Why is the UK doing so horrible with COVID?

[Jonathan Walkerin]

I sense from mindlight the common anti-science rhetoric that many Christians think makes them seem super spiritual

You kind of pick this up especially on creation forums. It often looks like even understanding scientific principles of any theory - whatever you agree with it or not - somehow corrupts the blind faith they have on any particular issue.

 

[Whyayeman]

It is government incompetence. The Prime Minister is useless. He dithers because he is afraid to upset his friends and supporters, then reacts to the crisis when it is too late.

He was advised by SAGE to declare measures to halt the dramatic rise in infections and hospital admissions last October, then did, after the situation worsened. He insisted it would be safe to celebrate Christmas with a five day restrictions 'holiday'. The country is now faced with an indefinite period of severe restrictions.

What the country needs now is a 'holiday' from Johnson's baseless optimism.

 

[MyOwnSockPuppet]

It is government incompetence. The Prime Minister is useless. He dithers because he is afraid to upset his friends and supporters, then reacts to the crisis when it is too late.

He was advised by SAGE to declare measures to halt the dramatic rise in infections and hospital admissions last October, then did, after the situation worsened. He insisted it would be safe to celebrate Christmas with a five day restrictions 'holiday'. The country is now faced with an indefinite period of severe restrictions.

What the country needs now is a 'holiday' from Johnson's baseless optimism.

Not to mention the rules, as needlessly complicated as they were made (to avoid upsetting those oh-so-important donors), being ignored so spectacularly and to such little consequence by many elected politicians and appointed "political advisers" from across the political spectrum.

Unfortunately in this case leading by example was just about the worst thing to happen - if it's OK for the political classes to drive hundreds of miles while infectious (with their family in the car) and get photographed at closed tourist spots on a family birthday, or catch a commuter train from London to Edinburgh immediately after getting a positive covid test then why should we plebs be restricted to far less stringent limitations than I'd personally like there to be?

 

[Whyayeman]

It is nice to find agreement on these boards! The only quibble is that the government's advisors are really not from 'across the political spectrum'.

There has been a sense of 'do as we say, not as I do' about this administration which has got right up the noses of the people most affected. Actually, this criticism is especially strong in England. Scotland and Wales have devolved governments which have, broadly, been much more cautious, responsible and heeded by the people.

 

[MyOwnSockPuppet]

It is nice to find agreement on these boards! The only quibble is that the government's advisors are really not from 'across the political spectrum'.

There has been a sense of 'do as we say, not as I do' about this administration which has got right up the noses of the people most affected. Actually, this criticism is especially strong in England. Scotland and Wales have devolved governments which have, broadly, been much more cautious, responsible and heeded by the people.

It certainly used to be the case that ministers had control of the hiring and to a degree firing (without cause) of their political advisers, although nowadays they seem to be sackable by the PM's political adviser regardless of which minister they're advising. That is, up until the PM's political adviser gets sacked by the PM's fiancee.

Bad phrasing on my part, but it's MPs from most political parties that have been caught ignoring the rules (the most flagrant, the London to Edinburgh train MP was in the Scottish National Party until the details came out - she's been suspended from the party, but all that means is she's sitting as an independent until the next election).

 

[Whyayeman]

We agree, I think, that the UK is not well led. Johnson's administration is characterised by the appointment of contributors to the Tory Party, old friends and their spouses. There has been a narrowing of government. Chums have crowded out the rest, regardless of actual ability.

 

[Whyayeman]

Things have moved on, inevitably, over the last eighteen months. Prime Minister Johnson is mired in scandal and is accused of lying about the parties known to have been held illegally in No 10 Downing Street during the Lockdown. He has been fined for his part in one of them and is suspected of participation in several others. He is the only serving British Prime Minister to be guilty of an offence.

His time in office is widely believed to be almost over. He will have to resign sooner or later.

COVID is on the wane here, though by no means over.

 

[mindlight]

Things have moved on, inevitably, over the last eighteen months. Prime Minister Johnson is mired in scandal and is accused of lying about the parties known to have been held illegally in No 10 Downing Street during the Lockdown. He has been fined for his part in one of them and is suspected of participation in several others. He is the only serving British Prime Minister to be guilty of an offence.

His time in office is widely believed to be almost over. He will have to resign sooner or later.

COVID is on the wane here, though by no means over.

The UK and I think Germany to some extent has passed through some kind of compassion fatigue threshold. The people dying now are mainly unvaccinated, those shrugging it off are vaccinated and recently boosted. So if you die it's your fault, sort of thing, the rest of us no longer care. In fact, now this looks like a cull of the stupid. The overall current situation looks more like a bad flu year than a pandemic because vaccination and wonder drugs have transformed things from the bad old days of peak covid deaths.

 

[Whyayeman]

I haven't noticed that here.