To think the Government have done a reasonable job of handling this pandemic?

[EmbarrassedButIAdmitIt]

I’ve actually just voted Conservative in my local elections because of it . Not for Boris I might add who I cannot stand but the people actually doing the work behind him.

Considering we have not had a worldwide pandemic in over a hundred years, and the world has changed beyond recognition in terms of people movement since then, obviously it has been a massive learning curve, but I think on the whole we have been pretty well looked after with furlough, self employed support. top up benefits, vaccine production and rollout, etc.

I know there’s been ‘jobs for the boys’ but I don’t think any other political party would have been any different sadly.

We have had a higher death rate than other European countries but TBF we are a small overcrowded island populated by people who don’t like following rules and are stupid enough to believe hysterical conspiracy theories.

I am so grateful that I live in the UK and not somewhere like India, Brazil or even the US.

So AIBU?

The Pandemic was something we have never seen in our lifetime (and hopefully never again!) However overall they did a decent job.

The whole world knew a pandemic would come at some stage, and many countries prepared accordingly. If you call the response a "decent job" all I can say is you have very low expectations!

They've been appalling. They had to be pushed into alot of the initial financial support announcements by Labour MPs, they didn't want to lock down and would happily gave seen more deaths but knew an overwhelmed NHS wouldn't be a good look, they locked down late and ignored scientists which has caused needless extra deaths and financial hardship. Their first thought has been profit for their mates/relatives.
They wanted everyone back in the office propping up the economy before the second wave.
They had run the pandemic preparations down so we were unprepared.
They had run the NHS down so it had to stop all other treatments.
The vaccine delivery is down to scientists, the NHS and local government. One thing they did learn from the failure of track and trace was not to privatise vaccine delivery or that would have been yet another cock up.
So yes you should be embarrassed to have voted for them on the basis they handled the pandemic well. It's an insult to the loved ones of those who have died to say they've handled it well.

He has and is doing an appalling job, literally changes the rules to suit himself. He is not liked despite what the MSM and here try tell you.

@Uncurtailed

They've made mistakes - but any government would have made numerous mistakes. The Pandemic was something we have never seen in our lifetime (and hopefully never again!) However overall they did a decent job.

Hindsight is 20/20 and there are far too many armchair or SJW's who think they could have done better. Absolute rubbish.

Well this is the third Pandemic I can remember living through!

The Government have handled it appallingly,I remember the Cheltenham festival being allowed,even I knew that was madness!

I hope heads will roll,Johnson,Hancock,Sunak,so many of them.They are corrupt to the core.

I'd say it's been a mediocre response punctuated by massive fuck-ups and one good point.

The fuck-ups:

• BoJo minimising the risk and making a big show of shaking hands in a hospital.
• Lucrative PPE and equipment contracts being given to personal friends of high-ranking Tories
• A confusing tiered system for lifting restrictions
• Eat out to help out - what the actual fuck were they thinking?
• The monumental disaster that was GCSE and A-level results
• Encouraging all the kids to go to uni on the promise of face-to-face teaching, only to lock them up in their halls, deny them that face-to-face teaching and then send them all home again. Oh, after they were charged for both tuition and accommodation.

The one good point? The vaccine roll-out has been slick, fair play.

I would have voted conservative based on identity politics alone, but yes I agree they’ve done a decent job with the vaccination program which looks to be getting us out of constant lockdowns.

@Uncurtailed

They've made mistakes - but any government would have made numerous mistakes. The Pandemic was something we have never seen in our lifetime (and hopefully never again!) However overall they did a decent job.

Hindsight is 20/20 and there are far too many armchair or SJW's who think they could have done better. Absolute rubbish.

But any government didn’t- we have about the worst mortality when compared to almost anywhere. It’s not mistakes; it has been wilful use of the pandemic to allow cronies to prosper and to hide the storm of Brexit. The following governments have made far fewer ‘mistakes’: Channel Islands Isle of Man New Zealand Iceland Israel. Mauritius Taiwan Singapore South Korea Australia Canada Germany UAE Greece Argentina Ireland Egypt Bangladesh

And more.

