While primary schools were supposed to reopen to 2 million pupils at the beginning of this week,  parents of about half those children felt it was not yet safe to send them back.  This is just the latest indictment of the government’s incompetent handling of the Covid-crisis.

    But their chaotic lifting of lock-down, and their dodgy statistics, including the "too much too late" contact-tracing, were only aimed at one thing, anyway:  to allow bosses to get workers back to work.  And as far as social distancing and other safety measures go, there is no enforcement whatsoever, only “guidance”.

    Of course, there have never been any real rules for the bosses in this system.  And neither are there any now.  They have had several months of "shielding" themselves, thanks to Sunak's so-called job retention scheme - which turns out to be nothing but a job-cuts preparation scheme.  It gave companies time to plan and prepare an even greater jobs' massacre than we’ve ever seen before. 

    Already on the cards are 12,000 job cuts at BA, 9,000 at Rolls Royce, 4,500 at Easy Jet, 3,500 at fashion brand Monsoon Accessorize, 1,200 at McLaren - and many, many more.  Not to mention the companies which have already collapsed, such as coach-holiday provider Shearings with 2,500 job losses or holiday-provider, TUI.  Last week, the manufacturers’ lobby group, Make UK, said that 70% of its members are making plans to cut jobs.

    Just as in the aftermath of 2008, in places where there aren’t immediate job cuts, like Nissan Sunderland, the workforce is being told there will have to be “increased flexibility”, if their future is to be “assured”.  And sacked BA workers are being told to reapply for jobs on lower wages and under worse conditions!

    Yes, despite the fact that this "crisis upon a crisis" is unprecedented, the bosses see it as nothing more than another opportunity to turn the screw further on the working class.

    But the working class has been paying for the bosses' crises for far too long.  Enough is already too much.  We cannot allow any further attacks like this.  It is time for us to do something which is also "unprecedented".  And that is to use our full collective strength to fight back, for once - and for all.