Westministenders: Can you tell your Rs from Elbows?

[RedToothBrush]

This week Mark Sedwill has resigned (or was he pushed?) and David Frost (chief brexit lead) was appointed National Security Adviser in a move that enraged Theresa May. The former prime minister felt that his appointment was unprofessional and that was a political appointment not an independent one and that he lacked experience. Of course in terms of national security we still haven't had that report on Russia and I don't believe The Intelligence and Security Committee has yet been named (not sat since Johnson was appointed as PM).

We have passed the deadline for extending transition and we have now apparently said that negotiations on the end of transition will finish at the end of September.

The bill ending Free movement of people has been signed, amongst much fanfare by the Conservatives saying they have delivered on the Referendum promise. However we might have up to 3million Hong Kongers who we are willing to allow into the country which might not go down too well with those who were unhappy with 'unrestricted EU immigration'.

We also have the demonstration of utter incompetence, outsourcing and lack of coordination and communication from central government and local government in the covid-19 crisis. A national scandal that isn't being properly reported by the press and leave you with the very large question of who is this government serving? If its contract with Deloittes over testing didn't require them to report positive tests to Public Health England, what was the point in the testing? How can this be consistent with 'The Government’s new approach to biosecurity will bring together the UK’s world-leading epidemiological expertise and fuse it with the best analytical capability from across Government in an integrated approach.' and will provide real time analysis and assessment of infection outbreaks at a community level, to enable rapid intervention before outbreaks grow.?

The growing feeling that Brexit is being exploited by this government for personal interests and those of big business at the expense of the general public is one which was feared and grows harder to argue against by the day.

[quote ListeningQuietly]When is it we leave Europol?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53263310[/quote]
Trusting Other Peoples Encryption. They were just waiting to be picked up.

What interests me about all of the interpol stuff is how many of the profiteering Brexiteers are retiring over in EU. I suspect they might find their financial exploits rather closely monitored

I believe that May thought we could opt out totally, and then pay to opt in to the bits we wanted.

If that is true, I would be curious to know why, when it was explicitly ruled out within seconds of the result in 2016. I'm guessing that damned exceptionalism again.

Very weary PMK - it’s just a never ending shitshow.

30.There are working contact tracing apps in..............................

All going swimmingly elsewhere;

"16 Jun - Bahrain, Kuwait and Norway have rolled out some of the most invasive COVID-19 contact tracing apps around the world, putting the privacy and security of hundreds of thousands of people at risk, an Amnesty International investigation reveals."

"Amnesty’s Security Lab reviewed contact tracing apps from Europe, Middle East and North Africa, including a detailed technical analysis of 11 apps in Algeria, Bahrain, France, Iceland, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Norway, Qatar, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates, some of which ranged from bad to dangerous for human rights. Bahrain’s ‘BeAware Bahrain’, Kuwait’s ‘Shlonik’ and Norway’s ‘Smittestopp’ apps stood out as among the most alarming mass surveillance tools assessed by Amnesty, with all three actively carrying out live or near-live tracking of users’ locations by frequently uploading GPS coordinates to a central server."

"On Monday, the Norwegian government announced it would press pause on using its contact tracing app."

"The decision came just hours before Amnesty International published its analysis and after the organization shared its findings with the Norwegian authorities and the country’s data protection agency on 2 June. Amnesty International also met with the head of development for the ‘Smittestopp’ app on 10 June."

“Bahrain, Kuwait and Norway have run roughshod over people’s privacy, with highly invasive surveillance tools which go far beyond what is justified in efforts to tackle COVID-19,” said Claudio Guarnieri, Head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab."

“The Norwegian app was highly invasive and the decision to go back to the drawing board is the right one. We urge the Bahraini and Kuwaiti governments to also immediately halt the use of such intrusive apps in their current form.They are essentially broadcasting the locations of users to a government database in real time..."

"The centralized model of France’s contact-tracing app combined with the lack of transparency over how data is stored raises questions as to whether the users’ information could be deanonymized."

"those that are not in fact doing digital contact tracing but rather allow users to voluntarily record and check their symptoms (e.g. Lebanon and Vietnam)." ...

www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/06/bahrain-kuwait-norway-contact-tracing-apps-danger-for-privacy/

"Covid-19 contact-tracing apps in MENA [region] a privacy nightmare."
www.accessnow.org/covid-19-contact-tracing-apps-in-mena-a-privacy-nightmare/

"Finland’s coronavirus tracing app to launch in August,"

yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/finlands_coronavirus_tracing_app_to_launch_in_august/11384825

"The Dutch tracing app 'soap opera' - lessons for Europe."

euobserver.com/opinion/148265

Ah, that's where my squirrel went.....

🐿

Clav so Johnson's fiasco of covid mismanagement of spending £12m on a non-existent tracing app is looking good by comparison. Is that what you're saying? If so, why don't you have the courage of your convinction to say this clear and explicitly.

The typical MO of cut and paste but without saying what you think is reminding me of a friend who never directly asks for a favour, but instead says something like 'oh, I've got such a problem that I can't pick up my DD because of a meeting'. Then looks at me expectantly waiting for me to rush in and offer. Feels just so manipulative and irritating.

And no desire to mention the free German App that's been offered to the UK?

