r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	meepmeep13
Comment	Part of the problem is that we don't know what the scientific evidence they keep on claiming drove their strategy prior to the Imperial report of 16th March actually was - SAGE is still clouded in secrecy, with the evidence now appearing that political advisers (Cummings/Warner) were sitting on and driving what is meant to be an independent scientific committee. So it appears that the strategy may not have been a scientific one at all, and the "they thought people wouldnt comply with a lockdown if they started too early" was just an attempt to change the narrative once they realised just how badly wrong they were after the Imperial study. They were never intending to lockdown at all. The other aspect is that the government was warned last year that we were in an unprepared position in terms of a potential pandemic response (then put in terms of a novel flu strain), in terms of NHS readiness/PPE etc, and the govt chose to postpone doing anything about it in favour of putting resources into planning for a No-Deal Brexit. What makes me angry about this is that none of this should be political. Coronavirus is not political, the deaths are not political, the obvious things we should have done and should be doing are not political, but this government made them political by treating it as a political issue that could be spun and talked down, as though it could be overcome by 'believing in Britain'. Even now they're gearing up to attack Labour on what should be a bipartisan issue. We are all now paying for that massive hubris.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/g8twu2/daily_discussion_for_coronavirus_covid19_27_april/foqkycv/
Created	Mon 27th Apr 2020 2:57pm
Status	normal ()

Part of the problem is that we don't know what the scientific evidence they keep on claiming drove their strategy prior to the Imperial report of 16th March actually was - SAGE is still clouded in secrecy, with the evidence now appearing that political advisers (Cummings/Warner) were sitting on and driving what is meant to be an independent scientific committee. So it appears that the strategy may not have been a scientific one at all, and the "they thought people wouldnt comply with a lockdown if they started too early" was just an attempt to change the narrative once they realised just how badly wrong they were after the Imperial study. They were never intending to lockdown at all.

The other aspect is that the government was warned last year that we were in an unprepared position in terms of a potential pandemic response (then put in terms of a novel flu strain), in terms of NHS readiness/PPE etc, and the govt chose to postpone doing anything about it in favour of putting resources into planning for a No-Deal Brexit.

What makes me angry about this is that none of this should be political. Coronavirus is not political, the deaths are not political, the obvious things we should have done and should be doing are not political, but this government *made* them political by treating it as a political issue that could be spun and talked down, as though it could be overcome by 'believing in Britain'. Even now they're gearing up to attack Labour on what should be a bipartisan issue. We are all now paying for that massive hubris.