MPs’ Covid report highlights thousands of avoidable deaths. Families of the dead must demand justice
Doing a runner: many of us may have one or two metaphorical skeletons in our closet; Boris Johnson has fled the UK with the dead of Covid-19 pursuing him.
Now we know why Boris Johnson went on his holibobs so hastily. Tony (below) is being sarcastic:
For the life of me, I can't work out why johnson chose this week in particular to do a runner to a chum's villa in the sun. pic.twitter.com/NhdkT1OUlt
— Tony Reeves-Blampied 💙 (@AntonyBlampied) October 12, 2021
But Samuel Miller is right:
It's noteworthy that this study, from the cross-party Science and Technology Committee and the Health and Social Care Committee, is being released when Prime Minister Boris Johnson is on holiday.
— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) October 12, 2021
The Covid Report by MPs is damning. It should lead to prosecutions of leading government ministers – including Johnson – for Corporate Manslaughter (at the very least).
Why are the words 'corporate manslaughter' not yet a major part of the public debate on Covid?
— ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@campbellclaret) October 12, 2021
• France's former health minister is under criminal investigation for their handling of coronavirus.
• The UK government should face the exact same fate.
— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) October 12, 2021
It won’t, but it should.
Sadly, it seems the most we’ll get from the authorities is the long-promised public inquiry.
The Government's Covid response meant tens of thousands of people needlessly lost their lives.
The Public Inquiry must begin immediately. No more delays. No more attempts at stopping the truth coming to light.
And those responsible should face the full force of the law.
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) October 12, 2021
And when will that be?
On the other hand, we could have an avalanche of civil lawsuits!
Just a public inquiry? I'm expecting a flood of civil lawsuits. It's indisputable that the Boris Johnson government grossly mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic.
— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) October 12, 2021
Bring ’em on. I hope people group together to make the litigation more easily-affordable. The cases could be huge and the evidence damning.
And Johnson?
He’s staying out of the way until the fuss dies down because he knows if he shows his face around the UK, he’ll face demands for his resignation – from all sides:
https://twitter.com/EmmaKennedy/status/1447824164228894724
You can read the report by the Commons Health and Social Care, and Science and Technology committees, here. And there are reports on the report here, here, here and here, and pretty much everywhere you look right now.
Among the report’s findings are:
Boris Johnson could have saved many thousands of people by taking the UK into lockdown earlier.
Boris Johnson could have saved thousands by locking down earlier, report finds https://t.co/OxfcmeKYa2
— Katie ☮️❤️🌱⚒️💙✌🏻 (@KatieLennon1972) October 12, 2021
The government denies it:
“Whose fault was it that we were late to lockdown?” @susannareid100
Conservative MP Stephen Barclay – “I don’t accept we were late to lockdown”
This Governments strategy of deny, deny, deny is as despicable as it is insane pic.twitter.com/lPhTBk1oIa
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) October 12, 2021
Instead, Johnson caused a national disaster by pursuing a policy of herd immunity and mass infection:
Two cross-party committees unanimously condemn the government's response to the pandemic. Tens of thousands died unnecessarily as the PM said 'we should just take it on the chin.' A failure to learn from other countries and failure to care for our own citizens. Worst in history. pic.twitter.com/m2QkQHUT7w
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) October 12, 2021
Herd immunity wouldn't have been our strategy if the virus had targeted Etonians and bankers rather than working class and poorer people.
— Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) October 12, 2021
Thousands of care home residents died because government ministers never bothered to think about their welfare in a serious way.
NEW: Report by MPs on the Health and Science committees concludes that the government’s response to Covid-19 was one of the worst ever public health failures.
Among the mistakes, the decision to discharge people from hospital to care homes likely killed thousands, it concludes.
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) October 12, 2021
My mum was one of those abandoned to her fate in her care home. I was informed of her death by email. Everyone on her floor died #covid https://t.co/0jR4cXfb5p
— Sonia Purnell (@soniapurnell) October 11, 2021
Of course it’s damning that the government treated the elderly as expendable and its actions needlessly cost thousands of lives. Even more damning is that we have all known this for months and the people responsible will face no consequences whatsoever.
— Jonathan Lis (@jonlis1) October 12, 2021
The Covid response was racist: white people had better PPE and other equipment than those from ethnic minorities.
