When will it be the right time to ease lockdown? asks ROSS CLARK Ross Clark Replay Video UP NEXT But with the number of people receiving vaccinations hitting 10 million the consensus is beginning to break down. There is growing division over how and when our third national lockdown should end. Taking a prominent role in the debate is the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, who is understandably concerned about the enormous damage it has done to the economy. When Britain went into its first lockdown last March the justification was to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed. We were locked down not to try to eliminate the virus but to lower the epidemic curve - or "flatten the sombrero" as the Prime Minister memorably put it.