ANGER

If you feel anger, generate it to China who have underplayed the virus they created and spread!! They also seem to be doing a good job of bungling supplies to the NHS. Why does China have to make everything? Can't we do it here? Aren't we capable? Come on Brits, make the protective gear the NHS needs, then we don't have to rely on China.

....these all seem like good reasons to be angry at your own country. Not China.

Anyone who thought the Spiros was not much of anything after they locked down a city of 11 million people is an idiot. Maybe they were down playing, maybe they weren’t, but anyone watching that I’m not thinking that we should all start preparing is either a wishful thinker or a moron.

A pandemic has been at the top of most countries threat assessment for years. Many of our western countries have let us down.

The spiros = the virus

The lockdown isn’t lax and it’s causing misery for a large number of people. It can’t go on indefinitely and the sooner it’s lifted the better.

Oh, of course the lockdown is lax compared to other countries.

Whitewave2: I cannot work out what you mean by "You owe it to them to ensure the piper pays the price". There are two commonplace expressions involving pipers and paying: "He who pays the piper calls the tune" (ie he is in charge), and something along the lines of "he will (eventually) have to pay the piper" (ie he will (eventually) have to take responsibility). Both involve the piper being paid, not the piper doing the paying. So what are you trying to say?

Why the U.K. has more than twice as many deaths per 100,000 than Ireland

This says it all. It points to delay in action by our government.

GagaJo, at the end of the day, the government will have nowhere to hide. They can try to deflect the blame (like Trump) but the death figures for each country will eventually show clearly who fared better - or worse.

There will be a review of who did what and when, cause and effect, efficiency and prompt action - or half-measures, too little, too late. There is no way to 'bury the bad news' about this virus.

I am absolutely gobsmacked that there are still a few comments about 'our government doing well' - despite all the evidence!

I'm gobsmacked at comments like the one above. ?

I feel it is such a shame that we have the government that we do rather than some of the posters on here who have all the answers.
Any government will be criticised by a good proportion of the governed.
I am not saying that our leaders have got everything right but I don’t doubt that they are trying very hard to do so.
I, for one, am glad I’m not in their shoes.

Jane can I ask...did you bother to read my link?

Or you Pamela?

If you read the Twitter thread posted above, I think you'll see the Irish are happy with their governments approach. As are the South Koreans and New Zealanders (I have friends who live in both of the latter two places). The Swedes WERE happy with their government, but the tide there seems to be turning, with the population feeling the 'no lockdown' approach was wrong.

Where populations can SEE the death rate has been lowered through government intervention, the population are happy. We, as one of the worst in the world, would have to be happy with the opium of the masses, to believe our leaders have done well.

It didn't have to be like this. It's not like they were starting from scratch. They could look to China, Italy and Spain. It's not like they had no advice. They had WHO, the experts, advising them.

No. I wouldn't want to be in charge. I'm not a leader. But if I was WAY out of my depth in a situation, I would ask those that knew what they were talking about for help. Not ignore what they said.

And as for people not being happy about the lockdown, I would imagine they'd be even less happy about family members dying. I read this morning about a family where a father, mother and daughter all died within 10 days of each other. The brother that is left is crushed with grief.

I can’t understand some people’s reasoning. They are content that our death rate is going to be the highest in Europe?

Are we sheep to accept blindly how badly this has been handled? Lambs to the slaughter? Literally.

I see the majority of the population are doing their best and adhering to social distancing and lockdown. That is common sense. But had these, and other measures, been put in place much earlier (as for example Ireland) then the death rate would be considerably lower at this point in time.

That much is obvious

No question about it.

Latest UGov poll, seems that there are an awful lot of people happy with the Governments handling of the situation.

'An awful lot of people' being happy with the government's handling of the situation just indicates that an awful lot of people are ill informed or just ignorant.

A majority view doesn't confer correctness.

Here are 3 ways I deal know-it-alls.
Don't Get Annoyed With Them. Obvious, right? ...
Don't Try To “School” Them. That is the biggest waste of time you can possibly think off; trying to share knowledge with a know-it-all. ...
Stay Away From Them. ...

Hahaha

I expected my stricter lockdown on Monday, road blocks etc.

When I have been going to work , there has been numerous cars /people about , also on the way home even more, just like normal.
I've seen I would say 3 police cars in the whole 4 weeks whilst I have been out.

an awful lot of people are ill informed or just ignorant MaizieD not a nice way to describe your fellow citizens just because their opinion differs from yours?

Just to put some context on biker's comment about having seen 3 police cars in the past four weeks.
Several months ago my neighbour's garage was broken into, they took the roof off as his door security defeated them. They stole over £3000 of diy kit he'd been given when he retired.
Two police officers duly arrived, they said there were 3 officers covering not only our our area but through the town centre, to the west of town. That's two areas, each with their own MP to give you an idea of size. The officers had left their colleague at the station to respond to calls. They anticipated the thieves would be well aware of this and were by now, probably at the other side of town robbing someone else. Safe in the knowledge they'd be well away before our two could drive their car in response to the next report.
Sorry for going off piste but its another comment about the impact of austerity. We need more, not less police officers, (doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers, criminal justice workers etc)

According to a new Yougov poll Boris Johnson is the most popular Conservative PM ever.

Really? He bumped Thatcher with right-wingers?

MaizieD - 'An awful lot of people' being happy with the government's handling of the situation just indicates that an awful lot of people are ill informed or just ignorant.
And so it goes on.......if you don't agree with the majority vote then just call them ignorant. This all sounds rather familiar.

Regarding the deaths in Eire v UK pikachu a fair comparison population wise would be against Scotland and to a lesser extent Wales. In both cases, rural areas seem to have escaped so far and probably would apply to Ireland?

i think we should be angry with the mis-handling of the situation, with the lack of preparation, with the refusal to accept advice, with the lack of humility of the Government. I am quite sure that the present situation in the care homes (lack of testing, lack of PPE ) would have continued had it not been for the matter brought out in the open by reports in the press. All the Government representatives do is mouth platitudes.We do need some sort of Parliament , virtual or not , in action.

Most Care Homes are privately owned and the residents are paying thousands of pounds for their care, surely the home owners should be providing their staff with PPE.

Firecracker123 exactly, if Private Hospitals were asking the Government for PPE there would be a public outcry.

Council run homes should be given PPE, Privately run homes have the finances to procure their own PPE.

There was a care home manager on the news (BBC) yesterday ranting that they had been charged VAT on PPE, this is refundable when the VAT return is completed, I assume she knew this and was just weaponising the situation