Boris Is Back - To 1984

LBC host James O’Brien put it best this morning, after the latest news cycle slavishly adopted the line handed down by alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, as he mused “George Orwell is probably the best guide to help us navigate the ever growing gulf between government rhetoric and observable reality. ‘There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.’” Staying sane after yesterday’s charade will, though, prove challenging.

It does not need more than one newspaper front page to be studied to see the extent of the reality disconnect. From the Murdoch Times “Britain ‘past peak’ of virus”, through the Daily Brexit (still known as the Express) “AT LAST, WE’RE PAST THE PEAK OF VIRUS”, the Guardian “‘We are past the peak of this disease’ says Johnson” to free sheet Metro “WE CAN SEE SUNLIGHT”, all record the triumph of The Boris.

There will, we are told, be an exit plan handed down next week. And so the crème de la crème of the media establishment took this news, as if they were a collective recreation of Moses on Mount Sinai and it had been inscribed in stone. The rhetoric had triumphed; reality need no longer be considered. But reality was still lurking out there.

While Johnson had told our compliant media class that we had avoided that worst case scenario, the Guardian’s sketch writer John Crace was sceptical. “Boris saying we've avoided worst case scenario doesn't quite explain why UK has so many more fatalities than most other European countries”. In this, he was not alone.

Maya Goodfellow was also unsure about this successful mission. “Quite unbelievable listening to Boris Johnson still talk about 'success' and claim we've avoid the worst by protecting the NHS. The UK has one of the highest death tolls and NHS staff have been begging for PPE”. And one observer was indignant at the Boris Newspeak.

Rachel Clarke, who you can tell as she’s a doctor, snapped back “‘We have succeeded in avoiding the tragedy we saw in other parts of the world’. Did [Boris Johnson] *seriously* just say this? 26k deaths. One of the world's worst death rates. I care for these patients. They're human beings, Mr Johnson. This is the definition of tragic”.

At least some in the media showed some scepticism, but they were in a minority, like Paul Waugh of the HuffPost. “[Boris Johnson] sounds like he's trialling a defence for if/when figures show UK among worst in world: ‘It's very very important that people understand that the collecting of data internationally, is bedevilled with with difficulties and comparisons are very very difficult.’” Also, Johnson was waffling and deflecting.

The Observer’s Carole Cadwalladr picked up on both tendencies. “This feels revealing. Boris Johnson defends his decision not to lock down earlier. ‘We took the right steps at the right time.’ Though he was not actually asked this. He was asked what lessons had been learned from fact UK has worst death rate in Europe”. Worst death rate in Europe.

We are indeed looking at an Orwellian world. “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” is the mantra of 10 Downing Street. That of those still clinging to reality is “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows”. Johnson is a clown. A frighteningly dangerous one.

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