23rd February 2012
Don’t let the superb achievement of the NHS mass vaccination programme blind you to the reason why we are where we are and why we need this to succeed.
Look at the graph above and remember that this is 1st doses only. The real vaccination figure is at the 1% mark only. You aren’t safe until the second jab – and then who knows given the mutations?
Don’t allow the good news hide the appalling statistics that envelop the UK’s response to twelve months or so of pandemic. Take a look at yesterday’s totals, taken from today’s Guardian:
Over 3,000,000 people have been infected in the UK, Johnson’s mob are owning up to over 120,000 fatalities and we are 5th in the World league table for Covid-19 deaths.
Of note is the fact that in the first week of February the UK had the 3rd highest number of deaths over a two week period and that our highest daily total of 1662 deaths was the highest daily total in the world! Yes, the whole wide world! The UK with a mature democracy and system of government, not some 3rd world banana republic. The Government briefings have stopped showing comparative figures – and now we know why – we are getting outperformed by tiny economies in Africa and Asia yet the UK, a G7 economy, is hamstrung by incompetent leaders.
There is a litany of reasons why we are in the position we are in as a country, starting with the Johnson missing the first 5 COBRA meetings held to discuss Covid-19 very early last year – because (as I understand) he was too busy seeing his lawyers sorting out his divorce. We can continue along this line quoting the delay locking down, ‘eat out to help out’ etc etc but I think five minutes reading this article says it all. I’ve banged on and on about this – see blogs passim – but it is absolutely essential that we do not forget who needs to be held to account for the C-19 shambles in the UK.
My heartfelt criticisms on this subject will continue, on that have no doubt, but please continue to do all that is being asked of you to help combat this awful disease – stay at home if you can, work from home if you can, follow the social distancing guidelines at all times and – if you get the opportunity –
Get the vaccine!
I’m on the list here in France – the village mayor called us on Sunday to find out who my GP was so he could arrange a home visit for my jab. How good’s that? It wont be for a few weeks yet but they know where I am and how to get me. Bring it on.
A couple of blogs back I told of my disenchantment with Kier Starmer and the Labour Party and how my need for a new political home had me looking at the Green Party – well Owen Jones has had an article in the Guardian worrying that the young voters who were attracted to Corbyn’s vision might well abandon Starmer’s Labour for the Greens. It seems my ideas are catching on then LOL!
On the subject of me and Labour, Labour’s Membership Department have written back to me answering my resignation e-mail. I’ll leave the text at the end of the blog so you can skip it if you’re not interested but that’s that for me for as long as he’s in charge, especially so now he’s wrapped himself up in the flag and has started playing the nationalist game! FFS – it’s bad enough that Johnson dumbed down to attract the knuckle-draggers, now Starmer thinks it’s the right tactic! The inherent evil of nationalism was witnessed first hand when I was in Bosnia in 1995. The evidence of history is there for all to see – the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the civil war in Yugoslavia and then beyond with the tribal conflicts that have surfaced in Africa for instance.
Not even Starmer’s plea to the nation last week worked for me. Labour’s way forward under Starmer didn’t mention the damage being done by Brexit to UK businesses, no comment on government advice being to set up in Europe if you want to trade there and then gagging Labour MP’s by ordering them not to mention the impact of Brexit. The man is an idiot! Johnson and his mob are there for the taking but he’s more concerned about upsetting the lost voters in ‘red wall’ seats. I wonder how many Labour members and voters (like me) have given up on him and left?
Steve Bell – the Guardians brilliant cartoonist, sums up Starmer perfectly for me:
So there’s Starmer for you – getting ridiculed for being Johnson’s lick-spittle manservant – and given the absolute lack of opposition he’s offering up who could possibly disagree?
It also adds to the lack of integrity of the man. He steps back and insists on silence from his MP’s on just about everything Johnson and his mob are up to, in effect tacitly supporting (agreeing maybe?) with the nationalist, racist, xenophobia that is rampant within the Tory Party. What? You don’t agree with me about the Tories being racist t###s? What was May all about asking people to ring in about suspected ‘illegal’ immigrants? What was Windrush all about?? What is Grenfell Towers really all about??? Need I mention Brexit and ‘taking back control’???? And then we’ve got Patel and her oh so blatant xenophobia. Now I have to be honest – I can’t for the life of me understand how anyone from a BAME background could ever, possibly, support the Tories. Can’t they see that they are just being used as window dressing to make the Tories look inclusive – the same Tories who supported Brexit because they dream of a return to the vile old ‘good old’ days of the British Empire. When their usefulness has all been used up they will be discarded, make no mistake.
And meanwhile Johnson is riding the crest of a wave brought about by the efforts of the NHS getting vaccine into arms. Zoe Williams hits the nail on the head here – deliberately under-promise (the figures are still enormous so no one will notice) and then claim all the glory. And still he tries to convince us that it’s (nearly) safe to get back to some form of normal. Well he f####d up Christmas after easing off so he could take the credit for people having some sort of summer. Then he f####d up again by letting the second wave wash over the country and now he wants to see us all enjoy an Easter holiday. What are the odds that this will bring a third wave and a fourth lockdown as the virus takes advantage of his flawed vaccination policy, mutates itself for fun and reduce the efficacy of the vaccines, so undoing all the hard work and best efforts of the scientific community, the NHS, the Care sector and all those of you who have followed the rules, as confused as they have been, as best as you could?
He missed half-term to get teachers and front-line care staff jabbed, now he’ll fill schools back up with infected kids and start the whole thing rolling again. I hope I’m wrong, but in my heart I know that Johnson and his mob of cretins will f##k this all up again!
I do have some good news though – my sister and her family have all pulled through their Covid-19 infections, In total, counting boyfriend and girlfriend, 4 out of 8 of them work in Manchester Primary Schools and all will have copped for the bug through contact with kids and parents even though the very best of hygiene protocols were followed. It wont be any different come March in the run up to Easter but at least my family members will have a degree of immunity.
Oh, and another bit of good news, it looks like normal service has been resumed at the top of the English Premier League what with Manchester City sitting so comfortably in 1st place after beating Arsenal (Karen’s old club – she once worked for them teaching players French) on Sunday. I know Covid-19 has made it all bit bizarre but at the end of the day the table looks like this – so there you are.
Moving on to other things many of you will know that I worked for what ended up as BT for over 33 years, ending my career as a Senior Project Manager in London. Before my move down south from Manchester a lot of my time was spent managing the delivery of fibre-optic networks for a lot of the Local Authorities around and about – Manchester, Salford, Trafford, Rochdale and Oldham to name but a few – so imagine the professional interest raised in me when I heard of the proposed roll-out of high-speed broadband here in our rural backwater.
Work is moving on – at pace – to coin an overly used phrase back in the UK. There are new pole routes and underground cabling works going on all around us to get the publicly owned fibre network rolled out – at a total cost of 156 million € – of which the EU is providing 5 million € – just in the Creuse. Have a look at the French web-site here– right click on the page to translate if your French isn’t up to it J.
This link to the Nouvelle Aquitaine THD (NATHD) web-site gives all of the detail and is (if you are an ex-BT person) extremely interesting. In a nutshell the fibre will be delivered straight to the house or premise and connected straight into a wi-fi router – none of that daft last hundred metres over copper that BT still provide.
We’re scheduled for connection during the 2nd trimester of 2021 – the second quarter of the year – and, according to Serge (our Mayor) end of March or early April. We’ve already had an external planner round (old POEU/NCU External Branch Officers will remember what that particular breed of Engineer are) and she, as indeed a lady it was, indicated we weren’t far away from getting connected. I’m getting quite excited.
I’ll call it a draw at this point – I’m just about worn out getting myself all in a lather. All that’s left to read is my letter from Labour’s Membership Department – for you to read or ignore as you choose.
So on that note I’ll love you and leave you. Please take the greatest care of yourselves, your families and others around you.
Stay home, stay safe and protect the NHS.
All my love
Jem
From: Labour Membership <labourmembership@labour.org.uk>
Date: 02/02/2021 12:24 (GMT+01:00)
Subject: CONFIRMATION: Resignation from the Labour Party
BREMM020221046
Dear Jem,
Thank you for your recent email requesting to end your membership with the Labour Party. I am sorry you have decided to end your membership with the Labour Party.
The old divides of Remain and Leave are over. We had two options: Johnson’s flawed trade deal with the EU, or the chaos of ending the transition period with no deal, which would mean substantial tariffs and barriers to trade. Neither one is ideal. Neither one will deliver for jobs, business or the economy.
We have always said that to crash out with no deal would be unthinkable. It would have created enormous uncertainty, endless negotiations and inflicted huge damage to businesses in highly exposed sectors, including manufacturing and farming.
With no option of renegotiating left, that is why we voted in the national interest by rejecting no deal.
Voting for this deal does not mean we welcome it: it is a choice between this and no deal. This is the better option for business, supply chains, the economy and jobs. This deal will provide some stability and certainty for businesses. Without it, we would have had no deal which would have meant investment and jobs lost across crucial sectors.
But, this is Johnson’s deal. He and his Government will own it and they must take full responsibility for their slowness and lack of preparedness – and for the promises they make and break. There was no reason that a deal this unambitious for the UK had to be left until the final days of the transition period. The decision to delay this deal has already done unnecessary damage to businesses and the economy.
Moreover, this deal falls far short of what the Government promised. It neglects services, which account for 80 per cent of our economy, and weakens our security measures. There was very little time for Parliament to scrutinise the deal properly because of the speed it must be passed as to avoid no deal. So much for ‘taking back control’ – this Government is arriving at the last minute with a deal that is more ‘be grateful you’ve got anything’.
More holes will be exposed in the coming weeks and months which must be mended in the future. Labour in Opposition and government would focus on improving and building on it and standing up for the country’s interests. This Government must now get into action and properly support British industries adjusting to new trading rules, building up local supply chains and expanding in to new markets, instead of casting them to one side as they have over recent months.
Labour are focussed entirely on making this the best country to grow up in and the best place to grow old in. This biggest challenges facing our country and our planet require co-operation and international solutions, and a Labour government will work with others with shared values to tackle those.
However, with the trade deal agreed, the task of securing the economy, protecting the NHS, and rebuilding the country will only have just begun. A Labour government will build on the foundations of this deal, stand up against any Tory attempts to dilute workers’ rights and environmental standards, and make the United Kingdom the best place to grow up and the best place to grow old.
I can confirm I have processed your request to leave the Labour Party. If you have been paying your membership by Direct Debit, please get in touch with your bank to ensure this payment has been cancelled.
Best wishes,
Bethany
Membership Services and Correspondence
The Labour Party