I sat and watched you on the tv. You, Boris, told me and millions like me to stay at home. You told us to work from home, if we could. You told us to exercise locally, not to travel outside your local area. You said it, our leader, the person we are expected to listen to and, potentially, obey.
So why did you go from London to Bristol to visit a vaccination centre? Your home is above your office, listen to your own guidance. And let’s face it, you were of no practical use in a vaccination centre. If retired doctors and working dentists don’t have the required 20 odd bits of paper to stick a needle in my arm, you certainly don’t. It was a political move, a photo opportunity. If you had got on your bike and pedalled, I may feel less offended, but, in all probability, you travelled in an official car, with an official driver, a security guard and one of your press team. That’s four people in a vehicle for several hours with no social distancing. Smart. It’s almost inevitable that another security vehicle followed and there were police outriders. In Bristol, according to the local paper, you met healthcare workers and journalists. More potential transmission. What is particularly galling is a photograph of you standing and watching someone get the needle. Why? We have seen a plethora of old people getting their jabs recently, why did you have to get in on it? Oh, politics. Should have guessed.
So why did you go to the Olympic park for a bike ride? No one has come clean yet on whether you cycled there or got a lift (more people coming into close contact, even when masked). It doesn’t really matter does it? We are allowed to go to an open space for exercise. It’s a shame you haven’t got anywhere more local you can go. Silly me. You can almost throw a cricket ball into Horse Guards’ Parade from where you live. Then there’s St James’ Park, a distance of 250 yards. Green Park just over half a mile away and Hyde Park a distant 1.14 miles away. There was no excuse and certainly no need for you to take your motley crew to the East End of London, particularly when you home post code records 624 positive tests per 100,000 and the Olympic Park area has 946 positive tests per 100,000.
So why can’t you and all your ministers agree on exactly what the guidance is, what local is? Why are different police forces expected to implement guidance when they are given no clear instruction? Why is Priti Patel telling me this morning, in the Daily Telegraph, that the number of positive tests is dropping and they were focusing on compliance rather than any toughening of the measure, while the Daily Express says Priti Patel has backed a tough crackdown on the nation’s lockdown rule breakers. Meanwhile Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC it was “those individual decisions” that determine the virus’s spread and it “comes down to the behaviour of everyone”.
“Together we can make this the peak if enough people follow the rules which are incredibly clear,” he said. Better tell Boris.