The fate of the imperial covid edifice

 

This is getting embarrassing: the MSM are drooling all over their front pages about what Dominic Cummings (DC) will say later this morning. How do they know? Have MPs on the HoC Select Committee leaked titbits from the documents Cummings has provided them with? Or are the MSM simply picking up points from DC’s twitter account? The other ‘item of interest’ which the MSM, more or less gleefully, write about this morning is the aborted move by the covid empire to impose local lockdowns because of that “deadly” India ‘variant of concern’. More on that below.

So – Cummings then. The hearing is at 9.30am and it’ll be streamed live. You can watch it here, or find it on utube where some papers will produce their ‘own’ stream. If you can’t watch it, the DM has a preliminary scoop:

“The Mail has learned that Mr Cummings will allege Mr Johnson: Argued against tough Covid curbs on the grounds that ‘it is only killing 80-year-olds’; Did say ‘no more f****** lockdowns, let the bodies pile high in their thousands’. Said he regretted being ‘pushed’ into ordering lockdowns because the ‘economic damage is more damaging than the loss of life’.” (link)

Well, the wait will be over at 9.30am today. It’s interesting to see how the broadsheets are trying to support the DM scoop with some warblings from more ‘respectable’ sources, The Times referring to their sister publication the Financial Times and the DT, while acknowledging the DM as source, quoting Mr Peston (ITV) who can only have got his information from the DM. The DT adds this hilarious remark:

“The alleged comments have not been corroborated independently by The Telegraph. Number 10 declined to comment directly on the claims.” (paywalled link)

Goodness gracious me! Did these authors expect that No 10 would actually comment? Did they think they’d have to get ’independent corroboration’ for DC’s alleged remarks – by whom? But enough of that – we’ll soon find out! We’ll find out as well if the MPs have been muzzled behind our backs, being told not to ask certain questions.

Yes, I’m afraid I’ve lost trust in the whole government machinery, from the Speaker’s turning the House of Peacocks into the House of Zoomies to the covid cabinet; from the covid empires run by our esteemed friends, the Whitehall mandarins to the MSM which were happy to posture as ‘official opposition’ when it pleased them and which have been shown up as the propaganda ministry of this government.

All of them can be accused of dereliction of duty by following the SPI-B script to turn us into fearful, cowering mice. Sheep and lemmings have more courage than most of our fellow citizens have shown since that 2nd wave! How pathetic they are is illustrated by the headline of Philip Johnston’s comment piece in the DT: “With millions vaccinated, we must be allowed to throw off our muzzles” (paywalled link). For fluff’s sake! Must we now ask government permission to think for ourselves? Words fail me!

And so to that latest covid debacle hitting the covid empire. You couldn’t make it up. This is what happened:

“Ministers failed to pass on the new advice to local health and council leaders, who then told residents they did not have to follow the guidelines.The Government said on Tuesday it would “update” the guidance, insisting it was up to individuals whether to follow it.” (paywalled link)

Note well that suddenly, ‘“we” can pick and choose to follow ‘guidelines’ or ‘guidance’ – ministers and local councils have told us so! Here’s another hilarious titbit:

“The majority of the affected areas are controlled by Labour councils, leading to accusations of hypocrisy as local party leaders vowed to defy tougher measures, while the party leadership has urged caution over the return to normality amid concerns over the Indian coronavirus variant.” (paywalled link)

It’s too early to say if this is a sign that ordinary people are no longer inclined to follow either their political party leaders or the covid emperors, or if this whole kerfuffle is just another instant of disgraceful political point-scoring by those who are utilising the whole covid scare to cement their own political positions. They’re all hypocrites in any case.

The DT has tried to unravel how this ‘farce’ has come about. First see this:

“On Monday night a Whitehall blame game began, with sources pointing the finger at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), alleging it was Matt Hancock’s department that was responsible for updating local health chiefs, which it had failed to do. They claimed that the oversight occurred in part because the process for issuing guidance, which is optional for the public to follow, has been subject to less stringent Whitehall approval procedures than those for restrictions, which are legally binding.” (paywalled link)

Dearie me! Do note yet again that suddenly following government guidance is ‘optional’ – who knew! There’s more:

“While government sources were keen to present the fiasco as just a communications cock-up, it may lead to speculation that the farce in fact offered a glimpse of tensions behind the scenes. There are long running divisions between parts of Whitehall which advocate for tougher restrictions and Number 10, which is keen to press ahead with a return to normality.” (paywalled link)

Ahem. These divisions may well exist. I’d point out however that this is yet another sign that the pernicious influence of 40 years of Brussels dictatorship means that Whitehall mandarins are ‘doing politics’ behind the back of our elected representative, the ministers. Then there’s this:

“There have been reports that Michael Gove and the Cabinet Office and Mr Hancock and the Department for Health have been lobbying behind closed doors for the Prime Minister to take tougher action against the Indian variant, with him resisting any re-imposition of local lockdowns.” (paywalled link)

Goodness gracious me! Are some people in the Cabinet Office ‘briefing’ against Gove and Matt-the-Han? How very entertaining! I leave you with this quote:

“Chris Green, Tory MP for Bolton West, was incredulous at the idea that the Government could slip out fresh guidance but simply forget to inform local leaders. “To comprehensively, accidentally forget to brief all these people – local health leaders and council leaders – is a bit unbelievable”, he said.” (paywalled link)

Indeed, this beggars belief – but it clarifies what we peasants have long thought: that this covid ‘pandemic’ is and has been a political playball which even lowly civil serpents are playing with, to increase their own powerbase. And we were told by the whole Westminster cabal that it was only about our ‘health’ and nobly ‘saving the NHS’ …!

I’ll be watching the DC hearing at 9.30am. Will it be a damp squib or will we be able to learn something about the machinations in Whitehall, No 10 and the editorial offices of the MSM? I’ll take notes and shall tell you tomorrow …

 

KBO!

 

 

Photo by ashleydiener

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