A Tory peer was unhappy that people are questioning the Covid-19 response – our 6 favourite takedowns
There’s been a lot of criticism of the way the UK government has handled the developing coronavirus crisis, some from unlikely quarters, such as the Sunday Times.
Former Conservative MP, now a member of the House of Lords, Gavin Barwell, wasn’t at all happy.
I despair at my timeline this morning. We are a few weeks in to a crisis that has months – possibly years – to run and people are already trying to conduct the inquiry that will come afterwards. Is it too much to ask that we focus on what to do now rather than who to blame?
— Gavin Barwell (@GavinBarwell) April 19, 2020
Writer, Dawn Foster, caught people up on Barwell’s track record, which shone a light on why he might not like scrutiny.
The former minister for housing then Downing St chief of staff during Grenfell has some opinions about when you should be allowed to criticise a government during a crisis https://t.co/iwXYFqnWJJ
— Dawn Foster (@DawnHFoster) April 19, 2020
Twitter wasn’t buying his line, and it was flooded with scathing reactions. These were our favourite takedowns.
1.
"We've only hit ourselves in the face with a hammer a few times & people are already complaining it hurts. We need to keep hitting ourselves in the face with a hammer rather than focussing on whose idea it was to hit ourselves in the face with a hammer." https://t.co/3lM4K4CiOp
— Nick Pettigrew (@Nick_Pettigrew) April 19, 2020
2.
It is deeply wrong for crew members to criticise the captain’s decision to keep the ship on course to hit the iceberg.
Their concerns should be aired in the appropriate forum, which is a public inquiry, to be held an appropriate time after the ship sinks. https://t.co/ymDOp5mINO
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) April 19, 2020
3.
My brakes failed and my car crashed, but this is not the time for an investigation, let's just get back in and rev it back up to 100mph
— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) April 19, 2020
4.
Is it too much to ask that we have a PM who:
Attends meetings?
Works weekends?
Protects the citizens of the country?
Skips free holidays during pandemics?If the answer to ANY of those questions is yes, we have an issue. If the answer to ALL of them is yes, we’re screwed
— Jim Cognito (@JimCognito2016) April 19, 2020
5.
Sort of like saying Government should have waited till after we lost the Second World War before removing Chamberlain… https://t.co/rcxwEvxiEJ
— Willshome 💚 Corbyn in my❤️ (@willshome) April 19, 2020
6.
ahh no mate, that sounds really tough! hope you're ok! mind you, you're probably feeling less despair than those who've lost loved ones because the government wasted 5 weeks twatting around when it could, and should, have been properly prepping the country for the incoming crisis https://t.co/FOzPAMpuVC
— Ben Smoke (@bencsmoke) April 19, 2020
Author Paul Bassett Davies had this summary of much of the pro-Johnson clamour, such as Barwell’s.
Please don’t try to politicise this political situation that’s being mismanaged by politicians.
— paul bassett davies (@thewritertype) April 12, 2020
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Source Gavin Barwell Image Guardian video