Euan Lawson
January Debrief — The Political Doctor
My Debrief for the January 2020 issue is available on the BJGP website.° It was an odd one to write and it already feels like a long time ago. The lag with monthly publication always leaves me slightly disorientated when articles are published. I’m working ahead and, suddenly, something written many weeks in the past bobs back up. This one was particularly unusual as I wrote it in the feverish week before the general election and it was published a couple of weeks after.
I was determined to write something political but I didn’t want, with this particular article, to be overtly partisan. Not that I have a problem with that. I don’t think you’d have to dig too far back into my writings to determine where my loyalties lie but I figured the timing was critical here. I hesitate to invoke the imagery of a party to characterise the election campaign but further comment in the BJGP might have been about as welcome as being offered the previous night’s leftover cold kebab while nursing a brutal hangover. All that said, there has been an interesting reaction to it and it seems to have struck a note with a few people.
For those of the left-leaning persuasion, it’s tremendously easy to lurch into apathy, if not outright despair. Personally, I plan to find ways to dig in and get more involved. The responses I’ve had suggest I’m certainly not alone. Get in touch if you want to talk about it.