It’s still mighty cold, wet and miserable here in Yorkshire. How long until summer?? Can’t wait. I don’t like winter!!
I stayed in and edited my Captain Beefheart book, played some Larry Williams and then went out for an extended lunch with friends in defiance of covid. It seems strange. But I guess that being triple vaccinated must provide good cover until the Omicron variety establishes itself. We might have a narrow window of opportunity!!
Back home I’m about to do a bit more editing and then watch some Sens8 on TV. Quite enjoying this Sci-fi series.
Meanwhile out in Coronaland, our lying leader says that no covid rules were broken with the parties (yes – no longer a party – more than 1) that he and fellow Tories held last November and December. DuuuuuHHHH????? How can that be?
Last November and December the country was in strict lockdown. We were not allowed to gather. There was to be no mixing at all – punishable with big fines.
Now, let me see, which part of that is hard to understand??? No gathering. Strictly banned. Enforced with big fines. All pretty straightforward.
Who brought these laws in? The Tory government.
So who chose to break the law? The Tory government.
In clear breach of the law of the land that they had themselves just brought in they chose to break the law and hold drinks parties in Number 10.
So families were prohibited from meeting up, dying relatives could not be visited, friends and lovers were kept apart, all enforceable by law and brought in by the Tories, but Boris Johnson thought that it was perfectly OK for him to have a bunch of colleagues round for a party or two.
On the face of it that doesn’t sound terrible – until you start thinking about the massive impact that had on people, the huge mental strain, the way families and lovers were kept apart. Until you start thinking about the huge fines doled out to people who held drinks parties in defiance of the law; the way they were, at the behest of the government, raided and arrested. The fuss there was over people out walking their dogs too far from home.
Yet, the government who made the laws clearly felt that the law did not apply to the likes of them. This wasn’t even Dominic Cummings visiting a castle; this was a party in Number 10.
Talk about arrogant entitlement!!
So today there was another 50,573 new cases with another 143 deaths. It’s building for Christmas – and this is before Omicron kicks in.
Speaking of Omicron (and the brilliance of our £37 billion track and trace teams) the number of cases doubled yesterday. It went up by 75 to 150. At that rate of increase in two weeks time we’ll have two and a half million cases!!
The new variant is more transmissible, infects people that have had the disease easily, avoids vaccines and will put us back to square one very quickly.
The good thing about it is that it may not be as lethal. We’ll see.
We could see ourselves back in a strict lockdown before Christmas. Scientists are saying that the pandemic could last five years. We might have to wait until March to get a vaccine against the variant.
Looks a bit messy.
So what action are we taking to stop this happening?? – er… none.
Where is our leader?? Er….. nowhere.
We’re back to ignoring experts and keeping fingers crossed.
I reckon we’ve got a small window where us fully vaccinated are relatively safe but as soon as the Omicron starts to spread I’m locking down!!
Do as they say – not as they do!! The laws are for you – not for them!!
Stay Safe!! Remember to do as you’re told!!
This does actually look quite serious for Johnson. It looks as if it was the Daily Mirror that first brought this up, but others including the BBC have latched on to it. To me, the allegations seem to have a “ring of truth” about them.
And it isn’t the only problem on his plate… https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-mps-snub-desperate-boris-25595072. His own MPs are turning on him. There’s even a prospect of an unlikely alliance on this one between the stop-COVID-at-any-costs brigade and the if-they-dont-obey-their-own-laws-then-why-the-hell-should-we brigade. (To the latter of which, I am proud to belong).
This is a really big issue, because it strikes a dagger at the heart of the idea of the rule of law. This is the kind of thing that can get lots of people, on all sides of political divides, really wound up and angry with Johnson and his cronies.
Johnson’s standard response is to ignore it, don’t react or provide oxygen, keep a low profile and it’ll go away and everyone will forget about it. I’m not sure this is going to happen this time. This could either develop into a Dominic Cummings Barnard Castle event or simply subside with Christmas.
For me it is worse than Dominic Cummings. He broke the law and lied but he was just an individual. This is premeditated breaking of laws that they had just introduced, laws that had draconian penalties for people breaking them – fines and even prison.
I remember the hefty fines doled out and the humiliation of public celebrities. Yet they deliberately flouted the rules while families were kept apart and dying relatives unable to get support.
This is serious stuff.
Opher, this won’t “subside with Christmas” any more than the first world war was “over by Christmas” in 1914.
We were told “three weeks to review.” (Remember “three weeks to flatten the curve?”) But even Sajid Javid is not impressed: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/covid-omicron-uk-mask-rules-javid-b1967492.html.
It looks as if Johnson overruled his own health minister on face masks, perhaps even without consulting him. I suspect the media have had this “Damocles’ sword” about last year’s parties for many months, waiting for the best moment to use it. Now is that moment.
After the £10,000 fine for Piers Corbyn, surely pressure should build for similar fines for all those that attended these parties, including Johnson?
You’re right. This is going to get a lot worse in the next few weeks. Christmas will likely spark a big surge. It’s all about contact and hosts.
Hopefully the media will go for Johnson. Holding those parties was clearly against the law, premeditated and arrogant. They do think they are above the law!
You’re right Opher, that is precisely the problem. The failed 16th-century political system we live under explicitly excepts the “sovereign” from having to obey the rules it makes. Furthermore, this “sovereign” doesn’t bear any responsibility for the consequences of what it does to the “subjects.” For the last several decades, the politicians and their hangers-on have more and more been behaving as if they are “sovereigns,” instead of serving the people, as they should in a “democracy.” Almost as if they are a race apart, or even a species apart. We’re coming all the way round and back to a 1642 situation now – except that this time round, it’s the parliament and cronies that deserve to have their head(s) chopped off.
They need bringing down a peg or two, or three! These arrogant Tories are taking the piss. They’ve taken entitlement to a whole new level.
I agree with everything you say there Opher, but I don’t think you are going far enough. Yes, the individuals at the top must be gotten rid of; but it’s the system as a whole that needs to change.
BTW, in the last couple of days you have started sending me “new post” e-mails as well as the “like” ones. The “like” e-mails are really useful, because they tell me when you have responded to a comment I made. But I find the “new post” e-mails over the top – I usually go to your blog every morning, and I’ll pick up any new posts that interest me then.
That’s strange Neil. I haven’t changed anything at this end. I would imagine you can change that at your end.