A thread about some of the worst takes on Covid, from UK pundits.

Herd immunity is the strategy: https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1238030855584526336
It's vital to stop Coronavirus: https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1238038497052762113
But wait - maybe herd immunity isn't such a good idea after all? https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1243081185485557761
If only somebody could have foreseen: https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1251633885252902914
Oh, wait - they did: https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1251633883650678786
Thankfully, the government eschewed the populist measures, of trying to stop people catching Covid. https://twitter.com/BethRigby/status/1238258292167761921
Nobody wants to be populist, like Italy, and impose a lockdown. https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1236739529303830530
The PM was ignoring public opinion, and listening to experts. https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1238155947526283265
Experts who thought we didn't need to act decisively. https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1238573667002523648
Along with experts who thought we should carry on as normal: https://twitter.com/10DowningStreet/status/1237760980450451456
And they were scientists - not people with humanities degrees: https://twitter.com/JenWilliamsMEN/status/1238460251508297733
Let alone hipsters: https://twitter.com/ayeshahazarika/status/1238460692614844416
Or Daves from Wigan: https://twitter.com/haveigotnews/status/1238435204160684034
There's always one person who insists on being different, of course.

Naturally, the responses in the thread under that tweet are a haven of critical thought. https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1239257257466122247
But what is herd immunity?

A helpful explainer: https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1238788830389510144
Just in case that's not clear enough: https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1238384706984579072
Oh wait. https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1242023901808525312
Up until that point, the government were hamstrung by their own simple love of freedom. https://twitter.com/jimwaterson/status/1241307428693643266
Better late than never, I suppose.

And besides, who could have predicted where ignoring a pandemic might lead? https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1245107871362224132
Alright, well, people did predict it. https://twitter.com/amateuradam/status/1236733713129639940
But in a way, can it not be said that the government are blameless, and we, the people, are really at fault? https://twitter.com/Freedland/status/1241705298668240896
Surprisingly, it also transpired that chronic underfunding of the health service wasn't such a good idea, after all. https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1241135446756921346
There was no shortage of rigorous journalism, however, to ensure that the government would be held to account: https://twitter.com/JenWilliamsMEN/status/1238181488971206657
Completely missed it: https://twitter.com/KevinASchofield/status/1244186031752175616
Even though he tweeted about watching it: https://twitter.com/KevinASchofield/status/1238497938617307136
I, too, would only wish to be kept alive as long as nobody says anything good about Cuba. https://twitter.com/jamesrbuk/status/1242011143499059201
Yes, it was undoubtedly Johnson being too liberal, rather than too incompetent, which was at issue here. https://twitter.com/youngvulgarian/status/1241776147744141318
Still, even if journalists were unwilling to be critical of the government, at least Opposition MPs were robust: https://twitter.com/LucyMPowell/status/1239125208742662145
A government MP, fearlessly holding the Opposition to account: https://twitter.com/JEGullis/status/1239298847999954945
On the one hand: https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1237015466754916358
On the other: https://twitter.com/dpjhodges/status/1248239870478344192?lang=en
If memory serves, this had been posted in response to Matt Hancock giving a GMB interview, and blaming doctors/nurses for their own shortages of PPE. https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1242008040146157568
The real heroes of the Covid crisis?

Doctors ❌
Nurses ❌
Carers ❌
Retail staff ❌
Journalists ✅ https://twitter.com/fleetstreetfox/status/1248883484807942144
Multiply it by 10, and it would still fall short. https://twitter.com/FraserNelson/status/1243266492063461376
People who suggested this assessment might be wide of the mark were 'whitesplaining'. https://twitter.com/sunny_hundal/status/1238799198293803010
NHS staff were asking for PPE, an end to the ongoing pay-freeze, and where applicable, not to be deported; but okay. https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1256205212248870913
The Daily Mail - caring about some students, slightly more than others: https://twitter.com/ianvisits/status/1261189008358625286
The last thing anyone wants is the government being held to account, for leaving thousands of people to die needlessly.

I mean, suggest there's room for improvement, sure - but let's not go too far. https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1247565360431280140
Sadness in his eyes: https://twitter.com/KayBurley/status/1254714254638399488
That wasn't even the most gauche bit of sycophancy: https://twitter.com/MattChorley/status/1254687034381344769
Various people claiming they couldn't comprehend why the government-supporting media were not highlighting the death-toll.

I don't understand. https://twitter.com/jamesrbuk/status/1248713400588304384
I don't understand. https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1248878684670431232
I cannot understand. https://twitter.com/Sathnam/status/1248645532488216576
Difficult to understand. https://twitter.com/IanDunt/status/1248507528322977792
You can still go to the park. https://twitter.com/10DowningStreet/status/1246779210410143746
Don't go to the park.

(These were posted the same day). https://twitter.com/10DowningStreet/status/1246807303975620609
That worked out well.

Thank goodness there's simply no downside to uncritically-regurgitated press briefings. https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1237066180126486529
I'm going to leave this overlong thread there.

But it's maybe worth bearing in mind how the relationship between journalists and politicians played out, in the midst of a pandemic. And whether lives might have been lost avoidably, in consequence.
Bloody Corbyn - trying to keep people alive, the bastard. https://twitter.com/mattchorley/status/1238436625782276097?lang=en
Thank goodness journalists worked tirelessly to hold the worried public, and a critical opposition, to account.

People not abiding by confusing, contradictory, and badly publicised instructions? The electorate must resign at once.
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