In this #COVID19 crisis, some worry about having a eugenics nutjob like Cummings in charge... Before rubbishing this as alarmist, please consider Charles Trevelyan, the Treasury official placed in charge of relief during the Irish famine in the1840s. #ToriesOut

We tend to assume that our government would *never* consciously do anything to damage its own people... Trevelyan, however, took the psychopathic view that the famine was divine intervention on the feckless poor... #history #famine #Ireland #capitalism

This was at a time when - even during the years of famine - Ireland was exporting around 300,000 tons of grain to England per annum. Fully *one million* Irish people are believed to have died due to the famine, and around two million emigrated. #resist #ToriesOut

But Trevelyan was more concerned about preventing disruption to commerce... Writing later about his “relief” work, he had this to say... #ToriesOut #eugenics #CummingsOut

Astonishingly, he was knighted for his work on the famine, & was later given a baronetcy, which his descendants still possess. This is a reminder that Trevelyan was NOT some rogue nutjob, but fully a part of the establishment, the one that still “governs” us... #ToriesOut

The fact that this lunatic, practically genocidal policy was carried out by a UK Treasury official also demonstrates the urgent need to criticise the government and hold it to account: crisis does NOT mean a free pass for bad decisions. #resist #ToriesOut #JohnsonMustGo

I came across Charles Trevelyan in this extraordinarily interesting book from @_RajPatel and @oikeios... Very highly recommended! @VersoBooks #resist #ToriesOut #COVID19