Failures of State

2021 book about the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

Failures of State: The Inside Story of Britain's Battle with Coronavirus

* [[George+Arbuthnott]]
* Jonathan+Calvert

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Author|

* George Arbuthnott
* Jonathan Calvert

Language| English
Subject| COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
Genre| Investigative journalism, non-fiction, politics
Published| 2021
Publisher| Mudlark/HarperCollins
Publication place| United Kingdom

Failures of State: The Inside Story of Britain's Battle with Coronavirus is a 2021 book by George Arbuthnott and Jonathan Calvert about the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The book is adapted from Calvert and Arbuthnott's reporting on the pandemic for The Sunday Times. It focuses on responses of the British government and National Health Service to the onset of the pandemic.[1][2]

## Content

[edit]

Failures of State covers the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and the British government's response from the onset of the pandemic in January 2020 to early 2021. It begins with the initial outbreak in mainland China, accusing the Chinese government of covering up the outbreak and also expresses support for the lab leak theory. It suggests that the British government underestimated the threat of the virus in early 2020, inadequately preparing and responding slowly to the outbreak, leading to shortages of PPE and linking the slow response to a high death toll compared to other nations. The book is particularly critical of the leadership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the crisis. This includes his non-attendance of five COBR briefings during early 2020, and suggests him and others in the government were preoccupied with Brexit in early 2020. It also explores the strain the pandemic had on the National Health Service and Britain's health care system. They also accuse the government of disinformation in their response to the authors' reporting during the pandemic.[3][4]

## Reception

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Jonathon Freedland in The Guardian described the book as a "damning assessment" of the government's handling of the pandemic and "this is the book to throw at those who were meant to protect the British public and failed in their duty".[2] Christina Patterson in The Times described it as "a gripping, devastating read" and "a piece of first-class investigative journalism", although noting at times "the tone falters".[1] In The Scotsman, Elsa Maishman commended the author's journalism and research, concluding "It isn’t a book to be read peacefully before bedtime, but it is not one to be missed".[5] Former health secretary Alan Johnson also reviewed Failures of State for The Observer.'s book of the week.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Patterson, Christina. "Failures of State by Jonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnott, review — was Boris Johnson to blame for the Covid shambles". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
2. ^ a b "Failures of State review – never forget the Johnson government's Covid disasters". the Guardian. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
3. ^ a b "Failures of State by Jonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnott review – how Britain became 'Plague Island'". the Guardian. 14 March 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
4. ^ "Failures of State review – never forget the Johnson government's Covid disasters". the Guardian. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
5. ^ "Book review: Failures of State, by Jonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnott". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 3 October 2021.

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* e

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories

* History
* Statistics
* Timeline
* 2020
* January–June
* July–December
* 2021
* January–June
* July–December
* 2022
* January–June
* July–December
* 2023
* 2024

Locations|

| United Kingdom|

* England
* London
* Northern Ireland
* Scotland
* Wales

|

Crown Dependencies|

* Guernsey
* Isle of Man
* Jersey

Overseas Territories|

* Akrotiri and Dhekelia
* Anguilla
* Bermuda
* British Indian Ocean Territory
* British Virgin Islands
* Cayman Islands
* Falkland Islands
* Gibraltar
* Montserrat
* Pitcairn Islands
* Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
* Turks and Caicos Islands

Impact|

* Economy
* Cost-of-living crisis
* Education
* Exam grading controversy

| Society|

* Clap for Our Carers
* Protests
* Thank You NHS
* The 2.6 Challenge
* National Day of Reflection

|

Politics|

* Beergate
* COVID Recovery Group
* Dominic Cummings scandal
* Greensill scandal
* Impact on Brexit
* Northern Research Group
* Partygate
* Privileges Committee investigation
* Public inquiry
* Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry
* Virtual House of Commons

Science
and
healthcare|

* Antiviral Taskforce
* Cancer Monitoring Project
* COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium
* COVID Symptom Study
* COVID passports
* RECOVERY Trial
* PANORAMIC trial

| Temporary hospitals|

* England
* Birmingham
* Harrogate
* London
* Manchester
* Washington
* Glasgow
* Cardiff
* Gibraltar
* Jersey

|

Testing programme|

* NHS COVID-19 app
* NHS Test and Trace (England)
* Test, Trace, Protect (Wales)
* Operation Moonshot
* Test to Release
* UK Rapid Test Consortium

