Trump has recklessly decided to withdraw American funding of the WHO, choosing to scapegoat them for their reaction to Covid 19: could his ego make the current situation any worse? Continuing with his narcissistic and petty vengeful policies he has targeted three of the Democratic Governors who are resisting his call to end the lockdown by openly encouraging demonstrations! The main headline in the UK is that the Government have lowered the standard for the wearing of PPE by NHS staff to allow for the temporary re-use of disposable gowns because we have run out, again! Some staff may refuse to treat Covid 19 patients if there is not the proper protective equipment. The dire shortage of PPE looks like some facilities will run out by this weekend so it may become necessary to optimize the use of what little is still left; gowns are in particularly short supply.
It was the turn of Robert Jenrick, Local Government Secretary to be thrown to the wolves today, but the pack were quite easy on him after he offered another 1.6 billion to Local Councils. The much needed funding added to the 1.6 million already shelled out to keep Councils afloat for a total of 3.2 million so far. This would all be very impressive if the Tories had not been bleeding local authorities dry for the past decade with their swinging ideological austerity cuts! They will also be holding off on business rates at a time when the extra burden of shielding the most vulnerable and sheltering the homeless plus delivery of essential services with no revenue coming in to cover costs is forcing the rationing social care. Coping with the crisis would be unsustainable without further backing from the Government as many Councils are losing so much money they are now under huge strain and facing bankrupty.
We should really be questioning why it took a global pandemic to get this worthless Tory Government to mobilize the resources to get thousands of rough sleepers off the streets? What this horrific crisis is proving to us all is that sheltering the homeless was entirely within their means all along, but it was not a priority. Proper funding for the NHS was available too, but needlessly withheld; now the NHS is in overdrive supposedly no expense spared, but why did it take a crisis to pry the money loose? We must never accept that “Magic Money Tree” hype from the Tories again. National hero Captain Tom is putting the Government to shame trudging up and down his back yard to raise money for the NHS; 23 million and counting so far, but when did our precious NHS become a charity?
In another shallow gesture from the Government Captain Tom will be invited to open the new Nightingale Hospital in Harrogate. The special “Care” badges Mat Hancock touuted yesterday will be sold to Carers for over £8; more than most Carers earn an hour: that really sucks! It has been revealed that patients are to be excluded from the new Nightingale facilities unless they meet a strict set of criteria that bars the sickest patients. Apparently those patients who are considered for transfer to the Nightingale must bring with them a compliment of NHS staff and PPE kit. With the sickest patients turned away the Government hopes to be able to project a false impression of a tremendous success rate with Covid 19 in these high-end facilities; it is just a PR charade!
As the time came for questioning I couldn’t help but notice that even those chosen to quiz the Government team are selected due to their proclivity for Tory support; Guardian journalists have been conspicuous in their absence. There was more promise of PPE kit arriving tomorrow, but although the amounts sound staggering, spread thin across the country they represent just two to three days supply. While there was the regular name dropping of chosen fashion brands Burberry and Barbour more traditional SMEs that had offered to pitch in were still being ignored despite the dire need according to the increasingly demanding press. The “we’re doing all we can” retort is wearing thin with a crisis of confidence demonstrated as Unison calls for Mat Hancock to consider his position.
The issue of the Tories hostile immigration policy was raised due to the concern that migrants were too afraid to seek help; wasn’t it time to relax reporting of illegals and stop charging migrants for healthcare? There is serious concern now over the impact on Covid 19 on BME communities and we were told there will be a review of the increased incidence of those from BME backgrounds suffering a higher death toll. This was very noticeable among the pictures of NHS staff who had lost their lives due to Covid 19 which should rule out excessive poverty or poor lifestyle issues as an underlying cause. There are similar alarming trends among the minority communities in the US.
Jenrick took a hit for travelling to his Herefordshire home and visiting his parents before returning to Westminster; he gave a lame excuse typical of an entitled Tory… one rule for them! Boris Johnson is still in hiding, but not in a refrigerator; our part–time PM is hardly missed, but Raab is doing a tepid job of standing in for him. With well over 15,000 Covid 19 deaths in Hospitals and probably another 10,000 dying in care or at home, 888 dead in the last 24hours, the UK is crying out for real leadership. Compassionate policies to tackle this crisis require the progressive Government we should have tight now if it were not for the Covert 2019 Rigged Election. We cannot give up the fight to expose the truth through a full investigation of the results; only then will we earn the right to eject this toxic Tory Government from power.