Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think we are being lined up for something?

864 replies

BeverForget · 23/05/2024 22:09

I work in food supply chain.
Four of the 'big' grocery retailers have just asked to renegotiate at least four weeks min supply, as opposed to two.
This happened in Feb 2020 as well.
Lots of rhetoric about being on a war footing, from politicos.
And then Sunak essentially jumping ship yesterday, as though he knows there is a crisis on the horizon that he wants no part of.
There is no way that the Tories have a prayer in a July election.
So what do they know that they aren't telling us?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
23
Woozerbug · 24/05/2024 21:33

Can’t even begin to imagine that Labour might be in charge when we go to war! We would be screwed……

And this ladies and gentlemen is what this is all about. It’s a desperate Tory ploy. The amount of threads started on this in the last few days is insane.

Don’t play into it - you’re cleverer than that

ExasperatedDancer · 24/05/2024 21:52

CountFucula · 24/05/2024 21:27

He was also given a Knighthood so… not all bad.

Leader of the LABOUR party has a knighthood. Apparently he’s been a Labour man since his student days. 🙄

Surely if he was a man with the morals he claims to have he would have refused a knighthood on the grounds that they go against everything that Labour stands for in terms of equality of citizens?

But then again Labour has, for many years, repeatedly stated they would abolish the House of Lords if they came into power, and Starmer even said in 2022 he would replace the the Lords with a second elected chamber to ‘restore trust in politics’ as part of the first-term programme of a Labour government.

Well, now it looks like he might just be moving into No 10 later this summer, and suddenly abolishing the Lords is no longer a priority.

I’m sure the fact that ex PMs usually end up in the Lords is mere coincidence…

Moonpie6 · 24/05/2024 21:54

I used to work in a port and several weeks/possibly couple of months before a conflict in the middle east kicked off, tanks and military vehicles started appearing in the port ready to be shipped out.

There was quite a significant number there and they were all lined up neatly like ducks ready to go. There was also red cross vehicles.

Another thing, the port where I worked had ships arriving with crew from all over the world. Those crewmen could freely come and go from the port. No security, they were not checked and that happened all the time.

Illegal immigrants would get off the ships and walk through the port and out into the city.

Honestly people wouldn't believe what happens in the docks. There's a factory in the port that used to run drills and sound an alarm as a practice for if a chemical had been leaked but the thing is, if that chemical blew up it would take everything with it within a 3 mile radius.

Pinkyandthebrain96 · 24/05/2024 21:55

Well has this thread cheered me up not . I have 5 yrs left on my OU degree all my hard work down the pan .Seriously though my DS is a manager in one of the big four supermarkets along with my DFF and neither have mentioned anything to me about them having to get more stocks than usual in .Usual Tory BS , Sunak is failing badly and his minions are leaving like rats leaving a sinking ship .More like he wants to call an election before he is booted out with a vote of no confidence like Boris .Worrying at what could be is a pointless exercise .

Pinkyandthebrain96 · 24/05/2024 21:57

Woozerbug · 24/05/2024 21:33

Can’t even begin to imagine that Labour might be in charge when we go to war! We would be screwed……

And this ladies and gentlemen is what this is all about. It’s a desperate Tory ploy. The amount of threads started on this in the last few days is insane.

Don’t play into it - you’re cleverer than that

Absolutely , sensible comment 🙌.

Itsthedress · 24/05/2024 21:58

Woozerbug · 24/05/2024 21:33

Can’t even begin to imagine that Labour might be in charge when we go to war! We would be screwed……

And this ladies and gentlemen is what this is all about. It’s a desperate Tory ploy. The amount of threads started on this in the last few days is insane.

Don’t play into it - you’re cleverer than that

hear hear

and hear again! 👏

FunnysInLaJardin · 24/05/2024 21:59

while I admit that I haven't RTFT in full, can we stop with the conspiracy theories

FunnysInLaJardin · 24/05/2024 22:01

Woozerbug · 24/05/2024 21:33

Can’t even begin to imagine that Labour might be in charge when we go to war! We would be screwed……

And this ladies and gentlemen is what this is all about. It’s a desperate Tory ploy. The amount of threads started on this in the last few days is insane.

Don’t play into it - you’re cleverer than that

FFS! seriously

Feelinghappytodaywow · 24/05/2024 22:01

Was in such a good mood and now…worried 😟

FunnysInLaJardin · 24/05/2024 22:04

FunnysInLaJardin · 24/05/2024 22:01

FFS! seriously

ahh good, its a piss take 😅

karottybagel · 24/05/2024 22:05

Whu · 23/05/2024 22:36

Well the government did actually do a weird announcement yesterday morning about stockpiling 3 days food and water and other things ‘just in case’. It was then of course completely overshadowed by the election being called.

Yeah.. what was that about. Burying it with an election so we didn't question it

Igotjelly · 24/05/2024 22:20

karottybagel · 24/05/2024 22:05

Yeah.. what was that about. Burying it with an election so we didn't question it

As opposed to instilling fear in the public to avoid them voting for change….. which is of course an election tactic as old as time.

MyrtlethePurpleTurtle · 24/05/2024 22:28

badatdecisions · 24/05/2024 16:19

Read up on what those other countries are doing. That's what we should be doing. And also replacing Trident with something else because it's shit.

Also it won't be a nuclear war (unless North Korea decides to start it, which seems unlikely). It will be more of what we've seen already, drones and targeting energy and water supplies, and cyber warfare, and more powerful regular missiles.

The countries that have the manpower, weapons and money to start a nuclear war are Russia (who won't do it because they're old school in their fighting and don't actually want to destroy places beyond repair, they want to take them for land/empire), the US (who won't do it because they're not immediately threatened geographically, can't justify the cost to the US people for fighting foreign wars, and are like the Airbnb/Uber/Amazon of war because they just use other people's bases, they don't own their own stuff in the rest of the world), China (who won't do it because they prioritise the economy and war would kill it off, they will be happy to supply to both sides and remain relatively neutral in someone else's world war though), and India (who are focused on a population growth and development strategy and don't really care about anything outside India).

Iran, North Korea, etc., are all too small to actually start something, they wouldn't be able to finish it and they'd be decimated.

But it won't happen this year unless Israel loses its mind. There are too many elections happening to interfere in and that's what will be distracting everybody (over half the world's population is going to the polls this year).

Edited

< re the last paragraph: I think Israel has already lost its mind ... >

MyrtlethePurpleTurtle · 24/05/2024 22:35

Woozerbug · 24/05/2024 21:33

Can’t even begin to imagine that Labour might be in charge when we go to war! We would be screwed……

And this ladies and gentlemen is what this is all about. It’s a desperate Tory ploy. The amount of threads started on this in the last few days is insane.

Don’t play into it - you’re cleverer than that

Spot on

Sulley2222 · 24/05/2024 22:55

The government website in the last few days released advise for all citizens to ensure they have three days worth of emergency supplies. The supermarkets had çoncerns regarding panic-buying but this hasn't seemed tò happen. Not sure if that might account foŕ it. It's not uñusual for gòvernment guidañce on prepardness to be issued, but maybe with the way the world us going at the moment it came across as a portent.

Razorwire · 24/05/2024 22:59

Fallenangelofthenorth · 23/05/2024 22:30

Well my partner works in print and I knew about the social distancing stickers the supermarkets were ordering waaay before they stuck them on the floor. Honestly, where do people thinks they appeared from?

YANBU @BeverForget. Supermarkets are not going to order double for no reason. Is this all supermarkets? Or one in particular?

How long ahead? What month were they printing stickers?

justasking111 · 24/05/2024 23:02

Sulley2222 · 24/05/2024 22:55

The government website in the last few days released advise for all citizens to ensure they have three days worth of emergency supplies. The supermarkets had çoncerns regarding panic-buying but this hasn't seemed tò happen. Not sure if that might account foŕ it. It's not uñusual for gòvernment guidañce on prepardness to be issued, but maybe with the way the world us going at the moment it came across as a portent.

Panic buying hasn't happened because no-one believes the government anymore.

Dibbydoos · 24/05/2024 23:07

@BeverForget YANBU. Something is def in the offing and it worries me hugely...

nothingsforgotten · 24/05/2024 23:10

Pollipops1 · 24/05/2024 11:16

Remember the “emergency alerts” for our phones as well? Of course, there’s no reason why the govt might actually use them.

I remember threads about how they were preparing us for something imminently. It’s quite normal in other countries.

Yes it is quite normal, as is advice to be prepared in case of some sort of disaster. For some reason so many in the UK seem to think nothing will ever happen to them - and if it does "the government" is apparently supposed to sort it out, rather than people taking some sort of responsibility for themselves.

