FOR all his failings, and they are legion, Boris Johnson is expert in one thing – identifying and setting up a scapegoat ahead of needing one. Having spent the available preparation time having a relaxing holiday with his now affianced, pregnant bidie-in, he needs one now.
Throughout the whole Brexit bourach, he made public pronouncements about how much he and his cronies were doing, how well things were going, concessions being made, to give the impression of straining every sinew to find mutual agreement. All the time he stonewalled, set unrealistic red lines or just did nothing, but set the scene for his desired “No Deal” to be down to “EU intransigence”.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon: Volunteer for Scotland and help NHS fight coronavirus
In this current Covid-19 disaster, he constantly tells us how much is being done to tackle it, X number of this coming on stream, Y number of that ordered, etc, when we all know that he had weeks in which to plan, place orders and ensure deliveries to every hospital and GP practice in advance of the first case.
Not only were China and Italy begging him to get ahead of the problem, but the World Health Organisation was telling the whole world to “test, test, test”, follow up, test and isolate every contact as the only way to control the virus.
READ MORE: Senior Tories attack China over coronavirus misinformation
But here, only the first few contacts coming from abroad were quarantined, and frontline workers are still untested, unprotected and daily in the closest possible contact with those infected. A ventilator manufacturer who offered to increase production did not get a reply, only a few were ordered from existing suppliers and his big business friends are still in the process of designing and/or retooling to make these essentials.
To crown all, Boris ignored the offer of joining an EU procurement consortium, to provide more essential supplies faster. One of my family is still waiting for basic protective items, with supplies naturally commandeered to fulfil the biggest orders. But daily we get a spate of figures that are just hopes, intentions or downright lies.
Now, however, the writing is on the wall, or at least in a proposed government letter to the population – Boris’s personal PPE – telling us that success in beating the virus is down to us doing as we are told and locking down. So now we know who to blame if the spread gets even more out of hand and decimates our families – OURSELVES!
L McGregor
Falkirk
AS far as I am concerned Johnson’s proposed letter should be one of apology, mainly for wasting two weeks of time while he was running his “herd immunity” experiment, that other experts – other than the ones he was using – were saying that it could cause the deaths of upward of 250,000 people.
I think we were within an ace of that. As it is, those two weeks lost could have bought more time and the number of deaths as at today should have been lower than it is.
Henrick Hauptmann
Buckie
THE British government has admitted there is going to be a serious shortage of ventilators when the coronavirus pandemic peaks, and appealed for help. It said 20,000 would be needed shortly.
A proposal that Britain join with a European Union scheme to buy such ventilators in bulk was ignored. A British company contacted the government with the offer of 5000 a week for five weeks (25,000) but despite repeated attempts by the company, it too was also fobbed off.
Yet when pro-Brexit James Dyson comes up with an unproven prototype ventilator he immediately gets given a contract for 10,000, even although the equipment has yet to be approved for effectiveness and safety by health authorities.
Boris Johnson is putting his doctrinaire Brexit philosophy ahead of care for the health and well-being of desperately sick people in the UK! People will die because of his attitude and failures.
This story was broken by The Sunday Times and press interest grew during the week.
In similar situations, when Boris Johnson looked likely to face tough questions, he ran away. This happened repeatedly in the election for the Tory party leadership and during the General Election when, unlike the other party leaders, he repeatedly ducked interviews with tough questioner Andrew Neil.
Now very conveniently, faced by the prospect of similar tough questioning on the hugely controversial ventilator decisions at the daily coronavirus briefing, suddenly Johnson proved positive for the virus, thus enabling him to duck yet another tough question session!
Johnson already had a long-standing reputation for unreliability. If he has the virus he has been careless and irresponsible, if he is just using it as an excuse to avoid yet another tough question session then his fitness to be prime minister is in grave doubt.
Max Hastings, the former editor of The Daily Telegraph who employed Boris Johnson as a journalist, wrote that Johnson being prime minister “will lay bare his absolute unfitness for it” and that he has a “moral bankruptcy, rooted in a contempt for truth”.
Pete Milory
Trowbridge
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel