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One rule for us, another for them—Why we won’t forget Christmas 2020

Paranting’s team is angry.

So we decided to share why we won’t be forgetting Christmas 2020 in light of revelations that Boris Johnson’s Government held three parties in No. 10 Downing Street when strict lockdown rules were being enforced across the UK.

Credit: Oversnap/iStock

Sam:

Knowing what to take at face value is becoming less apparent as the virus continues to spread.

Right now, we should be able to have faith in, trust and look to our Government for advice on what to do.

Precautions; rules; fines.

Society has been sticking to what No. 10 determines is best, for them to go back on it themselves...and laugh in the process.

How are we supposed to have trust or faith?

It’s one rule for them and one rule for us.

So I do worry. I worry a lot that people are going to be careless and not listen to actions that the authorities cannot take themselves.

To be honest I can’t really blame them; if it wasn’t something that would cost mine or other people's lives, then I wouldn’t abide by the ordered rules when politicians cannot do it themselves.

It’s all too hypocritical.

I feel like a fool listening to rules that only work one way.

Though that’s what I'd rather be doing than following in their footsteps. I want to stay safe; I want everyone around me to be safe.

This time last year I split up from my fiancé and moved back home with my parents; after years of ‘freedom’, that was my bubble—my parents, the cats and I.

I would have liked to have seen other family members, I needed a night away or out with my friends—anything to take my mind off the current situation.

But nobody could do anything and understandably so.

Then it came to our attention that the very people who placed us under restrictions, which meant that many couldn’t see their loved ones, did the very thing they said we couldn’t.

It’s not setting much of an example.

To top it all off, the very day after No.10’s lockdown party was exposed, the PM announced a "Plan B" detailing having to work from home, due to the concerning R rate of the Omicron strain.

To agree with Keir Starmer—“We have a prime minister who’s socially distanced from the truth.”

Credit: Creative Commons

Sophia:

By Christmas Eve 2020, I was feeling quite positive.

I had got through the first lockdown with only seeing a toddler and two dogs for three months; I had managed to get myself back to freelancing from September and I’d escaped an abusive relationship.

All-in-all, while the Government didn’t offer me much financial support apart from furlough, we were feeling pretty chuffed. We had been the lucky ones.

Of course, those feelings would be a distant memory by Christmas, though not for the reason you might think.

COVID-19 rules and guidance affected different aspects of people’s lives.

Parts of them we didn’t know would be affected. We had to stick by them, no matter what.

On Christmas Day morning, I brought my son down with me to the living room.

I could hear my old lady dog get down from the sofa to come and see us.

But when I opened the door to greet her, she was lying on the floor; she had collapsed and was unable to move.

I called the vet (yep, luckily it was open) and we managed to transport her to them down the road from me.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t good news; it was absolutely her time.

She was 14 and she had already battled Cancer. She was pale and her heartbeat was faint.

Now, I had no doubt in my mind that the timing was right—except when they told me I had to choose between her being put to sleep (PTS) in the vets without me or in the car park with me.

The cold, grey car park.

There was no way I could leave her.

She had been with me during my breakdown in 2017; she had told me when I was in labour with my son; she had comforted me when I cried on the bathroom floor during lockdown.

I was not leaving her to die alone.

Obviously being PTS in a cold car park was also not how I would have wanted her to leave me.

She deserved to be in a warm place with me and Amyas saying goodbye to her. Cuddling her.

We had to do this because of the COVID-19 guidance and rules. The vets were only following its guidance.

But we followed the rules. My dog didn’t get the send-off she deserved.

We didn’t get the goodbye we deserved.

While Patty (the First) was a dog, and not a human, her loss and final moments have no less left an impact on me.

For many others in the country, the loss and restriction were even worse.

I feel very emotional about hearing about these 10. Downing Street Christmas parties; I cannot imagine how others must be feeling.

So please just know that even though my loss was an animal, I see and hear every angry voice in this country as if it were my own.

Here's a picture of P

Princess Patty I with her baby brother Mr. Chips when he first came home. 

Felice:

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was definitely more than this.

Time and time again, this Government has shown callous regard for human life, and it makes me question why I continue a fight for social justice when the odds are against people like me.

To know that Johnson and his crony mates were having not one, not two, but three non-socially distanced parties in Downing Street when I was suffering through the worst mental health crisis I’d ever faced almost snuffs out my internal fire.

After March 2020, like many others, I saw a sharp decline in my mental health, with old wounds resurfacing and new ones tearing open every day whenever I opened my news app to see "the numbers."

Over the summer I had received an overwhelming diagnosis of fibromyalgia, which is an incurable chronic pain condition.

It was devastating but at least the lockdown had eased in summer.

But, of course, things got worse.

I spent that Christmas in a mental breakdown, realising the realities of being disabled and struggling every day with my physical and mental health.

All the while, disabled people—my community—were being treated as if their lives were an afterthought by those taking unnecessary risks.

I’m so angry I don’t even know where to put it: Johnson for continually denying his role in it while disabled people were being forced into "Do Not Resuscitate" orders  in hospital;

Allegra Stratton, who was caught laughing about the party at a press conference and, rightly, resigned;

Or Jacob Rees-Mogg who said so confidently that the police wouldn’t investigate a party held a year ago as if he was above the law with the police in his pocket.

Despite the Tories’ best efforts to dampen my spirit, I do have an internal fire.

Believe me, it rages when I see lives being taken.

It rages when I see unfairness in practice as the norm, like when a bill to strip UK nationals of their citizenship was pushed through during Allegra Stratton’s resignation;

And it rages when people like me are left to the mercy of other people’s decisions who might well copy the Government’s careless actions.

Every time we wear our masks, or say no to an irresponsible gathering, or take a lateral flow test before we go out, we’re saving someone who is loved.

My fire keeps me going because it tells me that, one day, we will vote them out.

The lies upon lies and the hypocritical mess they’ve made are out there for all to see.

Do not let them snuff out your fire too.

https://twitter.com/imacelebrity/status/1468329208749465606?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_4D_65eWuoBlgE0WIK9kUm7J4jxKcOtiELtfMsTBblFALy0XDeMGW2n29pcq2EpEM8RTql (Opens in a new window)

Credit: @imacelebrity/Twitter

The Paranting Conclusion

When even Ant and Dec are ahead of Boris Johnson (Opens in a new window), we know the nation is fuming too.

We've got our eyes on Westminster.

Let's hope Christmas 2021 will be happily forgetful.

Words: Sam Lewis, Sophia Waterfield, Felice Southwell

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