Letter from Bob Edwards, Harlow Labour member
Dear editor,
I’ve just listened to one hour of drivel on BBC Radio 4. It was about whether Boris Johnson and Downing Street broke their own lockdown rules. I have it on good authority that social distancing, mask-wearing and not having social gatherings were essential. It was the only way to break the progress of the virus. While no virus will kill all of its hosts, without whom it wouldn’t survive, it needs to jump to new hosts and that cycle has to be broken.
If Downing Street wants to ignore these precautions and risk infection, so be it, but beware, the issue is a smokescreen. Think of what is being ignored: inflation. It has been calculated on the very basic level of food there is massive inflation. Fuel is going up 50%, housing costs are going up too. The news is keeping off the crisis in the NHS and the rising militant action of (some) unions on pay.
By focusing on the partying in Downing Street, the press is using a smokescreen to hide more important issues. But the old mole of revolution is burrowing away. We must redouble our efforts to rebuild the trade unions and the Labour Party. A genuine socialist leadership, armed with a socialist programme can succeed
