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Yawn, EVERYTHING is about racism isn’t it? Racists, racists everywhere. Behind every corner and under every bed. Every thing I don’t like, every person I don’t agree with: Racist.
No, it is part of a general move towards intolerance against things we used to regard as 'decent' - that can then be reboxed as a culture war against a 'liberal metropolitan elite'. It saves having to have tricky things like 'policies'. Because ****wits go for it.
Keep sticking your head in the sand all you like. It's no skin off of my nose.
Oh, and it is not just racists - it is a lot to do with thickos too. Of course, there is a lot of overlap, so it isn't always easy to separate one from the other.
🙂
Anybody willing to give odds on the life expectancy of a Dominic Cummings at this time of year...? I hear the part of Islington that he lives in is particularly popular with Russian "tourists" at this time of year... 🤔
Interesting paper headlines this morning, Express stating its all about revenge, more sane editors going with the the tens of thousands of preventable deaths headline, and the others trying to find the middle ground that fits their demographic.
No obvious cats dropped overnight to distract us though
Anybody willing to give odds on the life expectancy of a Dominic Cummings at this time of year…? I hear the part of Islington that he lives in is particularly popular with Russian “tourists” at this time of year… 🤔
Well uk’s been ripped out of the eu, the underpinnings of a fascist state are being implemented, isn’t that job done 🙂
Cummings brought to life what many already knew about Johnson’s failures
But do enough of them (us) care?
No obvious cats dropped overnight to distract us though
Only Hancock stating he wasn’t aware of Cummings revelations as he was too busy “...saving lives...” by managing our excellent vaccination program. What a hero.
As far as that Guardian article... there’s just an apathetic mood, I suspect the public will just see this as business as usual and like the good reserved Brits we are we’ll just keep calm and carry on.
Only Hancock stating he wasn’t aware of Cummings revelations as he was too busy “…saving lives…” by managing our excellent vaccination program. What a hero.
Russell Kane covered this in a video that my wife was watching last night. Yes, he / Boris / them have done well with the vaccines (or was it them, was it standing aside and letting others get on with it - contrast to 'I like chaos because they then have to come to me for answers....')
But that doesn't give a free pass for all the other stuff.
As RK said - Ted Bundy painted some nice watercolours. Jimmy Saville did some marathons for charity. Surely we can overlook a few murders / a bit of noncing on that basis?
But do enough of them (us) care?
Nope. Local BBC news channel last night interviewing Door Matt’s constituents: ‘they’ve done the best job they possibly could’, ‘vaccine vaccine vaccine’, ‘he/they may have made mistakes but it’s only 150,000 dead’, ‘we love you Joris’*
Oh, and don’t forget, says Andrew Sinclair: ‘Dom is a lying scumbag who can’t be trusted’.
* not strictly accurate, but you get the gist.
Cummings’ revelations aren’t revelations at all, everyone who cared to look knew what Bohnson and his crew were up to, but are more than happy to be drip-fed sewage from the billionaire media moguls.
Just go out and listen to the absolute shit that people spout when going about their business. A good old Suffolk boy on Monday actually said to the butcher (I can’t do the accent) ‘Road map’s goin’ ok ain’t it’? See! ****ing idiots.
If Dom has been let loose to deliver Gove for Murdoch why hasn’t there been “Dumbojo must go”headlines?
That Johnsons incompetence and indecisiveness over lockdowns led to 10s of 1000s of deaths is well known, his 40% core simply dont care, culture war nonsense means they are too entrenched, they've also voted him in so won't want to admit they're complicit on this.
Hancock on the other hand is damaged, if as suspected and Cummings claimed he held back testing to hit his target he should be in court (he won't be, but proof he did this week as him fired)
Vaccine rollout and opening up will keep the Tories safe
why hasn’t there been “Dumbojo must go”headlines?
Because Joris is VERY popular with the voters. Why upset the applecart now? Wait until your ratings drop, if they ever do, as he seems to be able to do absolutely ANYTHING and people still love him.
As RK said – Ted Bundy painted some nice watercolours. Jimmy Saville did some marathons for charity. Surely we can overlook a few murders / a bit of noncing on that basis?
I always think about Harold Shipman tbh.
Funny the Boris apologists.
Because Joris is VERY popular with the voters. Why upset the applecart now? Wait until your ratings drop, if they ever do, as he seems to be able to do absolutely ANYTHING and people still love him.
When he goes he takes the blame for Brexit an covid.
It’s just strategy and as he’s polling fine it’s not his time to go.
When he goes he takes the blame for Brexit an covid.
It’s just strategy and as he’s polling fine it’s not his time to go.
Harsh but true.
Too many Tory voters have told me "we knew what Boris was like, but better than the alternative"
They need to be made to face up to the fact that they voted in the team responsible for 10s of 1000s of extra deaths. The core will double down, but a lot will think twice. Given the track record, who will you vote for as they may have to face up to another national emergency?
Labour need to be planting those seeds now.
Which is why Boris won't be PM at the next election
Or “tally”. But we won’t count that one.
V v good - I'm pinching that for when the opportunity arises.
Does anyone know what the parliamentary procedure for lying to parliament is?
At the moment it seems like accusations are made and Boris (This applies to others as well) says words to the effect ‘Oh no I didn’t’ and they move on.
