Does Anybody Know What's Going On?
The polymath Thomas YOUNG (1773-1829) has been described as
the ‘last man to know everything’. The
message being that after his time there was too much knowledge for one person
to hold in their brain. While reading
about him my thoughts wandered to the current pandemic and the UK
response. Until a couple of months ago I
thought that I was up to date with government guidance and with the
Regulations made under various pieces of legislation (I was kidding myself of
course). Now I doubt that anybody has a
grip on what the rules, regulations, guidance and advice are on this subject.
There is just too much.
A quick search on Legislation.gov.uk returns over 450 pieces
of legislation. Much of this is of a
highly technical nature but even the ‘mainstream’ legislation runs to scores of
items. This is legislation, guidance and
advice is another matter. The helpful
weekly summary produced by the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency
Management (ICPEM) now runs to 15 A4 pages.
On top of this pile of well meaning documents are the daily press
releases from government that seem intent on putting the best possible
interpretation of every twist and turn in this difficult situation. This unbridled optimism makes cynics like me
uncomfortable – even though I recognise the benefits of a positive approach. I
accept that this is in part a personal flaw rather than an indicator of any
attempt to deceive.
An ordinary citizen cannot be expected to be aware of
anything other the most general headlines.
The problem is such headlines are transitory. Guidance, regulation and advice has become a
mush that squelches around social media
leaving people with the idea that everything is a matter of interpretation and
that all opinions are equally valid. This
situation is a gift to the world of conspiracy theories, misinformation and
pure nonsense.
Of course it is not just the volume of information that is
the problem; it is also how it is framed
and explained. Alas, some of it is
beyond explanation. In saying this I am
thinking particularly of the ridiculous position we are in regarding the
different regulations regarding international travel and self isolation. The delegation of ‘Health’ to the nations of
the UK (except of course there is no delegation to England) was never intended
to create the position we find ourselves in, with different regulations
covering each part of the UK. Health is
largely a domestic matter but this is not so when there is a pandemic. Viruses do not respect the accidental borders
of the UK. The idea that two people
getting off the same aeroplane have to behave differently if they are domiciled,
or are visiting, different sides of these invisible borders is a nonsense. Even leaving aside the issue of non
enforcement, it creates a situation where the public hold the law in
contempt. This is rarely a good thing
and is a sure recipe for a decline in public confidence. This is not a discussion about sovereignty. If England, Wales and Scotland were
independent of each other it would still make sense for there to be a unified
response within the same island. The health of the union, or at least of the
people in it, requires that these matters should be subjected to the overall
duty of the UK Government to manage international relations.
As the lessons from the management of the pandemic are
assessed there will much to be learned about how regulation, advice and
guidance are prepared and communicated. Emergency legislation and communicating
with public are areas that must be blessed with proper emergency planning, carried
out with the support of emergency planning professionals. It’s not an easy thing to do, but who said
governing was easy?
Philip Trendall
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