I thought that if I left things to settle down for a couple of weeks or so I would be able to report events with a positive note. How wrong can you be? I have previously suggested that the government of the UK was developing into a complete shambles, but I am ashamed to admit that I was totally wrong. It is now being delivered with mind-boggling, unbelievable incompetence, never seen since the loss of North America under George the 3rd and his Prime Minister Lord North. It has been argued that North was imbued with natural indolence that was a barrier to efficient crisis management and he neglected his role in supervising the entire war effort. Sound familiar?
In a week which has seen more policy swerves than a roller coaster, the Government have finally settled on regional lockdowns where there have been flare-ups of COVID-19. They toyed with the idea of using the military to enforce the lockdown in recalcitrant areas, floated the idea of isolating all over 50’s and finally, with the timing of amazing political stupidity they announced the latest regional lockdowns on Friday, the day before the festival of Eid Al Adha.
As most of the lockdowns occurred in the North in areas with a high volume of Muslim populations this was either crass stupidity, panic brought on by incompetence, plain ignorance or fear of things getting out of hand. It most definitely could have been managed better. Whatever the truth, it has now developed into the proverbial ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, and the Government is on a loser whatever they do.
If the data supports their action, why did they leave it so late to announce? Why didn’t they soften the blow by demonstrating that by impacting on Eid, they understood the sacrifice that the communities were making and were grateful for their understanding? They are now facing a backlash from these communities and facing comments suggesting that they wouldn’t have implemented such a policy on Christmas Eve.
On the other hand, Manzoor Moghal, a community leader in Leicester said, “Despite all these dangers, I have found a frustrating dismissiveness within the South Asian population when it comes to following the rules and regulations”.
I can’t give a reason why this is so, whether it is faith-based, a sense of fatalistic acceptance or a belief that the rules don’t apply to them. If Manzoor can be open about it why can’t the government?
Whatever the truth of the situation, the government has managed to manoeuvre itself into a difficult situation. They have further alienated an already divisive sector of the population and if, as they are doing, seem to be ignoring the facts that this is happening in areas of high South Asian ancestry instead of fronting up and addressing it honestly they will cause issues elsewhere.
There are rumblings amongst the white, working-class voters in the North about special treatment for the immigrant communities and the cowardice of the government in tackling matters. (These people get lambasted for overcrowding at the beaches, but not a whisper about the activities of the South Asian communities). If these feelings continue then the Conservatives will have stupidly lost all the gains that they made in the last elections.
Boris Johnson is coming across as out of touch, bumbling, inept and indecisive. He is no longer able to credibly waffle his way through interviews and is increasingly portrayed as incompetent.
Not content with fighting on two fronts – Brexit and COVID-19, he decided this week to launch a nationwide campaign against obesity and supported Dominic Cummings in open warfare against the civil service. Each new “front” that he opens is diluting the attack on the two major issues facing the government – COVID-19 and negotiating a trade agreement with the EU. Each new front brings with it more opposition within the Conservative party. He is rapidly losing respect and using up most of his political capital.
He has three major problems. Controlling COVID-19 and safeguarding the population, rescuing the economy from self-inflicted damage and getting some semblance of national unity and respect for the law back. On all counts, social, political, economic, and medical he is failing the nation. Just to complicate matters, yesterday an ex-minister was arrested on suspicion of rape.
Head in the sand doesn’t even begin to describe Johnson. He has lost control and along with that went any semblance of competence. Even though the opposition has supported him where possible and appear reasonable in their criticisms, playing the long game, they aren’t the danger. That will come from within the Conservatives.
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