Vaccination programme|

* Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
* European Commission–AstraZeneca dispute
* Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre
* Taskforce
* Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment

Legislation|

| Current|

* Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984
* 2020 budget
* Contingencies Fund Act 2020
* Contingencies Fund Act 2021
* Coronavirus mini-budget
* Winter Economy Plan
* Stamp Duty Land Tax (Temporary Relief) Act 2020
* Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020
* Business and Planning Act 2020
* Nightingale Court
* Culture Recovery Fund
* 2021 budget

Revoked|

* Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020
* Health Protection (Coronavirus, Business Closure) (England) Regulations 2020
* Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020
* COVID-19 local lockdown regulations in England
* First COVID-19 tier regulations in England
* Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020
* Coronavirus, Restrictions (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020
* Coronavirus, International Travel (England) Regulations 2020
* Face Coverings on Public Transport (England) Regulations 2020
* Face Coverings in a Relevant Place (England) Regulations 2020
* Coronavirus, Restrictions (Steps) (England) Regulations 2021
* Coronavirus, Restrictions (Local Authority Enforcement...) (England) Regulations 2020
* Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 3) Regulations 2020
* Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation) (England) Regulations 2020
* Coronavirus, International Travel and Operator Liability (England) Regulations 2021
* Coronavirus Act 2020

Expired
or spent|

* Coronavirus, Restrictions (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020
* Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings) (England) Regulations 2021
* Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Entry to Venues and Events) (England) Regulations 2021
* Coronavirus, Restrictions (All Tiers and Self-Isolation) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

Responses|

| Government|

* Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
* Contract controversies
* Lockdown
* Eat Out to Help Out
* Global Travel Taskforce
* National Tutoring Programme
* Pick for Britain
* Project Birch
* Can you look them in the eyes?
* Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery (Scotland)
* Pre-pandemic exercises
* Exercise Cygnus
* Coughs and sneezes spread diseases
* Catch It, Bin It, Kill It

|

Military|

* United Kingdom
* Overseas territories

Timelines|

* England
* January–June 2020
* July–December 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* Northern Ireland
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* Scotland
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* Wales
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022

Advisory
bodies|

* Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team
* Independent SAGE
* Joint Biosecurity Centre
* Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
* New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group
* Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies

Key people|

* Kevin Fenton
* Neil Ferguson
* Matt Hancock
* Dido Harding
* Jenny Harries
* Sajid Javid
* Boris Johnson
* Wei Shen Lim
* Phil Prosser
* June Raine
* Rishi Sunak
* Maggie Throup
* Patrick Vallance
* Jonathan Van-Tam
* Chris Whitty
* Nadhim Zahawi

| England|

* Stephen Powis
* Amanda Pritchard
* Simon Stevens

|

Northern Ireland|

* Arlene Foster
* Paul Givan
* Charlotte McArdle
* Michael McBride
* Michelle O'Neill
* Robin Swann

Scotland|

* Catherine Calderwood
* Joe FitzPatrick
* Jeane Freeman
* Jason Leitch
* Gregor Smith
* Devi Sridhar
* Nicola Sturgeon
* John Swinney
* Humza Yousaf

Wales|

* Frank Atherton
* Mark Drakeford
* Vaughan Gething
* Eluned Morgan

Media
depictions|

* "Can You Hear Me" (Doctors)
* Casualty (series 35)
* Emergency State
* Failures of State
* Grayson's Art Club
* Help
* Hold Still: A Portrait of Our Nation in 2020
* Isolation Stories
* Locked Down
* Lockdown Files
* Pandemic Diaries
* Partygate
* Preventable
* Staged
* This England

See also|

* Captain Tom Moore
* Coronavirus Tech Handbook
* COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice
* Death of Belly Mujinga
* EveryDoctor
* Notable deaths
* London Blossom Garden
* Lineage B.1.1.7
* National Covid Memorial Wall

COVID-19 portal

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