Anyone else wincing at Boris’ manoeuvres to pass the blame

[Paurie]

Exhibit A

So a week ago we were told schools were likely to stay open. Two days ago schools were closed, we were told to avoid pubs and gyms - but encouraged to keep exercising and stay positive. And now it’s ‘Irresponsible Brits flocking to outdoor spaces may force PM into implementing a full lockdown’

Bollocks. It’s utter bollocks.

Lockdown may be forced by the PMs hesitant and wooly-headed leadership. There might have been too many people on Snowdonia - but they were in good faith doing their best to do what they’ve been told. It’s sly and malicious to point the finger at them.

Exhibit B!

The old and vulnerable are being sent letters telling them to stay isolated for four months. For many this will be physically and psychologically near on impossible - whether because the learning curve for them is too high to change their habits, or because they directly rely on others for their care needs, or because 4 months alone is enough to send you round the twist.

This is the price for avoiding a (shorter) full UK lockdown. And in a few months time it will be a sad and regrettable consequence of people failing to follow (impossible) rules that we will see substantial numbers of old people getting sick and being denied a ventilator.

Yes - the situation is bad - but pushing the responsibility (and by implication blame) on terrified and confused octogenarians is just wrong.

Exhibit C

The doctors are not being given personal protective equipment. We are going to have a lot of doctors who get sick as a direct consequence.

What is the betting that the narrative will be that “if only they had washed their hands “or “but we had plenty of face masks if they had only thought to ask” or “COVID-19 patients should have been identified on admission isolated in a separate ward on admission”.

We can’t allow Boris to push the blame onto the people who are most affected by this to cover up the governments lack of clear forward thinking.

He is certainly to blame for following Cummings idiotic herd immunity strategy.

I’m no fan of Boris but I can see that he is doing a fair job. The daily briefings are good.

However, he needs to avoid excessive verbiage and bluster when speaking as this obscures the message.

People also need to learn to take responsibility for themselves.
I've seen a number of people who are ignoring the very clear advice just because they hate Boris and the Tory's. It's embarrassing.

@SarahInAccounts his scientific advisors know more than you

SueEllen

The lack of PPE is clearly a govt cock up of mass proportions, as is lack of testing to identify early and treat before they need a ICU bed..... incompetence and nothing to do with hating anyone.

People need firm and absolute rules/enforcement in regard to CV19... not fuckin advice.

Rightly or wrongly he is doing this stepwise. As has been witnessed by the idiots flocking to tourists spots an overnight complete lockdown wouldn’t work.

He is allowing the people to guide his actions. When the full lockdown is implemented he can argue quite reasonably it’s because people are not following the reasonable rules.

I do think lockdown is coming. However I am unsure about whether lockdown is going to work anyway. At some point the lockdown will have to be eased, and then the virus will rear its head again.

This virus isn’t going to go away. The only way is herd immunity, vaccines, or drug treatment. Shutting people away indefinitely simply isn’t a long term solution.

The hysteria on here condemning people if they admit to going for a solitary walk isn’t rational.

I’m not political point scoring. I’m not a political person - I’m a community person.

And the lack of clear forward looking leadership is turning communities against each other - because the rules keep changing and aren’t thought through. So we are caught in blaming each other rather than being able to make plans for supporting each other.

I'm not a Tory voter but I think BJ is doing the best he can in a shitty situation.
The photos of people out in groups and large gatherings this weekend has shown that we need to be forced to lock down.

The message has been inconsistent because the situation is changing all the time!

Yes, I think lockdown is coming... and then, once the NHS has capacity again, it will be relaxed... and the reimplemented. Just as the model they are follwoing has said it will be! Buit it wouldn't be necessary if not for us... and looking at us in Italy etc, some of us are likely to ignore it anyway!

Controlled infection rates, protection of the vulnerable (remember that is being done to avoid swamping the NHS as much as it is to protect the individuals), anti body tests, medicinal control, vaccination (maybe). That's it! A cold, dispassionate, wholly objective set of measures. Nasty, impersonal and fucking scary, but its a pandemic!

Do what you can... we have the advice. We can choose to quibble abou tit or we can do what is obvious! Our choice!

The messages from the government have been very confusing and inconsistent. The government assume that people will be sensible and take personal responsibility but as shown by recent events unless we are told in black and white not to do something people think that it's ok.

I thought that Boris was being advised by behavioural scientists but there is little evidence of this. They should have anticipated by Friday that on a sunny Mother's Day weekend everyone would head to parks and beaches and other popular places and closed them off. They should have shut gyms, pubs, restaurants and theatres weeks ago. If the gym or pub is open people assume it is safe to go.

The advice to work from home where possible has also not reached many employers. DH is still going to work in a busy office because his boss doesn't believe in home working even though their job is perfectly possible to do at home. The government needs to be clear to employers that a failure to allow employees to WFH is putting lives at risk unnecessarily.

