Andy Richardson: 'Forget ministers, it’s the public who are getting things done'
The mood is starting to change. The Government’s popularity reached new heights when Covid-19 struck as good will coursed through the nation.
A month on, we’ve had time to think about things like this: Why were we told we’d missed out on an EU-wide scheme to procure ventilators because an email had gone astray?
Michael Gove and Matt Hancock have both spoken on the issue. And yet one of the country’s most senior civil servants, Sir Simon McDonald, told MPs that was not true. There had been a political decision because of Brexit. Five hours later, he changed his tune and reverted to the Government line. It’s not a good look.
More alarming is the scandal over PPE, which affects many in our region. Reports suggest 8,000 companies have offered PPE but only 159 have been accepted. A huge number have been ignored and some are now supplying Ireland, Germany and Italy.
And we all thought the Government would cut through the red tape to speed up the supply chain and get equipment to the front line? Something has gone badly wrong.
Turning down PPE is like telling the Second World War land army to stop picking fruit or the Women’s Institute to give up on jam and Jerusalem. It’s like asking intensive care workers to take an unpaid holiday.
Until either a vaccine, cure or a method of tracing and isolation is found, we’ll have to get used to living with Covid-19. It’s a bit like having the world’s worst neighbour move in next door.
The virus will change our lives for years. Undeveloped nations will suffer famines. The global economy will go into deep recession. And we’ll have to suffer billionaires asking for bail-outs and images of Trump supporters holding signs that say ‘Sacrifice The Weak – Re-Open’.
The most moving moments have come not from Government but from ordinary folk – the ones described by the Home Office as being ‘low skilled’ just a few months ago. Like the workers at a Lancashire home who care for Oswestry war veteran Ken Bembow, 94. His wife of 71 years, Ada, passed away in August and each night he speaks to a photograph of her, perched beside his bed. To cheer Ken up carers printed Ada’s photograph onto a cushion. He broke down in tears of joy when they handed it to him and now takes it to bed each evening. There are diamonds in the rough.
Forget Government ministers, it’s the public who are being kind and getting things done.
