The theme for this year's Holocaust Memorial Day is "ordinary people". Hidden in these simple words is a universal truth that 'ordinary people', when fed denigrating, demeaning words and images of 'other' people, can become inhuman in their behaviour towards them. Words have consequences when they distort and dehumanise other races, groups, religions or creeds.
Why is the country only belatedly becoming aware of Boris Johnson's tendency to weasel money out of distant relatives and cronies of the Conservative Party? Can it be that his own party is embarrassed by his sponging off others to support a lifestyle that he obviously cannot actually afford and yet clearly feels he is somehow entitled to?
This graphic from a Guardian article is both informative and profoundly depressing. It is clear that people are striking not from greed but from a sense of desperation. This government does not listen. Our nation is in a crisis that has been brewing for years. A series of wounds that have been festering through the intransigence and incompetence of this government have finally overwhelmed our ability to heal.
Finally, it is clear for all to see that there is something deeply unpleasant and wrong at the heart of the Conservative Party. The Tory MP Andrew Brigden has finally had the Tory Whip removed following unbelievably offensive remarks comparing the COVID vaccine programme to the Holocaust.
(With aplogies to Paul Simon)
