We have weak, indecisive leadership that repeatedly fails to act at the right time, and then does too little too late. Lock down, testing, travel restrictions... All done too late and, in the case of test and trace, done very badly. On top of that, millions have been wasted on unfulfilled contracts for things like PPE. I don't feel sorry for Johnson. This is our biggest crisis since the war - I am just thankful that dithering Johnson and his corrupt crew aren't leading us through an actual war.
I think that those who say that people won't co-operate underestimate our country. People are prepared to make sacrifices to save lives. What's intolerable is the confusion that surrounds so many of the government's decisions, and the incompetence which has made a fiasco of our "world-beating" test system.
If we want to see what life would be like without restrictions, look at America. The virus is out of control there. I read an article by a British woman living there who said that they watched with envy when the UK was outraged by Dominic Cummings's jaunt. Over there, there were no restrictions on spreading the virus. My DD lives in Madison, Wisconsin and says that the infection rate has soared since the University of Wisconsin reopened. In April the Governor, a Democrat, had brought in a partial lock down but the Republicans went to court and got it overturned. Now they are trying to get the rule on mask-wearing overturned. Meanwhile the hospitals are full.
Frankly, Christmas is a red herring. (And if the Hindus can do Diwali, which is 12 days away, in lockdown, we can do Christmas.) The scientists have warned that, if we don't act now, we could have 85,000 deaths. Thousands every day. A lot of us could be dead by Christmas.
And when I say us, I mean us - the grannies and grandads. We have a duty, not only to ourselves but to our families and to the country, to take every precaution. It's our lives they're trying to save.
