政三A 07114149 賴星瑋

Fear sets in that Boris Johnson's Brexit government is ill equipped to handle a pandemic

2020-10-11 Analysis by Luke McGee, CNN

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/10/uk/brexit-britain-pandemic-intl-gbr/index.html

內文:

It's been another week of difficult headlines for Boris Johnson. Once again, serious questions are being asked of Britain's Prime Minister and his administration's approach to handling the Covid-19 pandemic and, more broadly, the style of government.

 

Things kicked off with Johnson being criticized for sending mixed messages in a BBC interview on Sunday, in which he warned that coronavirus restrictions could last until 2021, but also that he needed to get the economy moving. Arguably sending a vague message for a public unsure of what to do as the virus spreads exponentially, he said, "What we want people to do is behave fearlessly but with common sense."

 

Things got worse, as the government was forced to admit that 16,000 confirmed cases went unreported due to a technical glitch.

Cases are rising in universities just weeks after students returned to campuses: more than 1,000 students at Newcastle University tested positive for Covid-19 over an eight-day period, along with another 770 cases at the University of Northumbria, while three universities in north England have stopped face-to-face teaching.

Concerns about the rise in cases and the testing system were not helped by a cabinet minister having to admit on Wednesday that the country is experiencing supply chain issues with a pharmaceutical company that supplies tests to the UK.

 

And Johnson is under fire from all sides for his approach to introducing further restrictions across the country. Criticism ranges from decisions on local restrictions being taken in central government by the PM and his close team -- without consulting local leaders -- to curfews not being backed by scientific evidence.

Some in his own Conservative party admit that Johnson wouldn't be their first pick for leader during a pandemic. "His personal skillset this doesn't play to it. He's not a details, manager type. He's a leader and picture painter," says one veteran Conservative. "A situation for which there is divided opinion scientifically, politically and changing patterns on how to manage the response is difficult for him."

A former Conservative cabinet minister agrees "he doesn't go into the microscopic detail." However, they ask, "where's the surprise in that? When Boris was elected to lead this party, we needed someone with a bit of flair who could get Brexit over the line by painting a bigger picture and taking the public with him."

Indeed, Johnson did exactly that when he won a majority in last December's election, breaking the Brexit deadlock that had blighted British politics for years. And while no one doubts that Johnson and his team that followed him to Downing Street are great campaigners, there's a growing sense that their combative style, led by Johnson's top adviser Dominic Cummings, doesn't lend itself to governing during a crisis.

"I think it's obvious this is a government happier picking fights than governing. There's a lot of initiatives that are designed to pick a fight with some perceived enemy, but very little follow through," says Anand Menon, professor in international politics at King's College London.

 

One of the biggest enemies that Johnson and Cummings like to take a swipe at is the EU, with whom the UK is currently negotiating a post-Brexit trade deal. Through introducing policy that knowingly breaks an international treaty Johnson signed with the EU to vaguer attempts to paint the EU as a bureaucratic bully, Johnson's and his team certainly see the advantage in such hostility.

Johnson's political success from 2016 to now has been largely anchored in his successful leadership of the official Brexit campaign. Few can deny that his optimism for Brexit and charismatic style of politics was a huge factor in the UK's decision to leave the EU. It gave him credibility during the years Theresa May was in power to be the voice of the Brexiteers when critiquing her policy. It meant when May left her post having failed to deliver Brexit, there was only one serious contender to replace her.

However, this reliance on (and success of) his Brexit persona, as opposed to his previous incarnation as the liberal-conservative Mayor of London, means that combative, confrontational style of politics is a must in the DNA of any government he leads.

Observers fear that taking this flavor of politics from the campaign trail to government might make central government too thinly stretched and chaotic for handling the dovetailed crises of a pandemic and Brexit.

心得:

隨著疫情的加劇，英國首相採取許多限制措施，包含宵禁等。

但這些舉動引來多方的批評，因為這並不是最好的做法，由於英國的立場，他們無法隊武漢肺炎做出很好的預防及治療，在脫歐的背景下，英國沒有參與歐盟對於疫情疫苗的聯合採購計畫，因為英國政府希望在任何意義上都不需要仰賴歐盟。

雖然這有起來有些荒謬，不過我認為這也有一定的道理，畢竟都說要脫離了，結果因為一個疫情又去妥協，但對抗疫情是全世界的事，或許在一些計畫的執行上可以部份參與而不是全部拒絕，因為人民才是組成國家最重要的元素，都死光了這國家差不多也廢了。