THE GREAT CONTRAST

WHAT a contrast. As the UK economy languishes in selfinflicted stagnation for a second time and British civil liberties are regularly trampled underfoot, life here in the TRNC seems to go on with comparative ease and no sense of panic.

Indeed, in terms of both controlling the pandemic and allowing normal life to go on, the TRNC appears to have got the balance right. OK, I accept that the borders of a small country like this, with just two sea ports and one airport, are far easier to control than those of a normally major economic player like the UK. That said, the resultant contrast in the pandemic atmosphere that prevails in the two countries could not be greater. Life here just feels unusual, not at an end. In the UK, proportionate reaction in a crisis seems to have done a heavy-handed bunk.

I particularly noticed it last weekend. All over the UK Remembrance Sunday was cancelled. No wreath-laying, no two minutes’ silence, no last post, no reveille, at least for the usual armies of respectful members of the public who normally voluntarily turn up, at local war memorials all across the country. In most places the law-abiding majority never got near a war memorial and there was nothing happening even if they did.

The lack of any official attempt to ensure some form of limited normality prevailed, especially for the public, was a sad capitulation to the virus, not a victory over it. An all-encompassing fear won the day. Ironic indeed when you consider Remembrance is about honouring those who overcame that fear in the face of the enemy and gave their lives in defence of freedom and democracy.

There wasn’t much of that about in the UK on November 8, 2020, now was there? In terms of Remembrance, an almost total, day-long, “silence” was weirdly enforced. Even singing was banned, including the national anthem (that historic “enforcer” of bans on all things enjoyable, Oliver Cromwell, would have been in his puritanical element).

At the Cenotaph, normally the focal point of national tribute to the fallen, an extremely limited service thankfully did take place, which was surrounded by a cordon of police, ensuring the public, even in limited numbers, never got anywhere near it. That was understandable, to the extent that thousands normally turn up.

The Royal British Legion (RBL) is a responsible, lawabiding organisation, representing all that is good in the national character. Why didn’t the government put their trust in them to do the right thing and encourage Remembrance services to happen, instead of frightening people to death if they did, even on a limited basis?

Government guidelines should have been to ensure Remembrance took place, not to effectively ban it. It is an important day in the national calendar. That is what should have happened from Brighton to Inverness and from Belfast to Kingston upon Hull. It didn’t. Instead the UK got a cowering capitulation.

This wasn’t the situation here in Girne (Kyrenia), thank goodness. The TRNC government, the local authorities, the police and the Kyrenia branch of the RBL, ensured Remembrance took place, despite the virus, although understandably limited in nature when compared to normal. Strict rules on numbers officially attending, in a cordoned-off central area, mask wearing and social distancing were all applied, even for members of the public outside the cordon. Those rules were observed by those attending. The police didn’t restrict the event, they facilitated its logically scaled-down nature. The order of service was exactly as it always is. Quite right too.

If that can be done, right here in the TRNC, 2,000 miles away from the Cenotaph, why couldn’t it happen in countless villages and towns across the United Kingdom? The virus will never be beaten by cowering before it.

Some sense of normality prevailed at the Kyrenia RBL Remembrance Service. Their Chairman, David Horsfall, his officers, committee and helpers, deserve nothing but praise and admiration. Thank goodness the spirit of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain is still alive somewhere. The fact it happens to be 2,000 miles away in the TRNC should fill the British government with shame.

One obvious excuse the UK government will claim, in defence of why it was necessary to effectively ban Remembrance Sunday, is that the UK has just gone into a second “lockdown”. The negative economic effects of the first lockdown are potentially disastrous and their true impact not yet felt, in terms of looming unemployment and the mental health of the nation. They soon will be. Why isn’t somebody in Whitehall asking if those negative economic realities are acceptable as the cost of defeating the virus by means of a second lockdown? Why is nobody balancing the costs against the effects? If UK government doesn’t, I’ll guarantee the inevitable future public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic, will do just that. As things stand, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of its conclusions.

The truth is, however many people are diagnosed with Covid, the vast majority who die from it are vulnerable already. They often have existing underlying health problems or are simply suffering the natural consequences of old age. At 72 years of age, I may fit all too well into that category. The future always belongs to the young, virus or not. I do not expect government to lock everyone down and bankrupt Britain in the process, just to save the likes of me. I’ll take responsibility for myself, thank you very much. In the meantime, Boris should pray this new vaccine works. That will defeat the virus, lockdowns simply won’t. In the meantime he should stop destroying normal life far more effectively than any virus possibly could. “Lest we forget” eh?