The population density canard

One of the positive things to come out of the current crisis is how it is helping me trim my Christmas card list. Having re-read that sentence, I think I better emphasize that it has nothing to do with people I know dying, although it does have a lot to do with mortality rates, but is more to do with people finally coming to the fore and self-identifying as complete arses.
 
I really don't mind people holding different views from me on absolutely anything. (Isn’t that good of me?) It makes for good debate and good conversation – even when it gets heated. The problem I have is that when people parrot and regurgitate complete myth or bollocks, which has started to happen on a fairly regular basis now. Then, I find I can no longer ignore it or pass it off as someone just holding a “different opinion.”
 
The latest case in point: “Boris Johnson has done a fine job over Covid19; the UK is only so badly hit because of the population density of London. If it wasn’t for London, the UK would be OK.” 
 
I am not sure where to start with this. So I shall ignore the complete laughability of suggesting that Johnson has done a good job. (By any single metric that counts, he has done an appalling job, says he, ignoring the statement in the same way that Johnson has done a good job.) So I’ll deal with the good old population density bollocks.
 
Yes, London is a densely populated city. There are a lot of people living there. Yes, the population density in London has, I imagine, made the virus worse, as it would do in any city in which there are a large number of people living closely together. See? I try to be reasonable and accommodating, and to stick to facts. But, of course, when it comes to sticking to facts, this is where I tend to diverge from my interlocutor. 
 
London, you see, is really not the most densely populated city in Europe. It isn’t even in second or in third place. Here is a list of the cities in Europe that are more densely populated than London: Barcelona. Paris. Szczecin. Brussels. Athens. Stockholm. Sofia. Amsterdam. Berlin. Prague. Copenhagen. Naples. Lisbon. Geneva.
 
Then, in 15th place, comes London. The population density isn’t even close. Barcelona has a population density of 53,199 people per km sq. Then comes Paris with 52,218/km sq.; Szczecin with 32,752 etc. etc. until we come to London, which has 20,477/km sq.
 
In addition, there is a greater focus on family units being in very close proximity in some other European countries (such as Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece), which also increases the likelihood of transmission across family units there, a factor which London doesn’t really have. (I may be wrong on this, as I have no figures or proof about the family units other than my own anecdotal knowledge.)
 
The population density canard has only started to come into play among UK Conservatives and their media organs of late because the government is looking for ways to cover its arse.
 
It certainly didn’t seem to be an issue as late as March 19, when the government downgraded the seriousness of the threat of Covid19, stating: “Now that more is known about COVID-19, the public health bodies in the UK have … determined that several features have now changed; in particular, more information is available about mortality rates (low overall), and there is now greater clinical awareness and a specific and sensitive laboratory test, the availability of which continues to increase.”
 
It certainly didn’t seem to be a threat either when it came to not closing airports in London (or anywhere in the UK) or restricting flights to London; when it came to stopping sporting events (such as Cheltenham or the Champions League match at Anfield); when it came to having the Prime Minister’s father, in his capacity of unofficial government spokesperson – a sort of English Nigel Farage –, saying that people had to continue going to pubs, etc., etc., etc.
 
Significantly, it wasn’t a factor that increased risk when the government announced it was pursuing a herd immunity strategy. No, it is a canard, and a similar tactic to when the government used comparisons of UK death rates to those of other countries: i.e. the figures were used when the death rate was lower than in Spain and Italy and elsewhere; then comparisons stopped when Britain became the worst – and those still using the same method were openly criticized for being alarmist and negative.
 
So, if London has the 15th-highest population density in Europe, why are the figures for London not the 15th-worst in Europe?
 
The answer is simple. The shocking figures in the UK, more than 62,000 deaths according to the Financial Times, are down to the government not taking the crisis seriously.
 
The UK government, under the shambolically inept and confused leadership of its shambolically inept and confused Prime Minister and his shambolically inept and confused Cabinet, has made catastrophically wrong decisions from Day 1. It ignored its own advice that the UK was underprepared for a pandemic (from a 2016 pan-European review). It failed to stock up with PPE for its front-line medical staff (or indeed any medical staff). It demonized the NHS. It demonized foreign workers in the NHS because it was convenient for its flawed Brexit argument (see also its myth about British people being willing to work in the fields). It encouraged people to go about their daily business. The PM boasted about shaking hands with coronavirus patients in a hospital. The UK placed its equivalent of Heydrich – the eugenicist Dominic Cummings – on the SAGE committee, which deals with the Covid19 strategy. The PM refused to attend Cobra meetings dealing with the official response to the virus… oh, but you know all this. So I shall stop.
 
Where I find it is important to keep on repeating these facts is when the official responses start the Orwellian process of rewriting history. The population density theme is merely the latest in the line. It won’t be the last.
 
The Guardian article from May 6 shows how the world views the UK response; it’ll no doubt be a while before the British public gets an opportunity to pass judgement. The English may be easy to convince, but there seems little doubt that people in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and perhaps those in Wales too, have seen behind the curtain.