@sheepandcow thank you
@dragongirl110 why not the basic income?
As I said a lot easier and therefore very likely cheaper to implement than all the bits and pieces of randomness they brought in.
I have friends who work in dwp who’ve been dealing with those furloughed, made redundant and otherwise facing lower income and the hours they’ve had to put in are insane! Plus they’re frazzled with new rules coming in pretty much daily at one point which led to many errors as they simply couldn’t keep up!
An UBI, even a temporary one, say 6 months then review? Could’ve been implemented quickly and simply.
The knock on effect on things like tenants being able to pay their rent would have been better for the country too.
That they would have policed what we had more vigorously or that they would have restricted people's movement more
Both!
Police and councils weren’t given strong enough powers to enforce
Peoples movements were an utter piss take! Right from who was defined as a key worker to what constituted a reasonable amount of exercise and how far people could travel and how to take exercise.
I’ve friends and family across the world and the countries/places where they better contained the virus had more stringent rules on such things eg people had to remain within a certain radius of home for shopping, exercise etc
I would have postponed Brexit and fully participated in any EU shared efforts re PPE, ventilators, vaccines. yes!
Now we’re facing a no deal Brexit at the same time as the height of winter illness NORMALLY plus a likely 2nd wave of cv
I would have admitted people into hospital with lesser symptoms. I suspect this was avoided in order to keep pictures of overrun hospitals out of the press.
Yes! But this is a long term issue with how the nhs is run in my opinion - whole other thread he’ll whole other forum really! But this ridiculous reactive rather than preventive model we have is crazy! It leaves patients suffering and must cost the country billions in terms of lost working days, up to the point of people becoming unemployed and having to rely on benefits, repeated gp visits, treatment of symptoms with no diagnosis over many years... personally aside from cv I think everyone should have a full medical check up annually, end the insanity that is penalising gp surgeries for making referrals to specialists, implement a system of preventive medicine with an emphasis on diagnosis.
I would have ensured that messaging was clear and not patronising, passing on all information, not simply three word soundbites. while I understand and agree with your intent here there is reasoning behind 3 word phrases to get important messages across. It’s basically a concentrated form of 3 part rhetoric and used in advertising, political speech writing etc because its memorable, should be formulated so its easy to understand and contain the 3 elements required to form a rhetorical argument.
Where they failed is coming up with crap 3 word phrases! They need better writers!
Just off the top of my head maybe...
Prepare, protect, prevent?
I would have sacked any advisor who broke the rules and would have personally followed them to the letter.
Yes they are completely arrogant and dismissive of the “lead by example” concept!
but I think many European countries didn’t learn from what countries in Asia were doing I think there was a VERY colonial ignorance here, that they thought that these countries were hit hard by the virus purely because they were not “as competent” as Europeans would be - which is of course and has proven to be total bullshit!
Totally agree the seeming complete lack of a contingency plan for something which as you say is a known likely occurrence was shocking!
Having worked in the civil service I feel sure they had something but that this govt hubristically thought they could do better!
Time after time they rejected the advice from experienced experts.
@Hollyhead - there was a drop in cases yes but I was using hyperbole obviously! There’d have been a MUCH better result if they’d not Fannied about! Plus I’m very sceptical about the claimed stats anyway given the utter chaos around testing and tracing! And quite frankly I don’t trust this govt not to outright lie through their teeth anyway!
it would have been very hard to get people to accept a lockdown then
I’m not generally a fan of draconian govt but sometimes it’s necessary to enforce things, that’s what should have been done here!
A major problem throughout has been that the rules haven’t been clear or they’re contradictory!
Clear, simple rules and enforcement would have made a huge difference.
Eg We had pathetic poorly enforceable fines and sanctions for breaking of the rules and no clear one method of reporting those breaking the rules, even those enforcing weren’t/aren’t sure who’s responsible for what!
Locally to me there was an incident involving a clear and very stupid breach of the rules but the authorities didn’t know what they could do about it! Eventually it was figured out and the people - poorly - sanctioned but it really should have been possible for in this instance the police to step in and shut the issue down and deal with those responsible.
Yes we DID fail the vulnerable but we failed everyone else too!
Having worked in elderly nursing in the past I am wary of getting started there as SO MUCH was wrong imo, pretty much everything that happened!
But to try to summarise:
1 Locked down all elderly care homes nursing and residential in terms of
A no visitors
B stopping the movement of staff between different homes (in the past it was more rare that staff worked in more than perhaps 2 homes even agency staff, but with the economy in the shit that has of course changed and it’s now I hear not uncommon for staff to work across as many as 8-10 homes! Personally I think this should be banned full stop for infection control reason but this govt doesn’t give a damn about these residents because while pensioners are the group most likely to vote, home residents generally tend not to or are no longer able to due to mental incapacity
C I’d even have looked at limiting hcp visitors where possible.
2 as many pps have said utilised the nightingale centres as an intermediate care zone for those residents due to be discharged from hospital, asymptomatic or minor symptoms but positive for covid.
3 introduced a scheme of refresher emergency training for former care workers who were willing at this time to return to the work temporarily.
4 introduced a sensible emergency recruitment scheme for non care staff needed in the homes and/or nightingale centres - cleaners, caterers etc
As an addendum to my first post
Supermarkets!
They should have shut down the panic buying crap straight away and as they didn’t the govt should have stepped in and basically told them to get a fucking grip!
Prior to lockdown I was a regular online Sainsburys shopper.
I am disabled and housebound...but not in the shielding group
Literally overnight I could not get a delivery slot with them, they refused to read emails and their phones weren’t being answered for HOURS and that was IF you could get through at all.
I turned to others but struggled to get delivery slots with them too although they were more helpful in terms of getting through by phone etc
As we all know certain crucial items became extremely difficult to get. WHY both supermarkets and manufacturers (which I’ve NEVER seen the manufacturers response even MENTIONED anywhere) didn’t immediately and sensibly respond to the increase in demand and implement a system of rationing.
The supermarkets have PROFITED from this in ways that are morally dubious too!
Delivery fees shot up pretty much immediately, their nod to rationing in stopping multibuy offers didn’t prevent panic buying just made it work in their favour!
but we respond (and comply) far more positively to a leader who tells the truth, is clear, and actually appears to care absolutely
@Bloomburger - and what are Johnson’s and the rest of his govts qualifications? He’s a glorified copy boy!