Dominic C Covid evidence 2

[Newtonianmechanics]

New thread for if old fills up.

I missed this question about sick pay, does anyone know who asked the question?

https://x.com/ashcowburn/status/1730567590160839075?s=20

Matt Hancock tells the Covid Inquiry sick pay in this country is "far, far too low".

"It's far lower than the European average - it encourages people to go to work when they should be getting better.

"Having higher sick pay would encourage employers to do more to look after the health of their employees.

He claims before the pandemic he was on an internal government campaign to significantly increase sick pay.

"I'd double it if I had a magic wand," he says.

If you are talking Jan 2021 that was the third lockdown

I might have mixed up the lockdowns, they were talking about so many different dates. But it was around that period.

Steven Swinford, the TImes

EXCLUSIVE

Boris Johnson will tell Covid inquiry that Government was initially too 'far too complacent' about the pandemic

He will admit that 'unquestionably' mistakes were made and say that he initially had a 'basic confidence that things would turn out alright

Boris Johnson will argue that the UK 'defied most of the gloomiest predictions'

He will reject claims that he presided over a dysfunctional No 10 riven by in-fighting, arguing that tensions between departments were 'actually useful'

He will give his support to Matt Hancock, arguing he was doing a 'good job in very difficult circumstances

But he will argue that the govt has 'many great successes' and saved 'tens if not hundreds of thousands lives' by stopping the NHS from being overwhelmed

Boris Johnson will defend Eat Out to Help Out and claim that scientific advisers were consulted about the scheme and deemed it an acceptable risk

In doing so he will directly contradict both Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance, who said they were unaware of the scheme before its launch and would have opposed it

Boris Johnson will say that he initially viewed herd immunity as a 'desirable end state' but argues that the goal was to protect the NHS and vulnerable people

He will admit that in hindsight he should have been 'more cautious' about shaking people's hands

Boris Johnson will say that in hindsight the government 'vastly underestimated the risks' in the early weeks of the pandemic

It was 'far too complacent' about what was happenning

He will say that he himself had a 'basic confidence that things would turn out alright'

https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/1730676870776053951?s=20

Article behind paywall (if anyone has a share token)
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/boris-johnson-covid-inquiry-statement-vxk8nqvmb

His bingo card starts with:
• Time to draw a line under this and move on.

CBA to give that bloviating manchild enough brainspace to come up with any more. But I worked out early on in his premiership that this is his answer to everything.

Its very easy to have a basic confidence that everything will be alright if one sticks ones head in the sand and refuses to attend meetings and read briefings on the subject. The UK was badly let down by the quality of Prime Minister we had during the crisis, with better leadership I am sure that many of the harms to children and the vulnerable could have been reduced.

My bingo card is

▪︎ um erm, mumble, mumble.......world beating
▪︎ um eem mumble mumble.....vaccines
▪︎ um erm, mumble, mumble.....Churchill WW2
▪︎ um erm mumble mumble.....Nolite nos relinquerer
▪︎ um erm mumble mumble...... Peppa Pig

Followed the science

Got all the big calls right

(It;s a shame we won't see his lawyers/barristers faces this time, That look on Pannick's face during the partygate inquiry.....)

Ah the panic on Pannick's face.

Of course there are some who still think that Johnson did nothing wrong and it was really quite essential to his hard work for him to have booze and birthday cake.

Looks like they have worked out a way to replace the care workers who left due to the vaccine mandate........i said at the time that this would happen

https://x.com/getlostjj/status/1731587604955488609?s=20

Interesting form The Lancet on Twitter today : excess deaths up in the 50-64 age group especially cardiovascular deaths at home. A number of reasons suggested , none of them reassuring that the government's various (in)actions have safeguarded people's health , or the NHS.

Jim Reed thread. It looks at the second lockdown…really, the indefensible delays to acting in Sept/Oct. Johnson and Sunak were the ones pushing against it. Pretty much everyone else - including Hancock - calling for more action in September. Damning.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1731740042492510411.html

Dan Goyal

Before Johnson gives his evidence we should consider a few things:

1. Just how bad was the UK pandemic response?
2. How much could Johnson have affected this?
3. What was Johnson’s intent?
4. Was there any overt maleficence?

Thread 1/n (buckle-up!)

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1732071139562647874.html

This person seems to be mistaking Johnson for some who was responsible for other than the house plants and party entertainment.

Is everyone ready for today?

Johnson arrived early at the Inquiry today to avoid confrontation with the bereaved families.

Ergh. Predictions, he is obtuse, trivial and overwrought but all with no meaningful comment. He will just not recall things, or claim context.

It might be enjoyable to see him skewered but really all we will see or what authority has seen since Johnson was a small boy; a rocket solid belief that the rules of play did not apply.

I like to think he is scared, all the friendly media briefings, his family and friends defending him, finally admitting he can't retrieve his whatsapps from the first lockdown and sneaking in 3 hours early.

Reminder that you can watch live from 10:00 (with a three minute delay) on the YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/@UKCovid-19Inquiry

or via the BBC website

YouTube has subtitles.

I absolutely loathe him frankly because of his triviality and incompetence.

The only good thing is that he is finished, no serious political career awaits, and he can get back to his end of the pier act and sink into irrelevance which is where he should have remained.

I'm not sure.

Thing is with him, he surrounds himself with 'yes' men, and I'm not sure the opinions of the public has filtered through the bubble.
He can keep up the delusion that he did everything right and was a brilliant PM.

It reminds me of Game of Thrones and the Lannisters - "we are lions. we do concern ourselves with the opinions of sheep".

My only solice is that the history books will show him as one of the most useless PM in our history.

The old adage of history being written by the rich and "winners" won't work in his case. There are so many public records which record his complete incompetence.

Bereaved families news conference

Johnson "did let the bodies pile up and the elderly were treated as toxic waste". Further, they accuse sections of the media of mounting a "sustained and orchestrated attack [on the #CovidInquiry] to protect Boris Johnson".

https://x.com/BestForBritain/status/1732331252781400295?s=20

I presume its going to be Hugo "The Terminator" Keith, who will be asking BJ questions.

Starts with a telling off from Baroness Hallett for leaking evidence, now onto his apology.

Protestor escorted out of the room

Johnson
“I understand the feelings of the victims and their families. I am deeply sorry for the pain and the suffering of those victims.”