Wednesday, 14 October 2020
Boris, hats and rabbits
The other day found Mrs H and I discussing how Boris appears to be hemmed in by circumstances and political pressures. He seems to lack the ability to assert his leadership as opposed to his apparent role as official establishment mouthpiece. As if he knows he cannot recover the gravitas he squandered for most of his political career.
This impression may or may not be valid of course. He may be a willing collaborator in the ludicrous mess that is the coronavirus debacle. In which case he clearly needs to pull a pretty large rabbit out of the hat if he is to avoid the permanent impression that he is no more than a feeble establishment stooge. But even that may not matter to him. It may be his chosen role.
To my mind a major failing of modern Prime Ministers is that they appear to make little effort to understand the basics of important political issues. For example it was easy enough for Mr Johnson to understand that epidemiology is not an exact predictive science.
From that point it was easy enough to work out that he needed a range of expert opinion to bring out the uncertainties. He could then have been more open about the uncertainties and possibly could have steered a more flexible and pragmatic course through the pandemic.
As for pulling a rabbit from the hat, a tiny glimmer of optimism remains, but I don’t think Boris has the hat, let alone the rabbit.
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7 comments:
Exactly. You'd think that when things started to get serious, Boris would have sat down with a few epidemiologists and a flipchart and a pot of very strong coffee, and worked out the basics. Then he would have formulated a few simple ideas in line with the best available advice, checked it with the experts, and run it past his PR advisors.
However, it's more likely that when he belatedly consulted the experts, he just glazed over and thought "I reckon I can bullshit my way out of this..."
Also, whilst Foreign Secretary, he ( and others) rejected the best-informed advice about the EU and proclaimed that we would “ have our cake and eat it”. i.e Leave the EU but continue to be treated for trade purposes as if we were still members. Anybody with moderate knowledge of the EU would have known that would not happen. But he and colleagues went on believing it for some time “ because they sell more to us than we do to them”.
He also has the assurance that any opposition party, even a small bunch like the Lib Dems, couldn't have made a better fist of the situation, so I guess he'll still paddle the same way that he has done so far.
It's a sad reflection on the Scrobs' household, in that we don't really seem to care much now - we understood that we must stick to the rules in March, and nothing has really changed.
What I don't understand is that there are people who still evangelise about the rules although it is clear that they don't work. I follow the rules to the extent that it gives me an easier life, such as wearing a mask under my nose simply because I do not need to believe it is a worthwhile precaution. I just go along with the theatre. I almost welcome the upsurge in alleged cases. That is the only way we can break free from this mass of fear and stupidity
Sam - yes he gives the impression of someone who relies on his ability to bullshit. As if he believes things will sort themselves out anyway so why break sweat over it.
Edward - it leaves an impression that advisors are not diverse in their approach to major issues. As if diverse views are not required by leaders with little interest in even rudimentary detail.
Scobs - I agree, the opposition parties would have been no better and possibly worse. Imagine Corbyn dealing with it.
Graeme - we do the same, we go along with the theatre, although we also avoid it as much as possible by shopping online and by cutting down on our coffee shop visits. I'm sure there are people who like the rules, maybe because it gives them an "all in it together" feeling.
Last week, we were seeing groups of teenagers in the streets, wearing masks and keeping their distance. As soon as they got inside the bar, off came the masks and you could barely slip a sheet of paper between them. WTF! Is a bar a magical place where germs can't spread? Don't they see their inconsistency?
Graeme - yes a bar seems to be a magical place where germs can't spread. They only come out at 10pm but our leaders have cleverly imposed a curfew to thwart them.
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