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?

They acted on the same advice any other gov would have.

We are 4 nations, Scotland Wales and NI have had similar infection rates and sad deaths. In fact Scotland, a small country with a teeny 5m pop has had a terrible death rate compared to other small countries.

There is no point comparing is to NZ, aus or even India. Our infection rates and deaths per million are similar to other European countries www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

So yes, I agree they have done a reasonable job. Hartlepool certainly agree. Wonder what forensic Starmer has to say about that.

Hilarious...

Moaning because we weren’t locked down quick enough....moaning because we needed to open up and start the economy again...

Moaning because no one - and I mean no one - has never seen or dealt with a pandemic of this magnitude in this lifetime and they made wrong turns....

Jesus wept - no poor bastard would’ve won with this, not even Father Christmas and he’s the nicest bloke I know

'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!'

Exactly.

@PastMyBestBeforeDate

They threw money around like confetti in a whirlwind at the beginning of the pandemic. They were lucky that they threw it in a direction that worked. Literally nothing else they've done has been a success as pp have said. The money they threw at Dido Harding and the app that was not going to work, the money they threw at eotho, the money they threw at their friends to procure stuff that was inadequate or not needed, that's gone and the average person is paying that back for the rest of their working life.

This is exactly my thinking.

Hindsight is such a wonderful tool.
Labour would have handled it pretty much the same, as the science would have determined so.
Hartlepool says it all.

@SakuraEdenSwan1

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.

Are you sure it’s this way around

Education for both schools and universities has been totally messed up during the pandemic and the conservative education department has been a shambles throughout.

They refused to listen to those working in schools.
They refused to consider any alternatives as to all out (bar key worker and vulnerable) or all in.
They sent all in in Autumn term rather than consider why that would cause issues - in many many schools it was a disaster.
They refused to acknowledge that schools are also work places for adults, and refused to treat the adults in schools in the same way they were treating many other adult workers.
They sent thousands of students criss crossing the country at once with no testing, and condoned students being made to isolate without adequate space or provisions in lots of cases.
They have condone most students having virtually no face to face sessions at all this academic year, yet paying full whack for their courses and accommodation.
They threatened students with not being allowed home for Christmas until the last minute pretty much.
The exams for gcse and a levels were horrendous last year and even worse this year, with no advice til the last minute for students and staff alike.
And a hundred and one other issues....

As someone who teaches in primary, has a student Dd training to be a teacher and knowing lots of family and friends with children of all ages and in all education sectors there is no way I could support this government;s handling of education throughout the pandemic.

I believe the handling of the pandemic to have been appalling . The impact on the young is dreadful - I think we have had a inconsistent strategy. Either we should have had a complete early lockdown with borders shut or a relaxed approach all through with only the vulnerable shielding. I feel the damage to those with other illnesses will be seen over the next few years - younger people dying and with severe illness which went undetected, mental health by and life quality of the young plummeting. Even many of those who are elderly and active have seen deteriorated health through lack of contact as they are confined to their home. I feel that the constant focus on the care homes has meant that the rest of the population's needs has been seen as secondary.

I agree in some ways op

The two biggest failings IMO are not closing borders earlier and not locking down earlier

But at the end of the day this is an unseen enemy and we will always be one step behind it. People need to accept that and any govt would Make mistakes

@MuddySocks

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!

Agree with this.

Yes some people have done very well thank you Boris and co for the contracts given to mates.

@RedcurrantPuff

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

Except we haven’t done better than India on Bloomberg resilience scale, or any other measure.

YABU.
I’m sad we don’t expect better from our politicians. Complacency just lets them get away with more. The government should be ashamed of their handling of this pandemic, and we as a country should demand better.

I think they've handled it appallingly. They should have closed the borders to begin with and had a full lockdown at the beginning which people would have fully complied with, instead of dragging it out for as long as possible and wasting unnecessary billions on furlough. We were all told to 'eat out to help out' and were then blamed and berated for doing exactly that and following government advice. They gave so many false promises and glimmers of hope, ie Christmas, and then (unsurprisingly) snatched it away at the last minute.

