What a year!
Not just the COVID restrictions (unless you’re part of the political elite) but crisis after crisis with fuel, energy, Afghanistan, migrants and supply chains. The police helping protesters block roads was surprising, but MPs involved in ‘dodgy’ lobbying was hardly a shock.
But as we creep towards Christmas (yet to be cancelled at the time of writing) a period of relaxation without the woes of the world is in sight. Or is it?
Watch a film or TV these days and you are generally subjected to some sort of ‘PC’ messaging, be it climate change or diversity, even if it defies historical fact. However, this isn’t just ‘woke’ TV and film makers, it is also the Government nudging us in the ‘right direction’ via their ‘Nudge Unit’ to apply behavioural science to public policy and they recently admitted to working with the media (to give us a bigger nudge).
With climate change, the messaging has been contradicted by the well documented hypocrisy of the Edinburgh COP26 attendees, my favourite being the Japanese PM’s 300 seat plane sent on a 12000-mile round trip for a ‘test landing’ prior to the conference. However, the Government has successfully used the mainstream media with their COVID messaging, in part due to Ofcom’s ‘media guidance’, with the threat of fines or imprisonment if challenge to Government policy or ‘misinformation’ is deemed ‘harmful’. Perhaps that was necessary in the early stages of the pandemic, but nearly 2 years in with the cost in terms of mental health, lack of cancer screening etc now all too apparent (and hardly unpredictable), surely it is time for free debate about the effectiveness (or not) of lockdown measures.
Instead, the mainstream media have failed to question the consequences of the measures and along with the internet giants, suppressed dissent of the SAGE/Government narrative. This included the virtual censorship of the Great Barrington Declaration (an alternative approach concentrating on the targeted protection of the vulnerable) signed by many eminent world epidemiologists. One of the BBC’s ‘go to’ experts on medical matters, despite being on SAGE as a behavioural scientist, happens to be a Communist Party member, and emailed some of her fellow SAGE members suggesting one of the declaration authors be smeared for having a counter view.
We now have COVID passports and a discriminatory vaccine apartheid, already introduced in Austria, could be next despite little evidence they work. When Scotland introduced COVID passports they conceded there was ‘limited evidence’ they would work and given their higher rate of infection to England; the answer seems apparent.
Despite the ‘following the science’ mantra, the Government disregarded their own experts (JCVI) advice not to vaccinate 12-15 year olds and in their quest to push the vaccine booster, seemingly ignore what many scientists say is the far superior protection of those with natural antibodies from having COVID but prefer what many see as coercion under the threat of restricted lives.
Many wild conspiracy theories abound but with the lobbying scandal and ‘Big Pharma’s’ known funding of parliamentary groups, perhaps it is not surprising that some sceptics suggest it is sensible to ‘follow the money’ rather than conspiracy.
Certainly, the proposed vaccine passports go far beyond just vaccine information and will be digital passports. Who has access to the data will be a concern and using insurers as an example, they have long wanted to use genetic science to assess risk in health and life insurances. They and other industries will relish the opportunity of digital medical information even if it comes under the banner of a ‘one off’ COVID emergency. Allow it once and who knows where it will end up.
Anyway, if we are locked up again, enjoy your turkey and warm house, at least for this year!
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