28th May, 2020 Madness

It all kicked off over the weekend when the Guardian and the Daily Mirror broke the story that they thought would earn them plaudits. Dominic Cummings the bogeyman of the establishment and the PM’s chief advisor was reported to have flouted lockdown rules in April, by driving 260 miles to Durham to ensure that his wife and son were properly taken care of in the event that both he and his wife fell ill with Coronavirus. The outrage that generated was only worsened by reports that Cummings had gone on a 90 minute trip to Barnard Castle. Such was the furor that Cummings did the unexpected and gave a press conference, where he answered questions and gave his side. You’d think that would be the end of it but no. There remain calls for Boris Johnson to sack Cummings, for an independent inquiry into this and all sorts of other nonsense. Emily Matilis gave a seering introduction on Newsnight two days ago, and asked to take time off yesterday after the negative response to it. Who knew one man could get the chattering classes and the ordinary plebs so united in outrage.

In Hong Kong, democracy dies whilst the world and more importantly the UK decide to wank themselves off. The Chinese Parliament recently approved a new security law which is being called the end of democracy in Hong Kong. The law gives the government the power to stamp out any activities that threaten national security. What those activities might be is not made explicitly clear, which is no doubt being done to give the Chinese room to fuck over Hong Kong as much as possible. That the US has led on this is shameful for the UK, and shows once again that outrage isn’t being directed where it needs to be.

In the US, a cop was caught on video kneeling on a black man’s neck, to the extent that the man can be heard pleading for his life. A harrowing video that shows George Floyd’s final moments before he was murdered. This has rightly drawn outrage in the States and across the world, and hopefully will see the cop and his accomplices charged with murder. It has also prompted another discussion about race and racism in the States, and sparked protests that were greeted with excessive force compared to anti-lockdown protests held a month before. 

Tensions between India and China are growing, with new aerial images suggesting the Chinese are building up a military presence at a Chinese air base.  This comes after a series of rumours and counter rumours about action between Chinese and Indian forces in Ladakh and the Line of Actual Control. Skirmishes and meetings between the two forces have proven inconclusive and there is a genuine fear that things might escalate. Further proof if any were needed that China can’t keep its dick in its pants.