#SackWhitty seems to be trending. It's time to remind you that Whitty has been both working on the wards and leading the UK science response alongside SAGE. It's not his fault that politicians have gotten in the way. Blaming him allows the government to get away with negligence

Like any healthcare professional, I have been quizzical over certain decisions, but I doubt that Whitty has been the problem. We are led by science, but politics delays the response. We should have locked down earlier, opened later, and been more restrictive.

The #eatouttohelpout campaign was a political exercise that led to disaster. The Tier system was recognised early as a bad idea. The push from scientists and medical teams has always been to lock down earlier, restrict more. This is not nice, but nescessary.

It has been Johnson and Co who have delayed everything, tried to have their cake and eat it, sold PPI contracts and track and trace to cronies and friends. It has been certain pundits and commentators that have denied the outbreaks and slowed responses and sowed doubt.

The government will look for a scapegoat, and now they don't have the EU they will blame the 'experts' as per the brexit scheme, no blame can reflect on themselves. Note how this works, if they can't blame Whitty they will blame immigrants and mental health.

Lord Sumption to a lady with stage 4 cancer:

'I didn't say your life was not valuable, I said it was less valuable.'

Let's really break this down and realise just how awful a statement it is and the repercussions it may

Firstly, it's more than worth saying it was an abhorrent and thoughtless comment devoid of empathy. No matter what utilitarian argument you may field, it cannot be made on a 1:1 basis, or on the inherent value of life. That is beyond any of us.

The secondary issue here, the primary being how this person now feels and will feel, is the impact it will have on those in similar positions and how the public may perceive this overall and in groups. This may be complicated.

A large public outcry built of empathy is inevitable, and I am doing the same here. It is callous and cruel. But the complexity of balancing resources is one where decisions made on population levels will inevitably leave deserving people left behind. I hate that.

Balancing a pandemic with urgent services was always going to be tricky. Both are urgent, both require resources, and the NHS has adapted as it can. The most urgent of non-covid cases are being dealt with as rapidly as possible, but we cannot say that everything will be caught.