The Week - UK (2021-07-17)

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Best articles: Britain NEWS^15

17 July 2021 THE WEEK

Passing the


buck on


building safety


MartinaLees


TheSundayTimes


MatthewHarris, an NHSlabassistantwhoearns £22,500ayear,
facesa£100,000bill to make hisone-bedroom flat in Salford
safe. Andheisonlyoneof three million Britonscaughtupin the
post-Grenfell Tower buildingsafetyscandal, saysMartinaLees.
TheGovernment recentlyunveiled itslong-awaitedBuilding
Safety Bill.Itshouldhelpmakehigh-rises safer by,for instance,
creating “dutyholders” whoarepersonallyliable fortheir safety
–limiting the “iniquitous buck-passing” we sawwithGrenfell.
What it won’tdo, though, is help peoplelike Harriswho,thanks
to yearsof diluted regulations, poorinspectionsandshoddywork,
havebeenleftinunsafe homes.Under thecurrent law, only
leaseholders canbe forced to pay for repairs.The bill does not
change this; it merely requires the building’s landlordtotry to get
the moneyelsewhere–“as mostalready do,with scantsuccess”.
“Again and again,ministers had said thislawwould protect
flat-ownersfrom exorbitant costsfor fixing theirbuildings;that
it wouldmake theindustrypay.”Inthe event,it does neither.

How not


to defeat


apandemic


MarcStearsandTim
Soutphommasane


New Statesman


In the earlystagesof the pandemic,Australiawasthe“envyof
theworld”,sayMarcStears and TimSoutphommasane. Itswiftly
sealedits borders,therebykeepingthe virusat bay.Lifecarried
on muchas usual;eventoday, ithas sufferedfewer than1,0 00
Coviddeaths.But success bred complacency,leadingtoatardy
vaccinationprogramme.Only9%orsoofthepopulationhave
hadbothjabs.Theverylow level ofimmunitymeansthat
Australiaisinafixnowthatsomecases oftheDeltavarianthave
arrived onits shores. AsLondon andNew Yorkopenup,Sydney
isin lockdown.More than30,000 residents“remain stranded
overseas,with bordersclosed andnoobviousway toreturn home
anytimesoon”.Those insidethecountry,meanwhile, require a
permittoleaveandmost applicationsare refused. Thenation is
stuck.It’sadiresituation and one that hasexposedthe dangerous
delusion of“Fortress Australia”: theideathat it, oranynation,
cansealitselfofffromtherest oftheworld. “Aglobal pandemic
cannotbedefeated bywishingnottobe partoftheglobe.”

It is deeply


British to be


unpatriotic


James Marriott


The Times


Beware: a“chasm” isopeningin Britishsociety. Sowarnedthe
US pollsterFrankLuntztheother dayin response toasurvey
suggestingthat 22%ofBritonsthink theircountryhas“failed
itspeople”,andthat37%think theUKisinstitutionally racist.
“Whenyouhavedecidedthat yourcountryisinstitutionallyracist
anddiscriminatory,you don’tnormallygoback,”Luntzobserved
grimly.This,saysJamesMarriott,isa“profoundlyAmerican
wayof lookingat things”. IntheUS,hatingyour countryisan
“alarmingnovelty”,butit’savenerabletraditionhere. From the
18thcenturyministerEbenezerAldred,who identifiedBritainas
theBeast foreseeninthe biblicalBook ofRevelation,to the19 33
Oxfordstudentswhovotedforthemotionthat“thisHousewill
undernocircumstancesfight foritsKingandcountry”,our
society haslonghad“astreakof self-loathing”. It’saproductof
ourlong,stablehistory: withrelativelylittleneedtorallyagainst
externalthreatsand oppressors,we’rehappy todwellon our own
shortcomings. This makes usresilient;itdoesn’t portendachasm.
“Things are moredangerousin brittler,prouder America.”

The handshake


is back, and


causing chaos


Pilita Clark


Financial Times


ABritishparatrooperfell
15,000feetoutofthesky
whenhisparachutefailedto
fullydeployduringajumpin
California–andsurvivedwith
onlyminorinjuries,after
crashingthroughtheroofof
ahouseinAtascadero.The
unnamedsoldierlandedin
thekitchen,wherehewas
foundbyneighbours.The
homeowner’smother,Linda
Sallady,said:“There’snot
thatmuchdamageinthe
house.It’samazing.He
missedthecounters,
appliances,everything.”

Anactorin abare-bottomed
monkey suitwithafake
peniswas hiredbyacouncil,
in abizarrestuntaimedat
gettingchildrentoread.The
man appeared ataSummer
ReadingChallengeeventrun
byRed bridgeCouncilin east
London,to represent the
theme“wildworldheroes”.
Butthestuntsparkedoutcry
fromparentsandMPs,who
queried whether a“Rainbow
DildoButt Monkey”wasa
suitable advocateforchild
literacy.Thecouncilblamed
athird-party contractorfor
the mishap,adding:“This
willnever happenagain.”

Drug dealers are capitalising
onanew niche market by
promoting “woke coke” –
which they claim is “ethically
sourced”. “Environmentally
friendly”, fair-trade cocaine is
being sold to wealthy users
who want to assuage their
guilt over the bloody drugs
trade–although, as one
expert put it:“no one in
Colombia produces cocaine
‘ethically’.” Actress Davinia
Taylor says the dealers’
claims are being hoovered up
by celebrities: “They’re like,
‘Hi, darling, I’ve got woke
coke. It’s all PC, £200agram.
Iknowit’s sustainable, we’re
actually putting back into the
countryside’.”

ITMUSTBETRUE...
Ireaditinthetabloids

“Itisbedlam out there,” says Pilita Clark.Face-to-face business
meetings are back, but nobodyisquitesurehowtogreet one
another,owingtothe uneven stateof vaccinations around the
world, andpeople’s “wildlydivergent” views of what is
appropriate.Somethrust outahand; others go for the elbowor
fistbump; others keep their distance. It’san etiquetteminefield.
Acolleagueofafriendrecentlyattemptedafistbump,onlyfor
theother chap toclaspthe profferedfist in hishand and giveita
long shake. Mundaneopening pleasantrieshave thus become“a
painfulgame ofscissors-paper-rock”. It wouldbe simpler–and
many would welcomeit –ifwejustabandonedthe customof
hand-shaking.But as theevolutionarybiologist EllaAl-Shamahi
writes in herrecent book,The Handshake:AGrippingHistory,
the greetinghas survivedseveralattempts tobanitduring past
epidemics.“Sincechimpsanduncontacted tribesofhumans have
similar gestures, shethinkswemaybegenetically hard-wiredto
shake,perhaps todeliverthingslike smell-relatedchemosignals to
each other.” SoIguess we’lljusthaveto keepmuddling through.
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