It was a triple podium Covid PR stunt Friday afternoon as Boris Johnson was keen to talk up his magnanimous gesture of easing lockdown on Saturday the 4th of July. No doubt Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Valance and Chief Medical Officer Chris Witte were both ordered to stay strictly on message in full support of the PM. Johnson wanted to lull the people of the UK into a false sense of security that would be so necessary if he was to successfully launch his second wave mass cull of the elderly, weakest and most vulnerable of the Sheeple. After completing the mundane details, dull statistics and other announcements Johnson was really savouring the culmination of his presentation, “Let me end by looking forward to this weekend.” He said, “Tomorrow, there will be moment of remembrance for those whose lives have tragically been lost before their time. And at five PM on Sunday the NHS’s 72nd Birthday we can all come together to clap those who have worked tirelessly and selflessly to help the nation get through this Pandemic.”
Yes, before the celebrations we would take a moment to reflect on all those who had died needlessly due to his gross ineptitude and the warped eugenics policy of ‘Herd Immunity’ that Dominic Cummings had persuaded him to adopt. It was important that the public were encouraged not to dwell on the delayed lockdown, the ‘Holocaust in Care,’ the failure to provide adequate PPE for NHS staff and Carers who had contracted the virus while treating the sick and so many other Tory Government failures. Truth be told these scandals were not just the simple mistakes of arrogance and poor judgement, but the conscious projection of a glorious Tory vision of reducing the burden of caring for the ‘economically inactive.’ The Social Safety Net of the UK’s bloated state was an increasing burden threatening to reduce the excessive wealth of his elitist Tory benefactors. Corruption costs big money and those Tory donors were the people who had stumped up the funds to make his Covert 2019 Rigged Election landslide victory a reality.
A new Canary Article reported that, “After thousands of coronavirus deaths in care homes, government announces regular testing programme for staff and residents.” They relay that, “Staff and residents in care homes for people over 65 or with dementia will be regularly tested for coronavirus (Covid-19) from week beginning 6 July, the government has announced. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced a new social care testing strategy on 3 July. As part of the strategy, staff will be tested weekly, while residents will receive a test every 28 days. This is in addition to intensive testing in any care home facing an outbreak or at increased risk of a flare-up, the department added.” At the end of April the Independent Reported that, “Nearly a third of all care homes in England have reported a confirmed or suspected outbreak of coronavirus.” If Public Health England had statistical data showing “more than 4,500 care homes across the country may have been affected by the virus,” why did it take so long to act?
The accolades Johnson offers to Healthcare workers and the effusive praise for our NHS does not dispel the sickening truth that NHS staff were brutally abandoned and let down by this Tory Government. As time passes more evidence has emerged exposing the callous indifference and disregard for life shown by towards frontline staff that needlessly took so many precious lives. A recent Skwawkbox Article reveals one more aspect of their deliberate deception. The shocking report says how the, “Tories said EVERY piece of expired PPE for front-line was tested and safe. 85 MILLION had to be withdrawn or destroyed – not just inadequate, but themselves danger to health.” Skwawkbox highlight that, “a Channel 4 investigation revealed at least 85 million pieces of protective equipment were inadequate – and worse. In spite of Tory promise only 49 pieces had been tested out of millions and many were an active health hazard.”
The public were anxiously dreaming of a potential end to the misery he had inflicted upon them; Johnson wanted them eager to recklessly join mass gatherings and spend money. He said, “I know everyone will be looking forward to the relaxation of national restrictions. As lockdown eases we should focus on supporting the livelihoods of business owners and their employees up and down the country all of whom are opening their doors for the first time in more than three months. They are our local restaurants, hairdressers, libraries, museums, cinemas, and yes, pubs. They are also our hotels B&Bs, indeed much of our tourism industry, all these businesses and their workers have put in a heroic effort to prepare their venues for this reopening to work out a way to trade that keeps their customers safe. But the successes of these businesses, the livelihoods of those who rely on them and ultimately the economic health of the whole country, is dependent on every single one of us acting responsibly. We must not let them down.”
