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Dec. 26, 2021 - David Icke
24:40
Right Now - How The Protest Movement In The UK Has Inspired Art
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Hello, and welcome to Right Now.
As a kid, if you were trying to achieve something but you weren't quite pulling it off, maybe you felt disheartened, you would inevitably hear these words.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Makes sense, I can get behind that.
But... Forward 30 something years.
If at first you crush the economy, destroy people's ability to feed themselves, destroy the minds of the population to the point where you've triggered a catastrophic mental health crisis, mass suicide, alcoholism, drug addiction, cancer deaths, heart disease, combined with a healthcare system that doesn't care about your health.
Then definitely do that again, mate.
Just keep doing it. It's great.
Lockdowns are great.
Sounds weird, doesn't it? Yeah, this is where we are.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again, but expecting different results.
That's a quote attributed to Albert Einstein, and he's right.
Unless, of course, your goal is not to achieve different results.
If independent sage had their way, we'd be locked down forever.
Whether they get their way or not is down to you.
It isn't down to anyone else.
It's not down to me, Boris Johnson, Sajid Javid, not the Edvard Munch painting guy that calls himself a chief medical officer.
It's on you. Do you agree with tyranny or not?
It's a contract and it needs two signatories.
Whether you sign is on you.
But first, last weekend, tens of thousands of people descended on London to protest yet again against government restrictions.
The Freedom Protest was another defiant show of public opinion in the UK in the face of increasing state control under the guise of health.
I was fortunate enough to be there myself.
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Freedom!
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
Freedom!
Freedom! Judging by those scenes, it doesn't look as if the UK protest movement is going anywhere for a very, very long time.
Well done to everyone that went.
However, the freedom movement has created more than just grassroots activism.
It's also created art.
Earlier this week, an exhibition opened in London, capturing the passion and determination of those involved in the fight against tyranny.
Gemma Cooper reports.
There's a lot of people out there who are going to be in the same situation as you.
It's a very good thing.
It's a good thing.
A hub of creativity in the capital.
And tonight, at this gallery, art meets activism.
For the last year, photojournalist Kerry Murray has been tirelessly documenting the UK freedom protest.
He's put together a body of work capturing the spirit and soul of the UK freedom movement.
And tonight, his work is on show, in here.
The Face of Freedom exhibition wants to cement this moment in history for generations to come.
It also hopes to paint an honest picture of the UK protest movement amid growing mainstream media censorship.
It's Kerry Murray's first exhibition.
He spent this year travelling to London, photographing weekend after weekend of rallies.
It's been a lot of hard work, but he says he felt compelled to do it.
Well, March 2020 was a real turning point for me in terms of, you know, my worldview and what I saw wasn't stacking up in the news.
And so I started to do some research and some investigation into this.
I became aware that there were many, many more of me.
You know, people like me who thought the same thing and had noticed the same inconsistencies with the coronavirus story that we were being told.
And it wasn't long before...
I started thinking, what can I do to support this movement?
What can I do to contribute something to it?
And so, you know, for the past 20 years or so, I've always had a camera strapped fairly close to me.
So I picked up the camera and I started doing what I think I do best.
I'm looking at pictures of rallies I've been to, most of them with a picture I've been to, and it just brings back this...
You know, I remember what happened that day when I'm looking at it and, you know, proud of what we've achieved so far, proud of all the people that are pictured here.
But some of them, it makes me sad when I see children...
You know, pictured at these rallies holding signs saying freedom.
But it also reminds me of what we're doing it for, so I think it's amazing work.
You know, this is social history that we're all contributing to and taking part in.
And, you know, he gets right in there and gets great shots of All of this history that's being made, and this is important history.
It's dangerous history, but it's very important as well.
So these pictures that are documented will be looked back on in 10, 20 years' time.
I myself am a fashion designer and I create my outfits for all the marches, and I think it's amazing to put art together.
To express this message.
I think art speaks for itself.
You don't even need to speak when you wear something really fashionable and with amazing messages.
And this is a way that touches people's hearts in a more efficient way, I think.
The photos are amazing.
I've met Kerry before, actually.
