MOST people will have gone through a range of emotions during the current crisis. We have been confused, scared, frustrated and humbled. As time passes, anger may become the predominant emotion. In that event, the current consensus will disappear. Governments, especially the one at Westminster, will be held to account for their action or, more likely, lack of it.
The crisis revealed the inadequacy at the heart of central government. The quip, the bluster, the empty slogan is no substitute for strategy and leadership. We should be angry that we were ill-prepared for a disaster clearly heading our way. Despite the alerts from Spain and Italy, there appeared little urgency to plan even a rudimentary testing strategy or to protect those who would be in the front line. The trust in herd immunity beggars belief. While all right-thinking people are relieved the Prime Minister was spared, we should be grateful that it was Churchill and his war cabinet and not the current incumbents, who were at the helm in 1940.
The only silver lining is that the NHS is secure for at least a generation. But again, we should be angry that those who daily exhort us to “Save the NHS” are the very people who spent the last ten years undermining the service. It would take a heart of stone not to be moved by the Prime Minister’s gratitude to the nurses who saw him through his illness. Yet, we should be angry that both are foreign, members of the group demonised during the Brexit campaign as, 'coming here, taking our jobs and putting pressure on the NHS'. Mr Farage, for one, has been strangely quiet as the death toll amongst foreign NHS and care staff has mounted.
The new Labour leader, Keir Starmer, may be unwilling to capitalise on the current situation. He would, however, be failing in his duty not to reflect the growing anger about the disproportionate effects on the poor and ethnic minorities. While there is unprecedented pressure on food banks, Somerset Capital Management in which Jacob Rees-Mogg has a significant stake, sees a “once in a generation” opportunity to make huge profits.
Parliamentarians must hold the British Government to account for its mishandling of the crisis. The daily briefings are an exercise in self-justification. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, suffers a mental block every time he is asked a difficult question. His answer to everything is “stay at home, save the NHS.”
Former chancellor George Osborne justified austerity on the grounds that “we are all in this together”. The same lie has been trotted out again. Let’s harness our anger to make sure we don’t fall for it again.
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