NHS staff without equipment
Hillsborough, Co. Down, N. Ireland March 30
NHS staff forced into making face masks out of plastic water bottles and 3D printers for protection against the coronavirus when the UK is spending an estimated £31bn to replace the four Trident nuclear submarines. (I don't know why I'm having flashbacks of Blue Peter and sticky-back plastic.) The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament puts the overall cost at retaining Trident at £205bn over a thirty-year period. I don't know about you, but how will Trident protect us from any type of calamity whether it's an economic crash, a global virus pandemic or terrorist attacks in our cities?
I'm struggling to think of any. Yet I can think of many ways that £31bn could keep people safe in the UK by being invested in our NHS, housing, jobs, education, infrastructure, etc. I still can't think of anything that Trident can protect us from... Still thinking. Images of Peter Purves keep popping into my head.
Louis Shawcross
over 600 deaths from the virus. Sky News says no one can suggest a reason, outstripping that of China.
Here's a hint. Recently I relocated to this area. Know the names of the workmen doing renovations for me but that is practically the limit of the people I have had any real conversations with. Of course, that contact finished with lockdown. I have no family members still living in this country so I must fend for myself during this crisis.
My choice to remain a resident & I am prepared to take on this challenge. Many years ago, I served in the British Armed Forces, so used to observing the rules, even though as now an 80-year-old single person it is quite hard at this time to strictly abide by Government restrictions. Particularly about remaining indoors & very little contact while outdoors.
Had to go out to the supermarket (you cannot live by bread alone it is said but that's what I needed). Even made sure I had on a glove to press the button for the lift to ensure I could not pass on anything picked up.
Arriving at my floor, exiting the lift, to get the few steps to my own door, had to squeeze between Spanish female neighbours, some from upstairs, lady from next door & even the cleaner, none wearing either a mask or gloves. I believe they all have family members locally.
The mind boggles. Having lived in other countries & I do have a Spanish grandchild, I am aware that there are cultural differences &, if we choose to live away from our own home country, should accept these.
However surely it is simple common sense to observe the rules for this worldwide situation. This could be a scene in countless other Spanish ‘edificios’. Spain will continue to experience deaths in these numbers unless more of their citizens alter their habit of a lifetime, stop jaw, jaw, jaw in groups & get a grip.
Alice Frances