It’s day three of Labour conference and proceedings are in full swing. Whether it’s one of Andy Burnham’s 11 fringe events or yet another interminable motion in the conference hall, the rooms of Brighton have been packed to the rafters with Labour’s long-suffering members.
Clearly Covid spreads in teaching settings but has the grace to stop at the doors of conference jollies
Yet walking around various venues Mr S was surprised to see just how few attendees were wearing their masks in poorly ventilated rooms, with no windows or open doors. With Covid cases still low, normally such a state of affairs would pass without comment. But Labour has made such a show of wearing masks over the past 12 months – especially in the House of Commons to highlight their difference with maskless Tories – that it seems somewhat incongruous to see them so lax on measures which the party (apparently) consider essential to public health.
It was of course just two months ago that Keir Starmer accused Boris Johnson of ‘recklessness’ for relaxing mask-wearing in enclosed spaces. Similarly some of the attending organisations at conference have been banging the mask-wearing drum for months. The Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) has made a big play in recent months about sending lecturers back to classes without proper ventilation in place. So Mr S was surprised to see the UCU hosting a packed Labour fringe event at the weekend. Clearly Covid spreads in teaching settings but has the grace to stop at the doors of conference jollies.
Moreover while Starmer himself spoke against Covid passports, the conference staff were conducting checks on vaccination status for attendees. That, however, has suddenly stopped, with an email going out today to delegates to inform them that ‘due to adverse weather conditions… we will be moving to a random selection process for Covid pass checking.’ Looks like it’s not just the government who is making it up as they are going along…
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