London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Clap for our Carers: the very unBritish ritual that united the nation

After nine extraordinary weeks the woman behind the event said Thursday’s should be the last

On Thursday 26 March, Britons stood just inside their front doors, a little unsure if they would be the only ones taking part in a very unBritish ritual. It was three days since Boris Johnson had announced a draconian lockdown, and, in a horrifyingly fearful time, it was not difficult to feel immense gratitude to those health workers risking everything to save lives. But was anyone else really going to turn out to clap?

Few can have predicted the wall of noise that followed that first Thursday night and every Thursday since – the applause rising from doorsteps, the smiles and waves between neighbours who had never previously spoken to each other, the new national ritual that, for many, became the clearest fixed point in the week. Isolated in our homes, we were speaking together as never before.

After nine extraordinary weeks – in which millions stood at their windows or doors to cheer and clank saucepans, hospital forecourts filled with applauding health workers, and landmarks the length of the country were illuminated in NHS blue – the woman behind Clap for our Carers spoke out this week to say that Thursday’s burst of applause, in her view, should be the last.

“To have the most impact, I think it is good to stop it at its peak,” said Anne-Marie Plas. “Without getting too political,” she said, she agreed with those who felt the national moment of applause was becoming politicised. “I think the narrative is starting to change, and I don’t want the clap to be negative.”

The message had got through on social media at least, where countless accounts urged their followers on Thursday, if this was indeed the last clap, to “make it a good one”. The Twitter account of Visit Blackpool, temporarily rebranded Do Not Visit Blackpool, was typical: “It’s the last hurrah for #ClapForCarers tonight so let’s give an extra loud clap! Thank you to our NHS and key workers for their dedication.”

It made for a particularly emotional moment, as applause and cheers again swelled above the nation’s streets, and health workers gathered once more to embrace and acknowledge the nation’s thanks. North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust marked the occasion by posting a video of some of its staff applauding. “Tonight is the final #ClapforCarers – and we wanted to give YOU a round of applause as we clap for the country.”

In truth, of course, “the clap” has been highly political from its first incarnation, when Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson emerged from their Downing Street front doors to clap in front of the assembled camera crews, even as the medics they were thanking warned of the terrifying crisis hurtling towards them.

A few weeks in, a beaming Matt Hancock, the health secretary, posted a video of himself applauding with colleagues on a departmental rooftop, adding: “A huge THANK YOU to our incredible NHS and social care staff. We can never thank you enough for all that you are doing for the nation.” With hundreds of people dying each day, and NHS and care workers appallingly exposed by an ongoing lack of PPE, the replies were caustic.

As Britain’s crisis has intensified, bringing horrifying and shaming numbers of deaths, a flailing government and – most recently – political scandal, the country’s gratitude has not faded, but applause has increasingly felt for many like an inadequately simplistic response. With increasing numbers of health workers calling for the ritual to end – one, in the Guardian, describing it as “a sentimental distraction from the issues facing us” – the fate of the weekly clap was perhaps sealed.

Will the connections it forged last beyond the current crisis? “Ten weeks ago I drew the curtains to see if anyone but me knew anything about this clapping and the figures of strangers were standing there at the windows,” the novelist Linda Grant tweeted immediately after 8pm on Thursday. “Now they’re familiar faces.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×