Lambeth (Parliament Politics Magazine) – UK marks 5-year anniversary of COVID-19, as Starmer’s government faces scrutiny over handling of the crisis, which has claimed many lives in Lambeth and beyond.
The entire United Kingdom suggested by the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration, the outgoing Conservative administration held the first such event last March, and the COVID-19 Day of Reflection was the second.
To make sure that those accountable for more than 200,000 fatalities and more than a million Long COVID-19 cases avoid justice, a public investigation is being conducted.
A minute’s silence, a march along London’s National Covid Memorial Wall, and the casting of flowers from nearby Lambeth Bridge were the only national events planned.
At lunchtime, Euston, one of London’s biggest train stations, also observed a minute’s quiet.
As suggested by the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration, the outgoing Conservative administration held the first such event last March, and the COVID-19 Day of Reflection was the second.
To make sure that those accountable for more than 200,000 fatalities and more than a million Long COVID-19 cases avoid justice, a public investigation is being conducted.
A minute’s silence, a march along London’s National Covid Memorial Wall, and the casting of flowers from nearby Lambeth Bridge were the only national events planned. At lunchtime, Euston, one of London’s biggest train stations, also observed a minute’s quiet.
With over 200,000 painted hearts added by grieving family members, the 550-meter wall faces Parliament and serves as a stark reminder of the enormous loss of human life that the Conservatives failed to stop under Labour.
Commenting on the fact that no senior government figures in Westminster took part in any of the proceedings, the National Covid Memorial Wall organisation tweeted on its X account,
“It is indeed the duty of our ministers as leaders and public servants to mark the Covid-19 Day of Reflection on Sunday. Sadly, the silence is deafening. DIY commemoration is then.”
Several hundred people took part, and many of them contributed pictures of their loved ones to the wall.
Representatives of the Labour Party, which controls the borough of Lambeth, where the Memorial Wall is situated, spoke for just a few minutes.
Boris Johnson’s unlawful “Let it rip” pandemic strategy was not criticized politically by Lambeth Councillor John-Paul Ennis, local MP Florence Eshalomi, or council leader Claire Holland.
Eshalomi mentioned Johnson once, but only to explain how the medical professionals at the neighboring St. Thomas’s Hospital had saved his life when he contracted COVID. Since Labour had the same strategy, no Labourite could criticize the Conservatives for eliminating all mitigations.
Given the government’s pronouncements, one would never know that nearly 250,000 people have died in Britain during the past five years.
In October 2020, Johnson yelled out, “No more fucking lockdowns,” which summed up the Tories’ policy of mass infection and indifference to mass mortality.
Allow the thousands of bodies to pile up. A few months later, Johnson’s claim that the COVID virus was “just nature’s way of dealing with old people” revealed the icy heart of the British capitalist elite once more.
However, it was only with the full cooperation of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his successor Sir Keir Starmer that the Tories were able to impose the lifting of lockdowns and the reopening of the economy.
In the March 25, 2020 parliamentary debate on the pandemic, his last as party leader, Corbyn said of Labour’s approach,
“Our immediate task as the Opposition is to help arrest the spread of the coronavirus, support the government’s public health efforts while being constructively critical where we feel it is necessary to improve the official response.”
Starmer was the main proponent of reopening schools, a move that permitted the epidemic to spread devastatingly in more large numbers and was carried out by Labour’s allies in the trade union bureaucracy.
He posted on X on August 16, 2020 only five months after WHO declared a global pandemic, “My message to the Prime Minister: I don’t just want all children back at school next month, I expect them back at school. No ifs, no buts”.
Writing on the Canary website when Labour announced the second Day of Reflection in December, Sam Williams, a Long COVID sufferer noted, “What about marking the day of reflection by reading the names of all of the people who have died of Covid since Labour took power? At the date of writing [December 18, 2024], that’s 4,655 people.
That’s an average of over 200 people a week. It’s really upsetting me how the Labour government has gone out of their way to bury (pun intended) the Covid deaths. Over one person has died of Covid every hour since Keir Starmer was elected PM.”
Fran, a Long COVID patient who was unable to attend due to health issues, left a recorded message for the COVID-19 Day of Reflection event in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
She was the only one to bring up the persistent dangers posed by COVID and the coordinated effort by the ruling class to obscure the pandemic’s lessons.
She was a fit and healthy veterinary surgeon who had experienced “relentless and torturous symptoms” following a single COVID infection in 2022, according to her statement. She is totally dependent on others and has been unable to leave her bed due to severe ME/chronic fatigue syndrome, POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), migraines, and other health issues.
Fran is part of a network of sufferers, some with even more severe symptoms. “There are some so sick, they cannot eat and are being tube fed, some have died, some have committed suicide or requested assisted suicide,” she explained.
The common reaction has been to mock victims and claim it is all psychosomatic. There are virtually no services.
I am lucky as I have support and funds and have got private treatment which has helped. Long COVID sufferers are just gaslighted by politicians and others.”
Fran reviewed some of the statistics:
“There has been a 15-fold increase in those who have ME. One in 10 people who get COVID, get Long COVID. Your chances of getting Long COVID increases with every infection.
There is next to no health support. You are put on cognitive behavioural therapy courses, which makes your symptoms worse.
COVID is not over, it is still killing people. In the US, [President Donald] Trump abolished the COVID Advisory Committee. They want the statistics to disappear. There has been no shielding for five years. Basic medical precautions must be available. Air filters should be placed in public spaces, masking must continue to protect those who are vulnerable. We must bring back community care. No government rhetoric will change the fact that there are risks.”
Fiona, another Long COVID sufferer, had suggested to the organisers that Fran’s message should be heard. She told WSWS reporters that she organised for some of the people who can’t be here due to Long COVID to contribute messages that have been written on leaves, hanging on the tree. I thought it is important that patients and sufferers have a voice.
“Long COVID clinics are closing or services are being reduced and less is offered. They say it’s because fewer people are getting referred but we don’t know how much Long COVID there is as no-one is testing,”
she added.
Diane, who has ME, was acutely aware of the risks associated with post-viral infections and the life-altering potential of a single COVID infection.
What are the key highlights of the event?
Communities gathered to commemorate the suffering, loss, and compassion endured during the epidemic in events staged throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
In his statement, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged the deep sorrow that many families continue to experience, saying, “Today, we come together to remember, reflect and pay tribute to the sacrifices made by people across our country.”
Families strolled around the National Covid Memorial Wall in London, which honors those who lost their lives to COVID-19 with thousands of hearts. There was a minute of quiet, followed by choir performances and tributes from several groups.
Healthcare professionals and grieving families gave moving testimony that highlighted their personal losses and experiences during the pandemic.