Boris Johnson and his ministers accused of bungling coronavirus response, unleashing disaster
Source: Washington Post
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his ministers coming under criticism that they underestimated the threat, were slow to act and are bungling the response. Over the weekend, the most-talked-about article was a Sunday Times report, headlined 38 days when Britain sleepwalked into disaster, which revealed that Johnson failed to attend five high-level emergency meetings called to prepare for the outbreak in January and February.
The most damning, most tweetable quote came from an anonymous source, described as a senior adviser to Downing Street, who complained that Johnson didnt chair any meetings. He liked his country breaks. He didnt work weekends
There was a real sense that he didnt do urgent crisis planning. It was exactly like people feared he would be. The Sunday Times painted Johnson as deeply involved with Brexit in January, distracted by his complicated personal life, including his divorce and engagement in February, and showing insufficient attention to detail until the first wave was rushing toward Britain in March.
The Sunday Times painted Johnson as deeply involved with Brexit in January, distracted by his complicated personal life, including his divorce and engagement in February, and showing insufficient attention to detail until the first wave was rushing toward Britain in March. And yet, Michael Gove, one of the top ministers entrusted with orchestrating a response to the coronavirus, did confirm Sunday a central charge in the article: that Johnson had missed the five emergency meetings.
In addition to what critics say was a slow initial response, the government has been flayed for its failure to have ready large numbers of mechanical ventilators, for the soaring numbers of deaths in nursing homes, for inadequate testing of nurses and doctors and for an ongoing shortage of the protective visors, masks, gloves and especially gowns for front-line medical workers.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/boris-johnson-and-his-ministers-criticized-for-response-to-coronavirus-threat/2020/04/20/6e3d24e8-830a-11ea-81a3-9690c9881111_story.html
Johnson tried to rally automotive companies and vacuum-cleaner makers last month to pivot to ventilator assembly. But little has come of that effort. In its rebuttal to charges that Johnson and his government brushed aside the threat posed by the virus, the Health Ministry produced its own timeline and pushback.
bucolic_frolic
(43,124 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(48,988 posts)* Bolsonaro in Brazil, fighting governors, out in street himself with no mask, fired his health minister. Hardly any testing at all and blowing up anyway
* Putin didn't wise up until about ten days ago. Russia is blowing up
* Boris Johnson had to be hospitalized in ICU after giving serious consideration to "herd immunity" free-for-all.
* Modi in India letting anti-Muslim violence rage based on lies. Police rounding up and spraying muslims with disinfectant in the street.
* Turkey and Iran blew up
* And of course the Oranganus and spineless ignorant Reaperpublicon Governors.
yardwork
(61,588 posts)StevieM
(10,500 posts)Everyone is hoping that it will provide benefits here in the U.S. and in other northern hemisphere countries. That likely means that it will work in reverse down south--their case load will explode.
turbinetree
(24,695 posts)DinahMoeHum
(21,783 posts)of Parliament??
#newrostrong
Skittles
(153,147 posts)one would hope it will make him a better person but I feel like England has its own milder version of Trump
Denzil_DC
(7,230 posts)That "pushback", judging by its length, style and tone, didn't originate from the Health Ministry, but from Johnson's adviser Dominic Cummings, a major proponent of the initial "herd immunity" policy that would now be totally discredited if it didn't appear to be the last desperate hope, since the UK government has made no serious preparations for an emergence from the current lockdown and social isolation that doesn't involve mass infection, with the accompanying proportion of deaths.
It's the old dilemma between whether events as they've panned out were the result of a conspiracy or a cock-up. Quite possibly a bit of both. Here's Johnson in early February:
Link to tweet
@OliDugmore
Further evidence the UKs initial coronavirus strategy was wilfully negligent.
Johnson argues global lockdown is an economic opportunity to profit.
Swashbuckling much.
[Twitter video]
It was born of the same demented delusion of Little Britain exceptionalism that fueled Brexit.
aggiesal
(8,910 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,301 posts)The government screwed up the specification, and tried to make excuses saying the understanding of the virus had changed, but the medics say it was just the government who hadn't understood.
rickyhall
(4,889 posts)I've kindof been expecting something like this to happen. Years ago I read about the wave theory. It seems like it predicted the right wing would be on top for about 40 years or 2 generations. It's difficult to be precise but that fits with 1980 to 2020, Reagan through Trump. I'm optimistic, there may be a silver lining here, but I wish it hadn't come to this.
Cha
(297,133 posts)amcgrath
(397 posts)It would be wrong to assume that this is a 100% percent 'clean' bit of journalism from the Times. The Times always wanted Gove as PM, so this is there attempt to unthrone Johnson. The Telegraph - who employed Johnson for many years, at a ludicrous salary, while he was mayor and then an MP. want Johnson in office.
Never assume that UK papers are doing anything that isn't a long term goal of their proprietor. It is not for the good of the country, it is always for the proprietors.