No. 141 - They Troop in, they Troop Out.
Dear James,
They troop in, they troop out. Every day at 5pm, the sad triumvirate of politician and two advisers walks out stage left, 2 meters apart, and departs, stage left, in the same way. Between arrival and departure we listen to the halting explanation of statistics and plans and then watch as selected journalists are called forth from their bedrooms and studies via video links to put their one or two carefully crafted questions. The politicians fumble with answers and the advisers do their best to support them with facts as they know them. Two weeks ago, we were treated to a new initiative. The politicians suddenly began to ask the journalists, ‘Do you have any follow-up questions?’ Was the government suddenly relaxing its grip on communications? Unfortunately not. It was just another ruse to add lustre to this tarnished vessel of a tired political party exhausted by years of pushing the outdated ideology of national independence and autarky.
At the moment James, the great majority of people in our nation have some sympathy for the government attempting to get to grips with the crisis engulfing them. But the fact is that your government is in a bit of a mess. The press conferences have become embarrassing, half-hearted attempts to assure everyone that you know what you are doing when it is clear that you do not. Mr Hancock, Mr Raab and Mr Gove earnestly try to convince the nation that they are in control when clearly they are simply reacting to the latest bad news. Yesterday Mr Hancock suddenly realized he had forgotten to tell us about the half a million old age pensioners living in Care Homes being treated by a staff of a million carers with very little protection against the Coronavirus. Care Homes have suddenly started reporting dozens of their charges dying in single homes and these deaths are not even included in the daily statistics. It seems that the old and frail are being left to die. So what was Mr Hancock’s response? He told us he had ‘a plan’! I heard the national cry of anguish. ‘Oh No. Not another one!”
Yesterday a letter was leaked to the BBC in which the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass), said the handling of the supply and distribution aspect of the crisis has been ‘shambolic’. Distribution of PPE equipment to Care Homes has been ‘paltry’ and ‘haphazard’ and mixed messages from government has created ‘confusion and additional workload’. On Wednesday an NHS Trust director told the BBC: "The official line that we don't have a shortage of PPE is fantasy." Today, the director of a large NHS trust has contacted the BBC asking for the phone numbers of Burberry and Barbour because ‘he does not have enough gowns for his staff working on coronavirus wards’.
These are the people on the front line James. Your government continues to spout the Trump/Boris knee-jerk positivism of grand plans and economic ‘bounce backs’. The truth is that there will be no resolution to this crisis until a vaccine is found. In the meantime, only full testing of the population, thorough tracing of contacts and isolation of the positives, will suffice. At the moment we are testing about 18,000 people a day - far short of the 100,000 promised by Mr Hancock for May 1st. From supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline staff, to the efforts to acquire ventilators for those in critical care, ministers have made promises that they fail to deliver on.
Fortunately there is an alternative source of information. Today the Commons Health & Social Care Select Committee provided us with a proper adult discussion about the crisis. No more fudges, no more promises, no more ‘boosterism’ from a government in chaos. Today this Committee heard Professor Anthony Costello of University College London's Institute for Global Health say that the death toll in the United Kingdom could be the highest in Europe and reach as much as 40,000 and that just 10-15% of the population might then have immunity. “We were too slow with a number of things”, he continued. “There could be further waves later.”
I have a suggestion, James. That you stop trying to kid the nation and spare us the ‘boosterism’ of the daily press conference. The vast majority of the British people prefer honesty and frankness from their leaders, not the empty political promises of the current choreographed parades. Professor Costello’s words were a hard to hear message but at least it treats the population like thinking adults!
So James, why not just come off it? Cut out the politics and admit that you get some things wrong. That might just be a good start to winning back trust?
Kind regards,
BH - Your Concerned Constituent