24 NEWS Talking points
THEWEEK4April 2020
“Thestrangestthing,inthisstrangest
ofmonths,ishowwillinglypeoplehave
surrenderedprivatefreedomsforpublic
good,”saidJaniceTurnerinTheTimes.
“We’reclosingallthepubsand
restaurants.”Great,wereply. “Youcan’t
swimorplayfootballeither.”Oh,all
right.Andyouhavetostopgoingto
church,seeingyour friendsandeven
visitingyour mum.Sigh,OK.Inafew
weeks,wehavebeendeprivedofahostof
fundamentalliberties:towork,tomove,
tosocialise.ManyBritonsarenowliving
insolitary,for 23 hoursaday;somein
extremelydifficultconditions.Butto
anextraordinarydegree,peoplehave
acceptedthis,andtheyhavebeensticking
totherules.InmypoorpartofLondon,Ihaveseen“gold
standard”queuing,walkerspacingparksinpairs,anddeserted
streets. Butwe’reonlyinweektwoofwhatcouldbemonthsof
confinement.Peoplewillonlykeepcomplyingwith“authoritarian
rulesiftheauthoritiesremainjust”.Andsofar,therehavebeen
toomanyreportsofpuffed-upofficialsapplyingtherules
heavy-handedly,unnecessarilyand, insomecases,wrongly.
Derbyshirepolicewereamongthefirstoff theblocks,said
BenedictSpenceonTheIndependent.Lastweek,they posted on
Twitter drone-footageofpeople who haddriventoabeautyspot
andgoneforawalkin empty
countryside. Theresponse tothis
exerciseinoverreach was“asimmediate
as itwasfurious”.Quiteapartfrom the
factthatwe’re allowedto take exercise
outdoors(andneedto,if our sanity is
to bepreserved),thepolice’s use of
surveillanceequipmenttoidentifyandshamelaw-abidingcitizens
boreadisturbingresemblancetothe tacticsdeployedbythe
authoritiesin China.But Derbyshire police weren’ttheonly
onestooverstepthemark.InDenton and Droylsden,in Greater
Manchester,theytookit uponthemselves tosayhowlongpeople
wereallowedoutside toexercise (“aroundanhouraday”).
Compared withother Europeancountries,ourpolice have been
restrained,saidNickCohenin TheObserver.Bythemiddle of
lastweek,policeofficersinSpainhad issued81,000 fines;in
France,peoplesayyoucanbarelyleavethehousewithoutbeing
stoppedandquestioned.InBritain,police saythey want torely
on“persuasion” tokeeppeople athome–hencethewarningsto
day-trippers.Ofcourse,we mustresist anyneedlesscurtailments
of our liberties; but wemust also watchour ownbehaviour.
Already,policeforceshavereportedbeing
inundatedbycallsfrompeoplereporting
theirneighboursforgoingoutside.The
mediahasdelightedinrunningoverblown
storiesabouthoardersandbog-roll
banditsendangeringourhealth,because
newspapersknowtheirreaderslovethe
feelingof“outragedself-righteousness”.
Asthelockdowntakesitstoll,bringing
ennui,isolation,joblossesanddespair,
wemustmakesurethiscrisisdoesnot
turnusintoa“nationoflittletyrants”.Giventhewaythenationhaspulled
together,thatseemsunlikely,saidThe
Observer.BorisJohnsonhassometimes
casthisrhet oricinmartialterms,but
“theBritishpeoplehaveneverneededawarasanexcuse”to
rallybehindthecollectivegood.Britainis“anationofcollection
tinshakersandRedNoseactivists,ofhelpersforheroesand
GoFundMemarathonrunners”.Sofar,750,0 00 peoplehave
respondedtoanappealforvolunteerstohelptheNHS;andlast
Thursday,ina“heart-swelling”displayofunity,peopleupand
downthecountry came out oftheirhousesandleanedoutof
windowstocheerthemedicalstaffworkingat thesharp endof
thispandemic.What wouldbe gratifyingisif thoseof ussaving
lives bysimplystayingon our sofas could rememberallthepeople
–care homestaff, supermarketworkers,refuse collectors–who
are makingourlivespossible bystill
goingout towork.Themediahave been alive withstories
of“inspiringaltruism”,saidJenni
Russell inThe Times,butthere have
beenvillains too. Handsanitisershave
beenstolenfromhospitals;peoplehave beencoughingat others
to scare them.Weareon highalertforsuch tales, becausewe
wantto know ifwearesafe,if wecantrust oneanother–if our
society isfundamentallygood,or bad.We’rewatchingcompanies
inthesameway:are they doingtheir bestto helptheirworkers
andtheircustomers(Leon,Fuller’sand others), orchuckingthem
aside?But weshould remember thatthosecompanies whoput
theirshareholders firstareabidingbylawsmadebypoliticians
we elected. Gordon Ramsaycan sack5 00 ofhisstaff, rather than
usegovernmentsupporttofurlough them,becausethere’sno
obligation todo anythingelse. Whenthispandemic isover,we
willhavechoices.We can“cherishandkeep” thenew support
systemswehavecreated. Wecanchoosetoboycott therapacious
firms andrewardtheones that steppedup.Or,we coulddiscover
“a new enthusiasm forchangingthe rules of capitalism’s game”.Life in lockdown: afundamental loss of freedom“We must make sure this crisis
does not turn us intoanation
of little tyrants”Arethepolicebeingoverzealous?Itwas panned by critics, but
Catshas been amusing people
in lockdown. Now, screenwriter
Jack Wazhas revealed the
existence of an unseen edit
of the film. He explained that
he knewaproducer whohad
been hiredto“remove CGI
buttholes that had been
insertedafew months before”
–meaning that “somewhere
out there, there exists a
butthole cut ofCats”. FanSeth
Rogenimmediately tweeted“Release the Butthole Cut of
Cats!!”–ademandthat has
been “liked” 50,000 times.Meera Syalis used to working
from home: the actress says
auditions have been conducted
online for some time now. You
are emailed lines, film yourself
on your phone and send it off,
“hoping this will get you to the
next round when you may
meet an actual person who
won’t judge you on your nasty
curtains”, she writes in Saga
magazine. Whatisnew for
her, though, is the type of role
she’s auditioning for. Recent
examples include “Weary
inspector” and “Bollywood-
inspired granny”, says Syal,- “I’m now reading for the
mother of actors whose wife
Iwas playing ten years ago.”
The billionaire media mogul
David Geffenhas reassured the
American people that he is OK,
by Instagramming photos of
his self-isolation ona$590m
superyacht in the Grenadines.
“Sunset last night,” one was
captioned. “I’m hoping
everybody is staying safe.”
But messages posted by rich
celebrities in isolation are not
going down well inacountry
where millions are losing their
jobs –and this oneattracted
suc hafurious backlash, Geffen
(sometimes suggested as the
inspiration for Carly Simon’s
songYou’re So Vain)has since
deleted the post and made his
Instagram account private.Pick of the week’sGossip