Westministenders: The Virus

[RedToothBrush]

Its like living in a Bad Disaster B Movie.

If you thought Brexit on your TV every day was Bad, The Virus is a whole new level.

The 5pm broadcast with Johnson and friends, and the public infomation video with the unblicking Chris Witty (who has such unfortunate mannerism he makes me think he's me a Dr Who alien akin to the Slitheen).

Who knows what will happen. Just that everything has changed and our entire economy is now on life support whilst we figure out how to deal with the crisis and what on earth our exit strategy is.

Johnson has however refused to join a joint EU purchase scheme designed to assist countries through the crisis.

Meanwhile the US is about to go nuts... so what does that do to a trade deal?

More money for the NHS? More hospitals?

Well its possible that might just happen...

Yes France's chief medical officer made a point of publicly thanking Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg for taking in French patients in one of the daily briefings a few days back.

@MashedPotatoBrainz

Maybe GTech aren’t Brexitty enough / big enough Tory donors (unlike other vacuum manufacturers)?

en.mehrnews.com/news/157078/Contradictory-reports-on-Queen-Elizabeth-coronavirus-test-result

The Fall of the House of Windsor ...

Oh no! Has the queen got it?.

Oh no! Has the queen got it?

As the link says "confusion" ...

If she has, it's hardly a shock - especially if Boris was treating her like all the other people whose hands he insisted on shaking just to make a point. (Not that it would ever be mentioned if she were to contract it).

Of course, we can't be sure, since she can't be tested ...

I'm so confused. The wording was she was in good health which I even joked about that they hadn't actually Confirmed if she had it or not. Also the article says it's 3.23pm

Can she not be tested? Surely if BJ can...

Yes I see it says Confusion but the article doesn't seem confused. It's reporting she has tested positive

Im sure if true it would be on news.

Possibly fake, who knows ? If I had faith in anyone on the 'net to tear into it, it would be the denizens of this thread .

Fake or not thought, it does start an interesting thought experiment about "What if her majesty were to die ? Right now ?". Because they'd never shake the suspicion it was C-19, no matter how much they tried. Look at the Diana conspiracies ...

en.mehrnews.com/news/157078/Contradictory-reports-on-Queen-Elizabeth-coronavirus-test-result
In a brief statement, the palace said, “HMQ has also tested positive and is currently self-isolating at Windsor Castle. The Queen came into contact with the PM on the 11th March and is following all the appropriate advice with regards to her welfare”.
“We will be sharing constant updates of the Queen’s welfare with the public in good fate. That will be all for now.”

I can't find the spokeperson's statement other than here, but the above source appears to have warped it significantly. "in good fate" indeed...
www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a31954843/buckingham-palace-queen-elizabeth-coronavirus-update-boris-johnson/
and www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2020032787015/the-queen-health-update-boris-johnson-coronavirus/
“HMQ remains in good health. The Queen last saw the PM on the 11th March and is following all the appropriate advice with regards to her welfare. We will not be commenting further.”

Given that that "report" is from Tehran (which also explains the time discrepancy ), I think it should be treated as fake news lost in translation

"translation" is a very loose term for it

Indeed

BJ seems like Typhoid Mary

Poor old Queen; I hope she's ok
Probably couldn't avoid shaking hands with the bugger

I had thought that at 93 she would have been allowed to self-isolate weeks ago and talk to hom & everyone else on Skype

I definitely wouldn't believe any news from Iranian channels,
or Russia - which have reportedly been carrying out a massive campaign of disinformation in the UK and rest of Europe

However, I've been concerned by how quiet she has been

I'd have expected an encouraging broadcast via some tech means every week

• obviously can't let in a camera crew, but couldn't some of the staff who take care of her each day could be instructed to wire things up to some clever tech

Even releasing a regular weekly text

She probably can't create a video herself, but surely her staff could set things up so a smart camera is pointing in the right place.

As with her Grenfell visit, she'd get a lot of credit for saying the usual royal things,
while the govt & PHE give out the practical / political

Rather astonishing Any Answers this afternoon with most if not all callers rational, knowledgeable, socially responsible people. I didn’t have to turn it off for I think the first time in over four years. (Actually the first time I’ve listened this year, so might not be an entirely new phenomenon.)

Fitch cuts UK credit rating to AA-

Mostly because of CV this time, but also Brexit uncertainty and poor govt decision-making

The UK had topnotch AAA rating back in 2013

www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/28/fitch-cuts-uk-credit-rating-to-aa-

Belgium's PM:

"Many young people do not feel concerned. You feel invincible when you are young.

Among the young people who partied in cafes a fortnight ago, there are some who are today in intensive care.

UK deaths: 260

As the link says "confusion" ..

As the link says, dateline Tehran.

Really not worth pissing on. Makes RT look like Reuters. The same Tehran who stated as fact that Press TV had been taken off the air in the UK not because it broke impariality rules and failed to pay its fines, but that it had been shut down on the personal orders of the Queen in her role as one of the leading figures in the Global Zionist Illumati, the ones who made the London 2012 Olympic logo spell "Zion," etc....

Moving on from the most saved lady in Christendom ...

www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/mar/27/tax-avoiders-coronavirus-bailouts

In the same way deadbeat dads, and tax-fiddling individuals have found themselves suddenly unstuck with the Chancellors bailout, it seems only fair that companies who have also found it possible to pay fuck all tax should similarly be disadvantaged.

As the shutdown of the global economy threatens to cripple entire industries, there is no doubt some companies that for years decided paying taxes was not for them are suddenly waking up to the importance of the welfare state.

One of the first to seek a government bailout has been the cruise ship industry in the US. For decades, its ships have flown the colours of Panama, Liberia and other flags of convenience to skirt minimum wage laws as well as get out of paying taxes. Some companies have achieved corporate tax rates that even Google would envy.

In the UK, the airline industry quickly followed suit, with Virgin Atlantic, a company owned by a tax exile, writing to the government to say the entire industry may need support to the tune of £7.5bn. This letter came in the week that easyJet paid a dividend of £60m to its founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou – tax resident in Monaco. Any support to the airline industry will no doubt flow through to aircraft leasing companies based in low-tax Ireland.

This bitter North East wind will keep people indoors for the next few days far better than any exhortations from politicians.
The sun is nice but the air is CHILLY
I'd planned to be in my garden today but will wait till the wind swings back round to the west.

So as well as the EU procurement scheme, and the GTechy contract, the UK didn't want an extra 5,000 ventilators that were ready to go from an existing NHS provider. So they went abroad too, along with 50,000 testing kits the UK didn't want either.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ventilator-crunch-looms-after-snubbing-eu-action-6s7tg3vnw?fbclid=IwAR1BNFTpgBKUl25VDnhlnd-jcJlpQJ6QIOiW-97l0egwYhnLGPWnTaoZdz8

Any companies / owners who decided to minimise their UK tax liabilities can naturally only expect any help based on UK tax paid,
not what they have squirrelled away offshore