​Lead up to the first wave of Covid

 

Much of the blame for the UK's poor outcomes in terms of economic damage and death toll is due to their poor planning. This is a legacy of austerity, from which the cuts made led to reduced stockpiles of essential protective equipment (PPE) supplies for healthcare workers.

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There was a flu pandemic drill conducted by Government officials in 2016 called Cygnus. Conclusions were that the NHS would struggle to cope if a pandemic ever hit the UK due to lack of beds and equipment. None of the recommendations were implemented and the findings were never formally published.

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Then in early 2020, when the virus was rapidly spreading through China, then into Italy, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson missed five government emergency (known as COBRA) meetings related to the emerging threat.

The government initially wanted to pursue a herd immunity strategy, giving excuses for delaying lockdowns when the reason for doing so was clear. Models predicted that doing nothing would cost 400,000 lives.

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Government Response

 

Overall, the UK government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been criticised for its dishonesty, poor decision-making and failure to protect vulnerable citizens. There are also many credible accusations of corruption, potentially costing the UK taxpayer billions.

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Neglecting care home residents

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One of the most significant issues was the failure to protect care home residents. Former health secretary Matt Hancock was found guilty of breaching the law regarding care homes. He had promised a "protective ring" around care homes but was later revealed to have lied about the protection. Care home residents were left to face the pandemic without proper protection, and many lives were lost.

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Test and Trace

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The UK's Test and Trace programme cost £38 billion, and it has been found that it made no discernable difference to the spread of COVID-19, or how many people died. 

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The programme was led by Matt Hancock's friend, Dido Harding, who was offered the job illegally

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PPE

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There was a severe lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare staff. Despite government assurances that there was enough PPE, there were numerous reports of healthcare workers wearing bin bags instead of proper PPE. Scandalous re-stickering on expired stock piled PPE. and other PPE that was available was also found to be not fit for purpose, putting healthcare workers at risk.

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Delaying lockdowns

 

Public opinion often favoured stricter restrictions than what was implemented, but politicians appeared to be more influenced by their billionaire-owned media who were largely opposed to them. Boris Johnson was accused of saying he would "rather let bodies pile high" than having a third lockdown. 

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This meant, when lockdowns did happen, they were longer and harsher than they would have been if they had been done when initially advised. 

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Eat out to help out

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The government's decision to implement the "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme also drew criticism. An idea by Rishi Sunak to subsidise food and drink in restaurants let to COVID clusters and caused spikes of infections.

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Post Vaccine

 

The government claimed victory for being the first country in the world to roll out the COVID vaccine. However, the success of this had nothing to do with Government ministers, as it was led by the NHS. 

 

The vaccine rollout did not involve the private sector, therefore not-for-profit. This is unlike most other aspects of the country's COVID response which end up mired in profiteering scandals and inefficiency/ineffectiveness.

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Screeching u-turns

 

The policies of made by the Government at the peak of the pandemic changed frequently. 

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See this list of U-turns they made which must have been very embarrassing for the government. 

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The rules  didn’t apply to people in government

 

There are many examples of UK government officials have been accused of breaking COVID-19 rules that they had set out for the public. 

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• Boris Johnson's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, drove to Barnard Castle from London during lockdown, while he had Covid. 

• Former health secretary, Matt Hancock, had an affair and breached COVID-19 rules he himself had set out, and he only apologized/resigned when he got caught.

• The countless parties that took place in Downing Street when the rest of us were in lockdown.  These included Christmas parties in 2020. 

• A Tory MP was also accused of making almost £1 million on top of his MP salary as a lawyer, while enjoying COVID lockdown in the Caribbean, while many people were furloughed at home.

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Corruption 

 

The pandemic has been used as an opportunity by the wealthy to enrich themselves. Some have defrauded the state and claimed they can supply PPE, despite having no experience in doing so, and have been awarded contracts through lies and cronyism. PPE bough through this so-called "VIP Lane" was 80% more expensive.  The Department of Health incurred losses of £8.7bn on the £12bn of PPE purchased in 2020/21, and excess PPE was costing taxpayers £1 million per day to store. This included £3.4 billion of PPE that that the government bought which apparently went missing.

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The National Crime Agency have ongoing investigations against many people involved in the PPE procurement scandals including former Cabinet Ministers Matt Hancock and Michael Gove. 

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Lord Bethell, who was responsible for awarding COVID contracts, threw away his phone before it could be searched.

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Here are some examples of dodgy contracts, but see Good Law Project for all "VIP Lane" information:

 

• Tory Lord Michelle Mone's company, PPE MEDPRO, was given £200m despite being less than three weeks old, having zero employees, no transactions, and only £100 in the bank. Shortly after, Mone bought a yacht.

• A small furniture company with no medical experience saw its profits increase by 4,700% after being awarded a £27m PPE contract with the help of Matt Hancock. 

• Matt Hancock's mate, Alex Bourne, pub landlord (a picture of said pub hung behind Hancock in televised Zoom calls until Hancock removed it) was awarded £40 million in Covid contracts despite not having experience in this area. He denies allegations of cronyism as Bourne claims to not know Hancock. 

• Free school meal contracts to private companies (and Tory donors) who offer substandard services while keeping the savings for themselves.

• Companies contracted to provide hotels and security to arrivals from "red list" countries in 2020/2021 had connections to the Tory party and were donors, 

• Department for Education chose Dyson, friend and Tory party donor, to supply air purifiers for schools, even though they cost 6x more than comparable products 

• Richard Sharp, friend of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, owned shares in a healthcare company, Oncimmune, while he was a government advisor. During this period, Oncimmune was awarded a £600,000 contract

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Tories, Testing and Horses

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Matt Hancock, former health secretary and amateur jockey, gave Jockey Club director and close friend Dido Harding a huge job, in part overseeing Covid-19 testing. She subcontracted it to Grand National sponsor Randox, employer of disgraced MP Owen Paterson, whose late wife chaired Aintree racecourse. 

 

Paterson was found breaking lobbying rules, using his position as a £100,000 a year adviser of Randox to  lobby on their behalf. He was part of a meeting between the department of health and Randox, six weeks before they received the contract.

 

The £600 million contract Randox were awarded was approved without any competition from other companies even though they did not have the equipment required to fulfil the contract and much of what they did offer was substandard.