CUMMINGS AND GOINGS.

As the furore around Dominic Cummings continues apace, I wonder just how many of "the public" actually give a damn, despite the media claims that public opinion is in favour of him being sacked.

Cummings is a man who would be unknown to "the public" were it not for the media's obsession with him. He is a back-room boy who does not appear on public platforms and does not tell "the public" what we should or should not do; while he may well have influence behind the scenes, we have no direct knowledge of what that influence might be, beyond what the Cummings-hating media and left wing politicians, clergymen and others tell us. 

Yet again today the BBC has trotted out a string of Cummings hating opponents of Boris Johnson and his government to repeat the cry "Cummings must go !" over and over again. We are told that hordes of Conservative MPs are also baying for his blood, but no one reminds us that this is as much about a revolt by the anti-Boris lobby in the party as it is about Cummings. However, we are reminded that others who broke the rules were sacked, or resigned, citing the cases of Neil Ferguson and Catherine Calderwood, but without pointing out that these cases were rather different.

Ferguson invited a  woman with whom he was reportedly in a relationship to visit him at home, while Calderwood had twice taken her family to a holiday home, stayed away from home overnight and spent time on a local beach. In neither case was there any reason for the breach of the regulations other than straightforward lack of concern for the rules. Most importantly, both Ferguson and Calderwood had appeared on screen providing advice to the public about the measures needed to contain the coronavirus epidemic and the importance of maintaining the lockdown.

It is clear that Dominic Cummings isn't liked but the reaction to his misdemeanours is surely very excessive. That our media has now spent days talking about little else and that almost every question from its representatives at Sunday's Downing Street press conference centred on this nonsense, says much about its failure to report the news and manic desire to create it. What "the public" need is proper news and proper analysis, not stories whipped up in a media frenzy. 

It's time to move on.

CUMMINGS MANIA GRIPS THE NATION !

Oh My God !

With the country suffering the worst epidemic for 100 years, government borrowing and debt rising at a rate not seen since the Second World War and crucial decisions about Brexit coming up in the next few weeks, the newspapers and media has found a far worse story on which to concentrate.

Did Dominic Cummings break the rules of lockdown ?!

In fact, it's not just the newspapers that are now obsessing with this story, it's also the various radio and television media too, with the jolly old lefties at the BBC leading the way in trying to get their teeth into that horrid man and his friends in government. They've dredged up anyone they can find who will demand that "Cummings must go", even including some former policeman whose opinion was broadcast this morning, entirely unchallenged, on Radio 4. 

We've been treated to the journalist mainly responsible for the original story, Pippa Crerar of that well known Tory (ha, ha !) newspaper the Mirror, who - Shock, Horror ! - stood by her story and demanded "Cummings must go", again unchallenged on the Andrew Marr programme. Even Marr's quick flick through of the day's newspaper headlines contained inflections which clearly indicated his own views on the matter, while his sneery attitude towards the government's comments on 'campaigning newspapers' seemed to ignore that the fact that newspapers are meant to report the news, not make it. 

Did Cummings break the rules ? I don't know and, frankly, I don't really care. There are far more important things to worry about at the moment and for the media to be treating what is a very minor story as if it is an earth shattering scandal is ludicrous. This is a media which places more importance on its ability to claim the heads of  as many political figures as it can, than on actually reporting serious news. It's the same BBC that reacted so egregiously over allegations levelled against Cliff Richard and others, assuming that the allegations were true rather than simply the unsupported ravings of fanatics and lunatics. 

The furore about Dominic Cummings is a diversion from real news and should be resisted by the government. Whether it will be or not, will be an indicator of the true strength of Boris Johnson and his government.

FORGET MEDIA NEGATIVITY - COVID-19 IS BEING BEATEN.

It's been reported that an opinion poll has suggested that ore people are now dissatisfied with the government's handling of the coronavirus epidemic than are satisfied, the first time this has occurred. It's also reported that the dissatisfaction is most deeply rooted in those under the age of 50, while older people have no such concerns. 

The reporting of these findings was met with a degree of fanfare on Sky News yesterday but, in reality, is it such a surprise ? Firstly, at a time when the number of tests being carried out is rising substantially, the number of new cases and the number of deaths are falling significantly and there has been a degree of easing of the lockdown, the bulk of our media continues to try to find fault and bad news wherever it can. Fed a diet of stories about government failings, most of them irrelevant or mythical, is it any surprise that the most gullible in our society, the young, are lapping it up, while older, more seasoned and rational people treat such stories as nothing but the usual bleatings of journalists desperate to be noticed ?

Of course the government has made mistakes but why does the media refuse to recognize the progress it has also made ? The lockdown is working, despite, it seems, many younger people disliking and increasingly ignoring it; the media really ought to be criticising these ignorant fools and emphasising the need to continue to follow government guidelines, rather than looking for every opportunity to pick holes in the government's approach.

While the government seeks to deal with the epidemic in the best ways possible, the media and others looking for political advantage - Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan among many others - add nothing of value to the debate, making no constructive proposals and just nit-picking. They find it so much easier and more profitable to sit on the side lines and take pot-shots than to offer support or to report all the news, with equal emphasis and prominence. It's akin to the usual media habit of making the original story front page news and the retraction and apology three lines on page 18.

Forget the rubbish being headlined everywhere, I can see real light at the end of the tunnel. For what it's worth, I see real progress and very significant changes over the next 4 to 6 weeks, so much so that life may look very much better in July than it does today.

MEDIA, TRUTH AND POLITICS

Our wonderful media seems to have no interest in truth, only an interest in looking for ways it can criticise and undermine the government in the midst of the current coronavirus crisis. At the forefront of this assault are the BBC (what a surprise) and the other televisual broadcasters, although I've generally found Sky to be a little less biased than others. Indeed, Sky's political editor, Beth Rigby, has risen very much in my estimation by her very measured and reasoned commentary on events.

Rather than look for positives in the daily figures and from the daily news conferences, most have only looked for points to take issue with. Rather than be constructive, they've looked for news stories, which means finding everyone with a complaint and then making a stories out of thir situations. Positive stories are of no benefit unless they can be turned to reflect good on the NHS, ignoring that the NHS is an arm of government.

I truly believe, having spoken at length with a number of friends and family in differnt parts of the country, that the picture as painted by the media bares almost no relation to the reality of life as being experienced by the vast majority of the population. Most people, of all ages, are probably frustrated but accept the need for restrictions on their activities; while the media emphasises the moans of a few, the vast majority just get on with it. The media does us no favours by its continual sniping at authority, disguised as journalistic freedom and in all manner of other nonsensical ways.

It is highly selective and even destructive. The media should be objective, not subjectively biased against one political viewpoint, which it mostly is. The message being given to those who accept the vitriol that spews from the mostly left orientated press is entirely political in nature; it's anti-government. It is undemocratic and unhealthy to our nation. This is unacceptable.

What is needed is to put aside poitical dogma, interests, ambitions and all the rest. We are in the midst of a national crisis and, right or wrong, the government needs to be supported. The time for arguments about strategy, ppe and all the rest of the rubbish, are for later. We are where we are, and that is where we'd have been regardless of who had been in power over the last 80 years, let alone the last 6 months; politics has nothing to do with it. Maybe the current government has made mistakes, maybe not, but they are the ones who've been handed a once in a century problem to solve. What matters is the end result, not the bumps along the road. 

For me, which do I trust more, the apparently bumbling but transparent Boris, or the oily charm of Starmer ? One is real and one is a clone of all other recent political aspirants. I know which one I prefer to lead us in crisis, or at any other time, come to think of it.