Anti-vaxxers angry over Tesco Christmas ad need to get a grip | Emma Kay

Are people causing mayhem over their meal deal? Or is there another caterpillar cake crime spree?

Nope. Anti-vaxxers have climbed out of the wailing woodwork to scream and shout about the Tesco Christmas advert.

Their crime? They’ve featured Father Christmas bearing a Covid vaccine pass.

The advert, titled This Christmas, Nothing’s Stopping Us, is a short video clip showing a post lockdown festivity and celebration. Now, #BoycottTesco has been trending on Twitter and I find myself with my head in my hands in despair. Is this really where we are at?

We are still being bombarded with anti-vaxxer vexing like a snow storm on social media. These extremist endorsers are pulling people into dangerous viewpoints that threaten the lives of others just so they can be the loudest in the room. Well, I say we can be louder.

Those who need help the most are the ones to be denied

Last month, so many of the public were rightfully reeling from the unfriendly government decision, to cut the Universal Credit uplift.

Aside from all the obvious problems that a reduction in financial support will cause so many in our country, there has also been a massive oversight.

It has come to light that there have been millions of people who have been claiming various benefits, such as Job Seeker’s Allowance and Employment Support Allowance, who were never given this important £20 uplift during Covid in the first place. They went entirely without.

The majority of those claiming these benefits were, of course, disabled people, the very ones hit hardest by the pandemic wave. The very ones who would need that £20 uplift the most. They already have a much higher cost of living than those not affected by a disability, with an average in excess of £583 a month if you are disabled. Furthermore, the 24 per cent of families with a disabled child are experiencing an additional cost of up to £1,000 a month. The extra day to day bits and pieces needed just to keep their heads above water must be unimaginably difficult, adding to an already stressful existence.

And what happened after that? Electricity, gas and petrol bills started to rise, adding further stress and pressure to make ends meet for people who are already immensely vulnerable and overlooked with an ever constant requisite to prove they are desperately in need of support from what would appear to many to be an uncaring authority that in so many cases is consistently failing them.

It is no surprise they have little to no faith in a system that rarely appears to take their needs into consideration. Navigating through the benefits system to get the help you are entitled to can be mentally draining and exhausting with a request to forever prove you are ‘worthy’ of support.

A survey by the Disability Benefits Consortium discovered that 66 per cent of disabled people on legitimate benefits had, at some stage throughout the pandemic, to go without essentials such as medication, heating and even food due to higher costs.

The survey also highlighted a further 44 per cent of disabled people claiming JSA and ESA had raised the issue that they had struggled to pay mortgage, rent or general household bills.

This group of people have been denied help when they needed it the most. How do you defend that during one of the worst crisis of our time?

The millions of people that were excluded from the Universal Credit uplift need to be compensated from this unfair decision. The Department of Work and Pensions needs to urgently look at their plight.

Time to make a crucial substitution

Top-flight football clubs need to forego flying to domestic matches.

Sure, it is quick and convenient but the cost to our world is high. The environmental factor should really be embedded into our top leagues.

Taking a flight for a very manageable road or train journey is lazy, wasteful and reeks of exclusivity. Flights produce CO2 from burning fuel which contributes to global warming.

Emissions per kilometre are significantly higher than other forms of transport. Manchester United came under fire when they flew to Leicester in October, a 100 mile journey with a flight time of some 10 minutes.

It is surely time to substitute air travel. Footballers are well-used to substitutions.

Adding two or three hours to a journey, many others have to regularly do, is not much to ask.

Players have a huge platform and can influence millions of people about caring for our environment.