The Queen, The Queue and Connection

By Kelly Grehan

In a country where we have had the numbers 52/48 etched in our collectively consciousness for the last six years belonging has been hard to come.  For many of us, 12 years of Tory rule have made us wonder if we belong in the UK at all. 

Loneliness, already on the rise, before the pandemic has become a common feature of life now. 

Lockdown left many people alone, for long periods of time.  Others were just as lonely in houses overflowing of people. Many people came out of lockdown to find tasks that used to provide them human contact, like shopping, banking and paying for the bus were now done through machines.  It is now really easy for anyone living alone to go days without speaking to another person.   

Grieving, so often characterised by rituals, was disrupted so much in the pandemic, that many people lost people they could not say goodbye to ever in person, or at a funeral and so have carried a burden of unprocessed grief with them for the last two years, with no real means of dealing with it. 

Whereas work once provided the opportunity to make friends and connections, there are now many people who have now never met their colleagues apart from through a screen. 

So it is not surprising that, perhaps subconsciously, we have turned into a population seeking connection, belonging and shared experiences.  

Belonging is one of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and indeed, the feeling of connectedness to a group or community; the sense that you’re part of something is recognised as being a primary part of a  happy lifestyle 

Psychologists report that shared experiences have many benefits. Including allowing people to feel their own and other’s emotions, which helps develop the ability for emotional empathy and to understand each other better.  In post Brexit Britain isn’t empathy and understanding something that has begun to be erased from our culture?   

So the public response to the death of the Queen, when considered in the context of a population in need of connection, was perhaps, inevitable. 

As TV and radio stations all reported the same story from the moment the Queen’s ill health was reported, monarchists, republicans and those without much of a view either way, were led into experiencing the same news at the same times, in a way that on demand television has halted in recent years. 

Of course, it helps that the Queen had been a constant presence in the background of our lives for most of us, for its entirety and that even the most ardent of republicans tend to have little criticism for the Queen herself.  But as the days have gone on the value of shared experiences has become increasingly apparent. 

The most obvious example of this, of course, is The Queue (formally known as the queue).  Where as the long waiting times standing in line sounded like something deeply unpleasant, what has become clear is that actually, people in the line, sharing a once in a lifetime experience with strangers are having a deeply enjoyable, and life affirming time.  It’s notable that people are swapping numbers, making plans to meet and talking about how much they have in common with those who just happened to be the next in line.  In modern life, when would we get to spend 12 hours really getting to know a stranger?  There are probably people we have lots in common with in all parts of our life, but we just don’t get the chance to find out.   

The other thing about the queue is how many people report being there for their mum/dad/nan/aunt who has died.   

The Samaritans have sent 180 volunteers to the queue who report that people have been reflecting upon their own lives, as well as expressing grief for Her Majesty.  This is surely no bad thing. 

It isn’t just those in the queue either, in towns across the country people gathered to hear the proclamation – effectively to hear news they already knew.  Others have taken to wearing black, something they probably did not do at times of their own bereavement, others have taken flowers to local monuments as well as to the Royal Parks.  There is a feeling that we are all part of something.  Despite the obvious sadness of the passing of our monarch, there does seem to have been an uplifting of national mood in recent days, with people feeling connection and all the benefits this brings. 

No one disputes that automation is here to stay, and that new developments bring benefits as well as difficulties.  But as a country with a massive mental health crisis we need to look at what we can learn from events of the past 10 days and how we can bring more connection, empathy and understanding into our culture moving forward.   

From National Pride to National Shame By Kelly Grehan

On Sunday morning I wrote another version of this blog. Swept up in Euro 2020 fever, I wrote about my renewed optimism for an England that belonged to everyone, and where differences were celebrated. I imagined a future where we would look back on this week fondly. Of course I now realise how stupid and naive I was.

Football is such a strong part of our national identity, and last week, everywhere I looked everyone was celebrating the men’s England football team. I thought – our brilliant, diverse, socially active, campaigning players were the sign of a new era. An era so desperately needed.

As Gareth Southgate said in his beautiful letter to the nation ‘Dear England, You remember where you were watching England games. And who you were watching with. And who you were at the time.’ It’s true. I remember, aged 6 my dad explaining ‘the hand of God’ to me and in 1990 my whole family watching the disastrous penalty shoot out and our hero Gazza crying.

I look back on the summer of 1996 – when I was 16 – as a truly glorious time. With nationalism seemingly less of an toxic issue than it is now, St Georges flags were everywhere as England stormed to the European semi final. For the first time in my lifetime Labour were less than a year away from power. I was awaiting my GCSE results and so was on the cusp of new adventures. For met felt like a great time to be young and English. I watched England 98 in the pub with my friends, wearing face paint and comfortable sobbing boys on my shoulders as we went out.

This last decade has made me feel a complete lack of identity as either British or English. As Labour lost back to back elections, austerity turned the UK into a country I often felt ashamed of and then the Brexit result led to years of division. Last spring, after the murder of George Floyd the racist reactions of some people made me feel like I would never feel I really belonged in England again.

Then the last three weeks happened. Gareth Southgate wrote that letter making it clear that the England players would continue to take the knee before matches. He said ‘It’s their duty to continue to interact with the public on matters such as equality, inclusivity and racial injustice, while using the power of their voices to help put debates on the table, raise awareness and educate.’

When I read that, for the first time in a long time, I actually felt hopeful about the future of this county. Of course idiots like tory MP Lee Anderson complained, but the England football team were representing the views I hold. Better still the team included players who not only believe in social justice, but have actually gone out and fought for it. I’m talking, of course, about people like Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling. I feel good linking my identity with them. It’s been touching to hear both men pay tribute to their mothers, especially as in the 1990s when Sterling and Rashford were born, single mothers were demonised as ‘scroungers.’ Actually many were heroically bringing up fantastic kids, working hard & are worth so much more than those who criticised. It must drive those who condemned black single mothers at that time to see the men these mothers raised.

As the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and others lined up to criticise the England team for taking the knee, rather than say they had made their point and stopping the team carried on – in full knowledge of the criticism it would bring. Harry Kane wore a captain’s armband with the pride rainbow flag on. The players gave money to the NHS. The strength those young men showed was simply inspirational to so many of us. It was simply joyous to see people celebrating England after previously feeling they were not welcome to – people wearing England tops and hijabs, elderly black women, people in turbans. This was the England I wanted to be part of.

If I am honest I’ve never derived much pleasure from watching actual football matches but what I do love is being part of a crowd, all singing the same songs and shouting the same chants and feeling the same emotions at the same time. In short – that feeling of belonging. The England team singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ with the crowd last week was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen – made even better by knowing that – like me- people across the county were joining in – and that this team had made it clear they belonged to everyone.

Then Sunday night and Monday morning happened. Scenes of joy were replaced with ugly scenes of violence and racism. People around the world watched this unfold and no doubt made judgements accordingly. Far from a fine new era, it became clear little has changed in the last 40 years.

I won’t forget waking up Monday morning, and reading about horrific racist targeting of the black England players.

Let’s be clear, the hatred some people seem to feel for Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka is not borne of disappointment that they missed penalties any more than those furious over taking of the knee were really worried about marxism entering football. These people are motivated by jealousy and the fact that their pathetic world view that their own skin colour gives them some kind of superiority or deeper right to be English has been shown to be nonsense. People are not racially abusing players because of missed penalties: they are racially abusing people because they are racists.

Being patriotic isn’t about excluding others and it certainly isn’t about abusing others. We cannot keep pretending that racism will somehow sort itself out in the end. That it will die out with older generations, or that it’s fine because ‘things are better than they used to be.’

Imagine how black children seeing the headlines are thinking about how accepted they are in the country they grow up in. Indeed many will have heard racist chanting on their way from the match, others seen racist graffiti on walls as they walked to school on Monday. In years to come they will be reflecting on the events of this week and how it made them feel – no doubt a world away from my happy Euro 96 nostalgia! We cannot let this be a country where this continues. We owe all our kids more than this. We need to be a better England.

The way we make racism unacceptable is by not accepting it. We stop making excuses for racism – it’s not banter, it’s not emotion or passion and it’s not ‘having a laugh.’ Taking a stand against racism may be woke, but better than being asleep! Instead of true patriots, who happen to be of colour being afraid to come to football stadiums let’s make racists unwelcome there. Instead of people asking questions about why we did not win a football match let’s question why some people feel safe shouting abuse at others across terraces, and in pubs and booing national anthems – and made both completely accepted anywhere.

Let us fight to be the England I thought we were on Saturday.

Angela Rayner Shows Why Our Democracy Needs More Women.

Cllr Kelly Grehan

Tuesday was The International Day of Democracy.  The UN describes this as  ‘providing an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world’. They also say ‘Democracy is as much a process as a goal, and only with the full participation of and support by the international community, national governing bodies, civil society and individuals, can the ideal of democracy be made into a reality to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere.’

Globally it is undeniable that the participation of women continues to be lacking.  Only 24.3 per cent of all national parliamentarians were women as of February 2019 and there are 27 States in which women account for less than 10 percent of parliamentarians in single or lower houses, including three chambers with no women at all.

Here in the UK men still hold more than 66% of the seats in parliament despite a record number of women having been elected in December, and whilst there is cause for celebration that the Labour Parliamentary party has now achieved gender parity in Parliament the fact that we still have not had a female leader must surely be recognised as a failure.

So it was interesting that, this week, for the first time in his Premiership Boris Johnson was forced to face a woman at Prime Minister’s Question Time, and in Angela Rayner he faced a woman whose experiences and journey to Parliament could not be more different to his own.  Much is made of the fact that Angela was once a teenage mum,  without qualifications, from a working class background and that this makes her somewhat of an anomaly as an MP, but surely it would be better for our democracy if there was nothing remarkable about someone like Angela being an MP, and that all kinds of experiences were represented in the House of Commons.  Maybe, we would have seen a better response to the Covid crisis if those in charge had more experience of ordinary life to full back on in decision making.

It is worth noting that Angela is one of only six women who have represented the Labour Party at PMQs, the others being Harriet Harman, Margaret Beckett, Angela Eagle, Emily Thornberry and Rebecca Long-Bailey

Whilst the excellent job Angela did at the dispatch box today is no doubt being discussed across the country,  I want to point out that she also bought something that has been missing from the political spotlight for some time – she bought a focus on issues which primarily impact women and with it the wisdom of her lived experiences 

An ex care worker, Angela asked a floundering Boris Johnson if he knew what a care worker earnt.  When Mr Johnson could not answer her question she was able to draw attention to ”the shameful fact the average wage in social care is barely more than £8 an hour.”  and pressed the Prime Minister  on when he would present his promised plan for reforming social care, saying he needed to “get some skates on it” in preparing the care sector for the winter.

She then raised the fact that guidance issued this week means that birth partners will not be allowed to join pregnant women until “the moment of established labour” and highlighted the distress this will cause mothers and, tragically, those it will leave to face miscarrage alone.  Those watching will be in no doubt that this question was motivated by Angela’s empathy for those experiencing these circumstances and not political point scoring. 

These issues are important and, whilst of course, they can be raised by men, the evidence is that often they are not and with the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, SNP and DUP all led at Westminster by men there is now a real risk of such issues being sidelined.  Indeed all of us are, to some extent influenced by our own experiences and that is why we need a diverse range of people among those who govern.  

So, whilst we celebrate Angela Rayner’s performance today we need to focus efforts on ensuring that diverse women’s voices are heard and represented in Parliament – for the sake of democracy.  

Art is Not a Luxury

Kelly Grehan

My friends all laugh at the fact I’ve seen the musical Wicked 7 times, but it’s a source of continued disappointment to me that I haven’t seen it more times because nothing makes me feel like I feel when I see the actress playing Elphaba sing the song ‘No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.’

I don’t have any creative talent. I cannot paint or sing or dance.  But I know that seeing the right painting, hearing the right song or watching the right dance can make me feel alive.

It is a popular myth  that when Churchill was asked to cut arts funding in favour of the war effort, he simply replied, ‘Then what are we fighting for?’”

Whilst this story is, alas, not true, it does represent a truth – that without art life is infinitely worse.

During the lockdown the art community have been responsible for bringing joy into our lives. I enjoyed watching Jesus Chris Superstar and A Streetcar Named Desire on YouTube. I looked forward to watching Patrick Stewart reading a sonnet every morning. Gary Barlow singing with a different singer every few days was fun. 

How many people found comfort in drawing rainbows and placing them in their windows or were cheered by counting those they saw on their daily walk? Was this not art therapy at its most basic level?

How many of us watched old films and old TV shows and found solace in them during this period?

Aside from sport, art is the thing that gets us talking, the thing that defines us. Remember the arguments people would have about the Turner Prize? Remember the excitement of seeing a band and the warm up act being so good you started downloading their songs on the way home. 

Whilst there are many industries we in the UK have lost over the years, but our arts industries have remained a source of pride.

But now the industry is in real trouble. 

The collapse of the arts, with a £74bn drop in revenues and about 400,000 potential and actual job losses in the sector owing to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, has prompted calls for urgent government assistance, as there is little prospect of a swift return to full houses in theatres, or other live performance, and recording has been halted by social distancing restrictions.

Things are at a stage where even the Globe has warned it could face insolvency.

There is so much for us to fight for at the moment – our children’s education, out healthcare system, so much about our way of life – that it feels frivolous to be worrying about the arts. 

But

What kind of world do we want when this is all over?

I believe one where we don’t have the arts will be one with much less joy.

We must stop thinking of art as a luxury and see it something we need.

Fellow White People: Let’s Play Our Part

Kelly Grehan

Before I start writing I want to give some context.  Reader, I am nervous about what I am about to write.  Whatever I write about, I aim to do it with truth and I usually sit down to write because something has touched me and I feel inspired to write.  I feel more nervous than usual because what I am about to say will be emotive and because I am going to write about race and racism and I am very aware the last thing that the world needs is white people talking about racism.

So why write at all?  Well, I feel as if white people can and must act as allies if racism is ever to be eradicated.

Also, last week I was on the receiving end of racist social media trolls, who were very vocal in their belief I was wrong in supporting the Black Lives Matter campaign. It began when I posted a meme on my facebook wall inviting people to take the knee. I received dozens of nasty replies.

This was nothing compared to the response I got, a few days later, that I had indeed taken the knee. These are few examples.

I don’t, in any way, want to equate my experience here with the horrendous online bullying and harassment suffered by people of colour. I just want to make the point that this what can be expected by those who do speak out, and to say it won’t stop me.

Aside from the migogonistic messages I received the most common theme seemed to be that these people believed by supporting black lives matters I was supporting violence and that taking a knee on my doorstep was akin to going on a violent rampage around the town.

It is time we, as white people start to question the dangerous tropes about black people we have been conditioned to believe.

I’ve tried hard to broaden my understanding of other people and their lived experiences.   I was touched by the performance from Dave the Rapper at this years Brits Awards where he paid tribute to Jack Merritt and called out Boris Johnson on his racism.  A line that particularly resonated with me was ’If you don’t want to get it, then you’re never gonna get how the news treats Kate versus how they treated Meghan.’ 

I truly believe the vitriol aimed at Meghan Markle has shone a light on the hidden prejudices in this country.  I think’’not getting it is’’ is the deliberate motivation of all those who keep posting ‘all lives matter.’

We are letting these people pretend to “not get it” because it suits them to believe that racism either doesn’t exist or is acceptable.

I think when you are from a privileged group you can never be sure if the information you are given about another group is true, or nonsense unless you make an effort to get to know people in those groups and we must challenge ourselves to understand each other.

As a child I lived in an area where people of colour were small in numbers.  In these cases – where someone is the only person of their ethnicity in a class they can easily become seen as the sole representative of that group so that if they eat a certain food, support a certain football team or like a certain subject people assume that all people from that background do too. This isn’t malicious, but it can lead to us making judgements. We need to start questioning ourselves about where we do this.

Then there is the subtle but ever present rhetoric that white people like myself receive so that, without us thinking about it, we are taught to regard black people as more prone to violence.  For me the most obvious example of this is the Notting Hill Carnival.  I recall every August Bank Holiday there were stories on the news which always seemed to be about fights and stabbings.  I honestly have no recollection of seeing any floats or dancers.  So, without my really thinking about it I assumed the event to be very, very violent and I never questioned this perception until years later when colleagues of mine were attending and I heard them talk about the joyous time they had.  It was then I began to question why the stories about this event are so skewed compared to those about other events.  

I’m reading  Girl, Woman, Other, a novel by Bernardine Evaristo, which won the Booker Prize.  It’s a fantastic novel.  But there are times when I have to examine my reaction to the characters – primarily black women and realise I am finding them intimidating and I have to question why this is.  I think it’s because there has been so little inclusion of women of colour in mainstream literature that it almost feels like something to adapt to.  And most of what we have received has been through a white narrative. 

None of us want to believe we have any prejudice. None of us want to believe we benefit from oppressive systems. Most of us want to do good.  And while those of us who are white, continued not to question the assumptions we make about those from other backgrounds, or the systems we are part of we are letting ourselves down. 

