The UK Government is in a cleft stick of its own making over Covid. As has been evident right from the start, the only strategy they’ve pursued is a move toward herd immunity, because it was the cheapest option and the least damaging to the economy. A cynic might suggest that the old and vulnerable have been sacrificed to that strategy. The Government has been late to every Covid party (except the ones it held in No 10) with insufficient protective measures, and where they have been introduced, they’ve not been enforced – indeed, many of those restrictions have been broken by the very people exhorting us to follow them.
Even through the Autumn, cases have remained stubbornly high compared to the rest of Europe because of the weakening of measures to try and give the impression that we were out of the woods. That failure to act has meant no respite for front-line workers, no reductions in NHS waiting lists, no time to take a breath. And here we are in Winter.
Omicron is running wild in the UK. The NHS is already overwhelmed and the Health Secretary admits that the government’s strategy has always been to “buy time” to build up our defences and protect the NHS. Well, he’s right about the first one, but what protection have they given to the NHS? Early in the pandemic, the Government told everyone they were “following the science”. That’s been ditched in the face of a parade of scientists and health experts warning that the infections are getting out of control. Europe has imposed heavy travel restrictions on people coming from the UK, and they’re right to do so.
But look what happened in the House of Commons over the introduction of trivial measures of asking people if they wouldn’t mind wearing a facemask in a few additional places, and the quite reasonable ask that where there are going to be large groups gathering that they show some form of proof that they are not infected. A rebellion of Tory (and some opposition) MPs voted against the measures and – at long last – one MP has used the phrase to liken such measures to “living in Nazi Germany”. Quite apart from the fact that this betrays a facile view of what that must have been like, this MP and others offer no counter-proposals. Their reaction to every restriction is “no” on the grounds that it infringes civil liberties. Tame Tory-supporting newspapers are even calling for restrictions to be eased – reducing for example the self-isolation period from 10 days to 5.
And so here is where Boris is in deep trouble. He said recently that he “won’t hesitate” to bring in more measures, but that’s another bare-faced lie – they’ve done nothing BUT hesitate to bring in measures since the whole pandemic started, and they’re still doing so. The wait and see strategy is dangerous while we see the highest ever daily infection rate since the pandemic began. But if he brings more stringent measures to the House, he’ll have an even bigger rebellion within his party (not to mention criticism from businesses, many of whom are Tory donors and could end up hitting the Tory party coffers). And if he doesn’t, then the public will crucify him on his failure to protect the NHS from meltdown. Ever the populist, you can rely on Boris only to do what’s in his own best interest – which at the moment, is to bluster his way through everything to cling on to power and try to ride out the crises he’s set in motion, and damn the consequences.
And as the cases rise and the burnout continues, more nurses, doctors and teachers – the very people on whom the Government has heaped pressure upon pressure through this pandemic will quit their professions or be unavailable because they have the virus. Without an immediate post-Christmas lockdown, there is a significant and very real risk that the NHS in the UK will collapse this winter.