I know that I am in denial about what is going to happen over the next few weeks as the NHS is overwhelmed by Covid 19 and tens of thousands of people die, unnecessarily. But I should not be. I should be nurturing my anger that our government has chosen to let this happen.
They were too late last March, too early in June, wildly optimistic in the summer, irresponsible in September, feeble in November, reckless about Christmas and too late again in January. Whenever they could make this crisis worse that’s exactly what the government’s done.
Why has that happened? Three reasons. First, this government has never cared about the NHS and the people working in it. They treat them with the contempt they have for all private sector employees. Several in the Cabinet have been open about wanting to privatise the NHS.
Second, they’ve always wanted to balance their books more than they’ve wanted to save people. Sunak says that is his priority. So he introduced Johnson to the proponents of ‘herd immunity’ - otherwise called the ‘just let the vulnerable die brigade’, which is what they’re doing.
Third, they really don’t care. All they care about is being in office. And whilst opinion polls suggest it’s likely they’ll be re-elected they’ll carry on not caring that people might die. Call it ‘the Generals at the Somme’ attitude, if you like, because that is what it is.
So, it’s balanced budgets first, contempt for a state run NHS second, and indifference to people dying third, all so long as they can undermine the state and help their friends with a few extra contracts. If you aren’t seething now you bloody well should be, and soon.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
