ONE of Boris Johnson’s old Bullingdon Club chums warned him the other day if he didn’t want to be remembered as the worst Prime Minister ever then just keep saying no to an independence referendum.
So as he visits Scotland today to in a desperate attempt to stop the UK’s future collapse (and for a carefully stage managed photocall), it’s a good time to point out that history is bound to hand this “ignoble title”, as George Osborne put it, to Johnson regardless of his role in the loss of the Union.
Should anyone be in any doubt that he’s not on course to pick up the gong for the least competent Prime Minister ever, then the terrible 100,000 Covid death milestone, announced on Tuesday, has surely put paid to that.
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The figure is the highest death toll in Europe, represents one of the highest death rates in the world, and is tragically set to rise much further still.
According to the Office of National Statistics, England has the highest death rate per 100,000 of all the UK nations across the pandemic at 156.4, ahead of Wales with 144.7, Scotland at 106.1 and Northern Ireland at 93.1.
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All other states across the globe – except for perhaps Donald Trump’s United States and Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil, have done a better job in handling the pandemic. This is the simple and stark conclusion.
Johnson, as is his nature, is now of course, rapidly trying to distance himself from taking responsibility – even while on the surface saying he is doing just that – for this disaster, as if his Government’s decisions have nothing to do with the catastrophic loss of life.
“I think on this day I should just really repeat that I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and of course as I was Prime Minister I take full responsibility for everything that the Government has done.
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“What I can tell you is that we truly did everything we could, and continue to do everything that we can, to minimise loss of life and to minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult stage,” he said.
But how can anyone actually believe his statement that “we did everything we could”?
There was the late decision to go into the first lockdown last March; the decision to keep borders open allowing international travellers to bring the virus into the UK; the failure to get proper supplies of PPE equipment to care homes as well as the delayed start to a functioning test and protect programme.
There were slow starts to the second and third lockdowns in England over the autumn and winter and mixed, early poor messaging on the wearing of face masks, shaking hands and working from home.
To the long list of bad decisions you could add Johnson’s failure to sack his former chief aide Dominic Cummings for breaking lockdown last spring – a decision which prompted people to ask “why should I obey the rules when those who make them don’t?” thereby undermining the vital public health message.
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Certainly the scientists don’t believe Johnson and his Government did everything they could.
Professor Linda Bauld, public health expert from the University of Edinburgh, has argued the UK’s death toll of more than 100,000 deaths was “a legacy of poor decisions that were taken when we eased restrictions”. She said the lack of focus on test and trace and the “absolute inability to recognise” the need to address international travel had also led to a more deadly winter surge.
Professor Neil Ferguson, of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said that if the Government had acted earlier and with “greater stringency” in September a lot of recent deaths could have been avoided.
Prof Sir Michael Marmot, who carried out a review of inequalities in Covid-19 deaths, has pointed to the UK’s lack of preparedness for the pandemic – which experts had long warned was coming. So far Johnson seems to have escaped any calls from the opposition parties to resign and votes of no confidence from disgruntled Tory backbenchers, but as he heads to Scotland today expect the demands for him to quit not to be far off.
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