Whilst not planned, October has been a month of much reflection for me. When a temporary solution to a temporary problem becomes a permanent problem, I guess it is natural to reflect and consider why.
In periods of great chaos, there can sometimes be moments of great clarity. Moments when the clouds part, the disagreements subside and we glimpse a vital truth. It feels like we have reached such a moment.
The vital truth is……the trust in our leadership has gone.
Without public trust, people will not comply with guidance, whether advisory or mandatory. They will not have faith in Government, will not trust the data and will not trust fellow citizens to do their bit.
Leaders in Taiwan, New Zealand, Sweden, South Korea and Germany have communicated in clear, broadly honest ways. They have treated their citizens as grown-ups and there has been huge public compliance (way above the critical level necessary to retain control of an epidemic).
Just as the success stories share a pattern, so too do the failures. In the UK the public rallied to the Government in the early days of the crisis but then as Government failed to deliver the promise of “world-beating” this, “world-class” that and standing by those who visit Barnard Castle for an eye-test, trust began to vanish.
We could blame confusing rules or mixed messages for breaches and non-compliance……but this misses the deeper point. The problem is not the messages but the messenger. When you stretch the meaning of words beyond credible limits and consistently overpromise and underdeliver, you undermine communication itself. It is impossible to communicate with a public that have simply stopped listening.
Can trust be restored? I am not holding out much hope given that this is a Prime Minister whose bluster shows no sign of abating. We have no hope of succeeding without public trust and administrative competence. Sadly, both are in short supply.
My other deep considerations and reflections this month have also included:
** The realisation that I am more scared of the second wave of Zoom quizzes than I am of the second wave of the virus.
** Punctuation is very important. Example (a) There's a Maypole dancer Example (b) Theresa May, pole dancer. As I say, very important.
** There is nothing more satisfying as being told by a website that a new password I’ve chosen is ‘Very Strong’. Nothing.
** The next most satisfying thing is skipping 3 pages of my daughter’s bedtime story without her noticing. Big win.
** Wearing a mask has stolen me of so many fun sneezes. Sneezing with a mask on is zero fun.
** “I’ve lost my favourite face mask” wasn’t a phrase I saw coming.
** Whenever I am sent a screenshot of anything, the first thing I look at is what percentage of battery life is left. You can tell a lot about a person from their remaining battery percentage. I’m never below 93%.
** When an MP goes to London by train (from Glasgow) with Covid symptoms, uses the underground multiple times, spends hours in Parliament, visits a beautician, attends mass in Church, travels back home by train having been confirmed Covid positive and then justifies all of this by stating the “virus makes you act out of character”……you have a ready-made excuse to justify any abnormal behaviour.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not sure you will get away with “sorry I murdered your entire family with a spoon but I was feeling a bit Covid”. Equally, it didn't make BoJo competent or The Trump likeable. But I reckon there is scope in justifying my questionable behaviour this year on having Covid since February and definitely not having a midlife crisis. Definitely.
What a relief.
The Numbers
Big figures on the back of big problems in the UK. Here’s a selection that stood out amongst the spin……
UK unemployment hit a 3 year high, with the level of redundancies the most seen since 2009.
Fears grow for 1.8 million job losses as 11% of workers still on furlough comes to an end on 31 October 2020……at a total cost so far of £39 billion. Rishi’s ink was still not dry on his ‘Winter Economy Plan’ when he was forced to rethink, amend and increase financial support to replace the furlough scheme (although he won’t admit that this was due to Andy Burnham digging his heals in to protect the Greater Manchester economy). Rishi moving the goal posts to reflect greater financial support for the greater Tier 3 restrictions seems sensible…..time will tell whether it is enough though.
Best not to mention the £2 billion lost to criminals in fraudulent furlough claims.
There is much speculation that Rishi will need to increase taxes soon to pay for all of the pandemic financial support and stimulus. Whilst decision won’t be made until next year, consider this……Amazon paid just £293 million in taxes on £13.7 billion of sales last year. That is a rate of 2.1% of its revenue in tax last year, despite its earnings having surged by 25%. Perhaps taxing profit making companies would be a good starting point. Just a thought.
Official figures show the biggest quarterly leap on record for retail sales, as the sector battles back from the coronavirus lockdown amid renewed restrictions. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a 17.4% jump in volumes in the third quarter. Dare I suggest that Christmas shopping has started early?
On the other side of the coin, new car sales in the UK fell to their lowest point in 21 years. The 4.4% year-on-year drop in sales meant it was the weakest September for new car registrations since 1999.
The US economy suffered its sharpest contraction in at least 73 years because of the disruptions from Covid-19. GDP plunged at a 31.4% annualised rate, the deepest drop in output since records began in 1947. That’s the largest and most powerful economy in the world.
