Dominic Cummings is a man on a mission. But while many are rightly poring over the specific claims the PM’s former chief adviser made with respect to the UK Government’s handling of the pandemic, there is a far profounder lesson here, begging to be heeded.
This week, we’ve been granted a rare insight into how the machinery of the state operates behind the curtain of public relations. How even the slightest human error can impact millions of lives.
We heard that the Prime Minister initially regarded Covid as a “scare story”, allegedly even offering to be injected with the virus to exhibit its harmlessness.
Of course, within a few weeks Boris was fighting for his life, and in his own words, needed “litres and litres” of oxygen and was 50-50 whether to be hooked up to a ventilator.
A nation held its breath, not necessarily out of a deep concern for Johnson himself, but because his hospitalisation represented that rare occasion where a powerful political figure was no longer insulated from the consequences of their own terrible judgment.
Nobody was safe – not even the powerful.
Cummings’ testimony this week paints vividly how the tentacles of the virus reached deep into the heart of government, humbling, humiliating, and terrifying all who had doubted it, before wresting them violently from their parallel universe – where all that mattered previously was whatever they happened to believe. It may comfort some to assume the sheer speed and scope of the crisis lay at the root of the litany of governmental mistakes.
In reality, the UK Government’s handling of the pandemic in the early days was not unusual in the slightest.
Cummings’ central allegation is that officials in the most senior positions were absolutely clueless. Where very basic things like clear chains of command and even the simple lay-outs of offices were not conducive to anything but preserving administrative status-quos.
He wasn’t describing the British state in crisis – he was laying out how it actually works.
If you genuinely believe this farcical level of incompetence is isolated to the pandemic, you are sorely mistaken.
The entitlement. The egos writing cheques that abilities can’t cash. The scorn for expert advice. The jostling for position.
The tendency to act in its own political interests and not in accordance with evidence – these are cornerstones of governance in Britain.
The Iraq War. The crash of 2008. Austerity. The hostile environment. Grenfell. The list is endless.
What if people in power previously, and those advising them, were as ill-informed on everything else as Cummings claims this lot were on Covid?
Before Johnson’s ascent to the highest office in the land, many of his predecessors took similarly ill-informed views of the great many issues facing the country, as Boris eventually would to the pandemic.
The difference then was that only the most vulnerable, disadvantaged, and voiceless groups were affected.
What if this incompetence, lack of transparency and bureaucratic intransigence in the corridors of power are not bugs in the system, but key features?
An unreliable narrator he very well may be, but Cummings has put in the plainest possible terms what many with half-a-brain-cell have long suspected – Britain is in a long-distance relationship with reality.
Victoria, queen of Scots poetry
Poetry isn’t for everyone, but perhaps it should be. If you are not a fan of poetry, I suspect it’s because you haven’t found the right poet – yet.
So, if I may, here’s a recommendation which I reckon might ignite your poetic desire. Raised in the East End of Glasgow, Victoria McNulty is a celebrated voice in Scottish spoken word.
She’s also my favourite Scottish poet.
Her work illuminates facets of working-class life often neglected by contemporary performance art. Her new show, Exiles, is launched this evening and you can watch it online. Set in Glasgow during the Iraq War, it depicts a young couple fighting for their lives in a city riven by poverty, gentrification, boredom and sin.
McNulty’s evocative performance, set to an original score, is intertwined with specially filmed segments to transform the story, previously written for stage, for a digital audience. I’ll also be taking part in a discussion with Victoria after the screening. Tickets are here.
No excuse for abuse
These days it’s seems like everything is up for debate. But one thing which is absolutely not up for discussion is the disgusting racist abuse directed at Marcus Rashford on social media following the game on Wednesday.
It’s wrong – end of story. What goes on in some people’s heads?
Medical care is still so unfair
It is 50 years since medical journal The Lancet published Julian Tudor Hart’s seminal paper describing The Inverse Care Law. It remains as relevant now as it was in 1971, and its importance has been brought sharply into focus during the pandemic.
For anyone unfamiliar with the term, it describes the contradiction at the heart of healthcare – those who most need medical care are least likely to receive it, while those with least need of health care tend to use health services more. One study even revealed recently that patients from poorer backgrounds receive on average one minute less than affluent patients when attending GP appointments.
We talk a lot about healthcare inequality, with the focus always on the lifestyles of those in deprived communities. In reality, the inequalities are partly a reflection of how uneven the resources we devote the poor and the well-off.
