Well, that week just flew in! Despite it only seeming like yesterday since I signed off on the last blog, so much has happened in the world of politics that I seem to have enough material for several blogs! I think it was Harold Wilson who said that a week was a long time in politics? How true! So, I had better get started, then, before there are any further developments! As per usual, we begin at home.
A disturbing graph tracking Northern Ireland’s performance in combating Covid-19 has been doing the rounds online in recent days. An interactive data analysis from the Financial Times allowed for a basic international comparison of countries and regions by showing new confirmed cases in the last seven days per million people. When Northern Ireland was included on the graph, it suggested we were currently among the worst for infection rates in the world! As bad as this seems, it doesn’t give the whole picture about what is really going on and there are other variables to take into account. So, as they used to say in the Dad’s Army sitcom, “DON’T PAANIIIC!!”
In any case, why have our infection rates spiked? Probably a whole combination of factors; more socialising and eating out (thanks for that, Mr Sunak and Mr Johnston!), non-compliance due to Covid fatigue and lax enforcement, the return of schools and universities (veritable Covid Petri dishes!), and often vague and contradictory advice from the NI Executive. It really shouldn’t be all that complicated, though, should it? 🤦🏻♂️
In other local political news, and by way of follow up to last week’s blog, Arlene and Michelle have now confirmed that they will appoint an interim Head of the Civil Service, after failing to agree on a permanent appointment. As the saying goes; they used to be indecisive, but now they’re not so sure!
Education Minister, Peter Weir, issued an official letter to confirm that he is determined to press ahead with the 2021 exam series for GCSE and A level pupils in NI, despite Scotland opting to scrap their equivalents in favour of predicted grades based on teacher-led assessment. Weir’s open letter was sent to all schools and contained a number of grammatical errors! Shock, horror! Well, that’s not exactly setting a great example, Mr Weir, is it? I think he should write it out correctly, ten times, in after-school detention! I’m happy to supervise! 😏
Meanwhile, over at Westminster, the government’s flagship immigration bill that would end freedom of movement rules in the UK, post-Brexit, and create a new points based entry system, has been defeated in the Lords. A Labour-led demand for an independent review of how restricting free movement (at the end of the Brexit transition period) would impact social care, saw peers defeat the government by 304 votes to 224 – a majority of 80. Ironic, given that this is almost exactly the same as the majority Boris has in the Commons! Karma?
An IT blunder meant thousands of people weren’t told they had been exposed to Covid-19. Public Health England admitted they had missed 15,841 cases from their calculations. The positive cases took days to show up in official figures. It was revealed that the source of the error was not a complex data or computer system failure. Instead, the potentially deadly data aberration between September 25 and October 2 appears to have occurred due to an Excel spreadsheet reaching its maximum size. Really? They were using an Excel spreadsheet for this? Has the government’s track and trace data management been outsourced to a GCSE ICT class? Even I know it was a dumb idea to use Excel for this and I’m practically ICT illiterate! Downing Street said it had launched an investigation into the error. Oh well, that’s okay, then! 🤦🏻♂️
It’s grim up north! Furious northern leaders lambasted Government plans to shut pubs and restaurants next week in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19. The Government is expected to announce fresh restrictions for northern regions on Monday amid a worrying surge in Covid-19 cases.
About 10 million people in the North will be locked down, with Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle set to go straight into Tier 3 under a new traffic light style system for grading Covid risk in England. The Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, tweeted: “No discussion. No consultation. Millions of lives affected by Whitehall diktat. It is proving impossible to deal with this Government.” Ouch!
While many within the hospitality sector and elsewhere are desperately worried that further lockdowns will mean the death-knell for their livelihoods, they will be relieved to know that at least MP’s will be okay! It has been revealed that MPs, some of whom are still working from home, will get an additional £3,360 on top of their salary of £81,932. How comforting! 🤨
There was plenty of entertainment and no little amount of political theatre across the big pond this week, as the Trump circus continued apace, with increasingly bizarre political stunts throughout the week. The Covid-positive President took his narcissistic tendencies to whole new levels and was even accused of putting people’s lives at risk, particularly his security team, during an extraordinary, aberrant car trip from hospital to wave to fans. The US President briefly left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was being treated, in a motorcade last Sunday. He was filmed by the astounded media, waving to cheering crowds while wearing a mask, despite virus patients generally being required to quarantine for 14 days! 🤦♂️
Donald Trump then claimed he may be immune to Covid-19, in a frankly unhinged message broadcast after he checked out of hospital. The President was admitted on Friday, being treated for Covid-19 with steroids, antibiotics and a cocktail of experimental therapies – most unavailable to ordinary Americans. But he checked himself out of Walter Reed military hospital on Monday evening, staging an elaborate and theatrical arrival at the White House.
Filmed on the famous Blue Room balcony, and adopting an almost Mussolini like pose, the President claimed the virus, which has killed 210,000 Americans, is really nothing to worry about and even suggested his apparently miraculous recovery could be because he is “immune” to it. Just wow! 😲
However, in an apparent and long overdue rebuke to the President’s hyperactive thumbs, not to mention his very casual approach to facts, Social networks have cracked down on misinformation about coronavirus. His Facebook post, which claimed that Covid-19 was no more deadly than seasonal flu, was removed under the social network’s anti-misinformation rules. Twitter added a note to the same post on their platform noting that it was misinformation. For the record, among reported COVID-19 cases in the US, nearly 6% have died – some 210,000 people. In comparison, the death rate of seasonal Flu is around 0.1%. So, Covid-19 has killed more Americans than the last five years’ worth of Flu! 💁🏻♂️
What should have been the main event this week, the Vice-presidential debate, was overshadowed somewhat by Trump’s antics. However, the US voting public should really pay close attention to this sideshow, given the age and questionable health of both main actors, these two could have very real prospects of assuming the position in the Oval Office at some point. As the saying goes, they’re ‘only a heartbeat away’ from the Presidency! As it turned out, the winner of the debate turned out to be a cheeky fly, which landed on Mike Pence’s head and had a casual stroll about on his immaculately groomed bonce! Once the insect had landed it became the main talking point, and not in a good way for the Vice President. Trivial moments can become seminal moments, as Theresa May can testify! Kamala Harris, to her credit, resisted the urge to make any obvious jibes about Pence’s policies being so rotten, they were attracting flies etc. She didn’t need to, as she was miles ahead of the wooden and predictable Pence, anyway!
Well, that’s about it for this week! It’s been a bit of a marathon effort, and I’m sure there are lots of other worthy political news snippets lying on my cutting room floor, to be honest. However, I have to be diligent and judicious with the word count, unfortunately! See you all next week! 👋🏻
The Weekly Politics Digest! 