![]() At around 6.00pm, Monday, two hours before 10 Downing St. announced that Boris Johnson had been transferred to intensive care, I said to my wife, “Boris is a lot worse than they’re letting on, but they’re not admitting it.” The conclusion arose after listening to the 5.00pm daily Downing St. coronavirus press “briefing” led by Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab. He had been asked by The Sun political editor, Tom Newton Dunn (The Sun may not be your cup of Horlicks but Newton Dunn is an impressive journalist with terrific sources) whether Raab had spoken to Johnson “by text or telephone” that Monday. Without answering the specific question, Raab wittered on about Johnson continuing to be “kept abreast of all relevant developments”. In an earlier response to BBC political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, Raab stated that the PM “is being regularly updated and is still in charge of the Government”. The fact that the briefing is now conducted remotely for social distancing purposes means that journalists have less opportunity to pursue their queries. The questions moved on until Raab came to “Anna in the Telegraph” (whom I assume was Anna Mikhailova, deputy political editor). Again, The Daily Telegraph may not be to one’s liking but in a superb piece of “dog with a bone” journalism, the reporter specifically referred back to Newton Dunn’s earlier query as to whether Raab had spoken to the PM that day. The Foreign Secretary had to admit that he had last spoken to Johnson on Saturday. Bombshell. ------ If a Government cannot be trusted about the state of the leader of the country during a national crisis, then how seriously can people take its other statements including the importance of staying at home, two metre social distancing or other potentially lifesaving public health announcements? --------- Remember, Raab had chaired the Downing St. coronavirus war cabinet meeting that day. If Johnson was being kept fully informed and still in charge of the fight against Covid, surely Raab would have been in contact to report on progress? One did not need to be a Dr Anthony Fauci (and who would want to be?) to realise that the PM was not nearly as “in good spirits” as Downing St. spin wanted us to believe. One’s thoughts are with Johnson’s fiancée and family and sincerely hopes that Boris Johnson recovers fully. One appreciates doctor-patient confidentiality in terms of specific details but Downing St.’s deliberate attempt to mislead the public and media about his overall condition is particularly dangerous at this time. If a Government cannot be trusted about the state of the leader of the country during a national crisis, then how seriously can people take its other statements including the importance of staying at home, two metre social distancing or other potentially lifesaving public health announcements? With the exception of a wobble last week on the PPE consignment from China, our own Government plus CMO, Dr Tony Holohan, have played a blinder. Messaging in general seems to be transparent and honest. The wobble occurred when the HSE appeared to be trying to gloss over the percentage of the Chinese PPE shipment which was unfit for purpose. The Sunday Business Post, deputy editor, Susan Mitchell (surely a candidate for an award for her Covid reporting when we get back to such fripperies?) revealed that – HSE we have a problem. Lack of transparency is a mistake. Don’t treat the public as idiots. It is aware that Ireland, a tiny country, is competing against powerful, rich nations for scarce PPE resources. It would have accepted that 30% of the shipment was Christmas cracker quality but that efforts were being made to resolve the situation with the Chinese Ambassador and supplier. And speaking of the need for transparency, Dunnes Stores did itself no favours when according to The Irish Times it did not respond to Conor Pope’s request (The Irish Times, Monday, April 6th) to outline what actions it was taking to protect staff and shoppers from the virus. Musgrave (parent of SuperValu and Centra), Tesco, Aldi and Lidl all responded fully with details of its precautions. At a time when people are afraid to visit supermarkets, Dunnes’ reported failure to do so and its traditional disdain for PR is not good enough in the current environment. Speaking of Tom Newton Dunn, it’s worth repeating his tweet from Monday. “Thus ends another extraordinary, harrowing and difficult day in journalism. All of us working on newspapers at the moment are doing our level best to provide trusted information about the #covid19 crisis. Please support our industry and #buyapaper.” And remember, you can have your paper delivered. |
A blog about PR, football and politicsRonnie has been watching the Irish soccer team since he was a kid and caught two buses in to Dalymount Park. He believes that a) politics today is mostly about PR and b) Irish and UK politics is far more entertaining than Ireland under Trapattoni or Martin O'Neill.
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