No government could have done a better job than this one – Bernard Ingham

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I whisper it softly every time the daily death toll is announced.

Sadly, old folks’ homes are particularly vulnerable. Once the virus gets into them, it exacts a heavy toll, as we are seeing.

Worse still, these homes have a poor public image, thanks to too many cases of abuse of vulnerable residents and the fees charged.

They are by no means all bad. I certainly have no complaints from second-hand experience of them. Moreover, my late next door neighbour, 
a Dunkirk veteran, had to go into one at 99.

Under their tender loving care, he put on half a stone and gave us a 20-minute recollection of his life at his 100th birthday party.

The fact remains that the sector has neglected its PR – its public image – and is not helped by the unfortunate failure effectively to integrate old folks’ care with the NHS. Remedying this must be on the Government post-crisis agenda.

Meanwhile, the Government is conducting probably the most difficult post-war PR campaign over when to ease self-isolation and get the economy moving again.

Its every waking moment must be fraught with concern for the economic cost of the pandemic. The pressure to ease up must be painful.

Unlike some know-alls – politicians, pundits and professional prats – pontificating about the need for a plan, timetable and certainty, I do not in the least criticise it for its caution, unlike some European countries, when there is no prospect of early vaccination to protect the population.

Lives hang on its very decision. It is not merely a political or PR problem but a moral dilemma – the greatest confronting our Government since the Second World War.

In all humility, I doubt whether any government I served in my 24 years 
in the Civil Service would have done better.

We would all like to see our lives unlocked. But what worries me about any unwinding is how big business – overpaid fat cats, captains of industry, assorted tycoons and money-bags – will perform when the Government says “Let’s go – steadily”.

They do not inspire me with confidence when only about a third of them are reported to have shown any community interest in foregoing pay, perks and bonuses.

So far, the majority seem to have justified my old claim that they were ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s best recruiting sergeants.

I formed a poor impression of them in the service of Margaret Thatcher when, with ludicrous illogicality, they simultaneously demanded tax cuts and every “incentive” known to capitalism.

It is difficult to condemn them for their greed when you look at footballers’ salaries. Some are reputed to be earning £500,000 a week, or £26m a year.

Half that amount does not seem to be unusual. Yet we have witnessed an unseemly argument over economies when families and myself – admittedly with vastly lower outgoings – manage reasonably well on a mere two per 
cent a month of their cosseted weekly existence.

I fear my general impression of football management is, if anything, worse than that of selfish fat cats since their industry floats on silly TV money and they dismissed soccer hooliganism in the 1980s as society’s problem, not theirs.

By now you may well feel that I have ditched my New Year’s resolution to be cheerful for misgivings.

But top management – like soccer bosses – have grossly neglected their PR – their public image.

They have much to do to repair it.

It is argued that the animal spirits of the entrepreneurial class will soon get us out of trouble, if not quickly repair our ravaged national wealth.

If they have the sense they were born with, the responsible element among them will recognise that the public do not necessarily think we are “all in this together” and demand from their colleagues a major effort, with a minimum of squealing, to make up for lost time and resources.

Given their salaries etc, they should 
not need reminding of their responsibilities – to the public, their employees, their customers and to society which keeps them so well upholstered.

They had better start earning their keep and willingly pay taxes as soon as the Government gives the word “go”, however conditional.

With privilege comes responsibility and with responsibility comes respect. Our industrial leaders could do with more of the latter.

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