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Anyone else wincing at Boris’ manoeuvres to pass the blame

203 replies

Paurie · 23/03/2020 06:33

Exhibit A

So a week ago we were told schools were likely to stay open. Two days ago schools were closed, we were told to avoid pubs and gyms - but encouraged to keep exercising and stay positive. And now it’s ‘Irresponsible Brits flocking to outdoor spaces may force PM into implementing a full lockdown’

Bollocks. It’s utter bollocks.

Lockdown may be forced by the PMs hesitant and wooly-headed leadership. There might have been too many people on Snowdonia - but they were in good faith doing their best to do what they’ve been told. It’s sly and malicious to point the finger at them.

Exhibit B!

The old and vulnerable are being sent letters telling them to stay isolated for four months. For many this will be physically and psychologically near on impossible - whether because the learning curve for them is too high to change their habits, or because they directly rely on others for their care needs, or because 4 months alone is enough to send you round the twist.

This is the price for avoiding a (shorter) full UK lockdown. And in a few months time it will be a sad and regrettable consequence of people failing to follow (impossible) rules that we will see substantial numbers of old people getting sick and being denied a ventilator.

Yes - the situation is bad - but pushing the responsibility (and by implication blame) on terrified and confused octogenarians is just wrong.

Exhibit C

The doctors are not being given personal protective equipment. We are going to have a lot of doctors who get sick as a direct consequence.

What is the betting that the narrative will be that “if only they had washed their hands “or “but we had plenty of face masks if they had only thought to ask” or “COVID-19 patients should have been identified on admission isolated in a separate ward on admission”.

We can’t allow Boris to push the blame onto the people who are most affected by this to cover up the governments lack of clear forward thinking.

OP posts:
Cam77 · 23/03/2020 08:57

@Metoyoutovirtually every paper in the country and every other how the country, has reported how the UK moved from a strategy of mitigation to suppression once reality dawned on them. Herd immunity is simply a blunt way of referring to, or alternatively possibly a final consequence, of a policy of mitigation.
The fact is no other country but us considered mitigation an option, or wasted weeks of valuable time pursuing it.

inlectorecumbit · 23/03/2020 08:58

I think Boris - and l am not generally a fan- is doing a fine job in such a difficult times.
It's not his fault that there are so many stupid stupid people are not heading advice.

SarahInAccounts · 23/03/2020 09:01

@HowIrresponsible

@SarahInAccounts his scientific advisors know more than you

Hilarious. How old are you? Did you stamp your little foot when you typed that.

Fun in the sandpit with the children.

Grow up. If you think Cummings is the sort of adviser Johnson should be listening to there is little hope for you.

Trichinella · 23/03/2020 09:06

You can’t blame Boris for this:

Sunday crowds at Tesco NHS opening time news.sky.com/video/share-11962157

HowIrresponsible · 23/03/2020 09:07

@sarahinaccounts

Post your credentials and your qualifications

Or are you just sarah in accounts GrinFlowers😘

HowIrresponsible · 23/03/2020 09:08

There is little hope for you Sarah if you think Corbyn's shower of fuck muppets would do better

🥰😅🙂🤣😄😂

BiarritzCrackers · 23/03/2020 09:08

There has not been agreement across SAGE at any time, as some of the membership have said. The wider scientific community has very much in disagreement with the claims of being 'led by the science', and were vindicated last week by the turn around, following the Imperial report.

With regard to the Imperial report, a professor in public health at Imperial did a good piece on C4 news last night: it says in that report that they are 'following' that the required social distancing measures need to reduce contacts by 75% to be effective, which just isn't happening.

www.channel4.com/news/there-are-mixed-messages-over-virus-advice-says-professor-helen-ward

MagratsDanglyCharms · 23/03/2020 09:11

No. He's been relying on the scientific advice and avoiding emotive knee-jerk reactions. He has done the right thing. No-one is to blame for the virus (conspiracy theories aside!). It is ok to be scared, and it is ok to be angry OP; those are normal feelings under the circumstances. What I would say though, is to make sure you are not misdirecting those emotions. Stay safe all, look after your, yours, neighbours and friends. This will be far worse before is gets better...

CendrillonSings · 23/03/2020 09:13

I reckon we would have lost the war if social media had been around then and it's a blight now, that much is very clear. A constant 'wall of hate and rage' that helps nobody. It's not edifying and a sad indictment of the baseline of whingeing that passes for 'conversation' here at the moment.

Bloody well said!

PrimeroseHillAnnie · 23/03/2020 09:15

Oh please shut up.

Clavinova · 23/03/2020 09:15

I was under the impression that German restaurants and cafes had closed several weeks ago - apparently not - last week they were open from 6am - 6pm.

slipperywhensparticus · 23/03/2020 09:22

We cannot blame the government for our own fucking irresponsible behaviour

countrygirl99 · 23/03/2020 09:22

The British public are reacting in exactly the same way as people in other countries have. The British government have been able to see that and should have taken it into account. E. Last Friday they should have announced in the morning that all bars and restaurants etc had 1 hour to close to avoid entirely predictable "last night" out rushes.

