Corona Diaries: Cummings
Oh man. Deary deary me. Yeah this is a bit of a mess isn’t it. I doubt I have any deeper thoughts on this situation than all the professionals (and non-pros) writing and shouting about this so I won’t go on about it too much. I do however feel that this seems like a pretty seminal moment in our country’s handling of the pandemic and is one that’s roused even the least ardent of politics fans. The problem of course is the timing. The middle of a life-changing, fear mongering pandemic is not the time for a government to ignore its people. I mean there’s never a good time but this is a really, really bad time.
I’ll put my cards on the table. I think Dominic Cummings was wrong (surprise surprise) to do the 260 mile journey even once. However I also think that due to the slightly confusing wording about ‘following the rules to the best of your ability’ if you have children, I could have forgiven it had it been dealt with properly. I get that it’s a tough time. And by properly I mean apologies first and foremost, followed by an open and honest discussion about how the government’s guidelines are clearly not as black and white as they’ve suggested and then an engaged exploration of the problems facing all British citizens in regarding to childcare during this period.
So, for me, the issue has been the lack of transparency and the sense that the government don’t owe us explanations. From Cumming’s smug manner with the press outside his house to Boris Johnson’s refusal to respond properly to the press’ questions during yesterday’s briefings, the whole affair has been conducted with the utmost dismissal of the British people and a weird sense of doublespeak. I know that in many ways we live in a progressive, democratic country and, in comparison with many others, we’re extremely lucky. I also know that you have to call out wrongdoing when you see it, and the way that this has been dealt with is much much worse than the original incident in my opinion. I am worried by the potential reasoning behind this. Whether it’s simply a lack of respect for the public or that by protecting Cummings the Tories are trying to prevent something worse from coming to the fore I have no idea.
Look, I know other people have broken the rules. Some because they just don’t care and some because they found themselves in dire straits and needed help. One is obviously better than the other. Both, as far as we understood from the official guidelines, are wrong. But the difference here is that if I broke the rules it’s likely no-one would know or care. But Cummings is in the public eye, he’s part of the very establishment making these rules. While lots of people might not love the current government, the truth is that the majority of the country want us to get out of this situation as soon and as safely as possible. We want to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our countrymen. So most of us have been following the rules, trusting in the decisions being made. People have made major sacrifices, being scared, lonely, sick, financially panicked. But they’ve had to trust. And now we’re not sure what on earth to think.
Best case scenario: Even if the government are right. Even if Cummings did behave in the correct way and we’ve misunderstood the rules. Then they need to explain that to us. Because obviously there’s a ton of confusion right now. So explain it. Don’t double down. Don’t dismiss. Share the wisdom. Because with the way things are right now it simply looks like they are condoning the breaking of regulations.
We dismissed the conspiracy theorists who broke lockdown, who said the government were just using it to control us. Now they’re laughing at us. Like they’re saying, “You didn’t need to put your life on hold”. And suddenly some people are starting to engage with that idea, even just a little. Everyone’s going to react to this differently but today there are two overarching responses out there. One is anger. Anger that we’ve been following the rules while they don’t have to. The other is fear. Because we’re not all in this together after all. Because the government aren’t necessarily always telling us the truth, so who do we believe? Because this is a scary time and the rules were tough but helpful is structuring the chaos. I guess there’s a third too. Because I feel really sad about the whole thing.