Selfish tunnel vision

Another day of persistent low cloud and rain, although not so heavy. I walked down to the shops on Cowbridge Road East before lunch, to confirm when I'd pick up our turkey order, and there were long queues outside Tesco's and one of the butchers, though not ours, perhaps because it's concentrating on orders rather than on every day meat purchases. It's interesting to observe that not everyone queuing wears a mask until they're actually ready to enter the store. Most aren't queuing two metres apart. 

There was an interesting interview on the BBC 'World at One' news programme with a head teacher in Kent. It seems that the new covid variant is having far less impact on younger children than on teenagers. I've been puzzling over this since. It strikes me that younger children are more likely to remain compliant with social hygiene instructions than older ones who are finding their freedom and keen to challenge any boundaries imposed by authority. 

When I was out walking in Llandaff Fields after lunch I noticed more than a dozen teenagers gathered around the bowling green club house, not invisible but certainly a more secluded spot to stand and chat close up and have a drink together. No matter how well organised safety measures may be in school, and no matter how compliant older children may be, it's what happens when they are out of CCTV range, in the toilets, behind the bike sheds etc; that poses a risk to kids keen to break the rules, and succumb to the temptation to risk getting up close and personal. The problem persists if schools are closed and kids have to stay home as it's impossible to stop them roaming outdoors and socialising.

The closure of international borders to any kind of traffic from Britain is causing chaos for the transport of goods in both directions, with a tenfold increase since yesterday in the number of lorries parked, awaiting the re-opening of ferry services in the region around Dover and Folkestone. Not only does this have an impact on 'just in time' food supply delivery but is a serious concern for the welfare of 1,500 drivers, most stuck far away from home. 

From his professional perspective at the DVSA, Owain has been pointing out for the past year that the transport industry is agreed that whether or not there's a brexit deal, implementing new regulations is bound to generate similar scale delays. There is something pathologicallly obscene about British politicians trying to whip up xenophobic hysteria against the EU, French and Germans (in particular) for exercising their sovereign right to control borders in a time of major crisis, when the brexit initiative has been about insisting on the illusion of British sovereignty. But will voters see through such self centred foolishness? Like it or not, as St Paul said "WE are members of one another." Time to grow up and get used to this.