‘We need leaders to lead’: Readers have their say on the UK’s delayed Covid pandemic response

Independent Readers are sharing emotional reactions as former prime minister Boris Johnson faces the possibility of legal action over his government’s response to the pandemic.

Readers recalled the breaking of rules in Downing Street, mixed messaging and delays that allowed the virus to spread, and many felt those responsible should face consequences; some called for Johnson to be barred from future office.

Some said early warnings from other countries were obvious to anyone paying attention. One recalled choosing to limit social contact long before the first lockdown in the UK.

Many felt that the inquiry’s findings confirmed what they already believed: that chaotic decision-making at No 10, ideological austerity and years of Conservative Party underfunding had left the UK dangerously exposed.

Others argued that it is too easy to judge in hindsight. They pointed to conflicting scientific advice, pressure on ministers and the impossible balance between competing harms.

But the dominant view was that leadership was lacking when it mattered most.

Here’s what you need to say:

Early warning before curfew

My partner and I are not epidemiologists, but on an unusually warm spring day in 2020 we sat in a beer garden in the north of England. Exactly two weeks before the first lockdown was announced, we both decided to minimize our socializing and contact with other people. One of them was supporting particularly vulnerable elderly parents, and neither of us wanted to be the ones to cut him off.

However, when we decided that it would be a good idea to come into contact with fewer people, we did not have one of the world’s leading economies to consider.

It’s comforting to have someone to blame, but no one can say they weren’t warned about the kind of person Johnson was before 2019.

RickC

It’s easy to look back

I do not believe that all aspects of this investigation have been examined in depth enough. It’s easy to look back and find what you want to find. It is now easy to decide what is the right advice, but at the time there was very conflicting advice; no one could be 100 percent sure what would work best, even scientific advisors disagreed.

Politicians were trying to balance many different issues, and I certainly didn’t envy the impossible decisions they had to make. I felt that no matter what they chose then, they would be cursed later.

Is it important?

Focusing on Johnson is misdirection

Looking back is a wonderful thing. Governments come and go but the Civil Service underpins them all; So where was their preparation and system planning?

Focusing on Johnson, who is himself in intensive care with Covid, is misguided and unfair. If health officials and scientists disagreed, politicians were even less likely to get it right.

ronyag12

Implementation of lockdown

The curfew was hardly enforced. Bars were open and operated through a warehouse. The roads were filled with people going everywhere to see their friends and family. Some people followed the rules, but Boris and his friends did not. Apps should have been left to Google and Apple, not their forever Tory IT buddies. Boris gave too much credit to the British vaccine and thought it would save us so he could have been lax but it didn’t.

hello5

We need leaders to lead

When tragedies like Covid hit a country, we need leaders who will truly lead. Unfortunately, Boris Johnson was steering events and his actions showed that he was not up to the job. Hosting parties in Downing Street while others were in lockdown wasn’t exactly exemplary.

sharp focus

Incomprehensible

I remember, in January 2020, the Chinese warned the world about this for the first time. Johnson ignored it. Later, in February, they also warned the world at a point when Italy was ‘hit’. Once again, Johnson ignored this; In fact, he couldn’t even be bothered to attend meetings. He did nothing until March.

Even when Johnson took action, the situation was not only chaotic but incomprehensible. I would phone my sister to try to follow the rules; As a nurse she was up to date, but there were times when the rules changed multiple times in a day.

TomSnout

Looking back is disingenuous

Anyone not blinded by Johnson’s charisma could have seen what was happening in Italy weeks before the UK, but we were one of the last countries to close their airports. Any claim that this review is hindsight is disingenuous at best. Italy is overwhelmed and we have four weeks to go. Even then the second lockdown was too late and too little.

A Little Drunk Max

What can be gained from this research?

I don’t see what can be gained from this research. Its role is not to prohibit those responsible for decisions that led to loss of life from holding any public office in the future. Their positions and lives will not be affected by the findings. In terms of lessons learned, the response to any national crisis should be shaped by conditions at the time, not by hindsight.

The glaring failures – the failure to stop large-scale events, the failure to ban international travel, the relaxation of procurement procedures to give those with connections to MPs unlimited access to the NHS’s billions of VIP PPE line funding pot resulting in the supply of PPE not fit for purpose, and the ludicrous Eat Out To Help Out scheme – are already well documented and widely known.

The IFS estimates this investigation will cost around £200 million. Of course, this funding would be better used to create a national garden of remembrance, similar to the Arboretum in Staffordshire, for the benefit of the bereaved.

VickiG

There is no laxity in dealing with the crisis

This was already known, but it’s nice to see it revealed for sure. Johnson was a disaster as Prime Minister, but the seeds were sown during the Cameron years. All spare capacity in utilities had already been cut, leaving no slack to deal with the crisis. Many of the worst situations could have been avoided if action had been taken and resources given to those with existing expertise, such as local public health officials, rather than being poured into outsourced national white elephants such as understaffed athletics and Nightingale hospitals.

Tanaquil2

planning failure

Successive Conservative administrations bear much of the blame for what happened during the Covid-hit period. This complete failure to plan for what is known as a real threat, PPE etc. exacerbated by a completely pointless and ideologically motivated austerity program that reduced resources to facilitate its supply.

But the gravest failure was the Conservative Party’s election of Johnson as leader. Johnson was known as a liar; He should never have been allowed near the levers of power. This was done solely for the party’s political gain and was never the best thing for the country. Everything that followed was predictable, including thousands of deaths, fraud and corruption, lies and partying. If this investigation does any good, it will remind everyone of what can happen when a party that has lost its moral compass allows incompetence and arrogance to rule it.

kermit68

He should be blocked

Stupid Johnson caught Covid and was treated by an NHS he and his friends hated, and after he recovered he partied in Downing Street. With such leaders, he should be banned from holding any political position in the future.

rishirich

What did it cost?

Another study publishes its findings. How long did it take and how much did it cost? The good thing is that Johnson and the others won’t be able to fix this or screw it up to save themselves, but what consequences will that have?

Will those whose incompetence and negligence undoubtedly led to so many deaths face justice? If something like this happens again, will lessons be learned and the country prepared?

Ambigirls

Populist self-interest

The result of the Covid investigation did not come as a surprise. Johnson’s government was self-serving and failed to take into account what was happening in other parts of Europe, particularly in Italy, where deaths were already very high.

Johnson ran the government in his own interests. People must learn that Johnson, Farage and a few other populists will run the country in their own interests, not in the interests of the people. Take it seriously.

rejoin

political opportunism

One of the main problems was that half the government, its donors, and the great and the good spent most of their time trying to figure out how to profit from the crisis rather than solving it.

Instead of coming together to solve the crisis, politicians used it to enrich themselves and play petty party politics, which they continue to do today.

Pee

Some of the comments in this article have been edited for brevity and clarity.

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