Do all those who think we are entering lockdown because the Tories are incompetent...

[BertieBloopsMum]

... also think the same thing about Macron and Merkle?

[BefuddledPerson]

@sashagabadon we are not even at 10% yet, and a big change since that statement is the expectation of reinfection, which means catching it doesn't improve things.

[CremeEggThief]

No, just Boris.

[JamieLeeCurtains]

'package of measures
package of measures
pieces of eight
squawk
look at the website'

Embarrassing.

[BefuddledPerson]

Don't forget:

Ramping up
Ramping up
Ramping up

[Janaih]

Johnson and his ilk have made a bad situation worse. Alas indeed.

[JamieLeeCurtains]

'it was right to try to avoid a national lockdown for as long as we could ...'

Johnson is shamelessly deflecting now: 'some scientists don't believe such measures are necessary ...'

What is he actually arguing for??

Every MP who has asked him for published evidence for his actions/inactions has been told, 'in due course', or he'll 'share it' with individual Tory MPs.

[WineGummyBear]

Things i blame Boris for:

• rubbish communications with other leaders of devolved nations leading to a confusing and incoherent approach

• poor compliance with rules directly attributable to the Cummings debacle. (I'm not even angry DC about breaking the rules. It's the lying which undermined ALL of the public health messaging. Whitty and Valance must have been horrified). This damage cannot be undone and will definitely be a factor in our stats

• NHS in a very poor state to withstand a pandemic due to a decade of Tory underfunding

• the certain knowledge that our pandemic experience is about to become a whole lot more painful when we have Brexit chaos - coming soon

Things i don't blame Boris for:

• second lockdown (most countries have one)

• the timing of the lockdowns- too many variables, no consensus between scientists, economic factors

Things i have not decided whether or not to blame Boris:

• T&T. Do other countries have better ones?

[RedMarauder]

@MummyPop00

Gov are hedging their bets all things considered I think. We don’t have enough compliance for frequent lockdowns or indeed T&T. It’s ok being NZ if there is definitely going to be a decent vaccine. If not, and this rumbles on we’re suddenly in a better position than them as more of our population will have already had it.

Oh good more people with long Covid...

[user1494050295]

It’s the same shitshow in Swiss. Spoke to a number of people there last week. Disaster

[Walkaround]

The difference between Macron and Merkle, and Johnson, is that Johnson doesn’t seem to learn from similar countries’ experiences when he could, and instead firmly sets out on one path, then changes tack several weeks too late, even though he could see what was coming by looking at the other European countries ahead of him in the cycle. He thus maximises both health and economic harms and shows he doesn’t have confidence in his own approach. He also over-promises and under delivers, and doesn’t sack people who should be sacked. I don’t think he has anything in common with Angela Merkle, who you could forgive for being wrong in retrospect, because she is much more measured than he is and has a massive track record behind her of brilliant leadership. He has a track record of lying and over-promising, so it is harder to have confidence in him.

[InFiveMins]

Nope. The thought of people genuinely believing Corbyn could have done any better is laughable. Doesn't matter what party is in power - the virus is here and we would face the exact same challenges under Labour (or any other party).

[compulsiveliar2019]

It's a shitshow. Bad decisions made by our leaders. Playing politics instead of making sensible decisions.
School reopening could have been made so much safer by bubbling children differently.
The PPE situation was diabolical.

Ultimately lockdowns don't work as a long term strategy. Every time we lockdown the economic impact is made worse as is the overall health and well-being of the nation. It's time to start making proactive decisions and getting ahead of the virus rather than playing catch up all the time.

[JamieLeeCurtains]

The thought of people genuinely believing Corbyn could have done any better is laughable

Keep up.

He's not even in the Labour Party currently.

It's like saying 'your mum is rubbish at lockdowns, she is.'

[ThousandsAreSailing]

Compare our death rate with Germany then try to claim our crappy government is doing a good job
And we still have to cope with the impact of brexit

[BertieBloopsMum]

@CremeEggThief

No, just Boris.

Yes, because only this country is going into lockdown this week, in the whole of Europe

[BertieBloopsMum]

@ThousandsAreSailing

Compare our death rate with Germany then try to claim our crappy government is doing a good job
And we still have to cope with the impact of brexit

The question was about lockdown. Our death rate may be higher than Germany's, but they're going into lockdown this week as well. For a month.

[JamieLeeCurtains]

John Crace has it about right:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/nov/02/subdued-johnson-just-a-piece-of-flotsam-being-buffeted-around

[KenDodd]

From the OP it sounds like you think Johnson and co ARE competent !?!?

[jasjas1973]

@BertieBloopsMum Deaths per capita: Germany 12, France 55, UK 70.
In fact only Spain and Belgium are higher, our excess death rate is the highest in Europe.

UK isn't in Schengen, so still has border control, so you'd think the UK would be doing better?

We locked down later and for longer than France, our economy is forecast to have the lowest growth of any G7 country.

Finally, neither Merkle or Macron caught CV nor did they ever talk about herd immunity or saying shaking hands with sick people during a pandemic was a good idea.

We need serious leaders during a crisis, not an idiot.

[Greektome]

Yes, there is evidence that the UK government has been handing out contracts to friends and donors. There's loads of evidence. There's a court case going on about it at the moment. They 've published documents showing that there was a special process for "VIPs and donors [to the conservative party]" and that their prices should not be questioned unless they were more than 25% (!!!) higher than the average. There were cases of cronies of government ministers with no previous experience of manufacturing PPE opening up tiny companies and immediately being given massive PPE contracts with no competitive tendering. Some of the PPE produced was faulty and had to be binned in large quantities.

[ThousandsAreSailing]

BertieBloopsMum
Why would the question only be about lock down? How ridiculous. Do you know the reason to lock down is to save lives?
Is that the only way you can try to prove our government is not incompetent by looking at one stage and not the final result?

[herecomesthsun]

@KenDodd

From the OP it sounds like you think Johnson and co ARE competent !?!?

OP, if that's so, you should write to him and tell him! It would be so nice for him to think that there is one person in the UK who thinks he is competent!

[EssentialHummus]

The difference between Macron and Merkle, and Johnson, is that Johnson doesn’t seem to learn from similar countries’ experiences when he could, and instead firmly sets out on one path, then changes tack several weeks too late, even though he could see what was coming by looking at the other European countries ahead of him in the cycle. He thus maximises both health and economic harms and shows he doesn’t have confidence in his own approach. He also over-promises and under delivers, and doesn’t sack people who should be sacked.

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

I'm not a scientist. I watched the news coming in from China and then Italy and thought, hmm, you know what, strange that we aren't testing people on arrival. And do we really need Cheltenham / that Liverpool match against a Spanish team right now? Likewise with hand-shaking, likewise with masks, likewise with the effects of thousands of 18 year olds migrating across the country like a fucking herd of wildebeest on the Serengeti. The government didn't even need to be innovative.

[annabel85]

It's like the first time though. We'll get hit worst in Europe because of the government's dithering.

Missing half term for a circuit break and then locking down the week the schools go back. Genius.

[ssd]

The op loves Boris & Co, I've seen them on other threads.