(London) “An incompetent government that is putting citizens’ health at risk”. Interviewed by SIR news agency, Clifford Longley, Editorial Consultant at the Catholic weekly “The Tablet” and former religious correspondent for “The Times” and “The Daily Telegraph”, commented on the worsening of the pandemic in the UK where nearly ten million people are in local lockdown across the country and, according to the Health Minister Matt Hancock, another national lockdown might be imposed in mid-October. “It is unforgivable that the government did nothing in the summer to prepare for the inevitable rise in the number of cases in the autumn following the reopening of schools and the economy”, Longley explained. “The test and trace system is ‘on the verge of collapse’ because the excellent labs and trace systems that are already present locally are sidelined by the government in favour of private companies that are managed by individuals who are friends with the British ministers. Local authorities have great experience in this field because they are already successfully dealing with other infections, but since the times of Margaret Thatcher, the Conservatives do not trust local public health services and prefer private partners that are utterly incompetent. They do not like the democratic checks that exist in the public sector. It is a rather corrupt system”. According to Longley, schools will remain open in October as their closure inflicts massive damage, but key sectors of the economy such as shops, pubs and restaurants will be forced to close again.