THE comments attributed to Boris Johnson on Monday of this week, suggesting he would have rather seen the “bodies piled high in the streets” rather than entertain a further lockdown, speak to a view where human life is compared to commerce and profit — all too prevalent among the capitalist political class.

The comments may be disputed, but the Westminster government’s reluctance to introduce safety-first measures during the first year of the pandemic was all too obvious.

Schemes like Eat Out to Help Out, the encouragement to return to offices and the reopening of non-essential manufacturing and construction all spoke of a calculated political decision to risk lives in the pursuit of profit.