Monday 21st September 2020
Four pleople were present. Six gave apologies for not attending.
Participants today had the option to attend an outdoor face to face meeting or a Zoom meeting. The Zoom meeting is reported separately.
Discussing arrangements for further meetings over the winter months we would return to The Anglers if that was possible. Otherwise a Face to Face meeting will be held at Mike and/or Stephen’s house. Decision will be made shortly before meeting depending upon government advice/safety. If more that 6 people wish to join F2F meeting, then both Stephen and Mike will host meetings. Participants would again be offered a Zoom meeting alternative.
Discussing COVID, an announcement by Chief Medical Advisor today stated that we should expect 6 months of further restrictions as the epidemic is at a ‘tipping point’. Personal experience indicated that schools will have trouble providing adequate staffing due to staff absence for quarantining. The disastrous handling of the epidemic by government had led to a sharp fall in popularity of the PM, but the Tories were still ahead of Labour in the polls.
In UK and USA (but what about China?), policy is driven by scant regard for truth. Through social media, there is a superfluity of ‘facts’ (and ‘fake facts’) and consequently a lack of meaning. Policies become increasingly incoherent and destructive (qv Brexit legislation), led by a concern to appeal to a popularist ‘base’ which is often ill informed due to the lack of regard for truth in media reporting. Conspiracy theories, racism and muddled thinking characterises the understanding of many in an environment where there is no ‘shared narrative’. The chaos and confusion in this situation may provided a fertile environment for right wing/fascist development. However, could such confusion also be a necessary condition for more progressive narratives to emerge?
Might it also lead to progressive alliances and collaboration across parties? Local experience indicates that LP meetings are now more open to the possibility of collaboration with other anti-Tory parties.
We thought Starmer’s leadership was characterised by good management but lack of inspiration. Is the present situation one in which effective management, rather that inspiration, is key? We felt that the move from Corbyn to Starmer represented a move from an inspirational to a managerial approach, but were not all convinced of the value of such a managerial approach. While we were in the dark regarding Starmer’s policy direction, we wondered whether he was waiting, perhaps for the demise of Johnson, who might be followed as PM by Sunak. We wondered. And would Sunak’s popularity continue once he stops giving money away?