Grow up!

I’ve never been much of a fan of Boris Johnson. His antics were mildly amusing when he was Mayor of London, a position that was created to be filled by personalities as much as politicians. However, his behaviour was often inappropriate and damaging when he became Foreign Secretary, and the mind boggled as to what he might be like as Prime Minster.

However, the coronavirus pandemic has rather put a damper on Mr Johnson’s shenanigans, and I found myself wholeheartedly agreeing with him last week when he said that people who take photos of empty hospital corridors to “prove” that the virus is a hoax need to “grow up”. I think this is a fitting response to various conspiracy theorists. Think Donald Trump is secretly fighting a paedophile ring operating among Washington’s elite? Grow up! Left-wing activists dressed as Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol? Grow up! I would also extend it to climate change deniers and flat Earthers. Grow up, the lot of you!

Some people need to realise that this is real life, not a Hollywood film where incredibly far-fetched conspiracy theories are somehow concealed against all the odds. The political conspiracies are bad enough, but what particularly enrages me is when people deny scientific fact. The coronavirus pandemic is deadly serious, and people who trespass in hospitals or protest against lockdown restrictions are costing people’s lives.

I often consider parallels between the pandemic and a war. During World War II, fascist leaders such Oswald Mosley was interned: put in prison without being charged with a crime, and without trial. One could argue that Mosley was expressing his own political beliefs, to which everyone is entitled; however as those beliefs happened to align with and support our enemies, he was put in prison. The coronavirus, on the other hand, is not a belief; it’s a scientific fact. There is no justification or argument for anyone to protest against the virus, or claim it doesn’t exist. I would therefore argue that people who do so – or at least their ringleaders such as Piers Corbyn – should be thrown straight into prison in the interest of national security. If it wasn’t for the fact that a pandemic is probably a bad time to greatly expand the prison population, I think this should be seriously considered. This is, after all, a time of national emergency akin to a war.

We are not talking about hanging above London on a zip-wire here. We are talking about people’s childish attitudes that are costing lives. Some people need to take a good, hard look at themselves, take some adult responsibility for their actions… and grow up!

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