Ring a ring of roses

+It is, sadly, indubitably the case that the vast majority of the British public couldn’t give a Cod’s Wallop about the fate of Julian Assange, a person who is presented as a rapist suspect, a narcissist, a fugitive from justice and a foreigner to boot who had the temerity to hang out in the Ecuadorian Embassy for several years thus necessitating PC Plod and colleagues from the Metropolitan Police to rack up millions in publicly funded overtime waiting to feel his collar should he try to escape. People might feel differently if they read Craig Murray’s reportage of Assange’s current extradition hearing, taking place at the behest of the US government. Note: this is an extradition hearing, not a trial. Assange is innocent until proven guilty at least under UK law, but his treatment and imprisonment for many months suggests the verdict is in. But we don’t have political show trials in the UK, do we? I find it worrying that such a case, which is in effect a mini-trial, can be determined by a single magistrate. At least it took several magistrates to unleash the Peterloo massacre.
 
+But our courts are robust are they not? We’ve had the Supreme Court striking down Johnson’s bogus prorogation of Parliament, and now Heathrow runway three has been kicked into touch (for the time being) by the Appeal Court which rightly wondered how this massive infrastructure development could possibly conform to the legal obligation to meet climate change targets. It’s a question which needs a serious answer, and the private company that operates Heathrow will have to answer it (they can’t satisfactorily of course). But the irony is seeing the government hiding behind the court’s decision, as if it had nothing to say on the matter. The Transport Secretary, who currently goes by the name Grant Shapps says it’s nowt to do wi’ us, Heathrow’s a private company. But at the same time, the government says we need more runway capacity (provided flight paths are not over my country estate). Perhaps a few runways could be sprinkled over ‘red wall’ seats in the north.
 
+It seems to me that we are heading for a perfect storm, largely of human making. The stock markets are now reacting to Coronavirus which could lead to an economic downturn equal to that of 2008. If such be the case, more austerity will follow, thus reducing still further our capacity to respond effectively to the imminent/present threats. Lurking in the background is Brexit, and I imagine for Johnson’s government these other crises will come in very handy in deflecting blame for Brexit’s contribution to our woes.