The UK has the highest relative number of excess deaths due to COVID-19 in the world. This is down to the incompetence of the Tory government, who have put profits before lives.
The UK currently holds the grim record of the country with the highest ratio of ‘excess deaths’ per million as a result of the pandemic. This refers to the number of all registered deaths in excess of the five year average for the same time of year.
In terms of the absolute numbers of excess deaths, the UK is second only to the USA – where the population is almost five times larger! Despite this appalling record, Boris Johnson and his government of gangsters are proudly declaring their “success” in tackling the crisis.
Success
The reasons that the UK has topped the charts are clear to see: decades of attacks to the NHS, years of austerity, and the criminal lack of preparation for the crisis by the Tory government. At root, these measures were all taken to bolster the profits of the rich, whilst thousands have been left to die. This is the reality of the Tories’ so-called “success”.
Mass underreporting and outright lies have been the norm in recent months, with official figures staggeringly misrepresenting reality.
A recent analysis by the Financial Times estimates that the number of excess deaths in the UK is now above 62,000. At the same time, the official number of deaths reported by the Department of Health and Social Care was just 37,000. This is more than 25,000 deaths that the Tory government is attempting to hide!
UK excess deaths during pandemic reach 62,000 https://t.co/vxdM5JL9bQ via @financialtimes
— Chris Giles (@ChrisGiles_) June 2, 2020
Lies
At first, this apparent magic trick was achieved through deaths in care homes and own homes being swept under the carpet. Under pressure, the government was eventually forced to review its reporting practices. However, even official figures are still criminally far from accurate.
Make no mistake, these are not accidental errors. The Tory government has been exposed as scandalously unfit for purpose by this crisis. They are trying to hide their failures behind a thick fog of lies. How else will they be able to justify the early easing of the lockdown – risking lives to make profit – at a time in which an estimated 5,000 new infections occur daily?
Statistics will always be artificially skewed to the interests of the capitalists’ profit, as long as these practices are dictated by a cast of unaccountable politicians and bureaucrats. But the reality of excess deaths in this pandemic cannot be ignored.
The labour movement must expose these lies and the class interests that are behind them. NHS and care home workers must be in charge of the reporting!
Only then can the workers themselves in each industry democratically decide when it is safe to return to work – based on the facts – not the profit-driven lies of the Tories.
