Open letter to Boris Johnson
Mothers Rise Up
July 27, 2020
Dear Prime Minister,
The last few months have been some of the hardest this nation has faced in decades. We have experienced the devastation of losing loved ones, the exhaustion of caring for and educating our kids 24/7, the anxiety of losing a job, and the heartache of being unable to see our families and friends.
We understand the urgent need to get our ailing economy back on its feet. Young people – our children – have been most likely to lose their jobs or see their income drop during lockdown, and youth unemployment in the UK is predicted to hit one million by the end of the year.
We also know that we can’t build our way out of one disaster by supercharging the next. If climate emissions are allowed to rebound to pre-pandemic levels the consequences for our children’s lives and livelihoods will be catastrophic – and it is children from the poorest and most disadvantaged communities here in the UK, and across the globe, who will be hardest hit. Put simply, we cannot afford to slide back into fossil fuelled business as usual.