Our old cat of 22 years made her final journey to the vet recently, long past its time, sick and failing rapidly. As she took her place in the garden—buried alongside assorted rabbits and ducks who had pre-deceased her—I wondered if the British Bulldog of wartime fame should not be buried with her.
What has happened to us? Where is the bulldog spirit we were once famed for? If you ask me, the bulldog is cowering in a corner having been beaten into submission. But the analogy is flawed as I cannot imagine any dog volunteering to be beaten again. Only humans do that. When we are asked about what we want to be done in the face of the coronavirus, according to polls, we want more, harsher, longer lockdowns. In October 2020 with the prospect of a second wave of the coronavirus, over 80% of the British public wanted to wear facemasks, continue working from home and having restricted restaurant services.
In January 2021 80% of the British public were still in favour of restrictions including a national lockdown. Our sense of perspective has deserted us, and facts simply do not seem to make a difference. The most important fact is that the coronavirus COVID19 is not especially lethal, killing the usual suspects of older frail people, those with certain underlying conditions and the obese. It does kill these people and has done so in the tens of thousands. But most of us will never know if we have the virus and of those who are infected and suffer from symptoms, the vast majority will survive. Even if this were a more lethal virus such as the Spanish flu or Ebola, the measures introduced would have little effect. Masks are next to useless, lockdowns do not work and are definitely harmful. The only thing that does seem to work is social distancing, but this is only required for vulnerable people. This is exactly what is recommended in the Great Barrington Declaration, which the British government refuses to acknowledge.
While I would not advocate breaking the law, I was heartened to see thousands of protesters against lockdown on the streets of London and other cities last weekend. I have attended and spoken at such rallies (when they were legal). Being surrounded by hundreds of people of the same mind is heartening but a reality check reminds you that most of the population are not out there with you or listening to you. That is why nothing seems to change and probably why nothing will change until we are given permission to emerge from our lockdown, walk unmasked and stand at the bar in a pub. I think the prospect of mass civil disobedience is unlikely. Far from it. But the problem is that with polls so much is favour of harsh and unnecessary measures to tackle the pandemic, there is simply no civil or electoral pressure on the government to take a more measured approach. British Bulldog? British Poodle perhaps.
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