Westminstenders: Magical Thinking

[RedToothBrush]

This week has seen reports of the government editing footage of Johnson to avoid embarrassing questions about the early government response.

We've been asked to accept that the rules were different to what we were told to excuse the law breaking behaviour of a senior government advisor. As Johnson said he was being a responsible father (as if Johnson knows what this is) and it wasn't as if he was visiting a lover (this Johnson would know all about). Let's be honest Johnson is the master of brazening out controversy.

We also have the ERG complaining they were lied to by Gove about the new Withdrawal Agreement and the border in the Irish Sea which surprises precisely no one else.

They appear to be a little upset by the Cummings debarkable too.

And 117,000 tests in a day

Yes that's the same person tested 117,000 times though.

I was really impressed with the speed of testing. My DD's experience:
• Sunday evening - started with a temperature.
• Monday morning (Bank holiday) - booked test online. Given option of posted home test or drive in. Got drive-im appointment for 12.30-1pm same day (even tho it was BH)
• Monday 12.30pm - Three cars ahead of us when we arrive. Seen at about 12.45.
• Tuesday 6pm - test message confirming negative result.

So booking to test result less than 2 days, only 1 working day.

Asked whether the Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, the UK's top civil servant, should investigate Mr Cummings' actions, he said: "Quite frankly, I am not certain that right now an inquiry into that matter is a very good use of official time.

It's never a good use of official time for officialDom to investigate its own shortCummings.

FATE other countries can turn them around in 3hrs, but yes they do seem to have sped up a bit from the old 3 day wait.

Louise, do you think Gove mastered that in response to the Bishop?
Sounds like a terrible joke...

Thanks puss. Wasn't sure I'd misheard it.

Is that the assumption we all live in houses with completely separate rooms with their own en suites and a nanny on hand to look after our DC and drop us food at the door?

In other news, Trumpy's a bit frumpy with Twitter.

He says on Twitter that Twitter aren't letting him say on Twitter what he's saying on Twitter, and unless they continue to let him say what he says they won't let him say, he's going to close them down, which he can't.

Poulet I haven’t seen Gove, I’ll see if I can find a clip and judge for myself

There was a link upthread, but if you want to find it yourself, it was Kay Burley who asked him.

Thank you for that, I think I have found it but my media player is being troublesome, I’ll try again.

The Bishop Baines’ Blog is interesting. Here’s a particularly revealing entry among several others I’ve read tonight,

nickbaines.wordpress.com/2016/06/24/whither-europe/

When you say "revealing" do you mean they are remainers and therefore gunning for Cummings? I keep seeing this on MN, as if Brexit was the first thing people thought of when some idiot drove 260 miles in lockdown with a sick person .

Hello everyone. I have followed these threads forever. I wanted to say a huge thank you to all who contribute to them.
When you thought there would be nothing to compare madness of Brexit we now have the absolute disaster of this governments response to This awful virus.
Re Cummings I just am so very sad for all those that worked so hard during this crisis, those that have suffered real true hardships and bereavements and that man can do what he likes with full support of Johnson.
I have emailed my ( Tory) MP who will, when he if he sees fit to answer follow his party's line.
I saw somebody mentioned the GoVe and Burley interview yesterday, which was so awful but Did anybody see the LBC clip of him that was unbelievable! He just couldn't think of a suitable lie so he laughed.

I mean revealing in the sense that the guy is a Europhile, he freely acknowledges that. He is therefore very unlikely to be well disposed towards Dominic Cummings or Boris.

Of course that doesn’t mean he’s deserving of any disrespect, but it does inform my judgement of what he says. Here’s another good blog post from Bishop Baines (an older one)

nickbaines.wordpress.com/category/europe/page/2/

@DGRossetti that pic reminded me that insaw on Facebook that Lee and dean comedian guy, Mark someone? Is asking for videos re their experiences of sticking to the rules and the tragedies thereof, so he can make a video and send it to those in power.

So it has to be a "bona fide Brexiteer" who thinks Cummings was wrong for you to think they understand lockdown rules or know what is right from wrong and are worth listening to?

Wow.

Will try to find the LBC clip

Tbf my mp loves brexit and has been unusually forthright in his condemnation of Cummings. Its bit like him at all.

Didn't watch the presser today, but understand track and trace was covered. From what I've read since we're starting out with contact tracers? Has the app idea been abandoned?

I wonder if it will make the general public more circumspect about the two metre rule - particularly in beaches, parks etc or meeting anyone they're going to spend a significant length of time with. Two weeks on ssp would be a struggle for many and I imagine most would want to avoid it.

Didn’t say anything of the sort Poulet and you know I didn’t.

This delayed realisation that we do, in fact, need TTI gives me hope that perhaps in 4 months time DC might apologise? www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/27/government-unveils-covid-19-test-and-trace-strategy-for-england

It's one cock up after another :

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/27/phone-texts-notify-cancer-transplant-and-asthma-patients-they-are-off-shielding-list

Testing is all well and good but with error rates of around 30%
repeated testing is essential for track and trace.
How many hospitals have managed weekly testing for all front facing staff?
Weston Super Mare today realised that seemingly healthy people had it ....

Listening agreed; it would have been far better to keep up TTI at the start when we had a better handle on infections. It's going to be far harder this way around, that's for sure.

Schools minister has said he expects most children to continue "home education" until early September

Is this a Tory thing, to test your eyesight by driving your family on a 60-mile round trip ?

Now Gove says he does it too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?timecontinue=12&v=irRjqXe9Epg&feature=embb_logo

Perfect - watch this:

"The Durham Dash - a song for Dominic Cummings" 😂😂

Government refusing to sign up to Brexit safeguards so it can change Human Rights Act, Gove admits

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-uk-trade-talks-safeguards-government-human-rights-act-gove-a9535056.html

Brussels wants UK to commit to human rights in writing as condition of trade deal
....
In 2018 Dominic Cummings said a referendum on membership of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is entirely separate from the EU, would be “high on the agenda” if he ever got involved in politics again.

The government’s official position is that it has no intention of leaving the convention.
< but since Cummings seems more powerful than BJ .... >