A rant about injustice, integrity and trust… or the lack thereof

Dominic Cummings

There. I thought I’d get that in first for those of you who want to log off; who think by talking about this situation we are politicizing Covid 19.  Which incidently seems to be the complaint of choice for anyone who disagrees with any post critisising anything.  Sadly though almost everything does in some way link back to politics , it’s unavoidable, as it’s politics and governments that provide the framework for our lives.  Their decisions impact on everything from markets, to NHS, to wars, to poverty.  From education to homelessness.  And all our freedoms, security and everything in between.

Log out if you want.  Personally I am at the point now and have been for some time, that anyone who can in anyway not see the bigger problem with the Dominic Cummings saga, the damage, the audacity, the assault on almost everyone in this country, then I don’t care. In fact, I would prefer to extracate myself from them permanently.  So hurtful and damaging was his behaviour, followed by his contrition, his lies and the Tory defence of him and their subsequent pathetic attempts to normalise his actions, that I cannot shake the rage, disappointment and disdain for anyone who approves of him; defends Boris’s defence of him; or has the insensitivity to suggest ‘its getting boring now’ and ‘ we should all move on’ …

…Bye bye those people, because to be honest, your values and moral compass are way off line with mine and your company will not be missed.

Harsh? Maybe.  Honest feeling? Yes.

 

There have been so many memes, posts, satirical commentary on the subject.  So much grief, despair and justified outrage, that  for the governmet to not act is embarrassing, insulting, and more than questionable.  The ethics and morality of those in charge need to be called to account.

I would be saying this if Jeremy Corbyn were leader and this was an aid to his Government or Nigel Farage or Jo Swinson, or anyone.  This extends party politics.  It is about credibility and trust.  Its about respect and safety.  Its about honesty and integrity.  And in one fell swoop the response by Boris Johnson and many Tory MPs following DCs  actions calls in to question all of these attributes.

“…. When all you have are scandals, nothing becomes scandalous, and the likes of Cummings and Johnson are able to deflect and ignore the concept of culpability…” – Irish Times

Until then I had given old Boris the benefit of the doubt.  My feelings being that anyone leading government into such unfamiliar waters with such potential lethal outcomes would not have done right for doing wrong.  I also hold a lot of blame on the modern media who are determined to vilify anyone and create terrorising headlines irrespective of the actions of those making the decisions. Shutting down too late? Opening up too soon? Skewed statistics.  What one week sooner COULD have saved.  It’s all bloody nonsense. But I genuinely believe that , initially the intent of the government was honourable and with the best intention.  Now I think they’re just barely treading murky water.  And this effing ‘R’ number nonsense.  How the hell do they know?!  I only know of one person who has been tested and he was critical and on a ventilator.  Even people I know on the front line are still waiting for tests.  Who knows for sure if they’ve had it or not or if they’re carrying it or ill because of it unless they are whisked into hospital almost no-one has been tested so this R number is, quite simply MADE UP.  Even the facts aren’t facts.  We learned recently that however many tests the government are claiming to have done, its 100% overstated because a single person has a nose and a throat swab and that is counted as 2 tests!!!

Anyway, back to Demonic.  If, we can somehow justify his decision to strap a woman with CV19 into a car with a 4 year old child to travel to an outhouse near his parents for the fear of not having child care locally,  were he also to become sick; we cannot surely ignore any of these factors:

1. Mary Cummings fake account in The Spectator of being in self isolation in London with the illness

2. Him not telling the PM that he was going.  Boris was still working despite his own ill health.

3. Him going back into work after suspecting his wife may be contagious despite the clear rules to self isolate the whole household if someone is showing even mild symptoms

4. His excuse that he needed to go into work because of decisions relating to vaccine – he’s a political advisor NOT the Health secretary or a scientist (Although he is, I believe, related to the contracted provider of the vaccine, so maybe, nepotism)

5.  He had several members of his family in London and surely, he also had a telephone or some means of contacting a relative from further affield, who was not infected who could come to him

6. That in the course of a 520 round trip plus other outings he never had to stop for petrol

7.  That in the course of a 5 hour journey he didn’t need to stop at services for a toilet or snack with a 4 year old child in tow

8.  That the trip happened to coincide with his mum’s birthday, his wife’s birthday and Easter bank holiday

9. That the trip to Barnard Castle was justified in anyway shape or form.  Especially as the rules specifically excluded any travel at all other than essential ones over the Bank Holiday weekend.

10.  That his wife , who I believe does drive, was not considered an appropriate option for the journey back to London the following day

11.  That driving when you think your eyesight is impaired is a breach of the highway code, is, at best, wreckless driving, in the eyes of the law, and is endangering the lives of passengers and other road users.

12.  If he was idiotic enough to think of driving as an appropriate way to test his eyes , the least he could have done was leave his child with the family who he had engaged for childcare, and maybe just driven on the family estate rather than risking lives on the public highways!

13  And 30 miles. FFS.  He really is taking the population of GB for fools.

14. That HE is one of the driving forces behind the rules, guidance, slogans and emergency laws he was so flagrantly ‘manipulating’ at best

“…the manner in which the Prime Minister has sought to dismiss any and all concerns about Cummings’s behaviour has further undermined already fragile confidence in his government’s handling of this crisis. There is nothing to see here and the little people should know it is time to ‘move on’…” – The Spectator

The long and short of it is this, if it’s ok to just follow your parental instinct how in the hell can the police have any power in this situation?  If instinct in the defence of emergency laws is acceptable then it’s free reign.  And how damned insulting and offensive to every single person who has struggled or suffered by following the rules set out for the greater good of the population as a whole: “Stay Home” ” Save Lives” “Protect the NHS” .  Those single parents who have managed with the illness and without childcare; all those other families locked in for three months with their own autistic children; how dare he dangle that as his defense; those who couldn’t comfort their children, parents, grandparents, partners as they died terrified and alone on ventilators in hospitals; those who have given birth during lockdown who have not been able to have the support of their family; those who are feeling depressed , anxious, suicidal because they can’t leave their homes but are doing so for the ‘greater good’; the NHS and frontline workers who are risking their lives EVERY SINGLE DAY; whose mental health may never recover from the trauma they have witnessed; the police who now have to control the population with one hand tied behind their back;  people living in overcrowded flats who have been vilified for going out and sitting on a park bench;  all those who have been fined for lesser breaches of the same rules.

 

Think about this. All those people who have lost someone will already be riddled with grief and guilt, without being told that if they’d just used their instinct, or read the ‘get out of rules’ small print in the new legislation, they could have done exactly what felt right for them rather than what was directed on a national level.

Its a damned disgrace.

It should not be ‘put to bed’.  We should not simply ‘move on’.

AND PLEASE pointing to someone else who was equally irresponsible is not a defence or a reason to be less angry.  We are not 8 and having a spat in a playground, Anyone who is spouting the “he’s been naughty too why aren’t you telling him off”  line, is just beyond pathetic.  And talking of pathetic, some of the statements from the ‘Lambs to the Slaughter Spokes-Tories ‘ who have been wheeled out in front of the media to justify DC and BJs response… now there really is very little credibility left.

And there you have it.  I’m ranted out.  But I won’t be moving on.