Remember 2020? Alex has been looking back at his camera roll from the pandemic and reflecting on the latest revelations concerning a former prime minister.
What was 2020 like for you? I've just had a look through my camera roll to jog my memory, and the year began with exotic trips to Driffield, Bridlington, Blackpool and Nottingham on the train. All for 10p apiece in the Northern Flash Sale, which I remember being announced about a week into the year, as I snapped up as many cut price tickets as I could.
The year began with optimism and promise. I even remember thinking I might whisk my wife away on holiday somewhere a bit more exotic than the northern towns I visited for 10p. Lovely though Brid is!
However, of course, March 2020 saw the start of the first Covid-19 lockdown, and all that followed in terms of strict restrictions on our lives. I'm one of the lucky ones. I'm still here to tell the tale. Many lost their lives, including a really good friend of mine Julie, who I miss terribly.
The rest of my 2020 camera roll is largely home cooked curries, government approved walks around the block, and pictures of the Doncaster radio studio where I was broadcasting at the time. When I joined the Tameside Radio team in September 2020, things were still very restricted, and I had to carry a letter with me confirming I was authorised to travel, due to the nature of my job doing live radio. I know for me as a radio listener, the live programmes I tuned into provided a lot of solace in uncertain times, so I hope I reciprocated the favour to others who listened in at the time.
The revelations this week that Boris Johnson has been referred to the police by the Cabinet Office over further "potential rule breaches during the Covid pandemic" has really ignited a spark of anger in me. Some will read this and roll their eyes, imploring me to "move on". Try telling that to those who had to say goodbye to loved ones via Zoom, whilst Downing Street was seemingly party central.
Those of us who followed the rules, and for the right reasons I might add (to keep others safe from an emerging threat we knew little about at the time) were living a very different life from those at the top. Seemingly, between May 2020 and June 2021, family and friends came and went from Chequers to visit our Prime Minister at the time, even as we were being lectured from the expensive lecturns about the importance of following the 'simple instruction' to stay at home, protect the NHS, and save lives.
The most bitter pill to swallow is the fact our money has apparently been used to mount Johnson's defence case. Responding to the allegations, which Johnson's spokesman insisted showed no breaches of the guidelines, Labour's Deputy Leader and Ashton MP Angela Rayner said: "These new allegations are for the police to examine but the government must explain who else knew at the time and why this has only now come to light".
I have no doubt the public inquiry will take ages and lead to few consequences, but I hope to be proved wrong. What happened to integrity? I am not saying leading the country through a pandemic would be a walk in the park for anyone, but I'm absolutely flabbergasted at how far standards in public life seem to have fallen. The bar is so low that a lot of people don't even seem to roll their eyes now when stories like this emerge. We deserve better.
The privileges committee postponed a meeting on Tuesday following the latest revelations, first revealed in the Times and then widely reported elsewhere, and is due to report back next month. If it recommends suspending Boris Johnson for more than ten days, this could trigger a by-election in his constituency.
I should remind you too that we as taxpayers have already shelled out almost a quarter of a million pounds (£240,000) to foot the legal support bills, according to the Guardian this week. This bill will rise further as the separate public inquiry gets underway.
The last word goes to Lindsay Jackson, spokesperson for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group: "These revelations make a grim mockery of Boris Johnson's claims that he didn't break his own lockdown rules. If he had any respect, he'd quietly step back from public life and reflect on the pain and suffering he has inflicted on so many". I can't express my sentiments more eloquently than that.
You can listen to Alex every weekday from 7am to 11am on Tameside Radio 103.6FM.
