10 reasons why “good British common sense” might not be the best Covid-19 strategy
After the shambles of his Sunday evening Covid-19 advice update, Boris Johnson tried to clarify it on Monday in the House of Commons. It didn’t work.
When the Leader of the Opposition asked the PM to give details on a number of points, his response was that people should use common sense, a phrase that also featured in the briefing.
He just said the phrase "common sense" about twelve times. I think the translation here is: We cannot specify what we are saying, so work it out yourself.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) May 11, 2020
'Common sense' again. That thing Jacob Rees Mogg said should make you ignore official advice.
Still Leader of the House, though.
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) May 11, 2020
We’re not saying that many British people don’t possess a wealth of common sense, because we know they do – but here are some reasons why it may not be a good idea to rely on an entire nation’s common sense to prevent the spread of a killer virus.
1. People rang the police to report a shortage of chicken
Boris is basically asking people to use common sense. In a country where we shit our pants when we ran out of KFC. #StayAlert
— H (@LiveFromLondon8) May 10, 2020
2. They chose to dance a conga in the middle of the worst pandemic in modern Britain
Boris Johnson: 'We must rely on the common sense of the British public…'
British Public: pic.twitter.com/Df1fMIvz9m
— Chris Gibson (@chr1sgibson) May 11, 2020
3. They keep shoving stuff up themselves that they definitely shouldn’t
"good solid British common sense" pic.twitter.com/Xts6F4hyDG
— Mitten d'Amour (@MittenDAmour) May 11, 2020
4. This track record
Good Solid British Common Sense pic.twitter.com/gdGARnsVbK— Universal Basic Elainovision (@scattermoon) May 11, 2020
5. They’ve been burning down 5G masts to stop the coronavirus
Boris is calling for common sense from the same 5G truthers who burned down phone masts. #PMQs
— Olly Barter (@OllyBarter) May 11, 2020
6. They voted to remove their own freedom of movement
Let’s be brutally honest. If the British public had “common sense” on complex issues, it wouldn’t have voted for Brexit
— Professor Lord Sir Dominic Cummings, PhD (dishons) (@Eddystone506) May 11, 2020
7. Their love affair with Mrs Brown’s Boys
How much common sense does the British public have in reserve when it consistently votes Mrs Brown's Boys as its top comedy?
— David Wilcock (@DavidTWilcock) May 11, 2020
8. This entire story from start to finish
"good solid British common sense" pic.twitter.com/uxUPdaA9hw
— Mitten d'Amour (@MittenDAmour) May 11, 2020
9. The fact that people still do stuff like this
Boris Johnson's advice in Parliament:
“Apply common sense … good common solid british common sense.”
I dunno if we can rely on that pic.twitter.com/xblNVwZ1vL
— Russ (@RussInCheshire) May 11, 2020
10. The absolute clincher
I’d have more faith in the British Public’s common sense had they not 6 months ago elected Boris Johnson.
— Bethany Black (@BeffernieBlack) May 11, 2020
On that topic, Mr Roger Quimbly may have a point.
I will not be lectured on common sense by a man who can’t work out how to use a comb.
— Mr Roger Quimbly (@RogerQuimbly) May 11, 2020
READ MORE
Boris Johnson’s Covid-19 update speech went down like a cough in a lift – 17 baffled responses
Image Guardian, Elliott Stallion on Unsplash