The WIJ Project Community felt pretty strongly about the dramatic speech and subsequent confusion from the PM’s Sunday statement.
Since then, the government has frantically moved to clarify their position. Multiple hours in the Chamber for the PM and later, the Chancellor, as well as a Downing Street Briefing and things, seem to be somewhat more decided.
With all of that, here’s a selection of our contributor’s thoughts after the dust has settled.
Some were still confused and concerned about the situation:
Lucy Williamson — While the government can’t be expected to know everything and the public must use their best judgement, the least they could do is get their story straight.
I watched two interviews with Dominic Raab today in both of which he gave conflicting advice. Some of this advice also contradicted Boris’ previous statements! At a time when clarity and leadership are needed most, this almost seems like deliberate vagueness to pass the burden on to the British public.
In contrast, Nicola Sturgeon’s press conferences have been clear, transparent and informed. She even made the effort to thank Scotland’s children and young people saying ‘You’re doing brilliantly‘.
A little affinity goes a long way.
Charlotte Colombo — People shouldn’t have to scour through a 50-page document to make sense of what was said last night, and people shouldn’t be made to go to work with 12 hours notice. Why are devolved measures different? Why were there no discussions of these measures in the Commons prior to the broadcast yesterday? Clearly, that broadcast has simply led to more questions than answers.
Cerys Turner — It was helpful to have the disaster that was Boris’ Sunday speech illuminated. However, the new measures aren’t particularly logical – why can you go to work if necessary but only see 1 person outside of your household? With no clear procedure for safely returning to work, I’m unsure how successful the next stage will be.
There was praise for Labour Leader, Keir Starmer’s response:
Elle Woods-Marshall — The BBC breakdown was more informative than the PM’s answers by explaining the 8 documents for work environments, clarifying the one-person rule and emphasising that these measures are solely for England. The PM failed to give clear answers.
The excellent questions from the media and public were tactically dodged by repeating the same statements. Keir Starmer hit the nail on the head, we need reassurance and direction, yet again we didn’t get that.
Orla McAndrew — I’m still so confused, there isn’t one place where you can go to get the information. Keir Starmer was the only politician who made sense today, what he said was logical and made me feel reassured.
There were some more positive thoughts directed at Rishi Sunak’s extension of the government’s furlough scheme.
Lauren Mcgaun — Obviously the economic impact is very damaging but that is the same across all countries in reality. I think on the whole this is a very positive move by the government because it allows companies to gradually bring back workers more slowly. For example, my stepdad works on a factory but is on furlough. This could stop him from becoming redundant as the factory currently has no orders.
Amy Holliday — It’s reassuring to see that the government are still committed to doing the ‘right thing’. This extension will enable a more staggered return to work which will protect the health of workers in the long run whilst still ensuring that this doesn’t damage them as much as it could financially. It’s also interesting that Sunak has started to think about offsetting long term national economic damage by suggesting that certain companies will be asked to ‘start sharing’ the cost of this scheme from August.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments down below!
And anyway, regardless of what we think, these measures are here to stay for the time being. Conveniently, so is the WIJ Project – get involved with #thecovidiaries and share your experiences with us!
Alexa Rendell
Featured image courtesy of Sandie Clarke on Unsplash. This image has in no way been altered. Image license is available here.