The Ministry of Justice. A building every bit as ugly and brutal as some of the people and things that go on inside it.
The Paul Foot Award 2021 has been won by journalist Jack Shenker for his article (link below) on cleaners at The Ministry of Justice, specifically one of their number called Emanuel Gomes.
Gomes was told to attend work at The Ministry of Justice at Petty France in London’s St. James daily during the early part of the pandemic in 2020.
He was paid just over £9.00 per hour.
The offices were empty. All Ministry staff had been relocated to work from home. The necessity of cleaning empty offices has never been satisfactorily explained.
Despite concerns no PPE was given to cleaners at MoJ. No sick pay was available and so Mr. Gomes continued to work regardless of contracting Coronavirus and becoming ill.
MoJ denied there had been an outbreak of the virus at the Ministry, despite compelling evidence to the contrary. This is of course standard for MoJ: deny, lie and evade.
Seven ancillary staff appear to have contracted the virus but still attended work due to lack of proper sick pay.
Emanuel Gomes died on the evening of 23rd of April 2020.
Ministry of Justice cleaning services are contracted out to OCS – “a facilities management company privately-owned by the Goodliffe Family, who are worth £191 million and appear on the Sunday Times rich list… taxpayers send the firm £17.5 million per annum, and in return OCS provides the ministry with security, catering, cleaning and other services.”
We have now become a society in which many people are lacking in the ability to use basic critical faculties regarding information they receive. Because of this they are more prepared to align their thinking with narrow, sectional interests.
These people can then be persuaded to perform activities which go against their own best interests and those of our wider society.
How has this happened and what purpose does the spread of disinformation and outright lies serve, particularly those in relation to COVID-19?
Funded by the sinister and obeyed by the stupid. An example of a type of sticker seen lots recently in our urban areas.
Disinformation comes like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It often seeks to persuade from a standpoint of “us against them”, as the above image shows. The two stickers above start by putting their arguments by claiming they are on the side of the people against the Government. This is palpably not true. In a situation in which there is a lethal pandemic the interests of the people are to protect themselves and those around them from the spread of the virus. Neither of these stickers promote this. They are actively against it and so to do as the first sticker suggests puts yourself and others at direct risk of harm. The second seeks to re-inforce the first by suggesting that the Government information on the pandemic is incorrect without stating what part is wrong. It’s there to build an atmosphere of mistrust to reinforce the message of the first sticker. And film director Ken Loach would also like his royalties for the misuse of the image.
Much of the anti-mask, “virus is a conspiracy theory” set have a series of narrow sectional interests that coincide with letting the virus rip through society. Thus they are not interested in your or my personal freedom. Claims that they are marching against the “new world order”, microchip implantation via vaccination and half a dozen other fabricated falsehoods are hooks to pull in the gullible into acting against their own best interests and starting up a culture war. If they were campaigning for freedom then there are plenty of existing worthy campaigns they could join to increase the freedom of action in society. Those run by groups such as Liberty spring to mind.
Being vaccinated is a pro-social act which actually does increase freedom. For a start the freedom not to be infected with a potentially lethal virus. Vaccination may not help you but it may stop others around you being infected. It is the apex of how society should reasonably operate: a partnership in which you take care of my interests and I take care of yours. Likewise wearing a mask in public places reduces the spread of COVID-19. This is also a pro-social act that helps everyone in society by stopping / slowing the rate of infection until the forthcoming vaccinations are widely taken up.
At present there are sufficient dark forces looking to destabilise society.
These amount to the usual ragbag of far left and far right groups, alongside our old chums the obstreperous and the contrarians who automatically are against whatever you might happens to be in favour of or any reasonably held consensus. These are operating alongside foreign powers who seek to destabilise western societies for their own ends. I suspect the stickers such as that seen in the image above are paid for and posted by such persons or else home-grown eugenics enthusiasts who have an honest (though morally repugnant) belief in survival of the fittest. None of these people have yours or my best interests at heart and they seek to persuade people to act against their own interests via a variety of underhanded means.
There was a time when such as vaccines etc. were understood to be a positive force: they enabled hundreds of millions of people to live without the fear of communicable and life-changing diseases such polio.
