It’s NOT Islamophobia, It’s Incompetence!
I really feel sorry for the British Muslims who were given only a few hours’ notice that Eid was cancelled by this inept and incompetent government.
I agree with the Good Morning Britain presenter, Adil Ray, who tweeted “It's like waking up on Christmas Day and realising that you cannot go to your family's Christmas dinner.”
However, I don’t agree with the Twitter campaign and some Muslim leaders who are somehow trying to twist this decision into a form of racism or proof that this Conservative government is Islamophobic.
Mohammed Shafiq from the Ramadhan Foundation even said that the government’s decision was “an appalling abuse of its power.”
No, it isn’t! The Government must always put the health of the nation first and that concern comes above ALL religious sensitivities.
Public Health vs Incompetence
The rate of infection is soaring in the UK and the Daily Mail ran a story this morning saying that councillors in Oldham and Blackburn with Darwen say that infection spikes in their towns have both been driven by soaring rates among their Asian communities.
According to the newspaper, ‘Arooj Shah, deputy leader of Oldham Council, confirmed they had seen a rise in cases among Oldham's Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, which account for up to two-thirds of overall new cases in the Manchester town.’
If this is true it should have been addressed and investigated weeks ago, NOT just before 9.16 on Twitter last night!
This move by Boris is NOT Islamophobia it is just another classic example of how out of touch and incompetent his Government is.
It is also proof that they have been PC pussyfooting around cultural or religious sensitivities rather than putting the public health of the whole community first.
If anyone or any group or community is not playing by the rules then the full weight of the law must be applied but it clearly hasn’t been and isn’t being enforced. There have only been 13 fines for non-wearing of masks in 14 days so that inspires confidence…NOT!
Didn’t They Know Eid Was Coming?!
Why haven’t they had long and in-depth discussions with the Muslim society all over the UK and told them that the traditional feasting in each other’s homes would have to be altered this year and alternative plans should have been put in place months or at least weeks ago.
I’m not religious at all but I respect the rights for anyone to follow their religion and celebrate their festivals in their way, however, the law of the land must be followed by all.
As for the ‘twitter twits’ who are saying that the government would never do this at Christmas they are unfortunately completely wrong. The way they are handling this pandemic I can well see Christmas being cancelled. And no doubt Matt Hancock(up) will announce it at 9.15 0n Christmas Eve but only on Twitter!
One thing is for sure is that Boris’ boast a few days ago that it would all be over by Christmas will haunt him for years
Confused.gov.uk
This timing last night of the announcement of this regional lockdown risks dividing the UK even more, especially when it is combined with the overall COVID advice which is so confusing that only 45 percent of people actually understand the rules compared to 95 percent back in March.
Hancock up was on TV this morning doing his hardman act again but all he succeeded in doing with me is giving me a headache. He even confused himself.
Forget about spending a £100 thousand quid on a TV presenter to host their press conferences they should just go the whole hog and get them sponsored by Confused.com
Boris was forced to hold a hastily arranged press conference with Professor Whitty this morning and did a U-turn on relaxing some of the national lockdowns BUT still says we should all go back to work wearing a mask.
Okay you Lab Rats get in line.
This virus must be so clever as it recognises when you’re in a house or a garden but keeps you safe in the workplace, on the Tube and in a pub!
Boris made as much sense today as Hancock did last night when he tweeted that ‘The spread is largely due to households meeting and not abiding to social distancing. So, from midnight tonight, people from different households will not be allowed to meet each other indoors in these areas.’
Whose Fault is It Anyway?
See just as I said earlier this week it’s our fault!
Public health has to come first so, in that case, why didn’t Boris today announce that we need to go back into full lockdown now?
It’s not as if these areas are the only ones that are under threat of rising COVID infections. Just look at Cornwall and Devon which are full, you can’t get a bed for love nor money until September.
The R rate in the southwest is comparable to the area he has just locked down. Is there anyone willing to bet against the chances of a major rise there in the next few weeks after today’s brilliant sunny weather. Is he going to lockdown Cornwall next and effectively cancel summer!
In my last column, I asked ‘do you see what they are doing here?’ If the infection rate goes up again it will be our fault for not social distancing in the boozer, on the beach and now in the Mosque and most certainly not their complete inept and woefully slow reaction to the threat of Coronavirus.
Well, I’m sorry Boris but you Imposed the lockdown too late. You’ve done more U-turns than Stig from Top Gear on testing, masks and quarantines. You’ve only followed the scientific advice when it suited you, you’ve tried to reopen schools against teachers’ advice, and you refused to condemn your chief adviser when he went off for an ‘eye test’ in Barnard Castle.
To add insult to injury at the end of the press conference we got told that ‘the R rate is now above 1 and the infections have doubled since July 1.
On this the hottest day of the year I must admit that my reaction to the last 24 hours of this nonsense is that Boris can shove his latest soundbite of ‘Hands, face, space, get a test’ where the sun don’t shine.
- Source : Jon Gaunt