So, no, not every country. Yes, we’ll likely see more pandemics, sadly.
It wasn’t about hindsight it was about ignoring the clinical, scientific and epidemiological expert advice to serve their own purposes.

Our one-month case mortality is double that of Nigeria, six times that of Finland and worse than Poland, Romania, and India.

No, on every measure they've done dreadfully and it's ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

I think some mistakes were made along the way which were shown to be mistakes in hindsight, snd the decisions made were done under extreme pressure and with no gift of second sight. People need to remember the pressure that was being applied to open up and that it wasn’t realistic to keep everything locked down. It was also unprecedented what they were dealing with. Every country made mistakes.

Ultimately though we have been world leading in our vaccine program, so yes, I believe in the end it’s been fantastically handled.

If you have been following the stats in the rest of Europe they have by and large caught up with death rate. Viruses don’t do politics, they work their way through a population regardless of politics or policy, nature is relentless.
No government will come out of the pandemic smelling of roses. All I can say is that the thought of Corbin et al being in charge in Jan 2020 sends shivers down my spine.

“Jobs for the boys” is the nice euphemism for corruption. We should care about that and be willing to hold people to account.

It’s utterly dispiriting that we seem to have followed the US model, where a large proportion of the population seemingly don’t care how corrupt or incompetent politicians are, they will vote for “their” team regardless. Our standards and expectations are so low, we truly seem to get the politicians we deserve.

Yes you are being exceptionally dense if you have missed that this pandemic has been handled appallingly. Literally unbelievable.

They have got somethings right and somethings wrong. I think any government would have done similar.
I think they did well in vaccinations and poorly with care homes and disabled people
I dont like the way they awarded contracts it was corrupt and slowed things down
I thought they communicated well
I think the situation in schools in december was criminal
I think they read public mood on lockdowns pretty well making them as long as bearable
I think furlough was a lifeline was many

Bloody hell OP have you had your head in the sand for the last 15 months?

They government have done a terrible job of managing the pandemic. I was going to write more but I'm the equivalent of speechless.

Hahahaha ... ha. And another ha. Talk about starting a fire and running away.

You are most unreasonable, OP. In fact you may even be deluded. But you're gone.

I can’t understand your opinion, OP. By any measure, the UK has done badly: a colossal death rate, damage to the economy and harm to mental health. The vaccination programme is the first thing the government has got right.

We’re an island, it would have been easy to close our borders or institute a properly supervised quarantine system from the start.

The fact we have done better than Brazil, the US, or India is hardly a ringing endorsement

And people have followed the rules, compliance was higher than expected. Still a nice way to blame the people for this shitshow and not the government.

YABU

Honestly I utterly despair.

How anyone can think this was well handled? I feel like there’s been a brainwash by The media if this is genuinely your opinion. We have the highest death toll in Europe. I wish the elections had come mid spike, people might be feeling a bit different.

Just to remind everyone, lockdowns were never going to prevent death, they were to flatten the curve and make a largely untreatable disease easier to manage. Without the vaccine we were all likely to have caught Covid at some time over the next few years. We are now aware of the risk factors, age, obesity and probably genetic vulnerability. And are in a position to reduce the risk on an individual basis.
Those countries who have avoided the virus may find the vaccine brings with it different problems. Unless they vaccinate the whole population they will still have problems when they reopen borders.

Tell me how can anyone vote Tory after this? Let alone the sleaze, the no free lunches (takes a sodding footballer to sort out), a housing market where no one can afford to get on the ladder, cutting international aid....

They've played a blinder and are reaping the awards in the local elections.

Rewards

Jangle we no longer have the highest death rate, many European countries have caught up and overtaken us.

Not the right place to be asking this question op.

This is Mumsnet and it's predominantly Labour leaning.

Ask people in RL or wait to see the local
Election results .. there you
should find your answers!

@User135644

They've played a blinder and are reaping the awards in the local elections.

This 👆