Monday 3 August 2020

The BAME Game

They blamed the villagers for Aberfan. They blamed the miners for Orgreave. They blamed the fans for Hillsborough. They blamed the residents and the firefighters for Grenfell Tower. And now, having first tried to blame the care home workers for Covid-19, they are trying to blame the Muslims and the BAMEs.

This is not a party point. I am not a member of any political party, and they all do it. Aberfan happened under a Labour Government. The last Labour Government refused to hold an inquiry into Orgreave, despite being led by MPs for County Durham and for Fife, and no one suggests for one second that Keir Starmer would order one. The last Labour Government also refused to hold an inquiry into Hillsborough, in that case as a favour to Rupert Murdoch. 

Boris Johnson ought to put the belt and braces on holding and doubling his gains in the old coalfields, by announcing the Orgreave Inquiry that was also promised by the ill-fated Theresa May. But he needs to apologise unreservedly for having tried to blame first the care home workers, and now ethnic minorities, for Covid-19.

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