THX. I meant Lee Anderson of course. BTW , can I be classed as a troll ? Was my comment hateful ? My question is genuine. I'm not part of the culture war generation ,even though I am living in it.
A jaw-dropper from Brexiter Steve Baker onBBCRadio4’s PM just now: “What an extraordinary opportunity for Northern Ireland: dual access to both markets”. Er, that “extraordinary opportunity” was available to the entire UK before Brexit
Was there racism in how the pandemic was handled and people treated differently depending on their race? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64783753
Hard to say really, I wasn't aware of any, nor can I remember seeing any reported in the press. Although to be honest I never went looking for any such reports.
Do remember hearing complaints that ethnic minorities felt they were being let down or not getting the same chances with the NHS but think that was due to historical feeling they hadn’t been treated fairly . I’d like to think they were looked after and thought of as equal any anyone else .
In what way were they being let down by the NHS though? Thanks to a lack of foresight on the part of the government, the lack of PPE meant NHS workers across the board were being let down, not just members of ethnic minority groups. Two of the cases mentioned in the article stand out for me - the care home worker and care home residents. It's hard to blame the NHS - by far the greater percentage of care homes (84% I believe) are private businesses run by large firms in England whose main concerns are shareholder profits. It's not down to a government to supply them with necessary equipment - it's down to the owners. Those owners failed to look after residents too - staff shortages (due to Brexit?) saw them ferrying untested and unprotected staff from care home to care home.
Yes agree there . Know people who worked in such places and they definitely felt it wasn’t safe particularly when there were so many vulnerable people at risk . It was no surprise many sadly died .
And now this - according to leaked WhatsApp messages, Hancock ignored advice regarding testing and care homes, ultimately leading to thousands of deaths. He's a liability and shouldn't be in the job in my opinion. And it would be interesting to know why the Tory's pet poodle journalist who leaked the messages had been hanging on to them for so long - choosing only now to leak them. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...esting-care-homes_uk_63feb384e4b0c253d347f0aa
People weren't equal during the pandemic Mark and it's an illusion to think they were. The poor (of all colours) were disproportionally effected - because of many factors, firstly those living in high population density areas (obviously it's easier to practice social distancing if you live in a small village and have a nice house and garden than if you live in a flat in Hackney), secondly those lower down the social scale are less likely to be in professions where home office is possible, and thirdly because they are more dependent on public transport. The middle classes can insulate themselves in their nice gardens and their SUV's. Allowing that ethnic groups are often more represented in lower socio/economic groups then they will also have been more disproportionally effected by Covid 19. It hurts to think that this pandemic may have been introduced to any particular area by some egotistic twat who couldn't think of giving up his Austrian skiing holiday and then came back and gave it to the plebs who didn't deserve it This was a thing of class not race.
Yes I agree there was very much differences in attitudes towards COVID depending on someone’s circumstances. As a CEV person I certain got the impression some thought we were being protected for no reason and getting in the way of them leading their lives . Read comments like “Oh who cares about vulnerable or elderly people- they are going to die anyway ..” And don’t just mean a few childish trolls on Twitter either - sometimes high profile celebs .
“People weren't equal during the pandemic Mark and it's an illusion to think they were.” I have to disagree with that cologne - the article shows that the issue at stake is not one of whether they were equal, but one of whether they were treated equally during the pandemic. Yes, they were victims of their personal circumstances, but so were many others from non-ethnic minorities who found themselves in similar circumstances - and those circumstances existed before, during and after the pandemic. Maybe a harsh thing to say, but to accuse authorities of racism in the way the pandemic was handled is simply wrong - it goes against the grain for me to say it, but a lot of what the UK government organised in terms of treatment applied to everyone (bar the so-called elite) no matter where they lived, their 'status' or how they made their living. Some of the decisions made in Cabinet were questionable, but they applied equally to the vast majority of the population. “It hurts to think that this pandemic may have been introduced to any particular area by some egotistic twat who couldn't think of giving up his Austrian skiing holiday and then came back and gave it to the plebs who didn't deserve it. This was a thing of class not race.” I do agree with this - although in our (Scotland’s) case the egotistical twat was a jug-eared royal who ignored the rules, uplifted his entourage to Aberdeenshire, and merrily went about passing the infection on to locals, whilst also insisting that an entire hospital ward be kept free and available for him if he needed it.
I think the jury is still out on this one BB. In the scenario that hospital resources were overstretched and the horror picture that a choice may need to be made as to exactly who benefited from those scant resources - what criteria would be used in deciding exactly who got the life supporting help they needed. Age, previous medical condition, or other criteria ? I don't think enough studies have been made on this. In Germany preferential treatment was given according to age and physical condition, but also whether a person had children. The other aspect of whether government policy actually favoured certain groups was in the financial compensations and supports handed out. Many already marginalized groups became more marginalized as a result of the pandemic - people from ethnic minorities were less likely to be able to take their work home with them and were 50% more likely to lose their jobs as a result of lock downs (according to German research), and 300% more likely in some key industries. How was compensation handed out, and were all dealt with equally on this ? The research which is available suggests otherwise.
I remember looking at tv shots of minorities having to travel to and from work by tube.. And thinking thank goodness.. Clearly poorer people had much more exposure to it... One of my best friends, black young abd healthy, ended up with three Weeks in ICU.. and was lucky to get out alive... I think there may also be genetic factors affecting how bad some people got it..
A couple of those leaked WhatsApp messages - less than flattering for Boris Johnson, and not a good advert for Eton School, where annual fees are, I believe, somewhere around £45K. He appears to have trouble grasping something that is really basic primary school maths.
Yes it was know black or ethnic minorities were more at risk much like elderly and people with lung and breathing issues were.