England: The Failure of the Government Response to Covid-19
Introduction
Covid-19, the Coronavirus pandemic, was in 2020 believed to have been responsible for the global death toll of over half a million people.[1] Since that date, the death toll has only increased, and the UK, and, indeed other nations, have remained in various stages of lockdown, with continued restrictions placed on businesses and personal life.[2] The loss of life caused by Covid-19 has been as damaging to the lives of millions of people. It should be noted that the United Kingdom (UK) government has been heavily criticised for its delays in implementing lockdowns and containment regulations, which may have encouraged the spread of the virus.[3]
Legal Responses to Covid-19 in England and The United Kingdom
The approach of the English government to the threat of Covid-19 was extremely slow; other countries were implementing the closure of their borders, testing and contract tracing processes, lockdown and isolation regulations when England continued to merely discuss their potential.[4] When regulations were finally enacted, it is necessary to note the ways in which they differed across the United Kingdom (UK), with different regulations being implemented in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and which were sometimes the same as England and at others in contrast due to regional implementations which were dependent upon local infection rates. [5] However, regardless of the regional differences in regulations, travel restrictions between regions were imposed, imposing limitations on travel between areas, and requiring citizens to check local authority websites for regular updates on what was allowed throughout the lockdown periods. [6]
The UK was extremely slow in closing its borders to all non-residents.[7] It is arguable that this delay was partly motivated by concerns relating the financial impact of such closure on the country’s economy. The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, did in fact eventually close its borders in January 2021, implementing travel and border restrictions to the country, as well as quarantine and forced testing requirements.[8] It is notable that the UK only enacted these restrictions following the UK Home Affairs Committee’s admission in August 2020 that the government had in fact been severely erroneous in the approach it had taken to Coronavirus. In fact, the Home Affairs Committee noted that it should have enacted border restrictions earlier, referred to its prior policy as a “serious mistake” and in fact stated that it had “underestimated the threat of importing the virus from Europe as opposed to Asia”.[9]
It is however extremely interesting that a spokeswoman for the Home Office then directly contradicted the Home Affairs committee. She stated that the Home Affairs Committee had been “incorrect in their assertions” and insisted that the Home Offices decisions had throughout the entirety of the Coronavirus pandemic “been guided by the science, with appropriate measures introduced at the right time to keep us all safe.”[10] This contradiction is fascinating, given the way in which this discrepancy between the two statements indicates some infighting within the Government regarding the requirement for restrictions, as well as the desire on the part of the Home Office to save face in front of the public. In fact, it has been revealed that the UK closed its borders, almost one year after the severity and contagiousness of the virus became known and understood, only due to the pressure that the Prime Minister’s own cabinet placed upon him. [11] It is rather worrying that at the time of such a severe public health crisis, that caused the deaths of so many people, there was confusion, infighting and contradictions between the highest government ministers and governmental bodies at the highest level.
The UK imposed several lockdowns in the attempt to control Coronavirus. The country was opened up, then closed down again a number of times, due to changes in infection rates as well as the enactment of local lockdowns for various periods, on the basis of intensity. [12] It may be alleged, in fact, that in the earlier stages of the virus, the UK government placed economic concerns above public health. Indeed, it was only when it was obvious that restrictive measures could no longer be avoided that they were imposed. The American newspaper the New York Times published an article on precisely this issue, arguing that throughout the course of the pandemic, the UK government was concerned primarily with the shielding of its economy, “but not yet its people”.[13]
The political system of the UK and specifically its government have in fact been heavily criticised for its incompetence in this regard; commentators have referred specifically to the “lack of deliberation” of the government. [14] Mistakes have been pointed out in the failure of planning, as well as to consider appropriate anticipatory legislation in good time, as well as the complete lack of urgency with regard to the implementation of containment measures of the virus. [15] Indeed, it may be argued that this failure to plan then resulted in panic on the part of the government, with the key legislation, the Coronavirus Act 2020[16] having been rushed through Parliament in the course of merely four days. The Coronavirus Act implemented specific emergency powers which empowered authorities with certain measures, and which related to other powers which have been granted previously to public bodies such as the police and the National Health Service (NHS). [17] Another key statute, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020, enacted the legislation governing lockdowns, both national and regional. [18] The UK, therefore, was extremely slow to react to the threat of coronavirus and protect its citizens, as it was reluctant to impose measures impacting the economy. As a result, it spent the majority of 2020 imposing different lockdown measures across England, with regional bodies maintaining a certain level of independence over their regions, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland implementing separate measures and imposing different lockdown tier systems. [19]
Conclusion
The UK government in London was arguably ill-prepared in reacting to Coronavirus, and as a result it was late in imposing life-saving restrictive measures. However, the measures that it did impose were then also subject to criticism from human rights bodies, who rightly observed the problems in the governmental “relationship between advice and legislation”, as well as the subsequent heavy-handed interpretation of the legislation by the police and NHS. [20] Indeed, the UK government’s approach to the virus has been succinctly criticised as “gradualist, dependent on an ongoing combination of non-binding advice and legislative restrictions.” [21] The UK government, therefore, was simultaneously lax and then panicked in its approach to Coronavirus, and failed to prepare and then to properly examine legislation. It is hoped that lessons have been learned from these failures.
