Caller distraught at society's 'disgraceful lack of compassion' during coronavirus crisis
6 October 2020, 13:16 | Updated: 6 October 2020, 13:58
Caller upset at society's "lack of compassion" during coronavirus crisis
This is the moment a caller told LBC that he finds society's "lack of compassion" during the coronavirus crisis disgraceful.
Terry, 59, from Birmingham, called into LBC following the emergence of footage of a son in Milton Keynes being ordered by an official to stop comforting his mother at his father's funeral.
A spokesman for Milton Keynes Council, which is in charge of Crownhill Crematorium where the incident took place, has since apologised for what happened.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari, Terry said: "We like to tell each other how to live...without us actually following those rules ourselves.
"We've got people, parents, grandmothers, mothers, dying in care homes on their own with no family around them for months and months and months.
😌🙏🏻 Socially distanced funerals 🙏🏻😌 We were contacted by a resident who recently said goodbye to his father at Crownhill Crematorium. They wanted us to help highlight how traumatic and upsetting the experience of a funeral now is, on top of the already sadness people feel when laying somebody to rest. In this video, you will see a son move his chair to comfort his mother, at his fathers, her husbands, funeral. A staff member then quickly moved and asks them all to move back to where the chairs originally were. “We are absolutely heartbroken. Me and my brother haven’t been able to leave my mums side for two weeks as it is, being there for my Mum, within her bubble. I can sit in a restaurant, I can sit in a pub, I can live at her house, I can travel in a limousine to the crematorium with 6. But when I want to give my mum a cuddle at dads funeral, a man flies out mid service shouting stop the service and makes us split. It scared my daughter and shocked everyone in the room. This is not how funerals should be and with the guidelines in place for pubs, bars, public transport etc, how this can carry on at funerals is beyond belief. A devastating day made even worse.” Have you been to a funeral? Was the set up exactly as in this video? How did you find it? Please share.. the resident wants this to go as far and wide as possible. It may be the start of a change, power to the people. This is not an attack on the staff member. He has a job to do and is following government guidelines which ultimately pays his bills. The way he spoke is questionable but this would never have happened if common sense was used to implement guidelines for funerals. UPDATE: The council have apologised to the family and have confirmed bubbles will not be able to sit together. The national news are supporting this family and you’ll be hearing lots more on this story in the coming days.
Posted by Milton Keynes Community Hub on Saturday, 3 October 2020
"We have people at funerals that people think it's legitimate to walk up to at a funeral while they're consoling their mother and tell them off.
"What a state we're in and it's ridiculous. And it's that total lack of compassion for each other as human beings..."
Nick then asked the caller if he thought society would regain compassion after the UK gets through the coronavirus crisis.
Terry said: "The mentality that we're entering into now, and the almost hysteria and paranoia, will be a legacy with us for years and years to come."
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He added: "I've got teenage children. They can't find jobs because there are no jobs. They're on short-hours contracts, so they've got no security there."
"My generation, and I'm 59, have sold the younger generation down the river."
Terry finished by calling the state the country finds itself in "a complete and utter terrible disgrace".