Yes! True! We did some photos together, but from just having a look around, it's just captured everything so, so well.
I'm going to have to buy something as well, I think, before I go.
Yeah, I think it is important.
It's a way of communicating in another way.
You know, we need creativity in the movement.
We need different ways to get through to people, to connect with them on an emotional level.
So I think work like this, it really kind of...
It bypasses the need for language.
You've got it directly there to connect with and pick up on.
It's a real document of these incredible times in which we're living.
It's nice to think that in 100 years from now, when people look back on 2020, 2021, and the events that took place, these stand as a permanent record of These momentous times that none of us ever expected, but we found ourselves thrown into and we've been forced to react to them.
But as we've had discussions about on a few occasions, all of us involved in this movement were born for this.
This is the moment of our lives.
This is why we came here.
And it took many of us a long time to realise that this is the case.
It certainly did with me. But this is why we're here, to play our part in these unprecedented times.
It's just so amazing because it just brings back loads of memories.
And we were looking at them and sort of seeing who we could find that we knew, you know, that we knew or we recognised, and that was really nice.
And it just, yeah, it was just the memories, I think, of being there and remembering the difference, because all the marches were a little bit different and where we ended up afterwards and that kind of thing.
So, yeah, it was really good.
I really liked it.
And we were saying they're so beautiful because...
They're proper photographs, they're not just digital ones that are taken with the phone.
actually you can tell they're taken properly so that makes all the
difference to the photographs. His pictures simultaneously capture the
energy and emotion of the rallies and documents the strength and determination
of those fighting government measures. They show people from all walks of life
united. And tonight many of those people are here whether celebrity or civilian
everyone here this evening has played their part in bringing this exhibition
to life. After Faces of Freedom is over Kerry is planning a book of portraits
of key players in the freedom movement.
People that, like him, are standing up for freedom for generations to come.
Gemma Cooper, right now, Shoreditch in London.
Our next guest is a pub landlord from the UK who says he's had thousands of Christmas cancellations since Omicron was announced.
Jason Keane has more than 30 years experience in the hospitality industry, runs two successful gastropubs in Hertfordshire.
He says he's deeply disappointed in what he's seen in the industry over the last two years and feels that it's only going to get worse.
He joins us now.
Jason, thanks for coming on.
You've had thousands of cancellations since Omicron was announced.
That's obviously a lot of money in customers.
Can you take that hit?
Well, it's still not finished.
So at this moment in time, we're fairly fortunate that our business appears to be relatively robust for as much as we've had That level of cancellations, it would appear that as we kind of lose one customer, one booking and other books, we look like we're going to get, depending on where we end up in the next few days, 4,000 cancellations for the month of December.
We would normally look to serve 15,000 customers during that time and it looks like it's going to be 11.
So it's about 25% cancellations.
Now, We have an established business and we're very fortunate we're in a leafy part of a well-heeled part of Hertfordshire and we look at this moment in time like it's bad but I know it's not as bad as others.
I have friends who have pubs in London that are closed already.
20 of Fuller's largest pubs in London closed last week, but they won't open this week.
So if you think about that, without any announcements of any financial support or help, in some of those pubs, there'll be 50, 60 staff who all have families, some who will have mortgages, rent, who currently are not being paid or have no way of being paid.
It's... It is insane, and without an announcement in the next couple of days, we've had a reasonable weekend, but the next few days look very light in the diary.
I've had chats with both the general managers in our pubs this morning, and we're looking very light on the ground today.
We've not even written a rota for next week because it's pointless because we know what's coming.
We've told people today.
We've let team members know not to even bother coming into work.
And if you think about this, Gareth, these are young people that, you know, for some of them, it's their first job and they need this money.
They want to buy their nan a Christmas present.
They need their tips. They want to save for a holiday that they want to go on, hopefully, at some point.
And, you know, it's from people that have got mortgages and young families to people that it's their first job.
It impacts them all in terms of the way they're losing their income.
And this going into what is supposed to be such a celebratory time of year with this black cloud, and that's ultimately what it is.
It's very, very difficult.
As a pub landlord, you talk to people from all walks of life, obviously, every day.
