Covid 19: Time For A National Government

Last Sunday I criticised the ridiculous herd immunity theory which appeared to drive government responses to the c-virus crisis, with the result we were faffing around not doing things all the rest of the world and the WHO regarded as critical. Indeed the government lead advisers in health and science toured the media studios promoting their story in an atmosphere of calm reassurance.

Then suddenly the roof fell in. More than one model, based, not on theories and elegant intellectual predictions, but on analysis of hard facts with evidence and reports from the virus front lines across the world, demonstrated that our jolly Brit Keep Calm We Shall Win Together government was headed to a biblical catastrophe in which millions of us would die.

So on Monday draconian new measures were announced, but by no means all that should then and there have been done. Timing is everything say these people, in whom this blog has almost entirely lost confidence, but ‘more in the coming days and weeks.’ The next day stuff weeks away is banged into immediate effect. And the day after schools, the thing which would probably, they said would do more harm than good, are shut down until further notice.

The structure of this government is not fit for an international crisis on this scale. This is a moment when all talents come together to form a National Government. The fact that Boris has a majority of 80 is irrelevant. When Churchill came to power in a coalition with Labour 1940, the Tories had a majority over Labour of 233. The Tory lead National Government (a political grouping formed after the 1930 slump and mass unemployment) had an overall majority of 243.