Tag Archives: Covid Enquiry

In Ñspel: The Guardian view on David Cameron and George Osborne: a duo’s dangerous delusions

David Cameron (left) and George Osborne. ‘From the witness stand of the Covid-19 public inquiry, they remain unmoved by reality.’ Photograph: WPA/Getty Images
Devid Camṛn (left) n Jorj Ozbōrn. ‘Fṛm ɖ witnis stand v ɖ Covid-19 public inqîri, ɖe rmen unmuvd bî riaḷti.’ Foṭgraf: WPA/Geti Iṃjz

Ɖ Gardịn vy on Devid Camṛn n Jorj Ozbōrn: a dyo’z denjṛs dluźnz

Transcription of a Guardian editorial of 20 June 2023

Ɖ Covid inqîri rvilz ɖ arc̣tecs v osteṛti r unmuvd bî ɖer recñ v public srṿsz ahd v ɖ pandemic

Tyzde, 20 Jūn 2023

Devid Camṛn n Jorj Ozbōrn wr śemlis seilzṃn fr osteṛti. Ɖe mt argy ɖt it sstend ɖer p’liticl rîz. Lîc doctrz hu se ɖt blīdñ ɖ peśnt wl hlp ɖm rcuvr, ɖ per clemd ɖt cutñ bac guvnmntspendñ wd pṛdys ic̣nomic groʈ. Ẃt Britn sufrd wz mor fūdbancs, mor ruf slīpñ, fywr p’līs, stagnnt wejz n longr NHS wêtñlists. Hǎ cd eni v ɖs hv hlpt priper Britn fr ẃn ɖ pandemic struc? Sć dītelz wr’nt gwñ t śift Mr Camṛn n Mr Ozbōrn, hu fṛm ɖ witniștand v ɖ Covid-19 public inqîri rmen unmuvd bî riaḷti.

Fr Mr Camṛn, ɖ formr prîm̦inistr, it wz 2008 ol ovr agn. Britn hd nt wontd t end p lîc Grīs, h wornd, ẃć hd hd t cut hlʈbujits aftr luzñ cntrol v its naśnl dét n its bujitdeḟsit. Ɖs z an invidịs cmparisn. Britn, unlîc Grīs, cntrolz its ǒn cuṛnsi n cn olwz aford t pe creditrz. Grīs olso hd a mć lowr p’ capita deʈret ɖn ɖ YC jrñ ɖ pandemic. Ɖt mt hv bn bcz, az xprts sjstd, v ɖ wîḍnñ hlʈ iniqoḷtiz undr Mr Camṛn’z woć. Ɖz sayntists, h avŕd, hd got ɖs roñ.

Msjujñ ɖ mūd, Mr Camṛn trītd ɖ public inqîri lîc a rīrun v prîm̦inistr’z qsćntîm. Ẃn Cet Blacwél CC fr ɖ inqîri asct Mr Camṛn a stretfwd qsćn abt ɖ ifct v cuts t public-hlʈ bujits biyñ ɖ larjist in ɖ most dprîvd eriaz, h sjstd ɖt ś yz a difṛnt meźr v caunsl spendñpǎr ɖt hiz guvnmnt prifŕd, ẃć śoud ɖt nt t b ɖ ces. Slf-awernis z plenli nt Mr Camṛn’z stroñ pônt – n it wz no s’prîz t si him hecld az h left ɖ inqîri.

Ɖ formr ćanslr Mr Ozbōrn wz īqli dludd. H wnt az far az seyñ ɖt osteṛti hd a poẓtiv ifct bcz it mnt ɖt public fînansz rcuvrd. “Rdysñ ɖ deḟsit n plesñ dét az a psntij v GDP on a dǎnẉd paʈ wz … isnśl t rībild fiscl spes t pṛvîd scop t rspond t fyćr ic̣nomic śocs,” Mr Ozbōrn tld ɖ inqîri. Bt Britn’z naśnl dét n deḟsit r dtrmind bî ɖ ćôsz ɖt bizṇsz n hǎsholdz mc. Ɖ YC’z naśnl dét wz acć̣li hayr in 2016-17 ẃn Mr Ozbōrn left ofis ɖn ẃn h arîvd.

Wns Covid-19 hit, ɖ niolibṛl tmpl emtid, līvñ onli ɖ hî prīsts alon at ɖer ōltr. It trnd ǎt ɖt guvnmnts cn run larj fiscl deḟsits. Sntṛl bancs cn mc ɖz funḍbl at clos t ziro rets. Bt olmst evrẃr, wɖn munʈs v its rtrn, Cênzịnizm hd bn ijctd agn fṛm ɖ ic̣nomic panʈịn. Hî infleśn, sparct bî wor in Ycren, set ɖ stej fr tde’z cǎnṭreḟmeśn, pmitñ Mr Ozbōrn n Mr Camṛn – n ɖer îdịlojicl soulmêt Riśi Sūnac – a spes t pédl faḷsiz.

