Interestingly, to my surprise, social distancing appear more effective than lockdown (in part because full lockdowns are impossible). At least according to this simulation:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-si...

The success of Hong Kong and Taiwan look like extensions of the social distancing paradigm to me.

Of course, maybe UK government recognizes that the its citizens are equally incapable of effective social distancing. Whatever the case, this looks like madness.