“Let Them Eat Cake!”

So, here we go again. As we sat and listened to the Prime Minister’s announcement last night it felt like time had been rewound to March. The country is heading back into lockdown. All precautions and safety measures have failed, and Corona infection rates and death rates are back to the levels they were in April. Am I surprised? No, of course not.

During the original lockdown from mid-March to mid-June, we saw repeated instances of people ignoring the rules with little or no consequences to themselves. This made me angry because I felt it was unfair on the rest of us who were doing what we were told. To those of us staying home, only venturing out once a week for essential supplies, not seeing our friends and families, and coping as best we could with house arrest – the fact that so many treated it as one great paid holiday was disgusting and immoral. Yet they got away with it.

There aren’t enough police to manage the situation, we were told. Fine, I can understand that. So where were the army? Where were the TA? Weren’t the TA formed for exactly such situations as this? Hell, call out the military police from the air force if need be. The lockdown needed to be reinforced – severely reinforced – but it wasn’t. In my opinion, anyone caught breaking the rules should have had their furlough pay or benefits suspended. Maybe it’s hard line of me, but I felt my furlough was pay for obeying the rules, taking care, and STAYING AT HOME. It wasn’t so you could swan off to the beach, have vast barbecues and invite all your friends, or congregate in each others houses.

And now, surprise surprise, we’re all heading back into lockdown for at least a month, possibly longer. But once again the government is half-arsing it. Instead of a total and strictly reinforced lockdown of all but essential and key workers, it is vague and fluffy around the edges. Work from home, unless you can’t, in which case go to work. How are most firms supposed to interpret that? I fear most will take it to mean business as usual so public transport – especially in the cities, will be crammed as workers commute and spread the virus.

All schools, colleges, and universities to remain open. My jaw dropped at that one, and I simply looked at Miss F in disbelief. The places that we know to be absolute petri dishes for this contagion are places where children and young people are gathering in great numbers. Miss F comes back shaken and scared every time she has to go into her college. Although her and her friend wear masks and regularly sanitise their hands, not many others do, and there’s no reinforcing of the mask rule. There’s precious little hand washing, and absolutely no social distancing. The children are crammed into classrooms and are shoulder to shoulder in the public areas.

Then when they leave their places of education, you see them crowded together on the streets. There’s no social distancing, just bunches of young people hanging out together the way they always have done – all close to one another, touching, and in some cases, hugging each other.

So, tell me, BoJo, how is this supposed to work? The children go to their places of education. They mix and mingle with hundreds of other children, who in turn have mingled with hundreds of others. They pick up the infection on their skin, clothes, and hair. They then bring it back to their families sheltering at home. They infect them with the virus. The young person probably won’t get sick, or if they do, mildly. But the family member they infect may not be so lucky. And what about if that family member is the primary carer for an elderly or vulnerable family member, or their job is being a carer to sick, elderly, and vulnerable members of society?

Once again, the government don’t seem to have thought this through. If the lockdown isn’t going to be for all non-essential members of the society, then why bother doing it at all? Why not just leave us to take our chances?

After the announcement we discussed it. Miss F is afraid to go back to college and I one hundred percent support her decision. She is mostly homeschooling now anyway, so it seems pointless risking infection for the three hours or so a fortnight she has to go to college – only to find that her teacher couldn’t be bothered to turn up for class so the kids are crammed into another class, breaking all the social distancing rules.

Miss F’s feeling is that she would rather lose one month of lackadaisical and substandard education than risk losing me, or, at the very least, bringing home the infection and making me very ill. This is something I do have to seriously consider. At 53 I am not old, but neither am I that young. I’m not vulnerable, but this virus seems no respecter of how healthy or fit a person is. I am also the only captain of this ship. If I get sick, then there is no one else to do what I do. I cannot afford to contract a virus that could potentially affect my ability to work and support us for the rest of my life. I also do not want to die and leave my daughter alone. So, am I being selfish keeping her at home? Maybe. Do I believe it is justified and the right thing to do? Absolutely.

So, this is a message to the Prime Minister and all those other selfish, overpaid, idiots in power. OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT CANNON FODDER. IF IT IS UNSAFE FOR ADULTS TO BE OUT THERE, IT IS UNSAFE FOR THEM TO BE OUT THERE. END OF STORY!

I am already beyond disgusted at how this government has acted recently. Voting themselves a massive pay rise in a time when many are struggling to keep body and soul together is such a blatant slap in the face to those parents who cannot afford to feed their children. Many have lost their jobs due to the pandemic or have been left too ill to work. So many small businesses and industries have closed with the loss of jobs and income. So many in the entertainment industry have had their lives destroyed by this.

In New Zealand, all politicians voted to take a pay cut in solidarity of their people and in recognition of their suffering. That is true leadership. That is putting the needs of your people first. Did our politicians follow this sterling example? No, they did not. They greedily and selfishly demanded a large pay increase. As a reward for handling the situation so well, presumably!

On top of that, it has recently come to light that all politicians receive a £25 a day food allowance. £25 a day, every single day of the year!

I’ll give you a moment to process that. £25 a day! Each. Apparently, the poor dears can’t manage to feed themselves from their £80k+ a year salary. This is the same government that then voted against ensuring that no child is starving in the UK. Again, I’ll give you a moment to process that. They sat on their well-fed and well-padded backsides and said no to allocating £2.50 a day to give a free school dinner to every child that needed it during the half term holiday. They said no, whilst receiving a £25 a day allowance paid to them from OUR tax money to pay for their nom noms!

This is beyond disgusting. This is unethical and criminal. That a government can put themselves so far above their people is shocking in the extreme. I wonder, when someone informed BoJo that the people could not afford to buy bread, did he respond with “Let them eat cake”?

It took companies like McDonalds, Papa John’s, and other high street food chains to step in and offer free food to children. Across the country, food retailers heard the call and answered. And all I can do is shake my head in despair and say to the government, shame on you. Shame on you for so blatantly demonstrating that our lives mean nothing to you, our children mean nothing to you. And how dare you. How dare you take our tax money to pay for your three course lunches whilst others go hungry. You can afford to feed yourself and your families. On the money you earn you can afford to stop the £25 a day food allowance and direct it to a more worthwhile cause. Because at the end of the day, if I can afford to live, pay my bills, and feed my family on less than £13,000 a year – I know that you can do it on £80k+.

It is rare that I rant about anything as controversial as this. And I know that there are many out there who will not hear a bad word against the government. Who are staunch supporters and cannot see anything wrong with how the government has handled the situation. I agree, it is an unprecedented scenario. I agree, no one should have to deal with it. I agree, many difficult and hard decisions had to be made, and I wouldn’t have wanted the job. But this is the job they wanted. They wanted to be the leaders of our country. So, all I am saying is LEAD US WELL.

Even the most ardent supporter must look at their recent behaviour and begin to doubt that the government has our best interests at heart. Surely, anyone who is a grandparent or has children in their family must have listened to the announcement last night that all places of education were to remain open and despaired. And even the most hard-hearted and uncaring individual must agree the unfairness of a government that would quite happily leave children to starve whilst sipping a cheeky little Bordeaux wine over their slap-up, paid for lunch. Paid for by us, don’t forget.

I am sorry if I have offended anyone. But this is something I feel needed to be said. We are living in dark and strange times, and these are the days we should be all pulling together. Yet the gap between wealthy and poor has never yawned so widely.

I am late writing this blog because I was in two minds whether to post it or simply delete it and post something light and inconsequential. I am an author, and as such have never felt I have the right to use my social media standing as a platform to air my views – be they political, religious etc – but, I am also a mother and a tax-paying resident of this country. I am directly affected by the events that are happening around me and I cannot stay silent on this.

I am not an extremist. I am not a radical. I am simply a person who wants everyone to be treated equally and fairly. Sure, let the politicians keep their £25 a day food allowance – but only if we ALL get that same allowance. I manage to feed two of us and a cat on £50 a week, so that would amply pay for all our food and all our other bills. And as for the argument that politicians work long, hard hours – so do doctors and nurses and retail staff and construction and factory workers – but they are expected to pay for their own meals. The average nurse earns less than £18,000 a year and yet still have to pay the vastly inflated prices in the hospital canteen if they want a hot meal in the middle of a twelve-hour shift.

There is so much that is rotten and unfair in our country. Many of us work hard for little pay, and struggle with ever increasing food prices and utilities. Just keeping the lights on and food on the table can sometimes consume almost a whole monthly wage and it is a constant struggle. What else can you cut down on? Turn off the heating, put on an extra jumper, do without breakfast so your child can have something to eat, work extra shifts, all just to get by. And all the time, those who are at the top of the food chain squeeze even harder, desperate to wring every last penny from us to pay for their own luxurious and indulgent lifestyle.

It is wrong. So very wrong.

But I do not see change coming anytime soon.

I apologise to those of you who tuned in expecting the usual A Little Bit of Blake, and I promise that normal service will be resumed next week. But I had to get this off my chest, and I thought the six of you who read my blog wouldn’t mind if this once I used you to let off steam.

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, keep your families close and please stay safe.

Julia Blake

What has happened to the world? As the reports flood in from too many countries to count now, it seems a small, inconsequential and localised illness that was far away in China, has suddenly become very real and very scary.

So far in Suffolk where I live there has only been one reported case of Covid-19, but I’m not naïve enough to believe that we will escape unscathed. Watching news reports from places like Northern Italy that are under complete lockdown, it was heartening to hear the residents singing to each other through open windows but worrying to think that we might be next. Although the thought of residents in Birmingham cheerfully serenading each other from bedroom windows is a lovely one, I somehow don’t think that’s how us Brits would react to house arrest.

And how do we in the West respond? Do we remain level and calm-headed? No. Do we think about our fellow man and only take our fair share of supplies? Also no. Panic buying on a mass scale not experienced since the countrywide strikes of the seventies has occurred, with people stockpiling items they consider to be essential should the worst occur, and we all have to self-isolate.

Self-isolate. Now there’s a prissy expression if ever I’ve heard one. Why not call it what it is, quarantine? Because that’s what it is. Going into quarantine to avoid spreading the latest plague to cull mankind. A lot of people I know have expressed a fervent wish that they could spend two weeks at home with no work, no school, no college and no physical interaction with anyone outside their own four walls. I must admit, the notion is attractive, and I know both Miss F and I could manage it just fine. Let’s face it, busy introvert that I am I could quite easily fill those two weeks with home and garden activities and wish for more time. But, that’s not to say I want it to happen.

Because if it did, if we were ordered into quarantine, that would mean it was because the virus had reached pandemic status in the UK and that truly is a frightening thought. It doesn’t seem that deadly a virus, yet. The statistics for survival are high, and with Miss F being only sixteen and healthy, and me being reasonably sound despite a few creaks here and there, I think we’d be okay. We don’t smoke or have any underlying immune issues that we’re aware of.

However, you need to look beyond the “I’m okay, Jack” attitude that seems sadly so prevalent. Yes, maybe you would be okay, but even though this virus isn’t particularly deadly, it is extremely contagious and that’s where the real danger lies.

Reports indicate that you can catch the virus and walk around for days, even weeks, without being aware you have it. You may very well feel fine, perhaps a slight cough or flu like symptoms, but not enough to raise the alarm, so off you pop to work, school, the shops, the hairdressers, the supermarket, all the while touching things and coughing, spreading the contagion even further, and maybe one of the people who catches it from exposure to you isn’t so young, fit and healthy. Perhaps they’re elderly, have diabetes or some other debilitating illness. Perhaps they have an undiagnosed heart condition, perhaps they’re on medication or treatment that has compromised their immune system. Suddenly, the “I’m alright, Jack,” attitude is more than just selfish, it’s deadly.

But what’s the alternative? I’ve seen a lot of posts on social media condemning the government for not ordering us all into quarantine now. I’m not sure that that is the answer though. All reports indicate that this virus won’t peak for another four to six months so maybe the government is wise to delay such a move until it’s absolutely necessary. After all, could you cope for six months trapped within your home? Although we have a good supply of food and essential toiletries, they wouldn’t last that long, and yes, I am aware we could order deliveries but like most British citizens, if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. The government has promised that we’ll all get statutory sick pay from week one of mandatory self-isolation, and the whole nation went yay, but most don’t realise that SSP is only about £3.50 per hour.

Think about that. £3.50 per hour. Could you live for long on that? Could you continue to pay your mortgage, your utilities and insurances on that? How about buying groceries? And what about paying for those Sky and Netflix subscription, because let’s face it, most people trapped in their homes for six months would resort to becoming couch potatoes desperate for entertainment and distraction.

It’s alright for members of parliament, living in their ivory towers with well stocked pantries and wine cellars, and access to savings and endless funds, but what about the rest of us. Who is going to pay for a whole nation being forced to live on sick pay? More importantly, who is going to keep the country running? If we’re all cowering in our homes surrounded by 300 rolls of toilet paper and enough rice to feed a small Asian country, who is going to be running our hospitals, our factories and our emergency services? Who is going to be running the powerplants and water treatment plants?

Maybe the government is right to keep things going for as long as possible, because I do wonder when the Chinese and the Italians and all the other countries that have adopted extreme lockdown measures emerge, what will happen? I have a strong suspicion that the virus will simply return, and it will all have been for nothing.

Am I panicking? To be honest, no. At the moment it all feels very surreal and a bit fantastical. I listen to the news, none of it good, yet all around me life is continuing as normal. We’re still going to work and college, I’m still going to the shops – not stockpiling, I hasten to add, just normal essential shopping – and things are jogging along as they always do.

Will it hit us? Will we be quarantined? Will anyone I know catch it? Will we catch it? Will anyone I know die from it? These are all questions that I know I won’t be alone in asking, but the answers seem up for grabs in that no one knows with any certainty what will happen. Will it be like Swine Flu again – remember that? All that panic and then it fizzled away into nothing. Unless the virus mutates again into an even more virulent strain, I don’t think we’re looking at a pandemic on the scale of the Spanish Influenza that swept over the globe after the First World War. Killing almost one third of the population, it was one of the deadliest pandemics we’ve had since the Black Death.

Even if the virus does mutate, we are still in a much better position that we were then. Medicine has come a long way since 1919, we have instant communication around the world and understand far more about the spread and containment of infection. Most people are stronger and healthier than they were then. Newly emerged from a debilitating and crippling world war, people were malnourished and vulnerable and could offer little or no resistance to the virus.

So, we wait, and see, and that’s really all any of us can do. Sure, be prepared. I’ve made sure we have enough basic food stuffs and toiletries to see us through a month, I’ve also picked up a months-worth of my hayfever medication, figuring it’s not a good idea to be wheezing and struggling to breathe anyway AND catch a dose of Corona. My edict has been – Be Sensible. Not Greedy.

In other health news, Miss F is being tested for asthma. She’s been plagued by an annoying, persistent cough for months now and initial tests show she has a reduced lung capacity. The doctor seems unsure what it is, with options ranging from long term lung congestion to asthma, so twice a day she has to blow into a breath recording device and chart the results. We’re also waiting for an appointment with a dermatologist to get a mole on her back examined. It appears to have grown and changed in texture and is bleeding colour into the surrounding skin. It’s not cancer. The doctor assures us in one so young with no genetic history of cancer, that there’s a less than 1% chance of it being malignant. Still, you don’t muck about with moles so I’m pushing for it to be examined sooner rather than later.

I had a blood test last week and have an appointment for a follow up consultation next Wednesday. I know they’re going to tell me my anaemia has worsened, I think they’re going to tell me my vitamin D deficiency hasn’t improved and I have a sneaking suspicion they’re going to confirm my calcium levels have dropped again.

With these more immediate, closer to home, medical shenanigans, is it any wonder I’m not worrying about the corona virus yet?

A shorter blog this week. I’m tired and a bit downhearted and lacking in things to say. I hope next week to have more positive things to write about, but for now can only say that I hope wherever you are in the world you are well and healthy. Stay safe, my friends.

Julia Blake