A BREAKDOWN in the sense of respect for those who serve the public , freedom day and the future of jobs post pandemic were the issues discussed by columnists and contributors in the newspapers.
The Daily Express
Leo McKinstry said it was worrying to see the attack on Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty in a park last week.
“It is profoundly disturbing that this kind of shameful episode should happen in our country, especially to an honourable figure whose hallmark is his calm, stoical sense of duty,” he said. “Such contempt for those who serve the public is becoming all too common, as epitomised in the surge of assaults on police officers, NHS professionals, ambulance crews, firefighters and shop workers.”
He said our society is increasingly plagued by violence and intimidation.
“Just as damaging is the cancel culture, where anything deemed offensive should be silenced or censored. Open debate, freedom of expression and respect for other voices are disappearing under a wave of divisive infantile hysteria, which in turn is fuelled by social media full of conspiracy theories, simplistic politics and vicious witch-hunts.”
The Independent
James Moore said the new Health Secretary Sajid Javid was sticking to Freedom Day on July 19 ‘come hell or high water.’
“Here’s some advice for Mr Javid for when he’s finished making noise and has said “I’m ba-ack” sufficiently loudly to the Tory activists he needs on his side for a repeat run at Number 10 at some point in the future,” he said . “Use that big investment banker brain of yours to start thinking creatively.”
He pointed out that young people were playing a role in spreading the virus because they socialist a lot and have only recently had jabs made available to them.
“The jab needs to be shipped out to them. What might help is putting it into more Tesco’s, as happened in Bradford last week, for example. And Sainsbury’s. And Boots while we’re at. Here’s an opportunity for Sajid to show he’s smart as well as cynical, from a political standpoint.”
The Guardian
Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said it was clear the labour market is ‘very far from tight’, despite recent upbeat headlines.
“Total hours worked are still down 5% on normal levels – a statistic we’d normally see in a recession, not a boom,” he said. “The “Covid employment gap” – of furloughed staff, plus the fall in the number of employees and self-employed people during the pandemic – stands at about 2 million people.
He said there was still a huge task ahead in terms of employment.
“We are slowly emerging from this pandemic, but its effects will still be felt in the world of work for some time to come.”
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