Britain’s battle with the coronavirus crisis

With overwhelmed hospitals, limited testing and a staggering death rate, and a prime minister in intensive care, how will Britain turn its coronavirus curve? In this Second Serve Mark Kenny talks to UK-based experts Sophia Gaston and Elizabeth Ames.

After four years of a divisive and damaging debate around Brexit, Britain has now been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. So with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in intensive care, Dominic Raab deputising in the role, a large number of senior government staff taken ill, and a new opposition leader, Sir Keir Starmer, what’s in store for the UK? In this Democracy Sausage Second Serve Professor Mark Kenny talks to two leading experts about the UK’s crisis curve, challenges at the heart of government, and the ‘constructive bi-partisanship’ of the new Labour leadership.

Professor Mark Kenny is a Senior Fellow in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

Sophia Gaston is Director of the British Foreign Policy Group, an independent think tank focusing on advancing knowledge and debate around Britain’s international affairs. She is also a Research Fellow in the Institute for Global Affairs at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an Academic Fellow at the European Policy Centre in Brussels.

Elizabeth Ames is an international trade policy expert. She is the National Director of the Britain Australia Society and an international trade policy expert with a strong background in senior business and financial advisory. She specialises in working with companies with exposure across multiple markets and has previously supported the expansion of several large European companies into Australia. She is also Trustee of the Menzies Australia Institute at King's College London.

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