You couldn't make it up. The media converts the public into a baying mob, driving us all into a hate-fuelled frenzy, declaring that Dominic Cummings (Boris Johnson's chief advisor) broke lockdown rules by driving 250 miles to Durham. Never mind the fact that he holed up in a cottage away from the rest of the country. Sack Cummings is the cry, fine him, hang him up even. He has put so many people at risk! The media lynch mob was fully revved up.
Yet down in London, Manchester, Glasgow and many other UK cities yesterday, tens of thousands of protesters gathered side by side, with absolutely no respect for social distancing, claiming that the death of George Floyd in the USA was an outrage and indicated society's bias against black people.
Did you see a single arrest by the police because the crowd were breaking social distancing guidance? No, not one. There is no law when it comes to the police dealing with large crowds, they simply stand back and let everyone get away with it.
Now, of course Mr Floyd's death was an outrage, and of course his murderers should be tried in a court of law (which is now happening), but that act of gathering in such high numbers will have caused the coronavirus to spread and will result in the deaths of thousands more civilians. It was an act of pure selfishness and stupidity. Black lives may matter, but they do not matter any more than anyone else's! And with this act of gathering in sheer numbers, the demonstrators have blown a hole the size of a planet in any moral ground they stood on.
"Also remember, BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) groups are more at risk of dying from Covid-19 than other races", this community tells us. "We shouldn't have to work on the front line in hospitals", they tell us. Yet somehow, these people who care so much for their health and demand protection, suddenly forget all about the risks when gathering in protest groups of many thousands.
The stench of hypocrisy in the arguments of black people, demanding protection from the dangers of COVID-19 and requesting equality, is overwhelming.
Yes, black lives matter. But so does everyone else's.
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