So... I had a melt down!

The following is a tidy up of a thread I posted on twitter on Sunday. While in no way ‘viral’ it was a little snuffle. 

 

I’m not denying my own privilege, but the past few weeks have been tough at times, despite ample room for personal freedom...  Sadly, Saturday night was a time of great distress. The tweet Matt Hancock posted celebrating the reopening of a racecourse sent me over the edge. I was left struggling, with few words to be honest. I sat in anger, rage and hopelessness. Even cheese, that well known panacea, did not help.

 

Matt Hancock is the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, he has responsibility for the well-being of all, and the return to health of many.  In equal measure he needs to consider the whole population, and the voices of those most disadvantaged by the impact of inequality. Our nation’s growing health inequality has been described as societal injustice. Therefore, while understandably his focus needs to be on the entire population, he also needs to  respond to the needs of groups within it most threatened by disadvantage. This means searching for voices that are often ignored in strident headlines - stories of keen interest – that shout loudly, thundering over the more devastating issues raised by some networks.

 

It seems to me that for some years Matt Hancock has managed to remain silent on matters of Human Rights. Ignoring the call of individuals, and their families, who are locked in institutions or denied the help they need. Deprived of the most basic freedoms, and denied adequate support, many have no escape from degrading treatment, cruelty, violence and sometimes murder. As building evidence shows, institutionalisation has provided opportunity for Disability Hate Crime to grow, which speaks volumes on a culture where increasingly atrocities are ignored because they are behind closed doors. 

 

So why is the celebration of horse racing so important at this moment in time?   With his position comes a duty to know the evidence regarding the cost to society of gambling. His power gives him access to evidence that few are privileged with. The literature on well-being and social policy present the likelihood of addiction as having a significant negative impact on communities, with the harm extending beyond individuals to families, police and health services. For many the implications of addiction result in death. Yet it seems that despite his position, his focus is largely on the fun of a few rather than the health and the well-being the many... [I say again Matt Hancock is the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care]

 

Long before the pandemic much work was needed to reverse the harm done by decades of ever decreasing investment in social care. With many organisations having to pick the pieces of the underinvestment in state provision. endless tenders reducing the shares strength to support those facing the edge of the edge, those pushed into poverty, running on empty on treadmills, stressed and afraid without safety nets.   Let’s be clear successive governments and their austerity measures, universal credit and PIP for example, have pushed many into poverty. More harm has been done to marginalised groups than inaction would have imposed.  The voice of affluent privilege has helped vilify groups already having to cope with gross injustice. Despite resistance, growing numbers within the civic movement have been ignored. Their voices hushed amid the cries of taller tales - the limelight of those most privileged.

 

Policies drawn up in the name of efficiency, austerity, bottom line and cost. Hardly demonstrating the values of a caring and compassionate society where all may flourish. So while the institutional silos chug on, reiterating tales about the elite, harm is dismissed as result of individual failure - rather than society’s need to act to right their negligent administrations. 

 

I don’t think I am standing against those obviously so immune to society’s injustice to deny them pleasure ... or am I? The internal rage is raw! While too many have died, others celebrate what may kill. Thankfully last night the outrage was palpable, at last the hypocrisy wasn’t applauded but called out. 

 

When later matters of shielding were thrown back to the public, people started questioning their survival in terms of ‘despite’ a government they can no longer trust. One thing remains for me, in their devotion to money, greed and privilege, those in a position of power are using it with contempt and cruelty. I hope this government’s accountability is shown to be lacking in time, as its negligence described as gross failure. Their words seen as without legitimacy, speaking only the moneyed, to further the advantage and pleasure of an elite, leaving many of us with sole option to turn away in disgust.

Dr Chapman