SHAFTS OF LIGHT

There has not been much to cheer about in recent weeks globally or nationally; yet while we may be on the cusp of disaster, the odds still favour the UK and the West and a positive outcome to the crisis is still the most likely outcome. Now and then a shaft of light breaks through. On Saturday night I watched the Last Night of the Proms and despite earlier woke wetness from retiring Lord Hall, the new BBC Director-General Tim Davie did a U-turn and delivered a perfectly sensible concert with much reduced numbers (and, alas, no audience).  The BBC redeemed itself and did not do its usual act as the broadcasting wing of BLM. A South African soprano Golda Schultz sang beautifully and a modest choir sang Rule Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory, and Jerusalem in the time-honoured fashion, words and all. I was even able to blub through You’ll never walk alone in my own time-honoured fashion! I imagine certain arrogant London virtue-signallers and their provincial toadies hated it, but I am equally sure most of the nation cheered loudly. These Proms were a welcome morale-booster.

Pared-down orchestra for the Last Night of the Proms 2020

The news from the Covid battle-front has been gloomy. A sharp rise in infections in the UK, as restrictions are loosened, leading to a tightening-up. The Rule of Six drastically limits social life and will no doubt be much evaded. Our population is somewhat anarchic, with faint deference to government and scant respect for the real perils of Covid. Happily, the death rate remains quite low. The government does its best, but constant changes undermine its credibility. We need a vaccine quickly. Other European countries have similar experiences. We crave a return to normality, to civilized family gatherings, shopping, restaurants, pubs and international travel.

The UK economy is slowly recovering from the crisis. GNP had declined 20% to June 2020 and is forecast to bounce back by 11% to September. Many businesses are operating below par, the return to school is not complete and universities see much confusion. Predictably, teachers and NHS nurses are threatening to strike if they are not paid more in this time of emergency and shaky public finances. The next six months will see an employment shake-out as the furlough scheme unwinds and other subsidy schemes end. Inventive new programmes are required. The UK has signed a new trade agreement with Japan, the first step in re-focusing our overseas commercial arrangements, to our mutual benefit.

Lord Frost and Michel Barnier at loggerheads

There is no sign of a break-through in the Brexit negotiations with the EU. Both sides have notionally immoveable red lines and the most likely result today is no-deal. The UK must plan for that sad outcome and her dramatic proposal to override the Withdrawal Agreement in respect of Northern Ireland is part of that planning. Both sides are fighting dirty in the count-down to final Brexit. EU hypocrisy in respect of ignoring treaties was remarked upon by maverick, but articulate Greek ex-Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis noting that France and Germany ignore EU state aid rules at the drop of a hat. The UK must defend itself against the EU’s “predatory diplomacy” in Ambrose Evans-Prichard’s words. There is still a chance of a last-minute deal, but time is ebbing away. Roll on 1 January 2021!

            

Another shaft of light is the retreat of BLM, to the dismay of the woke super-spreaders in our universities and in academia. The BLM movement had set off generous sympathy and support for minorities oppressed by brutal police action in the US or otherwise disadvantaged. In a pitch for popular support, after its bouts of statue removal, it had talked about the “football family” and how together crowds and players should “take the knee” to demonstrate solidarity. Then newspapers published the actual manifesto of BLM proposing, inter alia, the destruction of capitalism, the abolition of the police and the emptying of all jails – in other words the usual Hard Left claptrap. Suddenly the penny dropped. The BLM movement was not Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela incarnate but rather Karl Marx and Malcolm X disguised. The FA, with the support of many black players, ordered the removal of BLM slogans from players’ shirts and nobody is authorized to “take the knee”. Football is a conservative and apolitical pastime, ill-suited to Marxist discipline, so BLM was always on a loser. Let’s hope it fades away.

There is some cheer in the real world of sport. Arsenal had a good early season win but Leeds gave champions Liverpool an epic game in their 3-4 thriller. England bounced back to beat the Aussies in their ODI cricket series and Lewis Hamilton won yet another Grand Prix. Life isn’t so bad!

SMD

14.09.20

Text copyright © Sidney Donald 2020