Alex B Cann column: Be more respectful

In his latest column for us, Tameside Radio Breakfast presenter Alex B Cann on his mixed week so far, why he has huge respect for the police and working towards a better 2021...

It’s been a mixed week for me so far. Positives have included getting a haircut (finally!) at Spike’s in Dukinfield, pausing the Wednesday weigh-in until January 6, and being asked for age verification when a parcel arrived at home containing a new kitchen knife set. I’m fully aware this was purely a legal requirement, but it still made me feel good at the age of 43.

Not so good was the moment on Monday evening when I got into the spare bed at home (we’re looking after our nephew for the week in our childcare support bubble) and the whole thing collapsed under the weight of my substantial derriere. Broken slats, shattered pride.

Joking aside, this year has also brought a lot of sadness, as well as unimaginable challenges for anyone working in the frontline against coronavirus. This is why I get so cross when I see coverage of the so-called ‘anti-lockdown protests’ in London and elsewhere, along with calls to ‘defund the police’ in some circles. 

I have huge respect for our police forces, and think they have a pretty impossible job policing some of the current laws around the tier system. At least being in Tier 3, we won’t yet need to have the discussion about what constitutes a ‘substantial meal’ (one government minister told a national radio station this week that a Scotch egg of all things counts as a substantial meal...not in my book!).

Rita Ora threw a party for her 30th and has since apologised on her Instagram for breaking the law. There was another party in Stalybridge, which resulted in fines, but didn’t feature any celebrities, to my knowledge anyway.

Back to the police. They don’t decide the rules around lockdown or tiers. It’s their job to enforce the law. Every one of those at the protests are putting our forces’ lives in danger, and ought to have a chat with some of the nurses working in Covid wards. Read any comment page on a coronavirus story, and you’ll quickly come across those who don’t believe any of it is real. I find this gobsmacking, and got my own dose of it the other week just before going on air to do my Saturday show, when I learned one of my good friends Julie Donaldson had died of coronavirus. She had caught the virus, after someone broke the rules and passed it to her husband. His whole world is now changed forever, along with everyone who knew and loved her. She did a brilliant show on a radio station in Redcar, North Yorkshire, and was one of the best people I know.

None of us want to see businesses on the high street struggling, shuttered pubs, or to live with so many restrictions on our freedom. But without a collective effort, we risk the light at the end of the tunnel being snuffed out. There is some hope on the horizon, but I guess a lot depends on take-up of the vaccines, once they’ve been certified as safe and are being handed out.

I’ve long despaired at how carefully newspapers and radio stations have to construct their coverage, whilst social media is effectively the ‘wild west’. Yes, you can report a misleading post, but often nothing seems to happen, and myths spread like wildfire, in spite of tweaks by Twitter and Facebook.

My point with all this is I really hope we can all work together towards a better 2021. I’d love for real pints in the pub to replace zoom calls, for hugs to be back when a friend’s upset, and for handshakes never to return (always hated them!). I am pretty concerned about the five day Christmas jamboree which some will no doubt be planning from December 23 and hope most will take the decision to be more sensible. After all, Eid and Diwali were celebrated in a low key way. I don’t think it would hurt for Christmas to follow suit. I’m all for not playing board games too. Always hated Monopoly anyway!

I’m on Tameside Radio weekday mornings from 7-11am, as well as hosting the Saturday Super Scoreboard 3-7pm. Have a good week!