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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think all those people calling the Welsh first minister a dictator can go eat their words...

145 replies

Allthestarsarecloser · 31/10/2020 06:09

National lockdown looming next week:
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/30/save-christmas-with-covid-lockdown-in-england-experts-say

There have been several threads on here calling Mark Drakeford a dictator, slagging off the welsh firebreak lockdown, commenting on the rules in wales.

Not looking quite so stupid now is he?

Aibu to think that the tories who criticised him can go eat their words? Boris has been missing in action again during the worst crisis in living memory, test and trace has failed etc

OP posts:
noideaatallreally · 31/10/2020 08:31

sorry - OP not PO!

maddening · 31/10/2020 08:32

I think a national lockdown is ridiculous, we have not given any new measures time to work.

Freysimo · 31/10/2020 08:33

I live in Wales. Mark Drakeford was not elected, he inherited his post, and the pandemic has shone a very unwelcome ( to them) light on the Senedd. He chooses not to be up for election next May.

He is rightly ridiculed for the ' firebreak' shopping restrictions. How is it fair for pubs to close when alcohol is freely available in supermarkets?

I really hope the people of Wales wake up next May.

noideaatallreally · 31/10/2020 08:36

Because pubs will lead to people mixing indoors with multiple people from multiple households thus greatly increasing the risk of spreading the virus. Drinking at home does not.

SnackSizeRaisin · 31/10/2020 08:36

OP I don't understand your argument. Virus levels in England are far higher than in most of Wales. There was no need for a Welsh national lockdown at all, just sticking with a few localised ones would have been equally effective, and much less damaging to mental health and business.
That's leaving aside the fact that a 4 month lockdown over the summer wasn't enough - what on earth is 2 weeks going to do?

WorksTheDinerAllDay · 31/10/2020 08:39

Let's be honest OP. If an English man in a blue tie had told you that you couldn't buy a saucepan with your food shop you would have been up in arms, but because it was a Welsh man in a red tie it was apparently OK.

goggygill · 31/10/2020 08:40

I doubt the OP lives in Wales, this thread was just because they clearly wanted an earlier lockdown or fire breaker & want the opportunity to say "we should have done it sooner".

CeibaTree · 31/10/2020 08:41

[quote Allthestarsarecloser]@TeddyIsaHe my whole family is in wales and they all understood the rules. And that’s not the point of this thread as plenty has been said about the welsh rules.

This thread is pointing out that Drakeford was 1000% right & Boris is yet again missing in action, has failed & there’s another lockdown coming next week.[/quote]
But no one said the lockdown in Wales was incorrect - it was the way it was being implemented that was criticised- how have you missed this point?

noideaatallreally · 31/10/2020 08:44

"No one said the lockdown in Wales was incorrect" - I assure you they did. There were several threads on this. Many dictator comments, as well as the usual Wales (and Scotland) governments do stuff just to show they are different.

Orcus · 31/10/2020 08:45

Rather than take that on board some posters then decided to make this about the selling essential goods debate.

Because that's been the primary reason for criticism of Drakeford on here. The OP not having told us that she didn't actually mean this when she started the thread, it in fact can't possibly be a derail.

KarlKennedysDurianFruit · 31/10/2020 08:45

You know there can be more than one twat in politics right?

MoonJelly · 31/10/2020 08:49

[quote Allthestarsarecloser]@TeddyIsaHe except they were designed to stop people unfairly favouring supermarkets & trying to protect local businesses...[/quote]
Which would never work, because people would just favour Amazon instead.

Noideawottodo · 31/10/2020 08:51

@WorksTheDinerAllDay

Let's be honest OP. If an English man in a blue tie had told you that you couldn't buy a saucepan with your food shop you would have been up in arms, but because it was a Welsh man in a red tie it was apparently OK.
Perfectly put.
rollonoctober · 31/10/2020 08:52

You seem to think that this is some kind of "gotcha" moment, with us silly English having to lie down and apologise for daring to suggest the welsh approach was heavy handed. But that suggested that people thought BJ was doing the right thing and that just isn't true. Just because people think MD was wrong in his approach to the lockdown doesn't mean that they automatically think BJ was right in his. In fact, I think most people think they've all got it wrong and we're all screwed as a result!