Bibliography
Statute
Coronavirus Act 2020
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020
References
Anderson, M.; Hollingsworth, T. D.; Baggaley, R. F.; Maddren, R.; Vegvari, C. “COVID-19 spread in the UK: the end of the beginning?” The Lancet, 29th August, 2020. Vol. 396, Issue 10251: P587-590
Balmford, B.; Annan, J.D.; Hargreaves, J.C.; Altoè, M. & Bateman, I.J. “Cross-Country Comparisons of Covid-19: Policy, Politics and the Price of Life” Environmental and Resource Economics (2020) Vol. 76:525–551
BBC News. “Covid: How are European countries tackling the pandemic?” 26th March 2021. Available at:< https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-53640249> Accessed 01/09//2021
BBC News. “Coronavirus: UK made serious mistake over border policy, say MPs”. 5th August 2020. Available at<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53654644> Accessed 09/01/2021
BBC News. “Lockdown rules: what are the restrictions in your local area?” 26th March 2021. Available at:< https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54373904> Accessed 09/01/2021
Crewe, I. and King, A. The Blunders of Our Governments (London, Oneworld, 2013)
Heffer, G. “Covid-19: Full UK border closure ‘considered’ by government, says Environment Secretary George Eustace.” Sky News. Available at:< https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-full-uk-border-closure-considered-by-government-says-environment-secretary-george-eustice-12195144> Accessed 09/01/2021
House of Commons Library. “Coronavirus: A History of UK Lockdown Laws” Briefing Paper. Number 9068, 3 December 2020.
International Monetary Fund. “Policy responses to Covid-19. United Kingdom.” Available at:< https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Policy-Responses-to-COVID-19#U> Accessed 01/09/2021
Institute for Government. “Coronavirus Act 2020”. Available at:< https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/coronavirus-act> Accessed 09/01/2021
Landler, M.; Castle, S. and Mueller, B. “U.K. Shields Its Economy from the Virus, but Not Yet Its People”. The New York Times. 4th December 2020. Available at: < https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/world/europe/economy-britain-coronavirus.html> Accessed 09/01/2021
Mazey, S. and Richardson, J. “Lesson‐Drawing from New Zealand and Covid‐19: The Need for Anticipatory Policy Making” The Political Quarterly (2020) 91(3):561-570
Stewart, H. and Walker, P. “UK shuts travel corridors and requires negative Covid tests to enter”. The Guardian, 15th January 2021. Available at: < https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/15/uk-closes-covid-travel- corridors-and-requires-foreign-arrivals-to-isolate> Accessed 09/01/2021
Stubbins Bates, E. “United Kingdom” in A Preliminary Human Rights Assessment of Legislative and Regulatory Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic across 11 Jurisdictions. Bonavero Report No.3/2020. 6th May 2020. (101-disorganisation.
[1] Balmford, B.; Annan, J.D.; Hargreaves, J.C.; Altoè, M. & Bateman, I.J. “Cross-Country Comparisons of Covid-19: Policy, Politics and the Price of Life” Environmental and Resource Economics (2020) Vol. 76:525–551 (525).
[2] BBC News. “Covid: How are European countries tackling the pandemic?” 26th March 2021. Available at:< https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-53640249> Accessed 01/09//2021
[3] Anderson, M.; Hollingsworth, T. D.; Baggaley, R. F.; Maddren, R.; Vegvari, C. “COVID-19 spread in the UK: the end of the beginning?” The Lancet, 29th August, 2020. Vol. 396, Issue 10251: P587-590
[4] Ibid.
[5] International Monetary Fund. “Policy responses to Covid-19. United Kingdom.” Available at:< https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Policy-Responses-to-COVID-19#U> Accessed 01/09/2021
[6] BBC News. “Lockdown rules: what are the restrictions in your local area?” 26th March 2021. Available at:< https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54373904> Accessed 09/01/2021
[7] Ibid.
[8] Stewart, H. and Walker, P. “UK shuts travel corridors and requires negative Covid tests to enter”. The Guardian, 15th January 2021. Available at: < https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/15/uk-closes-covid-travel-corridors-and-requires-foreign-arrivals-to-isolate> Accessed 09/01/2021
[9] BBC News. “Coronavirus: UK made serious mistake over border policy, say MPs”. 5th August 2020. Available at<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53654644> Accessed 09/01/2021
[10] Ibid.
[11] Heffer, G. “Covid-19: Full UK border closure ‘considered’ by government, says Environment Secretary George Eustace.” Sky News. Available at:< https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-full-uk-border-closure-considered-by-government-says-environment-secretary-george-eustice-12195144> Accessed 09/01/2021
[12] Ibid.
[13] Landler, M.; Castle, S. and Mueller, B. “U.K. Shields Its Economy from the Virus, but Not Yet Its People”. The New York Times. 4th December 2020. Available at: < https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/world/europe/economy-brit
ain-coronavirus.html> Accessed 09/01/2021
[14] Crewe, I. and King, A. The Blunders of Our Governments (London, Oneworld, 2013) ix.
[15] Mazey, S. and Richardson, J. “Lesson‐Drawing from New Zealand and Covid‐19: The Need for Anticipatory Policy Making” The Political Quarterly (2020) 91(3):561-570 (562).
[16] Coronavirus Act 2020
[17] Institute for Government. “Coronavirus Act 2020”. Available at:< https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/coronavirus-act> Accessed 09/01/2021
[18] The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020
[19] House of Commons Library. “Coronavirus: A History of UK Lockdown Laws” Briefing Paper. Number 9068, 3 December 2020. (5)
[20] Stubbins Bates, E. “United Kingdom” in A Preliminary Human Rights Assessment of Legislative and Regulatory Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic across 11 Jurisdictions. Bonavero Report No.3/2020. 6th May 2020. (101-111) (109).
[21] Ibid.