Covid inquiry: Anger grows after report finds white medics had better access to PPE than black and Asian staff https://t.co/3CoX5lnrVR
— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) October 12, 2021
The government still doesn’t care. It put up a minister to do the morning media round who had not even bothered to read the Covid-19 report before being asked to comment on it. The results were as you might expect:
Stephen Barcley refuses 11 times to apologise to public for putting their lives at risk, the lost of loved ones and the fact we’re still sending kids to school unprotected. No lessons have or will be learnt by Tories because they do not care 🤬 pic.twitter.com/NmWOdpQine
— Teri ☘️💙♿️ (@mettlesome_teri) October 12, 2021
I feel perhaps not enough is being made of Stephen Barclay’s claim not to have read the select ctte Covid report as it had been released at midnight – when *he was the minister the government chose to put up for this morning’s media round*.
Did he just cross fingers, hope best?
— Niall Paterson (@skynewsniall) October 12, 2021
Think that’s bad? Another minister blamed the high death toll on obesity rather than allow the government to accept any responsibility:
Covid report: Minister accused of scapegoating after blaming death toll on obesity rather than the Government https://t.co/joMTJZ50TP
— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) October 12, 2021
The excuses are beyond belief. Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt turned up, to say there was good amongst the bad:
The whole rotten mob should be in jail. https://t.co/z7Ke1rUTJE
— simon maginn (@simonmaginn) October 12, 2021
Jeremy Hunt on #r4today speaking to the damming report on the Govt's handling of the pandemic.
Given his record as HS, the man clearly has no shame.
That is my considered view of his interview.— Clare Hepworth OBE (@Hepworthclare) October 12, 2021
Jeremy Hunt blaming group think across western world for pandemic mistakes made in the UK. UK has one of the highest death tolls. The UK government delayed lockdown multiple times. They delayed contact tracing, while others acted decisively. Hunt’s explanation doesn’t stack up.
— Bill Esterson (@Bill_Esterson) October 12, 2021
They’re saying nobody publicly questioned the failure to lockdown soon enough (that led to 20,000 deaths). We don’t accept that:
https://twitter.com/David__Osland/status/1447944368275476480
They’re saying nobody warned them about the dangers of asymptomatic transmission:
The risk of asymptomatic transmission was warned of by scientists towards the very beginning of the crisis. By 28 February an early study from China indicated that the coronavirus could be transmitted by asymptomatic carriers
We cannot allow Johnson’s Gov’t to rewrite history
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) October 12, 2021
And they all say they followed the scientific advice:
Astonishing to hear ministers still saying they followed scientific advice when they clearly didn’t
The facts speak for themselves. Ignoring advice & delaying second lockdown last autumn led to thousands of unnecessary deaths. Govt can not rewrite history
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) October 12, 2021
They say any criticisms are only made with the benefit of hindsight:
So criticism before the crisis is scaremongering, during the crisis is unpatriotic and after the crisis is all-very-well-with-hindsight.
— Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) October 12, 2021
It’s beyond infuriating to hear Government Ministers constantly say “That’s Hindsight” when never has an outcome, been predicted by so many, so often. This goes for COVID, Brexit, and Northern Ireland. #r4today
— Dr. Jennifer Cassidy (@OxfordDiplomat) October 12, 2021
Hindsight narrative is gaslighting on a national scale. I remember exactly what it was like in March 2020. The pressure was intense for the government to take action weeks before it did so.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) October 12, 2021
Oh, and of course they all did their best:
Doing your best is not good enough when your best is so bad that tens of thousands of people die as a result.
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) October 12, 2021
Let’s have another perspective:
It's official: our pandemic response was horrendously, shockingly bad. We knew that, but thanks for confirming it.
But I don't buy the defence that herd immunity was the product of well-meaning "fatalistic group think". The tone for this was set by Johnson, who saw himself as
— Dominic Minghella (@DMinghella) October 12, 2021
WHAT were they thinking?
THEY were thinking how to make CORRUPT deals and make big money
THEY were NOT concentrating on protecting the LIVES of the people of the UK
— Tom London (@TomLondon6) October 12, 2021
The media seem to be trying to help the government evade responsibility:
Unbelievable! On the day a report by MPs highlights the government’s mistakes in dealing with #COVID19 that led to THOUSANDS of deaths, the BBC’s #r4today have a major interview with Chief Scientific Adviser, Patrick Vallance and they DON’T ask him about this!#BrokenMedia pic.twitter.com/uTslXj8ucp
— Devutopia (@D_Raval) October 12, 2021
So Richard Madeley has just said majority of people contacting GMB are forgiving of the government for the devastating mistakes this government made at the beginning of the pandemic and since! Well I am not and I suspect majority are not
— Dame Ann#FBPE#Wokeremainer#🇺🇦Tories Out (@AnnJarvis13) October 12, 2021
And then we have someone who says he isn’t forgiving the government, despite having given it a free pass for the last 20 months:
Keir Starmer says Boris Johnson should apologise for errors and mismanagement of the Covid pandemic which Keir Starmer consistently supported… pic.twitter.com/Y7g3xy3Qrg
— The Prole Star (@TheProleStar) October 12, 2021
Quick reminders:
https://twitter.com/David__Osland/status/1447855670653595648
Clip 1 – Ridge gives Starmer opportunity after opportunity to criticise the government's obvious mistakes. He declines each time.https://t.co/T11VQPCGbb
— Devutopia (@D_Raval) October 12, 2021
There are many receipts like this that evidence how Stramer failed to oppose the Tories mishandling of #COVID19 even when their approach was clearly falling apart before all of our eyes. Any attempt to now spin Starmer as some sort of critic of the Tories approach is doomed.
