''Failures of State: The Inside Story of Britain's Battle with Coronavirus'' is a 2021 book by

George Arbuthnott George Arbuthnott is a British investigative journalist at '' The Sunday Times''. Arbuthnott read economics at Durham University (2005–2008) and completed a master's degree in investigative journalism at City, University of London (2008–2009) ...

and Jonathan Calvert about the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The book is adapted from Calvert and Arbuthnott's reporting on the pandemic for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

''. It focuses on responses of the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

and

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

to the onset of the pandemic. __TOC__

Content

''Failures of State'' covers the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and the British government's response from the onset of the pandemic in January 2020 to early 2021. It begins with the initial outbreak in mainland China, accusing the Chinese government of covering up the outbreak and also expresses support for the lab leak theory. It suggests that the British government underestimated the threat of the virus in early 2020, inadequately preparing and responding slowly to the outbreak, leading to shortages of PPE and linking the slow response to a high death toll compared to other nations. The book is particularly critical of the

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

of Prime Minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

during the crisis. This includes his non-attendance of five COBR briefings during early 2020, and suggests him and others in the government were preoccupied with

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...

in early 2020. It also explores the strain the pandemic had on the

and Britain's

health care system Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

. They also accuse the government of

disinformation Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate. The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the ...

in their response to the authors' reporting during the pandemic.

Reception

The book was acclaimed in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

,'' ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pa ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

''.

References

2021 non-fiction books Media depictions of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom Books about the COVID-19 pandemic Investigative journalism Works originally published in The Sunday Times British non-fiction books Books about politics of the United Kingdom {{COVID19-pandemic-stub