I ask everyone white to think about the impact racism has on us – because all of us suffer from a society where other members are oppressed. If you go around assuming some people on our community are more violent than others based upon their appearance you are filing yourself with needless fear. This is bad for your life. If your kids are frightened to bring home black friends and partners because of your reaction then you are hurting them.

For a long time, I felt I was doing my bit against racism by listening to people of colour and trying to amplify their voices.

Now I know that is inadequate. To be really anti-racist means to examine yourself and what mistakes you have made and where your prejudice has come from, and to keep learning

But more importantly we need to speak out against and hold accountable all those with racist views and all institutions that discriminate.

Let’s really do better.

Take Accountability

By Victoria Oguntope

I sit here watching, listening and learning as events unfold across the US. As a black woman living in 21st Century Britain, I feel pressured, angered and compelled to deploy my voice and make a stance on the ongoing global systematic, political and social economical racism we black/brown people encounter/experience on a daily basis not only in America but also here in the UK.

To be clear, these accounts are from personal experience and that which has been told to me and witnessed.

Racism has been part of our fabric from the beginning of time and has taken different forms in our society through the evolution of time none of which has been positively received by the masses. Albeit, the US allowed a black president to occupy the Oval Office and observe a handful of black/brown Supreme Court justices appointed since its establishment in 1789.

However, the US perpetuate false progress – it observed some aphorisms in relation to education, jobs and economic growth, thus there’s a disproportionate amount of wealth, education and social economic growth. Colourism plays a major part in how the country is governed – the tragic killing of George Floyd by the hands of Minneapolis law enforcement officers, is a result of the ongoing unrest in multiple states across the US – the revolution illustrates disproportionality of the black/brown American citizens, how the black/brown communities are at a disadvantage incomparason to their white counterparts when it comes to education, businesses, housing and police brutality, often subjected to daily scrutiny, targeting and demonisation for no other reason than the colour of their skin.

Observing from the UK, there has been some support from the general public.  But I find that there is limited support from the mainstream UK media – perhaps because it suits them that way or it absolves them of any wromg doing – to acknowledge it means you have to accept that there’s in fact a systematic and global problem of ongoing racism.

As well as the US, the UK is riddled in systemic, political, social economic racism. Dare I say it! It is time as a nation that we take accountability and encourage conversation surrounding race relations and accept/address the issue.

Since the unfolding of the tragic murder of Mr. Floyd, there has been outpouring of support globally. Over the years, the conversation surrounding race relations, racism and oppression directed at people of colour has been an inconvenient truth to engage in.

While at school, the educators and the syllabus made an attempt to address black history – but it often left  me with questions or confusion, furthermore it does not help when an educator points you out in a classroom while studying apartheid in South Africa, to exclaim the notion ‘You should know all about this’ – shock horror!

I stumbled upon a recent social media post that read: “I am from the UK where everyone loves everyone and it is inclusive so it was a massive shock to my system when I visited Seattle Oregon area three years ago and saw how white supremacists are all around. It’s shocking and scary”. The above statement cannot be further from the truth. The author clearly lives in a different world to me – or like many of her peers, chooses to ignore the struggles we people of colour face on a daily basis in the UK. I suspect her privilege plays a part here – I live in a borough where the local government has done very little for my community nor does it see the significance in celebrating black history month but will embrace other celebratory occasions, suggesting that one community is more important than another – that’s the community I live in.

For many years I have experienced racism in various forms including in my professional career and personal engagements, here are some examples, one glorious morning on my way to the train station, a rather personable white woman stopped me dead in my tracks to exclaim the fact that I am black and proceeded to chant the N-word whilst following behind me; or whilst on a run a car full of young men slowing down, lobbing an apple directly at my chest and shouting the N-word; or when my white female friends feel comfortable enough to tell you that their father said they’d be ‘written out of their family will or disowned’ if they’d ever date a black boy; or when you have walked into an interview room and see the disappointment in the interviewing panels faces. This is not including the daily indignation suffered from the senior members of our society, which also form the local government by which I am governed.

To reiterate, I am NOT a victim nor do I require unsolicited sympathy, what I do ask of you is to hold yourselves, your friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances accountable.

I identify many white counterparts using the slogan “all lives matter.”

