Former Home Secretary DAVID BLUNKETT says ordering the elderly to quarantine themselves is unfair

When two hijacked jet liners flew into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in September 2001, killing many thousands of people, our civilisation faced a desperate crisis. Today, it does again.

Comparing the Covid-19 coronavirus with terrorism might seem bizarre, but I believe there are close parallels. 

After the 9/11 attacks, it was crucial to balance the response to a new danger with an awareness of the unintentional impact that our actions could have on Western society.

We ran the risk of doing the wrong things for the right reasons. There was a real danger not only of completely destroying our economic and commercial foundations but of fatally undermining the basis of our society.

That is the danger now, if the Government pursues the suggestion made on Saturday by Health Secretary Matt Hancock – that soon all people aged over 70 in Britain should go into self-isolation for four months.

All that would achieve is to consign a particular cohort to misery.

Depression arising out of isolation and loneliness must not be underestimated in our communities. 

Deterioration of our mental health and wellbeing would be compounded because of the isolation. 

Surely, the more active we are, the more healthy we are and if we are less active we will deteriorate both physically and mentally.

In 2001, I was the home secretary. There was a strong feeling among my government colleagues that the country must face down terrorism the way that it faced down the Nazis during the Blitz – by being resilient.

In fact, Resilience is the name we gave to the Cabinet committee which I chaired after September 2001. 

It looked at the balance required between protecting human rights, on the one hand, and avoiding unnecessary risk and panic on the other.

That is the approach we need today. Of course we should follow the advice of experts and take every possible measure to protect one another. We have an obligation and a duty not to spread the virus to others if we know or fear we have it.

I have deep-seated respect for the Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, and the Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.

On the floor of the House of Lords, I have underscored my support for the Government in its handling so far of the coronavirus crisis: I applaud the balanced, proportionate approach they have taken.

But to urge everyone over 70 to stay indoors regardless of their health, is to my mind a dangerous over-reaction – the wrong thing done for the right reasons.

All it would do is divide society on grounds of age – and that is as wrong as separating people because of their race or gender.

Surely we oldies should have the right to choose our own destiny. We understand the risks. We know there are higher mortality rates from this virus among the elderly.

I don’t know of any evidence to suggest that pensioners spread Covid-19 more virulently than younger people either. 

In fact, since older people appear more apt to display the symptoms of coronavirus, it seems they are less likely to be silent carriers. 

I have real concerns that imposing isolation on the over-70s could be widely misunderstood in the current atmosphere of near panic.

Just as people have begun to stockpile toilet rolls for no reason, an irrational notion could spread among the public that older people are being ordered to stay inside not for their own protection but because they present some imaginary risk to younger people.

I don’t want to hear aggressive shouts of ‘You ought to be indoors, grandad!’ – and I am certain the Government would never want to risk unleashing that sort of bigotry on the nation.

But there is a real danger of stigmatising the over-70s. They could become alienated in their own community.

We in this country are extremely proud of our individuality and our right to decide. In this democracy, it is really important that people never find themselves targeted for their age.

And how would this edict be enforced? When I walk through St Pancras station with my guide dog, will someone stop me and say accusingly, ‘You look like you’re over 70!’ Am I expected to produce an ID card? I would be prepared to, but are you?

Actually, I’m 72 but I’d like to think that people can’t tell that at a glance. I stay fit, live life to the full, eat well and have a vigorous working life, so I hope I don’t ‘look my age’. Turning 70 isn’t a cut-off for anything.

Age hasn’t caught up with me yet, and I don’t intend that this or any other government should impose old age on me.

I need to continue working. Politics and public service are my life. If I stopped, my whole raison d’etre would be undermined. Keep me indoors for months on end and my wife would probably have to divorce me!

If I can’t keep being active and making my contribution, I fear my health, both mental and physical, will deteriorate quickly.

To imagine I could pick myself up and revert to my old ways after months of inactivity is unrealistic.

That’s true for millions of older people who keep themselves youthful and fit by throwing themselves into an active social life. Denying them that will do far more harm than good.

Overall, wellbeing will deteriorate very rapidly. Unintentionally we could accelerate the mortality rate of older people whose reason for living is the contact they have with other people and the daily activities they undertake.

Of course, I accept without reservation that those who have underlying health conditions, and those who are recovering from serious illnesses or undergoing cancer treatment, will be safest at home. 

Their common sense will already be telling them to stay indoors and self-isolate.

These are vulnerable people, and we must put every support in place for them to stay at home.

We can only do this with a proportionate response – or where else will our carers and volunteers come from, to deliver food and so on?

For the rest of us, being able to live our lives to the full is what keeps us alive.

Let us calm the nation down, and do what we preached back in 2001 – be alert but not alarmed. Use common sense. 

That is how we faced terrorism and that is how we should meet coronavirus.

Lord Blunkett was a member of the Cabinet from 1997 to 2005 and is now Professor of Politics in Practice at the University of Sheffield