Young People Waking Up in Britain

By Victoria Turner, United Reformed Church

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the United Kingdom hard. We have been in lockdown again since Christmas, and it looks like it will stay this way for at least another month. It dawned on me, or more, hit me like a tonne of bricks, in a recent meeting with the World Communion of Reformed Churches, that the actions of the UK government do not only effect those within the UK. I was surrounded (virtually- this was on Zoom) by Christians from South America, Palestine, India, and South Africa who do not yet have access to the vaccine that the UK has in abundance. I realised that our inaction, our non-response to this pandemic, has not only harmed those within our country but has put others in a more dangerous condition. The World Health Organisation has called for there to be equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, for the UK to give up some of its excess when we have vaccinated our most vulnerable to help the world rid itself of this virus.

Considering the UK government’s recent track record of ignoring its own struggling population, the likelihood of this is extremely low. As schools are shut, children are no longer receiving free school meals- something created so that the poorest children in our country at least have one proper meal a day. It was decided a replacement for this service should be created. The Conservative government decided that poor people could not be trusted with money so gave them vouchers. An allowance of £30 per two weeks, per child was given in voucher form. Unproved rumours then circulated that these vouchers were being traded for drugs, so they gave them food. But what transpired was not £30 worth of food. The Conservative government employed an external catering company that feeds the country’s private schools, to enact this task. It is estimated that the company spent £5 of the £30 on food per child. Families were given half a can of tuna packaged ironically in a plastic money bag. Half a pepper. The charity Unicef, for the first time in 70 years has had to step in to feed British children. We see our government and our media criminalising our poor to detract from the criminalisation of Capitalism. The logic is that it is the poor’s own fault that they are poor. Opening my Twitter today, my first three tweets showed a huge queue for a food bank in Glasgow- in the snow, two surgeons being interviewed on the BBC where only one, the male one, was called ‘Professor’, and a fashion shoot for a top designer, set in a council estate. This is the face of one of the world’s richest countries: austerity, sexism and overt corruption.

This is Empire, White Nationalism, and Imperialism at its best. The British flags came out at the beginning of the pandemic in the daily government briefings and they have only got bigger. When a new strain of the virus was announced in the UK, the media largely ignored this reality and focused on closing borders to stop ‘foreigners’ coming in. A 100-year war veteran has been immortalised in journalism for raising money for the National Health Service by walking laps of his garden. The government and media, on his death, tried to organise a national wide clap for this man (clapping was also prominent at the beginning of the pandemic as a patriotic ritual for the Heath Service). Our publicly owned health service that has been victim of decades of cuts from the government, relying on charity is apparently something to celebrate. Alongside many other white people, a black, queer, young (and generally wonderful but I’m biased) Church of England chaplain spoke out against this ‘cult of white British nationalism’ on Twitter, at the same time offering prayers for the person of Sir Tom. He received hate not only from white people on Twitter, who called him racist, but also from the news and from his own Diocese who made him remove his Tweet, sign a digital charter- publicly share that he had done so, and now he is subject to an investigation. So not only is this white nationalism popular in public opinion, this propaganda is uncritically promoted by the media, and legitimised by the established church.

What hit me in that meeting of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, was that this could have been avoided. The UK is an Island. Like New Zealand we could have isolated ourselves to keep everyone (us and others) safe. But our economy was more important. We could have created a working track and trace system, like South Korea, but our government paying ridiculous amounts of money to their unqualified friends seemed like a better idea. Instead of calmly dealing with COVID-19, and listening to scientists, the government tried to overlook and hide the problem as much as possible.

Their Populism was evident in the run up to Christmas. Public opinion was more important than safety and the result was that the death rate soared so quickly Christmas had to be cancelled five days before the celebrations. British people have been brainwashed to think that this is inevitable and normal, and their government is working for their best interests. Wealth is increasing in the pockets of the few and being taken away from the victims in front of our eyes here- and it is celebrated. How do we eliminate the fallacy that the wealthy becoming wealthier helps the country as a whole?

