Communications in crisis: the politics of information-sharing in the UK’s Covid-19 response

In this short contribution, we reflect briefly on how a informational vision of emergency response has been undermined within the UK response to Covid-19. We argue that the re-emergence of command-and-control approaches to emergency governance has marginalized the role of local responders and undermined the effectiveness of the UK’s Covid-19 response. Our analysis is informed by interviews we have conducted with 41 emergency response professionals involved in the UK Covid-19 response between August and December 2020. A concluding section will reflect on the implications of this analysis for emergency policy and understandings of neoliberal resilience and security.