Honestly. You have read that long list. Both of them. You STILL want to support this government?

I don't know why I'm suprised. My own family would continue to insist Johnson is doing a sterling job and that ABC. Despite all evidence to the contrary. The fact is though they only get their news via Torygraph and so remain comforted by an echo chamber.

And so the cut and paste maestro lives on.

Meanwhile, I love to read the rest of the regular posters intelligent thoughts.

I think this may be telling, considering we know she is Cumming's mouthpiece. Seems the anti-China is going back to the 5G,so it's actually more about being pro-USA www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53258403

How boring we are now trapped in a post-Brexit world where it has to be one or the other.

You have read that long list. Both of them.

I checked a few 'facts' on the lists and decided that 'RussinCheshire' hadn't checked his 'facts', e.g:

Finland doesn't have a working contract tracing app yet, Vietnam's app isn't in fact a digital contact tracing app, Norway has suspended its app...

"23. Association of Medical Research said 74% of clinical trials had been put on hold in 2020 due to cuts"

• not 'cuts' but reduced charity donations because of coronavirus.

"23. Association of Medical Research said 74% of clinical trials had been put on hold in 2020 due to cuts"
- not 'cuts' but reduced charity donations because of coronavirus.

Let’s add a bit of context to this.

Medical research charities fund half of publicly funded medical research nationally: £1.9bn accounts for 51% of all public spend on medical research in the UK.

A kid who was at school with mine dropped dead on Monday.
He was 22. Not covid.
The world will not stop for him. He just vanishes into the non covid statistics.
But his family and friends are sad. Well devastated actually.
More medical research might help to understand such cases (there are 7 a week in the UK alone) but only by collaborating worldwide.
He was so sad about the Brexit vote.
It would be nice to think politics could move to a more positive world.

🐿🐿 As long as there's anything even vaguely less than utter perfection anywhere else in the Universe, that means the piles of utter shit-stained vomit-dribbled wanksocks that are avalanching over the "United" Kingdom are above criticism 🐿🐿

So sorry to hear that LQ

Sorry to hear such sad news LQ

If so, why don't you have the courage of your convinction to say this clear and explicitly.

Indeed - these are all Corbyn would have been worse arguments.

Actually I don't know that he would have been. I certainly wasn't a fan, but as far as I know he hasn't been sacked twice for lying, or has at least six children by at least three different women. He didn't try to have a journalist beaten up. He's not an old Etonian who thinks it all a jolly jape.

Re the China and 5G though - it's not good business practice to be wholly dependent on one supplier - they might not be able to fulfil an order for legitimate business reasons, not just playing political games.

@Clavinova

You have read that long list. Both of them.

I checked a few 'facts' on the lists and decided that 'RussinCheshire' hadn't checked his 'facts', e.g:

Finland doesn't have a working contract tracing app yet, Vietnam's app isn't in fact a digital contact tracing app, Norway has suspended its app...

"23. Association of Medical Research said 74% of clinical trials had been put on hold in 2020 due to cuts"

• not 'cuts' but reduced charity donations because of coronavirus.

What is the point that you wish to make? That you believe this government is doing a great job? Of managing the pandemic? Of managing Brexit?

That is entirely your prerogative, but I'm puzzled why you want to keep posting pro-Johnson views here. When Johnson won his sweeping majority you came to crow over the WM. Now he's being criticised by others, you're coming for...what exactly? To tell everyone here that we're wrong to be worried for this country? Just seems a bit odd.

Ah LQ how utterly devastating for that family

How sad LQ. I hope your DD is OK too. It's always a shock to loose friends so young. flowers

LQ similar happened to a classmate of mine. Early 20s, semi pro sportsman. Collapsed and died whilst out with friends (he was teetotal) including my brother. It was devastating. I didn't think when we left school that the next time we were all together if would be for a funeral.

DrBlackbird
When Johnson won his sweeping majority you came to crow over the WM.

Not really my style of posting.

Now he's being criticised by others, you're coming for...what exactly?
Do you want an echo chamber? I don't really keep up to date with the threads on here now although occasionally I spot my name.

The typical MO of cut and paste but without saying what you think.
Honestly.You have read that long list. Both of them.

Somewhat contradictory - the [very] long lists you wanted me to read were cut and paste from RussInCheshire.

SADS (Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome) kills about 500 people per year in the UK
who had no previous known condition and no cause can be found

During the period that the UK had 67,000 excess deaths over the historical average, there will have been deaths from a myriad of other causes,

but COVID was the dominant cause of death for several weeks, to an unprecedented level

Now deaths are at almost normal levels for this time of year, so continuing lockdown cannot be justified
and if deaths don't rise again very significiantly by September, ft schools must return

There's a charity called CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) which does screening for young people to see if they're at risk. When ds was cycling competitively, a talented young lad, Ben Forsyth, who'd just won the Youth A (Under 16s) British Championships, found out via screening (as it happened, not via CRY) that he was at risk of dropping dead from the slightest exertion , so he had to give up all sport - even though cycling had been his life.

He still died aged 20, while at Uni

I really must get ds booked into one of the CRY screenings.

Ben's best friend has just run 30 marathons in 30 days in his memory https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/perth-kinross/1416824/thirty-marathons-in-one-month-to-honour-friend/