I am really tired of all the Boris bashing

I AM really tired of Boris bashing. (Letters, January 8). There are probably 50 million people in this country who have different opinions, even within their own families, as to the best way to tackle Covid-19, dependent on their own circumstances, and their views are based with the benefit of hindsight.

On the other hand, Boris Johnson is the only person who has to have foresight, knowing his decisions are going to be criticised, and upset half of the the population. He is torn between balancing the health of the nation with over 80,000 deaths, the NHS, the economy, education, lives and livelihoods, and it is the easiest thing in the world to blame him for every action he takes or has taken.

Sir Keir Starmer is particularly good at this, having missed the first three, all-important months of the pandemic, to concentrate on his leadership battles.

No leader in the western world today has ever had to face such an appalling challenge with this terrible unknown virus, and even those countries that were deemed to have performed better than us at the beginning, are now struggling with exactly the same problems, and in many cases are way behind us, thanks to our brilliant scientists with vaccines and new drugs.

Had Jeremy Corbyn won the election, would he have done any better? Of course not, and I cannot imagine anyone, who would wish to be in Boris Johnson’s shoes at this time, prompting me to pose one simple question to Mr Shute and others: “If you were in the Prime Minister’s shoes today, what would you do”?

In answering this question, you must consider the elderly in care homes, overcrowding in hospitals with exhausted doctors and nurses, all front line staff, and those losing their jobs and homes. Your solution must ensure that all members of the population agree with your decisions. Sadly, I suspect Mr Shute’s views are politically motivated, but regardless of politics, a Prime Minister is in a lonely place, and deserves the public’s sympathy and understanding, rather than carping with ill considered letters. His time would be far better spent blaming the public ignoring the rules.

Stories abound in Devon and Cornwall of families driving down from Glasgow and London for large parties in second homes, and we wonder why the percentage of Covid cases in the two counties has risen exponentially. We witness on television, unmasked crowds, side by side at sales or demonstrations, youthful raves and television presenters at parties, and Boris Johnson and his ministers must despair when they see this, knowing they cannot blame anyone outright, lest they give the ‘bashers’ an absolute field day.

I don’t know whether Mr Shute saw the interview immediately before Boris’s press conference last Thursday, with Sir John Bell, Oxford’s Regius Professor of Medicine, complimenting the Government on its performance in extremely trying times, acknowledging that mistakes are bound to happen. He remained positive about the future, citing the success of the vaccines and distribution programme, and referred to newly developed test facilities that did not exist a year ago, but are now second to none in the world, something that I am proud of.

Praise is needed, not shallow criticism.

Stephen Hitch Ermington, Devon