Last Friday (March 13) five County Councillors wrote to all Devon MP’s urging the Government to bring forward social distancing measures to reduce the impact of the Coronavirus.

They were gravely concerned that the people of Devon are being excessively exposed to the threat of death through the coronavirus, because the Government was failing to introduce the social distancing measures needed to contain the epidemic.

The UK has fewer hospital beds, fewer Intensive Care Unit beds and fewer specialist respiratory beds than other European countries. In Devon we have more than our fair share of the elderly population who will be especially vulnerable to the epidemic.

They are all members of the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee, but their statement was issued in their personal capacities. They were:

Hilary Ackland (Exeter, Pinhoe and Mincinglake)
Marina Asvachin (Exeter, Wonford and St. Loyes)
Martin Shaw (Seaton and Colyton)
Nick Way (Crediton)
Claire Wright (Otter Valley)

Within the space of three days their intervention now looks prophetic as the Government, yesterday, changed course in the face of evidence emerging from Italy, effectively adopting this amongst other measures.

These five were doing their job, scrutinising Health and Well Being policies as they affect our lives locally on our behalves. Until now the Government has been following a strategy at odds with WHO advice and markedly different from the rest of the world. This has now changed as that strategy has been subject to expert scrutiny and in the face of reality.

Proper and fearless scrutiny is an entirely constructive process.

Although this group stressed they were acting in a personal capacity, Owl notices that not one of the majority Conservative members of the committee joined them.