The public shouldn’t take the fall for the government’s bungling

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As millions of people have had their Christmas hopes dashed or face the prospect of going without food, homes or vital healthcare, the UK government is busy trying to divert attention from its bungling. It also seeks to channel the anger and scorn it might expect to receive over its mishandling of the pandemic towards foreigners, minorities or overstretched public services. With the prospect of yet more needless suffering and death ahead, we should not let it succeed.

The spread of the coronavirus has posed tough challenges to the authorities across the world. But Boris Johnson and his crew have handled it extraordinarily badly. The new strain of Covid-19 makes matters worse – but viruses can be expected to mutate, especially if they spread among large numbers of people. And the choices the cabinet made allowed this to happen.

The lockdown delay and other policy decisions in March, when the prime minister set an appalling example of ignoring scientific advice, resulted in soaring deaths. That pattern of delays and dangerous recklessness, so that the virus spread and eventual restrictions were tighter than they might have been otherwise, would continue. Incredibly, in parts of England recently plunged into tier 4, just days earlier ministers had threatened legal action to force schools to stay open. This would have left some pupils self-isolating over Christmas while others unwittingly infected their grandparents.

What is more, the government had not bothered with proper pandemic planning and allowed personal protective equipment stockpiles to run down, then rushed to buy sometimes unsuitable PPE largely from firms with the right political connections.

In ministers’ eagerness to stuff money into the pockets of private sector giants, testing and tracing were also botched. Local public health teams who could have handled this far better were pushed to the sidelines, though often worked hard to avoid even more catastrophic consequences.  

Against this background of failure – likely to get worse as Brexit bites – ministers have been busy trying to stir up “culture wars”. Presumably they hope that those voters who are not part of the ruling class but backed them a year ago will not realise how badly they have been betrayed.  

Liz Truss’s speech was one recent example, clumsier than that of Kemi Badenoch. Women and equalities minister Truss argued for an approach led by “facts not by fashion” that takes on board economic inequality, without mentioning that her party had blocked a law tackling this and had widened the gap. The shocking death rate among working class people in general, with even higher levels for those who are black and minority ethnic, disabled or both, reflects the type of country this government has helped to create.

As hospitals fill up and quality of life for most people goes down, any claim that the nation’s most serious problems include too much “political correctness” will be rightly dismissed by much of the population. A supposedly divisive approach to tackling racism, homophobia and transphobia is not what led to this crisis.

Yet scapegoating can take hold amidst chaos, along with rivalry among the oppressed for scarce resources and opportunities. Also attempts to further privatise the NHS and other public services and take away democratic rights will continue.

What can we do to keep tackling discrimination of all kinds while not letting this government off the hook?

I believe we should keep drawing attention to its lethal bungling during the pandemic and the human cost and the hollowness of its claims to champion anyone other than itself and a few cronies.

We should also resist attempts to divide and rule, for instance challenging prejudice in ways that recognise that nobody is perfect and allow for forgiveness. Mutual care among those of us who are minority ethnic, LGBT+ and/or disabled is vital but we need to reach out to achieve sustained change.

Space should be created for listening, sharing stories and explaining, in human terms, concepts which may be unfamiliar or confusing. Amidst such (largely avoidable) suffering and loss, compassion – alongside clear thinking and commitment to justice – is not a source of weakness but rather a great strength.