Now those who enabled Boris knew exactly what he was and is
So I hoped beyond hope
That they would provide some check to him
Yes - that Michael Gove, Sajid Javid, Liz Truss and so many other cabinet ministers
Would provide some semblance of check on Boris Johnson
They didn't
And that to me is even more damning upon them
Perhaps that explains the ferocity and desperation that lies behind their actions
As so many MP's turn into shopping channels as they promote local businesses
Or as a Home Secretary wants to talk about being "ahead of the curve"
So coronavirus
It has been a terrible year
The death toll from covid
Long covid
The impact to normal health provision
The impact to people's livelihoods
The impact to children's education
The impact to mental health, loneliness, domestic violence
Now I would like to think that my government (at all levels from local to Scottish to Westminster) have all been doing their best
I only ask that they do their best
There always will be surprises
if you make mistakes, admit & learn from them
Why is making a mistake viewed as a bad thing?
It is a positive
Being able to admit you made a mistake, that you have learned from it and can correct your plan/path to address it
Is a positive
Sadly the UK
Lost in the madness of brexit
(sorry) I said I wasn't going to mention it
But it is madness
A government and party are EXPLOITING a pandemic to hide brexit within
Imagine being so shameless you are doing that
So our responses to coronavirus and where we are at as we approach the end of 2020
We are all tired
We are all angry
We are all affected emotionally or financially by the crisis
(unless you have a government minister on speed dial and won a government contract)
I would quote Maya Angelou here in conversation with Dave Chapelle when faced with the crisis of America and a period of racial tension and assassinations
In the UK - a reminder
Yesterday - the daily death toll 691
The death toll
So far 68,307
So you can take your righteous anger at the year that has been 2020
But as Maya suggests
Channel it
Do not let it consume you
Now I have been accused of being a heartless person because I suggested a lock down was necessary in response to a certain individual who was championing his anger at lockdowns
I hate coronavirus
I hate what IT HAS MADE US DO TO OURSELVES
It is not a culture war
Covid doesn't give a shit what we believe about our political approach to dealing with it
I have suffered from covid
My family have suffered from covid
My friends have suffered from covid
My community has suffered from covid
My country has suffered from covid
The world has suffered from covid
This has been across the full spectrum
From financial/livelihood impact
To education impact
To health impact
I do not like lockdowns
I do not like tier restrictions
I do not like the notion of immunity passports
I do not like many things
But as we lose control of managing a deadly pandemic
Sadly some tools that I dislike
Become necessary
The key point though - is that we needed to manage it properly so that these tools did not become necessary
it is the job of government to lead
To inspire confidence
To inspire trust
To communicate clearly
To make it simple and clear the rules, guidance to follow
To plan for how you deal with covid
And how that plan addresses education, health, economy and all concerns
No plan is perfect
But be open about the plan
It's formulation
It's cratfing
It's presentation
And on learning from it as it goes wrong
I am angry
I am sad
I am frustrated
I am weary
I am concerned
I am tired
I am tearful
The range of choices you have in how you channel it
And you need to channel it
Because it is better channelled than bottled up
You can become a covid denier
You can go full conspiracy set whether that be Bill Gates, George Soros, a world order or microchips
I miss the days where brexiteers liked to tell me about the Kalergi conspiracy
You can go libertarian/keep britain free
You can go full tory and claim you are "ahead of the curve"
You can shrug and say no other party could have handled it better
You can try and how was it a PM put it - oh yes "Captain Handsight".
You can try and navigate the competing narratives and news channels and social media information being spread across the range of topics in the pandemic
You can sit down and imagine alternate historical timelines
What would have been happened had we let it rip
What would happened had we reached "herd immunity"
What would have happened if....
So
I am now about to link a number of people who cover a range of views
And at their core
They all share the same commonality
They all thing it has went badly
The difference is how and why they view the badly and what we do from here
"Once they saw a Conservative Government in power they and all Young Conservatives up and down the country would be able to say with Keats. “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven.”"
"Mr Desmond had sent Mr Jenrick messages ahead of the approval telling him that “we appreciate the speed as we don’t want to give Marxists loads of doe [sic] for nothing!”,"
"However, Pincher insisted housing secretary Robert Jenrick has “no relationship” with Richard Desmond (pictured, left), owner of developer Westferry Developments, and had no discussions with him about avoiding a levy charge"