Several friends have made comments in recent weeks about being embarrassed to be British. I share their pain as we watch the government's shambolic attempt to manage the pandemic with a little help from their friends. Friends like Dido Harding, companies like Serco and G4S and those private companies, many with financial links to the Conservative Party, that have secured £5bn of contracts for PPE under a loophole that allows normal tendering procedures to be abandoned during an emergency.
Meanwhile, the organisations with the skills and knowledge to deal with the pandemic, like Public Health England and the local Councils have been kept at a distance from the government's centralised control operation. New schemes and proposals emerge without any underlying strategy, lots of money has been wasted on unfulfilled promises by companies with little experience, no accountability to the public and without any outcome agreements.
And now to add insult to these indiscretions we are told that the controversial ex-Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, is to be hired as a Trade Advisor. His CV was extensively exposed by his predecessor as Australian PM Julia Gillard as seen in this much-watched video.
These accusations seem to be bourne out by the experience of my feisty Australian cousin who tells me, "My daughter was manning the Greens stall in Manly when Abbott arrived and starting yelling at her, she was 17. The mother tiger in me took over and gave him the tongue lashing he deserved." Knowing how articulate and assertive my cousin can be I'm not surprised that he has sought asylum in the UK, or that Priti Patel has allowed him in, he has the values and lack of relevant experience that the government seem to cherish.
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