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In mid-March, the British government still believed that the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes was “unlikely”. Meanwhile, up to 20,000 people have died there. Conservative politicians also criticize Prime Minister Johnson.
For a time it seemed that Boris Johnson was not threatened by the opposition with any major injustice; New Labor leader Keir Starmer originally announced that he wanted to do without political battles in the current crisis. But that has been different since this week.
This is due to the apparent political weakness of the Prime Minister, who has few answers to pressing questions about the causes of Covid-19’s high infection and death rate in the UK. This was demonstrated, among other things, on Wednesday, when Starmer told the Prime Minister in a violent exchange of blows in the lower house that the government had held the opinion in mid-March that the spread of the virus in nursing homes and Nursing homes was “unlikely”. Instead of early precautionary measures for this risk group, hospital patients were transferred to hospices and nursing homes, which contributed to the spread of the virus. Statistics now show that about 40 percent of all deaths from a corona infection occurred in nursing homes.
Johnson struggled to resist the pressure
Johnson denied that there was a directive on the “improbability of the spread of the virus in homes and elderly communities.” However, the Labor leader was able to demonstrate that this was not the case with a link to a government website, and after the debate in the House of Commons, Johnson asked Johnson to correct his statement.
Johnson then responded with a letter in which he again accused the Labor chief of selectively quoting. British commentators largely agreed that without the vocal support of the Tory faction in the House of Commons (most MPs virtually participate in the meetings) and given an excellently prepared and detailed opposition leader, Johnson struggled to resist pressure and critical problems.
The dispute over the crisis in nursing homes and nursing homes continued on Thursday within the conservative party. Jeremy Hunt, a former health minister and chair of the health committee in parliament, criticized the government for the fact that patients transferred from hospitals to nursing homes did not undergo crown tests until mid-April. “Obviously that should have happened.” In recent weeks, operators have repeatedly criticized that employees and residents have little access to Covid 19 testing.
Up to 20,000 dead
In a radio interview, the Minister of Housing and Local Authorities, Robert Jenrick, admitted that the situation in the nursing homes was “absolutely horrible”. The government is now providing a £ 600 million aid package to be used, inter alia, for infection control in homes. Recent studies have shown that up to 20,000 people may have died in British nursing homes.
In addition to the Corona crisis, Brexit is also back in the political debate in Britain, and Prime Minister Johnson is also under strong pressure to justify this. Downing Street had admitted Thursday that, contrary to Johnson’s earlier statements, there would be customs controls on goods transported between the British Isles and Northern Ireland after the country’s final departure from the EU. The Brexit deal Johnson brokered with Brussels last fall stipulates that Northern Ireland will continue to comply with EU norms and standards, but the rest of the UK will not. This creates a de facto customs border in the Irish Sea, which, according to the EU, requires internal controls. Johnson had always denied it.
However, on Thursday it was announced that Downing Street had announced in a letter to the Belfast Parliament that tariff controls had been planned at all three Belfast ports, Warrenpoint and Larne, in Northern Ireland. A government spokesperson confirmed that it had always been clear that there should be controls on imports and exports of animals and food. In November Johnson had assured Northern Ireland businessmen that in the future they would have no additional bureaucratic effort and that they would not have to fill out any customs forms. This contradicts the agreements in the exit contract. A London undersecretary of state said that in response to an exchange of letters with Brussels, planning for border checkpoints is taking place.
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