B­oris Johnson

• THE coronavirus pandemic has shone a bright spotlight on inequalities in society.

On Sunday B­oris Johnson told working class people to go back to work in industries like construction and manufacturing where social distancing is virtually impossible. He also announced that he wanted schools to open for the youngest children from June 1.

This was a particularly cynical move; they are the children least likely to keep apart from each other but, of course, if their parents are going to return to work outside the home, these are the children that need to be in school.

This plan is nothing to do with the education of our children and everything to do with putting economic profit before people’s lives.

A shocking number of people have died so far from coronavirus, many unnecessarily because of government inaction.

But you’re much more likely to die if you are Black or in an occupation such as taxi driver, bus driver, security guard or care worker.

More than 200 construction workers had died by mid-April as the race to make money from luxury flats, hotels and shops continued in lockdown.

Coronavirus has also exposed food poverty. We are sadly all too familiar with food banks becoming an essential safety net, including for those in low-paid work, but the last two months have shown how one person in a family losing their job means they cannot afford the food they need.

Over the last few weeks, hundreds of our members in Camden Unison have been part of the council’s response to coronavirus.

They have kept the schools open for the children of key workers, made up food parcels and delivered supplies to those shielding or in need, helped settle homeless people in accommodation, supported vulnerable residents, worked in care homes and helped discharge hospital patients. But to do all of this has cost Camden Council money.

In councils, cuts in government funding have become all too common since the banking crisis in 2008. In the last decade successive Tory governments have cut funding to the council by almost £170million.

And now, government ministers are telling councils that they won’t guarantee refunding the money that’s been spent on making residents as safe and secure as possible.

London alone has 95 billionaires. Boris Johnson is a millionaire. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is a billionaire; 65 per cent of the current Tory cabinet went to private school (average class size 10-15 children, so much easier to practise social distancing).

There is plenty of money in society for the government to properly fund the response to coronavirus, particularly if they made their big business friends and companies registered in offshore havens pay their taxes.

Camden Unison will be campaigning for the government to fully fund local councils for their response to the pandemic. And we will also campaign for those services to continue.

Nelson Mandela said, “A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”

Coronavirus has shown that those traditionally seen as the “lowest” in society are really some of the most important.

We cannot let the Tories make us pay for this crisis.

LIZ WHEATLEY
Branch Secretary

PHOEBE WATKINS
Branch Chair
Camden Unison