Ask yourselves this, If all lives matter, why are we people of colour subject to more scrutiny and discrimination, why is there a higher death rate in childbirth for women of colour, why are we not sought-after for prominent positions, why are we the last group to be considered for anything, why are we more likely to be stopped by law enforcement, why the unjust treatment of the windrush generation, why do we have cultural appropriation, why do we have to teach our children from a young age what it means to be from a black/brown background because at the moment, in this current climate we DO NOT have the same privileges as our white counterparts?

We live in a country that knows too well how to attain its wealth through years of colonisation, torture, indignation and slavery. In this moment, right, now, we are asking for hundreds of years of oppression and discrimination to stop. Recently a couple of people asked me what can they do to help to fix the problem; the problem originated with white people, the burden lies with the white community to address – to assume responsibility, to hold yourself accountable, for many years we have assumed the racism, demonisation, discrimination and injustices for over 400 hundred years; now is your turn to take accountability and help to stop ALL forms of racism and discrimination
towards people of colour. One thing is certain, we are no longer going to sit back and take it.

We are stronger, educated and there is power in numbers. As allies, we ask you to demand equality on our behalf, it is now your turn to take responsibility and take accountability for the injustices we face as a society.

We Are All Acting Against Our Instincts Prime Minister

Kelly Grehan

• 

I’m angry. I’m so angry I’m struggling to keep still. I honestly feel like I could burst into tears at any moment.

I appreciate that because I am a Labour councillor people might read this and claim it is a politically motivated attack.  Fine. I honestly dont care. I’ve done something I rarely do today, I’ve tweeted thanks to Conservative MPs who have spoken out about Dominic Cummings.

I, like most people in this country, am law abiding. I follow rules. I do my best. Most people do. I am certain of it. It seems mildly amusing now they have been off so long, but the week before the schools closed I was panicked that if I got covid 19 my children might miss 2 weeks off school and spoil their high attendance records and their education – as we had always been told time off school was very detrimental.

Like all people who try to obey rules, I occasionally suffer from the worry that those who don’t obey the rules, somehow benefit and laugh are laughing at the rest of us for being ‘mugs.’

I think it’s why people are so particularly angered by benefit cheats and people who push in queues – it feels like they are ‘mugging us off’ – benefitting from our decency while not taking part in it.

But the last 10 weeks have been different. For the last 10 weeks the strength of the common endeavour was like nothing most of us have ever seen before.

People have made immeasurable sacrifices that can never be repaid that have caused them untold pain, for the common good.

I’m talking about people being unable to be at their child’s birth, unable to meet new babies, people forced to attend funerals by Skype, watch their parents take their last breath by zoom, unable to put their arms around friends diagnosed with terminal illnesses, people spending their birthdays alone, people coming home from hospital to empty houses and people day after day stuck alone caring for children or other relatives without a second of respite – including when they have illnesses themselves.

All of us are acting by the rules, rather than our instincts. Our instincts are to rush to our families and friends in times of grief, pain and celebrations. Fighting that instinct has been incredibly hard.

So, quite frankly to be told by the Prime Minister, at this late stage, after so much suffering,  that it was ok for Dominic Cumings to drive 240 miles when he had covid symptoms and had been in contact with covid positive people (including the Prime Minister and Health Secretary) to find childcare for his son as he was following ‘his instinct’ is horrific. It’s like a punch in the stomach.

Clearly the Prime Minister and Dominic Cummings consider those of us dutifully following the rules that laid out, to be mugs.

What’s more there can be no doubt that there will be people today and tomorrow who feel that they cannot fight their instincts anymore. They will go to their loved ones and the virus will spread. But who can blame them?

Dominic Cummings has caused untold harm and must be sacked.

His actions are an insult to us all.

After The Applause

Kelly Grehan

It’s now 9 weeks since the Clap For Carers event started. It’s creator now says this week’s event, the 10th, should be the last.

The first week my family went outside and clapped, alongside our neighbours, with a motivation of showing anyone in the street who was working for the NHS that we appreciated them. This was repeated in streets across the length and breadth of the country.  Many people reported unexpectedly bursting into tears on that night, back on the 26th March and indeed it was emotional. It was dark that week as we had not yet entered British Summer Time and I suspect many of us were in a state of bewilderment.  It was only 3 days then since the full lockdown had begun and we were all adjusting, apprehensive and even fearful. Empty shop shelves, closed schools, furloughing – these were all new to us then. Things like hearing the daily death count had not yet become the norm. The separations we were experiencing were new and raw and we needed to thank our NHS staff that night because their actions were the one thing we could all be certain of – they would do their best for us all. And that belief has held true to this day – the one thing that has not changed or diminished. 

