Thursday 19 March 2020

Self-help

I am heartened by the growth of local community groups which have sprung up to help the housebound and those who are self-isolating under the threat of the very infectious Covid-19. I had despaired of the people of Wales who seemed in last year's general election to be following the herd in England. There was a collective concession of decision-making to a Strong Man who would get things done, no matter how destructively, and to hell with community and democracy.

These self-help groups first became evident on Facebook's local pages, but it soon became clear that they were also using the good old pre-Internet leaflet-through-the-door technique for those who were not Internet-connected for whatever reason.

It is all very reassuring.

[Later] I see that Liberal Democrats in England feel that community spirit there needs reviving from the top down. A "Coronavirus Community Taskforce" has been set up to "coordinate Liberal Democrat councillors’, members’, activists’ and supporters’ response to the coronavirus crisis in their communities"

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