How UK Government policy and Boris Johnson, in particular, have mishandled the COVID epidemic.
Failure of Government 1. Death Rate
As I write this, COVID has claimed 52,745 lives in the United Kingdom, which’s the highest in Europe and the fifth-highest in the world behind only the USA, Brazil, India, and Mexico. At least two of that list have leaders who openly deny the COVID threat, including Boris’ mate, Mr. Trump. Bye, Donald.
We should be ashamed of those stats.
Failure of Government 2. Track & Trace
Our track & trace system? That’s an expensive fiasco that began way back in May with an app on the Isle of Wight. It doesn’t work, and it kills your phone battery. Even if it did work, it’s not enforced, with many businesses resorting to good old pen and paper. Pen and paper? Really?
We’ve no idea who has COVID, where they are, or who they’ve been in contact with.
Failure of Government 3. Lockdowns
Lockdowns? What lockdowns! The UK government has failed to enforce any form of effective defence against COVID. Indeed, even top officials ignored the rules (remember Dominic Cummings and his eye-test road trip to Barnard Castle). In the first lockdown, our borders remained largely open, or at best we reacted too late and were too lax.
The second lockdown, if you can call it that, features full school openings, as well as many public-facing businesses. We only need to look to the Far-East, New-Zealand, and, closer to home, the Isle of Mann, to see the results of a timely and firm lockdown.
Oh, and remember the School exams carry on?
We didn’t follow the science or act quickly or hard enough.
Failure of Government 4. The Economy
But all of the above has helped with our economy right? Wrong!
Of course, the Tories are all about the economy, so you can see why they were against the more draconian measures….. but their plan didn’t work, as the furlough scheme runs into March 2021 with a current bill to date of £41.4 Billion.
Who’s paying for that?
Where do we go from here?
The UK government has fallen between the two stools of protecting the people versus protecting the economy. Two extremely high stools astride a deep, burning chasm of death.
They unforgivably underestimated the COVID threat with disastrous consequences, to the point where Boris Johnson, in one of his trademark faux-Churchill blubberings, somehow believed we could miraculously will this thing away before September, and then Christmas, the idiot.
No. As proven by decent leaders elsewhere, this mess that we’re in is a direct result of a failure of Government, our Government, unfortunately.
What are your thoughts on the Government’s handling of the pandemic? Drop me a comment below or visit the Forum.