Prime minister Boris Johnson

• THE Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the world to its core. People everywhere feel afraid and the future suddenly seems so bleak.

A total of 128,162 Covid-19 related deaths were recorded in the UK as of July 2.

Every single day newspapers, social media, television and radio, are dominated by reports about the catastrophic effect that the virus is having on our lives and culture.

If someone had predicted that 2020 and 2021 would be remembered for a pandemic that would force the prime minister to impose a lockdown, while the chancellor implemented a furlough scheme by borrowing extra billions just to keep the economy afloat, I would have smiled and said, “that’s not possible” because a post-Brexit Britain was supposed to see “freedom” ushered in.

Now, the type of “freedom” that we were promised after Brexit looks uncertain for a number of reasons. But the main obstacle is Covid-19.

It’s rather ironic and very disturbing to find that a health secretary, Matt Hancock, resigned his post because he was found to be in breach of the social distancing rules.

To place one’s trust in the current Conservative government (despite prime minister Boris Johnson’s majority) to lead us into a brave, new, relatively safe, future seems foolhardy.

Especially when the former minister showed a lackadaisical attitude at such a serious time.

TREVOR ELLIS
Chalk Hill Road, HA9