Coronavirus compared with Foot & Mouth

This time some nineteen years ago in 2001 we, in the south west of England, were in the grip of a deadly virus. We, anyway in much of rural Devon, where in 'lock down.'  The virus was of course Foot & Mouth and the plumes of smoke from piles of burning livestock could be seen everywhere.

Experts predicting 'gloom & doom' dominated the press and airwaves as they confidently predicted that the disease would take many months to be bought under control and may, quite likely, still be with us when next winter came around. Fortunately they were, of course, all wrong.

So I reckon that this Coronavirus will, as soon as the sun begins to shine, wither away just as Foot & Mouth did.  I also confidently predict that the death toll will be relatively insignificant by that I mean that whilst some, even many perhaps, may die of it many more won't die because of it.  So, for instance, as people travel less so fewer will die in travel accidents ( the second most common cause of death for teenagers).

Meanwhile for those who are brave opportunities abound. Got lots of spare cash? the stock market, or at least certain shares, looks a steal.  Fancy a cheap holiday?  Well- always providing the authorities have not lost their nerve and placed your chosen destination in 'Lock Down' there are amazing deals to be had. We had been planning to take advantage of the total absence of Chinese/Japanese/American  tourist to go to Florence and lap up  Renaissance culture in almost deserted galleries and stay in a five star hotel and eat at great restaurants at bargain basement prices but the Italian government has, un-sportingly, put the kibosh on that.  Still if this goes on it is probable that the said trash tourists will stay away from the UK as well this spring and summer so we might just treat ourselves to a few nights in London, Bath or perhaps York to which I have never been. 

Priti Patel & Bullying

So that Big Girls blouse Sir Philip Rutnam - the now totally unlamented ex Permanent Secretary of the Home Office thinks Priti Patel is a bully. How pathetic. I doubt the dripping wet Sir Philip even knows what bullying is. Well I do. I was taught by an expert, one Trained Soldier Evans, he was in charge of some twenty of us who were so unfortunate as to end up in a barrack room under his total control. 

We were the lowest of low. Potential Officer recruit guardsmen. Fair game for every NCO and Warrant Officer at the depot for the eight weeks of the course called The Brigade Squad. Trained Soldier Evans was responsible for us when we were in the barrack room. He was a psycho and enjoyed picking on the weakest member of the squad and by using the cunning arts of bullying get them to chuck it and leave.

Many had already succumbed by the time he got round to concentrating on me.  Most of his techniques were hardly subtle but he did have one nasty trick which was to try to turn the whole squad against me by punishing them for my supposed inadequacies. For example, the one treat we were allowed was a half hour sprint down to the NAAFI (canteen) for a quick pint of beer at around nine o'clock.  I can hear Evans now saying in his Welsh lilt -'No NAAFI break tonight as Fulford's boots are in bad order."

As I said Evans was a master of the art of bullying. Years later I asked a fellow member of the squad if he could let me have a copy of the squad photo as I had lost mine. He not only had it copied but framed as well and sent it to me. 'How much do |I owe you?' I asked.  'Nothing' he replied 'Every night I would say a silent prayer that you wouldn't give in and chuck it because I knew if you did I would be next'  Somehow I don't think Sir Philip would have lasted 24 hours in that barrack room.