Not surprisingly I have a certain empathy with Mr Swayne’s viewpoint. Even if he’s wrong he should not be pilloried for posing his questions.
I don’t know why, but as soon as anybody mentions anything that does not involve agreeing 100% with the view of the government and its advisors, there follows all sorts of mis-quotes (and I should know):
// …do absolutely nothing to mitigate the spread of this disease and screw the consequences.//
He neither said nor suggested anything of the sort. Mr Swayne was criticising the presentation given by Prof. Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance last week. In it they presented a scenario which would see fifty thousand new Covid cases and 200 deaths a day in a fortnight's time. They showed a graph which illustrated the possible acceleration of infections and deaths which were way, way beyond anything seen anywhere else in Europe. They were based on an infection rate doubling every seven days. Mr Swayne went on to point out that never, at any time since March, have infections on any particular day been double the number of seven days earlier. In fact I think he’s incorrect – it happened once when a “correction” was made to earlier figures. Apart from that, the closest it has come is an increase of 95% from 17th to the 24th of September. He also went on to ask this: “Where did this doubling come from? What was their purpose in presenting such a graph?” I can tell him (though I’m sure he knows). It came from nowhere in particular but was designed to once again scare the population witless and soften them up for another round of restrictions as part of the effort to “control” the virus (whilst simultaneously destroying the economy). And it seems it succeeded.
//I'm no longer amazed at how many people fall for this kind of nonsense.//
I’m no longer amazed at how many people fail to think for themselves; at how many people fail to ask the sort of probing questions Mr Swayne asked; at how many people blindly accept the bilge that is put before them in the form of spectacularly frightening graphs; at people who believe this government or any other can “control” a virus; at how many people treat an MP, who is entitled to ask on what basis the most restrictive measures ever placed upon the UK population are founded, is treated as some sort of heretic.