For the past 18 months, the public has become consciously and systematically frightened. With our politicians nervously hiding behind scientists, we are ruled by shady computer models that give ridiculous predictions of death that never happened.
We have been tricked into believing false statistics that have absurdly inflated the number of people who have died from Covid. And we were even misled about how many were hospitalized with the disease.
We have also been subjected to all sorts of restrictions on our freedom.
Anger: Sir Rocco Forte is angry about government attempts to control coronavirus
Who would have thought that this country, supposedly one of the freest in the world, would go through such draconian controls? Once you have apps that keep track of what the population is doing and government put in place systems that prevent people from traveling or how we can behave and interact, you will enable the forerunners of totalitarianism.
In short, we have begun establishing some form of government terrorism, all in the name of supposed biosecurity. Who would have thought we were such a people of sheep?
For this reason, I welcome the government’s decision to finally open our borders to travelers from the US and continental Europe next week – even if the current uncertainty is far from ideal.
This is of course not only important for the principle of freedom of movement, but also essential for the tourism and hotel industries.
Of course, as the chairman of a hotel and resort chain, you could assume that I am acting out of self-interest, but I can assure you that the interests of everyone in the country are close to my heart.
Why? Because tourism and hospitality make up a remarkable nine percent of the economy and the industries employ around ten percent of the total workforce.
If we want to recover economically from Covid, then it is not only essential that travel is as free as possible, but that it remains as free as possible.
That means there can’t be any new U-turns or tightening of restrictions because I’m afraid that many companies that have only just survived will be hit by the wall.
My own business has suffered badly. Last fiscal year, our income was a fifth of what it should have been. And while my hotels are all still up and running, I’ve had to go into more debt to keep them up and running, and like so many other companies, we’ll have to work hard to get out of the red over the next few years.
The economic hangover from all these restrictions that have been placed on us in dealing with Covid will be long and very, very severe. This is something I don’t think many in government understand. I am thinking in particular of Michael Gove, who led the indictment of the lockdown and closure of the country.
As for the Prime Minister, I suspect that he has been misled several times by scientists. They withheld information from him and made him make decisions I don’t think he would have made instinctively. It is abundantly clear that there is no clear policy to move the country forward and successfully get out of Covid. We seem to be about to enter a world of high spending and high taxes, which is the opposite of what we need.
Then there is the whole green agenda that will further cripple us with its aggressive carbon zero goals while India and China are constantly emitting so many greenhouse gases that our efforts to contain our own pollution are not only irrelevant but ridiculous.
So what am I asking?
I would like to see a committed tourism minister for my own industry. It is absurd that the current minister in charge of the industry should be a humble Parliamentary Secretary of State whose remit includes not only tourism but also sport and the Commonwealth of Games.
There should be a new minister dedicated exclusively to tourism with more leverage to help our industry recover. We also need some subsidies, especially to keep VAT down, which would really help us get back on our feet.
Most importantly, we specifically don’t want a system of passes and passes so that people can visit hotels and restaurants and the like. It shouldn’t be the job of the hospitality industry to monitor or even restrict people’s movements.
I know I am fighting among us against an authoritarian breed that insists on closing nightclubs and imposing a curfew after 10 p.m. So be it. These are the people who don’t go out anyway – and we shouldn’t let them dominate us.
On a more general level, the government needs to stop hiding behind this group of scientists.
These people have become too pleased with themselves, perhaps by being on TV every day.
They should get back to their boxes – or their labs – while the rest of us help rebuild our shattered economy and bring back hope to the many whose lives are not from Covid but from the hysterical way it has been handled. was ruined.
Enough is enough. Let’s take control back. That is a message that this Prime Minister in particular can certainly repeat.
Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on it, we may receive a small commission. This helps us fund This Is Money and use it for free. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow a business relationship to compromise our editorial independence.