What are your customers saying?
What's their feeling about what's going on?
Are they cautious?
Do they think it's government overreach?
It's interesting, isn't it?
Because the people that you talk to in the pub have ultimately made the choice to come to the pub.
And we're very thankful of that.
But the people that I'm talking to, a lot of them are confused.
They've had enough. They're not going to be told what to do.
Don't get me wrong. Lots of them have also taken it upon themselves to make their own.
Rules, if you like.
Nobody's mandated that masks are worn in pubs at the moment, but we've got lots of customers that are turning up wearing masks.
And this is the confusion. You have to wear a mask in a shop.
You don't have to wear it to come to the pub.
So I think for lots of people, there's ultimately confusion.
They feel like Christmas is being stripped away again.
Everyone I've talked to feels like they're in some type of limbo.
Yeah. And it's just a time of disenchantment, a time when we should be really looking forward to spending time with our friends and families, all asking the questions, should we be doing that?
I've had two invites myself to family and friends events where I'm being asked to take a lateral flow test before I go.
Goodness me. This doesn't feel like Christmas.
No, it's crazy, isn't it?
But I know that's going on.
I've got friends that say the same, that they're being asked to take tests to go back to see relatives and stuff.
I mean, it's interesting you made the point in there where you were saying, like, the rules are confusing, this is okay here, it's not okay there.
Do you feel over the last couple of years that hospitality has been particularly targeted?
And why do you feel that is?
Firstly, I think the short answer is yes.
Secondly, I think it's interesting.
We're a very young and innovative industry, and when we saw some of this stuff going on, certainly as somebody that runs their own business, it's horrible not knowing How are you going to be able to control or operate?
So what hospitality did, really early doors, some significant operators in our sector started going, do you know what?
We can do this. We can do this.
We can put in screens. And we almost started to make up rules before we were even told.
So I think for some of us, we just waited.
And waited and waited for the advice.
And then as an industry, some people just went ahead.
Again, this was the confusion.
I think in terms of have we had it the worst, I think it's because we are so inextricably linked with the general public, with young people, with celebrations, with places where people let their hair down and maybe, you know, if rules are set or, you know, are they being stuck to?
I think we have had it.
I think it has been disproportionate for hospitality.
And so many of us have taken this, have done everything.
We've jumped through all the hoops.
We've had all the signage, all the social distancing, taken tables out, developed, you know, some of us have spent significant sums of money developing ventilated outside heated areas.
You know, empty IKEA shelves of blankets to wrap around their customers that then have been laundered after every single use at no small expense just to keep the business open and ticking over and provide that sense of community that every pub does.
Where do you go for a chat?
Where do you get to vent and just get some of that stuff off your chest?
And the thought of the dreaded pubs, you know, the dreaded thought that pubs may not be open for Christmas or just after, it's just a horrible thought again.
I've just reviewed, at times I've been known to write the odd poem or two, just I find it a slightly better way of getting stuff off my chest rather than maybe a rant.
And I just reviewed one that I wrote This time, similar time last year, when we'd just been told that we weren't going to be open for Christmas.
Do you know what? It feels very similar.
Other than this year, we've obviously not been told.
But the impact of Witty and Boris standing in a press conference on the 27th of November saying what they said.
I mean, it was literally, they might as well just said, well, Just don't go to the pub.
Because in reality, that's what happened.
And it's just got progressively worse.
And every day that every press conference or every news cycle, the mainstream media with Omicron lists and rising case rates, just gets, you know, you can imagine, on the shop floor, at the sharp end, dealing with the customers, there's more and more of the confidence that people had just being eroded slowly as they receive more of this information.
It feels very much like they're almost trying to make people...
They don't want to be held accountable for locking people down, so they'll almost make people lock themselves down, which is certainly what appears to be.
Without a doubt, I've spoken to friends about this.
It is, to all intents and purposes, it's locked down by stealth.
If you make people scared enough, why would they want to take the risk to come out?
And they're very cleverly to say, you know, do you really want to go out with your work colleagues or do you want to see your nan?
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
The emotional blackmail is extraordinary.
