Matt Hancock is really struggling to get his words out today!

[Teddypops]

Gosh he is struggling. Forgot the name of one of the advisers.

Someone agrees with me on mumsnet!
I'm always amazed as usually people don't.

Is the head of the armed forces there to announce martial law? I bet loads of people here would love that.

It's getting serious now we have a man in uniform and glasses down his nose!
At least his talking sense.

Well, Whitty has returned! I don’t think Dom is as sincere as MH.

Only on April 1 did the UK government start coordinating with private sector on PPE and lab for testing. Shocking but true. That Hancock still has a job tells you something of the quality of the rest of the cabinet. He makes Trump look polished and competent.

At least in the US, you have governors and mayors to pick up the ball. Here Mayor Khan is just as off his game as the rest of the crowd.

Why do the ministers seem to be getting more short tempered? Hancock yesterday and now Raab today. Some of the veneer seems to be coming off.

Stress and fear, I imagine.

I daresay they're pretty stressed out and knackered Hear

They probably have had enough of the constant criticism. Not used to it.

Labs just like everything else were run down and underfunded through the austerity years. The Guardian did quite a few stories on it.

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/2019/may/01/forensic-science-labs-are-on-the-brink-of-collapse-warns-report

Totally unprepared for this onslaught. Who needs science when you can just lie and pay for bots to pretend everything is ok?

Also an interesting story on how our PPE provider was privatised just before the outbreak.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/22/revealed-private-firm-running-uk-ppe-stockpile-was-sold-in-middle-of-pandemic

"30 March - At least 17 people have died of the coronavirus at a nursing home in northern Germany, according to a new report."

nypost.com/2020/03/31/at-least-17-die-from-coronavirus-at-nursing-home-in-germany/

Sorry it was already privatised, it was d sad old to an American health care company which seemingly failed to secure its assets.

Today 17:57 Ulver

Also an interesting story on how our PPE provider was privatised just before the outbreak.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/22/revealed-private-firm-running-uk-ppe-stockpile-was-sold-in-middle-of-pandemic

Sorry it was already privatised

Andy Burnham - Labour Government 2006;

www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2006-09-11c.119WS.0

Andy Burnham - Labour Government 2006

Haha - the moaners aren’t going to like that!

Ok what happened in 2006 excuses this government now in a pandemic mismanaging their PPE.
I thought conservatives believed in responsibility and tough decisive action?
Blaming a current situation on a previous govt from nearly 15 years ago is bullshit.

But you know I’m sure that doctors with no PPE will accept your excuses about what happened 15 years ago 🙄

In fact I think I will go into work tomorrow and say” you know what, that person you employed 15 years ago is the problem here” and just shrug 🤷‍♀️ while banging on about what a great guy Boris is ( not obese or gross at all!) . I’m sure they will be very understanding and pat me on the back for my amazing insight and I can just sit on my ass for the rest of the day not having to worry about a thing. 🙄

So tory hq aka cendrillion/ clavinova - you're highly amused that andy burnham privatised the procurement agency, bit of an own goal considering the tories would sell off their own grandmothers to the lowest bidder probation service, huge chunks of the nhs, free schools, prisons - all sparkling examples of the 'successful' marketisation of public services ....not

Oh - this is where Cendrillon is?

Did you give up on the question about Churchill then - when you showed you lack of history knowledge

Decisions made years ago can and do have a long-term impact. It's something that needs to be borne in mind when we look at when to start easing lockdown. Shortsighted policies based on an instant gratification approach are rarely the best.

The current government absolutely have messed things up. It's not defending their poor decision to point out they aren't alone in making bad decisions. Labour too failed the NHS. PFI debts continue to cripple it. It's been badly managed and underfunded for decades by all political parties. They're all to blame. It won't help any of us pointing fingers. Instead we need to learn from mistakes and going forwards do things better. Starting now. Note the bad decisions and ensure they're not repeated. Priority should be not easing lockdown too early (so the NHS isn't overwhelmed anymore than it already is), getting hold of enough (accurate) tests, sufficient PPE for frontline staff, advance ordering the promising drug treatments. Next stage face masks for the general public. Then we can look at easing lockdown. If we rush it, there'll be more threads berating government mistakes and complaining about the NHS struggling. We have a chance now to avoid further damage.

when you showed you lack of history knowledge

I think you just showed your lack of grammatical knowledge

Don’t try and deflect. What you know about Churchill could be written on a stamp.

What was that about the joint PPE procurement programme we missed out on?

"On March 3rd, President Emmanuel Macron announced that he was requisitioning “all stocks and the production of protective masks” for distribution to medical personnel and French people infected with Covid-19."

"One fifth of all surgical procedures in the EU use personal protective equipment imported from Asia by the Swedish company Mölnlycke. The company’s main distribution warehouse for southern Europe, Belgium and the Netherlands is in Lyon."

"Mölnlycke’s entire stock of an estimated six million masks was seized by the French. All had been contracted for, including a million masks each for France, Italy and Spain.The rest were destined for Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland, which has special trading status with the EU."

"Italy and Spain urgently needed their masks, so Mölnlycke tried to cover the loss of the confiscated masks by ordering more from suppliers in far east Asia."

"An unknown number of masks in the subsequent shipment, believed to be in the hundreds of thousands, were also confiscated. Mölnlycke refused a request for an interview about the story and would not confirm a colourful version involving a ship’s captain who allegedly halted unloading in Marseille to reroute for the safety of a Belgian port."

www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/coronavirus-european-solidarity-sidelined-as-french-interests-take-priority-1.4216184