SwingingPlantar · 24/05/2024 23:20

Itsabeautufulday · 24/05/2024 20:42

You appear to be replying to your iwn post

Didnt you know they are a distinguished social commentator who is also best friends with a lot of the royals especially Kate?

CurlyhairedAssassin · 24/05/2024 23:22

I'm sure I read something recently which explains it (can't remember where exactly but it was from quite a reputable source, I think. Possibly the Economist, or somewhere like that) It looked into how this type of conspiracy theory thread comes about. From vague memory it said that whenever there is a press release about an update to public information, even though that's literally all there is to it - that there has been a change to some website or other - some bugger will jump on it and assume that BECAUSE it's reported widely in the popular press that there must be a deeper, hidden meaning and "something we're not being told yet". It was analysing the reasons why some people do this.

It explained that all governments do this disaster planning, and have been doing it for years, including ours, but that before the pandemic ours was not given the same focus and thorough revision that other countries's plans have, hence us not being terribly prepared for the pandemic. Also, technological advancements of the last few years have meant that cybersecurity has become much more of a focus. As others have mentioned climate change is bringing extreme weather and this has had an effect on crops around the world, something which I think the National Audit Office found last year that we are underprepared for. So post-pandemic there has been a lot of work done by the government to try to bring us in line with other countries, and of course now and again there will be a press release about it.

With the result that the tabloids seize upon their chance to sell a few newspapers/generate some income online by deciding that this piece of information needs to be on the front page instead of appearing as a small factual paragraph a few pages in. All the better if it appears alongside words like "chilling" or "calamitous" or some other emotive adjective. Then these type of threads appear, because people are just reading the wrong sources, putting 2 and 2 together and making 5.

It's ALWAYS been sensible for households to have some extra supplies of food and water in for short-term need in the event of a severe weather event, power cut, illness etc. The government has advised this for years and years. It's nothing new. Just because public information is tweaked every now and again to stay in line with technology or world events, it doesn't mean that a disaster is imminent in the next month or two.

As a few people have mentioned, though, I don't think it's any coincidence whatsoever that a general election has just been announced. Unsettle people, make them look to the people in charge for reassurance, and each side will use the pandemic for their own argument. The Tories will try to suggest that they led the country successfully through the pandemic and they "protected the NHS". Labour will bang on about Partygate and hypocrisy and the upset to the economy. It's going to be like watching 2 schoolkids arguing over whose fault it was that the school guinea pig got out. I can't wait. 🙄

Sweden99 · 24/05/2024 23:30

Malo05 · 24/05/2024 20:02

I disagree. The only people I know of getting covid were the ones who were vaccinated like x5. Never been vaccinated and never had it and that goes for everyone I knew who weren't vaccinated, all of which worked through lockdown and not wfh.

You see my experience and your experience is different. My approach or experience might not be across the board and neither may yours.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion

Again, I would think the experience of people who were working in ICU is more important that your experience or mine.
But that requires you not putting yourself at the centre of the Universe.

nothingsforgotten · 24/05/2024 23:31

ItsTapasTime · 24/05/2024 17:45

I really don’t think we are heading for nuclear war, zombie apocalypse, etc, but there are problems with the food supply chain. The Ukrainian war has impacted supplies of cooking oil and grain. The UK’s wet winter/spring will impact on summer crops. Europe has also had crazy weather and that may impact their food production. Brexit ( the gift that just keeps giving 🙄) will impact our imports. And finally…. at least one water company is in dire straits. I’m sure there will be contingency plans in place, but it would be sensible to have a couple of days worth of bottled water.

If you have the finances and room to store some basics, then do so ( without crazy panic buying), that way the government can concentrate on those who have less resources and will need help.

It's good to see there are some MNers with common sense. Honestly, some of these posts are just mad.

Sweden99 · 24/05/2024 23:36

nothingsforgotten · 24/05/2024 23:31

It's good to see there are some MNers with common sense. Honestly, some of these posts are just mad.

Yes.
The situation is that the UK in particular has had this warning from their Government, just before trade disruption brought in by brexit.
That people are assuming it is because of a zombie apocalypse is very stupid of them.

beergiggles · 24/05/2024 23:47

If you have the finances and room to store some basics, then do so ( without crazy panic buying), that way the government can concentrate on those who have less resources and will need help
Obviously this advice is correct & proper, BUT if there are food shortages I fear that the wealthy & strong will grab it all while the poor & weak get none😑