It’s still remarkably, record-breakingly, warm in Yorkshire. The sun even came out! I’ve been editing my Beefheart book but went for a walk this afternoon. Not much to see. The odd seagull hanging on the wind, a few crows, blackbirds keeping guard and a flock of blackbird size brown birds. Not sure what they were.
Meanwhile, out in Coronaland, our music scene is dying on its feet. All the small venues are shutting down and tours on to the continent are mired in mountains of red tape.
Brexit is a mess. He promised sunny uplands and taking back control, what we’ve got is huge costs and an armada of small boats crossing the channel. So much for being in control. People are waking up to the fact that being in control requires the complicity of others.
So what have we achieved last year?
We messed Brexit up. Ruined our trade. Crippled firms with red tape and tariffs. Messed up Northern Ireland. Put up costs. Caused shortages and delays. Messed up fishing. Messed up agriculture. Achieved no lucrative new deals. Took away our right to work, roam, and study. Ruined our collaborations. Created expensive duplications. Made enemies of friends. Lumbered ourselves with an extreme bunch of nutcases. Lumbered ourselves with massive costs for new border controls, parking facilities and bureaucracy. Lowered our standing around the world. Made ourselves look like idiots.
What for??
To gain back control!! And we haven’t even done that!! We can’t control our borders or impose our wants and needs. We are even more dependent on the goodwill of others – and you know what?? They can be as awkward as they want!!
This is the Brexit we were promised – obviously!!
So how well have these Brexiteering nutcases been performing elsewhere?
Well, they’ve successfully run down all our public services. Education, courts, police, the care sector, local government, libraries, youth services, the armed forces and the NHS have suffered cut after cut. Some have completely disappeared, others are cut to the bone and in crisis.
They’ve been privatising the NHS.
They’ve been allowing all the wealthy to continue with their tax evasion so that all this added wealth is finding its way to the Cayman Islands. Perhaps we should ask the likes of Wayne Rooney and Mrs Brown’s Boys why they can stuff millions abroad. Tax is optional for the wealthy. But it (and National Insurance) has gone up for ordinary folk.
Then we have the sleaze, second jobs, law-breaking, parties, lobbying, cronyism, untendered contracts and the revolving door into lucrative posts.
Lastly, we have the performance in dealing with Covid. Pretty dire. Too little too late. Never learning. Not following their own rules. Not learning from more successful countries. Always behind the curve. Dithering. Letting the extremist nutcases rule.
So we’ve ended up with 149,000 deaths and one of the worst-hit economies in the world. Plonkers.
Yesterday we had another record 190,000 new cases and 203 deaths. Hospitalisations are up 61% on last week. That’s the highest since last January. Hospital staff are exhausted and many are off with covid. Wards are clogged up with the unvaccinated who, while being only 20% of the population, make up over 80% of the inmates. Today there are estimated to be 2.3 million Brits with the disease.
Judgement on Johnson’s leadership and decision-making – dismal, woeful and inadequate.
Let’s get rid of these self-serving extreme populist wankers and get some competent, less sleazy politicians elected!!
Stay safe. Happy New Year!!