In the UK, the number of victims of COVID-19 continues to increase. As of April 10, more than 8.9 thousand deaths were recorded in the United Kingdom. According to the British Ministry of Health, the majority of those who died from pneumonia caused by a new type of coronavirus lived in London and in the Midlands region.
The number of infected people is also growing: over 70 thousand cases of infection have already been recorded. For this indicator, the United Kingdom ranks seventh in the world.
The hospital is still the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was hospitalized on April 5. Four days later, he was transferred from intensive care to a regular ward.
However, despite the difficult situation with the spread of coronavirus in the country, most of the leading media in the United Kingdom do not try to analyze the policy of the government of the country and find out the reasons for the large-scale rampant of the epidemic, Pavel Feldman, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, said in an interview with RT.
“The British authorities approached the problem of coronavirus as“ true liberals ”- they transferred all responsibility for the situation to citizens. And almost all British media did not seem to pay attention to this. Johnson’s government was criticized, but very carefully, mostly talking about the local problems of doctors and entrepreneurs, ”Feldman said.
The expert believes that the roots of the problems that the United Kingdom is facing now should be sought in the deep crisis that the country's political system is experiencing.
According to him, the British elite showed their unwillingness to take decisive and timely measures to stop the threat. At the same time, the flagships of British journalism actually "showed solidarity" with the authorities, the expert argues.
For example, the BBC news feed is still filled with messages about various symbolic public actions (for example, mass applause), the purpose of which is to inspire doctors to fight the infection. Also in the media there are often materials about the problems of small businesses and medical personnel, experiencing a lack of personal protective equipment.
In turn, the UK government rejects any claims of inefficiency. So, at a press briefing on April 10, British Minister of Health Matt Hancock said that the agency is able to provide health workers with everything necessary.
Pavel Feldman believes that the authorities of the United Kingdom are trying to stop even a slight negativity in their address. One of the most important tools for such a policy is the Air Force (which receives funding from the British budget).
According to the expert, in the UK “freedom of the media exists in a conditional format”, which boils down to the fact that almost all major media in one way or another are guided by the editorial policy of the Air Force, “which, in turn, implements the government’s information line.”
Belated measures
Recall, the explosive increase in the number of cases in the United Kingdom began in the last decade of March. Since then, British experts have increasingly been making disappointing forecasts for mortality from coronavirus: according to some estimates, it can reach 250 thousand people if the authorities and society do not take "drastic measures" that can last "weeks and months." There are more negative scenarios.
For example, the British tabloid The Sun, citing a document compiled by the National Security Information Support Group, claims that up to 80% of the population can be infected with the coronavirus and die up to half a million people. However, the Ministry of Health does not believe that events will develop according to this scenario.
The United Kingdom has been in quarantine for the past three weeks. Citizens are asked not to leave their homes. It is allowed to go outside only to purchase food and medicine, travel to work, solitary (family) physical exercises in the fresh air (allowed once a day), as well as in case of medical need.
In the UK, almost all crowded places are closed, including restaurants, pubs, grocery stores, libraries, educational and religious institutions. The police received the right to fine violators of restrictive measures.
At the same time, experts call the short-sighted policy of the authorities and Boris Johnson personally the main reason for the explosive spread of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom, who underestimated the danger of the coronavirus threat and did not take timely measures to stop it.
So, speaking in mid-March at a press conference on infection control measures, Johnson suggested developing “collective immunity,” that is, allowing most of the country's population to get sick.
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
- Reuters
- © Pippa Fowles / 10 Downing Street
Also, the British government, unlike other European countries, including the Russian Federation, has been slow to close the borders and impose restrictive measures on the movement of citizens, analysts say.
“In February and March, when other states began to prepare to counter the coronavirus, the British authorities pretended that nothing terrible was happening, moreover, they convinced society of this,” Feldman said.
According to him, later the Johnson government rethought the situation, but the quarantine regime and other emergency measures were belated. A similar point of view is held by political analyst Alexander Asafov. In an interview with RT, he emphasized that the entire government should bear the full responsibility for the risk that the British are now exposed to.
“The situation in Britain with the coronavirus is close to catastrophic. Yes, now it is very difficult for all countries, but because of the frivolity of its own authorities, the United Kingdom has missed too much time. And the fact that Johnson himself was in intensive care, although it causes sympathy, does not relieve him of responsibility for what is happening, ”Asafov said.
“Informal arrangement”
Meanwhile, the British media refrain from harsh criticism of the British government, although they do not hide the many problems that the country has encountered.
Experts attribute this to an “informal agreement” between the UK leadership and the media: critical opinions of the British authorities are deliberately limited to support his already weak image. Another goal of this “deal” is to prevent a deep political crisis in the state against the background of the difficult situation with COVID-19, political scientists say.
So, on April 1, The Times wrote that the management of medical institutions threatens with dismissal to British doctors who disseminate information on the lack of protective equipment in social networks. In this regard, 10 thousand employees of the healthcare system sent an open letter to Johnson with a request to understand the situation.
“In our unit there are patients with confirmed COVID-19. I worked all weekend. We have only plastic aprons, gloves and surgical masks. Each healthcare provider has one common protective screen for placement on six patients. No medical gowns, ”the newspaper quotes one of the consultants from Gloucestershire.
At the same time, the article states that the UK government and health officials deny the claims of clinic workers. The authorities insist that they provide an adequate supply of nursing personnel.
Another April 3 issue of The Times talks about the difficult situation facing UK small businesses because of an outbreak of coronavirus. According to forecasts, almost every fifth company may go broke in April. The author of the article delicately notes that the “extensive” government assistance program is insufficient, but there is no further criticism in the material.
At the same time, a number of British media in the midst of the epidemic continue aggressive political rhetoric with regard to Russia, China and Iran. So, on April 8, The Telegraph website published an article by columnist Kon Coughlin stating that the "opponents" of the United Kingdom are trying to undermine the government’s efforts to combat coronavirus.
The journalist writes that ill-wishers exploit the current vulnerability of the UK by posting fake news and misinformation on the causes of the pandemic on social networks. In particular, the dissemination of false information allegedly led to the damage of at least 20 5G communication towers: some Britons believed that these telecommunication infrastructure objects contribute to the infection of the population of COVID-19.
- Masked britain rides a bicycle
- Reuters
- © Kevin Coombs
"Trying to divert attention"
Quite sharp criticism of the kingdom government could be found in the materials of The Guardian. However, even there, the thesis about the responsibility of the current cabinet of ministers rarely slips.
Experts believe that the “informal agreement” between the authorities and the media to limit criticism is gradually going beyond reasonable limits and does not fit into generally accepted journalism standards that traditionally promote the flagships of British media.
“To some extent, one can understand the reluctance of the British media to arrange deserved hurricane criticism of the government in such a difficult period. However, the UK media is too obviously trying to divert attention from internal problems. Very quickly they returned to aggressive propaganda, again blaming Russia and China for the troubles of Great Britain, ”argues Alexander Asafov.
Pavel Feldman believes that the crisis of the British media is related to the specifics of the political system of Great Britain. It is common for the UK leadership to use “informal administrative technologies” to set the media agenda in the absence of real levers of influence on the country's internal problems.
“The image of the British media has long been thoroughly undermined, the heyday of the past remained in the last century. In terms of freedom of speech and impartiality to the British media, too many claims have accumulated. “They have long moved away from the habit of bringing alternative views, speaking up from independent positions and acting not to please the mainstream that the Air Force is asking,” said Feldman.