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Don't you know there's a bloody war on that or something like it?

Is how some react to the questions posed day after day by people like me?

Now they shout at the radio and television is not the time to bang on about testing targets

not met, protective equipment not delivered and Britain's place at or near the top of

the league table no one wants to win.

For the deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Not so argues my guest on this week's political thinking and it is nice to be back after our period of lockdown.

He argues that the idea you can strip politics out of medicine or out of health is historically ignorant.

He is Richard Horton, editor of the country's leading medical journal The Lancet for a quarter of a century

during which time he's been accused of maybe is proud of what's called headline chasing.

If when there is an inquiry into the UK's handling of this crisis into what he calls the national scandal involving in his words corrupted scientists and full blown government misconduct

he'll be able to say I told you so. Welcome to political thinking Richard Horton.

Very nice to be here Nick. Thank you for inviting me.

We will talk at some length about your views of what has gone wrong.

But just begin by answering that question if you like from the listener who shouts at the radio.

Why start a public inquiry at least in effect when we're still at war? Why hold an inquest before the operation is even complete?

To the lives of people who died it's the number has now took over 30,000 higher that figure is almost certainly an underestimate.

We owe it to them who understand what's gone wrong what we can learn and this pandemic is not over yet.

So we have to learn lessons if there's a second wave and the lessons that we learn in our country are relevant to other countries that are still to hit their peak.

So I think it's our duty to investigate what went wrong and that process begins now.

Some argue and this is the parallel if you like with war that it's demoralizing and you don't want to demoralize people who are tired and exhausted and under huge pressure to take decisions.

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