Salus populi suprema est lex

The trees here in Creuse are beginning to turn from a verdant green to a more autumnal yellow and the winter will follow along soon enough. With the cold and damp of winter comes the prospect of more death and despair as Covid-19 kicks back in with a vengeance and that that will be the case is as plain as plain can be. France is seeing a slow but crystal clear surge in the number of cases and the message coming from the UK paints an even more worrying picture as the Evening Standard headlines with a death toll of over 57,000 in the UK as a result of Covid-19. I have warned in earlier posts that lockdown came too late in the UK and has been lifted too soon, resulting in a totally understandable urge for people to get away and have some fun. Unfortunately the pandemic hasn’t eased and people are coming back with the virus, asymptomatic or otherwise, triggering the cycle of misery. The North of England seems to be getting hit hardest, in no small way because of the type of work available (food processing, sweatshops etc), the density of housing and the different ways of living in such a culturally diverse part of the country.

None of this is helped by the lack of a ‘world-beating’ Test, Track and Trace system. The UK has been continually let down by this Government. Their lies and broken promises lie piled high behind them while they ignore the promises made. I wish someone would ask Gavin Williamson how many kids from more deprived backgrounds actually got lap-tops, tablets and the internet connectivity needed to keep up with their education since this all started. I’ve looked for the details on the web and have come up with this – fascinating reading not the least because it highlighted how many Academy Trusts there are! Follow this link to see the latest stats for your Local Authority or Academy Trust. There’s a piece of work needed here to figure out if every kid who needed help actually got it.

The dangers posed by Covid-19 aren’t going away any time soon, the Government hasn’t got a clue how to manage the complexities involved and localised lockdowns aren’t working, which isn’t surprising given the ability of the Police to enforce them. None of this is helped by the push to get people back to work. It’s one thing making workplaces Covid safe, it’s another making public transport Covid safe. It’s another thing again convincing people they will be safe to travel or work in offices or factories. The only people who benefit from getting Cities back up and running are the people who service the needs of a City. I don’t mean the cleaners, the baristas or the sandwich makers – they are probably on a zero-hour contract and paid buttons – I mean the Tory donors who own the companies who provide these services. Don’t think Johnson wants you back at work for your good – he’s only interested in his chums – the rest of you are cannon-fodder.

So while we are gripped by the fear of a return of Covid-19 and the damage that will bring again to the NHS and the health and wealth of the country we are also witnessing the Government playing ‘Billy Big bollocks’ with EU over Brexit. The likelihood of a no-deal exit are now odds-on and the financial markets are responding as you would expect – the £ Sterling is tanking and it wouldn’t surprise me if it sank as low as an even swap with the € Euro in the next couple of days. It’s a good job summers nearly over and that all the holiday destinations will be out of bounds soon as no one will be able to afford their annual beer drenched jolly in Majorca if this carries on!

To make matters worse they are now talking of deliberately breaking international law and reneging on the Withdrawal Agreement! Even Theresa May has voiced alarm at the damage that would do to the UK’s reputation and standing in the world – who would be able to trust a word out of a Tory mouth at a negotiating table in the future? The Tory Minister for Northern Ireland – Brandon Lewis – thinks it’s OK to ignore the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, too the anger of some Tory backbenchers surprisingly. Even more concerning is the fact that the senior Government lawyer has resigned because of this – another step in Johnson and Cummings’ master plan to destroy any mechanism that holds the Government to account.

Before I finish up for the day a quick update on the home improvements front. After 10 months of excuses from our builder we decided enough was enough. His continual ‘no-shows’ and no phone calls to explain were making Karen ill – we saw him for 4 days a month on average – so I called him, went to voice mail after a couple of rings and so sacked him by leaving him a message. Not ideal I know, but he’d had so many chances I don’t feel in the least guilty about it. That was a month ago and he still hasn’t called to arrange to pick up his mixer, shovels, wheelbarrow and assorted power tools, never mind have the conversation needed about how much we might still owe him! The good news is that a friend put us onto an English brickie who, in the last 2 weeks has done more than the Frenchman did in 2 months! I’ll post a few photos showing progress in my next blog.

In closing I think I’d like to explain this posts heading –