BRITISH politicians rush to requisition emotionalism during times of existential threat. By arrogating sentiment they can convey a reality that turns to dust at all other times. Usually, it’s done to push the lie that we’re all in this together and that the strength to overcome adversity lies in unity. Fecund royals; military anniversaries and grand sporting events are the usual means of spinning the fiction. Once the right-wing press and the BBC lend their weight the fix is well and truly in.

You might expect an authentic Labour opposition to see through the fake sense of unity, but in Sir Keir Starmer the party has the sort of leader that the Tories love: mild; risk-averse, very rich and trouble-free. Patriotism is the other great fabrication of reactionary forces when inconvenient truths require to be concealed. And this week Sir Keir, as befits a knight of the realm, duly delivered.

Barely a month has passed since he became Labour leader but he’s wasted little time unfurling the colours: “I’m really proud of my country and I wouldn’t be leader of the Labour Party if I wasn’t patriotic. What I desperately want is for our country to get better. In the Labour Party we should be proud of being patriotic.” The concept of taking pride in patriotism is absurd. It’s like getting weepy about having hair.

The Thursday clap has now been extended to include all those others whose jobs expose them to the public and thus to infection every hour of the day. And Captain Tom has become the emblem for this emotional response. It will all be rendered meaningless, though, if we then leave these people to fend for themselves when this has passed. The weeping and the banging of pots will be a distant and bitter echo when many of these same workers find that they are invisible again as the tough economic choices come to be made.

The UK is on course to record the worst coronavirus death toll in Europe. If the Government’s early complacency and failure to act has resulted in the needless deaths of thousands of its citizens then a mere public inquiry in the hands of a trusted law lord will not suffice. If Mr Johnson is found to have failed to protect UK citizens then he can’t be entrusted with the task of recovery. Only the people can try him and only at a general election called for that purpose.

This week we learned that death rates from coronavirus in the most deprived parts of England are more than double those in less deprived areas, according to the Office for National Statistics. I’d expect the trend to be similar in Scotland. The mortality rate for the most deprived communities over the last two months for March was 55.1 deaths per 100,000. In the least deprived areas it was just 25.3 deaths per 100,000.

Yesterday, May 1, was international workers day. This year’s commemoration falls in a period which has shown – more than any other – just how much the workers run Britain. Their worth isn’t measured in mere profit and loss (though there can be no profits without them) but in their ability to save human lives; to keep lifeline services running and to bring hope to those who would otherwise be marooned by this health crisis. Yet, the wages and terms of employment they are forced to accept means that they live in those neighbourhoods worst-hit by coronavirus.

Among them are care home workers who operate in a sector which has largely become the preserve of speculators and pirates. These people derive great profit from infirmity and frailty yet seek aid from the taxpayer to provide basic personal protective equipment for their staff. One of the first tasks facing the Scottish Government should be to requisition the privately-run homes that make up 58% of the care sector and bring them fully into the NHS.

On Glasgow’s south side there are reports of fast food emporiums venturing to open as a means of testing the waters. They’ve been rewarded with queues at their drive-by outlets. All of them rely on low-paid workers forced to expose themselves to infection because they don’t have employment protection or a trade union to represent them.

Poverty and inequality are the principal harbingers of despair and coronavirus will exact a grievous toll in the mental health of our most vulnerable communities. As it stands, Scotland is utterly ill-equipped to meet that challenge. One of the biggest inequalities in Scotland is how delivery of mental health treatment is structured. Most sufferers would benefit from counselling but it takes, on average, nine months to get an NHS appointment. The expense of going private simply isn’t a viable option for most of those who need it.

The Herald Business editor, Ian McConnell, yesterday highlighted research published by the High Pay Centre think-tank. This showed that those FTSE-100 companies which have furloughed staff using the Government’s job retention scheme have spent £321m on chief executive pay in the last five years, a period in which their combined profits were £42Bn. This equates to the total cost of the Government’s job retention scheme. They have also paid out £26Bn in shareholder dividends.

The average annual pay of chief executives of FTSE-100 companies taking advantage of the furlough scheme is £3.6m. If the Scottish and UK Governments are serious about protecting the vulnerable after this has passed then they must act to ensure that no workers in these companies are made to take the hit for coronavirus.

I can’t see it happening though. The UK Government is comprised of a class of people whose family wealth and connections have spared them any exposure to adversity. It helps to explain their grievous complacency at the start of this health crisis. Among them are some who’ll be quietly content that coronavirus has reduced the numbers of those they consider to be a financial burden.

Coronavirus has begun to lay bare the gaping holes in the fabric of care and compassion in this country and its glaring inequalities. They can’t be papered over by Captain Tom and a weekly clap for the NHS.

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