Once upon a time … now sadly gone

Yesterday was the State opening of a new session of Parliament, with the Queen’s Speech. It’s the occasion when the elected government lays out the Bills Parliament in this session will debate and put on the statute books. It used to be a wonderful ceremony demonstrating our centuries-old parliamentary traditions.

What a sad Nation have we become, thanks to the covid emperors, that this occasion went by without the usual fanfare which could have shown the world that we really are in business: covid, Brexit notwithstanding. Thanks to covid rules it has been turned into a ridiculous performance of masked MPs, masked Lords, masked parliamentary officials, all keeping the ‘social distancing’ rules. The only person not masked up was the Queen. Quentin Letts in The Times called it a ‘covid-discount state opening’.

The photos gracing our MSM this morning were sufficient for me not to regret my decision not to watch it. There’s only so much visual bludgeoning a person can take. Moreover, the sight of MPs parading their covid compliance, wearing their muzzles, not only parades their holier-than-thou attitude, aimed to impress us lemmings, but is a visual reinforcement that covid reigns supreme.

One of the ‘pledges’ BJ made in his speech after the Queen had presented the Bills to Parliament was that there will be a ‘covid inquiry’. The following quotes however show perfectly that the outcome is a foregone conclusion. First there’s this:

“Boris Johnson has committed himself to a “full, proper” public inquiry in the next year into the government’s handling of the pandemic. He said such an inquiry was “essential” and pledged to hold one within this session of parliament. Sessions do not have a fixed length but usually last about a year. Challenged on the timing of an inquiry by Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, Johnson said: “I can certainly say that we will do that within this session — yes, absolutely.” He added: “It is essential that we have a full, proper public inquiry into the Covid pandemic and I have been clear about that.” (link, paywalled)

Beautiful, isn’t it: a ‘full, proper inquiry’ … yes, that will certainly happen! We believe the ‘pledges’ our politicians keep pledging, don’t we! Pledging is vital – it costs nothing and there will always be reasons why this or that pledge couldn’t be fulfilled. Unsurprisingly, we already find a couple of back doors, the escape routes for the covid regime to weasel out of this pledge. First there this:

“Ministers have repeatedly said that an inquiry should not be held during the pandemic, arguing that it would be a distraction for officials dealing with pressing issues thrown up by Covid-19.” (link, paywalled)

Ah – and how do we know that or when this ‘pandemic’ will be over? After all, the fear mongers are still at work and those Indian variants are already ‘spreading’ here in the UK, we learn. SAGE and their experts say it might outspread our own homegrown Kent variety and might be ‘very’ transmissible (link). So far nothing is known if the jabs protect against it, but by now you know the pack drill: we must be afraid, we must keep all those rulz because otherwise we’ll all die and we must of course protect that ‘Sacred Cow’.

So – never mind all those jabs which might or might not protect, it’s obvious that the ‘pandemic’ is still ongoing and thus the covid empire cannot possibly become distracted by a pesky inquiry! The Leader of the HoGhosts, JRM, made quite clear that yes, there’s an escape route from having to give an account to us, the voters, who have born the brunt of this government’s covid measures for well over a year now:

“Asked about the prime minister’s promise, Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the Commons, told Times Radio: “It’s always been obvious that there would have to be an inquiry into Covid, into what has happened. What has been handled well, what could have been handled better, what the preparedness was for a pandemic.” He said this would “happen at a point when there is the ability to do it when the pandemic is behind us rather than when dealing with a pandemic is taking up most of the political energy of the nation”. (link, paywalled)

Yes – ’tis another pledge of ‘jam tomorrow’.  But what ‘political energy’ has been taken up, Mr Rees-Mogg? Pray tell, sirrah! Is it the sight of the HoZoom, the muzzled MPs, the pathetic attempts at trying to show our elected representatives are ‘working’ while sat at home?  Nicely cushioned from the hardships those had to face who need to keep working – shelf-stacking, rubbish removal aren’t precisely possible when ‘working from home’ – those MPs?

Will all those who kept us going ever get acknowledged, unlike the ‘heroes’ who received that clapathon accolade? I doubt it when I read that the ‘loyal opposition’ in the form of Ms Rayner said that the inquiry must “have the trust and confidence of bereaved families, […].” (link, paywalled)

Good grief – when will Labour stop being the champion of shroud-waving! Perhaps we ought to contribute some of our taxes to install a statute to the ‘covid victims’ because that would show a proper respect! After all, who needs to cry about the cancer victims who might have been saved, or about the elderly dying alone in ‘care’ homes – collateral damage, innit, so put up and shut up.

There’s a Bill which, if it gets onto the statute books, points to an increasing role of government in running “Our NHS” – a Health and Care Bill, a “shake-up of existing NHS bodies to give ministers more direct control over the running of the health service.” (link, paywalled). The mind boggles – as if the current, top-heavy administration of the NHS isn’t already bad enough!

As rumour and gossip had it, there will indeed be a Bill to repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act – and there will be an “Electoral Integrity Bill”  which will:

“[…] for the first time, require voters to produce photographic ID when casting their ballot. Will also limit the number of postal ballots an individual can hand in. Labour claims it will disenfranchise thousands of vulnerable voters.” (link, paywalled)

Hm – is this an attempt to introduce a national ID card, by the back door? Time will tell. Finally, there’s going to be a ‘Freedom of Speech (Universities) Bill’:

 “Student unions will be legally obliged to protect freedom of speech for the first time and could be taken to court by cancelled speakers, the government has announced. New laws will make it easier for academics, students and visiting speakers to take action against universities and student unions and claim compensation if they are gagged.” (link, paywalled)

It is sad that such Bill is even necessary. Additionally, there’s also the “Online Safety Bill”:

“Proposes to make tech companies take greater responsibility for the content they host. Ofcom will become the regulator of the sector and will be able to impose fines of £18 million, or 10 per cent of a company’s global turnover, if it fails to show a duty of care to users. Criminal sanctions against company executives are expected to be held as a “reserve power” and implemented in future if social media platforms fail to become better at removing harmful content.” (link, paywalled)

And who decides what is ‘harmful content’? Ofcom? The tech giants? Reading this explanation isn’t filling me with confidence:

“The measures, enforced by Ofcom, will mean that companies such as Facebook and Twitter must provide people with “routes of appeal” if their messages are removed.” (link, paywalled)

These ‘routes of appeal’ do already exist – however, the decision on the validity of an appeal rests with those who removed content in the first place. I’m sure the tech giants are already quaking in their boots, faced with Ofcom ‘enforcing’ such measures.

Ah well – ‘tis smoke and mirrors, as usual, with the usual cries of dismay by those who represent ‘victims’ and the usual cries of jubilation by those who think it’s an achievement to make student unions stop the cancel culture.

None of this will stop the true cancer in our society: wokeism. As for a covid inquiry – well, there’s this thing about tooth fairies who must be believed in …

KBO!

Photo by UK Parliament