Things are getting worse, aren’t they? Another 202 people died in the UK from COVID-19 yesterday, which compares unfavourably with Greece (none) and Spain where 32 people have died. In the last week, that is. Still, we’ve managed to reopen McDonalds and KFC and from Monday we can stand in an endless queue at shopping malls all over the country to buy things we can otherwise buy on the internet. And Boris Johnson is “proud” of how we have dealt with the virus. Imagine if we had done badly?
We learned today just how bad an effect the virus is having with our economy, with a 20.4% contraction in April alone. There are already 2.1 million people unemployed and there are almost 9 million people on furlough in order to save them being made unemployed. The job losses are piling up too and even Boris Johnson’s forced jollity and optimism couldn’t deflect from the grim reality we face. Obviously, Dominic Cummings had told Johnson to say ‘bounce back’ in terms of the recovery that will apparently sail into view as soon as the recession ends but no one believes him, unless they are a Sun or Mail reader.
Then, there’s #blacklivesmatter. BLM brought forward a protest from tomorrow to today to avoid conflict with a counter protest from various hard right groups, such as the Football Hooligans Alliance, who apparently want to defend the statues of our capital. Fair play to BLM, but I can’t believe that large number of – how shall we put it? – militant anti-racists, if that’s what they are, won’t turn up for a bit of a ruck. Then, the police will be in the middle, and with the hard right in the minority, as they always are at such gatherings, will seem to be under the protection of Inspector Knacker.
My genuine fear is that people are going to die if this carries on. The whole #BLM movement began with the killing of George Floyd and that was one too many deaths. I just hope genuine #BLM supporters will stay at home tomorrow, give the fascists their 15 minutes of infamy and concentrate on persuading hearts and minds through argument and not violent protest. Some hope, I guess.
All this happening at the same time. A deadly virus sweeping across the land, affecting disproportionately people of BAME and the less well off. An economic disaster which, in the nature of all economic disasters, will disproportionately affect people of BAME and the less well off. And of course, the killing of George Floyd, which has set off a seemingly never ending chain of events around the world, culminating in scenes of social disorder.
Is it simply my natural pessimism or is this a perfect storm for disaster? What happens when the thousands of job losses we are seeing become millions? What happens if the pandemic in Britain continues apace when much of the rest of the world appears to have it under control? There could be so many have nots in society, it would require an enormous leap of faith to imagine the country not catching fire as anger and frustration seeps into people’s lives.
At the heart of everything is the government propaganda machine, controlled by our old friend Dominic Cummings, which every day in every way is distracting, distorting, misinforming and lying to us. Cummings has been at the heart of how and why our country set fire to itself in 2016 by voting to leave the EU. Now his agenda, through Boris Johnson, is to dismantle the state and the civil service he so despises and he will let nothing stand in his way.
Things are getting worse, all right. At least the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said publicly that the economy is in meltdown, even though Johnson tries to play it down with his ‘bounce back’ soundbites and “we will get through this.” But millions of people won’t get through this, certainly not in one piece.
Imagine the financial crash of 2008, which was brilliantly handled in this country by Gordon Brown (oh yes it was) and now imagine the financial crash of 2020, which is being handled by an after dinner speaker and TV show host, with a cabinet of the untalented, selected only for their support for Brexit. It would take a politician of the highest standing to get Britain through the coming catastrophe. We have Boris Johnson. For many, they like Johnson because he is “a bit different” and he makes them laugh. He’s different all right. But there’s absolutely nothing funny about him.