Bʈ Tori grandīz hv a liṃtd, dtaćt vy v ɖ riyl icoṇmi. Fr a tîm ɖe cd sel ɖs vy ʈru ɖ mīdia. Ɖt wrld – n ɖer c’rirz – wr bloun awe in 2016 bî ɖ vot t līv ɖ YY. Ɖer aṛgns dd nt let ɖm si ɖt ɖer ic̣nomic poḷsiz wr bildñ ɖer p’liticl pîrz. Ɖ îṛni z ɖt ɖ YY reḟrendm cd hv rzultd in a Rmen vicṭri hd it nt bn fr osteṛti. Britn wl pe loñ n dirli fr ɖ cnsit v Mr Camṛn n Mr Ozbōrn.

Instroduction to Ñspel

"House by the Railroad," Edward Hopper, 1925

Fṛm Đ Gardịn: George Osborne destroyed Britain’s safety net. The Covid inquiry should shame him into silence

Chancellor George Osborne at the City of London Corporation's bankers’ and merchants’ dinner at the Mansion House on 16 June 2010. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Ćanslr Jorj Ozbōrn at ɖ Siti v Lundn Corṗreśn’z bancrz’ n mrćnts’ dinr at ɖ Manśnhǎs on 16 Jūn 2010. Foṭgraf: Blūmbrg/Geti Iṃjz

Jorj Ozbōrn dstroid Britn’z seftinet. Ɖ Covid inqîri śd śem him intu sîḷns

(Transcription of an Guardian article of 1 June 2023)

Hiz iniqiṭs osteṛtiprogram left ɖ popyleśn sic, vulnṛbl, n unpriperd fr a pandemic

Polly Toynbee
Póli Tônbi

Ʈrzde 1 Jūn 2023

Ɖ  belz told at 4pm tde, ɖ dedlîn ẃn evri śred v evidns wd b handd ovr bî lw t Heɖr Halit, ɖ rtîrd hîcort juj. Ɖ guvnmnt set p ɖ Covid inqîri, ordend its wîd rīmit, gev its ćer līgl pǎrz t cmand ẃtvr evidns ś dīmz nesṣri, bt ɖen bōlct at obeyñ it.

Public atnśn wl foc̣s on ɖ contents v ɖoz WotsAps n not-bcs. Ẃt wr ministrz n ofiślz seyñ t ć uɖr? Z Doṃnic Cumñz rît ɖt Boris Jonsn sd “let ɖ bodiz pîl hî?” Uɖr formz v caḷs siṇsizm me b xpozd f w dscuvr ɖt ministrz ń “īt ǎt t hlp ǎt” wz a plegspredr n pt ɖ icoṇmi bfr sefti. Mor wl b rvild abt fast-tráct meġcontracts fr croniz, n abt ɖoz hu wr hiroz amñ ɖ gd sayntists n doctrz. Ministrz’ ton wl set ɖ contxt fr ol ɖe dd, az b’rivd faṃliz woć hōc-aid evri step v ɖ we. Ɖs batl ovr admisbl evidns n blac-ñc rdax́nz z onli ɖ frst strugl amñ poḷtiśnz hopñ t prizrv ɖer repyteśnz. Bî ɖ fînl rec̣nñz, ẃtvr ɖ blem n prêz, ɖz actrz wl hv left ɖ p’liticl stej.

Ɖ inqîri z dvîdd intu ʈri modylz: bfr, jrñ n aftr ɖ pandemic. Vîtl lésnz wl b lrnt – practicl, tecnicl, sạntific n administṛtiv – abt lînz v cmand n spīd v rspons. Têlz v hymn streñʈs, stypidtiz, briłns n felñz wl b abzorbñ. Bt bî far ɖ dīpist p’liticl lésn rzǎndñ intu ɖ fyćr wl cm fṛm modyl wn, “Rziłns n priperidnis”. Ɖs wl “lc intu ɖ priperidnis fr ɖ pandemic” n ases “f ɖ pandemic wz proprli pland fr n ẃɖr ɖ YC wz adiqtli redi fr ɖt ivnćuaḷti”. W nǒ ɖ ansr olrdi.

