How much is your life worth ?    29 quid ?  That’s how much has been suggested could be a supplement for NHS staff working “on the front line” during the pandemic.   As danger money goes, it’s not a lot.

Even Hancock seems to agree – he suggests that the families of staff who die should receive £60k.  Handsome remuneration, indeed.   At least we now know the value he places on his doctors and nurses.  Wanted dead or alive.

Personally, I think the government would be better advised to keep its hand in its pocket than to offer such paltry sums, which can only be seen as insulting.

The front page story: “Boris back to work” is accompanied by a photo. Our hero stands in the doorway of No 10, grinning, wild eyed and tie-less, his hair uncombed. It says everything we need to know. This is a man who feeds on popular approval, a man who does not bother with details, a man who believes himself to ride above the usual conventions.

He could not be less suited to a time of national emergency, with critical, finely balanced decisions pending. Pressure is growing for a relaxation of the lock down restrictions; that is not a matter of political ideology. It is a matter of life and death. The decision should be taken with care, after scrutiny of the arguments – and facts – on each side. Let me put my cards on the table: I do not have confidence in Johnson’s ability to perform at that level, nor in the integrity of his judgement if he does.

Believe it or not, the UK Cabinet, the heart of darkness, comprises 22 people.   For the last couple of months we have heard – seemingly endlessly – from half a dozen of them (the FL himself, 3-minute-Raab, Rishi Sunak, Pee-pee Patel, the Grate Williamson and ‘Ancock), of the others not a whisper. Even Piggling Bland seems to have melted into oblivion.  What are they up to, this band of right wing desperados?

More, perhaps, than we might like to think.  For one thing, it is full steam ahead with Brexit.  There is just over 2 months, 9 weeks, until the timetable is set: either we ask for a delay, which will be granted, or we do not, in which case it looks increasingly certain that we will be heading for a no deal.  It is equally certain that no deal is the fervent wish of many in government.   At the same time that they demand relaxation of the lock down on the grounds that it is destroying business, they demand that we impose barriers to trade and transport with our nearest neighbours and largest market.  Not just irresponsible, insane.

And deeper in the shadows other agendas are undoubtedly being pursued: restricting the power of the judiciary, and slashing overseas aid amongst them.   Their rule is ideological, not governmental: populist not paternal.  The lack of visible presence should not disguise the fervour, and cruelty,  of their plans.

“I would not,” said Groucho Marx, “join any club that would take me as a member.”

I’m with him.  But unfortunately, circumstances ain’t and, like it or not, Britain – No,  let’s call it the United Kingdom while we still can – the United Kingdom joined the exclusive club of countries which have recorded more than 20,000 deaths from the virus.  Other members include just the USA, Spain, Italy and France . No other country is even half way there.

Germany, which has recorded something over 7,000 more cases than we have, has incurred just 5,843 deaths against our 20,319.  Then again, they have Mrs Merkel, an experienced, pragmatic and empathetic leader;  we have Johnson a flatulent egomaniac.

Don’t worry.  Government advice on dealing with the virus is based on “scientific advice” provided without fear or favour by some of the UK’s best scientific brains; and as if that wasn’t enough their names are kept out of the limelight to ensure that no political bias – or journalistic influence – sullies their opinion.  Hunky dory.

Oh yes, and just to ram home the point, the boffins are grouped together in a committee, known by the acronym Sage; which, for some of us, smacks of the wisdom of the ancients; and, for others, is very Waitrose – customers of “value” food chains being more likely to stock up on cans of beans than air-dried herbs.

So, all well and good.  Except that it now transpires that Dominic Cummings, political advisor and arch-villain, has attended Sage meetings along with one of his wacky weirdos.  Does that hint of political influence?

“No,” says Downing St categorically: “Mr Cummings attended simply to learn some science, and far from exerting political muscle, he just asked a few questions.”

If Mr Cummings wants to learn the rudiments of science there are plenty of online courses available to him – and at this time he may be glad to know many of them have waived any fees they might otherwise have charged, so he will have no need even to file expenses.   As to questions: well, there’s questions and questions.

“Do you think there could be public health benefits from asking people to wear home-made face masks?” is a question.  But then so is, “Are you bloody crazy?  Have you got no idea of what this government is trying to achieve?  Do you have no f***ing understanding of the economic impact of what you are suggesting?   Or its political implications?”

I see in my paper that Beyoncé, who I understand to be a pop-star, has given $6m to “coronavirus relief.”  Very kind, very generous, I must say.

And she is not the only one; super rich philanthropists are for ever giving to good causes.  Sometimes donations come from surprising sources: Captain Tom Moore has raised the astonishing sum of £28.5m for the health service.  But – and it is a big but – the job of funding public health is a core responsibility of government.   No matter how generous, how well intentioned individuals are public health is not a matter to be decided by private whim.

Ten years of austerity have laid waste to huge swathes of public resources: from lay-offs and redundancies of police and army, to the failure to maintain supplies of protective equipment, and the shameful way in which nurses, health and care workers have been underpaid , under valued and in some cases, sent packing.  A few months ago I might have written that austerity achieved nothing; ten wasted years.  Writing today,  the picture has cleared: austerity has achieved a situation in which public health and security can no longer be guaranteed.

It is not simply a question of austerity, because at the same time that the nation’s resources have diminished some have prospered, prospered grotesquely.  Resources are not so much diminished as plundered.  The image of Jake Mogg, the buccaneer,  lying supine across the green benches embodies the arrogance and contempt with which such parasites regard our democratic institutions.

The same arrogance is reflected in the behaviour of other, more substantial, government ministers: they never answer a straight question; they dodge, they evade, the prevaricate. The concept of an honourable resignation is old hat:

There are a number of stories worthy of comment today, and given time, I hope to give readers their money’s worth, in abundance. But by far the most important is that today Sir Keir Starmer will make his parliamentary début as leader of HM’s Opposition.  And will begin, God willing, to hold the most appalling government in living memory to account.

And one thing Sir Keir might like to consider is the extraordinary fiasco around the UK’s failure to participate in an EU scheme for bulk purchase of personal protective equipment.  Yesterday, Sir Simon McDonald, permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, stated this was the result of a political – Brexit driven – decision.  He said: “It was a political decision. The UK mission in Brussels briefed ministers about what was available, what was on offer, and the decision is known.”  That was then denied by the Health Secretary, following which Sir Simon withdrew his remark, and said “Ministers were not briefed by our mission in Brussels about the scheme and a political decision was not taken whether or not to participate.”  That is the most humiliating and self-abasing “correction” I have ever read.  Civil Servants are not infallible, but they are not fools.  It is inconceivable that Sir Simon made the mistake he says he did: which then raises the question of what pressure has been brought to bear on which of his tender parts.  Methinks that before too long Pee-pee Patel may not be the only minister to face accusations of bullying.  More details available here McDonald

But I digress.   To return for a moment to Sir Keir, the amount that is riding on the shoulders of this one politician, experienced prosecutor as he is, is awesome.  It is not just a matter of party politics.  He, it is, who must demand the answers, the honesty and integrity, that we all depend on for our very lives.

There is a headline in my paper today which reads “Boris Johnson is the wrong man in the wrong job at the wrong time.”  It should read:

“Boris Johnson is the wrong man.”

We were warned he would be no good, and he isn’t.  Read Max Hastings prophetic judgement: ” he is unfit for national office, because it seems he cares for no interest save his own fame and gratification…. his premiership will almost certainly reveal a contempt for rules, precedent, order and stability… dignity still matters in public office, and Johnson will never have it. Yet his graver vice is cowardice… he has long been considered a bully, prone to making cheap threats…. the only people who think Johnson a nice guy are those who do not know him.”

People are now dying because of the incompetence and muddle of this government.   That is Johnson’s responsibility, and that will be Johnson’s legacy: would that it is drawn soon.

And now, if the headline in the FT is to be believed, the UK Justice Secretary says that lock-down measures infringe human rights.   He seems to have forgotten that those of us conforming with the lock-down regime have a right too: to stay alive.

You could not make it up.   Recent daily briefings on behalf of the government have been given by: a minister sacked by the former PM for leaking for the National Security Council (and lying about it); a minister who resigned under duress from a previous government for conducting a personal “foreign policy” behind the back of government – and who faces a legal case regarding allegations of bullying; a government minister, a lawyer,  who advised the prorogation of Parliament, unanimously deemed illegal by the Supreme Court; a minister so harassed by responsibility that he hardly knows whether he is for Brexit or agin’it, and who peddles promises rather than the  PPE so desperately needed; a minister who preached the wisdom remaining at home, under lock-down, but himself went on a cross-country.  All reporting into a PM who chose not – could not be bothered ? –  to attend five COBRA meetings in succession.

It seems irrefutable that rather than choosing ministers with the experience and expertise to master their portfolios,  Johnson instead selected those who presented no threat to him, personally.

This is not government: it is complete, deathly,  disaster.