COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD CALL UK GOVT STUPIDITY/ IDIOTS
Thu May 07, 2020 12:07 pm
Coronavirus outbreak
‘Complacent’ UK draws global criticism for Covid-19 response
The Guardian
By Jon Henley and Guardian correspondents
From Italy to Australia, critics have accused a “complacent” British government of “massively underestimating” the gravity of the coronavirus crisis after the UK reported the highest death toll in Europe.
While Rai Uno, the Italian state broadcaster’s flagship channel, gave prominent play to the news that Britain had recorded “more than 32,000 deaths, the highest total in Europe exceeding even Italy”, the Corriere della Serra daily went a good way further.
The situation in the UK was “like a nightmare from which you cannot awake, but in which you landed because of your own fault or stupidity”, the influential liberal-conservative paper said, adding that Britain seemed “a prisoner of itself”.
The country that was “the most reluctant in Europe to impose a lockdown has become the most cautious to start reopening”, with public opinion frightened of the consequences and Boris Johnson eager to avoid breaking Italy’s “sad record”.
Experts have warned against direct international comparisons of Covid-19 death tolls, saying different counting methods and many other factors make such exercises unreliable and it may take months if not years to draw firm conclusions.
However, Beppe Severgnini, an opinion writer on Corriere della Sera, said it seemed clear Britain had “lost the advantage that fate and Italy gave it – for example, the first two weeks of the outbreak in Italy when it was obvious the virus was spreading”.
The British government “did not pay enough attention to what was happening here, while Germany responded very well”, Severgnini said. “The two great British virtues – understatement and grace under fire – have turned out to not be a blessing.”
He said the UK was served neither by “a very weak cabinet” nor Johnson’s character: “He’s not Trump, though there is something similar in their approaches, but in this kind of challenge you need to really work hard on details. He’s not a details person.”
Beyond Italy – where the Covid-19 death toll, which does not include suspected cases, is just over 29,000 – German commentators were also critical. Britain has emerged as Europe’s “problem child” of the Covid-19 crisis, the DPA news agency’s London correspondent Christoph Meyer wrote.
“Only a few weeks ago, Britain had the reputation of a country in which the coronavirus was only spreading cautiously,” Meyer wrote in an opinion piece published in several newspapers in Germany and Austria.
“Politicians were already slapping each other on their backs and praising the health system, which was better prepared for the pandemic than any other country in the world. But that has quickly revealed itself to be a fallacy … There are now many signs that the government in London massively underestimated the pandemic.”
In a piece this week drawing on the British prime minister’s frequent deployment of classical allusions, the London correspondent of Spain’s left-leaning El País queried suggestions that the prime minister was some latter-day Odysseus.
“The conservative press tries to present Johnson as a man of reborn wisdom”, whose experience of Covid-19 had led him to “lash himself to the mast to resist the siren calls” of those demanding the lockdown be lifted soon, wrote Rafa de Miguel.
“In fact, it’s far from clear whether such determination is the fruit of careful calculation – or the result of simply closing one’s eyes when there’s no other option.”
Officials in Greece, which has been widely praised for its handling of the pandemic, have watched London’s handling of the crisis with disbelief, with epidemiologists also criticising the UK government’s initial embrace of a “herd immunity” policy.
The progressive daily Ethnos described Johnson as “more dangerous than coronavirus”, saying one of the crisis’s greatest tragedies was that “incompetent leaders” such as Johnson and Donald Trump were “at the helm at a time of such emergency”.
Before changing tack, Johnson “had gone out and essentially asked Britons … to accept death”, wrote the columnist Giorgos Skafidas.
Irish commentators also expressed dismay at the UK’s record. “Ministers of slim talent have bumbled through daily briefings and now big business-Conservative donors are impatient to reverse a shutdown so contrary to Brexiteer dreams,” Fionnuala O’Connor wrote in the broadly nationalist Irish News.
“Boris Johnson needs all his showman’s tricks now to sell the phasing out of a lockdown which was less than effective, at least in part, because of his stubborn libertarianism.”
Outside Europe, criticism has been strongest in Australia and New Zealand, both of which imposed strict, early lockdowns and have contained their outbreaks. Scott Morrison, the Australian prime minister, said no country that had pursued herd immunity had achieved it, describing the strategy as a “death sentence”.
David Hunter, an Australian-educated professor of epidemiology and medicine at Oxford University, told the conservative Sydney Morning Herald the British response was “not a model to follow. It has one of the worst epidemics in Europe and the world … Some aspects of the response have almost certainly contributed to the high mortality”.
Hunter particularly criticised the British decision – in contrast to Australia and New Zealand – not to close its borders early. Mike Rann, a former Australian high commissioner to Britain, told the paper Britain had “handled the earliest stages negligently”, lamenting “a shambles of mixed messaging, poor organisation and a complacent attitude that what was happening in Italy wouldn’t happen here”.