Since then we have been outside every Thursday at 8pm. The weather has changed, our gardens are starting to bloom and we now bring out pots and pans to bang, some of our neighbours bring horns and bells: We have a good time.

I have concerns that rather than rewarding carers, the clapping actually does them a disservice because it fuels the rhetoric that NHS staff are ‘angels’ who act out of an unselfish vocation, and for reasons I’m not sure I can fathom this rhetoric seems to provide a cover to the argument that they do not need better pay and conditions, as it clapping shows appreciation so a pay rise or PPE are not really needed. Any arguments to the contrary are always met with accusations of ‘politicising’ the situation or a lecture on ‘now not being the time’ for such discussions.

Equally  I’m not sure many of us think of carers when we go out to clap on Thursday nights now; I think it has evolved into something else.

As the days drift into weeks and even months where there is little to differentiate one day from another for many of us, it provides some sort of structure to the week. Every week I find myself thinking ‘is it Thursday already?’

It’s almost comforting having something to mark off, an activity that separates one week from the last in the way weekends, work trip and the kids . But, more importantly, as with most people it’s the only activity I now do which involves people outside my household which isn’t done through a screen.

Before lockdown I’d always got on well with my neighbours. We had a WhatsApp group and sent each other Christmas cards but now I genuinely look forward to seeing them.  We really enjoyed spending VE Day together (but apart) and I think we are genuinely excited when anyone of us has good news and upset when any of us has bad news. In short we are a community. 

I think there is somewhat of a longing in most of us right now for community and shared experiences, and the Thursday night clap has become that. 

So, while I agree the time has probably come to end the clap, I hope we can find other shared experiences because, if we have learnt anything from this awful experience it’s how important connection is, even if it’s only for a few minutes a week.

“Women – Watch Your Tone.”

Kelly Grehan

Rosena Allin-Khan is highly qualified to talk about the impact of the Covid Crisis on hospitals – as well as being MP for Tooting she has worked in A and E at St George’s Hospital throughout the crisis. This experience, coupled with her master’s degree in public health, would – you might think – mean that when she speaks about her NHS experience the Secretary of State for Health would show some respect.

Today, in the House of Commons, having just been thanked by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle for her NHS service Dr Allin-Khan addressed Matt Hancock, saying

‘’Frontline workers like me have had to watch families break into pieces as we deliver the very worst of news to them, that the ones they love most in this world have died. The testing strategy has been nonexistent. Community testing was scrapped, mass testing was slow to roll out and testing figures are now being manipulated. Many frontline workers feel that the government’s lack of testing has cost lives and is responsible for many families being unnecessarily torn apart in grief. Does the Secretary of State commit to a minimum of 100,000 tests each day going forward? And does the Secretary of State acknowledge that many frontline workers feel that the government’s lack of testing has cost lives?”

Mr. Hancock responded by saying:

“I welcome the honorable lady to her post as part of the shadow health team. I think she might do well to take a leaf out of the shadow secretary of state’s book in terms of tone.’’

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan is an A&E Doctor, as well as MP for Tooting.

I find this unacceptable on so many levels. 

Firstly, if we want to talk about the use of unacceptable tones I instantly think of the occasion in 2017 when Mr. Hancock and his colleagues cheered as they blocked a pay raise for nurses and other public servants and the evening last year when MP Paula Sheriff begged the Prime Minister to moderate his inflammatory language and think of the death threats she and fellow MPs received often quoted his language. He replied with the word ‘humbug.’ Oddly – Mr. Hancock did not seem concerned with tone then.

Perhaps Mr. Hancock believes that we should adopt a tone of ignorance and not draw attention to the fact that we now have the second highest death toll in Europe. A few months ago, I remember a tone of shock and horror accompanying news reports from hospitals in Italy. I do not recall criticism of the Italian government’s approach being discouraged. 

Or maybe, as we see time and time again – there is a backlash against strong, clever women making strong, important, irreputable points. Women, whatever their credentials are discredited and dismissed. When Anneliese Dodds was appointed Shadow Chancellor a few weeks ago I saw people online saying Keir Starmer had ‘appointed a woman to keep the feminists happy’ rather than appoint ‘someone qualified’. I think her 1^st class Oxford degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, her master’s degree in Social Policy and her PhD in Government might suggest Anneliese Dodds is more than qualified.

