UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (above) has declared July 19 ‘Freedom Day’ in Britain

This afternoon.

Neil writes:

A poem written in advance of the full lifting of Covid restrictions on 19th July, a decision that seems to owe more to our PM’s dog-whistle populism than scientific analysis or concern for mortality rates.

Freedom Day

Take the mask off and throw it away;
two fingers up to the two-metre rule.
Smile and wave, folks – it’s freedom day.

Leading scientists in utter dismay:
new outbreak at a rest home; a school.
Take the mask off and throw it away!

Flock to the beach and soak up the rays;
pile en masse into a swimming pool.
Smile and wave, folks – it’s freedom day.

Go out on the lash, join in the fray,
the bigger the crowd, the more you look cool.
Take the mask off and throw it away!

Summer in Borisland. Come out and play
urge tabloid hacks who crackle like ghouls:
smile and wave, folks – it’s freedom day.

Reason’s lost, common sense gone astray;
cheap sloganeering wins over fools.
Take the mask off and throw it away;
smile and wave, folks – it’s freedom day.

Neil Fulwood

Neil lives and works in Nottingham, England. He has three collections of poetry out with Shoestring Press: No Avoiding It, Can’t Take Me Anywhere and Service Cancelled. He is married with no children but has secured a ‘timeshare on next door’s cats’.

Pic: SkyNews