Saturday, December 05, 2020
Snatching chaos from the jaws of sanity
It is Marina Hyde in this morning's Guardian column who comments on the ability of Ministers to dig themselves into a hole through lies about Britain's role in the development of the first authorised vaccine, who suggests that some touchy-feely Downing Street apparachit should ring up every offending minster and scream: “You’re only supposed to dead-cat BAD NEWS, you absolute braindead amateurs!” I know how she feels.
As the Independent points out Ministers have been accused of risking an increase in vaccine hesitancy among the public by making “wildly inappropriate comments” about the “brilliance” of Britain in becoming the first west country to approve a Covid-19 jab:
Independent Sage also criticised the government for “snatching chaos from the jaws of sanity” with distracting rows over erroneous claims that Brexit allowed UK regulators to approve the Pfizer/BionNTech vaccine more rapidly.
In a briefing on Friday, the group – set up to shadow the official Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) – urged for greater transparency and a public health campaign from the government to combat “vaccine hesitancy” and questions over the rollout.
While praising an “authoritative” No 10 briefing fronted by medicine regulators and virus experts on Wednesday, Deenan Pillay, a professor of virology at University College London and member of Independent Sage, criticised the political response to the approval.
He said: “Within a few hours, government ministers were making wildly inappropriate comments about the brilliance of the UK, how we were ahead of the rest of the world, and even that we could only do this because of Brexit.
“Unsurprisingly, there was an immediate response from the European Medicines Agency, European ministers of health and even Anthony Fauci in the US saying that this was not a race, and that time was needed to ensure the safety of vaccines and future vaccine recipients.
“It seemed actually once again the UK was snatching chaos from the jaws of sanity and in the process merely potentially adding to vaccine hesitancy.”
His comments came after Matt Hancock, the health secretary, faced criticism for boasting that the authorisation process was faster in the UK than in the EU because Britain was no longer a member – only to be contradicted hours later by the medicines regulator.
Alok Sharma, the minister responsible for overseeing the rollout of vaccines, also provoked a backlash from the German ambassador to London for suggesting that the approval will be remembered in years to come “as the day the UK led humanity’s charge against this disease”.
And on Thursday, the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, was accused of “jingoistic nonsense” after he claimed in a radio interview that Britain secured approval of the Covid-19 vaccine ahead of European countries and the US because it is a “much better country”.
Why is it that even in the face of good news, Government Ministers have to make it all about them? Why is nobody in the UK Cabinet capable of opening their mouth without inserting their foot first?
As the Independent points out Ministers have been accused of risking an increase in vaccine hesitancy among the public by making “wildly inappropriate comments” about the “brilliance” of Britain in becoming the first west country to approve a Covid-19 jab:
Independent Sage also criticised the government for “snatching chaos from the jaws of sanity” with distracting rows over erroneous claims that Brexit allowed UK regulators to approve the Pfizer/BionNTech vaccine more rapidly.
In a briefing on Friday, the group – set up to shadow the official Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) – urged for greater transparency and a public health campaign from the government to combat “vaccine hesitancy” and questions over the rollout.
While praising an “authoritative” No 10 briefing fronted by medicine regulators and virus experts on Wednesday, Deenan Pillay, a professor of virology at University College London and member of Independent Sage, criticised the political response to the approval.
He said: “Within a few hours, government ministers were making wildly inappropriate comments about the brilliance of the UK, how we were ahead of the rest of the world, and even that we could only do this because of Brexit.
“Unsurprisingly, there was an immediate response from the European Medicines Agency, European ministers of health and even Anthony Fauci in the US saying that this was not a race, and that time was needed to ensure the safety of vaccines and future vaccine recipients.
“It seemed actually once again the UK was snatching chaos from the jaws of sanity and in the process merely potentially adding to vaccine hesitancy.”
His comments came after Matt Hancock, the health secretary, faced criticism for boasting that the authorisation process was faster in the UK than in the EU because Britain was no longer a member – only to be contradicted hours later by the medicines regulator.
Alok Sharma, the minister responsible for overseeing the rollout of vaccines, also provoked a backlash from the German ambassador to London for suggesting that the approval will be remembered in years to come “as the day the UK led humanity’s charge against this disease”.
And on Thursday, the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, was accused of “jingoistic nonsense” after he claimed in a radio interview that Britain secured approval of the Covid-19 vaccine ahead of European countries and the US because it is a “much better country”.
Why is it that even in the face of good news, Government Ministers have to make it all about them? Why is nobody in the UK Cabinet capable of opening their mouth without inserting their foot first?
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'It,s all about them'.Yes, one big clique of people full of their own importance. All stick together for if one falls they all fall. However as time goes by they will be seen as 'unfit to rule' and will receive their cards at the next election.
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