Of course he’s to blame for the herd immunity strategy and not getting a grip on this sooner. He pushed the whole thing toward that direction. Just because it has Cummings sticky finger prints all over it, he is still allegedly in charge.

Us being Brits with a colonial hangover of superiority may have come into play. In any case, the scientists didn’t have a choice. He has consistently refused to test. They were left with little avenues of advice as he was sticking his finger in his ears.

Lest we forget he only made shut down moves due to massive public outcry at schools staying open and the recent big muttering of little substance about gyms, pubs etc closing was off the back of Macron threatening to shut the border. Also remember major retailers and take away food suppliers (as McDonalds has become) have chosen to close. He is anything but an early adopter.

Kind of agree CuriousaboutSampire but the sooner we implement the harsh measures, the less we will swamp the NHS and limit deaths.

We can't undo the mistakes already made but we can stop repeating them!!

So, advising people not to travel to Cornwall etc is pointless, it needed enforcement.

Nope! Hiding this one now!

If you all want to live in a constant state of fear and panic, go ahead!

I'll stay here, self employed, no financial support, no work and no panic! I'll stay calm and think my through this shit without the need to focus/waste my energy on some pointless blame game!

I agree, those measures should have been introduced she's ago. He gambled with our lives for the sake of 'herd immmunity' and voila, were screwed. They kept on repeating this is nothing serious, so of course people think it's nothing serious...

We are retired couple, in the vulnerable group, and I have been trying to get a food delivery slot for over a week and I can't.

When is he going to do something about us getting food. I can't even get through to Sainsburys to register as vulnerable.

Looking from the outside, he looks extremely lax (I’ve been following closely as all my loved ones are in the UK). The herd immunity strategy was absolutely terrifying and the exact opposite of what everyone in the world was doing. Then with the inevitable turnaround a few days later - except too late and unfortunately having given v mixed messages to the public - I can’t believe there’s so much support for him. However countries do pull together in times of crisis - everyone is v supportive of our government, but looking how the English (not the British) are still so supportive of Boris reminds me to still use my critical faculties. At the same time, this is a time of massive crisis for everyone and perhaps political point scoring is not the thing to do. I agree that things are being set up to point at vulnerable people who are being set up to fail. One of my loved ones is terrified she is going to receive one of the letters - she’s a madly sociable single woman and it will be so difficult to follow. This is despite her being v active on social media trying to get people to follow social distancing, as she has friends who are doctors and has been told London is already close to being overwhelmed.

Well this morning I was told a colleague ‘definitely has it’ and their family will be isolating.

Sensible in the circumstances but I would love to know how they managed to diagnose it.

He's totally cocked this up. He should have been testing and isolating for weeks and tracing contacts. I think Boris Johnson will be to blame for thousands of deaths. People don't seem to be able to critically think for themselves. South Korea has slowed the infection massively by doing this.

Agree CuriousSamphire. I can't understand the constant need to pick and critique every little thing and stamp on anybody not following MN-borg think.

I reckon we would have lost the war if social media had been around then and it's a blight now, that much is very clear. A constant 'wall of hate and rage' that helps nobody. It's not edifying and a sad indictment of the baseline of whingeing that passes for 'conversation' here at the moment.

He's ignored world health organisation advise he's an idiot in my opinion

I think that rather than being decisive he has allowed businesses to take responsibility for too long, because that meant that the govt wouldn't have to provide so much support.

I dont think he's doing well at all, he's a blundering buffoon and that loveable posh Etonian shtick doesnt work with me.

Rishi Sunak, despite looking rather like the Head Boy at school, seems to have a much better grasp of what people actually need.

No. I think his decisions And that of his team are evolving with the expert advice he’s being given. Rightly so.
Wrong. Even the Sunday Times yesterday reported about the initial plan of “mitigation” aka “herd immunity” aka “if some old people die that’s too bad. The government followed this plan, most likely strongly pushed by Cummings, for two-three weeks and has been playing catch up since.

It was not “evolution of the science” or whatever BS has been bandied around to try to cover their tracks since then.

It was one political strategy being ditched in favor of another once they realized that hundreds of thousands of deaths and a ridiculously swamped NHS might not be too good as every other country worked to suppress rather than mitigate. The current strategy is the right one (albeit being poorly enforced) but history must not be whitewashed.

AwrightDoreen, many people have already had severe chest problems earlier in the year before CV was mentioned. They would have infected potentially thousands of people then. My mum had pneumonia back in January - never had it before in her life.

Once this is all done, the government will be toast. Currently the scale of the crisis is deflecting from the scale of their incompetence. And rightly so. But I doubt many will forget the initial “mitigation” strategy of letting the old die, flying in thousands from the centre of a pandemic/marathons/concerts etc, supermarket chaos, and the bungled advice in a hurry.