We undervalued our vital services in East Sussex in the past

Shop workers, refuse collectors, bus and delivery drivers, and many others in relatively low-paid roles have also shown great commitment and put themselves at risk to service us, the public.

Less obviously under emergency legislation, public servants are trying to make loans and grants work, law enforcement walks a knife edge between draconian and timid implementation, and military personnel build hospitals and deliver vital supplies, all while carrying on with their day jobs.

What makes all this almost impossible to believe is that it is despite almost 10 years of continuous denigration and criticism of the public sector. Inefficient over-paid scroungers if you believe Conservative dogma. Waiting lists are too long – it’s an efficiency saving dear! We are short of medical staff – with less agro and more pay in the private sector, who is surprised! We can’t afford traffic policing – let’s get some amateurs to do it! Class sizes are too big – it doesn’t matter, we go private!

Perhaps after the pandemic we will, as a society, learn to value the services that we all need rather than pander to the whims of “the tax payer”. I’m not optimistic.

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