05/04/2020
Sacrifices
Just a few weeks ago we heard Boris Johnson's government informing us all about herd immunity. Since then we have heard denials that this was ever policy. The rumours of Dominic Cummins saying the elderly could be sacrificed have disappeared into the shadows. Those shadows are still laden with dark and sinister Tory idealism.
It is true to say that Capitalist dogmatism of austerity has been sacrificed. Boris has been forced to spend in order to protect the nation from the financial damage imposed by Covid-19. The magic money forest has been ransacked in order to prevent a total meltdown of the UK economy. This spending is, of course, long overdue. Ten years of austerity have created a nation and a National Health Service inadequately prepared to deal with any additional pressure.
Going into this pandemic we are short of nurses, doctors and the social networks we need. Under a Jeremy Corbyn lead Labour Government the UK would have had a far stronger starting point. An NHS that had been supported and built, rather than destroyed and fragmented and, in many parts, privatised.
Each day now the government seems to be attempting to bore us into apathy. Alok Sharma, Matt Hancock and Michael Gove guaranteed to bore us all into submission. The press briefings have become hard to listen to, and for the main part any attempts to develop the general public's interest in graphs is futile.
Make no mistake though, capitalism is driving government policy and sacrifices will be made by society as a result. Of course we are, for the main part, willing to make sacrifices for the wellbeing of society. Individuals are willing to stay at home to protect themselves and others, and ultimately our NHS.
Whilst testing for the Covid-19 virus potentially offers the opportunity for early intervention, an antibody test simply suggests an immunity. This immunity is for an unspecified time and is unlikely to benefit us in the event that the virus mutates.
The truth though is that our NHS and it's dedicated and wonderful workers are being sacrificed in order to protect the failure of the Tory government. The failure starts with lack of testing. On Friday, we were treated to the sparkling personality of Matt Hancock, telling us about the half a million tests that will be done each day by the end of April. What Mr Personality failed to mention is why the policy adopted successfully overseas, of testing for Covid-19, continues to be largely ignored in the UK. The golden panacea for Covid-19 seems to be testing for those who have already had the disease.
We have already seen doctors and nurses dying as a result of Covid-19 and the inadequate response of the Prime Minister. We have been conditioned to lose many more. The elderly, those in care homes and those who care for them are all too to be sacrificed in the first wave of Covid-19.
In an interesting development, the type of tests rejected as appropriate for the many have been used for the few. Boris and his pals have managed to be tested, and no doubt early intervention has helped to protect them from the extreme ravages of this virus.
However, for the rest of us, we self-isolate, limit our travel, and continue to work if the Government gives us permission, or if we simply have no choice because the alternative is for us and our families to go hungry. The truth is that early testing for Covid-19 offered the opportunity to save lives. Typically though the UK refused to learn from global experience. The lack of intensive care beds, along with international pressure, forced a shift in government policy.
So the sacrifice in lives can be measured. Measured in terms of lives lost to Covid-19 on a daily basis, although even here the figures are dubious, based as they are on hospital deaths only. Make no mistake, there will be many more lost lives and grieving families in the coming months or possibly years, until such time as we have a treatment to tackle this virus. If we eventually emerge from the pandemic, the world will have shifted and the way we live our lives will be changed forever.
Rest assured however, the Government will do all it can to protect big business and ensure economic recovery as soon as possible. Herd immunity remains the central and invisible pillar of Government policy, the aim is to build this immunity slow enough to disguise the frailties within the NHS caused by ten years of Tory neglect and mismanagement. This will remain the policy to keep Britain working and buy time for a vaccine to be developed. A modern Britain partially freed from the pensions burden by Covid-19 will no doubt be viewed as leaner and fitter for the future. Unfortunately though many of us will not see that. After all, we must all make sacrifices.
