The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
An international solution is needed to this global crisis
Some 10 years ago I chaired a select committee in the House of Lords on the threat posed by pandemics caused by a virus jumping the barrier between animals and humans. It has now happened, and we are currently living through the corona world crisis.
One of the organisations that gave evidence to that committee was the World Health Organisation (WHO).
It is one of those unsung international specialised agencies set up by the United Nations after the Second World War and it has been remarkably successful at promoting solutions to many world health problems.
At the time the WHO was established we already knew what the dangers were. Just after the First World War, a pandemic of Spanish flu swept the world, and this took place before we had many of the medical defences we have now, including the muchpraised NHS.
That pandemic killed some 50 million people worldwide – more than twice as many as were killed in the First World War.
I think that puts our current crisis in historical perspective and shows that although we are getting better at handling these situations, we still have much to learn.
Two of the lessons we must learn now is that testing for the virus helps control its spread by identifying the nature of risk for individuals, and secondly the immense importance of protective clothing for all workers on the front line.
This must include all health and social care employees and other essential workers.
While it is important for MPs and members of the Lords to hold the government to account during this crisis it is not the time for simplistic criticism.
I have lived through a few crises in politics and I know how easy it is to get things wrong when you are dealing with a major crisis. After it is over we will need a full and detailed inquiry.
I think the government advice is exactly right and that people have adjusted well and are answering the call for responsible social distancing.
I was in Egypt when the extent of the crisis was becoming known here.
I returned on the last flight out of Cairo before the borders were closed and was at first underestimating how fast the virus was spreading in the UK.
I had to adjust fast, so I am reluctant to criticise others who took time to realise just how serious it was.
The two Houses of Parliament are not meeting now but planning has started to have key committees and other parliamentary activity conducted online.
That is not a satisfactory way of running a democracy in the normal course of events, but it is right for the current situation.
The damage to the world economy is incalculable at present but I know it will take a long time for it to recover so we will all be paying for this for a very long time.
The scientific research that was already taking place will, I’m sure, be accelerated.
We need to know more about how a virus jumps the species barrier. Both this virus and the 1918 Spanish flu virus jumped from birds and animals to infect humans.
Developing a vaccine that can stop that does take time – even with the very best science it takes a year or more.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and greater knowledge of genetics may well allow us to speed this process up in the future, but there is no guarantee.
“Community spirit is an encouraging development”
Meanwhile can there be any positive aspects of this crisis? I think there are.
The fact that more than 700,000 people volunteered in the space of a couple of days to help the emergency services; to shop for isolated people and to give support for the isolated and lonely caused me to remember how people came together in the Second World War.
The sense of community spirit is one of the most encouraging developments in an otherwise miserable situation.
In recent years, as nationalism has swept the world, many of us, like me, brought up with the idea of transnationalism and internationalism, now hope that we can put narrow nationalist ideas behind us.
Listening to President Trump will, I think, lead many people to conclude that narrow nationalism is not an answer to the problems of the modern world.
This crisis might help us all rediscover a greater sense of community and a recognition that humanity makes best progress when we co-operate. I hope so.
Stay safe and help defeat this deadly virus.
Lord Soley is a former MP and chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, who is now vice-chairman of the Scottish Peers Association and a member of the House of Lords EU select sub-committee on home affairs. He lives in the Highlands.