The NHS and a nation on its knees

On this week’s Second Serve, Europe Correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age Bevan Shields shares his experience of catching the coronavirus in Britain, and we take a look at the missteps that led to the UK having one of the world’s highest death tolls with Elizabeth Ames.

From flirting with the idea of herd immunity to confused and confusing messaging, coupled with one of the world’s highest infection and death rates, Boris Johnson’s UK Government has struggled to get on top of the coronavirus crisis. This week we welcome back Elizabeth Ames to talk about a British response that has been far from great, and Europe correspondent Bevan Shields tells about his own experience of the virus. The panel also takes a look at why the government has stopped doing international infection comparisons, how British attitudes towards the lockdown have been out of step with government advice, and the worries about how the National Health Service could be impacted beyond COVID-19.

Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

Bevan Shields is Europe Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He was previously Federal Editor and Canberra Bureau Chief.

Elizabeth Ames is an international trade policy expert. She is the National Director of the Britain Australia Society and an international trade policy expert with a strong background in senior business and financial advisory. She is also Trustee of the Menzies Australia Institute at King’s College London.

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.

This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University.

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