Don’t let Boris Johnson and his dysfunctional government grind you down – here’s why

Christmas Covid restrictions are not just the fault of a new strain of the virus, they are a consequence of serious and repeated government mistakes, month after month, setting us on this doomed path

It’s exhausting isn’t it, this government? As if dealing with a deadly pandemic were not enough, we can add to it the enervating anxiety, despair and cold fury of having a dysfunctional “chumocracy” in charge.  

Having told us just days ago it would be “inhuman” to cancel Christmas, the PM has done just that, shredding plans and crushing spirits. Now, over 16 million in London and the South East will have to stay at home, with Christmas squashed down to one day in other parts of the country. And while people can accept sacrifices must be made this year, what is beyond upsetting is the government’s last minute changes: the dangling of hope, only to have it crushed in a haphazard scramble guaranteed to be more costly, stressful and chaotic.

The government has said its hand was forced by an alarming virus mutation now causing infections to soar. But Christmas hasn’t changed just because the virus has changed. This entire scenario is a consequence of serious and repeated government mistakes, month after month, setting us on this doomed path.  

How do we begin to count the government’s failings? A non-comprehensive list would include: going into lockdown too late, twice; coming out of lockdown too fast; hiving off test and trace in questionable contracts to the private sector, which has stunted our ability to control the virus; sending potentially infected hospital patients back into care homes; keeping airports open; not providing people with the financial means to self-isolate; telling people to “Eat Out to Help Out”, which may have driven a Covid spike; telling us to “get back to work” in August; ignoring advice over schools and universities. Boris Johnson has repeatedly scorned scientific advice to act early, fast and hard, instead waiting until things are out of control before taking measures.

We know all this has resulted in an avoidably high death toll, which in early December surpassed 75,000. We know that it has stunted our economy more seriously and for longer. The loss, pain and suffering has hit harder and deeper – and the despair can be overwhelming.  

Yet alongside this mismanagement at government level are the extraordinary actions at local level, of so many who have fought hard for the public good ­and often at great personal sacrifice. Our NHS staff, carers, teachers and other key workers, as well as the scientists tirelessly explaining what a proper pandemic response should look like, while helping us navigate the government’s gnomic messaging.

We can also add the public health officials working in local authorities to protect communities. Rather than wait for outsourced test and trace to fail, many cash-strapped councils have put alternative systems in place, reallocating precious resources just to mop up the costly mess of this government’s privatised disasters.  

In the face of opacity and possibly even corruption in government outsourcing, organisations such as We Own It have kept track and kept shining a light on findings, if for no other reason than that the alternative would be to accept it all as normal. The non-profit Good Law Project is taking the government to court over alleged corruption and the possibility that it has breached discrimination law in the awarding of Covid-19 contracts. Some examples cited in the legal case, among many, including the appointment of Dido Harding, married to a Conservative MP and friends with David Cameron, as head of NHS Test and Trace. Then there’s the awarding of a contract worth millions to a pest control company to make PPE, which turned out not to meet the required standards.

What’s important is not only potential court wins, but the act of scrutiny in itself. There is value in keeping alive the very idea that a government should conduct itself accountably and with transparency, have an obligation to accuracy and to basic standards of conduct.  

On top of that is the power of standing up for people and for what is right – something the ever-abstaining Labour leadership might note. This gap in the market for such political leadership is shown via the flood of public support for figures taking on this government – like Marcus Rashford with his free school meals campaign.

In rallying to protect the NHS, form mutual aid groups and drastically restrict our lives (where possible) for the safety of others, the public has responded to the pandemic collectively, almost despite the government rather than because of it. We are effectively modelling a different kind of society, where community, looking out for the most vulnerable and supporting our public services are things that matter.  

Yesterday, amid images of people crowding London train stations in attempts to flee the city, social media was also filled with helplines for the anxious or lonely, food-sharing apps for those now stuck with either too much festive food, or none, suggestions for how we might look out for one another. Maybe this – along with vaccine rollout – is what to hold onto amid the bleak despair. It is what will keep the pressure on government to do much better, while helping us all get through the worst.