As some of you may know, I came up with an idea for a group of motorcycle riders to help get PPE out to those in need. As of last week we have distributed 1.7 million pieces (oh and no we don’t count a pair of gloves as 2 pieces unlike HMG) and covered over a hundred and seventy thousand miles. All in 1 month. We now have 3,000+ members.
To achieve this we have an admin team, a team of coordinators who source those making the PPE and those in need. Transport coordinators then put up the size of packages, route and ask for riders. The riders then volunteer, paying their own fuel costs and giving their time freely. There is no cost for our service. We do not buy or sell. Everything is free at source. The manufacturers may be big firms or someone in their own home sewing or printing. Some crowd fund material costs but nobody profits.
We supply o the NHS, care homes and any and all front line workers or vulnerable people.
We are nationwide in mainland UK, happily covering every city town or even remote village or house.
We have watched the daily lies of government ministers aghast at the blatant untruths.
Every day they herald themselves, praising how they have ensured PPE has got out to all in need. The requests we receive however give a completely different story.
I personally have had front line nurses in Covid infected wards telling me in tears how they have no supplies of PPE or are having to share them. Nurses in care homes who have been assured there are no Covid infected residents, but then go on shift to find that was not true and even if there is PPE its locked away from the staff.
Stories of how NHS teams have lost members of staff and in turn staff have lost family members to COVID19 because PPE is not available.
We all have lost online friend but many of us have lost personal friends and sadly some family.
The needless loss of life is why I set up the riders group. I truly know the pain of losing a family member.
The reason for my anger is that throughout the month we have been running the group the government continue to do whatever they can to obstruct people manufacturing PPE.
Their latest method has scared many who manufacture to the point they have stopped producing it.
Their method is blatant bullying in the form of guidance. Now guidance is not law. It has not been subject to scrutiny or passed by Parliament. It’s advice, at best but in this case a steam of threats.
In the guidance they us words and phrases such as ‘may, can, should, could’ now if this guidance had legal framework, in other words was law the words used would be ‘must, will, and duty to’. It does not.
The guidance suggests that the producers of PPE could be sued for their efforts, where in reality any prosecution criminally or civilly would be nigh on impossible.
Before prosecition was even a possibility there would need to be proof of who produced the product. Now given there are no serial numbers that would in itself likely be impossible. Then the HSE would have to prove the equipment was sub standard and unfit for purpose, I would confirm that the equipment we have delivered appears to be beyond the quality expected by the BS or Kite Mark Scheme. Many of the manufacturers have either used government patterns or improved upon them.
So then proof of intent or of the disregard to safety would need to be shown.
Now we could ask why don’t the producers just apply for a kite mark, the simple answer is cost. These folk are mostly on low incomes producing at home on printers or sewing machines they have bought to do the job. Their bills go up due to electricity use, the materials cost has doubled and even tripled, such as in the case of simple elastic for masks. Many have already put themselves into deby to achieve the reduction of risk to so many.
People proudly talk of the blitz spirit, well this is it in action today, yet it seems our enemy is Her Majesty’s Government.
If we look at how many folk one piece of PPE can save, the person wearing it, the person they interact with,. Both people’s families and colleagues, it soon ads up. 1.7 million free items equatates possibly to reducing the risk to 17 million folk.
Now that is Blitz Spirit. Sadly the bombs we have to survive are on 2 fronts. One the virus and 2 our own government.
Thanks for reading.
Jonesy.
Jonesy Dog of Socialism & the Trikerpoet 