The shameful attacks on the Covid inquiry prove it: the right is lost in anti-science delusion
Polly Toynbee in the Guardian writes, "The shameful attacks on the Covid inquiry prove it: the right is lost in anti-science delusion":
That number will stay fixed for ever in public memory: 23,000 people died because Boris Johnson resisted locking the country down in time. As Covid swept in, and with horrific images of Italian temporary morgues in tents, he went on holiday and took no calls. With the NHS bracing to be “overwhelmed” by the virus, he rode his new motorbike, walked his dog and hosted friends at Chevening.
Nothing is surprising about that: he was ejected from Downing Street and later stepped down as an MP largely for partying and lying to parliament about it. Everyone knew he was a self-aggrandising fantasist with a “toxic and chaotic culture” around him. But this is not just about one narcissistic politician. It’s about his entire rightwing coterie of libertarians and their lethally dominant creed in the UK media.
I'm glad the science side kept their receipts but I fear this argument will be relitigated indefinitely by anti-lockdown libertarians.
Tags: lockdowns covid-19 history uk uk-politics medicine health pandemics boris-johnson