I would love to see it, but the Johnson / Conservatives popularity doesn’t seem to be taking a hit at all right now and if this doesn’t impact them, what will? Of course there are a lot of people who are very unhappy with what is happening here, but it is very much the people who were unhappy anyway. All the people I know who voted Conservative last time are of the opinion that none of this is the Governments fault, as it was ‘unforseeable’. Most of them entirely blame China for the situation and many claim the NHS and Social Care sectors have wasted PPE and that is why they are running out. Unfortunately I don’t think anything would change these people’s minds.
Na, in their eyes it’ll all be the fault of China, the EU, ‘Remainers’, Labour, the Lib Dem’s, the SNP, the Greens etc...
No, not reality. He's referring to the massive effort currently going on to pretend that they have handled the crisis effectively, not run down the NHS and stocks of PPE. Ultimately they will point to scientific advice and say " Not us guv" Sorry, but it was you Gov.
The situation with the equipment and expiry dates on respirators revealed by Channel Four news this week seemed extremely serious. This is a massive wake-up call for the NHS and it is probably fair to say that the Trusts will need to take a fair share of the blame too. I can see this resulting in the whole use of trusts being completely re-evaluated. With regard to the effect upon the I incumbent government, if the journalism is correct in it's conclusions, I would suggest that not only Boris and Hancock are going to come under some intense and damaging scrutiny in any enquiry but this will stretch back as far as the days of Cameron and George Osborne. No one who has had accountability for the public health is going to come out of this unscathed. I would be interested to see if anyone thinks that the government has handled anything well in the current epidemic. Without doubt there will be an enquiry once this is all over but I expect the Tories will have taken a decision with Boris before we get there and we will have a new Tory leader who will not be tainted with the current situation. The comment about the public turning against Boris is premature. People are more concerned with their lives and how they are going to cope in 2020. Any redress against our political leaders will obviously not be high on the agenda but I think that there is plenty of anger below the surface. Everyone realises that Boris is not up to the job and so bad as to make you think highly of John Major. Probably this country's worst ever Prime Minister.
Re respirators and including ventilators expiry dates I wonder if the equipment budgets allowed for replacements and/or maintenance. Shortages were highlighted by the Cygnus exercise report and recommendations not implemented. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/07/what-was-exercise-cygnus-and-what-did-it-find There's no excuses for the inept handling of the crisis. Any enquiry must be independent and have the power of subpoena with no exceptions.
The comment about the public turning against Boris is premature. I think this one sentence has been proved correct, by a survey carried out by the Mirror, a paper that traditionally supports Labour, and has a likeminded readership. In their survey 71% said that the lockdown had come too late, yet when the same people were asked if the government had handled the pandemic well, a total of 61% said that their handling of the pandemic was good/very good. Maybe it’s just me, but IMO those responses are somewhat contradictory. The lateness of the lockdown has inevitably led to a higher death count, and their callous disregard for the elderly in care homes, many of whom have died as a result of covid sufferers being placed into homes, without having been tested, is just criminal neglect. I think that the many who believe that the government has handled this well, are either dyed in the wool Tory supporters, or those who have had their opinion swayed by being placed on furlough, which is probably the best thing that the government has done. I think those who were furloughed wouldn’t be so keen to on backing the government’s response, if they weren’t receiving 80% of their wages from them.
Reading Antony Beevor’s Stalingrad, and I just came across this line; “The preservation of Stalin’s personal reputation was greatly helped by the political ignorance of the general population.” Substitute Boris for Stalin, and that’s the UK in 2020
Yea but the only difference is Stalin actually got things done, he didnt just stand around with is dick hanging out looking like a total melt.
Great piece from the Scotsman about the subversion of VE Day: https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-a...bverted-false-patriots-joyce-mcmillan-2846683
