In Boris Johnson’s efforts to not appear as ‘a scrooge’, he appears as an Islamophobe instead. The Mirror reports that Johnson is considering lifting the ‘rule of six’ for Christmas day. The ‘rule of six’ came into action on Monday 14th September, making social gatherings of more than six people against the law.
Putting aside that lifting the rule of six for Christmas is a horrible idea for safety reasons because we have yet to find any indication that COVID-19 will be taking a break on December 25th to eat some turkey and stuffing, it is the principle that bothers me. We know realistically that Brits will be breaking the rule of six for Christmas day if the last 6 months have taught us anything, it is that we don’t like being told what to do.
Never-the-less, the problem at hand is that the PM is thinking about Christmas three months in advance after the health secretary Matt Hancock implemented local lockdowns in the north of England only three hours before Eid-al-Adha. Zaya Raza-Seikh wrote in Metro that she understood the logic behind the local lockdown, but that the ‘impromptu strategy was not only outrageous but grossly timed’. Raza-Seikh could not help thinking that if it was Christmas at stake, the government would give a lot more warning. She was right. Johnson is already thinking about Christmas in September.
Let’s not forget that this is the same man that told the spectator in 2007 that ‘Islamophobia is a natural response’ to Islam and just last year was reported to the Equalities Commission for comparing women who wear burqas to ‘letterboxes’ and bank robbers, and has repeatedly refused to apologise for the distasteful comparison.
I am ashamed that this man is the leader of our government.
Words By: Alice Colton
Edited By: Dasha Pitts-Yushchenko