Predictable Liverpool title revelry reflects ineptitude of Britain’s political classes
FOOTBALL reflects society. You can take the temperature of life in Britain by examining the game and events surrounding it. These days the nation and the sport feel pretty sick. Not just because of Covid-19. After Liverpool won the league on Thursday, thousands flocked to Anfield to celebrate, flouting social distancing rules with blasé disregard
Liverpool fans let off flares outside the Liver Building in Liverpool in a world without nuance, which is pretty much where we reside now. Anderson’s intervention came at the end of April. What was life like in those long forgotten days?
Well, there was no football. The streets were deserted. Lockdown regulations were black and white. No one had realised when Anderson spoke that public-safety boundaries were malleable. The public were not aware of Dominic Cummings’ long, drive to freedom, sorry, Durham.
George Floyd was alive and anonymous. Black Lives Matter protests were unimaginable. Television cameras captured deserted streets, not young people filled with righteous fury.
There had been no prolonged PR campaign to downgrade the threat of coronavirus and create a philosophical environment where fear of death was less important than “getting the economy moving”. The UK government even ended the daily pandemic briefings this week. The message: the worst is over, the crisis has passed. It isn’t. It hasn’t.
Beaches are crowded, partygoers are clashing with police in Brixton and the worst set of politicians in living history in Britain are standing idly by. Anderson does not deserve praise. The mayor was right but at the wrong time. Eight weeks ago there was no danger of mass, football-related revelry.
This was the week Merseyside needed leadership. Where was the mayor? There were hardly any fans outside Anfield on Wednesday for the game against Crystal Palace but there were clear indications that danger lay around the corner. Life has almost returned to normal in many places. Most businesses have reopened and a sense of normality has returned.
On Tuesday, Bournemouth was overwhelmed by beachgoers. If Anderson’s warning had been sounded earlier this week, it would have been timely. The mayor could have gathered Jurgen Klopp and senior policemen before the fixtures and called for restraint. Klopp told supporters to stay at home
Foolishness and worthless, self-serving politicians created a perfect storm
but his authority is limited. Why did Anderson appear to show no leadership at all when it mattered? The best politicians judge the mood and seize the moment. It seemed that Anderson misinterpreted the conditions in April and did not have a grip on events this week.
This does not let the Liverpool fans who took to the streets off the hook. The area has already suffered its own football-related ‘biological bomb’ after the Atletico Madrid Champions League tie in March caused a spike in coronavirus deaths. If there is a second wave of fatalities in two weeks’ time it will be an appalling, avoidable legacy of the title win. The recklessness was nauseating.
History means that Liverpool supporters will always be held to a higher set of standards than most other fanbases– or lower, according to their detractors. Football fans became classic folk devils in the 1970s and ’80s and because of this an environment was created where the most outrageous lies could be told and believed after Hillsborough.
Many of those at Anfield and at the Pier Head will have been wearing t-shirts and badges promoting ‘Justice for the 96’. They have undermined the campaign in the past few days. It is unfortunate for Evertonians that they will suffer, too. The events feed the stereotypes of Scousers as irrational, sentimental, mindless and dangerous.
It does not excuse misbehaving supporters to say that conditions in Britain make their actions predictable. Foolishness and worthless, self-serving politicians created a perfect storm of stupidity which could have fatal consequences in Merseyside and farther afield. (© Independent News Service)