COVID: Is does make a difference who you vote for
There is historical symmetry in Richard J Evans reviewing a new book by Niall Ferguson (New Statesman)on disasters in the week that Dominic Cummings gave evidence to a Commons Committee on COVID-19. Both Cummings and Ferguson were taught history by the late Norman Stone while Evans was rightly and appropriately critical of him.
Ferguson was by no means an uncritical fan of Trump but Evans is right to call him out when he gives the former President a free pass on his own handling of COVID-19. He argues that it does make a difference who is in charge of Government and Biden is clearly doing better at grappling with the pandemic.
That said Evans wrote in the New Statesman that he couldnt vote Labour in December 2019 and had concerns about Jeremy Corbyn. That de facto meant an acceptance of Johnson in Downing St. As his hosting of one of Europe’s leading anti-semites Orban at No.10 underlined not voting Labour was not the answer to concerns on the matter. Who can doubt that if Corbyn and not Johnson had been in charge in 2020 fewer would now be dead and suffering long term ill-health.
Histories of the present don’t come more important than that.
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