Mark Dolan: Those who run our society need to wake up, not woke up

Mark Dolan: Those who run our society need to wake up, not woke up
Mark Dolan

By Mark Dolan


Published: 27/02/2022

- 22:10

Here's my take on the world today...

I’m fast losing trust in those who govern us. I don't trust the Treasury and the Bank of England, who have been printing money like it's going out of fashion and for which inflation and the cost of living crisis has been the reward.

I don't trust the police who seem to be more worried about offensive tweets and rainbow cars than solving crime.


I don’t trust schools, one of which in Brighton is reportedly teaching very small children that they are not “racially innocent”. Eh? I don't trust our energy planners. I want to get carbon down and save the planet; Britain’s brilliant on green technology – bring it on.

But the authorities have slapped green levies on fuel, whilst underinvesting in nuclear and ignoring the colossal resources of shale gas, oil and coal beneath our feet, which would allow us to transition sensibly, cost-efficiently and securely to a low carbon future.

Instead the hypocritical West has simply bought coal, oil and gas from Russia instead, bankrolling Putin’s war machine. Well done everyone.

I don't trust the NHS, whose zero Covid policy may ultimately lead to a waiting list of 14 million people. With GP surgeries literally chained shut during the pandemic, and with more chance of winning the lottery or getting the Christmas number one than a GP appointment, too many people have told me on this programme that their experience of the NHS has been that “if it isn't Covid, they don't care”.

No reflection by the way on the frontline staff, who are of course the best of us. But the management, the leadership, not so much. I don't trust so much of our media who pushed just one narrative in the course of this pandemic – that we must mask up and lock down quicker, harder, faster. Where were the questions about mask efficacy and about whether lockdowns might - whisper it - do more harm than good?

I don't trust government scientists whose obsession with trying to control this virus, which in my view, has been an abject failure, has caused half a trillion quids worth of debt, illiterate, depressed and now overweight kids, for whom school closures have diminished their life chances.

Once viable businesses closed, lives wrecked and a non-Covid death toll soaring. So much of this was as a result of an unprecedented set of pandemic policies never tried before, never agreed in advance, never voted for of course, but all requested by SAGE. Can you understand why I don’t trust them?

For me SAGE is now a four letter word. Whether it's junk modelling or the exclusion of other voices in science, challenging the cosy covid consensus, I believe that history will judge mainstream scientists in the harshest possible terms. In my view, they will sit cheek by jowl with those who insisted a thousand years ago that the Earth was flat. Because they too, were mainstream scientists back in the day. Forgive me for not going along with the crowd. This pandemic has taught me one thing. To question everything. At a time of when questioning anything gets you criticised, judged, excluded from your social circles, unfriended by people and in some cases cancelled.

Well I couldn't care less. Because question everything, I will continue to do. We all should – it’s our job in a democratic society. For too long, we've had such deference for people with letters after their names and fancy titles, hosting press conferences in grand Whitehall buildings. And yet here we are.

With precious little to show for two years of ruinous policies, other than a covid death toll as high if not higher than places that had fewer measures, and an economy that we smashed against a brick wall. We have a Police force that's gone from being institutionally racist, horrific of course, to one which is now institutionally woke.

And as with the NHS, it's not an issue around our incredible frontline cops, who are heroes to me and have spent the pandemic policing debatable policies, like 10pm curfews in the pub, masks in supermarkets and old ladies drinking coffee on the beach. Our cops are the best in the world. But the management, the leadership, not so much. And how about this absolute corker from our top spy chief at MI6, who tweeted:

"With the tragedy and destruction unfolding so distressingly in Ukraine, we should remember the values and hard won freedoms that distinguish us from Putin, none more than LGBT+ rights. So let’s resume our series of tweets to mark #LGBTHM2022"

This is the Chief of the UK Secret Intelligence Service MI6, Sir Richard Moore. This is a Moore, that absolutely Rogered himself with this one. This senior security official makes Inspector Clouseau look like Inspector Morse tweeting this out.

Oh and here’s his description of himself on twitter. It finishes with he/him.

Have you heard enough yet? I don’t have a trillionth of this man’s knowledge about national security, but I would humbly suggest Al Qaeda won’t be checking peoples’ pronouns as they plot the downfall of the West.

Ultimately, I think at the root of all of this, is a lack of accountability. The institutions of this country don't seem to be answerable to you, the British public, who of course pay for all of it. And they seem to follow their own political agenda and dance to their own tune. Well we need a total recalibration of how this country functions post-pandemic, so that it serves the public, not the North London chattering classes. These institutions are there to serve the people, not the other way round. And they must get back to doing what we pay them to do. To police the streets, to stop terrorists, to treat sick people, to educate our kids – you know, maths, English and science, to light and heat our homes and to broadcast the truth to the nation. Look, our institutions have a great legacy and great work is done across the board.

Ours is a great country, with great institutions, made up of hard working, committed people, including old roger Moore, Inspector Clouseau himself, he/him, Mr MI6. I’m sure he’s a clever and decent man, but his tweet has enraged people, and you can understand why, as murderous Russia tanks roll into Kyiv and a free country gets swallowed up by a dangerous tyrant. All of our public servants have got to raise their game; to understand who is in charge, who they work for and who pays their wages. It’s the British people. And mark my words, if our institutions don't choose change, change will be enforced upon them, by an angry public.

I'm very optimistic about the future of this country, but those who run our society need to wake up, not woke up. For unaccountable, politically-motivated bureaucrats, the party is over and the game is up.

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