I usually wait until me and the Missus are back from our evening walk until I have my first beer of the day in Lockdown Land. But, on Friday afternoon, I went rogue and cracked one open at 4pm. And, guilty admission, I was still working.
As a long-time journalist, drinking at work is nothing new. In fact, at one point it was such a part of the culture that you were almost an oddity if you didn't. Some of the best journalists I've ever met would do four or five pints at lunch, then go back to the office and somehow manage to produce amazing copy. But it's not been something I've ever done to excess. I haven't drunk at work for the best part of a decade and a half. Until Friday.
Sadly, there's a lot to be concerned about at the moment and reaching for a drink is sometimes a sensible way of not allowing it in, particularly if you have any cogent thought process that allows you to unpick the amount of obfuscation and lies the public are being fed at the moment.
Here are some of my favourites:
i) We're all in the same boat: We're not all in the same boat. We're all in the same storm. It's just that those of us with bigger and more well-equipped boats have a much better chance of avoiding capsizing, sinking and drowning. It's like austerity. We were all in the same boat then. And remember how that disparity played out between the haves and the have nots.
ii) PPE shortage: The way we've basically left NHS staff to function without enough PPE is disgusting. The way we've not helped supply care homes with PPE and seen the pandemic spread at an increased rate through many of these should be a source of national shame. How can the fifth richest economy in the world not be able to manufacture this? I recently interviewed somebody making PPE. He talked about how the manufacturing base of the UK has been decimated for the last 30-40 years. So I accept that is one factor. But emails going missing and UK companies offering to make PPE and not getting a response from Government is appalling.
iii) It's just like the war, isn't it? This was a war we could have been much better prepared for. The Lancet published an article at the end of January that predicted pretty much everything that would happen if this pandemic spread. Exercise Cygnus, a modelling operation Theresa May's government conducted in 2016 on a pandemic coming from Asia, predicted pretty much the same outcomes. If this was a war and we'd ignored the threat of the enemy to this extent, you'd have to assume the generals had been in the chateau several miles behind enemy lines, ignoring the constant incoming shells and getting pissed for the last three months.
iv) They're all heroes! This is difficult one to argue because anyone who risks their lives to protect other people is a hero in my book. We've also had the frankly amazing Captain Tom Moore, the former British Army Officer who's raised a staggering £31million and counting for the NHS by walking in his garden. The hero narrative is a seductive one. But one of the lines a nurse said in a recent Panorama, which investigated whether the Government was negligent in its efforts to secure PPE equipment, stuck with me. To paraphrase: 'If we're seen as heroes, it makes it easier for people to accept us dying in the line of duty.' So NHS workers are heroes. But, make no mistake, they are also victims who are dying fighting a disease that we should have been better prepared to fight. They need functional equipment and pragmatic support, not epitaphs.
v) Freedom of the press: part I: As a journalist, it's been pretty horrifying to watch The Sun and The Daily Mail largely carve out a news agenda that fails to question even the most basic failings of the Government. The job of a journalist is to ask questions. Some of them may be uncomfortable, but that's how we land at fact and not spin. It's true that a few of their front pages have offered some criticism, but that only gives the illusion that they're putting Boris Johnson and chums under scrutiny. For the large part, their on-message sycophancy would shame media outlets in North Korea. The fact one Sunday Times journalist was also banned from asking questions at a Government briefing after the paper ran an expose on its handling of the crisis would also shame a tinpot dictatorship.
vi) Freedom of the press: part II: On the plus side, the abject failure of much of the mainstream press has meant I've shopped around more than usual for my news input. The BBC has its issues, but it remains OK as long as you consider its right-wing leanings. Yes, Laura Kuenssberg, I mean you and others like you. The Guardian and The Mirror have done some sterling reporting and I've also become a fan of Novara Media and Ash Sarker. Looking at how the UK is viewed by other countries is also a healthy exercise. Quite worryingly, though, it's political satire shows such as The Mash Report that seem to have the most balanced view. At least they have the decency to base their satire on verifiable fact.
vii) We're following the science: Science usually involves closely observing phenomena, drawing conclusions from those observation, then assembling the data and forming a coherent argument or plan based on that data. That's how science works. If the UK Government was following the science, it would not have ignored the findings of Exercise Cygnus and it would not have ignored the many articles in The Lancet predicting pretty much everything that has come to pass. It would also have examined the manner in which the disease spread through Asia and Europe and taken best practice examples of how to deal with it when it finally landed on UK shores. Instead, we got 'herd immunity' and, even worse, the potential placement of government advisor Dominic Cummings sitting in and contributing to SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) meetings. The vague possibility the presentation of the science could have been shaped to fulfil a political agenda beggars belief.
After writing this. I need another drink...
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