Niall McCrae
Okay, we should be grateful for small mercies. American novelist and social commentator Lionel Shriver has often criticised the covid regime in her glossy page in the Spectator. She, like Allison Pearson in the Telegraph and Julia Hartley Brewer on Talk Radio, is basically anti-lockdown while fully believing that there is a nasty pandemic relieved by mass vaccination. Such figures are keen to distance themselves from ‘anti-vaxxers’ or ‘covid-deniers’, but at least they have drawn attention to the awful social and economic impact of restrictions, including the mental health crisis in children and curtailment of cancer screening and surgery.
Shriver, in her latest column, identifies the writers and websites that have kept her sane over the last two years of turmoil. She begins with deserved accolade for Toby Young, who started the Lockdown Sceptics bulletin in the beginnings of the pseudo-medical tyranny. She overlooked another Spectator colleague, James Delingpole, who regularly spars with his mate Toby on the London Calling podcast. From Toby’s perspective, James has gone so far down the rabbit hole that he will need a deradicalisation programme. James has lost all mainstream media work as a result of his outspoken covid critique, but I reckon that most UNN readers will side with him over Toby. James is well-versed on the Great Reset, having previously alerted us to the climate change scam – which has the same underlying motive of a technocracy with 1% elite and 99% enslavement.
The Daily Sceptic, as Toby renamed his organ, fails to consider the globalist cabal that is seemingly controlling governments around the world. If we were in Germany in the Third Reich, this website would be producing reports such as ‘substandard carriages for the transportation’, and ‘health ministry mistakenly orders bulk purchase of Zyklon B instead of detergent’. Toby and his ilk take a Private Eye, public school view of the world: everything is ‘cock-up’ and nothing is conspiracy. It’s a more sophisticated way of thinking, apparently.
Shriver goes on to praise Allison Pearson, Ross Clark, Lord Sumption (what happened to him?) and busted flush Peter Hitchens. Fair play, but I cannot agree with her mention of Douglas Murray, surely one of the biggest disappointments in the last two years. Murray, like Charles Moore (and until recently Jordan Peterson), have been fighting the last war while getting jabbed, oblivious to the link between ‘woke’ ideology and covid totalitarianism.
But the most misplaced plaudits in Shriver’s ceremony are for Spiked website. I have always revered Brendan O’Neil for his Brexit stance and defence of the white working class against the progressive onslaught. The website has been a bulwark for freedom of speech amidst repressive cancel culture. O’Neil promoted mandatory vaccines for care home staff, a slap in the face for these poorly-paid women who worked through the covid crisis without the weekly clapping ritual for the NHS cult. Spiked is not quite as bad as the Sun (‘Jabs Army’) but it is pitiful to see these former Marxists shill for Big Pharma. The Australian libertarian website Quillette has taken a similar volte face on freedom.
Perhaps most significant in Shriver’s article is the omissions. It’s a travesty that mainstream media writers ignore (possibly by editorial command) hard-working and revelatory alternative media such as UK Column, which has a massive following for its thrice-weekly news broadcasts. There is no mention of UNN, Daily Expose, Hugo Talks or Off Guardian. Medical experts Sunetra Gupta and Carl Heneghan are noted, but Shriver overlooks more forthright professional critics such as the inventor of mRNA technology Robert Malone or cardiologist Peter McCullough, who are banished from mainstream outlets for exposing vaccine harm. Has she ever watched the investigative journalism on Highwire with Del Bigtree? I doubt it.
Whenever the covid regime falls, as it surely will, the likes of Lionel Shriver will congratulate themselves. But true sceptics will know who really held the flame for ethics, science and humanity.
Opinions from the Unity News Network (UNN) editorial team & various contributors. | UNN always clearly distinguishes between news and opinion pieces and as an open minded outlet we publish views from a variety of people and organisation that do not necessarily reflect the views of UNN or its writers. Articles published under UNN Opinions are always opinion pieces and if published on behalf of a contributor will contain that authors name at the start of the piece.
