Six Rules For The Next Six Months
by deputy leader Amelia Womack
The full enormity of the winter ahead hit me hard last month.
It was when Boris Johnson explicitly said that the newest round of restrictions were likely to be in place for six months. Of course, I knew that public health measures would be in place for a long time, and of course I knew a second wave was likely over winter. But it was still one of those moments where I really felt the weight we are all carrying with us this year.
The day after, I found it therapeutic to draft myself six rules for the next six months. I did it for myself, but I posted them on my social media in case they connected with anyone else, and they quickly became the most widely shared thing I had ever posted. Clearly, there were thousands of others like me, daunted by the uncertainty of the months ahead, and looking for something solid to hold on to.
As millions languish under local lockdowns with no end in sight, and millions more of us will be joining them in the new system of tiers, I thought it would be good to share these rules again.
I know that the challenges facing us cannot be overcome by individual force of will. We need ambitious, structural solutions to keep everyone safe and well during this emergency. The Government is pulling support away, when it should be raising ambition with ideas ranging from a universal basic income, to the complete cancellation of rent arrears. We must demand better.
But still, there are practical measures we can take to protect ourselves, and each other, in every sense of the word.
This isn’t going to be the winter any of us wanted, but we will get through it together.
Here are my six rules for the next six months.
Many of us will be really struggling with our mental health at the moment, especially for those who dared to believe it would all be over by now.
In August, the ONS found that rates of depression doubled during the course of the pandemic, yet a survey by Mind found that 1 in 4 people who reached out to the NHS with a mental health problem were unable to get support. We urgently need to rethink and reform our health service in this country to treat mental health in parity with physical health, especially during an emergency like this.
While none of us can individually expand the formal mental health provisions of the UK, a big impact on the mental health of others can start with the littlest gestures. Assume the best in each other. Reach out to friends. Give people the benefit of the doubt when they seem irritable. Wish a good day to everyone you meet.
You are living through an unprecedented global emergency. Go easy on yourself.
More than 80% of us have reported feelings of stress during the pandemic, but half of us have said that visiting green spaces have helped us to cope. You know best what helps you to relax and recharge whether that’s exercise, reading, cooking, puzzles or a Zoom disco, so make sure you take the time to treat yourself when you can.
You may be under massive financial strain, looking after kids in a small flat, or battling ill health. But even if it’s just a cup of tea in a quiet room, do something for yourself daily.
I was so inspired by the way that mutual aid networks spread from street to street this spring, creating a true protective ring for ordinary people where our Government was leaving us behind.
By June, over 4,000 such groups had been established in the UK, with people like you and I giving over 3.6 million hours of our time to other people. We need to keep that fire burning this winter.
Aside from material provisions, we also need spiritual connection, and loneliness looms large over new lockdowns. Almost a quarter of adults in the first lockdown experienced feelings of loneliness, and this is in a country which was already struggling with loneliness. Over one in eight of us say that we have no close friends whatsoever. Mutual aid doesn’t just mean dropping shopping on a doorstep. It means connection with the people around you.
Say hello again in your local WhatsApp group and make sure your neighbours know you’re there for them.
The Government is ending furlough and lifting the eviction ban in England just as the second wave hits.
In the first weeks of lockdown in Spring, food banks already hit record levels of demand. Six months on, 650,000 people have now fallen off payrolls, with a possible 4 million people predicted to be unemployed by the end of the year.
This collapse of livelihoods is compounded with the lifting of the eviction ban going ahead in England, but with no accompanying plans to forgive rent arrears for approximately 230,000 people who have already fallen behind on payments. The result is likely to be an unprecedented wave of homelessness. And for rough sleepers, a mere £12m has been pledged to put them into cramped shelters over winter — a sum a million pounds less than last year.
Clearly, we risk facing a downward spiral of destitution for millions of people. Speak out against this government when they leave even a single one of us behind, and stand with local campaigns to keep people fed, homed and safe.
Focus on what really matters to you, and remember what you’ve learned about yourself this year. Hold onto it.
Remember the feeling of coming to your front door or balcony on the night of the first NHS clap, or putting a rainbow up in your window. The heat of this emergency has stripped our society back to the fundamentals of what we really value, and it’s not hedge fund managers, long haul holidays and expensive shopping sprees. It’s ordinary workers, the local park, and our closest friends and family.
85% of us think NHS workers deserve a pay rise. More than half of us feel closer to our neighbours and a third of us shop closer to where we live. For those of us who have been able to comfortably work from home, we’ve gotten used to life without cramped commutes, more time with our families rather than our bosses — and few of us want to go back to five days a week at the office.
Care matters. Connection matters. Compassion matters. Call your gran. Cuddle your cat. Savour small pleasures, be thankful for small mercies and enjoy nature when you can.
These are the darkest days some of us have ever had to endure, and they are going to get literally darker in the months ahead. But I truly believe something better is around the corner, if we come together to make it happen.
People don’t want to go back to the way things were. Only 6% of people want to go back to the economy the way it was, four in five of us say that the Government should invest in nature rich spaces for everyone to enjoy and Caroline Lucas’ research project this summer found that two thirds of people want Government to prioritise health and wellbeing of people above GDP.
The even better news is that there is loads of evidence to suggest that a Green recovery is the best recovery from this crisis. A study by eminent economists in the University of Oxford found that Green investment creates more jobs and higher short term returns, to take just one example.
This is our opportunity to listen to the needs of people and planet, to build a society based around care and connection, to give everyone everything they need to live a good life, while doing the work which really needs to be done.
Do not give up hope. A Greener future is waiting in the wings.
Spring is just around the corner.
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