Failures of State

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]

Failures of State: The Inside Story of Britain's Battle with Coronavirus
Author
  • George Arbuthnott
  • Jonathan Calvert
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SubjectCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
GenreInvestigative journalism, non-fiction, politics
Published2021
PublisherMudlark/HarperCollins

Content

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

The book was acclaimed in The Guardian,[2] The Times,[1] The Scotsman[5] and The Observer.[3]

References
  1. 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. "Failures of State review – never forget the Johnson government's Covid disasters". the Guardian. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  3. "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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