Intentions 10 Execution 2

[HDQQ]

When politicians make a policy which turns out to be wrong, there's an element of inertia as a lot of people don't like to admit they were wrong. An early example of this was the advice on mask-wearing, when we were told masks were ineffective. It became clear from other countries that masks could reduce the spread of covid-19, even if they were only 50% effective, but there was a lag before the official advice was changed and a much longer lag before mask-wearing regulations started to be introduced. Then there's been the more recent situation with schools and colleges. We were told that their reopening would not lead to a rise in cases. But we all know what happened here (and in most other countries) in the couple of weeks after schools and colleges returned?

[T00ts]

Where is the problem? The men meeting around a virtual cabinet table seem to want to deliver the best possible service to the country. They announce their intentions but each time Chinese whispers (sorry Sampan) set in and the plan goes AWOL somewhere down the line. The implausibility of the plan gets fed back up the line and the intention gets watered down. The electorate throws their hands up in exasperation.

So where is the problem? We have been promised a fast dole out of vaccines, it is obvious that on present progress, targets will be missed, the same happened on testing. Now we are not an unwilling nation on the whole. We hear of football stadia, racecourses even pubs offering facilities, Dentist, pharmacists even diabetics all used to vaccinating offering to help get people covered but they are being largely ignored, yet somewhere there are sets of clay feet that don't seem to be capable of thinking outside the box or rising to a challenge.

We saw this right at the beginning of this pandemic and somewhere there is a very rusty cog in the machinery or there is a climate of fear of delegation, an unhealthy determination to tick every box and follow every procedure laid down over years. This is a crisis, this is a moment when we need people who are capable of vision and can develop the equivalent of the bouncing bomb in the health service.

I don't think Hancock is necessarily all at fault, I think he is struggling with a very unwilling set of people in his dept and in the NHS leadership. Somewhere there needs to be some very strong talking and a directive that when the people of this country say 'jump' their only question is 'how high'.