WHAT BORIS DID KNOW AND WHAT HE DIDN'T DO

There was something about the eight hour Dominic Cummings marathon, giving ‘evidence’ to Parliament’s joint Science, Technology and Health select committee, that reminded those of us born before 1955, of a young John Dean giving evidence before the United States Senate Watergate hearings. Cummings was suitless and very casual, whereas John Dean was Brooks Brothers smart. John Dean gave a very clear and detailed account or what the President knew and when he knew it. Dean had near enough an eidetic memory and his evidence was backed up by tape recordings of the conversations between the interested parties involved in the debacle of Watergate. 

                    John Dean                                                  Dominic Cummings

Whether Mr Cummings ‘evidence’ is to be credited is perhaps more questionable. He does not claim to have an eidetic recall of events, though he did, at times, refer to notes; however, his overall depiction of life at the top is, in my view, more than credible. What did Boris and Co know, when did they know it and what did they do about it?

 

The fact is, that those of us who have lived through the pandemic so far, and who were paying attention, can certainly testify that the handling of the pandemic by Johnson and Hancock was as shambolic and as bumbling as Boris Johnson appears to be. His manner is not a façade of bonhomie, it is the character of the man. I can well believe Mr Cummings view of Johnson reacting to whatever he reads in the papers. Image is all that matters to him. Referring to the movie ‘Jaws’ with “I should have kept the beaches open” in reference to lock down, is very much in keeping with the Johnson personality.  

 

This government is clearly not fit for purpose. It is all very well to say that the pandemic presented the most unique and difficult circumstances, never before encountered by any current leadership, throughout the world; but, sorry, there are people who do know and have modelled just such events occurring. They appear to have been ignored, much less sought for, either by the relevant ministers or their scientific advisers. Apparently, Mr Valance and Mr Whitty did advise, but, that initial advice was ignored as well. The dithering over what turned out to be crucial decisions, was clearly brought to light, and given the events that transpired following on from the indecision and confusion, a vote of no confidence must surely follow.

 

A classic example is what has happened in Bolton. The powers that be hesitated stopping all travel from India despite the immediate facts emerging from that country for a full two weeks. The obvious and long connection between the UK and India is no surprise or unique set of circumstances. The spread of the Indian variant was more or less guaranteed as a result of Boris’s need to look good about his roadmap out of the pandemic.  Governance is not about image. He is clearly unfit to govern.

 

I do hope Mr. Cummings' notes, emails, texts and Instagrams are as effective as Mr. Dean’s memory and tape recordings.