Crisis, what Crisis?

Crisis, what Crisis?

Autumn mists, balmy weather and as yet ( see **) no major resurgence of Covid, life seems on the surface to be back to normal. I have stayed away from home, not just in the relative safety of the cottage, but in London and in Kent. I have travelled by train and tube. Family life is thriving, birthday parties, multi family gatherings, chatter and natter with no talk of Covid. 

And yet underneath this apparent normality,  with shops open, offices open, rush hour commuters surging onto tubes and buses,  there is a surreal sense that this is all an illusion and that any week now we will be plunged back into a winter of dispair.

We are already teetering on a winter of discontent. England is suffering food, fuel, and gas shortages. The Government blames Covid. Brexit is a forbidden word. Whilst it is true that this is a global problem driven by a global pandemic causing lack of production across the board and major issues in shipping and transport it is also true that Britain's shortages are worse thanks to our Brexit policy of non immigration. Nothing has showed Brexiteers more how much we rely on the EU and how bereft we are without it. 

Boris Johnson throws out exemptions by the day, come over til Xmas EU lorry drivers, oh, not enough, come til March. Bring in more care workers. Sadly the EU workers once happy to work here went home post Brexit and during Covid and show little inclination to come back. I can't say I blame them. 

**Covid rampages among us, positive cases rise by the day. Hospital cases also rise, and although severe illnesses overwhelming the NHS is so far being held in check only by vaccinations, as winter looms over an exhausted population I feel the pervading unease that bad times lie ahead. 

 Boris Johnson, however, jets off for a five star holiday, riding the crest of a bizarrely successful Tory party conference.  Inside the hall is all cheers and applause, outside is misery and protests.Inflation has risen sharper than predicted. The Tory party has withdrawn the extra £20 top up on universal benefit introduced during covid. Words fail me. Wages are rising but this triumphant Tory catch phrase missing the end of the sentence, i.e not in line with inflation.  Food banks, once rare, are now normal even in an affluent town like Lewes.

 A cartoon in The Independent summed up the stark contrast between them and everyone else  Boris Johnson is depicted lying on a sunbed, champagne glass afloat, sealed in a bubble soaring high above the burning dystopia of post Covid, post Brexit Britain. 

The NHS , whilst not at breaking point just yet, is very close, and  creaking at the seams. A drs appt is the golden grail. Like most people I ve given up waiting for my flu jab from my GP and had it done by the chemist. As for when I get my promised booster, my best guess is about 3 months after it is due , which is 1 st November.

This promised booster is our only defence but this too the Government has failed to deliver. Supplies are short, clinics everywhere are cancelled often on the day. I simply don't think about the worst than can happen any more because otherwise living a normal life in a society and culture returned to normal is impossible.

No coincidence Boris was on holiday when the long awaiting public report on the Governments handling of the Covid crisis was published, and was as damning as expected. 

Cue Tory Ministers focusing on how a successful vaccination programme is all that matters and simply refusing to engage about how many of those 140,000 deaths so far could have been avoided had the Government not made such a b** awful shambles of handling the pandemic. And if a successful vaccination program is the end game, where the hell are the vaccines!

This surreal sense of "What on earth is going on" as everything falls apart at the heart of our culture and society is reflected in the media headlines awash with bad news. The only person oblivious is Boris, pictured telling his party faithful to worship the ground he walks on, before heading to Malaga and avoiding any questions as well as providing any answers. 

I am one of the lucky ones. I am not dependant on my car, so no need to queue for petrol,  I can absorb food price hikes, food shortages. I have no economic concerns. 

With winter looming, the future is unclear.  London has cancelled its New Years Eve fireworks again due to Covid concerns. Lewes is planning to go ahead with the stupendous bonfire night celebrations. This is life in England, we all know Covid is still with us but no one knows what to do about it. I can only live in hope and enjoy life as it is now, savouring the everyday normality that only last year seemed impossible.