Deadly dithering of bungler Boris
■ The Government has let the British people down in its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in so many ways.
It failed to quickly provide NHS and social care staff with enough PPE. It failed to impose a lockdown early. It delayed widespread testing, tracing and tracking.
All this reflects the emphasis Boris Johnson put on getting Brexit done, ignoring early warning signs which countries such as Germany, South Korea and Vietnam acted on to good effect.
Even with world-renowned academic and research facilities, the UK was woefully unprepared to tackle the pandemic.
Whether a Labour government would have done better is debatable. But a public inquiry will be needed when the dust settles. Michael Rose, Reading, Berks
■ Boris Johnson go now. The performance of your government in the pandemic has been dismal. How many deaths have been caused by your failure to introduce lockdown in time and to provide adequate PPE for the NHS and care services? Or by the total failure to get a grip on the care homes crisis? We don’t need a government with one law for them and one for us.
Eddie Fidler, Oxford
■ Recently we had the announcement of the new rich list during a public health emergency in which we have had an appalling rise in foodbanks, and lack of PPE for NHS and care home staff. This highlights the obscene inequality that exists in our country today. The Oxford dictionary defines a conservative as one “disposed to maintain existing institutions”.
In other words, protecting the establishment and the rich.
Chris Pook, Weymouth, Dorset
■ I have been a lifelong Tory voter but I cannot believe the inept handling of the Covid-19 situation by this Government. Why did they not put us into lockdown earlier which could have saved so many? Their indifference to human lives is unbelievable. I will never vote for them again.
A Bishop, West Wickham, Kent
■ Boris Johnson taking the daily briefing on Sunday was a rare sight, but I guess he had no choice. Most of the time our part-time PM would rather send anyone else out rather than face awkward questions himself. The ministers are not in a position to answer most of the questions without his say-so – which you can clearly see by the answers they give. The Government’s handling of this crisis has been shocking.
Anne Beagrie, Middlesbrough
■ Criticism of Boris and his ministers is somewhat unfair. They are not doctors so they have followed medical and scientific advice which seems to have ignored the success of other European countries’ methods. Guy Middlewood, York
■ Boris Johnson’s is no Winston Churchill, as his pathetic handling of this crisis has revealed. Churchill handled a world war, his speeches inspired a nation and he didn’t need his ministers to take turns to speak to the people.
Colin White, Mansfield, Notts