We have waited 15 months for someone on the Tory front bench - or the Labour front bench for that matter - to pipe up about the criminal activities of the UK government during this pandemic. As per usual there has been nothing but silence from the so-called 'opposition' at Westminster about the latest business-wrecking extension to Covid restrictions, by which we can safely assume that Starmer and his gang support the move. Thankfully, this week we have finally heard some commonsense from a frontbencher, in the form of Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The Leader of the House used the latest edition of his regular podcast - the Moggcast - to voice his disapproval of never-ending restrictions. Rees-Mogg put some home truths out into the public domain that will make uncomfortable listening for lockdown enthusiasts, in particular Johnson loyalists who still don't realise that they are being played. He highlighted the fact that the virus is an acute risk for the elderly and those with existing health conditions, but poses little risk to younger people, a fact that has been consistently underplayed throughout the pandemic in order to perpetuate the myth that the virus is a death sentence for anyone and everyone.
Rees-Mogg also directly contradicts the SAGE doomsayers that continue to manipulate Johnson with their scary and always inaccurate graphs. The latest extension was justified because of rising infection levels, but Rees-Mogg says: "Infections are not what matters any more. Two things that matter - can the NHS cope and the number of deaths. Overwhelmingly most important is the number of deaths. People going into hospital for a couple of days and coming out again is not very important... We put on restrictions at the point at which we were facing a thousand deaths a day". Deaths are now averaging at around eight per day, he added.
In a brief defence of the libertarian values that our Prime Minister appears to have long forgotten, Rees-Mogg goes on to slam control measures designed ostensibly to 'protect the NHS': "The government doesn't have the right to take charge of people's lives purely to prevent them seeing the doctor, otherwise we'd never be allowed in our kitchens, where a disproportionate number of accidents in the home take place".
The Moggcast is published by Conservative Home, click below for the clip.
In the same edition of the podcast, Rees-Mogg also discusses kneeling footballers and comes out in defence of fans who boo the gesture. You can listen to the full show here.
