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The abdication of leadership
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The loser tendency
The United Nations: what moral authority?
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Monday, July 20, 2009

Mixed messages on Swine Flu

It is obvious to everyone by now (except the national press) that Swine Flu and the Black Death are not the same thing. The vast majority of people who contract this illness suffer only mild symptoms. Swine Flu may well be worse than normal flu, but it's not worse by several orders of magnitude.

Nevertheless there is legitimate cause for public concern on the issue of the Swine Flu pandemic. People want and need clear advice and a straightforward view from the authorities on what exactly the situation is. In the circumstances we need calm, reassuring and authoritative leadership and communication from the government.

Until we get that, we will have to make do with Andy Burnham.

Mr Burnham seems like a nice man but his media performances are frequently woeful. Today's interview on the Radio 4 Today programme was a case in point. When asked whether parents should change their behaviour to avoid certain situations, Mr Burnham suddenly and unexpectedly eschewed the New Labour vision of the Nanny State. People should be free to choose, he said. Let them make up their own minds.

Well, fair enough. But sometimes people need advice and information. What they don't need is a government minister giving the impression on the radio that he actually doesn't have an informed view on the matter, and, by implication, that the government doesn;t know what it is doing in relation to the pandemic.

This impression is regrettable from the government's point of view, not least because the Swine Flu pandemic is virtually the only issue within its sphere of influence which it has not completely botched. Government preparations have been, in the main, good. In the main, arguments over the handling of the issue from the opposition have been quibbling (which is not to say that there may not be battles to come, for example over the testing of the forthcoming vaccine). So it is a shame that one of the few areas in which the government can take some pride in its performance has been marred by poor communication. Andy Burnham should smarten up his act or send someone else to speak for him on the radio.

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Mixed messages on Swine Flu