TUSC SENDS MP A SERIES OF QUESTIONS ABOUT GOVERNMENT's HANDLING OF CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
Rugby Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) has written to local MP Mark Pawsey following concerns it has picked up from residents about certain aspects of the Government’s handling of the Coronavirus crisis. “We feel that now, with over 10,000 recorded hospital deaths from COVID19 in Britain and over 80,000 confirmed cases, we should take stock and look critically at government strategy”, spokesperson and secretary of the Rugby Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Pete McLaren told us today.
“We did not want to make handling of COVID19 into a party political issue at a time of national crisis. However, with the numbers of COVID19 cases, and sadly, deaths, rising more rapidly than in most other countries, questions need to be asked. Jeremy Farar, a Government senior scientific adviser warned at the weekend that the UK could be the worst affected country in Europe
“That is serious. As a consequence, we have asked Mark Pawsey the following questions:
Why did we wait seven weeks to buy ventilators? Why did we refuse the EU ventilator purchase scheme?
Why did we fail to do sufficient test and trace and isolate, as per the advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO)?
Recently, we heard from a local nurse that there had been no hand sanitizer on her ward despite there being three patients with Coronavirus on it. What would you say to her?
Why have we failed to get enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for NHS, social care and other key workers?
Why are we failing to reach promised mass testing numbers, and why are we so far behind many other countries with the amount of testing?
Why did we lockdown three weeks after others, after first following a disastrous ‘herd immunity’ policy of mitigation, not suppression?
Is there any truth in the rumours that the Government is considering a return to mitigation if numbers of cases start to level off?
Would you now concede that the NHS has been woefully underfunded for many years, a situation which has not helped on the ground during this pandemic
“We need answers to these important questions. Why have the countries with the lowest percentage rates of catching the virus, the lowest number in critical care, and the lowest number of deaths, countries that include Germany, Portugal, South Korea and the Czech Republic, been so much better prepared with so much more testing and PPE for all key workers?
“We will be demanding that there be an independent enquiry in the UK after all this is over. Let’s hope there is now more urgency in our government’s response. All our key workers, and the rest of us, deserve nothing less,” Pete McLaren concluded.
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
Rugby TUSC was set up in March 2011. It is part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition nationally - www.tusc.org.uk
Rugby TUSC can be contacted on 07881 520626 or RugbyTUSC@gmail.com; PO Box 4123 Rugby CV21 9BJ
Pete McLaren is a member of the TUSC National Steering Committee, and is its Local Group Development Officer.