MELTDOWN

 

It has been a very frustrating period of Covid concerns, Brexit bickering, cross-Channel catastrophe and climate hand-wringing; we were at least hoping that Covid was being stopped in its tracks here by the vaccination campaign. Then out-of-the-blue, a perilous new Covid variant from South Africa has emerged from its sinister lair quite likely to torpedo many of our plans and hopes for Christmas and the New Year. Continental Europe, already struggling with a Covid winter wave, has reported a case in Belgium. Inevitably the variant will spread to us in the UK, perhaps hidden in a consignment of sprouts or luxury chocs. Let’s hope it will not prove as virulent as some fear and we are not back to square one – what a thought! Prof Chris Whitty soothingly urges calm - Don’t Panic!

                                      Our new South African friend – the Omicron variant

With all these heavy matters, there has been little in the way of comic relief. I suppose Boris’ speech to the CBI, with his desperate monologue on the merits of Peppa Pig, qualifies as some kind of (tragi)comedy. Boris had lost the place but one wonders if there is a streak of, let us say, instability in his exotic make-up. He certainly lacks the gravitas we normally expect of our politicians and if he has also lost his knack of keeping the electorate spellbound, then his future is indeed bleak. Yet at his best, Boris is an effective negotiator, a vote-winning asset and a popular comic turn.    

                                               

                  Tory Mascot Peppa Pig

The pandemic has pulverized social life and I was particularly happy I was able to take a train to London last week and meet 7 old friends over a convivial pub lunch after almost 2 years absence. We were older, if not wiser, and one of our company, with whom I heartily agreed, raised the tricky question of colour balance on TV. He reckoned a completely false view was being fed to the young by TV adverts and TV programmes. In almost every advert, a family of people of colour is featured, eating cereals, walking down a village street or buying furniture. In itself there is nothing objectionable about this, and the dignity and recognition of all citizens is crucial, but a visitor from outer space might conclude that at least half (probably more) of the population of the UK was of colour and that whites were in a minority. In fact, England and Wales are 86% white with 9% Asian and 5% Afro-Caribbean. Scotland is 96% white, so together the true picture is wholly different from the one projected by the media. I think it is important to get this narrative right.

Lloyds Bank’s version of its typical Britain

Moreover, I do not believe Britain needs to be at all defensive about its record of tolerance and inclusivity. Britain is in many ways a role model of diversity. It welcomes hundreds of thousands of Europeans as workers. It has allowed substantial immigration from the Commonwealth creating vibrant communities in many British cities, Asians in Bradford, Bangladeshis in Tower Hamlets, Caribbeans in Brixton, Indians in Southall – hundreds of ethnic concentrations all over the land. More to the point, Britain’s political life has been enriched by these communities - senior positions being held by British Indians Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel and Alok Sharma, Pakistani Sadiq Khan and Sajid Javid and Iraqi Nadhim Zahawi. The UK remains a land of opportunity, as the flocks of illegal migrants prove.

While we have been subject to mainly Muslim terrorist attack, inter-communal relations here are generally cordial and we have none of the ingrained racial prejudice which so disfigures the otherwise civilised societies of the USA, Italy and France. The UK is not perfect, but it has plenty of which it is rightly proud.

SMD

28.11.21

Text Copyright Sidney Donald 2021