Rather than take on the points they make – we often see questions by women given a reply emphasizing or questioning their demeanor – we all recall David Cameron telling Angela Eagles to ‘calm down dear’ when she questioned planned NHS reforms in 2011. I struggle to believe that he would have addressed a man like that, and I struggle to believe Matt Hancock would have spoken to a practicing male doctor as he did to Rosena Allin-Khan today. 

David Cameron telling Angela Eagles to “calm down dear.”

This is at best sexism, and at worse misogyny and it should not go unchallenged. 

As a woman in politics I am sick of being patronised, mansplained to and dismissed by people with less experience or less knowledge than me and I know most women in politics have had the same experiences. When you complain those perpetuating this behaviour see it as vindication that they were right and women are too hysterical and not tough enough for politics.

But we also see time and time again, the value women bring to politics, the experiences we bring are of value and I suggest Mr. Hancock and his fellow belittlers think about why they resort to responses like his today rather than respond with answers and debate. 

We Airbrushed Those In Care Homes Out Of Our Minds Before This Crisis.

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by Kelly Grehan

‘Out of site. Out of mind.’

That’s the approach we have taken to those in care homes for as long as I can remember.

Hidden from view, the only conversations about nursing care which ever entered the public consciousness, were about the costs and never seem to result in any policy changes.

The budget which took place on 11th March, like so many previous budgets, failed to mention social care.

Older people in care homes suffer from it being part of our culture that, unlike many others, we don’t like talking about death. We hide it away from view and try to pretend it won’t get us.  Aging is not something we want to know about. We approach it largely with dread.

For younger people in care homes – because of disability or other circumstance the same invisibility applies. It’s not something most of us know much about or want to.

Maybe it’s this same culture which has facilitated the situation we now find ourselves in where those in care homes – both residents and staff are being treated so badly now.

Those in care homes are particularly affected by the covid crisis. For reasons entirely understandable and sensible care homes have not allowed visitors since before the lockdown was implemented. 

Most concerning is the lack of transparency and clarity about the scale of the spread of the disease amongst those living in care homes 

Deaths in care homes are not counted in the figures reported to us daily.  Instead they are produced on a lag a week behind and only count those who have ‘corona’ recorded as the cause of death on their death certificate.  The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics , which include every community death linked to covid 19 showed a total of 406 such deaths registered up to 3 April. That would have added an extra 11% to the official UK figures, based solely on deaths in hospitals, that were being reported at that time.  Of those extra deaths, 217 took place in care homes, 33 in hospices, 136 in private homes, three in other communal establishments and 17 elsewhere.

Charity Age UK responded by saying coronavirus is “running wild” in care homes for elderly people. Caroline Abrahams, the charity’s director, said.

“The current figures are airbrushing older people out like they don’t matter.”

It is surely a source of national shame that any of our citizens can be forgotten like this – with their deaths treated as an add on to the rest – not meriting attention or enquiry.

It might be easy to assume those in care homes were close to death anyway, as if this somehow negates the severity of the situation for them. But many of them will have had years ahead of them were it not for the virus.

Then there is the appalling situation concerning PPE (personal protective equipment). We are over a month into this crisis, and we knew for a few months before that it was coming. There can be no justification as to why staff working in care homes are still without protective equipment whilst they perform intimate care tasks with no means of knowing how may have contracted the virus. of the 1.5 million people working in care homes only 505 have been tested for corona.

As Nadra Ahmed, chairwoman of the National Care Association, said “Once you run out, it is a question of being down to Marigolds and bin liners. Government has not reacted quickly enough to build confidence in the sector that PPE is available.”

In a further act of negligence the Government had removed VAT on essential PPE kit for the NHS but claimed it had not done the same for the social care sector. 

Then there is the treatment of staff in care homes. Caring is a very difficult job – physically and mentally. Yet most people working in care homes earn just the national minimum wage. This, surely, is indicative of how little regard we, as a society hold the care of our much vulnerable citizens.

Today Matt Hancock has said he wants to introduce a single brand for social care to ensure that carers get the same sort of priority treatment that NHS staff do in some settings. Care workers will be given a badge to identify them.

Does he not think most care workers would prefer an end to their poverty wages and terrible conditions (half of workers in the care sector are on zero hours contracts)?

When this is all over I sincerely hope many things are viewed differently. The invisibility of those in care homes and the lack of respect for those who work within them must end.