It must be frustrating for you as well, though, seeing that you, as you mentioned there, you've jumped through all these hoops, you've done everything you asked to do at, you know, expense out of your own pocket.
And then you see the politicians who obviously all like a drink having an absolute jolly.
That must be so frustrating for you to watch that.
Yeah. Are we really surprised?
I'm not surprised, no. I just think for you, it must just be like you taking the mix.
Yeah, it's very frustrating.
But I'd lost faith in the leadership in terms of the double standard some time ago.
I truly feel some of this stuff is just...
It distracts us so much from the reality of the situation.
And that is, you know, we're being asked to queue up for more injections that protect us or don't protect us.
I get so confused for boosters that are going to protect or not protect.
I don't know. Who knows? You know, when is it?
When does this end?
Those, for me, are the questions that the mainstream media should be asking, not, oh, did you have cheese and wine in the garden on the 17th of May?
I'm really not bothered.
They could dress that up wherever they want.
You know, they created enough loopholes in the pub game that, you know, only two weeks ago you couldn't have an office party, but you could come to the pub.
You couldn't meet in the office, work from home, but you could come to the pub.
I mean, it just... How odd.
The whole thing has been riddled with double standards and confusing messages.
So I'm not surprised. And yes, it's disappointing.
But ultimately, we... I choose to, you know, focus my energies on the things that we can impact as a business.
And that is continuing to deliver, you know, wonderful memory of experiences to the customers that do choose to come and see us.
I mean, we've got one of the paths tonight, we've got 46 people still booked in for a party that are all together.
I didn't think that was going to make it.
That's absolutely brilliant.
Yeah, that's great. Yeah, I think it was 52, it's gone to 46.
So we're really happy that people are still choosing to come to the pub.
And they should, you know, all the way throughout this, you know, we've always maintained high levels of hygiene, all the things we're asked to do, social distancing, sanitising stations, cleaning the table after, you know, but we do so many of these things in hospitality anyway.
We're already so regulated in terms of hygiene.
Going to a pub in reality is a really safe space anytime, let alone with this nonsense going on.
So, you know, and lots of people know that.
And that's ultimately why lots of people still choose to come to the pub.
But if you, you know, for pubs in London where businesses are there and they rely on people coming in for lunch and after work trade, they died last week.
You know, as soon as work from home came in.
Just point, it's an untenable, you know, it's unrealistic to open a business like that.
We're fairly fortunate where we are that we've still got lots of chimney pots around us and we're an established, well-supported business.
But yeah, we're still feeling it.
I was chatting with somebody this morning and saying last week was like a busy week in November.
Not the week before Christmas where normally anybody will work for you in December.
I mean, you just put them on a rota knowing that you're just going to be full from the moment you open to the moment you close.
And it's not like that.
Spoke with somebody, you know, I was in the pub the other day at three o'clock.
There were two tables. You're like, what's going on in here?
Yeah. You know, you've got cellars full of beer, fridges and freezers full of food.
You know, I mean, in my business in particular, which is, you know, we're very food heavy, we'd ordered at no little expense an investment of nearly £12,000 to put a, because of all the issues we've had all summer and all through the autumn with supply chain You know, with shortages of drivers.
I said, you know, we determined as a business that what we do is invest in a large walk-in freezer so that we could, stockpile would be the wrong word, but create products.
If we need to have issues, well, that's full of food.
So we've invested all that money and we filled it full of food and then, you know, There you go.
I feel for you.
I really do feel for you, mate.
Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us.
And I hope, you know, that people actually sort of at some point wake up from the spell and go, you know what, I'm going to go to the pub.
This is nonsense. I think you're absolutely right.
And in there, you know, I put a poem out the other night and that's exactly what I say.
When will we wake up for what to me feels like a spell?
Yeah, I sincerely believe it is a spell.
I really do. And, you know, hopefully something will click in people's heads and they'll open their eyes and we can go back to, you know, some sense of normality.
That would be, well, I'm guessing that's what we would all want, but I think there's a bit of work to do before we get there.
Oh, absolutely. But thanks again for talking to us.
Really appreciate it. My absolute pleasure.
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