Even the most ardent supporter of the current government would probably be struggling right now to provide a positive appraisal of the government's performance throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
At best, it has been misguided and miscommunicated – too late to lockdown, too vague on what that means. At worst it has been dangerous, with far too many dead. Care homes have suffered in the effort to clear the decks and protect the NHS – the most vulnerable to COVID-19 have seemingly been exposed.
Running throughout the stories in The MJ this week – and every week since the pandemic started – is a clear theme: Tackling the coronavirus crisis has been hampered by a ‘central government knows best' approach.
From shielding to PPE purchasing and distribution, from tracking and tracing to harnessing volunteers, central government, although notoriously bad at direct services, has assumed no one is better placed to deliver than Whitehall – or perhaps the NHS at a push.
Over and over again, the government has reinvented the wheel, creating makeshift systems that would work far better at a local level – and then they have failed to communicate, to pass on information and to trust councils to deliver. Centralism has prevailed over common sense.
Money is no object when it comes to protecting the NHS, providing Whitehall with resources, even bankrolling business with the furlough scheme – all of which are extraordinarily important and worthy of funding. But when it comes to financially supporting councils to protect their residents and communities, house the homeless and shore up plummeting tax income, a deep mistrust of local government returns.
We are just two months into a crisis that is set to reverberate on the country – and the economy – for years to come. As the initial emergency eases, lockdown lifts and we start to rebuild, there is an opportunity to dump the centralist approach and start to think about collaboration.
Getting people back out into their communities, onto high streets and back to work will happen at a local level. Rebuilding the economy will need to be done in our cities and towns.
Now could be the chance for central government to let go of the levers, work with local government and rebuild from the bottom up.
