is more than time for citizens to take back control of their own lives.”
It is signed by many different academics and professors from across the country.
When asked by Platform Magazine why he signed the letter, Dingwall said he was “increasingly frustrated” by an emphasis on worst-case scenarios by the media and other officials.
He added that such predictions “failed to acknowledge the harms that were being caused by the restrictions”.
He explained: “These restrictions are causing damage that is difficult to quantify in the short-term but recognizable in the long-term.
“I was also concerned about the over-reliance on the hypothetical cases derived from modeling rather than the real-world data emerging from studies of the vaccines in use.
“Finally, I was concerned by the failure to recalibrate our assumptions about the nature of Covid as an illness and to have a credible exit strategy.
“By June 21, every high-risk person in the UK will have had the opportunity to receive two doses of the vaccine and to develop as much immunity as they will ever get.
“Most medium and low-risk adults will also have had one dose of the vaccine.
“In my view, it is reasonable to ask what case there is for prolonging restrictions, especially as the Chief Medical Officer has been saying since last autumn that the eventual outcome will be living with Covid as a generally mild endemic disease leading to a level of deaths comparable to that of seasonal influenza.
“If not June 21, when?”
The next stage of lockdown easing is hoped to start on May 17, when indoor hospitality will resume and people will be able to mix indoors.
Lead Image: Kieran Burt