Don’t question the MSM –  remain afraid …

 

They’re not giving up, the Remainers. They seem to think that weakening the Johnson government any which way must surely lead to ‘success’, i.e. by sabotaging the trade negotiations so we’ll have to beg for extension after extension. They do it, as we have seen, by trying to get rid of Brexiteers like Ms Patel or indeed Dominic Cummings, and by pushing stories about ‘useless BoJo’ who’s not even visiting flood victims.

And now they’ve homed in on how Johnson is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak. The first point of their attack is Matt Hancock for saying that the government is in talks with supermarkets about ‘panic buying’. So the MSM are giving said ‘supermarkets’ space to tell the nation that ‘government’ hasn’t talked to them (e.g. link, paywalled). How perfectly dreadful!

Far worse though is the sly insinuation that the government plans are ‘copied’ from the EU because, in their Remain minds, we surely should have had our own, post-Brexit plan by now. The DM (link) copied this vital assessment from the DT. That article is quite a piece of a Remain attack. First the inevitable critique of that Johnson plan:

“Confusion is growing over the Government’s “contain, delay, research and mitigate strategy”. For some, it is provoking anxiety and in others complacency is setting in. The problem is fueled by its title. It mixes goals with actions and encourages the idea that its components must follow one another in strict sequence: contain – delay – research – mitigate.” (paywalled link)

It’s of course not necessary for the critics to suggest what other strategy should have been adopted instead – the main point is that people are confused and anxious. Next, they explain that “EU scenario” being used:

“The actual strategy we are following comes from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the EU’s main public health body. Its timeline is defined, not by objectives, but the likely progress of an outbreak in five scenarios (zero to four) as it moves across Europe. At one end of the continuum is “scenario 0”, a country like Bulgaria with no recorded cases. At the other end is “scenario 4”, a country like Italy with widespread infection.” (paywalled link)

Then confusion – of the authors – sets in. They talked to virologists, and lo and behold, they’re not criticising this plan – gawd, they must all be Brexiteers, mustn’t they:

“The UK response has so far been strong and it may yet prove possible to contain the virus. Prof Ian Jones, a virologist at the University of Reading, said: “I think we’re doing relatively well, I think those that have been diagnosed positive seem to have been diagnosed quickly, which minimises their chances of spreading it and also maximises treatment possibility.  […] “I think it’s a strategy based on the evidence here in the UK and in my view it’s one that should be as modified as risk assessments tell”, said David Heymann, an epidemiologist and former assistant director general of the WHO. “It’s flexible and if there is new evidence it can rapidly change. Interventions can be singular or blended.” (paywalled link)

Is this bad – or isn’t it? It’s as if the authors of that report were told to get a Remain spin on their story, and never mind if it makes sense. The Remain agenda, as per usual, is that poor, lonely Brexit Britain cannot even get their government strategy right, having to copy from the EU where this strategy is good, but as soon as it’s used here in the UK it’s bad. 

The DT’s Remain editor Peter Foster had of course had to put his oar in as well. He writes about stockpiling bog rolls, telling us that 

“Back during last year’s no-deal Brexit preparations, Government advisers told me quietly that “the one thing I’d stockpile, if I was you” was loo paper, given the UK’s vulnerability to supply chain disruption.” (paywalled link)

So Remainers should still be sitting on mountains of hoarded bog rolls, right? Apparently not. His concluding paragraph though takes the proverbial:

“Which brings us back to Brexit. As things stand, the Government under Boris Johnson is charging much harder towards the Brexit finish line than that of his predecessor Theresa May, overtly threatening a no-deal Australian-style if the EU does not come to heel. The transport industry is very clear that this risks bringing back the spectre of long delays at the ports, clogging up the Channel Tunnel as hauliers battle with mountains of new paperwork and customs and safety declarations. If that happens, there remains a serious risk that the Australian-style Brexit might include some Australian-style loo-paper shortages. Those coronavirus stockpiles might come in handy yet.” (paywalled link)

So: hoard loo paper because of Brexit and because of the coronavirus! It was quite satisfactory to read the comments where poster after poster pointed out to the hapless Mr Foster that the Aussies – who have been stockpiling loo paper as if there’s no tomorrow – actually manufacture their own, while some asked what’s wrong with using soap and water.  

The point for Arch Remainers though is that we have to rely on the EU, needing to beg them for everything from bog rolls to medicines. Thus we read in RemainCentral:

“The country faces a national security risk because it has nowhere capable of manufacturing a coronavirus vaccine when one is found, scientists have said. A reliance on foreign vaccine suppliers will make the UK vulnerable to a potential second wave of Covid-19 as well as future pandemics, experts said. They called for urgent investment in production capacity.” (link, paywalled)

Yes, that’s bad – but no Remainer would ever ask if this might just possibly be due to our former EU membership, where the whole EU ‘relied’ on importing things from each other. Getting our own facilities up and running must certainly be a priority. The following quote shows that being in the EU is not the answer:

“Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said that there was no guarantee that large producers such as China, the US and the EU would reserve supplies of vaccines for Britain.” (link, paywalled)

And then we read that France and Germany (surprised?) are already battening down their hatches, even without a vaccine in sight:

“Germany and France have been condemned by other EU members after blocking the export of medical supplies, raising the alarm among smaller countries hit by coronavirus. Fearing a possible shortage in masks and protective equipment to fight the virus, top European Union officials are urging members to put solidarity above national interests as the disease spreads quickly across the continent.” (link)

Oh dear! No solidarity? How sad … Here’s what happened:

“On Wednesday, Germany’s interior minister said it had banned the export of medical protection gear such as masks and gloves to ensure local health workers have enough. President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will requisition all face masks produced there, a de facto export ban, and Czech health minister Adam Vojtech has halted disinfectant exports.” (link)

I’m sure Ms Merkel and M Macron would’ve sold us those things had we not left, no? The real reason why Brussels is a bit upset about this is that they weren’t properly notified:

“There are legal grounds that make such measures possible, but these kind of unilateral measures first have to be notified to the union,’ EU crisis management commissioner Jenaz Lenarcic said.” (link)

Ah yes: Brussels needs the legal paperwork before anything is allowed to happen! Meanwhile back here, our wonderful MSM still haven’t reported that Germany has been suffering from severe shortages of pharmaceuticals since last autumn – nought to do with that virus outbreak – which have become critical because China is the main supplier for both drugs and precursor substances.

Also back here, there’s still no end in sight for even a vestige of self-criticism in the MSM, namely that their reporting has fuelled behaviour such as hoarding or indeed theft from hospitals (link). 

Moreover, the various papers aren’t quite sure yet if they ought to frighten the elderly to death by reporting that they could be made to stay at home by government measures (here and here) or if this more cheerful message should be promoted instead, 

“The statistics for deaths from coronavirus show that even among the elderly, who are most at risk, more than 90 per cent survive an infection. […] It is possible that the primary reason it appears to affect the elderly more is because that group, as we have seen with the first Briton to die with coronavirus, are also those with the most other diseases.” (link, paywalled)

I wonder though why our Remain MSM omitted to report the fabulous, vacuous article by Ms vdLeyen who yesterday wrote in the German paper ‘Die Welt’ (link, if you ‘speak Hun’) that the EU can fight this virus by becoming ‘stronger, more united and more strategic’ … surely, we must regret having left this fabulous entity!

So – take precautions like getting provisions in for bunkering down and washing hands after you’ve been out but consign the panic-mongering articles to the circular filing cupboard on the floor. Keep well and 

 

KBO!

 

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