Britain is divided right now, but I think we can all agree on one thing
The United Kingdom has fucked its response to coronavirus, no matter which way you look at it. Almost 46,000 people have died as a result of Covid-19 at the time of writing, with a further 119 dying on July 28.
In recent days, too, prime minister Boris Johnson has warned of the risk of a second wave of the virus, as the UK introduced quarantine rules on the hardest hit countries in Europe, including Spain.
It may all seem like a fever dream after what has been perhaps (hopefully) the strangest period of time any of will live through, but at every step of the government’s response to this virus, accusations of incompetence have not been far away.
While businesses and the economy are mired in recession, one thing is back with a bang: Tribal British politics! pic.twitter.com/Lh70qQuvI9
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) July 29, 2020
It’s not hard to see why. From the decision to introduce lockdown before a number of other countries and the decision to lift it at a time when daily death tolls were still way above those of our European neighbours, to Johnson’s decision to retain the services of influential advisor Dominic Cummings after he broke lockdown rules, it has been something of a mess.
But while a large portion of the population, as well as the opposition Labour party, blame Boris and the Tories for the shit show which we have experienced over the past four and a bit months, the Tories blame the science.
It’s almost reassuring to know that even during an actual pandemic emergency, tribal politics remains as strong as ever.