A UK government spokesperson said: “This is an unprecedented global pandemic and we have taken the right steps at the right time to combat it, guided by the best scientific advice.
“The government has been working day and night to battle coronavirus, delivering a strategy designed to protect our NHS and save lives. Herd immunity has never been a policy or goal.”
‘Complacent’ UK draws global criticism for Covid-19 response
The Guardian
By Jon Henley and Guardian correspondents
From Italy to Australia, critics have accused a “complacent” British government of “massively underestimating” the gravity of the coronavirus crisis after the UK reported the highest death toll in Europe.
While Rai Uno, the Italian state broadcaster’s flagship channel, gave prominent play to the news that Britain had recorded “more than 32,000 deaths, the highest total in Europe exceeding even Italy”, the Corriere della Serra daily went a good way further.
The situation in the UK was “like a nightmare from which you cannot awake, but in which you landed because of your own fault or stupidity”, the influential liberal-conservative paper said, adding that Britain seemed “a prisoner of itself”.
The country that was “the most reluctant in Europe to impose a lockdown has become the most cautious to start reopening”, with public opinion frightened of the consequences and Boris Johnson eager to avoid breaking Italy’s “sad record”.
Experts have warned against direct international comparisons of Covid-19 death tolls, saying different counting methods and many other factors make such exercises unreliable and it may take months if not years to draw firm conclusions.
However, Beppe Severgnini, an opinion writer on Corriere della Sera, said it seemed clear Britain had “lost the advantage that fate and Italy gave it – for example, the first two weeks of the outbreak in Italy when it was obvious the virus was spreading”.
The British government “did not pay enough attention to what was happening here, while Germany responded very well”, Severgnini said. “The two great British virtues – understatement and grace under fire – have turned out to not be a blessing.”
He said the UK was served neither by “a very weak cabinet” nor Johnson’s character: “He’s not Trump, though there is something similar in their approaches, but in this kind of challenge you need to really work hard on details. He’s not a details person.”
Beyond Italy – where the Covid-19 death toll, which does not include suspected cases, is just over 29,000 – German commentators were also critical. Britain has emerged as Europe’s “problem child” of the Covid-19 crisis, the DPA news agency’s London correspondent Christoph Meyer wrote.
“Only a few weeks ago, Britain had the reputation of a country in which the coronavirus was only spreading cautiously,” Meyer wrote in an opinion piece published in several newspapers in Germany and Austria.
“Politicians were already slapping each other on their backs and praising the health system, which was better prepared for the pandemic than any other country in the world. But that has quickly revealed itself to be a fallacy … There are now many signs that the government in London massively underestimated the pandemic.”
In a piece this week drawing on the British prime minister’s frequent deployment of classical allusions, the London correspondent of Spain’s left-leaning El País queried suggestions that the prime minister was some latter-day Odysseus.
“The conservative press tries to present Johnson as a man of reborn wisdom”, whose experience of Covid-19 had led him to “lash himself to the mast to resist the siren calls” of those demanding the lockdown be lifted soon, wrote Rafa de Miguel.
“In fact, it’s far from clear whether such determination is the fruit of careful calculation – or the result of simply closing one’s eyes when there’s no other option.”
Officials in Greece, which has been widely praised for its handling of the pandemic, have watched London’s handling of the crisis with disbelief, with epidemiologists also criticising the UK government’s initial embrace of a “herd immunity” policy.
The progressive daily Ethnos described Johnson as “more dangerous than coronavirus”, saying one of the crisis’s greatest tragedies was that “incompetent leaders” such as Johnson and Donald Trump were “at the helm at a time of such emergency”.
Before changing tack, Johnson “had gone out and essentially asked Britons … to accept death”, wrote the columnist Giorgos Skafidas.
Irish commentators also expressed dismay at the UK’s record. “Ministers of slim talent have bumbled through daily briefings and now big business-Conservative donors are impatient to reverse a shutdown so contrary to Brexiteer dreams,” Fionnuala O’Connor wrote in the broadly nationalist Irish News.
“Boris Johnson needs all his showman’s tricks now to sell the phasing out of a lockdown which was less than effective, at least in part, because of his stubborn libertarianism.”
Outside Europe, criticism has been strongest in Australia and New Zealand, both of which imposed strict, early lockdowns and have contained their outbreaks. Scott Morrison, the Australian prime minister, said no country that had pursued herd immunity had achieved it, describing the strategy as a “death sentence”.
David Hunter, an Australian-educated professor of epidemiology and medicine at Oxford University, told the conservative Sydney Morning Herald the British response was “not a model to follow. It has one of the worst epidemics in Europe and the world … Some aspects of the response have almost certainly contributed to the high mortality”.
Hunter particularly criticised the British decision – in contrast to Australia and New Zealand – not to close its borders early. Mike Rann, a former Australian high commissioner to Britain, told the paper Britain had “handled the earliest stages negligently”, lamenting “a shambles of mixed messaging, poor organisation and a complacent attitude that what was happening in Italy wouldn’t happen here”.
A UK government spokesperson said: “This is an unprecedented global pandemic and we have taken the right steps at the right time to combat it, guided by the best scientific advice.
“The government has been working day and night to battle coronavirus, delivering a strategy designed to protect our NHS and save lives. Herd immunity has never been a policy or goal.”
Re: COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD CALL UK GOVT STUPIDITY/ IDIOT
Thu May 07, 2020 1:24 pm
We have to be a little careful (a) criticising our own Government, and/or (b) accepting criticism from other nations. It wasn't too long ago we had threads up with many lauding Boris and his advisors for their actions
We don't fully know what advice or recommendations have been given and we don't know what pressures have been applied from within the corridors of power or from influential groups outside
Easy to say we now have the highest death rate in Europe, but is that a fact (per head of population) or is it just more stats being loaded in a particular direction?
Having read the thread instigated by Wez, I am more minded to believe the figures are not as accurate in either direction than we are led to believe. Indeed, there is a comment that states 'ither' causes of death have declined 'significantly' during the Coronavirus period
Is that coincidence or a consequence of direct reporting of any death that might (and I use that term advisedly as post mortems are not carried out on the majority of these deaths) or might not have involved Coronavirus?
It clearly suggests that the number of deaths from Covid-19 is distorted, as many of those who have passed away had underlying issues that would only have delayed their passing
That is not to demean the sadpasdingbof loved ones but it does show that things might not be what they seem
Stay safe everyone
We don't fully know what advice or recommendations have been given and we don't know what pressures have been applied from within the corridors of power or from influential groups outside
Easy to say we now have the highest death rate in Europe, but is that a fact (per head of population) or is it just more stats being loaded in a particular direction?
Having read the thread instigated by Wez, I am more minded to believe the figures are not as accurate in either direction than we are led to believe. Indeed, there is a comment that states 'ither' causes of death have declined 'significantly' during the Coronavirus period
Is that coincidence or a consequence of direct reporting of any death that might (and I use that term advisedly as post mortems are not carried out on the majority of these deaths) or might not have involved Coronavirus?
It clearly suggests that the number of deaths from Covid-19 is distorted, as many of those who have passed away had underlying issues that would only have delayed their passing
That is not to demean the sadpasdingbof loved ones but it does show that things might not be what they seem
Stay safe everyone
Re: COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD CALL UK GOVT STUPIDITY/ IDIOT
Thu May 07, 2020 1:48 pm
Sven wrote:We have to be a little careful (a) criticising our own Government, and/or (b) accepting criticism from other nations. It wasn't too long ago we had threads up with many lauding Boris and his advisors for their actions
We don't fully know what advice or recommendations have been given and we don't know what pressures have been applied from within the corridors of power or from influential groups outside
Easy to say we now have the highest death rate in Europe, but is that a fact (per head of population) or is it just more stats being loaded in a particular direction?
Having read the thread instigated by Wez, I am more minded to believe the figures are not as accurate in either direction than we are led to believe. Indeed, there is a comment that states 'ither' causes of death have declined 'significantly' during the Coronavirus period
Is that coincidence or a consequence of direct reporting of any death that might (and I use that term advisedly as post mortems are not carried out on the majority of these deaths) or might not have involved Coronavirus?
It clearly suggests that the number of deaths from Covid-19 is distorted, as many of those who have passed away had underlying issues that would only have delayed their passing
That is not to demean the sadpasdingbof loved ones but it does show that things might not be what they seem
Stay safe everyone
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Re: COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD CALL UK GOVT STUPIDITY/ IDIOT
Thu May 07, 2020 5:28 pm
Annis. Personally I don't think the papers, TV news or social media are helping the situation. Day after day it's all about reporting (or making up) anything negative. No one had even heard of this virus 3 months ago and yet the government are supposed to have all the answers. I'm no Boris lover but he's been under a constant barrage of criticism from the left wing press, but none of them have put forward a sensible plan for a way out. Day after day the papers are stating that this or that "expert" has warned about this and that, they hate to report anything positive. There are people with mental health problems trying to manage on their own during lockdown (which the vast majority of people in the country have abided by) and it's just not helpful to them to be given doom and gloom news every day. Of course the government have made mistakes, but the left wing press are just trying to score political points because they are still smarting over Brexit. My opinion. Glad you've got a light at the end of the tunnel, I was due to go to Majorca at the end of August, how do you rate my chances? It has to be fully paid at the end of this month, so should I pay it, or lose my deposit? Cheers.
Re: COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD CALL UK GOVT STUPIDITY/ IDIOT
Thu May 07, 2020 5:39 pm
Wait till they find out about that PPE which was 4 days late to come here from Turkey,and they made the RAF get it .