Blame game by ministers ‘is damaging public trust’

MINISTERS are playing a ‘blame game’ with the public when it comes to dealing with coronavirus, a public health expert has said.

Prof Linda Bauld said the ‘ punitive message’ from Westminster around new fines for rule-breakers – following claims the public wanted ‘too many tests’ and that young people were irresponsible – was ‘problematic’ in terms of messaging.

In England, firms failing to comply face closure or £10,000 fines, while individuals risk £200 fines if they fail to wear masks in certain places or breach the ‘rule of six’.

Prof Bauld, from the University of Edinburgh, said there was ‘ much more solidarity’ in Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s message on Tuesday than the one from Boris Johnson.

On ITV’s Good Morning Britain yesterday, Ms Sturgeon was asked by host Piers Morgan if UK government ministers’ refusal to appear on a breakfast TV show during the pandemic was ‘a dereliction of duty’. She replied: ‘I think that is pretty disgraceful actually.’

In his TV address, Mr Johnson said: ‘We have to acknowledge this is a great and freedom-loving country, and while the vast majority have complied with the rules there have been too many breaches – too many opportunities for our invisible enemy to slip through undetected.’

Prof Bauld said there had been mixed messaging, such as eating out and then working from home, which ‘ erodes trust’ with the public. She said while there have been breaches of the rules, the ‘ general message from the data is most people want to comply with the guidance’. Prof Carl Heneghan, head of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at Oxford, said there is a ‘mantra of fear’ around fines, comparing it with Sweden’s ‘much more supportive approach’.