David talks to Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government, about how well the Johnson government has performed over the past year of the pandemic. There have been some successes - the furlough scheme, vaccines - and plenty of failures - education policy, health outcomes. But which were the key choices? Who can claim the credit? And where does the blame really lie? Plus we discuss how much personality still matters in political decision-making.
Talking Points:
What has the government done well over the last year?
Vaccines have been heralded as a success story; can the government really claim credit?
What went the most wrong?
A case often made against this government is that one of their key problems is timing.
The government says it’s been following the science, but science is often uncertain too.
With coronavirus, Starmer opted for a politics of competence.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
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