So no, I don't think they've handled ANY of the pandemic well at all.

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.

That's not true though. Taiwan has more people than the UK and managed to control it better. Speak for yourself about following the rules, I've followed them so have many others. It is both possible to think the government were completely inept at handling the pandemic and some people also acted a bit shittily selfish. Sort of like the PMs advisor he refused to sack initially...

@Pottedpalm

Hindsight is such a wonderful tool. Labour would have handled it pretty much the same, as the science would have determined so. Hartlepool says it all.

It wasn’t hindsight. They consciously chose to ignore expert advice. They refused to plan. They reduced our hospital bed capacity to well below other developed nations and left us seriously under resourced. They wasted billions - more than the global space programme on a failed Serco track and trace, on empty Nightingales they couldn’t staff (and were advised about that Bettye build) and on contracts that didn’t deliver because they ignored experienced businesses in favour of their donors with no experience and no companies.

If only they had listened to the science and not decided to let the more elderly or people with learning disabilities die untreated.
If only they had listened to the science and closed our borders quickly.
If only they had listened to the science and not allowed Cheltenham and the football to go ahead.
If only they’d followed their own rules, in line with the guidance.

'I believe the handling of the pandemic to have been appalling . The impact on the young is dreadful '

The pandemic has been awful. The 'handling' of it has been what is needed to reduce transmission.

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!^

Not so. My DGM is a lifelong tory voter. Yesterday she didn't vote for them because of the appalling mishandling of the pandemic and because of the Brexit fallout. They voted leave too.

He locked down late 3 times against scientific advice.

He was happy to let bodies pile high in their thousands.

That’s all you need to know about the government’s handling of this pandemic. They prioritised the economy over lives. Actual human lives. Loved ones of us all. They couldn’t give a fuck.

The key thing is how they are perceived to have handled it is once again reflected in the polls. So clearly voters do not think Labour or anyone else would have done any better, and there must be an element of thinking they handled it brilliantly.

There will always be die hard Tory haters, but if the early poll results are anything to go by the voters felt they handled it well.

Just listening to 50 years now going from Labour to Cons in local election

It’s a pretty strong message

Vaccine roll out aside and the decision to extend time between vaccinations (ironically Tony Blairs idea) they have been awful. We've had longer periods of lockdown than almost all countries globally because of delayed responses to things. Have prioritised shutting things in the complete wrong way - look at the big shopping centres that were open Boxing day with 00000s of people going to them where nothing can be managed, whilst gyms, hairdressers etc where things can be managed perfectly fine remained closed. Remember most of those shops also have an online presence so ordering online is fine. It's been U turn after U turn, turning care homes into death hospitals was disgusting. We are an island and should have easily been able to close our borders but chose not to. Track and trace and everyone involved should be tried for fraud we've spent £27b on something that still doesn't work where other countries have got fully working systems for £ms the difference is startling. Then there is the plump contacts given to donors and friends. There is a reason we have an excess of 50k deaths and were repeatedly at the top die a long time for Covid deaths/infections. The whole thing has been embarrassing and I fear because of the vaccine program people will look back with Rose tinted glasses and forget the cluster fuck of wrongs.

You only have to read the threads on here, vastly differing opinions of what should happen. Lock down, leave everything open, shut down all travel,. I need to go on holiday, schools should shut down, schools need to stay open!

It almost impossible to navigate, but the n the whole I think it has been handled well.
If the government had tried to lockdown earlier, when we had very few cases, I don't believe most people would have believed there was a threat, so would have done their own thing anyway

Acknowledging that his dithering cost lives doesn't make someone a 'die hard tory hater'. He's the prime minister leading a country with expert advise he chose to ignore. Of course he should be held accountable. Not that there'll ever be an enquiry anyway. www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/18/delaying-englands-winter-lockdown-caused-up-to-27000-extra-covid-deaths

Well that’s true actually @LemonRoses