It was a week when the PM headed for lockdown while the BBC headed for showdown, Starmer headed for slap-down while Corbyn headed for Sandown. Wider afield, the United States prepared for meltdown and Ireland’s parliamentary email system was taken down.
Tensions at Number Ten were reaching peak peeve this week as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was bounced into announcing a second country-wide lockdown after details of a discussion got leaked – allegedly to prevent the PM from changing his mind.
While the public briefing drifted later and later on Saturday afternoon, it got to the point where allegedly Boris had wanted it to go out at 7pm. On being told that he wasn’t bigger than ‘Strictly’, by starting at 6.30pm he escaped being interrogated ‘live’ on telly. Well, BBC One anyway.
That was lucky wasn’t it?
Meanwhile, following the publication of the EHRC’s (Equalities and Human Rights Commission) investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party, Labour’s leader Sir Keir Starmer offered an unequivocal apology for his party’s having “failed the Jewish people”
His immediate predecessor Jeremy Corbyn commented that “the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons”, seeming not to understand the word ‘unequivocal’.
So he was promptly expelled from the Labour party, which led to the usual taunts and debate about ‘Labour schisms’ of the sort that party political opponents delight in.
After all, the pot’s already boiling over, what’s not to enjoy from stirring it a bit more?
Or could it be they’ve forgotten what a political leader setting a moral standard looks like?
Apropos of which, it has become all too clear this week that shops and businesses in the United States are preparing for disruption and riot in the wake of whatever activist clashes follow the presidential election results.
However, what was arguably the most welcome development of the week was when Ireland’s parliamentary email system crashed under the load of an estimated 100,000+ incoming emails.
These were from citizens protesting about the government rushing in a new law to prevent families caught up in the mother and baby scandals from ever finding their true identity.
Sadly, the new law appeared to be yet another step in the Irish state’s ongoing attempts to cover up past atrocities.
A positive step
Locally in Wokingham, there was a significant ray of sunshine in last week’s Executive meeting.
While talking about the Council’s housing strategy Cllr John Kaiser, WBC’s deputy leader, executive member for housing as well as for finance spoke about the regeneration of the Gorse Ride council estate.
Referring to the current tenants and owners he stated that the Council “would be giving everybody the right to come back”.
And while this statement is only one elected representative’s fine words at present, it’ll be interesting to see it combined with past promises from WBC officers and councillors, then turned into published policy and implementation.
Wokingham shows the way?
While the proposed regeneration of Gorse Ride will be coming to WBC’s Planning Committee shortly, it’s worth noting that here in Wokingham Borough this regeneration could become the model for councils across the country – providing Public Housing through Public Enterprise.
The basic proposition is that a proportion of the homes on the rebuilt estate will be for tenants while the sales receipts from the rest will go towards funding the regeneration.
Depending on the attractiveness and value of the houses and flats for sale, along with rigorous cost control during the build, it’s possible that the majority if not all of the costs could be covered without increasing WBC’s borrowing.
And if this regeneration can become an economically successful one, then it signposts a return for other councils to lead the way in rehousing the nation as they did for 30 years after the Second World War.
The last word
The other interesting comment from last week’s Executive meeting came from WBC’s Leader, Cllr John Halsall, when he made an observation to the effect that politics had returned with a vengeance, particularly among the second and third estate.
While his sentiments didn’t seem to be aimed at the first estate (the clergy) or the fourth estate (press and news media) perhaps someone might try a bit of fence-mending with the local nobles, bourgeoisie and peasants of the second and third?
Still, at least the 80% furlough subsidies will continue nationally for another month.
