The UK government’s response to the coronavirus once again highlights the contrasts between Britain and continental Europe. Johnson adopts a utilitarian approach. He makes an attempt at an overall assessment of where the majoritarian best interests lie and opts for a light touch response to the pandemic sweeping across the globe. The leaders of the rest of Europe do not weigh up the situation. They recognise the crisis and adopt comprehensive measures to mitigate it.
The responses to the coronavirus sum up the differences in approach to human rights. Worryingly, Johnson’s tactics reveal that he does not believe in human rights. Rather than prioritise the lives of the vulnerable, he prefers a strategy aimed at safeguarding short-term economic considerations. For him the right to life is just one factor to be taken into account in responding to the medical emergency. Merkel, Macron and Italy’s Conte on the other hand put human rights first. The right to health for everyone is prioritised. The ultimate distinction between the two responses is that European public policy is rooted in the right to human dignity. If Johnson’s reaction is anything to go by, respect for dignity is not a priority for the British.
Johnson approaches the pandemic as something “to take on the chin.” That idea that multiple deaths, which could be avoided by a lockdown, are to be borne with apparent equanimity is completely at odds with the notion of the right to human dignity. Human dignity represents the guiding principle of post-war European human rights. In this context it requires each human life to be cherished, preserved and valued to the extent that this is possible.
