Covid

As an island nation it would have been far easier to prevent the disease from entering as is the case for virtualluy all other island nations. Instead the UK’s death rate of well over 220,000 significantly exceeded that of even non-island nations. In addition many billions were wasted in the corrupt and incompetent aquisitions of goods and services by the government. The country was mislead by successive ministers including the claim that the social care sector had been protected from the disease spread. With the delayed inquiry into the handling of Covid by Johnson the government is hoping that its findings and conclusions will not be revealed before the next election in 2024, as it could represent the final nail in the Conservative coffin.

And Justice For All?

“A “damning” number of cases are lost amid “under-resourced” investigations,” the prosecution inspectorate said. The highest ever number of rapes within a 12-month period was recorded by police in the year ending September 2022: 70,633. In that same time period, charges were brought in just 2,616 rape cases.

Only 1 in 100 rapes recorded by police in 2021 resulted in a charge that same year.

A coroner has ruled that Andrew Devine, 55, who has died 32 years after suffering severe and irreversible brain damage at Hillsborough in 1989, was unlawfully killed, and that therefore he is legally the 97th victim of the disaster. The coroner’s ruling that Devine was unlawfully killed appears to have classed his death as having been caused by the same circumstances, police gross negligence, as the unlawful killing of the other 96 victims, who were aged between 10 and 67.

30 years later nobody has been held responsible.

Shortly before 1:00 A.M. on June 14, 2017, a fire tore through West London’s 24-story Grenfell tower. 72 people died, scores were injured and hundreds were left homeless in Britain’s deadliest fire in more than a century. 3 years later the public enquiry continues but how much longer do residents have to wait for justice?

Delays in prosecuting suspected criminals have hit a record 708 days for the average time it takes to go from offence to completion of a case. In the three months to September 2021, the average time it took to deal with a crime rose 15%, up from 620 days. Is it any wonder that criminals show so little concern about getting caught and tried?

Prisoners are set to be held in police cells within weeks, as plans to cut jail overcrowding were put into action. Last year the government announced it had asked to use 400 cells, following a surge in overcrowding in male prisons and youth jails.

The infection of up to 30,000 people with contaminated blood has been called the biggest treatment disaster in NHS history. Thousands have died. A public inquiry has been taking evidence since 2019 from people affected by the scandal after the events took place in the 1970s and 80s - 49 years later.

I could go on…like all other public institutions under this government they are totally broken.

A Just Election System

The unfair distribution of MP seats that does not reflect votes cast is overdue for change. The UK is beginning to look like a banana republic with a single party able to (frustratingly) dominate proceedings for many years and escape serious sanction for dishonesty, corruption and incompetence. Other (successful) countries utilise proportional representation systems with much improved economies, social justice and care. Labour should include this in its next election manifesto and, further, scrap the honours system while maintaining the House of Lords albeit much slimmed down (and not elected).

“Gimme Some Truth”

In recent months I’ve seen extensive televised Bill Gates and Greta Thunberg interviews. The questioning was comprehensive but without exception both gave succinct straight answers to straight and sometimes difficult questions. Their openness was refreshing. I also watch Prime Minister Questions every week when the reverse happens. I have never seen a straight answer to a straight question from opposition MPs posed to Conservative Prime Ministers over several years. I therefore wonder what purpose this process serves and why the Speaker doesn’t intervene remembering that many voters watch and carefully listen (and often believe). I’ve witnessed diversions, lies and a proliferation of misleading answers sprinkled with selective interpretations of statistics. A recent example is the UK GDP performance of 2022 when the Prime Minister and others claim that the UK’s growth rate was the highest amongst leading developed countries (the G7). However, the comparison is misleading as the UK’s economy suffered more than any other G7 country in previous pandemic years rendering the GDP performance poor by comparison (5% of nothing is nothing). The UK remains the only G7 country that has yet to reach pre-pandemic growth levels with even Russia predicted to achieve a higher growth rate, despite extensive punitive international sanctions. Further, working income levels have reduced by around 25% since 2008, the lowest for over 70 years…

The same questionable quotes applied to the Brexit debate when the leaver claims made for a “better future” and “taking back control” have proved to be totally false, while information on the implications of departure from the EU were never provided to voters. Subsequent analysis from reputable external bodies surmise that the UK’s GDP will decline by up to 5% as a consequence of leaving the EU, and that the cost of membership failed to account for the many grants and rebates that the UK received.

The latest migration boat trafficking law proposed which criminalises and punishes the real victims of violence, oppression and war is unjust, immoral and so wrong, backed by a raft of false claims such as millions potentially arriving on UK shores. The plan is to incarcerate and then remove genuine refugees who have no other legal means of arriving and applying for asylum - piling agony on agony. It is shameful and based on the most heinous untruths. It is effectively punishing victims while allowing criminals to continue their evil trade.