The government's rebuttal also contains a number of falsehoods and misrepresents both its own actions and @thesundaytimes article...
Govt: "At a very basic level, this is wrong. The meeting was on the fourth Friday in January."
Translation: someone at the Sunday Times can't count and we're going to use that to discredit the entire story. Irrelevant, they got the date right (January 24th).
Translation: someone at the Sunday Times can't count and we're going to use that to discredit the entire story. Irrelevant, they got the date right (January 24th).
Govt: "The UK was taking action and working to improve its preparedness from early January."
If so, why were we so unprepared?
If so, why were we so unprepared?
Govt: "The Sunday Times is suggesting that there was a scientific consensus around the fact that this was going to be a pandemic – that is plainly untrue."
Translation: we listened to the wrong experts.
Translation: we listened to the wrong experts.
"At this point the World Health Organisation had not declared COVID19 a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’, and only did so on 30 January."
So before the second of the five meetings Johnson skipped then.
So before the second of the five meetings Johnson skipped then.
Govt: "Infectivity on its own simply reveals how quickly a disease spreads, and not its health impact."
True. But the day before that first Cobra meeting China quarantined an entire city, and soon cancelled new year celebrations across the country. It was clearly serious.
True. But the day before that first Cobra meeting China quarantined an entire city, and soon cancelled new year celebrations across the country. It was clearly serious.
Govt: "It is ridiculous to suggest that coronavirus only reached the UK because the Health Secretary and not the PM chaired a COBR meeting."
It's ridiculous to suggest that the article suggested that. But the government clearly dropped the ball and left us wide open to the virus.
It's ridiculous to suggest that the article suggested that. But the government clearly dropped the ball and left us wide open to the virus.
They didn't bother testing people coming into the country from hot spots, at best they advised them to self isolate, often not even that. They gave up on testing and tracing infections early on. They ignored lessons from other countries. They let the virus spread.
Govt: "This anonymous source is variously described as a ‘senior adviser to Downing Street’ and a ‘senior Downing Street adviser’. The two things are not the same."
Quibbling over semantics (and probably fishing to figure out who this advisor was). Irrelevant.
Quibbling over semantics (and probably fishing to figure out who this advisor was). Irrelevant.
Govt: "The NHS has responded well to Coronavirus, and has provided treatment to everyone in critical need. We have constructed the new Nightingale hospitals and extended intensive care capacity in other hospitals."
Irrelevant to the claim that "little was done .. in this period".
Irrelevant to the claim that "little was done .. in this period".
Govt: "The Department for Health began work on boosting PPE stocks in January."
Odd then that lots of companies that make PPE, ventilators etc and the groups that represent them say they didn't hear anything from the govt or get any response to enquiries until March or April.
Odd then that lots of companies that make PPE, ventilators etc and the groups that represent them say they didn't hear anything from the govt or get any response to enquiries until March or April.
Govt: "We have taken the right steps at the right time guided by the scientific evidence."
Bullshit. They picked the wrong advisors and ignored the scientific consensus and the evidence from other countries.
Bullshit. They picked the wrong advisors and ignored the scientific consensus and the evidence from other countries.
They could and should have locked down a couple of weeks earlier, saving thousands of lives. They could and should have followed WHO guidance and tested more widely and traced infections. Instead they gave up and let the disease run wild.
They wanted to let 60% of the country catch the disease to build up herd immunity, until someone pointed out that would kill 250,000 people and swamp the NHS. They got it wrong and still won't admit it.
Interestingly one thing they *didn't* deny is that they still think they were right and the rest of us were wrong, and they only locked down because media pressure and public opinion became overwhelming. If so, that public pressure saved thousands of lives.
Govt: "[we have] been extremely proactive in implementing lessons learnt around pandemic preparedness, including from Exercise Cygnus."
Bollocks. They don't deny that they didn't follow their own pandemic plan, which you'd hope was updated after Cygnus.
Bollocks. They don't deny that they didn't follow their own pandemic plan, which you'd hope was updated after Cygnus.
Or that our stockpiles of medical equipment for use in a pandemic was run down by austerity cuts. Or that they didn't buy vital equipment recommended after Cygnus because it cost too much. Or that officials were too busy dealing with Brexit to do pandemic training.
Bottom line: most of this rebuttal consists of nitpicking, spectacularly missing the point, and claiming they only followed the science, despite most scientists and governments around the world disagreeing with their approach. This scandal won't go away so easily.
In case there's any confusion, @thesundaytimes got the date right (January 24th) but thought that was the 3rd Friday of the month, not the 4th. The opening section is clearly all talking about the same day. The govt is being facetious by claiming this means the article is wrong. 
Govt: "The editor of the Lancet .. accused the media of escalating anxiety"
Unsurprisingly this isn't the whole story...
Unsurprisingly this isn't the whole story...
And apparently the government STILL isn't talking to PPE suppliers, who are now selling millions of pounds worth of gear to other European countries because repeated attempts to contact our own government haven't had any response. What a shambles.
telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/2…
telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/2…
