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January 11th 2021
A happy new year to all my readers (both still in the North Island).
Well, what has happened since my last letter on Christmas Eve?
Brexit came and went, and the UK has a trade agreement with the EU. The apocalypse promised by the remainers failed to happen and nothing much has seemed to change. They were complaining about all the extra red tape and bureaucracy (which by the way was popularised by a German – Max Weber) and fail to comprehend the irony when we look at the red tape being applied to volunteer vaccinators to administer Covid inoculations.
They have to complete 21 forms! Even my retired GP is struggling to comply with the requirements. He has to complete a diversity paper and successfully pass tests on health and safety. Pity the virus doesn’t have to complete paperwork, it would never have been able to infect the UK.
Last year I mentioned that where I live was in Tier 1 with minimal restrictions and I predicted that Christmas would see us losing that status. Sure enough, hordes of emmets came pouring over the Tamar and spread Covid around. As a result, we are now part of the national lockdown and even the Isles of Scilly, 24 miles west of Cornwall, is part of the national lockdown (number of cases in the Scillies – 0).
Even though the economy in the south west is heavily dependent on tourism, there is a huge backlash against the inconsiderate incomers. There is one major hospital in the county, and it is now in crisis. It has contacted all major care homes in the county looking for beds so that they can decant patients into them and free up beds.
The care homes are kicking back, as when this happened last year, they had COVID-19 patients dumped on them. This time, they are refusing patients who don’t have full recent tests and all transfer paperwork must be accurate and accompany the patient. At least this time the paperwork is essential.
They have started a vaccination programme and all workers in care homes are scheduled to be vaccinated next week. They are making arrangements so that residents can be vaccinated in the homes rather than drive miles to regional centres. That is because the Oxford product has now come on stream and its distribution is easier than the other vaccine currently available.
What does give confidence is the involvement of the military in the distribution and inoculation. They have appointed a Brigadier, one of the senior logistics officers, to oversee the project. In a refreshing departure from all the recent presentations by the politicians and scientists he is remarkably straight talking. He defined his job as making sure that the vaccine is in arms and not warehouses.
That has just served to underline what a shambles the whole COVID-19 fiasco has become. Boris Johnson had an excuse as he was concentrating on Brexit. Now that has finished, he has nowhere to go for excuses. The problem is that before the last election he got rid of senior politicians who were remainers. That has left the cabinet full of lightweights and inexperienced MPs and that shows in their performance.
It really is abysmal, and they have lost the confidence of the public at large, who are increasingly ignoring the laws/guidelines which are constantly changing. Derbyshire police arrested two women who drove 5 miles to a lake for a walk and when police stopped them they had a flask of tea. The police decided that as the flask contained tea and not water, they were going out for a picnic, not exercise. This resulted in a £200 fine each. It was pointed out that as what they were alleged to have breached were guidelines and not law they could not be fined.
Now’s the surprise, the Home Secretary gave the chief constable a boot up the rear and all “fines” issued by Derbyshire police this week have been cancelled.
In the latest sign of the times, a man was arrested on a south coast beach for twoccing. (Taking without Consent m’lud). He found an inflatable dinghy on the beach left by illegal immigrants and filled in a salvage form to claim it. Border force who arrived checked it and said it was ok and he could take it away. He set off in the dinghy and was stopped offshore by a border patrol boat who promptly charged him with illegally taking the dinghy. It has now gone to court and the hearing postponed. He received a letter confirming that under salvage laws he was the legal owner of the boat. The case has proceeded and been adjourned but his companion was also charged with TWOC.
The world is going mad here, but it seems as though the authorities are embarrassed about the level of undisclosed illegal immigrants arriving on the south coast.
There are so many changes in direction from the government that the public are confused about the lockdown. They are ignoring the advice and now the police have been told to get tough. Respect for the police and the government has gone down the drain and the rumblings of discontent with Boris Johnson are getting stronger. It certainly is a long and winding road to the end of Covid.
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