United we can beat this virus – the squabbling has got to stop

AT the start of the coronavirus pandemic there was fear and there was some confusion. But as we tuned in for the nightly broadcasts, with scientists and politicians sharing a platform, and stood on our doorsteps one a week to clap for the NHS and other key workers, the best single word to sum up the mood was solidarity.

Even the Opposition largely backed the government and the feeling that this was a national crisis, not dissimilar to a war and therefore better tackled on a united front, shone through. We were, to coin a hackneyed phrase, all in it together.

How times have changed.

The parliament and SNP leadership in Scotland has been bickering with Westminster for what seems like months over the right way to tackle the pandemic, often going its own way. Now Wales has gone for a national lockdown. In those parts of England where tougher measures are deemed necessary by the Prime Minister and his cabinet, meanwhile, dissent has broken out.

With devolution for the nations of the United Kingdom and the establishment, in far more settled times, of greater autonomy for regions with their own mayors, we have opened the door to division where we need unity. That’s not the fault of the system – here in the South West we could benefit from a greater ability to manage our own affairs. But it is a symptom of national breakdown that has not been helped by the piecemeal way in which devolution and regional powers have been handled.

Whatever the cause of the current breakdown in national solidarity, it needs to be sorted out – and fast.

There is still a valid argument that says when the depth of this crisis became apparent there was a case to move towards a temporary government of national unity. That moment has passed, however. It is virtually impossible to see Labour accepting a seat in such an administration for the duration of the pandemic which could, it must be admitted, go on for many more months, even years.

So given we are going to have to play the hand we have been dealt, there is a responsibility upon those with a role to play to do their utmost to build bridges, rather than walls.

Some may see Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as doing no more than sticking up for the residents of his city in an effort to get the best financial support before the inevitable move into the highest level of restrictions.

But a more accurate assessment would be to see his stance as posturing of the worst kind, potentially putting lives at risk. And, arguably he has been assisted in making the stand that he has by his party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, who is now promoting a different agenda to the Prime Minister, calling for a lockdown, albeit temporary, across the whole of the UK.

Yet while politicians with more than half an eye on their careers and their stock among voters use this crisis to try to gain an advantage, the virus spreads, the hospital beds fill up and the death toll rises.

There is room, of course, for constructive criticism of the Government’s course of action. But we made the progress we did in the summer together. We need to unite again.