Johnson callously continued, “Lockdown only succeeded in controlling the virus because everyone worked together and we will only succeed in reopening if everyone works together again. Because we’re not out of the woods yet. The virus is still with us and the spike in Leicester has shown that. If it starts running out of control again this Government will not hesitate in putting on the brakes and re-imposing restrictions. Anyone who flouts social distancing and Covid secure rules is not only putting us all at risk, but letting down those businesses and workers who have done so much to prepare for this new normal so as we take this next step our biggest step yet on the road to recovery I urge the British people to do so safely. Remember don’t gather in groups of more than six outside or two households in any setting keep your distance from those outside your household two metres if you can, one metre with precautions if you can’t; wash your hands lets all stay alert, control the virus, save lives and enjoy summer safely.”
There questions came thick and fast, first about the risk of a second wave: one of the advisors remarked that “winter may work to our disadvantage” the other talked of creating a “Covid secure society” the virus was “suppressed” and we needed to “keep it suppressed.” Johnson chimed in saying, “we have therapeutics” and “drugs will get better.” He then spoiled the hopeful delusion by bringing up that ailing, failing, outsourced contact tracing service, saying confidently, “we have NHS test and trace, but we cannot be complacent.” Few shared his exuberant confidence let alone felt complacent about the risks! The BBC’s Alex Forsyth asked the PM about “Super Saturday;” what was the priority “Health or the Economy?” Turning to the advisors, she asked, “are you comfortable with the pace?” Amid Johnson’s effervescent babble a solitary nugget of data hit me as still quite shocking, but it didn’t bother the PM as he let it slip: “we are down to just one in 2200 people infected…. we think that this is, is the right time!”
There was criticism for the leaders of the devolved administration who had called his latest quarantine arrangements ‘shambolic;’ Wales and Scotland were not yet towing the line. “Were we going at too fast a pace?” Johnson’s compliant Scientific Advisors were on the spot here, one said cautiously that there were, “really serious risks, either side of the path we are on there were risks…” Not wanting to deluge on Johnsons parade they needed to warn the public, we had to “balance the risks… there wasn’t a risk free next step.” An ITV presented asked the PM to offer a fuller explanation of his vague appeal for people to “use their judgement;” Johnson stressed an undefined hope that people would just, “enjoy summer safely,” whatever that meant? Andy Bell from Chanel 5 asked about quarantine, “was there ever a justification for the blind quarantine.” In a telling answer one of the advisers said, “it makes a difference if it is from a country with an infection rate higher than ours.” No shit Shirlock!
Someone asked about, “SAGE comments on Super spreaders;” here both of the Advisors focused on the risk of “lots of people coming together from different households in a confined space… a crowded indoor environment” and they stressed the need to “maintain social distancing.” There was an obscure question about what posed a danger in cricket. Apparently this had been asked of Boris Johnson earlier in the day and had left him ‘stumped.’ One of the advisors stepped in to rescue the PM saying with the game itself “spitting on the ball” was a problem and general mingling indoors after the game. Johnson pledged to restore cricket by next weekend; it was so taxing being a world beating, world leader. There was a question about children returning to school and it was time for him to obsess over the subject and blame the unions, he was “determined to get all kids back to school…” How else could he boost Covid transmission? The Canary reported the latest Government strategy, “Schools told to keep children apart in year group ‘bubbles’ on full return in autumn.”
Then Kate Proctor of the Guardian had to go and ask awkward questions including one that seriously challenged his integrity and even-handed judgement. She asked, “You have said that you won’t hesitate to slam on the brakes if the pubs reopening doesn’t quite go to plan, would you consider completely shutting pubs if you can see in a few weeks that this isn’t working; is that the kind of handbrake measure you are referring to?” A devastating second question was sure to put Johnson on the spot, “…your father travelled to Greece against non essential travel advice, Dominic Cummings seems to have broken the spirit of the lockdown rules by travelling to county Durham. Why should the public obey all the rules that your putting out right now about the pubs re-opening when it does feel as though those close to you flout the rules?”
Boris Johnson felt seriously challenged on an issue he had officially put to bed; other people were still angry over Cummings and wanted him to go, but now his own father had transgressed and it had reignited the anger over those who were seemingly exempt from following any rules. He would tackle the last question first, at speed and then move on quickly to detract from this contentious issue. His voice dripping with resentment he replied: “Well thanks very much Kate, well first of all on, on er, you know on er, the episode in Durham, the Durham police made it very clear that they weren’t pursuing that. I er, make it er, a normal practice not to comment on er, the movement or doings of, of my family.” His hesitance and embarrassment were obvious, but he had skimmed over the point made and survived the barb. So that was that issue settled; why couldn’t everybody please just let it go and move on? Perhaps because there were expectations of most people obeying the rules; He and his cronies were above the rules, end of!
