Political Journalists – It’s Time You Grew Up!

by Jan Andersen on 02/16/21

“I’ve had enough of journalists’ stupid questions about easing restrictions. Why can’t they just let the government get on with the job?”

 

A long time before COVID-19 arrived, my partner and I questioned the inflated salary that a certain BBC political editor earned, which is more than the Prime Minister. We were also astounded by the salaries earned by some for reading the news, purely because they had become “celebrities” in their own right and hosted other shows.

However, our opinion of political journalists declined further when we watched the daily Government briefings following the initial outbreak of COVID-19. “Stupid” is probably too lame a word to describe the educational level of many of the questions they asked the politicians hosting the briefings. I admire Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock, Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps and all the others who refrained from saying what they really thought and answered the dumb, repetitive questions calmly and politely. I would love to hear the conversations that occurred behind the scenes after the briefings.

It made us laugh when Gavin Williamson told one journalist that if he had been listening to his speech earlier, he would have heard the answer to the question he had just asked.

Another faux pas was when Laura Kuenssberg had asked Boris Johnson a pointless question about a situation that she knew was uncertain. Following Boris’s perfectly reasonable answer, when Laura didn’t realise that she was still on mic, you heard her say, “He didn’t answer the question.” Actually, Laura, he did, but because it was a bloody futile question, he gave the best answer that he could at the current time.

My message to these overpaid journalists is: Isn’t it time you supported the Government in their extraordinary efforts to tackle this crisis and acknowledge everything they have got right, rather than finger-pointing and trying to nit-pick? Could you have done a better job? Hardly. If you want to assign blame, then why don’t you focus your attention on all of the twats (totally withhold all treatment) who have continued their lives as normal, some of whom will be asymptomatic and are wilfully spreading the virus? How about focusing on the scum who have fraudulently claimed thousands of pounds by setting up fake businesses during the pandemic and claimed grants?

When the Government imposed the lockdowns, they were criticised. When they relaxed the rules, they were criticised. Whatever they have done appears to be wrong in the eyes of society’s whingers. To those who condemned the lockdown, I say this: “If the lockdown was lifted, what is your strategy for dealing with an out-of-control pandemic that will overwhelm the NHS and affect every business when its staff are ill or die?”

To those who said that the Government should have acted sooner, I say this: “The Government was reliant on the British people having a brain and abiding by the social distancing rules. Unfortunately, they could not have predicted the behaviour of mindless morons who hated being told what to do, thereby making a lockdown necessary.”

One can only hope that coronavirus wipes out the COVID conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers, although their surviving families will cry about how it’s the Government’s fault.

Of course, what the Prime Minister is too diplomatic to say is, “The reason for the tough measures is because of all the stupid, selfish and ignorant fuckers who refuse to abide by the lockdown and social distancing rules. They are largely responsible for the spread of the virus.” We only need to look at the slight relaxation of rules over the Christmas period to realise this – primarily caused by those who went over the top and had large family gatherings.  One man – who was interviewed after several of the nine family members who got together at Christmas caught COVID – was bleating on about how awful it was. I found it hard to feel sorry for them, as they were fully aware of the rules. In fact, I think they should have been prosecuted.

Despite all the footage of COVID patients struggling to breathe, and heartbreaking stories from families who have lost a loved one to this unpredictable virus, there are some who still believe it’s a hoax, or that they are invincible. They don’t think about other people. In fact, those who deliberately flout the rules and pass on the virus should be charged with manslaughter.

Instead of trying to assign political culpability, journalists should be coming together to support the Government. They should be stressing the importance of social distancing, adhering to the rules, accepting the COVID vaccine, and naming and shaming all those who are caught breaking the rules, or committing fraud.  After all, it is these people who are responsible for the situation we are in, not the Government.