To those (few) who still think Johnson has done a reasonable jobm I came across this comparison with the Irish Republic.
We started the year with roughly the same number of ICU beds per capita
As of yesterday, there have been 320 deaths from the coronavirus in Ireland, and 9,875 deaths in the UK. But the UK has a bigger population. So we adjust per capita - how many deaths per 100,000?
Best thing
Ireland - 6.5 deaths per 100,000
UK - 14.8 deaths per 100,000
This is even worse if we compare just England with Ireland the rate is nearly three time the Irish.
So what happened?
Ireland closed down faster and the communication was clearer. Simple. While Boris was telling the British people to wash their hands, the Taoiseach was closing the schools. While Cheltenham was going ahead, Ireland had "cancelled" St Patrick's Day.
Ireland cancelled Paddy's Day on 9 March, initiating a series of rolling, controlled restrictions, from school closures & large group bans (12 March), to closure of non-essential businesses & social distancing, to full lockdown. It was precise, clearly communicated, controlled. The UK closed schools on 20 March, a full week after Ireland. Full lockdown came to the UK on 23 March. Ireland, from the same starting position effectively locked down two weeks earlier.
Johnson is culpable for a lot of our loved ones dying.
You can argue over whether it was calculated (herd immunity) or incompetence, but he must answer for this. So as we prepare for his return and the political posturings to divert our eyes from a simple truth, remember. IT DIDN'T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS.