“It’s a quadruple whammy. The whole Brexit deal screams of desperation. Johnson is a populist who does not care about the ramifications of what he does, he just wanted a deal – any deal – so he could stay popular. Business is the sacrificial lamb!” (Simon Spurrell, Cheshire Cheese Co.)
Battered But Unscathed
After a terrible night, not only did I still have the lurgy Monday morning, but I felt like I’d been battered round the head. I made a big effort to get washed and in what proved to be the pattern for the rest of the week, went back to bed while Phil took on chores and errands. I watched telly, posted blogs and worked on the journal. On Jeremy Vine, Sociopath Beverley Swivel-head refused to acknowledge reduced stats on coronavirus cases and death rates during lockdown was evidence it worked and advised us to look at ‘the fourth industrial revolution’ for proof it was all part of an evil plan. Get your tinfoil hat on, love!
High value business, performing arts, journos, TV & film people, admen and lottery staff no longer exempt from travel restrictions, but air crew, hauliers, offshore workers and elite sportspeople were. Almost 4 million now immunised, speculation mounted that the over 50’s and medically vulnerable might be done by spring, followed by teachers, coppers and shop workers. New vax centres included Blackburn cathedral and Askham Bar in York. Labour tabled a non-binding ‘early day’ motion to maintain the £20 a week top-up for UC. 6 tory backbenchers revolted against Boris’ instruction to abstain so it passed. In the face of a possible fight between Rishi Rich and Therese Coffee-cup, ministers considered a bewildering 14 options.
That evening, I used the new 3-4-5 breathing technique to gently drift into a much better sleep.
Storm Christoph prompted an amber warning with the Ouse already flooded in York and up to 200 mm of rain predicted in the Peak District and South Pennines midweek. As the deluge set in Tuesday morning, I woke to a noisy siren – a panda car not a flood warning; though one sounded upriver later and the area was on high alert for the next 2 days. Still abed, I worked on the journal until my eyes went funny, perused the internet for birthday gifts but found none, and placed a Boots order before putting the laptop down and trying to relax. At bedtime, Phil said “I hope the flood sirens don’t wake me up.” Feigning shock, I gawped at him: “Never mind people’s homes being flooded and their stuff washed away. As long as it doesn’t wake you!” “Yep!” Luckily, the rain eased off allowing for a restful night.
The WHO called the inequitable distribution of vaccines between rich and poor countries a ‘serious risk’. The UK had enough lined up to inoculate the population two or three times over (albeit with import issues) which the government said was because they’d funded COVAG. Dildo appeared at the Commons Public Accounts Committee to insist paying consultants £1k a day was great value. Cock had to self-isolate after being pinged and was working from his bog until Sunday. Deputy Med Chief Jenny Simpleton suggested phased school opening after half-term. Using the typical thick person trick of trying to sound clever, she waffled about ‘differential application’ (i.e., a regional approach), making her seem incapable of speaking in plain English. How did she get that job? In a leaked private call to tories, Nasty Patel said she’d argued with Boris last March that UK borders should be shut but insisted she supported the PM’s decision to stop quarantine that month. Shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds declared it a ‘shocking admission’. HSBC announced the closure of 82 bank branches between April and September – nowt to do with Brexit, or the plague, apparently…
Wednesday, there was little change in the weather or my condition, both dismal. Trying to clean round the dusty bedroom, I lacked the energy and went back to bed to work on the journal. My debilitation prompted bouts of angst, despair and anger to come to the surface but I tried to keep occupied. A boring PMQs left Desmond Swayne comatose on the front bench. Keir quizzed The Bumbler on missing police records, overriding Patel on closing borders last March, and the slowness of shutting them now, getting the standard non-answers. Zoom issues left remote MPs hanging and Ian Blackford unable to ask his second question.
Cobra met to discuss Storm Christoph and declared adequate preparedness. The Mersey burst its banks, flooding areas of Cheshire and South Manchester where 2,000 residents of Didsbury were told to evacuate. Astra-Zeneca’s Wockhardt factory in Wrexham was mercifully left unscathed only to undergo threats of a different kind a week later. Here, big lumps of snow fell early evening, soon turning back to rain. The water peak predicted at midnight, we again heard no sirens as it only reached road level. At least it made the traffic quieter! Finally getting out of the house at the weekend, I saw evidence in the form of debris on side streets and ravaged ‘duck islands’.
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Phil found a Brexit story in ‘West Country Bylines’, prompting me to post on Brexit Island: ‘Blessed be the cheesemakers. Prospering mightily!’ Describing the palaver of trying to export to the EU, Simon Spurrell of The Cheshire Cheese Co. rallied: “we managed to get a shipment through to Europe which took 6 days instead of 1. Rejected because it’s no longer fresh. We’ve paid the carriage to send it out and we have to pay to ship it back. We have to bin the cheese. We have to refund the customer. We also lose the customer. It’s a quadruple whammy…”I The government really was shafting small businesses. With a lack of support on Brexit or coronavirus, it further strengthened the belief that they wanted everyone to work for their tory chums’ conglomerates. The Opportunistic conspiracy of capitalists knew no bounds!
Meanwhile, Roger Daltrey appeared to change his mind on Brexit due to the deal not including musicians in visa-free travel. We won’t get fooled again!
In the US, a historic day saw the oldest president ever, Joe Biden, and the first ever female vice-president, American-Asian Kamala Harris inaugurated. Loser Trump was off to Florida, not Scotland, preceded by a pathetic military salute and sad party. The next day, Biden signed 10 executive orders related to Covid including mask-wearing, increased testing and accelerated vaccinations. Almost 2 years since we flew on one, and the last time we had a foreign holiday, 737’s were cleared for take-off.
A record high of 1,610 deaths the day before was surpassed by 1,820 deaths. Prof. Vallance warned vaccinations weren’t doing enough ‘heavy lifting’ and early studies suggested the SA variant (501Y&-V2) was resistant.
Not stopped completely, the rain eased off Thursday. Still fatigued and wobbly, it took an age to feel up to bathing. I wrote on my novel until the head fug returned, dossed awhile then hoovered the upstairs floors which of course rendered me exhausted.
A rave reported to police in Southend was actually old people queuing for vaccines that hadn’t turned up. Nasty Patel used the old ‘following the science’ adage and announced £800 fines for going to a house party. The R rate now 1.04, Covid cases and deaths fell for a change. Over 5m jabs had been given, to 4.6m people, at a rate of 200 per minute. However, a React study found the prevalence of Coronavirus still high, especially in London, the South East, East, West Midlands, South West and North West. Yorks and Humber was the only region where it dropped. Including mobility for the first time, the research revealed less movement at the end of December and a rise at the start of January, when lockdown #3 began. It was indeed time to stop telling coffee-cuppers and builders they were essential! New strains of the virus were reportedly found in Germany and France.
On QT, Minister for NI Brandon Lewis aka Swiss Toni* repeated the daft ‘’following the science’ line. Facing a Northern Irish audience, he condescendingly dismissed issues of goods getting to the province post-Brexit as minor. Prof. Anand Menon told us it would get worse in April when the ‘grace period’ for supermarkets ended. Did that mean they’d be hit with the same quadruple whammy as SME’s?
Slightly improved Friday, I took washing to the machine before returning to bed and spent the day writing and sketching. Phil went to the co-op for weekend supplies. Eggs in a plastic box rather than the usual cardboard, a sign on the shelf said there was a cardboard shortage. I joked: “I might do post-it notes and stick them on empty shelves, saying ‘nowt to do with Brexit!’” After dinner, we drank wine (not the whole lot for a change), and watched films.
The Sci-fi Songbird imagined the near future with the world in the 4th year of lockdown, due to the latest variant, Covid-23. The idea muted last March, it was the first film to be made after lockdown #1. At least Michael Bay wasn’t whingeing about not making blockbusters and getting with the zeitgeist! The concept resonated with my recent angst that new strains might mean we were never rid of the plague. Featuring daily temp checks, parcel sanitising cabinets and virus scanners, I recalled reports a few months ago of dogs that could sniff out Covid and robot-cleaners. What happened to those innovations? Would we have them by 2024? Inevitably, I had ‘Covid dreams’ that night, remembering snatches of them the next day.
‘I’ll Be Vaxxed!’
Coronavirus cases in care homes shot up 46% in the last week. Was it because they hadn’t got their booster? A £500 pay-out for everyone pinged by the tit app was muted. Prof. Stephen Reicher said it must form “an essential element of our pandemic response.” But ministers dismissed the idea.
