Plenty of us have been saying for years that austerity is an unnecessary, ideologically driven, con that is costing lives and will cost more lives in the future.
You can’t cut services to maximum efficiency and expect them to be fit for purpose in a crisis. You can’t ignore crisis preparation for years and then be shocked you aren’t ready when a crisis hits.
I’ve read that Times article now. If half of it is true then it shows just how much of a shower this lot are.