The only viable solution in light of all this chaos for British people seems to be the vaccines. In a state of panic people need a solution to cling onto. It does not matter that this solution is a selfish one- the powerful need to be saved to save the powerless right? Life in abundance needs to be overly abundant for those who already have abundance to allow any extra abundance to trickle down to the abundant-less. My country is in a state of absolute hopelessness and the only way to reinforce British superiority is to be the best at vaccinating. The powerful in my society are tunnel visioned, on a war to get this vaccine out to be able to return to normal life as soon as possible- and to reinforce British superiority by doing it first. Our BAME populations however, who have been hardest hit by this pandemic, are the most nervous about getting the vaccine. I could not understand this until I had a conversation with my friend from Nigeria who explained how testing often does not include a representative sample of minority bodies and how minorities often struggle to receive effective healthcare in the UK. I also have a friend who is currently in Canada who explained their government’s plan to buy excess vaccines to then give away to the Majority World who cannot afford them. I do not understand how the whole idea of capitalising on medical supplies is so normal. Additionally, nor how the white saviour complex is so imbedded and unquestioned. Other countries do not need the West’s help. The West has been the worst at reacting to this pandemic so why would they be the ones with the solutions? The issue is, as Allan Boesak has recently articulated so well, the global apartheid, maintained and controlled by money. The problem is not that the Global South does not have the money to pay for the vaccine. The problem is that the vaccine is being bought and sold.

Going somewhere else after my PhD is sounding more attractive by the day. However, young people in the UK, and young people in the church, are giving me hope. Our journalism and media may be appealing to masses and supporting the government, but social media is not. It seems to me that journalism has lost any capacity to find faults with the government itself. It instead jumps on complaints that prove to be popular on social media. Jarel Robinson-Brown, the Anglican priest who tweeted against this unquestioned white nationalism, only had 5,000 followers on Twitter when his Tweet went viral from racist complaints. 5,000 followers, in Twitter terms, is not a huge network. It’s nowhere near big enough to attract the attention of the largest media outlets for sure. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has 158,000 followers, and he is largely ignored by the secular media. Rev Robinson-Brown was jumped upon because his speaking-truth-to-power offended the majority who are complicit in this violence. He received no counter to the general disapproval of his words in popular media. In contrast, the free school meals controversy (the £5 vs £30 meal ordeal) found a balance in journalism. It was argued that what was provided was enough food to feed a child for 14 days, and therefore the profiting was acceptable. It was undoubtedly obvious that the food provided was not sufficient, and that the produce dehumanised the recipients. Why did the Church of England chaplain not receive a balanced response? Because he was also dehumanised by the masses. Jarel is black. And apparently, black people cannot criticise white people. White people call that racism. But it was not called racism when other white people were saying similar things. Even the Opposition in government (the Labour government- which is becoming less Socialist by the day) has quietened, declaring that the government needs to work together to protect the majority. This majority is comprised of middle to upper class white people. These are the people who are allowed to lightly criticise the government because they still believe in the saviour of the economy and the inherent capabilities of rich white people.

I here need to hold my hands and declare that I am only able to have this viewpoint (myself being a white person) because I was educated and inspired this summer by other young people. Using CWM language, before Black Lives Matter I was not a racist- now I am anti-racist. I could not see structural racism, police brutality, or the silencing of black voices or bodies. I was happy believing that token black people were enough. Reni Eddo-Lodge, (more) Anthony Reddie, Bernardine Evaristo, Akala, Ben Lindsay, A. D. A. France-Williams, Ijeoma Oluo, and Chidera Eggerue destroyed my comfort. I delved into these authors because I was inspired and challenged by other young people who curated and pointed me towards these resources. Actually, I happily posted about a popular feminist book by Florence Given called ‘Women Don’t Owe You Pretty’ on Instagram and was educated by my wonderful black friend that this white author stole Chidera Eggerue’s book.

I thought her accreditation to black women in the back of her book was fishy- but how did she get away with stealing a whole concept written by a black person? How is white privilege so horribly obvious? When the media was criticising the protests of Black Lives Matter for not conforming to COVID-19 standards, just one month before it promoted ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ where British people were encouraged to sit in restaurants, young people shut down Instagram with the protest of a black square. Young people, and the Student Christian Movement, swiftly rose to support Jarel, the Church of England Chaplain against the racist abuse directed at him. Young people in my denomination, the United Reformed Church, wrote a statement supporting Black Lives Matter before the general URC. Recently, a young black man was killed when in police custody overnight. Mohamud Hassan was arrested at his house for ‘breaching the peace.’ Investigations only were carried out because a grassroots movement, created by young people in Cardiff #Justice4Mohamud in connection with #BLM_cardiff tirelessly fought for justice and attention. They exposed the fact that Muhamud came into contact with 52 officers during his one night stay, that the original coroners report was forged and that no independent investigation was carried out. Their question ‘how can the oppressors create justice from their injustice’ sharply speaks to power.

