THE POST PANDEMIC (COVERT) MANIFESTO - People must have a say on their future!

With the Covid crisis it was clear very early on that the pandemic was never going to be any ordinary emergency as it carried the threat of a global economic slump. The same financial collapse Gibraltar is already struggling with!

Experts believe every epidemic is a story of the interplay between ‘knowledge, ideology and politics’, within each of these headings, the role of government is crucial in determining how epidemics play out in populations. Not only do governments decide on how science and evidence inform policies and plans; they are central to how policies and plans are implemented. Gibraltar is already witnessing a fair bit of that! 

Fundamentally, Covid related changes in consumer behaviour were either imposed or came about because of the crises. We saw how supply chains, routes and money markets, were knocked and still seriously remain off balance, including nations, businesses… including life itself.

While some of these changes are temporary or is a pilot scheme so we have been told with some of our own, others, will never be the same. This observed with the already announced controversial transformation to daily lives.

Most of the changes the government have announced, were very sneakily hidden up its political sleeves and saved for a post Covid Gibraltar. It can best be described as the initial stages of the ‘Governments Post Pandemic Covert Manifesto’.

New Normal will Never be Normal

Unless you looked, listened or have read carefully, you may not have noticed the amount of conditioning we have all been subjected to during the pandemic, and on a daily basis, a lot of it political. It goes beyond politics, it also confirms for many: ‘the New Normal will Never be Normal!

These are still unparalleled troubled times in more ways than one. Certainly, much more then we could ever have imagined.

Scientists and world’s researchers, like never before, have urgently focused on a single topic the Coronavirus. Nearly all other global research has grounded to a halt as world experts in so many countries simultaneously continue to work on a single topic and with such urgency.

Noticeable was, that while nations and political leaders, at the height of the pandemic, were locking their borders, scientists and researchers opened all theirs, creating a global alliance unlike any in history.

From a Gibraltar perceptive, during the pandemic we were told an array of stories about the response to the crisis, we are still receiving such messages. Mostly, they are now of a political nature. With many unexpected decisions and announcements streaming out. But still using the back drop of the pandemic… as a form of political justification!

Shying Away From Real Public Scrutiny

There were no deaths from the virus in Gibraltar, something we should all be relieved about. Yet, in my opinion, the best way to have evaluated the latter point was to cross check all the daily numbers and decision making information, with the number of people residing in Gibraltar. It’s also where geography informs and confirms that we are only the size of a small town elsewhere, and that the thousands of deaths predicted for Gibraltar was way off the mark, because it caused panic and deep concern. As far as I am concerned, these early Armageddon messages probably served its purpose?

Of course, there may also be other considerations to factor in, but we will never know this if politicians are now ‘openly shying away from real public scrutiny’ not allowing it to take place. As I have already reported, the complete opposite is the case back in the UK. The British government rightly accommodated the public and the media’s hunger for news and information and published minutes of meetings held between scientific and health experts and politicians!

Looking back, at what was often repeated and what we were told ad nauseam - many of it also coming from social media - was ‘how our health system and professionals had kept us safe.’ In fact, we know who the real heroes were, the people themselves, who made all the scarifies asked of them!

The Pandemic Covert Manifesto Now Also Includes a Multi-Million Pound Chinese Connection.

We were and are still being told different things, that often do not make sense, when the reality of the situation indicates or says differently? A couple that come to mind (although there are many more) was prohibiting the entry into the Gibraltar Port and the closing or shut down of construction sites, which never really happened; and how we are still being warned of the potential of second wave, not having really had a first wave to comment or report about!

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16-06-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR