"Boris Johnson is a man out of his depth," says caller
22 July 2020, 15:39 | Updated: 22 July 2020, 15:45
"Boris Johnson is a man out of his depth," says caller
"Boris Johnson is a man out of his depth and I don't think anyone who's followed his career would be surprised," this caller told Shelagh Fogarty.
Caller Richard branded the Chancellor Rishi Sunak's performance during the coronavirus crisis "good" when compared to the Prime Minister and Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
"Our expectations are so low that Sunak looks great but I don't think he's been outstanding," he said.
"Anybody who's followed the Prime Minister's career must have known what was going to happen when he got into power. Even he must have enough self-awareness to realise he's out of his depth.
"That's what he looks like to me, he looks like a man who doesn't know what he's doing and that's why he's tanking and laughing," he continued.
Shelagh asked if the caller's expectations on tackling coronavirus were low from the start.
"I didn't expect a lot to be honest, I think to deal with a crisis of this magnitude requires an international mindset, it requires calm thought, it requires experience, and it requires decision making which is based on as much evidence as possible but also that you've got a clear direction of travel.
"I don't think our Government had any of those things," Richard said, citing the scientists and military speakers who flanked politicians during the daily briefings as "calm, medical and thoughtful" unlike the Government.
"I don't think if you studied the careers of our Cabinet, I don't think anybody would be surprised."
Shelagh commented that while the data about all coronavirus deaths has not been fully conflated, the Chief Scientific Officer has said "we have not done well."
Richard replied, "I'm not trying to take a political point, I'm talking about the individuals involved. They're not leaders and they've had a very difficult job to do and they've failed at it.
"I'm not expecting miracles from people in a worldwide pandemic but I am expecting calm and methodical leadership and that's not there."
