Should the government be accountable for its coronavirus plans?


Let me try hard in this to say things that hopefully will be significant, and indeed thought-provoking, but that I hope people would not disagree with..
Just try reading these 8 headlines. If you agree with the headlines, then is that consistent with what you are posting or re-posting?
1, THIS TOPIC MATTERS
At least 26,000 people have died and many more will die. If there are better ways to handle the crisis then it is valid to consider them.
2. GOVERNMENT HAS A DUTY
The first duty of a Government is the safety and security of its citizens - it's not the duty of the citizens to look after the Government and keep it free from criticism.
3 THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A COUNTRY OF FREE SPEECH.
Banning some reputable journalists, or all journalists, has no place in a democracy. Other countries without free speech are available if that's what you are looking for.
4. DEBATE THE TOPIC, NOT THE PERSON.
"You're just saying that because you are" - pro-Tory, anti-Tory, pro- or anti-anything else .... is a waste of time. If you want to be heard, deal with the substance of the argument , not the person writing the post.
5, IT'S NOT UNPATRIOTIC TO CONSIDER THAT THIS TOPIC MATTERS
If I am concerned that i would like to see the lives of as many people as possible in my country preserved, that is not unpatriotic
Attacking someone as unpatriotic because you disagree with them is (as per previous point) a weak argument.
6 NONE OF US CAN SPEAK FOR THE COUNTRY.
Yes, this Government has plenty of supporters. There are also many who who question its approach. None of us - not me, not the BBC, not Lily of St Leonard's, not the Daily Mail or the Guardian has any business telling the rest of us what "the mood of the country" is, without data. That's an incredibly weak argument.
7. THE FUTURE MATTERS
"It seems that you didn't plan properly for X or for Y, bearing in mind evidence X1 and Y1, so will you plan properly for Z, and here are some possible improvements" is a call for improvement - a call to save lives.
It’s relevant to cite the track record when pointing out "could do better". That should be an encouragement to improve; every teacher does this with their pupils and the Government should not be exempt.
For example: Pushing the Government to plan for the exit of lockdown and to plan for the testing that could help and to be open about those plans is valid.
You may not agree that they should be doing that;ok, fine, make your case. But the topic should not be off-limits.
8. THE WAY TO AVOID REPETITIVE QUESTIONING IS TO ANSWER THE QUESTION.
If an interviewer persists in asking a question in a single interview, it is generally because the interviewee is avoiding answering. This can be irritating to watch and sometimes the interviewer needs to say "You still haven't answered the question, so I'll take that as a 'No'" and move on. But the better solution is for the interviewee to answer the question.
If the same question is asked at several briefings, it;s because the questioner, and probably readers,want to know the answer. There is a simple solution to this. Provide the requested information as standard as part of the briefing. If the journalist (for example) persists with the repeated question, it's then very straightforward to say "as covered in the briefing" and be respected for being well-prepared.
So it's probably clear that I oppose censorship. I am in favour of our media (the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, even if I disagree with them) being able to question our Government. Some of our newspapers practice poor journalism ; that's what can happen with a free Press. I'm not over-keen on the control of much of the Press by a few rich men. But you can't (or shouldn't) start saying you'll only take questions from people who agree with you.
If you agree with these 8 points, then I suggest you should disagree with the current social media campaign for censorship of the media
If you take a different view and you want to suppress the media (BBC, newspapers, journalists etc) , which of the statements 1 to 8 do you disagree with?

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