We’re back in Covid Land, with the by-election in Paterson’s seat on Thursday adding extra spice. Johnson’s latest announcement of his ‘policies’ and his ‘booster campaign’ yesterday – no, I didn’t watch his PR production, since you ask! – is akin to the Stakhanovite demands by the Soviet Communist Party: all workers must work until they drop in order to achieve some Five-Year-Goal because ‘The Plan’ demands that ‘The Plan’ be fulfilled, regardless.

Johnson wants to achieve 1 million boosters a day, every day, Christmas included, even calling in the Army (link). He wants to save us all from ‘a tidal wave of Omicron’. Well, I’m glad he’s refrained from using the Sturgeon’s ridiculous comparison with a tsunami. Of concern is that “Doctors and nurses will be transferred over from non-urgent work in hospitals to assist” (paywalled link). So say good-bye to any ‘non-urgent’ NHS appointments and don’t expect to see your GP this year. The ‘big stick wasn’t missed either, with Johnson crying:

“Get boosted now for yourself, for your friends and your family. Get boosted now to protect jobs and livelihoods across this country. Get boosted now to protect our NHS, our freedoms and our way of life.” (paywalled link)

Yep – it’s again about protecting that Sacred Cow, even before ‘protecting’ our freedoms. Johnson was amply supported by other covid tsars and tsarinas, e.g. the new chief of what used to be PHE (‘Public Health England’) and has now become UKHSA – UK Health Security Agency. Not only did she treaten us with more ‘measures’ going beyond WFH, because “we” need to try and save yon Cow, she did so even though they don’t have any proper data:

“[…] it was “too early” to make assumptions about the severity of Omicron but warned that even if it turned out to be milder than the Delta strain its growth rate could still put unsustainable pressure on health services.” (link, paywalled)

In other words, ‘we are from Barcelona and know nuthin’ but must stay very afraid, just in case, because ‘hospitals are admitting Omicron patients for the first time’ – how scary is that! The former ‘jab tsar’ Nadhim Zahawi (now education secretary) told Times Radio that “Omicron could now be responsible for up to a third of all new cases in London” (link, paywalled) – it could, could it? And based on this pure supposition the whole nation has to drop everything, get booster jabs and accept another covid wrecking ball to crash into the economy? Gimme a break!

Frankly, I’m sick of the unmitigated propaganda, playing with ‘case numbers’ used by this covid government and regurgitated by the MSM ‘health’ correspondents with gasps of fear, no questions ever asked. Mind you, the DM does publish the odd article here and there as counterbalance, for example one about the SA authorities somehow having ‘mislaid’ 18,000+ ‘case numbers’ at the weekend (link). 

Our own ONS’ Omicron numbers will of course be somehow ‘delayed’ because of the weekend. These are numbers which Johnson and consorts are presumably using to push their booster campaign. They ought to be available to us or at least the MSM but aren’t. Instead it’s ‘could’ and ‘might’. – that’s all which those covid tsars use in their arguments.

But – may help finally be at hand? Allegedly, more Tory backbenchers are ‘poised’ to defy the whip on Johnson’s ‘Plan B’ tomorrow (link). Well, we’ve been there before. The spectacle of another ‘backbench Tory Rebels’ elephant giving birth to yet another mouse is becoming tedious.

There’s also gossip about possible resignations of Parliamentary Private Secretaries some of whom are threatening not to vote for ‘Plan B’ even though it may cost them their position. Some, already labelled cowards, are asking the whips to be allowed to miss the vote which would save their jobs. I was tickled pink though when I read this:

“Ten [of about 40] parliamentary private secretaries (PPS) have formed a secret WhatsApp group to discuss how they will vote when the measures are put to MPs in a series of four votes,” (paywalled link)

What a well-kept secret! Who was the squealing or chatty rat or pig here? However, given the possibility of a Johnson-replacement leadership race, this is even more delicious:

“The MPs in the PPS group include two out of three ministerial aides to Michael Gove, the Communities Secretary […] Mr Gove’s third PPS is not in the group, but is reportedly seeking to avoid the vote, which could lead to his sacking if he had not agreed it first with the whips, leaving Mr Gove without any PPSs in the Commons.” (paywalled link)

Oh dear! Oh dearie me! What a picture this paints of Gove being able to instill loyalty in his appointees! However, let’s not gloat too soon. There’s the by-election in Paterson’s seat on Thursday, and Tory head honchos are scared of losing the seat to a protest vote. Mr Zahawi warned of ‘Labour bussing in volunteers’ – are they actually allowed to do so, what with WFH starting today?

The DT, reporting that Labour has dismissed rumours of having stuck a pact with the LibDems, then quotes a ‘source close to the Labour campaign, saying that:

“it plans to have between 200 and 300 Labour volunteers on doorsteps in the constituency this week, up from just 40 at the beginning of the campaign six weeks ago.” (paywalled link)

Good luck with that, especially if Labour will vote with the Tories on Tuesday, according to one of their leaders. As if people would be happy to vote in another MP supporting Johnson’s covid measures! As if people would prefer a red-rosette covid passport to a blue-rose one. Allegedly, the LibDems are projected to take the seat. 

I expect that the whips and Johnson’s covid ministers will now go on an arm-twisting rampage where they’ll try to buy off Tory rebels with the argument that their disloyalty will cost them the by-election. It’s politics at its dirtiest, played on the backs of all of us who will have to suffer ‘Plan B’ and the consequences of Johnson’s desperate attempts to get everybody boostered at all cost. 

Meanwhile, the ‘men in grey suits’ are watching very carefully how this by election unfolds:

“Some MPs have privately suggested that losing North Shropshire would be a final nail in the coffin for Mr Johnson’s leadership, and that he should resign as Prime Minister if it falls to Labour or the Liberal Democrats.” (paywalled link)

We’ll see if they will be true to their reputation of ruthlessness. Perhaps MPs need to be told that voting against Johnson is the only way to get rid of him during this Parliament. You might like to point that out to your Tory constituency MPs, if you can bear to email them again.

If those MPs want to keep their cushy jobs they better show loyalty to us, their voters, rather than to this out-of-control Johnson government by voting against ‘Plan B’. The same applies to Labour MPs: trying to get into No 10 by voting with the covid government won’t succeed.

We’ll remember. Time is running out for all of them.

 

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