This Tuesday, Boris Johnson said there was still “nothing in the [Covid] data at the moment that means we cannot go ahead with step four” - that is, lifting coronavirus restrictions... And then, trying to sound like an adult, he added "We have to be so cautious... I’m afraid the data is still ambiguous". Indeed it is.

    On the other hand, Health Secretary Halfcock who is miraculously still in his job, jumped on the fact that no deaths from Covid were recorded that day - for the first time since March 2020. It was good news! Never mind that government statisticians do not work on weekends or Bank Holidays!

    Anyway, their statistics lie: not only do they pretend that 127,000 died from Covid instead of nearly 160,000, but now they're withholding the number of cases of the new Indian variant (re-branded “Delta”), recorded among schoolchildren in North West England. This “Delta” virus is spreading. Tuesday was the 7th successive day with more than 3,000 cases, 75% of which are due to this variant. And cases are doubling every week.

    As for effective vaccination - yes, the best way out of this - both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines have been found to be only 33% effective against this variant after one dose. In the 12 week gap between doses, protection could be even lower... 

    After the 2nd dose, apparently, protection is over 60% for AstraZeneca and 89% for Pfizer vaccines. But up to now, only 43% of adults (33% of the population) have received 2 doses of the vaccine... Yes, Johnson's "vaccine success" has been smoke and mirrors. Hence the sudden rush to give everyone their 2nd jabs ASAP.

    The situation does not look good. It was made worse by the lifting of Stage 3 restrictions on 17 May, when one of the government's own "key tests" that “the assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of concern,” was not met. Obviously, at the time, there already was a “new variant of concern”!

    It is said that pupils in Bolton are now testing positive for this variant in large numbers. No wonder no data is being published. Since 17 May, school children's social distancing and mask wearing became optional.

    In fact there is nothing “ambiguous” about the cause of this latest wave of infection. It is thanks to another criminal "lapse" to be laid at the door of Johnson and his Halfcock. It says everything about this system of "democracy" that we should be ruled over by these dangerous, criminal, buffoons.

One "restriction" which the government has had no hesitation about lifting, is the ban on landlords from evicting tenants with rent arrears. It ended on 31 May.

    So now possession orders will come into force - indeed they have already: 400,000 tenants have been served with eviction orders or told to expect them, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. As one renter told the BBC, my landlord has "the power to just flick their finger and get me out".

    Tenants can be forcibly evicted. And even if longer notice periods can be given, if one owes more than 4 months rent, the notice period is only 1 month! The landlords’ association estimates that by now, some 850,000 people are in rent arrears, with half of these already faced with eviction. Many do not even qualify for any benefits.

    In fact the number of single homeless has more than tripled during the pandemic. Of course, the number of people sleeping rough fell after the "everyone in" scheme, which provided rough sleepers with temporary accommodation in hotels. But now “everyone in” is replaced with a "move-on" scheme - with the aim of emptying the last hotel by the end of July.

    So the question is, where will all these old and new homeless go? Rough sleeping can only get worse. And if it’s bad now, when furlough and benefit top-ups end in the autumn it will be a disaster.

    As for rents, they keep going up. Demand outstrips supply (social housing hasn't been built on any scale since the 1970s), and in the absence of rent controls, landlords have a free hand.

    In Scotland and Wales - but not England - an interest free, guaranteed tenant hardship loan has been offered to help with rent arrears. This is what English charities now suggest.

    They point to Sunak's Stamp Duty tax break, which benefited houseowners by £5bn. They say a government scheme to cover the rent due, would cost much less. Yes, it might. But it would amount to yet another handout to private landlords; and behind them the banks and mortgage lenders, who are the real “owners” of most of the homes in the country. No. They should all be taken into public hands!