There is no doubt that the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic is having a devastating effect on much of the globe. Governments everywhere are struggling to decide what to do for the best, with vast and unprecedented amounts of money being conjured up from nowhere and thrown at the resulting economic problems. People are being told to stay at home and most of the places at which they would otherwise socialise have been ordered to close. There is panic buying and stockpiling and supermarket shelves are being stripped almost as soon as they're filled.
In the UK, we're now under an effective 'lockdown' and the financial assistance provided by the government is of the order of hundreds of billions of pounds, potentially approaching a thousand billion, or a trillion, numbers that are largely incomprehensible to most and representing a substantial chunk of the county's total economic output. There is, as yet, no clear indication of the likely duration of either the epidemic or the necessary draconian actions being taken to combat it, and the effects of this crisis will be felt for years, perhaps decades, to come.
Despite this being the worst crisis to affect the world in modern times, excluding major wars, there are those who continue to do nothing but find fault with the government's actions. The wartime spirit that saw all political parties join together to fight the common foe is entirely lacking as those on the left of our politics spend their time looking for anything to complain about - the likes of Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Frances O'Grady, assorted trades' unions, even some business leaders, make supportive noises while actually whingeing about the huge government response being inadequate. Rather than work with government, they are, quite shockingly, using COVID-19 as a weapon with which to berate their political opponents. They are a disgrace.
Allied with these voices of political dissent are parts of the media, led by the left leaning BBC, Guardian, Times and Financial Times, all of which are reporting with a clear anti-government agenda. Instead of offering support for the government's approach and making constructive comments, they have been almost unanimous in looking for, and apparently finding, supposed fault. Every complainant is presented as being in the right, regardless of the nature of their complaint or expertise; every counter argument is treated with disdain. The BBC has been particularly keen to identify the difficulties that the government may have in implementing and enforcing its latest measures, and effectively telling listeners where the loopholes lie, rather than in encouraging the populace to adhere to the rules and regulations as laid down. Is this really the action of a responsible public broadcaster ?
Of course, organisations such as the BBC have historically had many freelance workers, self employed journalists and presenters who have enjoyed huge incomes plus all the tax advantages that come with that status. With benefits that include being able to offset a vast range of expenses - vehicles, travel costs, clothing, assorted equipment, housing costs and more - against their tax liabilities, the self employed can also pick and choose when they work, for whom they work and, indeed, what work they undertake. Sadly for them, the present crisis threatens to upset this rather comfortable lifestyle and, unsurprisingly, the BBC is one of those organs making the loudest noises about the supposed plight of the self-employed at this time.
Well, I say it's little more than 'tough luck'. The self-employed have chosen their path usually for reasons of personal benefit. There has been nothing to stop them taking out appropriate insurance against loss of income in times of difficulty, but it seems many, or most, haven't done so. Again, I say 'tough luck'; we all make choices in life and have to live with the consequences, good or bad. The demands that the government now finds even more money in order to help these people are clearly misguided. Their earnings can be highly variable and there is nothing to stop them taking a break from work now, rather than later in the year, with very little financial impact overall.
The fact is that no one ever said life will always be easy or even very nice, but that's life. This crisis will eventually be over, whether in weeks, months, or years; we just have to sit it out.
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