The dreaded scenes from Leicester this week demonstrate the poverty of information that Brighton and Hove, like areas around the country, has been getting from Conservative ministers, despite claims that councils have been provided with detailed data.
It’s absolutely appalling that it has taken the deaths of thousands of people for more information to be shared.
Green councillors have joined the call from public health officials for government to rethink its centralised approach, after the failure of the test and trace app costing taxpayers £12 million.
The uneven growth of the pandemic in different areas proves we need a local system of testing, contact tracing and quarantine more than ever.
This would enable Brighton and Hove to control the deadly coronavirus neighbourhood by neighbourhood, save lives and avoid further lockdown.
With years of experience of track and trace from food poisoning, council environmental health teams have the skills to take the reins.
Communities can have confidence that councils will safeguard the public’s interests – not those of shareholders.
Needless to say a poll this week indicates the public has negligible confidence in the private sector outsourcing of contact tracing.
The UK is one of the most top down countries in terms of democracy: with a government that looks on with suspicion on local areas seeking to determine their own affairs.
But Brighton and Hove deserves to see the full picture because each and every stage of the pandemic so far has been handled disastrously by ministers.
The overall trajectory may be downwards but the pandemic is sadly very far from effectively suppressed.
And having seen how poorly wave one has been handled by the Brexiteer buffoons, we can’t afford wave two.
Figures published from the World Health Organisation this week affirm that the UK not only has highest number of deaths but the highest number of excess deaths per 100,000 people.
The scandal is that six whole months after warning = and three months after the UK government abandoned mass testing and contact tracing – Johnson and Hancock still haven’t introduced a test, trace, isolate system to help cities like ours effectively suppress covid-19.
Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty is the convenor of the opposition Green group on Brighton and Hove City Council.
You tell them Phelim,I am sure that they will be keeping their distance in the Pubs and bars of the City.
All we get from all Political Parties are Statistics,well you know what they say about them.How could anyone know that 15m pints were sold yesterday?
Thank you Phelimn for this cogent, well-informed and powerful piece of writing. I absolutely reject the idea that all political parties are the same – they clearly are not – and the sooner we can get rid of the present incompetent, dishonest, self-serving Conservative government the better it will be for all of us.
You and your fellow marxists are the reason why your negativities are alienating voters.Nobody watches news on the BBC anymore.The Guardian’s readership is in decline.Voters have had enough of the looney left.All they do is moan ,moan .I know they are all frustrated because the majority of voters wont listen to them anymore.Lets have positive news from now on.