Sensible Salopians prepare for low-key Christmas after U-turn on Covid rules
The more, Boris thought, of what Christmas would bring, the more he thought he must stop this whole thing...
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement of tighter festive restrictions may have had an air of The Grinch about them, but was it the right call to slash Salopians' Christmas Covid-19 reprieve from five days to one?
Frustrated families are annoyed at having forked out for presents and filled up their fridges with festive food, only to have to cancel their plans.
But the PM's announcement came as a result of the threat of a second strain of Covid-19 which is 70 per cent more transmissible.
On a morning when the rainy weather was as bleak as the mood, we asked Shropshire folk how the announcement will affect their plans, and how they feel the situation has been handled.
Ed and Angela Glennon had already decided to have a low-key Christmas before the government's U-turn.
The couple from Meole Village, Shrewsbury, both have long experiences with the NHS - Ed teaches dialysis at home while Angela is a retired theatre nurse.
They believe we're a long way from being out of the woods, and feel the government shouldn't have made promises they couldn't keep.
"We decided that we were not going to mix with family anyway," said Angela.
"Our family is too big. We decided to make a decision early.
"We have a granddaughter and not seeing her will be the hardest thing of all.
"I don't think anybody should be mixing, especially given the new strain is 70 per cent more transmissible."
Ed added: "He dithered about making a decision. He should have said 'this is what we're dealing with and this is what we're doing'."
"A virus normally has a lifespan of 2-3 years, said Angela.
"A viable vaccine normally takes 4-5 years. It's a clever virus that will continue to mutate. I think it will be a long time before we are back to normal."
Caroline and Gary Poole, from Shrewsbury, took a similar approach.
"We decided early on that we were not going to see people," said Caroline. "It's just not worth it. Most of our family don't live in Shrewsbury so we'd have to travel to them or them travel to us.
"We've got teenage girls and they love seeing their cousins at Christmas.
"We'll have a typical Christmas - Bucks Fizz for breakfast, turkey, the Queen's Speech and a snooze."
She added: "I don't think he should have given people hope. People made plans and now they've got to change them. I am a fan of Boris but it's been like that through the whole pandemic."
Gary agreed, saying: "He is in a lose-lose situation, but he's not done himself any favours."
It's been a weekend of family panic for Sue Colman, from Shrewsbury.
She organised for her daughter to be brought home from university in London last night so she wasn't alone at Christmas, but won't be so lucky when it comes to saying farewell to other family members.
"She was going to travel back today but my husband picked her up last night to avoid the chaos.
"My sister and her children were supposed to be coming on the 27th but they won't be able to now. They are moving away to Jersey and it would have been one of our last chances to see them."
She added: "I don't think the government should have made promises. They've waited for people to spend money on food and presents."
Nigel Evans, from Oswestry, believes the decision to cut down the Christmas grace period is "for the greater good", but feels it was unfair to give people false hope.
"We don't have a great big family but we probably would have four or five households together on a normal Christmas," he said.
"It is disappointing, but it's for the greater good. It was not the right idea (to initially give people five days). It was always going to be difficult with the R rate rising."
Student Maisie Kynaston, from Whitchurch, will miss her nan's turkey this year, and feels sorry for people whose plans have been wrecked.
"My family usually goes to my nan's house for Christmas but we can't this year. My nan cooks Christmas dinner. I think we'll have to get a takeaway because my mum can't cook!
"We weren't going to be visiting family anyway so it hasn't really affected us. I feel sorry for people that have had to cancel their plans."
