Amid the current Covid-19 pandemic, organisation and clarity are king. Populist leaders' desire to tell their followers what they want to hear can be disastrous - and the consequences are immediately apparent. 

Populism is when one parent tells a child to eat her vegetables and do her homework, and the other parent says, ‘stuff that, just each chocolate and watch TV.’ The first parent argues that you should eat plenty of fruit and veg, and schoolwork is important for your future. The other parent says, ‘oh come on, you can’t believe everything so called experts say, school clearly doesn’t work because not everyone who went to school is successful in life, and look at those three famous millionaires who left school at 14.’

For a child, it’s tempting to go with the parent who says it’s ok to eat chocolate and stay up late watching TV. That parent will be popular right now, and will keep saying what the child wants to hear to retain that popularity. However, many years later, unemployed and riddled with diabetes, the former child will look back and realise it was the other parent who was right, and had her interests at heart all along.