Best articles: Britain NEWS^1728 March 2020 THE WEEKNo, we didn’t
all pull together
during the War
Prof Steven Fielding
Financial Times
The spiritofthe Blitz, “when weallpulled together and looked
after eachother”: that’s whatDameVeraLynn, nowaged 103, is
urging us to invoke at this time of crisis. And it may be it isaspirit
worth invoking, says the historianSteven Fielding,butit’salsoa
myth.Inhistoricalreality,there was farless solidarity in those
war daysthanpeopl ethink. Farfrombeing welcomed,the 1.
millionworking-class children evacuated fromthecities,inthe
autumn of 1939, were often deeply resentedby the better-offfolk
on whom theywerebilleted. What solidarity therewas back then
mostlyoccurred within the working-class communities that bore
the brunt of the bombing, but that had limits, too.Londonersfor
the mostpart experienced the Blitz privately, hunkering down at
homewith theirfamilies. Whenthey didgointopublic shelters,
West Indianscomplained of beingcold-shoulderedby whit eEast
Enders. As for “collective sacrifice andaltruism”, that wasoft he
enforcedsort, throughrationing of food and clothes. TheBlitz
spirit isauseful, comforting notion; but as history, it’s“bunk”.How Auntie
has won back
our trust
RobinAitken
UnHerd
The coronavirus crisis arrived atafortunatemomentfor the BBC,
says Robin Aitken. At thestartofthe yearthings were looking
“bleak”forthe Corporation. Its relations with the Government
hadgone into deepfreeze,owingtowhat wasseen asitspartial
coverage ofBrexit. AministerialboycottofRadio 4’sToday
programme and otherflagship showsdiminished theBBC’sability
to setthe news agenda.Therewas talkofputti ng an end to the
licence fee.Butthe a dvent ofCovid-19 haschanged everything.
The Governmentbadly needs theBBC to geturgent information
across, andtheCorporationhasbeentaskedwith showing what
“authentic public service broadcasting looks like”. Andit’s doing
agrand job, keepinglicence-fee-payers informedandenter tained
whileasking sensiblequestions of theofficial response.TheBBC
forgeditsreput atio nasatrustworthyguid eduring WWII,andthe
current crisis hasenabledito nceagain “to speakto, andfor,the
whole nation”.The ch allengefor th eBBC will be to rediscover
how to dothesame thing when normaltimes return.Why Big Tech
is reluctant
to rescue us
Danny Fortson
The Sunday Times
Big Techlovestoboast of itsdesire toimprovethe world, says
DannyFortson.Well, Facebook, Google,Appleetalnow have
the chance to proveit.Asevidence from China and South Korea
shows, detailed trackingof people’smovement sand contactsis
the key tosuppressing thecoronavirus. Andwho better tohelp
with this “masssurveillance” thanthe bigfirms of Silicon Valley?
Through numerous apps, they haveamass of “real-time, granular
data” on millionsof us. They know wherewe’re going,who we’ve
contacted, whatsymptoms we’ve googled.They have thedata to
trackthe spread of thevirusand show whois an disn’t heeding
advi ce on social distancing. Theycan send mobile phone alertsto
tell us we’reenteringavirus hotspot. Trouble is, Big Tech is scared
about the image problem. It prefers not to reveal how much it
knows about us and how eager the state is to get hold of that
knowledge. (Microsoftalon ereceives50,000search warrantsa
year from governments wanting personal information held on its
servers.) And thereinlies thedilemma facing Big Tech. Will ituse
its vastdata powertosavelives?Or willits it outthe crisis “for
fear of being seen to propel us deeper into an Orwellian dystopia”?Aworld hoping
for Morgan
Freeman
Hadley Freeman
The Guardian
Noteveryoneisdispirited
bylifeinlockdown.Emma
Smith,fromEssex,said
herdog,aseven-yearold
dachshundcalledRolo,is
overjoyedwiththesudden
constantcompanionship.
“Mydoghasbeensohappy
thateveryoneishomefor
quarantinethathistailhas
stoppedworking,”Smith
wroteonTwitter.“Wewent
tothevetandthevetsaid
hehadsprainedhistailfrom
excessivelywaggingit.”Rolo
wasgivenpainreliefandis
expectedtorecoverwithin
days.“Heissuper-happyand
thereisnowmovementfrom
sidetoside,”saidSmith.Britonshavebeen adjusting
to thepandemicin unusual
ways.Somehavecomeup
withtheirown takes on
protectiveheadgear,
whileotherssearchedfor
innovativewaystocontinue
working.Make-up artist
TracyGraham, forinstance,
keptherappointmentswhile
maintainingsocial distance
byworkingthroughclients’
letterboxesin Plymouth–
evenpowderingacustomer’s
nosethroughafrontdoor.
“I’mamake-up artist, and
with the coronavirus going
aroundIdecided to have a
bitofalaugh,”shesaid.Londoner Billy McLean’s
WhatsApp audio clip
poking fun at coronavirus
misinformation has been
heard by millions. “My sister,
her boyfriend’s brother works
for the Ministry of Defence,”
it begins, before explaining
in amatter-of-fact voicethat,
in order to feed people, the
Government is going to
bakeamassive lasagne in
Wembley Stadium by closing
the roof and turning up the
heating. An FA spokesman
insisted there were no plans
to turn Wembley intoagiant
lasagne dish.ITMUSTBETRUE...
IreaditinthetabloidsIgrewupwatchingdisaster movies, says Hadley Freeman,and so
feel mentally prepared for the virus crisis. What these films taught
me is that however scarily uncertain the world becomes,it never
consistsofmorethan halfadozen humantypes.Thefirst essential
character inadisaster movie is, of course, the noble scientist whom
no onelistensto until it’s almost too late (thinkDustin Hoffman
inOutbreak)–arole that everyconspiracy nut with an internet
connection feels they nowoccupy.Then there’s the “stoic grande
dame” who stays calm as all aroundher panic. In my head, that’s
me. In myheart, Iknow I’mactually thatother stock figure:the
idiot whois “too busy lookingatt heir phon etonoticethemeteor
heading straight to Earth”; or who, likethemayorinJaws,decides
to keepthebeachopeneven “as touristsareturnedinto chum”.
Worryingly, Boris Johnsonis reported to have called that mayor
“therealheroofJaws”. Letus hopethiscrisi sends up casting
him instead as anotherkey character: th eMorgan Freeman-style
noblepresident.We could badly do with oneof them.