Johnson confidently launched into a less controversial direction, saying, “but what I can tell you is that, um actually when you look at what the British public have done over the last er, three months it has been a phenomenal effort to follow the guidance and get this thing under control. And people have worked together and they’ve done and absolutely heroic job that’s why we’ve got incidents running so much lower than it was only a few weeks ago, it’s because of the collective effort of the British public. We’ve got to keep that going now.” Singing the praises of the public he was back on safe ground. He lacked the self awareness to recognize the hypocrisy of not even acknowledging the appalling example his chief advisor and his own father had set to a Covid weary public who were still doing their best to abide by his irrational and constantly shifting regulations. They had to understand that these rules were for the plebs, not the privileged elite; they were supposed to have moved on from the Cummings debacle!
Johnson shifted to the question of pubs, saying, “I don’t want to close all pubs at all if we have a further outbreak but what I I’ve tried to say, you want to close all pubs in the country er, er, I don’t want to get back to another national lockdown of any kind we want to deal with local outbreaks with local lockdown measures and were greatly assisted in our ability to do that by the test and trace operation you’ve seen it working in Kirklees, in Ashford, Western super mare and we’ve had to do a big one now in Sheffield but that is the approach that I want to take but you know obviously we have to retain all measures in reserve.” Johnson droned on for as long as possible regarding the pubs hoping to wash over the question of Dominic Cummings and his father’s breach of the rules before shifting rapidly to the next questioner without inviting a comeback.
The Canary Report that, “Boris Johnson’s father Stanley has been criticised by MPs after flying to Greece despite government advice urging against non-essential international travel. The 79-year-old arrived in Athens on Wednesday 1 July to visit his mountain villa. He shared a video of his plane landing in the capital on social media platform Instagram.” According to the Canary “He told the Daily Mail he was visiting the country on ‘essential business trying to Covid-proof my property in view of the upcoming letting season’.” This was at least as outrageous as driving sixty miles to ‘test’ your eyesight. He added: “The Greeks are trying to stop bulk arrivals from the UK but they were quite happy to have me coming in.” The Canary noted that, “…his trip has angered MPs, with shadow minister Rosena Allin-Khan tweeting: Most people have been following the guidelines and socially distancing – not everyone will get a holiday this year. Those closest to the Prime Minister have different rules though.”
The Canary reported that, “He also posted a picture of himself wearing a face mask, which appeared to be taken in an airport. Johnson flew to Athens via Bulgaria, the Daily Mail said, because the Greek government has banned direct flights from the UK until mid-July.” So, he not only broke the rules, he offered a blueprint for how to work around restrictions; what a terrific example to the public during a pandemic! They Canary reported that, “Labour MP Kate Osborne referred to the PM’s top aide Dominic Cummings, who breached lockdown rules in March while having coronavirus (Covid-19) symptoms. She said: Dominic Cummings broke the lockdown rules now it’s @BorisJohnson’s father. One rule for the elite and another for everyone else it seems. They’re laughing directly in the face of people up and down this country. Shame. Labour’s Neil Coyle tweeted: Junior Johnson axes freedom of movement, undermining rights for 60 million Brits. Senior Johnson sneaks to his Greek villa during a global pandemic.”
A Canary Article exposes the Tory Government deception in a, “Warning of Covid 19 illusion amid fears of more local lockdowns.” For the BBC, Reporter Richard Bilton investigated, “the rapid expansion of our Covid-19 testing capacity and asks whether we have got the world-beating service the prime minister promised.” Watch the latest BBC Panorama Documentary: “Has Covid Testing Gone Wrong?” We cannot afford to be duped by snake oil salesman Johnson, lulled into a false sense of security and encouraged to follow the reckless examples of the privileged few this Tory Government fail to discipline for breaking the rules. We must continue to demand the removal of Dominic Cummings and some form of sanction against Boris Johnson’s own selfish father Stanley for flouting the rules. Accountability is long overdue, but if we continue letting MPs and the elite get away with anything the please we will see worse in future. The Covert 2019 Rigged Election needs Investigating ASAP so that we can rid the UK of this Tory scourge. DO NOT MOVE ON!