24/04/2021

Yesterday the streets of London filled once again as we assembled and walked together in the sunshine to convey our message: Lockdown is wrong. 

The demonstration was attended by at least 750,000, with a beautiful carnival atmosphere - music, dancing, cheering, and smiles. It was a brilliant experience to be surrounded by the support and determination of like-minded people. Despite the concern we were expressing about the masses of harm being inflicted on innocent people, the atmosphere also contained a significant element of positivity, a celebration of our resilience and strength. 

Along the walk I met some wonderful people - people representing the most important issues we currently face. 

These NHS nurses are among the many who feel that the impacts of covid, while as emotionally devastating as any patient deaths, do not outweigh the damage to patients who have had vital surgeries postponed, cancer caught too late due to cancelled screenings, and heart attacks and strokes increased and not treated soon enough. They held signs declaring their view that the current measures go against the policy of evidence based care, and that people should have a choice in how they take care of their health. They are advocates for patient autonomy, the right of patients to make decisions about their medical care without their health care provider trying to influence the decision. This can apply to vaccines, surgery, blood transfusions, and any medical treatment without requiring any reason or "exemption". 

They also shared their experience of being afraid to speak out, which troubled me deeply; I could never have imagined a situation where nurses could lose their job for saying that people should have a choice in matters of their own health. 

I met this young woman representing the issue of mental health - specifically, in children. More children have died from suicide than covid in the last 12 months. Significantly more. The same lockdown that is supposedly saving the lives of over 82 year olds is killing 8 year olds. I am at a loss to understand why this fact alone is not enough to prove the  imbalance and total immorality of lockdown. Parents, grandparents, teachers, and in fact all adults, should recognise that the need to prioritise children is and always has been paramount. My (maternal) grandparents, had this happened in their lifetime, would never have believed that I should be kept out of school, isolated, and terrorised for their "protection". In fact, they would not have believed any children should sacrifice anything to protect them. It's simply not right. 

 

A girl on her father's shoulders wore a T-shirt that read "Follow your heart, not the BBC". The BBC, intended as an unbiased informational public service, is now nothing more than a government-funded propaganda machine. According to its Royal Charter, "The BBC must be independent in all matters... particularly as regards editorial and

creative decisions". Why, then, was there a media blackout yesterday? Why, when close to a million people were marching through London, witnessed by shoppers, commuters, taxis, buses, and workers, was the top story about Boris' flat getting redecorated? It is obvious that the so far anonymous Minister for Propaganda has given the order to the BBC as well as Sky, both now revealed to be deep in the government's pocket. Sky Australia, nearly 10,000 miles away, reported the story, but we are expected to believe that the BBC was somehow oblivious. The modern Goebbels, whoever he or she is, has allowed one aspect of the story to peek through in the smaller newspapers, if twisted to the government's advantage. The police violence. 

The police, for the majority of the protest, either walked next to the crowd or just stood and watched us walk past. I noticed one officer leaning casually against a pillar. I think he was having a nap. 

However, after the march, a large group remained in Hyde Park, sitting around having picnics, some playing music and dancing, and listening to Jam for Freedom. This is when the police chose to attack. Video footage shows them charging in, forcing their way through by shoving people aside and ploughing on with no hesitation when those people fell down. One man, making a hand gesture at an officer, has his arm grabbed and shoved down in a completely unnecessary outburst of force - the gesture, while rude, could not have incurred harm in any way. 

The papers, once they'd had their opinions spoon-fed to them by our favourite brain-washing experts, decided that 8 innocent policemen, minding their own business while protecting the community, had been viciously beaten up by evil anti-lockdown "thugs". The contrast between the video evidence and the reports is striking. Met Police Chief Supt Roy Smith said in a now deleted tweet: “What sort of reasonable human being grabs a police officer’s baton and then appears to punch her in the face?". I would argue that it's very reasonable to deflect a weapon that's being swung at you for having a picnic, and that "appearing" to punch someone in the face is not the same as having done it. I have sympathy for the officers that were injured, as I'm sure it wasn't their idea to attack a peaceful group that were sitting around playing music, but I do question their moral integrity in having followed that order. 

The papers also reference "projectiles" being thrown "including bottles" which brings to mind glass bottles thrown with intent to injure. The footage shows a half empty flimsy plastic water bottle flying haphazardly past, equally likely to have been let go of in a panic as thrown deliberately in desperation.

This is the most overt example of censorship that we have encountered so far. The corruption is getting deeper. While the simplest explanation is that the government over-reacted and is now trying to save face, the echoes of past regimes are getting louder and louder. There will always be people waiting to grab power, and when emergencies happen it's their perfect excuse. Suspending civil liberties in the name of public protection is by no means unprecedented.