Thread by @AgnesClackett

@BorisJohnson gaslighting dither & delay Government helped create conditions for the new covid strain to emerge

1/ When it became clear that schoolchildren were likely contributing significantly to the spread of the virus, his Government denied & issued legal threats to schools

2/ Scientists issued repeated warnings that allowing households to mix during Xmas would lead to a surge in cases.

@BorisJohnson Government refused to heed that advice, U-turned predictably days before Xmas, causing chaos to people’s plans, with crowded scenes at train stations.

3/ Viruses mutate & adapt as they multiply and, if we continue to have high levels of transmission in the population i.e. more cases, this provides fertile ground for new mutations to arise.

Sadly, but very avoidably, this is exactly what @BorisJohnson Government has provided.

4/ Too Little Too Late.

Through repeated negligent decisions and consistently late actions, @BorisJohnson Government has not only missed many opportunities to control the virus in the UK but actively worsened it.

5/ In September 2020, when cases were once again rising sharply, was another example of @BorisJohnson Government deciding not to act.

archive.vn/UWnAm

6/ Sept 2020 @BorisJohnson Govt ignored its own scientific advisors & invited in proponents of the pseudoscientific ‘herd immunity’ approach - Professors Carl Heneghan & Sunetra Gupta & Anders Tegnell (architect of disastrous Swedish strategy) - to advise
archive.vn/UWnAm

Ignoring its own scientists, @BorisJohnson Government listened to the pseudoscience which meant no lockdown until late November -
- at which point our health services were at critical capacity & case levels were too high to be brought down sufficiently with a 4 week lockdown.

8/ 2nd lockdown had minimal impact in London & SouthEast England where the B.1.1.7 covid variant was already rapidly increasing & its growth resumed exponentially.

Despite the high number of cases at the end of lockdown, @BorisJohnson Govt went ahead & eased restrictions anyway.

9/ Remember.

This Govt is not short of money - it has spent billions on health measures & support for the economy.

Unrestricted by Parliament, the further powers conferred by the Coronavirus Act gives it complete freedom.

This failure is @BorisJohnson Government’s alone.

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