TheLadyAnneNeville · 23/03/2020 09:25

The lack of PPE for frontline health workers is scandalous. Typical of our Govt.

NotEverythingIsBlackandwhite · 23/03/2020 09:25

I think his decisions And that of his team are evolving with the expert advice he’s being given. Rightly so.
This.

He isn’t to blame for the utter stupidity of the public. It was a clear message and they’ve ignored it.
and this.

IntermittentParps · 23/03/2020 09:25

And they still don't know that lockdown works.
It seems to have worked in China, where they implemented it within hours of the first case.

Charley50 · 23/03/2020 09:27

Saw a 2018 BBC4 documentary called Pandemic, yesterday. It showed us a massive warehouse full of PPE and other equipment expected to be needed in the next pandemic. It said that government was preparing for one as it knew it was only a matter of time.
I think it's shocking that PPE for hospital workers was so low down on the government's priority until now.

IkeaSlave · 23/03/2020 09:29

It could be worse. Trump closed down their pandemic response unit.

Bubblebu · 23/03/2020 09:31

Paurie

I have breast cancer and had a right breast mastectomy on 10 March. My breast cancer nurse went from ordering me into A&E late February when (and my primary school children - who are now being cared for by my sister for 14 days in the highlands of Scotland due to school closures) to now saying the hospital and the GP is shut and under no circumstances should anyone attend any GP hospital or A&E unless they had phoned first and were permitted.
I am self isolating (have been for a bit now) and finding it mind numbingly boring. Can I go for a walk to the local park? Is it ok if I ask my breast nurse about my very painful seroma on the breast they operated on (possibly infected etc) or are all NHS staff now working on Covid - 19 patients (or preparing to). I don't know.
I totally agree with you about the mixed messages from the Government. And from what I can see the NHS is all over the place (not necessarily their fault) but I know a few people as well as me who need treatment / NHS contact who are now being binned off without explanation.

NaturalBornWoman · 23/03/2020 09:34

What I'm wincing at is the constant threads making political capital out of a disaster and making shit up.

NZ stringent track & trace. Early lock down from China & surrounding places. Unfortunately not from Australia. So now 103 cases, no deaths, going into full lockdown.We are an island, we too had that choice

You cannot compare us with NZ, it's utterly stupid to try to say that. For a start millions of people do not go through NZ on their way to other places.

TeaForTara · 23/03/2020 09:36

I do detest the doublespeak of "We have plenty of respirators - but we're trying to get more" and "There is more than enough PPE for front line NHS staff" when the reality on the ground is that they don't have adequate protection. Also the refusal to test most symptomatic people unless they need hospitalisation.

SarahInAccounts · 23/03/2020 09:37

@HowIrresponsible

I bet my brother could lick your brother.

Johnson is a classics graduate who didn't study a science or maths beyond O level. So, as it happens, I'm already better qualified than he is.

Cummings studied History.

I really can't be arsed to spell out exactly where he and Cummings went wrong at the beginning but they went against advice from experts. The herd immunity nonsense was embarrassing.

Bubblebu · 23/03/2020 09:38

Exibit C

reply

Exibit D

Doctors are making money out of this situation by selling Covid 19 testing kits for ££££
metro.co.uk/2020/03/22/doctor-makes-2-5m-one-week-selling-coronavirus-test-kits-12438691/

Clavinova · 23/03/2020 09:39

So much for solidarity -

7th March
"Top European Union officials called on Friday for solidarity among member countries in the face of the coronavirus, responding to moves by some nations to restrict exports on equipment that could be used to combat the outbreak."

"France, Germany and other countries have imposed limits on the export of protective medical equipment, some of which is badly needed but in short supply. Janez Lenarcic, the bloc’s top official for crisis management, said such bans were permitted under European treaties but hinted at a desire to have them removed."

"Member states should make sure that protective equipment is available across Europe, he said. Stella Kyriakides, the European Union health commissioner, put it in simple terms: “Solidarity is key.”

"Maggie De Block, Belgium’s health minister, said on Friday that European Union countries had to be “united” in the distribution of protective face masks."

“Blocking exports between member states is not in the spirit of the European Union,” Ms. De Block said on Twitter, referring to the decision made by Germany and the Czech Republic to ban the export of certain types of protective gear."

"But after a news conference in Brussels, there was little indication that any country was planning to lift its export controls."

www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/business/eu-exports-medical-equipment.html

CendrillonSings · 23/03/2020 09:40

Johnson is a classics graduate who didn't study a science or maths beyond O level. So, as it happens, I'm already better qualified than he is.

That’s nice. Were you a scholar at Oxford too?

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