Next, we should do better
happy mothers’ day, everyone
Just under forty years ago I was the Battalion’s duty officer on Christmas Eve. My duties, which included administering a tot of rum to the soldiers still in the barracks on Christmas morning in Colchester, were hardly onerous. At 9 am on Christmas morning an now life-long pal of mine, Phil Jones – sorry, now retired Lt Gen Phil Jones CB, turned up to take over the duty. We had a glass of rum ourselves and, because he’s a thoughtful man and I am not, he handed me a Christmas pressie and I gave him nothing in return (sorry Phil). I can’t for the life of me remember what his pressie was, but it was almost certainly alcoholic. We said our farewells and I got in my MGB roadster and, ever the bees knees and looking fabulous, drove like a lunatic back home to Hampshire for mum’s Christmas lunch.
At the height of the largest peacetime crisis since the Great Depression, why do I mention this now? Well, today I drove to Godalming to pick up Mary. She’s had a bit of life recently and we are, in effect, her next of kin. And she hates being on her own … and, now in the vulnerable category and unable to leave the house, we decided she should come and stay – indefinitely. Originally it was to be just before Easter. And then the nasty virus thing ramped up a bit and I brought that date forward to Tuesday. And then, last night as I checked the graph of where we were against coronavirus deaths in Italy, it was clear to me that His Borisness would soon have to put us all on proper lockdown (about two weeks late if you ask me), and then Mary would be stuck. So, this morning I got in the car and drove to Surrey, helped her pack and brought her back. Two has now become three in our small house (he says penning this in Doris – thank goodness for our little white holiday cottage by the M4/M5 junction).
But, still. Why the Christmas story. Well, because when I drove back from Colchester along the A12, through the centre of London (there was no M25) and then the A3 – both dual carriageways – I literally floored it and took the shortist route, cutting the apex off corners from slow to fast lanes at will. Why? Because I could and … the traffic was non-existent. It was Christmas, after all. Today wasn’t quite the same, but I have to say I have never seen the M4 so empty. It was Christmas 1982 all over again. Extraordinary.
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the M4 – could be Christmas 1982
And, thus, we start on a brand new chapter in all of our lives. If we follow the Italian model, and looking at the way we have approached this, both governmentally and individually, with people still not understanding the severity of it all, I think we will, we are in for a tough time in the next fortnight. I’m sorry to say.
It would be churlish of me to point fingers … and I’m not going to.
So, on a positive note my advice to the government.
First, make COBR cross-party. Rope in Gordon Brown (who successfully got us through the 2008 financial crisis) and other ex-PMs who have been through the mill. I’m not suggesting a unity government, but I am suggesting that BJ widens the committee. What has he got to lose?
Second, get the medal office to start working on franking a gong for the NHS. They are on their own version of a military operational tour, where the enemy is an unseen terrorist. Every hospital worker should get a medal.
And third, if there isn’t a cross-party lessons learnt group, put one together now. There are plenty of MPs and senior military who have nothing else better to do. And I don’t just mean get them to look at how we deal with the next pandemic, although that will be key. We are all doing things differently. Government is spending money differently. We are living our lives differently. The planet is performing and reacting to those changes, mostly in a positive way. Let’s understand now, before this things ends and we all go back to the capitalism which is ruining the future for our children, what positive outcomes stem from the pandemic. And then, with big hearts and deep pockets, continue them. It may be a 50% reduction in air travel. Or paying everyone a minimum wage. Or increasing state benefits. Or … I don’t know. But unless some bright people ask the question we’ll continue to pound this planet into the ground and live lives less fulfilling.
That’s my advice.
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guttering 1 – coronavirus 0
Keep safe … and keep you distance.
