Last cheer for the NHS was to deny pay rise

Sir, – “Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all.”

John Maynard Keynes soaring indictment of capitalism in the 1930s could equally be applied to the economic crisis coming out of the Covid-19 crisis.

Foreign correspondents are shocked at the level of incompetence of Covid19 by the Conservative government.

The absolute buffoonery of Boris Johnson has been utterly devastating.

Starting with the herd immunity approach.

Prime Minister Johnson and his supporters wanted to let Covid-19 sweep through the country.

He even went on TV to say we should “take it on the chin”.

Such was the PM’S ineptness he could not be bothered to attend five Cobra meetings.

Eventually he was forced to shut the economy down and his message was unclear about who constituted an “emergency” worker.

Then the preparedness was non-existent. The Tories can’t claim they did not know the NHS was not ready. Operation

Cygnus was conducted in 2016. This showed the shortcomings.

Once lockdown was under way the Johnson regime decided to leave the airports open.

This allowed people to fly in from Covid-19 hotspots unchecked and untraced.

Then there was the fact PPE had been sent to China. Also there was a shortage of ventilators.

The government even pulled out of an EU scheme to bulk buy ventilators all because of hubris brought about by British exceptionalism.

The Tories even came up with a PR campaign. Getting citizens to clap for NHS workers.

But the last time the Tories “cheered” for the NHS was 2017 when they voted down a pay rise for staff.

This included all the current Tory Cabinet.

To say that testing has been inadequate does not quite cover the grotesque and incomprehensible negligence.

Before even thinking about ending the lockdown this needs to be done correctly.

It is what has saved lives in countries that have used it.

Alan Hinnrichs. 2 Gillespie Terrace, Dundee.