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New article: "COVID-19 and the Failure of the Neoliberal Regulatory State"
My take on the West's (esp. UK's) failed response to #COVID19, coauthored with @ShaharHameiri, forthcoming in @RIPEJournal.
Free pre-print version here: http://www.leejones.tk/papers/COVID19.pdf
Summary
1/21
My take on the West's (esp. UK's) failed response to #COVID19, coauthored with @ShaharHameiri, forthcoming in @RIPEJournal.
Free pre-print version here: http://www.leejones.tk/papers/COVID19.pdf
Summary
1/21
Our paper builds on an early piece I coauthored w/ @McCormack_Tara for @tfbrexit.
As before I argue Britain's poor response to COVID-19 reflects not simply Tory incompetence or bad leadership, but rather deep transformations in Britain's state.
https://www.thefullbrexit.com/covid19-state-failure
2/21
As before I argue Britain's poor response to COVID-19 reflects not simply Tory incompetence or bad leadership, but rather deep transformations in Britain's state.
https://www.thefullbrexit.com/covid19-state-failure
2/21
We foreground the transformation of government into governance and the rise of the "regulatory state". This involves:
- de-democratisation of the state to make it less responsive to public demands
- fragmentation and decentralisation of public authority and resources...
3/21
- de-democratisation of the state to make it less responsive to public demands
- fragmentation and decentralisation of public authority and resources...
3/21
contd/
- central state's retreat from planning and execution to a commissioning and regulating role, overseeing a complex host of arms-length bodies, quangos, outsourced companies, etc
4/21
- central state's retreat from planning and execution to a commissioning and regulating role, overseeing a complex host of arms-length bodies, quangos, outsourced companies, etc
4/21
We show how Britain's pandemic preparedness system reflected regulatory statehood:
- no real democratic involvement --> allowed for up to 315,000 excess deaths. Proved politically unsustainable
- no meaningful state capacity developed, just central "guidance" to others...
5/21
- no real democratic involvement --> allowed for up to 315,000 excess deaths. Proved politically unsustainable
- no meaningful state capacity developed, just central "guidance" to others...
5/21
contd/
- fragmented and under-resourced health agencies failed to prepare adequately
- NHS outsourcing exacerbated weaknesses, with even pandemic PPE stockpiles outsourced to incompetent private firms
6/21
- fragmented and under-resourced health agencies failed to prepare adequately
- NHS outsourcing exacerbated weaknesses, with even pandemic PPE stockpiles outsourced to incompetent private firms
6/21
Weaknesses in Britain's preparedness were known by 2016. Exercise Cygnus tested them & found them "not sufficient to cope with the extreme demands of a severe pandemic". Health systems overwhelmed, patients dumped in care homes, desperate reliance on military.
7/21
7/21
Despite all this, Britain was ranked (with US!) best prepared to cope w/ pandemic in 2019. Why? Because technocratic benchmarking exercises look at the bureaucratic garbage generated by regulatory statehood, not real state capacities.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/11/countries-preparedness-pandemics
8/21
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/11/countries-preparedness-pandemics
8/21
Thus, when pandemic hit, govt wasn't caught by surprise. It followed its flawed plans:
- initially, "business as usual" prioritised
- relied on NHS "surge" planning. Discharging older patients w/ COVID into care homes was part of this -- NOT an unfortunate accident...
9/21
- initially, "business as usual" prioritised
- relied on NHS "surge" planning. Discharging older patients w/ COVID into care homes was part of this -- NOT an unfortunate accident...
9/21
contd/
- testing abandoned 12 March as system could only process 5 tests p/w
- 45% of outsourced PPE stockpile was out of date & key stock (ventilators, gowns etc) was missing; occupational exposure to COVID --> 8,152 cases & 126 deaths among health/social care workers
10/21
- testing abandoned 12 March as system could only process 5 tests p/w
- 45% of outsourced PPE stockpile was out of date & key stock (ventilators, gowns etc) was missing; occupational exposure to COVID --> 8,152 cases & 126 deaths among health/social care workers
10/21
Swift failure of regulatory arrangements + public panic/ outcry led existing plans to be abandoned for emergency lockdown - for which no planning/ preparation existed. From then on, the govt has been making it up as it goes along.
11/21
11/21
Reflecting the hollowing out of the British state, govt attempts to create new capacity to deal w/ COVID-19 relied heavily on the failed/ predatory outsourcing firms that had often helped to generate state failure in the first place.
12/21
12/21
E.g.
- food parcel deliveries outsourced to private companies that delivered inadequate/ "barely edible" food
- "ventilator challenge" led by private consultancy delivered just 4% of target
...
13/21
- food parcel deliveries outsourced to private companies that delivered inadequate/ "barely edible" food
- "ventilator challenge" led by private consultancy delivered just 4% of target
...
13/21
- "parallel supply chain" for PPE developed by Deloitte, which had overseen disastrous outsourcing of NHS supply chain.
- 23% of PPE procurement went to outsourced suppliers who'd initially failed to deliver
- cost from Feb-Jul 2020 alone = £12.5bn, x5 2019 prices...
14/21
- 23% of PPE procurement went to outsourced suppliers who'd initially failed to deliver
- cost from Feb-Jul 2020 alone = £12.5bn, x5 2019 prices...
14/21
contd/
- NHS Test & Trace cost £22bn, dominated again by Deloitte consultants
- outsourced lighthouse laboratories lost tests, delivered false results
- outsourcing firms guilty of defrauding govt, e.g. Serco, got contracts for call centres
15/21
- NHS Test & Trace cost £22bn, dominated again by Deloitte consultants
- outsourced lighthouse laboratories lost tests, delivered false results
- outsourcing firms guilty of defrauding govt, e.g. Serco, got contracts for call centres
15/21
COVID-19 has been a bonanza for the corporate interests sucking at the teats of the hollowed-out state. Over half of contracts (£10.5bn) awarded w/o competitive tender. Firms recommended by Lords/ MPs had 10x higher chance of winning contract.
16/21
16/21
Just one contract for private firm Randox (consultant: Tory MP Owen Paterson) exceeded the entire Public Health England budget for disease control: £133m versus £86.9m. (Bonus: Randox screwed up test results then was rewarded w/ a contract extension worth another £377m).
17/21
17/21
We compare Britain's shambolic experience with South Korea, which has performed much better.
SK has moved away from a "developmental state" to more neoliberal, regulatory one. But not entirely. And the process was reversed with respect to healthcare after MERS epidemic.
18/21
SK has moved away from a "developmental state" to more neoliberal, regulatory one. But not entirely. And the process was reversed with respect to healthcare after MERS epidemic.
18/21
Consequently South Korea has coped much better:
- it had built real state capacities for infection surveillance and control, not just issued guidelines and plans
- govt could instruct businesses to undertake public interest tasks e.g. sourcing PPE supplies
...
19/21
- it had built real state capacities for infection surveillance and control, not just issued guidelines and plans
- govt could instruct businesses to undertake public interest tasks e.g. sourcing PPE supplies
...
19/21
contd/
- govt investment in biotech --> ample domestic PPE production; invention of rapid testing kits; domestic treatment and vaccine development
- no need for full-scale lockdowns
20/21
- govt investment in biotech --> ample domestic PPE production; invention of rapid testing kits; domestic treatment and vaccine development
- no need for full-scale lockdowns
20/21
