من الأشهر اليوم؟

The government seems to be trying to fob us off with barbecues, park picnics and trips to the seaside
It’s taken a while but I think I’ve identified what annoys me so much about the current phase of the government’s public health “strategy” (apart from all the obvious things, I mean). It’s that the freedoms they have allowed us in this disastrously organised emergence from lockdown, our distracting bread and circuses, are a sort of Best of Basic British Summer: barbecues, park picnics and beach trips. “This is who we – well, you – are,” the message seems to be. “This is what you people like, isn’t it? Beers in the park and charred sausages, outdoor games and tea from a flask behind a windbreaker.” Just throw in Morris dancing around a maypole carved in the image of Tim Henman for the full bingo card of honest British yeoman summer pastimes.
The alternative explanation would be that it’s our overlords who actually like this jolly, outdoor stuff. I entertained this possibility briefly, hypnotised by Tory MP for Witney & West Oxfordshire Robert Courts’s shocking, nuclear sunburn as he defended government policy, and then contemplating the sheen on David Cameron’s ruddy face (not an activity I recommend, however bored you are). He’s obviously ventured out of that shepherd’s hut for fun in the sun. Continue reading...