Sunday 6 September 2020

Coronavirus diary, Sunday 6 September





Seldom has our UK government been in such a chaotic position.

It seemed to have been at its lowest ebb last year with the shambles over over Brexit, but 2020 has been an unmitigated disaster and there seems to be little hope of change.

Coronavirus has shattered the confidence of the once ebullient, now besieged,  prime minister.

He is being assailed on all sides, together with his woebegotten collection of ministers.

It is not his political opponents who are leading the onslaught; former experienced ministers he jettisoned, and dozens of his back benchers, are up in arms over the endless succession of errors, delays, lack of leadership and downright incompetence.

The right wing tabloid press and even the broadsheets are virulent in their criticism, some mounting anti government campaigns.

They have plenty of targets - the latest, the  disregard for the desperate situation of the aviation and hospitality industries which are falling apart.

The on and off and suddenly imposed quarantine restrictions on people holidaying in countries said to be safe has caused widespread frustration, confusion and anger.

Typically, at least so far, the government has stuck to its guns, refusing to introduce the patently better system of testing at airports being used in many countries. 

Enforcement of quarantine for the masses of returning holidaymakers is almost non-existent with a negligible amount of follow ups - only a handful of prosecutions.

The dangerous chaos is made worse by the different approach taken by the devolved governments on which countries should be listed for quarantine. 

There could be another u-turn coming, the 13th so far, according to the army of critics.

Failure to evolve a successful test and trace system, still less the world class one promised months ago, is still dogging the government, made worse by test result delays - some people having to travel a hundred miles for a test.

While the mass return to school seems to provide some good news, getting employees back to the workplace is proving another headache for the prime minister, highlighted by the failure of his ministers to get their people back. Mr Johnson has now personally urged them to do so.

And all this without the news that Brexit negotiations are deadlocked and a no deal more likely.

The  government's record on the coronavirus crisis does not instil confidence in the country's go-it-alone future.

No comments:

Post a Comment