As the Government’s daily Coronavirus briefings go into a new week, each minister has continued to provide an update on the key developments of the day, together with an insight into their department’s take on the Pandemic.
The Daily Doubtfuls
With double Raab (World) and double Hancock (Health) this week, flanked by single Sunak (Money), Shapps (Transport), Patel (Crime), and Eustice (Food), there was a wide range of subjects to be learned at Downing Street’s school for stand-ins.
- Over 140,000 firms have applied for job retention help
- Clinical trials of vaccines were starting.
- Care Home deaths ‘doubled’ in five days.
- Coronavirus testing was expanded to include all essential workers in England.
- The total number of deaths passed 20,000.
- The UK needed to find a ‘new normal‘ to ease lockdown.
- Furloughed workers were urged to become fruit and veg pickers.
What was evident from the questioning was that the national media weren’t buying all the briefings. Testing; PPE availability; Hospitals discharging patients with Covid-19; real numbers of Covid-19 deaths; all came in for challenge.
More than ever, Government needs to get its numbers right and its facts correct if it’s going to make the right decisions. Particularly if the actual death toll isn’t to grow even faster.
Borough ‘In Briefs’
Wokingham Borough Council’s social media channel has continued to publish information and guides on giving and receiving help during the pandemic. Here’s a quick look at what they’ve been saying since last week.
While continuing to promote the work of the Community Hub, providing centralised support throughout the Borough, this week’s message on New donation drop off points has provided details of three more locations where donations of food, toiletries and wellbeing items can be made. These are in addition to the main hub at St Crispins Leisure Centre and the four supermarkets where Donations for Foodbanks can be made.
Thanks to all the volunteers and council officers, over 600 households have received much needed deliveries during their periods of social isolation and over 1,200 have had phone calls every fortnight to check if they need any help.
For people who are wondering what the new opening times of their food stores are – or if there are any buying restrictions, the Supermarket Opening Hours opens up a page Citizen’s Advice giving all the details for the Borough’s main stores, including delivery and (some) volunteer options.
A new Exec. Order
Local democracy was under starter’s orders in the Borough of Wokingham as the Executive Meeting took place on video for those more equal than others and on audio for the great unwashed.
Much like the curates’s egg, there was mixed reaction, particularly as public participation by request had made access harder and probably put people off.
On a more positive note, the video of the hour long meeting was published the following day. This was record timing and well done.
Declarations of Interest were strangely missing as there was at least one Councillor attending the meeting who might have ben expected to declare an interest for the adoption of the Arborfield and Barkham Neighbourhood Plan. Similarly, those with an interest in WBC’s Adult Care company, Optalis Ltd, might have declared an interest before the new Adult Social Care Strategy was voted for adoption, particularly as that strategy says clearly that “Optalis Ltd still remains a key provider of services.” (p8 /p116).
While there were eight questions asked during the meeting, only one was visible on WBC’s moderngov webpage at the time. so when the first Councillor said “I’d like to ask the question standing in my name”, those listening didn’t know the topic – making the answer irrelevant.
Regrettably, WBC’s moderngov pages were so slow that they were unusable during the meeting; votes were all assumed to be in support of each proposal; and despite Exec. members being ‘checked in’ at the beginning they weren’t ‘checked out’ at the end.
Notwithstanding any shortcomings or less than stellar public participation, this start to The New Democracy in Wokingham Borough was much better than other Boroughs where there’s none.
Mast mayhem in Winnersh
Meanwhile, practical everyday politics has continued on social media.
Over on FB’s Winnersh Community group, this week saw a spirited debate about a 5G mobile network mast. It’s being erected by EE in a place which pretty much everyone agrees is the wrong place, but as it’s ‘permitted development’ it’s going ahead anyway.
‘Permitted development’ is where Central Government’s planning policies grant automatic planning permission for construction. Residents’ opinions, local council decisions and MP’s interventions have all been ruled out by Government diktat.
Despite this, Winnersh’s Lib Dem Councillors came in for critique as they “have not helped at all” by failing to get the matter listed in December 2019 (allegedly). Residents were asking “could you not have let the planning committee know about the number of local residents that weren’t happy with this? Could you not have perhaps tried harder to get this to the committee?”
The stinging critiques continued and after one partisan comment in defence, another political figure’s retorts included : “Well that’s rich coming from you … Time to get off the scene and let others with more brains and a lot more integrity take over”.
As political theatre it veered between melodrama and farce – where rhetoric and invective had at times replaced logic and facts.
One Winnersh resident who’s a Councillor was expelled after provoking one of the Group Admins once too often. “About time” some would say, but an autocratic decision and worthy of review according to others.
Cultural Buzz in Sonning
Politics isn’t all there is to life and over in Sonning there’s been a wide range of creative and cultural postings over the past few weeks.
Scarecrows traditional and modern, live music, humour, wildlife photography, Sonning photography and children’s craft have all featured richly to help cope with lockdown.
On learning that he’d be leaving the village soon, one local artist started the ‘Sonning Museum of Modern Art’ – a pop-up art show in two front windows on Sonning’s High Street and published daily on the Sonning Buzz FB group.
If your desire for art leans to “surreal cubist paintings with a hint of abstract expressionist” but you don’t have Sonning High St on your daily exercise trail, (or aren’t a member), then you can see the works online (caution! – sunglasses may be needed).
What the Neighbours said
The short rations regime isn’t going well for our neighbours or their cat. Apparently the famished feline has discovered where the cat food is kept and also tries to scrounge food off their plates.
Excepting ‘chto sosedi skazali’, that was week six of the lockdown – that was.
