Niall McCrae is a regular writer on social and political affairs for Salisbury Review, Politicalite, Gateway Pundit and Bruges Group websites. He is the author of three books: The Moon and Madness (2011), Echoes from the Corridors (with Peter Nolan, 2016) and the forthcoming Moralitis: a Cultural Virus (with Robert Oulds, 2020).
Lockdown, arguably, has contributed to mortality from the coronavirus pandemic rather than reduced it, by sending young people back to family homes from suspended study or work, and by extended families in poorer ethnic communities infecting each other in overcrowded flats. Similarly, the attempt by politicians, social media companies and broadcasters to silence conspiracy theories is counterproductive. The more authoritarian and secretive the state, the more speculation about ulterior motives or hidden agendas.
Conspiracy theorists weave strands of disparate detail together to make a patchwork. But use of the philosophical tool of Occam’s razor, whereby only the most straightforward explanation is accepted, could rip this apart. Outlandish beliefs about JFK, Princess Diana or the Twin Towers are not necessarily wrong, but the burden of proof is with the speculators.
The notion of the New World Order may be deconstructed, but many of its fragments are entirely factual. One can disregard the message of David Icke but be impressed by his encyclopaedic knowledge. The facts remain, however far-fetched the theory. So too with Covid-19. Here are key pieces of information, scarcely reported in mainstream media, from which a jigsaw may be made: –
- ‘Wet markets’, where bats and other live animals are sold for human consumption, exist throughout the Far East. Was it mere coincidence that the virus started in Wuhan, a city with a research institute heavily involved in viral research on bats?
- Shi Zhengli, a prominent researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (known as ‘Bat Woman’) has co-authored several papers on coronaviruses created in the laboratory. These synthetic viruses demonstrate bat-to-human transmission, sometimes with monkeys as a conduit.
- In nature, zoonotic transmission occurs unpredictably (e.g. SARS in 2003): was the purpose of the research in Wuhan to control this process?
- Leading virologists have expressed concern about this research: Simon Wain-Hobson of the Pasteur Institute in Paris warned: ‘If the virus escaped, nobody could predict the trajectory’. The US National Institute of Health collaborated with Wuhan Institute of Virology, but withdrew in 2014 due to safety concerns.
- The source of Covid-19 was reported as a horseshoe bat, presumably through human contact at the Huanan seafood market. Yet no bats are sold at this wet market, according to a scientific paper by South China University of Technology researchers (now removed).
- Wuhan Institute of Virology gets its supply of horseshoe bats from caves 900 miles away in Yunnan province.
- Covid-19 is highly similar to a bat coronavirus previously discovered by the Nanjing Military Research Institute. Molecular biologist Judy A Mikowitz doubts whether Covid-19 was transmitted directly from bats: ‘I certainly believe that the 100% amino acid similarity says it can’t possibly be a natural mutation. It almost certainly is a recombination event that was laboratory driven’.
- ‘Patient Zero’ could be research graduate Huang Yanking, whose papers were mysteriously removed from Wuhan Institute’ of Virology website.
- The Huanan marketplace was closed on 1st January and disinfected. But a study in the Lancet showed that of 41 early cases, 17 had no history of exposure to this market.
- China initially tried to cover up the virus, detaining a doctor who raised the alert, threatening whistleblowers, and denying human-to-human transmission for weeks after this was apparent.
- Wuhan was locked down on 23rd January, with road, rail and river links closed, yet the airport remained open for international flights.
- WHO failed to declare a public health emergency until 30th January, when the disease had already spread to other countries. Tedros, its chief, met President Xi on 29th January and delivered a sycophantic speech on his handling of the outbreak. For many years China has been gaining power over United Nations agencies.
- With Chinese support, WHO advised that borders should remain open, with no restriction on flights (although when the outbreak declined in China, all flights from overseas were stopped).
- China exploited Western liberal sensitivities about racism, deflecting attention away from its culpability for the pandemic. It sponsored the ‘Hug a Chinese’ stunts in Italy, the initial epicentre of the virus in Europe.
- Flights continued to British airports from Covid-19 hotspots throughout the outbreak, even after a curfew imposed on citizens, who were told ‘Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’. Why did this not apply to potential virus spreaders from abroad?
- Few deaths occurred in other parts of China, despite cases having been reported in most regions. Why did the disease not spread there, as it did in Europe and USA?
- Lockdown was enforced by most countries, informed by the Wuhan response, but without evidence that it was necessary or that it saves lives. With Chinese businesses back up and running, the West faces economic carnage.
China could bolster its power following Covid-19. Huawei could profit from lowering of opposition to its controversial 5G technology, which Western governments insisted was vital for emergency services. Chinese manufacturers of surveillance systems (including Hikvision) will do well. We should also consider the globalist elite who could benefit from the pandemic, such as Bill Gates with his vaccination crusade, and all who are working towards a cashless society (thus enabling global control of citizens).
Will we be locked down forever?