In this crisis, the Tory cuts can no longer be hidden by empty gestures | Nesrine Malik

-

Coronavirus has mercilessly exposed the damage years of austerity and shrinking of the state have wreaked

  • Coronavirus – latest updates
  • See all our coronavirus coverage

    • Last week, as the nation engaged in a coordinated applause for the NHS and its workers on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, there was, in the middle of a profound sense of community, a jarring moment: Boris Johnson emerged from No 10 and began clapping, along with Rishi Sunak. The prime minister punctuated his applause with awkward exclamations: “We’ll keep supporting you in any way we can.” At one point he turned to Sunak, “Isn’t that right, Rishi?” to which the chancellor replied, “Whatever you need, that’s what you’re going to get!” It all had the air of a friend who had habitually ignored you, then one day unexpectedly needed you, and so returned with empty gestures of affection.

    Austerity has already claimed lives, but coronavirus deaths are not as easy to style out

    Continue reading...

    from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3bGODq9

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Ply in the sky: the new materials to take us beyond concrete | Fiona Harvey

    -
    Concrete is everywhere, but it’s bad for the planet, generating large amounts of carbon dioxide. Creative alternatives are in the pipeline They call them plyscrapers: the sudden emergence of tall buildings constructed almost entirely from timber. Vancouver , Vienna and Brumunddal in Norway have all claimed recently to have the tallest wooden building in the world, and now Tokyo has its own designs on the informal title. Related: Share your photos of beautiful or ugly concrete Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2UeDOmU
    Read more

    ‘Help us or LSO fails’: Sir Simon Rattle’s plea over Covid and Brexit

    -
    As the orchestra prepares to welcome back live audiences, the conductor urges ministers to act on new touring rules in Europe Sir Simon Rattle and his top team at the London Symphony Orchestra have appealed for government support to help them survive the difficulties created by Brexit and Covid. The orchestra depended on international touring – much of it in Europe – for 40% of its revenue before the coronavirus, with tours cancelled by the pandemic . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3tQnObB
    Read more

    The 20 best songs of 2020

    -
    Our writers considered hundreds of contenders – and here are their picks of the year. Listen to all 390 tracks they voted for on our playlist Delivered from a nightmare: why our No 1 song works so well We kick off our end of 2020 music coverage with Guardian critics’ favourite songs, with our album of the year countdown starting tomorrow. As ever, each critic votes for top 20 songs and albums, with points allocated for each placing, and those points tallied to make these lists. There were 390 songs voted for in all – we’ve put ( almost) all of them in a Spotify playlist . Please share your own favourite songs of the year in the comments below, and we’ll hopefully see you in a festival field in 2021 … Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3liPlhp
    Read more