When the daily press briefing, then fronted by the prime minister, was introduced a couple of months ago it was generally welcomed, and widely anticipated as one of the rare opportunities to scrutinise government plans and their progress.
Viewing figures, reflecting public concern and a wish to follow the best possible advice from experts, were high. How times change, as Polly Toynbee outlines so well in her comprehensive takedown (How can Britain trust this floundering crew of fibbers to tackle coronavirus?, 18 May), so that many of us opt for edited highlights, also known as “lie of the day”, rather than immerse ourselves in the full-blown fantasy island pantomime. A long-lasting effect of the pandemic will be a large-scale loss of confidence in government ministers – admittedly from a risibly low level – and a good deal more scepticism about statistics, graphs and bar charts used in support of obvious fictions.
Maybe it’s time for the opposition to mount an alternative daily event, supported by Sir David King’s rival Sage group (New coronavirus outbreaks ‘inevitable without robust UK strategy’, 12 May)?
Les Bright
Exeter
• Polly Toynbee’s analysis of the third-rate individuals who form our current government is depressingly accurate. The reason that most of the cabinet are there is not due to any particular expertise or knowledge or competence but due to their loyalty to the Brexit project. The coronavirus crisis has clearly exposed their deficiencies and it is not surprising that some of them, including the prime minister, seem to be hidden away from the daily press conferences as far as possible, no doubt due to fears that their incompetence might be displayed in public.
Even President Macron of France candidly admitted in one of his addresses to the nation that mistakes had been made in France’s response to the virus, and offered his apologies, but we have not seen a word of apology or contrition from our government – and, worryingly, no sign of a coherent and intelligent strategy to deal with the crisis either.
Ian Arnott
Werrington, Peterborough
• Polly Toynbee is right to castigate the fantasy of a “protective ring” around care homes “right from the start”. In fact, in answer to a parliamentary question from Clive Betts on 17 April, Matt Hancock was unable to give a date by which all care workers would get appropriate personal protective equipment. They are still waiting.
The awful truth is that care homes were ignored purposely to prioritise the NHS, despite official warnings about the lack of preparedness in 2017 and 2018. Moreover, to protect the NHS, they were forced to take back sick, untested older people. The huge death toll is the predictable result. No amount of prime ministerial hand-wringing can excuse this abject failure to protect thousands of Britain’s most vulnerable citizens and the grossly undervalued and underpaid staff who care for them.
Alan Walker
Professor of social policy and social gerontology, University of Sheffield
• Polly Toynbee comments that while Rishi Sunak has done well to use public money to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic, his real test is still to come. I read her piece just after listening to Iain Duncan Smith discussing the government debt issue on the Today programme. He said, rightly, that the loans will have to be repaid, but added that the burden would fall most heavily on the poorest. My surprise was only at the naked openness of his comment.
Valerie Bayliss
Sheffield
