Westministenders: Crisis, which crisis ?

[BigChocFrenzy]

Main crises facing the government:

. Negotiating a Brexit deal with the EU
. Coronoavirus
. Floods
. Allegations of some ministers - and Cummings - bullying civil servants
. More trouble threatened from Turkey / Syria

Unfortunately with all these parallel crises, we have a workshy lying arse as PM
and the worst collection yet of incompetents in Cabinet
who seem to have decided on a strategy of bullying their civil servants to avoid hearing any facts that don't fit with current Tory party ideology

This is awful. How have we come to this? You get the government you deserve. How have we come to deserve a government that has no soul, no humanity, no common decency?

DGR
The guy plays outside the Pantheon every night. He is very, very good.
I suspect Gilmour and co are not too worried about him.

How have we come to deserve a government that has no soul, no humanity, no common decency?
Universal suffrage - now we find out how many of our neighbours actually think

I have written about 10 furious messages about the current state of A&E -before- the pandemic hits to the COVID19 thread and it's feeble army of "let's give poor boris a chance" tory apologists who have voted us over a decade into the onourknees state we're in and then deleted them and not posted them. What's the point. Why panic them now. Gimme a face mask and let's crack on

What do we call the step down from Corridor Medicine anyway? Tent In a Car Park Medicine?

Military style field hospitals I imagine. They'll be proper patriotic, just like when we won the war

.

Disgraceful and desering of impeachment:
BJ prioritising politics over protecting the country from pandemics 🤦🏻‍♀️ 😡
including the current Coronavirus crisi

No 10 and Department of Health clash over access to EU pandemic warning system in wake of coronavirus

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/03/01/downing-street-department-health-locked-row-access-eu-pandemic/

Matt Hancock's department wanted to retain membership of the Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) as part of the EU-UK futurere_ relationship deal – but Number  10 said no,^
....
Senior health advisers warned that exiting the EWRS – which has helped coordinate the response to the virus and played a vital role during the bird flu outbreak – would put public health at risk.

However, the British negotiating team, which reports to Boris Johnson, did not want to blur the UK's request for a basic, Canada-style trade deal, it is claimed.
....
The Telegraph understands that Mr Hancock sought permission early last month to travel to Brussels to discuss coronavirus with his EU counterparts, but was refused by Downing Street.

The UK retains access to the EWRS system until Jan 1 next year as part of its standstill transition deal.

squid4 I was loitering on there. I get it.

Forbidding Hancock to travel to Brussels is not making full use even of the transition period
Why would BJ be so fucking irresponsible ?

Perhaps Hancock should just go - and then let Johnson sack him.

It's basically, for Trump and Johnson leadership, an exercise in exactly how far they can go. Very similar in feel to Putin and other dictators. Seemingly entirely unfettered.

"Perhaps Hancock should just go - and then let Johnson sack him."

I suspect Hancock is far too fond of being a Cabinet Minister to do that
Let us see if he has any limits

But on the other hand if Hancock was fired, with Priti under the spotlight, who could Johnson replace them with ....

A big majority is only relaxing until the back benchers start to revolt
(many of them are already revolting)

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/01/home-office-row-is-the-new-normal-says-civil-servants-union-leader

Boris Johnson has given a green light to ministers who wish to smear the reputations of top civil servants,
a union leader has claimed,
as a further allegation of unacceptable behaviour against the home secretary, Priti Patel, emerged on Sunday night.

Following explosive claims from her former permanent secretary, Sir Philip Rutnam, that Patel lied and bullied staff, Dave Penman, the head of the senior civil servants union, the FDA, said that
the prime minister and his closest aides have “ripped up the rule book” that ensured the ministers do not attack civil servants.

Penman said the use of unattributable comments and smears against Rutnam were part of a campaign by No 10 to undermine senior mandarins.

WE need to support these folks and remind our MPs to lead by example
www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-standards-in-england-25-years-since-the-creation-of-cspl

Meanwhile we can all be reassured now that the government 'pledges to maintain maintain food standards and stresses that the NHS is "not on the table"' in their discussion' in their UK/US FTA talks. Good. That's that then. Now that Boris has promised we can all heave a sigh of relief. We know he's a man of his word. What could possibly go wrong there?

Official EU site on Coronavirus, useful links:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/health/coronavirus-response_en#calendar

PMK. Thanks, BCF.

YY to the revolting back benchers..

Clavinova
Tweeting remarks like this (2017) probably didn't help much either;
[Mary Beard] "Many reasons NOT to vote Tory; one is not to reward a campaign that has smeared, dealt dishonest platitudes, refused to engage in argument."

Why should speaking against public dishonesty and refusal on the part of a political party to acknowledge it is answerable to the public cost a very well qualified individual an appointment?

There is a brazenness to the shafting of Mary Beard that is horrifying.

You would almost think this was done so shamelessly and openly 'pour encourager les autres'.

This is a curiously timed story.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/new-navy-hospital-ship-could-be-paid-for-using-overseas-aid-budget-9knv3prkd
New navy hospital ship could be paid for using overseas aid budget

The aid budget could be used to fund a new multimillion-pound hospital ship in a boost to Britain’s humanitarian relief capabilities.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the new international aid secretary, is said to be examining proposals for her department to buy a ship similar to the Mercy-class vessels used by America.

The ships Mercy and Comfort cost $550 million each and together take about $120 million a year to run. They are operated by the US navy and provide medical care to American forces overseas, with a secondary mission to help with disaster and humanitarian relief.

Tweeting remarks like this (2017) probably didn't help much either

So much for free speech huh

mathanxiety
The fact that Mary Beard name dropped Boris Johnson in her statement when in fact her appointment was blocked under Theresa May makes me think she should consider a career change - and become a politician instead.

She does like the sound of her own voice:

2013 "Mary Beard explains why she’s voting Lib Dem", 2015 "Mary Beard joins Jeremy Corbyn's celebrity backers in Labour leadership race", 2017 Mary Beard, "Many reasons NOT to vote Tory", 2019 [Are] "Jeremy corbyn and mate secret agents for the Lib Dem’s? Whenever he talks Brexit, it feels like he pushes more of us in that direction (or Green)."^

March 2019 (probably just before her appointment was blocked) -
Mary Beard asks for 'Brexit' exam titles - very amusing but obviously not appreciated by Theresa May and co:

“OK one and all, let’s have the future exam questions that might get set on Brexit . . . 20/50/100 years hence. Any level from GCSE to degree! Make them smart and challenging... And can I say that, although most of the questions came with an anti-Brexit tinge, there were a few clever ones from the other side (and I may not have represented that fairly)."

To what extent did Brexit contribute to the division of the UK into feudal kingdoms?

Explain the origins of the 100 years Brexit.

Define ‘advisory’ and give examples or your definition.

A Level 2069. Summarise the latest plan for Britain to exit the EU.

Why can’t you have your cake and eat it?

“Brexit was lost on the playing fields of Eton” Discuss.

Explain the influence of Brexit and Mr Farage in making Russia great again.

Define ‘strong and stable’ using examples.

What were the causes of Jacob Rees-Mogg?

What role, if any, should lies play in politics?

Who was Jeremy Corbyn? (one for you mathanxiety?)

“Brexit was the last gasp of the British Empire” ...

www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the-brexit-exam/