Deaths rising - but make sure you ‘buy a newspaper’

At yesterday’s briefing, the community’s secretary - Robert Jenrick encouraged people to ‘buy a newspaper’. This came across as rather arbitrary, and his reasoning I found to be ludicrous.  He is encouraging the public to support the local and national media at this time. He’s correct in stating the local media industry needs the public to show its support, however, national is questionable.

This morning’s papers (7/05/20) have both encouraged the end of the lockdown and have lied about what is to be expected too. For example, the Daily Mail’s front page reads ‘HURRAH! LOCKDOWN FREEDOM BECKONS’, with the paper also stating picnics in parks will be permitted. The Daily Star’s front page says “MAGIC MONDAY” with images of individuals holding a beer. Finally, The Sun has used the term “HAPPY MONDAY”, stating that pubs and cafes plan to open gardens. This is all false conjecture and makes me wonder why we are being encouraged to purchase these newspapers at an official government press conference.

It’s truly astonishing that rather than reporting the tragic deaths that are occurring day-to-day, they are instead making light of the situation and prioritizing going to the pub. The significance of this statement by Robert Jenrick is dubious, as it is not the central issue that should be discussed. There are many businesses, both large and small that are struggling under these circumstances – even more so than the newspaper industry. 

The Left Wing Society are strongly against easing the lockdown at this moment in time. Every day, more deaths are sadly occurring, and easing the lockdown on Monday would have catastrophic consequences. We need to put people before profits.