Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Profit before people: how pandemic restrictions ended in the 19th century
Unsurprisingly, the Tories’ reluctance to effectively fight Covid follows the same logic as the Victorian government during the cholera epidemics of the 1830s, writes KEITH FLETT
A 19th-century illustration from Punch magazine

BORIS JOHNSON announced the end of most compulsory Covid restrictions in England on January 19.

On the same day it was announced there were 96,545 Covid infections in England and 301 reported deaths. The figures were a reduction but remain high.

In 2021 it was suggested in the other three UK nations that to lift restrictions entirely would mean infections had dropped below 50 people in 100,000.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Editorial webpic.jpgKarl Marx and Friedrich Engels / Pic: Wikipedia/CC
History / 28 July 2026
28 July 2026

The Isle of Wight’s Victorian holiday boom drew visitors from across Europe, including the founders of scientific socialism, writes KEITH FLETT

‘ILLEGAL TRADITION’: An engraving entitled ‘The Leader of the Luddites’, 1812
Features / 20 November 2025
20 November 2025

Inspired by a hit TV show, KEITH FLETT takes a look at the murky history of undercover class war

A ballot box arriving during the count for the Blackpool South by-election at Blackpool Sports Centre, Blackpool, May 2, 2024
Features / 11 September 2025
11 September 2025

Who you ask and how you ask matter, as does why you are asking — the history of opinion polls shows they are as much about creating opinions as they are about recording them, writes socialist historian KEITH FLETT

Ramsgate beach 1899
History / 14 August 2025
14 August 2025

The summer saw the co-founders of modern communism travelling from Ramsgate to Neuenahr to Scotland in search of good weather, good health and good newspapers in the reading rooms, writes KEITH FLETT