Covid – Can we trust the same teams to get it right next time?

We are currently being treated to the revelations of what everyone really thought of each other in the most senior parts of Government and how unorganised they really were.

For me, it still misses some keep points.

No one is saying all deaths could have been avoided, but it’s now clear, beyond any doubt, that more lives could have been saved. It comes down to the reaction speed on key events, with weeks or even days making a big difference as things were doubling daily at this critical time. If things had been done faster, then the peaks would have been lower. If the peaks had been lower deaths and associated costs of Covid would also have been lower, then recovery would have been quicker, if the recovery had been quicker, it would also have been deeper which in turn means the next wave would also have been reduced with the obvious benefits.

Now add in the science that was talked about at the time, specifically the wearing of face coverings. What people needed was protection from the incoming virus not a face covering. The only thing that has a significant effect are masks with a rating like FFP3. Face coverings just protected people from others coughing.

I often hear about how no one could have known. Sorry, but that’s just not the case. We were behind most of Europe and especially Italy.

Even in my role as a Councillor for West Berkshire Council, I was already asking questions in February about how prepared we were and why we did not even have hand gel in the receptions of the Council buildings. At my company, I’d already ordered FFP3 masks for all staff. So, there were people who had less data than the government but who were acting much faster and with greater effect.

Finally, it is often missed, but according to the UK gov in the early parts of covid they were saying we are well prepared for a pandemic – That turned out to be wrong and when we trace things back its because of another decision to deliberately not be prepared. Strange, but that was also a Conservative decision and anyone who looks at Exercise Cygnus from 2017 sees that “it concluded starkly that Britain was not adequately prepared for a flu-like pandemic’s extreme demands”.

At the next General Election, all parties will roll out their manifestos saying how well they have done or how well they will do and how it will all be different because it’s now a new team. It’s clearly not, it’s the same parties, the same type of people being selected and therefore the same outcomes.

How do we get change? We need a “none of the above” candidate. Then everyone knows that if they vote it counts.