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.

Ignore the squirrel. It adds nothing to the discussion.

Not really my style of posting.

I would beg to differ. I recall you going on about the 80 seat majority. I am pretty sure I pointed out that this meant that Johnson had to own the results. All the Remoaner stuff and the "What about Corbyn" stuff falls away. Johnson now has the majority to do what he wants. So now we are hearing from you that every other Tom Dick or Harry is also making a mess, or not doing all that well. It hardly matters to me that Sweden has made a mess, or Norway, or Timbuktu or wherever. I am in the UK, subject to the UK Government, and I want to know what they are doing to look after our interests.

Pretty my classmate was a cyclist too. Back in the UK during downtime between training months in France.

Agree prettybird only leads to tangents.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria on Brexit:

"Britain suddenly looks like a banana republic
....
London, a city that has shaped global affairs for 250 years, will become the West's Dubai:

A place where lots of money sloshes around but of no great geopolitical consequence.
....
Brexit marks the end of Britain as a great power"

From last year, but he summed up how I saw Britain declining post-Brexit

Of course, having had a "bad" COVID, Brexit looks small beer economically
BUT
it matters politically

The attitudes and ideology Brexit threw up are a special UK roadblock to dealing with the COVID crisis and the desperate economic aftermath

I had not seen Fareed Zakaria's post before, but it's very perceptive and as true now as it was 15 months ago. A solution in search of a problem is possibly not 100% accurate - it's the wrong solution to a real problem.

NYT: As Domestic Abuse Rises, U.K.Failings Leave Victims in Peril

16 murders may be small beer compared to over 67,000 excess deaths,
but it shows the same cba lack of due care by the UK govt

• which even the NYT comments on:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/02/world/europe/uk-coronavirus-domestic-abuse.html

During the first month after the lockdown began in late March,
sixteen women and girls were killed in suspected domestic homicides - more than triple the number from the same period in 2019.

At least 10 more have died in the two months since then.

The oldest of them was 82 years old.
The youngest, killed alongside her mother and 4-year-old sister, was 2.
.....
By contrast, New Zealand included domestic abuse preparations in its broader lockdown planning from the start.

Italy, Spain and other countries set up nationwide programs to house abuse victims in hotels if existing shelters were full.

Germany made an open-ended pledge to fund shelters and other crucial services.

Britain did none of this.

Interviews with more than 50 government and law enforcement officials, academic experts, front-line support workers and abuse survivors
show that British leaders never prioritized domestic abuse in lockdown planning and are still failing to quickly provide help.

Early in the lockdown, the government promised 37 million pounds, or about $46 million, in emergency funds for domestic abuse charities,
but as yet only £1 million has reached front-line organizations.

Government: Firm’s £108m PPE contract issued ‘in error’

The government has backtracked on official documents showing that it awarded a family-run firm £108m to procure personal protective equipment (PPE), saying it reported the sum “in error”.

But the government has now said this is incorrect, and “rather than a contract for gloves, masks and isolation suits for £108m as indicated, the contract that was concluded with [Pestfix]… was in fact for isolation suits only, with a value of £32m instead.”

However, the government added that the £32m contract was one of “a number” of PPE contracts awarded to Pestfix — the details of which are yet to be disclosed.

Which of course is why the newly appointed Pestfix MD was appealing for large quantities of gloves on LinkedIn on 4th June, shortly before all the directors deleted their LinkedIn accounts.

www.cityam.com/government-pest-control-firms-108m-ppe-contract-issued-in-error/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

And the UK’s total number of Covid positive cases has magically just gone down by 10%.

Which is preferable, a tracing app that works and can inform policy or a government, national or local, that does not know who has the virus?

Calm competent government is so important during a major crisis

Bungling arrogant fools "make a drama out of a crisis"

• and make a disaster too

MORI poll indicates most of the public will be quite sensible and cautious about coming out of lockdown

We saw this in Germany at first, that restaurants etc took several weeks for cutomers to return
and even then numbers are still down, because in particular the elderly - the important Grey Euro - are staying home,
as the lower age distribution of new infections indicates

Ben Page, Ipsos MORI@benatipsosmori

NEW - Most people uncomfortable with going out to bars/restaurants in the great unlocking

• and still worried about using public transport .

As before the lockdown, people stay home and don't spend on non-essentials when they don't feel safe

That's why it's a false argument to claim the economic damage could have been avoided "if only we hadn't had a lockdown"

People would have spent even less - and gone out to work even less -
during the much higher deaths that would have occurred in the UK without a lockdown

Pmk

Anyone watching a Breakfast this morining? Seems to be a succession of “advertisements” for sectors of the economy dressed up as news “items”, hair saloons about 30 mins ago and now some guy is on a rollercoaster at Thorpe Park! and next up a drive in comedy show?!

The lockdown could have been handled better, by learning from other countries who had faced the virus first. But no, we have a Government which rules by 3 word slogans, and wasn't at all bothered until they realised that the virus might affect them too.

Quite interesting results from YouGov reported by Sky here news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-britons-would-strongly-back-second-lockdown-if-covid-19-cases-spike-poll-reveals-12019957

However reopening pubs was only backed by 35% of the population, suggesting disquiet at the prospect of people struggling to socially distance indoors under the influence of alcohol.

I missed this too news.sky.com/story/david-starkeys-so-many-damn-blacks-comment-is-indefensible-12020107 - David Starkey and BLM interview for a Brexit supporting radio station

Its a full moon for the pubs opening tomorrow
I'm staying home.

My DD, working in the leisure sector, can’t understand why pubs can open but gyms and pools remain closed. She thinks that by limiting and timing access, regular cleaning and use of screens the environment could be made very safe. She says that gym goers are far more likely to be sensible and follow guidelines than pub goers. I think that she’d do a better job than most of those in Govt.

@borntobequiet spot on, seems crazy.

She says that gym goers are far more likely to be sensible and follow guidelines than pub goers. I think that she’d do a better job than most of those in Govt.

Remembering to socially distance and being drunk are two incompatible states of mind.

Where do all these OP's posts: See all keep coming from? I notice they only appeared yesterday. How do you add them?

Looks like a new feature Peregrina - useful for checking on long threads to find out if the OP has started a bunfight and then buggered off.