The second largest economy, China, has seen economic recovery accelerate as consumer spending picked up and great demand for factory output to meet global demand for medical equipment. Low Covid-19 infection rates have also helped the country's economy to continue its v-shaped recovery with an impressive 4.9% GDP for the quarter.
In the week prior to half term, 55% of secondary and 22% of primary schools sent pupils home due to Covid. As a parent, it is increasingly difficult to trust our leaders who presided over the highest excess death rate in Europe, claimed to have put a ‘protective ring’ around care homes and promised a ‘world-beating’ app by last June……and yet ask that we trust them with safe schooling.
The NHS Test & Trace system has contacted 750,000 people so far. At a current cost of £12 billion (and rising), that's £16,000 per person contacted. A “world beating system” it is not.
More than 900,000 people have signed a petition on the back of 322 MPs voting against feeding 1.4 million children from low income families…..literally 5 days after Marcus Rashford was awarded an OBE for his efforts with this. For perspective, a week of food vouchers for the 1.4 million children would cost the same as half a day of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. Where do I even begin to start with this?
The Comedy (The Trump Award)
During the pandemic the UK has lived in a crazy world of daily Government u-turns, contradictory rules (pretty much designed to keep Wetherspoons open), a lack of humanity and sheer total madness. As I told an overseas friend recently, “unless you are living in it, then it is almost impossible to describe just how infuriatingly messed up it all is.”
I was then reminded that they live in North America. Enough said.
The Trump award was always designed to acknowledge those in the UK that have shown levels of lunacy that The Trump himself would be proud of. Consistent madness being consistently delivered.
This month’s nominations for the award, in their own right, are completely idiotic and deserve recognition.
Take Stanley Johnson (BoJo’s father), who failed to wear a mask in a newsagents and then claimed not to have understood the rules as regards face masks as he had been on holiday for 3 weeks (what did he think the other customers where doing……robbing it?).
Or Jez Corbyn not being able to count to 6 and being photographed attending a dinner party for 9 people.
Or Margaret Ferrier. You know the one……the Scottish MP who was Covid-riddled going on tour around the UK.
Or Dido Harding’s NHS Test & Trace system. Or BoJo’s handling anything of semi-importance. Or Matt Hancock. Bless him.
They are all worthy contenders……until you compare them to The Trump……and then they are not even close at all.
This could be the last month we get to see him as President……and he has really saved his final monthly performance to showcase his lunacy in all its glory. It is simply astonishing. Mesmerising. A thing of beauty.
10 days in the life of Trump.
Day 1
Live debate with Joe B, which turned into a shambles. The Trump mocked Joe B for (a) wearing a mask too much and (b) the size of the mask.
Day 2
He learns that pretty much most of his campaign staff have tested positive but he doesn’t self-isolate.
Day 3
The Trump attends a large social event for political party doners. Why wouldn’t you? Ah.
Day 4
He tests positive for Covid-19 and tells the world that “he feels great”.
Day 5
Still “feeling great”, The Trump is airlifted to hospital……“precautionary” obviously.
Day 6
The Trump gets pumped full of a cocktail of experimental drugs and then gets the Secret Service to drive him, whilst infected, around the streets of Washington to wave at a few hundred supporters. Various doctors hold press conferences giving contradictory updates on The Trump’s condition and treatment.
Day 7
The Trump receives a spray tan in his hospital room and is then airlifted back to the Whitehouse and tells American’s “not to be afraid of Covid”, releases a Hollywood movie of his return and takes to the Whitehouse balcony to salute like a returning war hero dressed as a riddled Evita (“Covita” if you will allow me).
Oh my goodness. It really is quite the watch. If you watch nothing else this year, watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN7sliYigBE
Day 8
The Trump takes to Fox News and declares, “I'm back because I'm a perfect physical specimen.” Said the man with a BMI over 30. Wow! He then also compared himself to Churchill. He also states that the treatment he received is available to everyone, despite the fact that it would cost $100,000.
Day 9
The Trump tweets: “Just spoke with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Very thankful for his friendship and support as I recovered from the China Virus. I am looking forward to working with him for many years to come, a great guy!” Clearly the drugs have had a severe impact on judgement.
Day 10
The Trump ridicules Joe B by tweeting: “Don’t vote for Biden, he’ll listen to the scientists”. Wow.
Even by The Trump’s standards, this was a world class performance in lunacy. He’s spent the last 6 months telling us Covid-19 is a hoax, refusing to wear a mask and going against all scientific advice. There is only The Trump that can be hospitalised by a hoax.
We are probably witnessing the last few days of the first and last ‘non-politician’ to ever hold the Presidency. We’ll never see the likes of him again……thankfully.
Something tells me there will be a sting in the tail….one final assault…….a parting gift. He simply isn’t the type to go quietly is he.
I’m gonna miss you, you crazy orange big guy.
Trump Lunacy Rating: 10 / 10
And Finally……
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
(Albert Einstein)
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