Israeli cases soared despite jabbing 2.8 out of 9m citizens. Authorities extended lockdown to the end of the month -only 10 days away. Was it enough? The ONS revealed a fifth of the UK population were infected last week. Their broader picture included asymptomatic as well as confirmed cases which were falling by 20% a week, the R rate dropping to 0.8-1. The Kent Virus now widespread across the UK, it accounted for 60% of cases. Boris briefed on early studies indicating the variant was 30% more deadly, having thus far said it wasn’t. The Met broke up a wedding party of 400 members of the orthodox Jewish Charedi community. Held in the hall of the Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School in Stamford Hill, North London, an unnamed external organisation managed all function lettings according to the school, who were: “absolutely horrified…and condemn(ed) it in the strongest possible terms.” Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (not the leader of the Charedis) called it “shameful.” Incredulously, the school principal, Rabbi Avrahom Pinter died last April from Covid! With Glasto cancelled again, Paul Reed, CE of the association of Indy festivals said smaller ones might still happen. The James Bond film release postponed a third time, Jeremy Vine clamoured: “get it on Netflix!” Arnie was snapped at a vaccine centre and captioned: “come with me if you want to live.” He should have said ‘I’ll be vaxxed!’
What sounded like soft rain Saturday morning, turned out to be giant snow globs. I stuck my hand out the window. When the flakes landed on me, they felt like feathers then instantly melted. Nevertheless, some settled prettily on hills, trees and roofs until it stopped and disappeared sharpish. Phil woke early but fell back to sleep, lulled by the gentle snowfall. After breakfast, I went back to bed. Although improving, I remained achy, fatigued and very cold, even though the sun was visible. I drafted haikusI I and did some sketching until hunger forced me downstairs. I stayed there to cook a slow-roast dinner and watch films.
A freezing night repainted the hills white on Sunday. I rose very late again but managed the rest of the day out of bed. Really needing fresh air, low bread supplies gave us the incentive to brave the cold. Gone 3 by the time we left the house, the sunlight was scant but conditions less arctic than we’d feared. From the old bridge, we looked at the duck islands. Stripped of vegetation, last week’s storm bizarrely left random items of clothing in its wake. Coffee-cuppers back out in force, bins overflowed with disposable cups. In the busy square, we dodged impatient kids to get pies, glanced at the pathetic farmers market, then visited a couple of shops. Finding reduced ‘Lancashire sauce’ in the deli, and dubious that anything so piquant was a traditional condiment, I mused: “Never heard of it and I’m from Lancs. My mum cooking with spices? I ask you!” It had to be bought though. We took the longer way home, paused on the new bridge to watch the river living up to its name as ducks and pigeons lined up on the wall. Phil said they were expecting the inn to be open but I pointed out it was opposite the pet shop which sold bird feed.
Geordie neighbour waited for us to pass on the step. Chatting safely, he told us he’d had a Pfizer shot, because he does funerals, but queried why he was prioritised. He provided interesting insights on burials versus cremations and the noticeable rise in Muslim funerals at the start of the pandemic.
6,353,321 now immunised, Van Dam renewed pleas for them to keep to lockdown rules. 300 illegal ravers were discovered under railway arches in Hackney.
On the Marr, Cock said lifting lockdown was a ‘long, long, way off’. I knew Laura K’s reported prediction of an end on 5th March was premature and a school return after half-term unlikely. Telling us there were 73 cases of the SA variant in the UK, all related to business travel, we repeated calls to stop all travel – NOW! Lisa Nandy wanted tougher testing, quarantine and checking up. Sir John Bell of Oxford University appeared on Channel 4 news to agree, urging the government to be ‘very tight about transport’. He said delaying the second dose was the right decision, but profound changes in the SA and Brazil strains may make it more difficult to neutralise the virus. If a new vaccine was required, it could be ready by autumn if ‘we get our skates on’, but there would be more variants in future. Remember, ‘Covid used to live up the back end of a pangolin’. Warning of too many eggs in the vax basket, he said other tools such as anti-virals were also needed.
Sturgeon vowed to hold an ‘advisory’ indy ref whether legal or not, if the SNP won the Scottish election in May. Together with increasing Irish rancour over the Brexit mess, Brexit Island would soon shrink! Snow unusually fell in London. In characteristic north/south divide style, outdoor recreation on Primrose Hill was reported as fun japes, unlike the nasty larks in Leeds last week!
Struggling to sleep, I used the new breathing technique but as that proved ineffective, I switched to the trusty meditation tape to drop in and out of a fitful sleep.
*Note – Swiss Toni – a character played by Charlie Higson in The Fast Show and spin-off sit-com in the early 2,000’s
References:
i. West Country Bylines: https://westcountrybylines.co.uk/quadruple-cheese-brexit-whammy/
ii. My haigas: https://wordpress.com/posts/mondaymorninghaiga.wordpress.com