The Covid-19 inquiry: the language of loathing!

Indeed, what we seem to be witnessing is the major governmental players at that time more than content to kick lumps out of each other whilst using the most colourful terminology. It has to be said that anyone who has deliberately or accidentally tuned into the coverage of the inquiry, would be immediately struck not by the medical or political content of what was happening, but by the good old fashioned and liberal use of various swear words used by cabinet ministers, political advisers - and er, well almost everyone it seems! I suppose that it has to be said that most of these nasty exchanges and point scoring scenarios have only been made public because of various WhatsApp groups that seemingly proliferated in Downing Street at that time.

Come on, didn’t these modern day political masters of the United Kingdom realise that by its very nature, WhatsApp usage would one day come back and bite them all on the bum? I’m terribly sorry about the careless use of the word - Bum - there, so sorry! Mind you, some of the language used by the likes of former Boris Johnson, senior aide, Dominic Cummings, went well beyond the odd graphic swearword and became a constant litany of abuse, aimed at whoever this man felt had ‘crossed’ him in some way. Particularly vile was his constant gender based attacks on senior civil servant, Helen MacNamara - which made me (and many others) wonder if he is okay in the head.

However, he wasn’t the only one at it was he? All manner of Spads (special advisers) senior civil servants and ministers of the crown were seen to be happily slagging each other off as the nation was embroiled in the biggest national crisis since the Second World War. Could this sort of nasty vitriol have been used in the past by under-pressure politicos and their sidekicks - and it is just the technology of today that is highlighting the verbal brutality of something that was always a part of political life? Perhaps in the rough-and-tumble world of politicians and their attendant ‘yes-men-and-women’ they will always collectively want to blame someone else for their own shortcomings.

Nevertheless, British politics at this juncture seems to be in a very bad place indeed. Three different Prime Ministers in next to no time, a national legislature that seems to be a secret haven for all manner of bullies and those seeking to sexually harass members of staff - so is it any wonder that British politics and politicians are held at an all-time low in the perception of ordinary people? However, could it be the case that rather than just joyfully castigate all those ‘sweary’ people in the political establishment, we might wonder as a nation, that we get the politicians we deserve - plus their dreadful hangers-on that they (we!) employ with public money? It may also be a good opportunity to focus on our own use of bad language aimed towards others via the anonymity of social media. Isn’t life a bugger?