That sound you can hear is millions of people across the country switching off their track and trace app, as people woke to the news that Johnson and Sunak would not have to self isolate despite being pinged by the app.
This deadly virus takes many forms but it appears there is a new immunity developing amongst members of the Cabinet and allies of the prime minister.
Prime minister and chancellor self-isolating?
Both the prime minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak had been in contact with Sajid Javid, who tested positive for the virus. For the rest of us that would mean ten days isolating. But as if by magic both Johnson and Sunak were revealed to be participating in a daily contact testing pilot programme, to avoid having to self-isolate.
This was indeed a stroke of luck because, as government press releases have pointed out, the programme’s participants are chosen at random.
Claiming they were selected by random is not even plausible by any stretch of the imagination.
By 10am this morning the reaction from both the press and much of the nation was outrage. By 10.30am Johnson and Sunak had pulled out.
Habitual avoidance of self-isolation?
But this won’t go away. The one rule for them and one for the rest of us has already cut through. Indeed this is Barnard Castle revisited.
Gove is an abuser of the rules it seems. He chose to “opt in” to the pilot scheme after being pinged when returning from a jolly to Portugal.
As Mike Galsworthy said this morning:
“They tried to get away with it, then realised they couldn’t. What a paragon of irresponsible, weak and spineless leaders.”
It’s all too late for those businesses suffering because of staff shortages and the NHS on its knees due to frontline workers having to self isolate – and for those who have missed weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs and birthdays. The story is now that the two most important politicians in the country tried to dodge the rules they have imposed on the rest of us and only changed their minds because of public outrage.
A pattern of behaviour?
This has become a pattern of behaviour for senior government officials. Ever since Dominic Cummings’ ill-fated trip to Barnard Castle, many in government have been operating on a principle of “one rule for the public, another for us”.
There was outrage amongst parliamentary staff last week when it was announced they would have to continue to wear face masks whilst at work but MPs would not.
Ministers have also found it hard to remember what they were supposed to be doing or not doing. Take the example of hapless Robert Jenrick who was telling us all to stay at home whilst travelling over 40 miles to see his parents and journeying between London and his home in Herefordshire.
One could forgive a minister a slight transgression but this is serial behaviour by this government. It has shown a systemic lack of concern for the severity of covid, even after the prime minister was hospitalised with the virus. The only rules seem to be self interest.
Actions have consequences
It also demonstrates not just shows not just a wilful disregard of the rules, but also, little interest or understanding of the lives of the majority of people in this country. This is what you get for being so privileged – the life of the likes of Johnson and Sunak is so far removed from the rest of us there is no comprehension of the real world that the rest of us live in.
The actions of government leaders will impact bosses, who have been pressuring employees to delete the NHS app. They will send a signal to the 500,000 people told to isolate this week. If the prime minister and the chancellor, two men who could easily work from home, are trying to get around the system, why should any of us abide by it?
In the end will be the undoing of this administration. As the government declares “mission accomplished” on the pandemic, and hospitalisations reach levels not seen since early April, this contempt is not going to spell disaster, maybe not just for the UK, but on an international level.
