It is difficult to disagree with your recent editorial which said that if Labour allowed "things to revert to normal or near normal" it would be "disastrous" (Star,29/03/20). Allowing business and finance to control the economy again cannot be allowed, and the new Labour leader`s first job must be to deliver this message in the most stringent way.
What is needed too is for involvement with the government in policies for the current crisis, but there is a major danger in getting too close. With the government`s policy coming under incresed attack for the lack of both testing and adequate personal protection equipment, it is understandable why many "senior Conservatives" are seeing the need for "a national unity government" : the unpreparedness of the NHS caused by a deliberate and unnecessary decade of callous austerity policies, resulting in underfunding and understaffing, will sadly lead to hundreds of preventable deaths, responsibility for which the Tory party will be keen to share with the Opposition. Further inevitable problems involving the police and prisons will have their origins in austerity, too, while job-cutting at HMRC and DWP will cause delays in getting much-needed benefits to laid-off workers and the self-employed. By "dragging Labour in", blame can be shared!
Of course, Labour cannot be seen to shirk away from sharing some responsibility for decision-making, but any form of "Covid coalition" must be resisted. At the vey least, the new leader should issue a firm statement on the effects of the Tory austerity measures on the crisis, and how Johnson`s mistakes and miscommunications have left the nation dangerously exposed, before showing a willingness to guide decision making!
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