However thirty years of (1) a dumbed down eduction system (2) a media – especially newspapers – that prioritise showbiz news over critical analysis and readership engagement with the real world (3) social media allowing a slow-drip feed of misinformation and outright lies (4) Prior exposure by investigative journalists of genuine abuses of power which lend weight to the idea that there are further, hidden abuses of power happening beyond what we presently know about. I would add also (5) that the inept and incompetent handling of the pandemic by the UK Goverment has been sufficiently poor as to assist and promote misinformation about the virus and Government intentions. It is quite believable that COVID-19 is being allowed to spread through poor areas just like it was through nursing homes.
All these things have led to a position in which conspiracy theories such as those abounding around COVID-19 have fertile soil. They allow the sectional interest groups I have mentioned above to have a stronger foothold whereas many years ago they would have been confined to the crank fringes. If – as in happier times – the only means of getting your crackpot theories out into the world amounts to hand-printed leaflets and a sandwich board your theories won’t go far enough to harm others.
Harmful, unscientific and morally reprehensible ideas around COVID-19 are being freely disseminated. These are wrapped up in conspiracy theories in which the Government, Big Science and (in the USA at least) the “deep state” are said to be acting from sinister motives. These ideas promote a narrative in which persons acting against medical and scientific advice are seen to be expressing their individual freedoms in defiance of the state. This is simply wrong.
A conspiracy theory is a comforting thing: it offers a catch-all explanation for one or more of the wrongs of the world. Belief in such a conspiracy theory ennobles the believer with a sense of access to some secret knowledge or insight into how the world works; which does account for how difficult it is to prise people away from such theories once they start to head down one or more of the bizarre cul-de-sacs that conspiracy theories represent. It’s difficult to wean someone off a conspiracy theory as it requires the afflicted person admitting they were wrong and have had the wool pulled over their eyes.
People are prepared to believe all sorts of odd conspiracy theories but fail to see actual and genuine efforts to deprive them of their rights, money and liberty. The current UK scandal over sourcing of PPE equipment via lucrative contracts by the UK Government to Tory party donors and friends is a real-life conspiracy which has been ongoing since March 2020. Protests in the streets against this scandal: zero.
Conclusion: at least in part many people are being drawn to crackpot theories spun to create chaos and destabilise society via a variety of means. In worrying times people cling onto extreme views which seem to present a catch-all explanation for problems. That these ideas gain ground when people are unable to critically assess the sources of information they are presented with and the reasons they are being persuaded to act in a specific way.
Presently the East Yorkshire city of Kingston Upon Hull has the highest COVID-19 rates of infection in the UK. The virus appears to be running rampant in the city causing a significant numbers of deaths.
The Guardian has quoted local Hull resident Gavin Storey in an article published this week. The original article can be found at:
It states that Storey thinks it suits the ruling class have let the virus run riot through deprived communities like his. He says:
“It seems like they are trying to get rid of us. That way when it’s over they won’t have to spend so much money around here. Let the kids go to school, spread it to their parents and then let them all die. Most of the people in the country who are on benefits will be dead.”
Twitter users react to Mr. Storey’s comments in the article.
This all got me thinking about the initial wave of the pandemic to hit the UK in spring 2020.
According to information passed over to me in a conversation in spring 2020 from one of Leeds’ top criminal defence solicitors West Yorkshire Police were arresting and pulling suspects in for questioning with an urgency and speed which was quite at odds with the nature of a lethal pandemic and the requirement for people to self isolate.
Those arrested were not given masks and at that point before the end of the first lockdown self-sourced PPE was not commonly owned like today. The overall idea at that point was to protect by keeping your distance from others which makes the arrests carried out seem even more bizarre. Command Teams must have been aware of the risk of police stations as focal points for the spread of the virus. Frontline officers were of course given PPE but of dubious effectiveness which had been sold to the force, desperate to be seen to protect officers, as a “job lot”.
This is also unusual behaviour for a force which remains in financial dire straights considering the potential costs of increasing the pace in ongoing investigations.
Indeed I was told that at that time even people who had been released under investigation for a long period and who had no notification of progress on potential charges were being re-arrested and brought in for interview.
UK police tend to be toxic at the best of times.
In the same way as Mr. Storey thinks schools are being used to spread COVID-19 in deprived communities the sudden urge of West Yorkshire Police to pull in suspects for interview in the initial wave of a lethal pandemic seems… unsettling.
Were these actions part of a deliberate policy to assist the virus to spread in deprived communities?
Is this too outlandish an idea? Then consider also that in spring 2020 the elderly and frail were discharged from hospitals into care homes without adequate screening to ensure they were not infecting others.
The initial Government policy on the virus was to let it run through the population. This was the planning in the early stages of the UK’s response until SAGE, the Government’s scientific advisory group, suggested this strategy would lead to potential UK deaths of up to 250,000. This initial discredited strategy meant excess deaths through the initial lockdown coming too late. It is known that former Government advisor Dominic Cummings is a eugenicist who employed another advisor for a short period in February 2020 before that person’s past writings in eugenics were made public leading to their dismissal.
In every one of multiple other respects the UK’s response to the pandemic was lethargically slow and inept. This situation continues to this day.
The idea then that there has been purpose in the UK’s handling of COVID-19 has some merit. That the initial plan to allow the virus to rip through the population is still in play but not stated openly as a matter of State policy.
It is likely then that people with either criminal records or suspected of committing a criminal offence have been considered in the same light as the fail and elderly: a potential burden to society and something best gotten rid of. That the virus provides (to the State) a convenient ability to do just this.
I know of one clear instance of West Yorkshire Police officers attending at a suspect’s home without masks or PPE in May despite being aware of a vulnerable person being present at the home. Breaking subject access request laws the Right of Access Department at West Yorkshire Police have failed to release body worn video footage of this incident showing officers attending without PPE.
The theory that West Yorkshire Police were actively pulling in suspects in an attempt to spread Coronavirus around is just a theory.
But it’s a theory that does seem to fit into the overall approach of the authorities towards the virus from the inept Test and Trace system to Eat Out to Help Out. All of these have assisted the virus to move through the poorer sections of the population to the point where we’ve ow reached the second point of national lockdown within one year.
In South Korea there have so far been less than 600 deaths from COVID-19. Britain has (at a low estimate) 60,000 to date.
Severe concerns exist regarding the safety of those being compelled to attend HMCTS civil courts
The official line from HMCTS is clear. That courts in the UK are COVID-19 secure.
The facts tell a different story altogether.
Outbreaks at half a dozen courts in the North East and North West circuits such as Leeds and Liverpool in the last few weeks show that HMCTS’ position is at best ill-informed and hopelessly optimistic. There have been further instances of the virus spreading at other courts across the UK. The PCS union has expressed severe concerns to its members regarding the safety of their workplaces, as has The Bar Council.
PCS members are encouraged to walk out of an unsafe working environment. Given the level of workplace bullying known to go on at civil courts such as York County Court it’s highly unlikely any member of court staff would do this.
Civil court users are not so lucky.
I have a hearing in case at Doncaster next week. The Defendant in the claim has already expressed surprise that the hearing is still set to go ahead despite a second national lockdown.
I have also expressed my own surprise to court staff who simply directed me to a webpage with the usual platitudes and informed that the hearing was still set for next week. The attitude towards safety concerns raised was dismissive and lethargic. This is simply not good enough in a pandemic.
None of the valid concerns I have expressed in communication with the court have received a response.
The simple fact is that a public building cannot be made COVID-19 secure any more than HMCTS can claim to have ensured a building is totally free of dust, oxygen or carbon atoms. Thus everyone attending a hearing at any court will be exposed to a potential risk of a severe illness, as will any of their family members when the attendee returns home.
If HMCTS were an organisation which is able to get the basics of running the civil system right then there would be more confidence in the claim that courts are COVID-19 secure. But the hopelessly inept, slapdash approach that characterises HMCTS pre-pandemic does not inspire confidence.
When people are being compelled to attend civil hearings in circumstances where there have been severe outbreaks in court buildings and staff appear dismissive of safety concerns one has to consider what the priorities of HMCTS are. Public health isn’t one of them.
Legal Babble 