Ginnymweasley · 31/10/2020 08:53

Honestly I live in wales and many people do support the lockdown. There has been lots of moaning about the essential/non essential rules but I think the vast majority of people have just got on with it.
Personally I think drakeford is the most boring person alive but that doesn't mean he hasn't made the right decisions.
I'm english but have lived in wales for the last 12 years and the longer you live here the more you see the undercurrent of cynical comments towards the welsh govt etc in the media and online.

ithoughtitwouldbeokay · 31/10/2020 09:03

Totally agree OP.

@noideaatallreally also hits the nail. The OP started this thread about one particular point but some posters then just barge in and drag up other points to go off topic.

It was inevitable that Boris/Dominic would have to follow suit at some point but they just need to work out how to sell it without it looking like they're copying Wales or, God forbid, following Starmer's advice. The Welsh Tories will probably pop up again now and claim it was their idea all along.

It's just another U-turn. The latest of many, but not the last.

MoonJelly · 31/10/2020 09:07

I thought Drakeford was absolutely right to impose lockdown over half term to maximise the chances of it working, and I really wish Johnson had had the sense to do the same. But I simply could see no sense in the rules about buying goods from supermarkets. OP, are you actually going to grasp the nettle and explain whether you think he was right about the supermarket rules, and if so, why?

Ginnymweasley · 31/10/2020 09:08

And to people that state nothing anti welsh about it... have you seen that tories are claiming they might have to follow france with a national lockdown, totally ignoring the fact the wales has been in a lockdown for a week. God forbid they admit to doing the same as the welsh.....

moonpig23 · 31/10/2020 09:11

I live in Wales, I think the decision made was the right one. Half term has been a washout weather wise anyway so DD and I have baked, crafted and been lazy all week it has been lovely.

Orcus · 31/10/2020 09:11

I wouldn't be 100% sure our Tory overlords are actually aware that Wales exists.

Original poster
Allthestarsarecloser · 31/10/2020 09:11

@noideaatallreally thanks for getting the point of my thread! And @ithoughtitwouldbeokay too.

OP posts:
MushMonster · 31/10/2020 09:15

The main problem is that they seem to be working against each other, instead of WITH each other. There is nothing wrong on, you know.. being a team! The truth of the matter is that we will not come out of it at least we do it together

noideaatallreally · 31/10/2020 09:17

@MoonJelly

I thought Drakeford was absolutely right to impose lockdown over half term to maximise the chances of it working, and I really wish Johnson had had the sense to do the same. But I simply could see no sense in the rules about buying goods from supermarkets. OP, are you actually going to grasp the nettle and explain whether you think he was right about the supermarket rules, and if so, why?
I'm not the OP, but if you want my opinion? I did agree with the supermarket rules. For one - it's for two weeks - and I seem to have coped just fine at this half way point without buying scented candles and my clothes have also managed not to all spontaneously combust.

Secondly, it was intended to stop supermarkets having a monopoly to protect non essential shops that have had to close - those posters who have complained at the losses to small businesses but at the same time rushed out to buy online because they cannot wait for two weeks really don't have a coherent argument in my opinion.

Thirdly -and I think most importantly. It was intended to cut down on the time people spend together indoors mixing with other households. Less time browsing - a quick in and out to get food and other essential items. In my experience this has worked. I was in asda yesterday and there seemed to be fewer people in there - no queues and no whole families going out for a shop as a leisure activity.

Ginnymweasley · 31/10/2020 09:19

The Tories know wales exist at election time, I live in a county with a tory mp, who lives in Suffolk..... but apparently he understands all about wales as his grandparents lived here and he used to come on holidays Hmm

Original poster
Allthestarsarecloser · 31/10/2020 09:20

@MushMonster well yes but Drakeford wrote to Boris 3 times in the run up to this firebreak to ask him to put in travel restrictions but he didn’t reply. Westminster have zero respect for the devolved nations at all. Boris even stated he was going to override the decision of the WG to build a road in South Wales- something that would bring a legal challenge.

As with many things, the attacks on the WG are deliberate and designed to undermine the democracy of another nation.

OP posts: