Thread by @HZiauddeen

RTing this given Steve Baker's speech in the Commons today and the outcry over the reintroduction of minor measures like partial mask mandates. People like Steve are a key reason why we are here, facing yet another new variant and all the risks and costs that entails.
(1/12)

https://twitter.com/HZiauddeen/status/1464757120495194116

He's raging about steps being taken to counter a calamity that he and his colleagues in govt were instrumental in creating. The way to have protected everyone and everything he claims to hold dear, including children's education, was to control the pandemic.
(2/12)

The costs now are much higher, whether you try to control things or not (much higher if not). You can always say, like he and many others do, 'you can't keep implementing restrictions each time there's a new variant', or 'look at the impact on children & businesses.'
(3/12)

This treats the issue as one of will and attitude, disregarding the fact that there is a viral infection that doesn't give a hoot about what you think. It takes the stance of choosing to harm vs not harm, but the harm being considered is to your beliefs, not to people.
(4/12)

So, masks in schools is harming kids, not having masks is protecting them from harm, only in this twisted perspective in which you either refuse to believe or don't care if kids get COVID.
(5/12)

It also completes leaves out the fact that the reason we're having to do any of this, is because our govt has got us to this point.
The decisions are more urgent and the costs higher but are determined to repeat the same mistakes as before.
(6/12)

Given what's happening for Omicron, it looks like a lot of the hospitality sector may be hit by cancelled bookings and incur major losses. This sucks and is really awful for the people who will be affected.
(7/12)

And this will be blamed on the 'COVID-phobics' and 'lockdowners' who have zero power to do anything, instead of the govt that knowingly put these businesses and people's livelihoods at risk by failing to control the pandemic and failing to support people through it.
(8/12)

By deliberately choosing to do as little as possible to look after its people, the govt achieved precisely this. (if you are going to say they did X, Y, Z, a govt doesn't get a sticker for doing something, they don't get a participation prize).
(9/12)

And also whatever they spent on the general population was dwarfed by what they gave to their friends.

What's really depressing is that this show of concern, this talk of values and freedoms, it's all empty nonsense. It is talk about caring with no care in it.
(10/12)

And its not about not getting it.
This is part of a deliberate and concerted push for herd immunity and a minimally interventionist approach,
(11/12)

Steve Baker talks about children missing nativity plays and how terrible this would be. I have my doubts about this but even without that, I don't it really compares to losing a parent, a grandparent or big chunks of your childhood to Long COVID.
(12/12)