Dear Newsletter Readers,
Welcome to yet another edition of our weekly newsletter and I hope that you are filled with as much interest and excitement when you go into your inbox and click it open as we were when we were choosing the articles and putting together the other bits of information to create it.
I was partly inspired to write this week’s poem which is entitled “Effect and cause” by the recent fact that in the UK we have an ever increasing number of Corona virus cases which in effect is being caused because of the removal of Covid related health and safety restrictions which were first put in position by the UK government back in March of 2020. As of July 19th, 2021 there is no longer a legal requirement for UK nationals to wear face masks in indoor settings or on public modes of transport.
As we all know very well, lifting restrictions does not mean that Covid -19 has disappeared, clearly Covid hasn’t disappeared when you look at the recent number of new cases being reported in the UK. The government, however, by lifting restrictions and moving to an alternative health and safety approach, that is based on personal risk based judgements, meaning it’s up to the individual to decide whether or not it makes sense to wear a mask according to the situation, is giving the message to the public that they can lower their guard because we’re now on the home straight. We’re clearly not on any home straight and lulling people into a false sense of security by removing restrictions is not going to do anybody and anything any favours, all it will do is continue to put people at risk of passing on and contracting the Corona virus.
In my opinion, the UK government is not doing anything at all in the way of setting a good example for the UK people to follow: removing restrictions when it is clear that they need to remain in position is definitely not the best judgement call to make. Even the queen has been seen without a mask in her recent visit to Scotland and also in meetings she has recently had with Boris Johnson, who also did not wear a mask, which beggars belief considering Mr Johnson contracted the Corona virus and was seriously ill through it. The healthcare minister Sajid Javid, who like Mr Johnson also contracted Covid not too long ago, is one minute stressing to the nation the importance of wearing masks in crowded places, including on public transport, and the next minute he is seen without a mask in the House of Commons. These people are expected to act responsibly; they are supposed to be role models for the rest of society to follow, but how can the rest of society follow them when they act irresponsibly and flout their own rules.
It seems the responsibility that these very responsible persons are obliged take on when they become government officials is a heavy burden to bear for a number of them and some of them are clearly not quite up to the task; as a result it leaves them open to criticism, it makes them easy targets when their critics want to question their judgment and the collective judgment of the government. We often hear the UK government saying that they want to make sure Christmas will go ahead despite the current situation and in order to do so they are urging people to use their better sense to take precautionary measures to allow it to do so, but when these people, who are clearly unable to use their better sense, are telling the rest of the UK population to use their better sense that’s when they should lose respect and be made accountable, but very often they are not taken to task and they escape unscathed.
Finally, I believe Christmas is a special time of the year; It’s a symbolic religious event and it should be enjoyed by those around the world that celebrate it; however, I feel it would have made far more sense for the UK government to have at least kept mask wearing mandatory rather than now trying to use various psychological tactics, involving saving Christmas, to get the UK population to start to wear masks again. All this kind of approach does is undermine the people and it confirms that the government is weak and lacking in confidence which technically should mean that its leader ought to lose respect, at least that’s the theory, but of course the reality is different.
Until next week, please enjoy this week’s newsletter and I hope you have a decent weekend.
Effect and cause
When there’s an effect there is a cause.
When it rains it pours.
When a good striker gets a chance he scores.
When a dog self-soothes it licks its paws.
When a plane takes off it quickly soars.
When one country wants to control another country’s wealth there are wars.
When we put a comma into a sentence we introduce a pause.
When a boring machine rotating at speed hits rock it bores.
When a lion wants to communicate its feelings it roars.
When a shark wants to bite it opens up its jaws.
When we want to tidy out a cabinet we remove its drawers.
When a craftsman makes something old look new he restores.
When a cat scratches it does so with its claws.
When we peel and cut up apples we discard their cores.
When a bit of luck mixes with passion, determination and persistence it opens up doors.
When artists performs well they receive applause.
When sunlight hits ice it thaws.
When you feel sorry or sad for something you have done you feel remorse.
When a bucket is dropped into a water well it draws.
When something is bought and paid for it becomes yours.
When basic preventative health and safety measure are ignored the death rate soars.
When there is a limited supply of blood flow to body parts under pressure we develop sores.
When we sweat a lot we have overactive pores.
When we drop things we generally get down on all fours.
When people go to prison it’s because they break laws.
When a rabbit wants to stop teeth growth it gnaws.
For something to be affected there always has to be a cause.
A poem by Stephen Austwick