Andy Richardson: 'Covid-19 and Government’s response will scar nation for decades'
We’ve become immune to the figures.
Each day we are told the daily death total; another 359 fatalities, or more. Given our consistently, world-beating morbidity, people are no longer shocked; they consider it safe to mingle at the beach or park, to protest on the streets or invite friends around for parties. The UK now has more daily deaths from Covid than the rest of the entire EU put together. While the numbers are bad, the public also feels it’s not been dealt a fair hand.
A pattern of hypocrisy has been ongoing for as long as the pandemic has been on our shores.
Anyone fancy a sight-testing road trip to a far-distant beauty spot with the man who created the lockdown rules? Anyone want the true figures on test and trace, clarity over why infectious people were sent into care homes, the scandal over a lack of PPE and why there’s one rule for the elite and another for the majority – you can’t see your dying relative but they can do as they please. BoJo is proud of his efforts, however, and is finally taking full control of the nation’s response to Covid-19. Which begs the question, who was running things before?
When things are looking bad, you can always rely on Priti Vacant Patel to make them worse. Her plans for a blanket airport quarantine are, a) three months too late, b) will cut Britain off from the rest of the world at a time when other nations have Covid-19 under control, c) completely ignores scientific and economic advice. Still, with Priti, announcements are all about time-min-g. Given her forensic attention to detail, we can be sure that she will implement the 14-day quarantine for everyone; making them isolate for the full three weeks.
The worrying thing, however, is this: we’ve been going through the easy part. Rishi Sunak’s money tree has shielded us from the true economic effects. As furlough ends, unemployment rises, businesses collapse and people find themselves on the scrapheap, we’ll start to see a clearer picture. Covid-19 and the Government’s response will scar the nation for decades.
Former Chancellors Alastair Darling, George Osborne and Philip Hammond have all warned about the severity of the crisis. There is little doubt that unemployment will accelerate through the year as furlough ends.
It’s not the beginning of the end; merely the end of the beginning.
