12 Daily Express Wednesday, April 8, 2020
TOUCHING TRIBUTE: NHS workers saluted by piper Finn Miller, 16, in North Waltham, HantsDark days highlight
just how much we
need one another
One Canada Square, London E14 5AP
Tel: 020 8612 7000 (outside UK: +44 20 8612 7000)We all want Boris back
fighting fit to help slay
the dragons of despair
T
HE country is united in wishing Boris
Johnson a full return to good health.
Frontline NHS staff joined thousands
of fellow Britons from different
political tribes and went online to deliver
heartfelt “get well soon” messages.
There are two clear reasons we want the
Prime Minister to beat Covid-19 and be
back in action.
First, the country looks at Mr Johnson as
much more than a political leader. He is a
dad and he and his partner, Carrie
Symonds, are due to shortly celebrate not
just their wedding but also the birth of their
first child.
It would be an unspeakable tragedy for
his family if anything were to happen to
him. Even his opponents in the Commons
want to see him united with those he loves.
Second, Britain needs Mr Johnson back at
its helm. His absence has reminded us that
he is blessed with a combination of energy,
confidence, intelligence and charisma that
this nation cannot afford to lose at this
time of crisis.The Prime Minister prizes the counsel of
experts but he is much more than a
technocrat.
During the election he convinced
poverty-ravaged communities they had real
reason to hope he could deliver a better
future, and in the weeks since the
coronavirus started its march across Britain
he has not flinched in his conviction that we
can rid the land of this scourge.
We need someone at the top with the
guts and sharpness of mind to take
decisions that will save the lives of citizens
and rescue the economy.
We also need a leader who can empathise
with the grief suffered by thousands of
families and yet instil courage and
confidence that the difficult road on which
the nation now travels leads to recovery.In this hour when anxiety weighs heavy
on many minds, we miss his Churchillian
genius for lightening the soul. Levity is not
a sign of superficiality in a statesman.
Rather, it is a weapon that can slay the
dragons of despair.
His present illness is a reminder that
coronavirus is a danger to everyone. It does
not hesitate to strike down anyone,
regardless of their status.
Mr Johnson’s arrival at St Thomas’ will
have reminded him of the wonder of the
NHS and the phenomenal commitment of
those who make it the greatest healthcare
system in the world.
This fighter of a PM will surely emerge
with a renewed determination to ensure
that it thrives in the decades ahead, and
that everyone who today is doing their bit
to secure victory will share in the riches of
a healed and thriving nation.‘We miss terribly our families –
a phone or video call is no hug’
Patrick O’Flynn
Political Commentator
A
S Easter approaches
in a welter of sad
news, nobody needs
to be asked what they
gave up for Lent this
year. We all gave up
each other.
And how difficult it has been.
“Social distancing” has become
the great euphemism of our
time, no doubt soon to be fea-
tured at the top of one of those
lists of new phrases that the
publishers of leading dictionar-
ies announce from time to time.
Even in this era of mass elec-
tronic communication, the lack
of face-to-face physical proxim-
ity with others beyond our
immediate households has been
painful. Our homes all too often
feel not like our castles but our
jails. Furnished and decorated
to our tastes and more spartan
and cramped for some than for
others, but confines for us all.
We miss terribly our families- our grown-up children and
our grandchildren too. A phone
or video call is no substitute for
a hug. We miss too our friends,
our work colleagues and neigh-
bours who we must talk to now,
if at all, in raised voices across
the safe expanse of a street
and without the possibility of
an invitation to drop in for a
cuppa. The clubs and societies
to which we belong are in abey-
ance and the local pubs shut.
The loss of social contact
extends to those we have never
met before.
I
F WE are out exercising or
coming home from a
shopping trip and some-
one is approaching along the
pavement from the other direc-
tion, then one of us will cross
the road as an evasive measure.
A sad and wan smile is often
exchanged, or a brief nod
meant to communicate the
thought: “Thank you for get-
ting out of my way.”
As more and more of us don
face masks on the rare occa-
sions when we venture out,
even this opportunity for
minimal acknowledgment and
mutual appreciation is ebbing
away. For those of us who,
ritually, tune in for coverage ofthe daily Government Press
conference, the confirmation of
the latest death toll comes as
another punch on the bruise as
we instinctively realise that this
sad time is not about to end.
But end it will. As the Queen
so movingly put it on Sunday:
“We should take comfort that,
while we may have more still to
endure, better days will return:
we will be with our friends
again; we will be with our fami-
lies again; we will meet again.”
And when we do, shall we all
relish going “back to normal”?
Not quite. Or I hope not as
there has been an opportunity
to reflect on some profound
truths through living them
rather than just being told.
First, we have all been
reminded that life is fragile,
finite and precious. Second, so
much that is worthwhile in life
comes from our associations
with others. Perhaps the great-
est celebration of this comesnow each Thursday at 8pm
when more and more of us
open our front doors and
applaud the workers of the
National Health Service who
toil day and night, deploying
astonishing levels of expertise
and dedication to save our lives.
They have always done this,
of course. But in normal times
our dealings with them are
intermittent and specific to us
or our immediate circles.
Right now, all of us are emo-
tionally invested in them simul-
taneously. As Prime Minister
Boris Johnson put it, we have
all been reminded by them and
by so many others working hard
on our behalf that there really is
such a thing as society.
After the Second World War
the great collective effort in
which the British people had
engaged led to the building of
new social architecture desig-
ned to ensure that nobody who
had contributed would be leftbehind. The NHS was the jewel
in the crown.
This occurred despite the
public realm having become
heavily indebted because of the
huge financial cost of beating
Nazi Germany and its allies.
Yet still a way was found to
fund this welfare state. It is said
indeed that there was a new
recognition among the wealthy
and privileged that it was their
responsibility to put in more
without chaffing against it.
I believe the British people,
who have shown great disci-
pline and resolve once again,
will expect something similar
once coronavirus has been
shown the door.C
ERTAINLY any politi-
cian arguing that
improved funding of
the NHS is unaffordable can
expect to receive short shrift.
Then there are other prob-
lems like the threadbare nature
of social care for the elderly,
growing homelessness and
insufficient support for young
people from the most disadvan-
taged backgrounds.
If we are learning again in
these dark days how much we
need others, then we must
surely also come to understand
how much others may need us.Picture: JONATHAN BUCKMASTER