— Devutopia (@D_Raval) October 12, 2021
Here’s some opposition. Ah, but the UK rejected him in favour of Boris Johnson in the 2019 election – going for the pandemic megadeath option. And then he resigned as Labour leader and the party voted in the absolute melt you saw in the video above…
This was the time of real Opposition https://t.co/pO9YXuu9dA
— Thelma Walker (@Thelma_DWalker) October 12, 2021
People are coming to the end of their collective tether:
A new joint report from two Tory led parliamentary committees on the govt's COVID actions is damning. Lessons learned? Not so much. Worst health failure in UK history? Pretty much. #DamoRants #COVIDReport
Coronavirus: The lessons learned to date https://t.co/siWlCzUXIZ pic.twitter.com/M8qKmfVLia
— Damien Willey 🟢 🔴 (@KernowDamo) October 12, 2021
https://twitter.com/Normanjam671/status/1447849431194349569
Since waking and putting on #r4today I’ve heard that Frost is about to tear up his own Brexit agreement, Sunak has no money left and Johnson has presided over the worst public health disaster in UK history…
— Bob Hudson (@Bob__Hudson) October 12, 2021
Those who predicted austerity would do irreparable harm to this country's social fabric have been vindicated;
Those who voted Remain in 2016 EU referendum have been vindicated;
Those who predicted a UK public health disaster because of lack of preparedness are vindicated…
— Professor Christopher Painter (@PrfChrisPainter) October 12, 2021
We're being mugged in broad daylight
1) our loved ones dying
2) our pensions stolen
3) our NHS privatised
3) our children unprotected
4) Our elderly & vulnerable abandoned
5) The UK diminished & traduced in every way possible
How much longer do we sit back & accept this?— Barbara (@BarbaraSutton15) October 11, 2021
https://twitter.com/EmmaKennedy/status/1447954113191452675
https://twitter.com/craigcooper78/status/1447848626282246150
Oh, and the scandal is still going on:
There have been over 5,000 Covid deaths since 1st September.
The Government is still refusing to take the basic steps needed to protect people.
While that is happening how dare they talk of learning the lessons.
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) October 12, 2021
when will we rise up? worst COVID performance on the planet & they are actually still murdering us in broad daylight.
no mitigations at all anymore
thousands still dying per month
highest infection rates in kids on the planet
— @marcusfitzsimons.bsky.social Woke Green Socialist (@MarcusFitzsimon) October 12, 2021
I notice that Matt Hancock, who was Health Secretary throughout most of the worst mistakes of the Covid crisis, has been appointed UN special envoy to help Covid recovery in Africa. So he’s not likely to be in the UK for the foreseeable future.
Also, in the light of the sex scandal that triggered his ejection from the Cabinet, jokes about Hancock’s new missionary position are likely to proliferate.
So both Johnson and Hancock are away for the duration, and a proper inquiry is about as far away temporally as they are physically.
That brings us back to the possibility of litigation against the government for causing tens of thousands – if not more than 100,000 – preventable deaths.
This could really bring the UK back together – against the government that has failed us all so badly.
So get together, people – in your communities, with the care homes where many of your relatives and friends died, online – wherever you can build the strongest possible case against the inept-but-unaccountable fools who caused those deaths… and take your shot. It could be the most important thing any of us do.
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
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That pic of BoJob running away is clearly fake.
His body is nowhere near that slim.
So Bozo runs off on holibobs hiding as usual for him! Just when a damming whitewashed report was published. What a coincidence….!
A sodding public inquiry? ….NOW and corporate manslaughter charges if there was any justice left in this plague-infested country thanks to him!
Good I hope for a flood of civil lawsuits. The fat lazy incompetent coward can pay for his own defence as well…
Bozo’s government grossly mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic. That fact It’s indisputable! But lets make sure to nail every single scummy hand involved in these deaths, no stone unturned!