Black Lives Matter, for me, was like the first sip of coffee in the morning- it alerted me. But young people have been waking up for a while. The 2019 General Election, again, saw young people flock to social media to encourage each other to vote. I spent two hours with a friend convincing one of our school friends that he did know enough about politics to go and vote- that not voting is not okay. I heard Jeremy Corbyn (an actual Socialist) speak to crowds of predominantly young people in Bristol and felt the energy of change and hope. An energy I can honestly only compare to Christian worship- really good worship that hits you in the heart, connects you and fills you will love. We cried tears of pain when Boris Johnson won. All of us cried. Posting our tears on social media was not for attention. It was desperation. How, when we all tried so hard, when we were so inspired, could our older generations let us down like this? How were we so invisible? How did our complaints of the way our media was treating our hero ignored? After finally feeling represented in politics we once again became voiceless.

The pandemic has also vilified young people. The Health Secretary, in September, warned that the ‘UK could see a second spike in COVID-19 cases if young people don’t follow social distancing rules.’ Of course, it is easier to see when young people gather in a field than when middle age people gather in their living rooms. Could you imagine being a teenager and going months with not seeing your friends? Perhaps the problem was that ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ ended on the 31st of August. Or that the government fined people for not going to work. Or maybe that Wales only made masks mandatory in shops in September. Young people were forced to go to campus to start University. They were encouraged to move into University halls and live with up to 10 strangers in a flat. Once there, of course, COVID-19 cases rose. The University accommodations locked down whole buildings- Manchester even erected fences around student accommodation. Students were treated like criminals; they could not leave. In an unknown, hostile environment, living with strangers, starting a new course, they were locked in. There were numerous cases of the catering services delivering less than edible food- food that some students were allergic to for instance. But they were in a new city, who could they call? The government needed a scapegoat and young people fitted it nicely. Now that all universities have moved to online teaching the problem is foreigners again- especially the detention centres where asylum seekers have no rights.

When vilified by ‘official’ media, young people are using social media to hold the government and its structures to account. We see protests by young climate activists to stop the UK opening the first coal mine for thirty years. They’re fighting for the rights of refugees. Questioning the existence of billionaires and boycotting Amazon. Young people are standing against the anti-trans rhetoric. My generation have no option but to be deeply politically aware when their voices are so easily dismissed as utopianly ‘woke.’ This pandemic has clearly exposed the multiplicity of layers of injustice in our society. It has also forced us to think and live in new ways. Politics, having such a close impact on everyone has suddenly made the language more accessible.

It was not accessible before because it was orchestrated that way. We are seeing through the rhetoric of how the economy is too complex for us to understand. The rising cases of food banks are proving that the current welfare system simply does not work- despite the horrible programmes on daytime TV that try and expose ‘frauds’ of the system. The incompetency of Westminster is being wonderfully trolled by the Scottish National Party, and Welsh Independence is growing in popularity after the individual nations of the UK felt forced to act in opposition to London. Politicians receiving pay rises and breaking the rules became a lot more serious when our Prime Minister at the beginning of the Pandemic simply told us to ‘expect sacrifices.’

In general, young people have a distrust of and dislike of structures. These examples have only heightened that. I sometimes see God’s mission through the church. Churches Together in England recently did a campaign photographing elderly ministers from different denominations and ethnicities taking the vaccine. Minsters are working tirelessly to keep their communities connected through Zooms, calls, and gifts. Churches are key hubs for food donations. Some denominations are seriously introspecting and asking hard questions about race and sexuality. Ultimately however, the church is not speaking bravely and prophetically against the selfishness of our society. Maybe this is partly because the white church is rapidly declining in the UK, and there’s a need for self-preservation. I also look at the UK church scene and think that it is the most divided it has ever been. Whilst the churches were debating about whether they needed to stay open or not the Sikh community went to the roads to feed blocked off lorry drivers stranded by Brexit. Jesus did not just feed the poor- he questioned the structures that made him poor. We need a church from the peripheries, not one that bows to populism and corruption.

I’m not saying that all young people fit in my perfect vision for liberation. But I am sensing an energy for dramatic change. Perhaps hopelessness with the government will bring a larger change. What is more than evident is that this change needs to transcend our own society. The movement of Black Lives Matter has forced young white people to introspect, to understand our own privilege, and to act beyond ourselves. The UK will not be giving up any vaccines soon, and our churches are not yet ready to encourage us to share. But hopefully this unsettled, uncomfortable atmosphere continues so change can come.