Can we have credible leadership emerging from Parliament today?


Today is the first day of Parliament’s return since it went into recess due to C-19 nearly a month ago. In that time the Labour Party has selected Keir Starmer as their new leader and the Tory Party leader, Boris Johnson has been unwell, went into Hospital and then left Downing Street to recuperate in Chequers. The number of people who have died from COVID19 within Hospitals has risen from less than 1,000 to more than 16,000. There has been a widely known chaos over the provision of the PPE and the numbers of people tested who may or may not have C-19 has arisen far slower than the Government promised and issues such as the lack of investment in the NHS by the Government and the need to offer citizenship to all NHS workers has been part of the daily claims. So there are plenty of reasons for some meaningful discussions by our Government and their opposition parties. So the way in which the Government and in particular the Labour Party respond now is vital given that many people in our nation are being very responsive to the call for lockdown, and that the NHS, Police and indeed many businesses, charities and public sector agencies are also continuing to act very responsibly in ways that would have been unexpected a few weeks ago. One of the very clear questions that must be addressed is why the 100,000 tests a day that Matthew Hancock claimed would be achieved by the end of this month, are still only at just over 20% of that figure when the month is at 60% of its completion. Other questions relating to the PPE provision and the supply of ventilators which have both seemed to have demonstrated problems in the short term and in the case of ventilators in the last three to four years need to be explained. Along with all of these elements the call by the leader of the Conservative Party to meet with the leaders of the other parties appears to have not happened due to Boris Johnsons illness when in fact there are many other people in his team who could have made that possible from within their party. We are also about to see the most dramatic change to Parliament in around 300 years outside of war years due to the need to reduce the numbers of people in the building. So the question is will today bring leadership or a lack of it?

About ianchisnall

I am passionate about the need for public policies to be made accessible to everyone, especially those who want to improve the wellbeing of their communities. I am particularly interested in issues related to crime and policing as well as health services and strategic planning.
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