Amñ ɖoz sumnd t gv evidns fr ɖs modyl, t b hŕd fṛm 13 Jūn, r tū men hu hd loñ left pǎr bî ɖ tîm Covid blù in. Yt Devid Camṛn n Jorj Ozbōrn me hv most t ansr fr. Bî 2020 ɖ cndiśn v ɖ cuntri hd bn larjli set bî Ozbōrn, ɖ pǎrhǎs bhnd ɖ fruntman. Camṛn hd bn ɖ cuvr, adpt at sīmñ rīzṇbl, no glīm v ɖ îdịlog in hiz î az h hugd husciz n sumnd a big ssayti v cḿṇti ax́n. Ɖ Brexitrz, hūm h cōld “frūtcecs”, wr ɖ xtrimists hu alaud ɖz tū t sīm lîc moḍrets, ɖer copiz v Hîec n Frīdmn hidn in ɖer bac pocits.

Ɖ devsteśn ɖe cōzd fṛm ɖer frst, Jūn 2010, bujit set ɖ pes fr a pirịd v osteṛti mor savij ɖn enʈñ atmtd bî Marġrit Ʈaćr, huz fes hd adornd ɖer wōlz az stydnts. Ɖe tîtnd ʈumscruz in bujit aftr bujit, stripñ ɖ public relm n spẹrñ nʈñ in ɖer psyt v an evr-smōlr stet. Ɖ six ćanslrz hu foloud Ozbōrn wr cut fṛm ɖ sem stet-śrincñ cloʈ, n psyd hiz osteṛti program wɖ īql zīl.

Ɖ naśnl unpriperidnis Ozbōrn left in hiz wec starts wɖ ɖ NHS itslf, ẃć ɖ Cnsrṿtivz inheṛtd at pīc pformns in 2010 aftr yirz v jenṛs fînans. Bî ɖ plegyir v 2020, its fundñ p’ hed hd bn ẃitld dǎn fr mor ɖn a deced, dspt a fast-rîzñ n eldrli popyleśn. Sali Woṛn, d’rectr v poḷsi at ɖ Cñ’z Fund hlʈ ʈnctanc, woćt it hapn fṛm wɖn guvnmnt: ś pônts t fywr bedz, trenñcuts, b’lūnñ stāfvec̣nsiz, śorṭjz v iqipmnt n téc s’port, n ɖ axñ v capitl fr rperz.

Bt bynd ɖs incrisñli ʈredbér NHS, Woṛn tld m ɖt Covid hd torn ʈru a vulnṛbl popyleśn in a dtirịretñ stet v hlʈ. “Tù mni ppl’z rziłns wz wìcnd. Impruvmnts in lîf xpctnsi stōld in ɖ 2010z n Covid md ɖ wìcist ilr.” Ɖs wz dy t “lac v rli dạgnosis”, bt olso “ɖ stet v hǎzñ, erqoḷti, ppl’z dayt. Yr incm, yr invîrnmnt, yr xpoźr t advtîzñ n lac v fizicl activti afctd rziłns.” Ɖ guvnmnt’s fełr t ćalinj fūdmańfacćrrz ovr sōlt n śŭgr hlpt incris ćîld’biṣti. NHS cḿṇtisrṿsz wr drend n fundz rīdirectd t cīp akt srṿsz gwñ, ś sd.

Covid atact a sic popyleśn n a wìcnd hlʈ n sośl cer srvis. Ozbōrn wz ruʈlis in hiz beṇfitcuts, ispeṣ́li ɖoz afctñ ćildṛn, plunjñ ɖm frɖr b’lo sośl-s’kṛti levlz in similr cuntriz. Hǎ wr ɖ lǒist peid s’pozd t ste hom on sicpe ɖt z stl ɖ lǒist in ɖ OICD? Lo pe, inṣkr jobz, rîzñ rents n sm v ɖ most oṿcrǎdd hǎzñ in wstn Yṛp ol cntribytd t ɖ mortaḷti tol. Sins ɖ pandemic, 25% mor ppl hv bn of wrc, rportñ loñ-trm ilnis.

Nn v ɖz unḍlayñ vulnṛbiḷtiz bgan in 2020 ẃn Covid struc. V ol ɖ lésnz lrnt at ɖ end v ɖs inqîri, ɖ most importnt wn fr votrz wl b ɖs: nvr agn cn w fōl fr ɖ smōl-stet, lo-tax proṃsz ɖt līv evrwn vulnṛbl, wɖt ɖ s’kṛti v gd guvnmnt or ɖ pṛtx́n v gd public srṿsz. Camṛn z olrdi śemd intu sîḷns bî hiz Grīnsil grīd. Az fr Ozbōrn, h dzrvz ɖ sort v public condmneśn in ɖ fînl rport ɖt śd si him stript v ol ɖ undizrvd rwordz śǎrd on him sins līvñ parḷmnt. Ledi Halit hz startd ǎt splendidli rzistnt t p’liticl śiceṇri: hr rport cd b a nvr-agn landmarc on ɖ nīd fr a rziłnt ssayti.

Instroduction to Ñspel

"House by the Railroad," Edward Hopper, 1925