Andy Richardson: 'We must be ahead of the curve this time'
The idea that David Lammy and Priti Patel might join forces is as likely as Michael Gove losing his ambition to become Prime Minister, or Boris Johnson enjoying a Damascene moment and developing a love of the truth.
On the left, Lammy has been a powerful voice for the victims of Grenfell Tower and the Windrush Generation. On the right, Patel presides over the Hostile Environment and has spent summer urging the French to tow illegal migrants back across the Channel.
Yet those unlikely bedfellows have come together after Patel reached out to Lammy, who had been the victim of racist abuse. Lammy is Britain’s most abused MP and had retweeted a threat from a Twitter user with an IQ slightly lower than a lump of cheese.
While Twitter dawdled and failed to remove the hateful slur, the Home Secretary intervened. Patel supported Lammy’s report to the Metropolitan Police and urged action from them. Doubtless they’ll intervene: she is, after all, their boss.
The Neanderthal who sparked the unlikely cross-party consensus may soon receive a knock on the door from officers, having learned that David Lammy is one of many who will not be silenced by vile racism.
Around the world, lockdowns are returning as coronavirus returns to haunt those who failed to stamp it out.
Tens of millions of people in the Philippines have been told to stay home while Australians are looking enviously across the Tasman Sea at New Zealanders. New Zealand is back to normal, albeit with borders closed, having eliminated the disease by introducing tough lockdown measures at the start of the pandemic. Australia fared almost as well, but failed to close the deal. Now Covid-19 is making a resurgence in Victoria and the State’s contract tracing effort is buckling under the weight.
The UK missed countless opportunities to reduce infections and deaths during the first wave.
As the second wave begins, we must ensure we’re ahead of the curve this time around – not lagging behind.
Rishi Two Snacks is hoping people Eat Out To Help Out, providing lunches for a tenner in a bid to retain hospitality jobs. It’s curious that the £10 promotional offer should come at a time when Boris wants us to lose weight and avoid obesity, though the Government can be forgiven for that mixed message as it battles to stave off an unemployment crisis.