As far as I can see the system is based on MPs being ‘honourable’ and there is no come back when they aren’t. Do we have to wait 20 years or more till the papers are released to see who is telling the truth or is there some mechanism which enables the Speaker to investigate matters? The committee system, with a few exceptions, seems to be staffed by entirely partisan members.
Parliament is meant to hold the government to account but doesn’t seems to have checks and balances for something as simple as lying
They need to be made to face up to the fact that they voted in the team responsible for 10s of 1000s of extra deaths.
What about the Labour Party Centrists who did so much to help Boris Johnson by queuing up to attack their party leader and briefing the press against him, do they need to face up to their responsibility too?
You can be sure that the Centrists are very happy that Johnson, not Corbyn, won the last general election.
Christ on bendybus. Give it a rest Ernie.
Or at least keep the paranoid delusional ramblings to the Kier Starmer thread 😉
Cummings was dead right about one thing yesterday. Its a truly sorry indictment of our political system when the two options available to the electorate are Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn
Basically, do you want your huge shit sandwich on brown or white bread?
Yes of course binners it never happened, the centrists didn't do anything to help Johnson win the election, Mandelson never said that he spent everyday undermining Corbyn.
It's all in my mind.
The Centrists did everything they could to make Corbyn PM.
It's all the fault of stupid voters.
We have a Tory government with a huge majority not because Lisa Nandy or Jess Phillips thought Jeremy Corbyn was a bit shit, but because the electorate thought so by a whopping great margin. So shit in fact, that they saw Boris ****ing Johnson as a considerably better alternative
Its as simple as that
So shit in fact, that they saw Boris ****ing Johnson as a considerably better alternative
So focus on that binners. The next time you start ranting about how terrible Johnson is just remember how considerably better he is to Corbyn, that should help to calm you down.
But the point is that Cummins was absolutely right. He was bang on!
Neither of those clowns would be anywhere near the levers of power, never mind the top job, if we had a functional political system.
The fact those 2 complete muppets of the highest order were the best that either party could muster shows how utterly ****ed the system is, and how poorly served we, the electorate, are 'by it. It's actually embarrassing.
And don't forget that, just like Johnsons incompetent cabinet of barely sentient thicko's, it isn't just Corbyn, its the no-hopers he was surrounded by, whose only discernible ability was loyalty to that idiot. The only attribute also demanded by Johnson.
So while Hancock was rightfully being lambasted for being completely hopeless, in a Corbyn administration the job of health secretary would have been given to a thick-as-mince dullard like Richard Burgon. So I doubt that would fill anyone with any confidence that the alternative to the present clown circus would have coped any better. A point that plenty of people have been all too ready to (correctly) point out, not least Dominic Cummings
A quote from Dom’s blog in Aditya Chakrabortty‘s guardian piece yesterday:
he anticipated the absurdity of today’s carnival: “The political-media system,” he wrote in a 2017 post, “actively suppresses thinking about, and focus on, what’s important.” Which hopefully proves my point above.
Neither of those clowns would be anywhere near the levers of power, never mind the top job, if we had a functional political system.
The fact that 2 complete muppets of the highest order was the best that either party could muster shows how utterly ****ed the system is, and how poorly served we, the electorate, are ‘served’ by it.
Don’t forget that it isn’t just Corbyn, its the no-hopers he was surrounded by, whose only discernible ability was loyalty to that idiot.
Oh binners I'm so sorry, I thought that pointing out to you that the alternative would be even worse would help to calm you down.
I now see that it's completely backfired and you now appear to be even angrier.
Oh dear never mind, it's bank holiday weekend! And I don't know about you but it's really sunny down here.....chin up
A quote from Dom’s blog in Aditya Chakrabortty‘s guardian piece yesterday:
he anticipated the absurdity of today’s carnival: “The political-media system,” he wrote in a 2017 post, “actively suppresses thinking about, and focus on, what’s important.” Which hopefully proves my point above.
That drive to Barnard Castle did him the world of good, his hindsight is 20:20!
I now see that it’s completely backfired and you now appear to be even angrier.
Do you not get it? This is a thread about Dominic Cummings and the most important thing that came out of yesterday was him pointing out the woeful performance and abject failure of those nominally in charge. How absolutely unsuited they are to deal with issues so serious
I wish more people were angry about the tragic mess that our political system is in. Both main parties are an utter shambles stuffed with completely useless nonentities. Third rate journalists, and privately educated chinless ****-wits.
The choice we were offered at the last election was between two gangs of absolute muppets. We were forced to choose who we reckoned would be the least awful.
You should be bloody angry! Everyone should.
But instead of anger we seem to have passive acceptance. Theres something very British about that
in a Corbyn administration the job of health secretary would have been given to a thick-as-mince dullard like Richard Burgon.
Jonathan Ashworth, darling of the labour right, was shadow health secretary. His girlfriend (wife maybe?) was named in the 2017 report as being one of the main players in the party working against the leadership and the 2017 election campaign. Are you saying he would have been worse than Hancock? Why are you blindly repeating the nonsense that a Corbyn government would have been worse in dealing with the pandemic that you hear from voxpop idiots on the news? They clearly would have handled it better, as their focus was on public health, not the economy. Before Starmer came in Corbyn, McDonnell et al were asking some serious questions of the govt response to the pandemic from day one and demanding action. Then Starmer appeared and basically supported everything they did and gave them free reign.
I wish more people were angry about the tragic mess that our political system is in.
This is a very odd comment from someone who supports the people who want to keep it exactly the same, and routinely derides anyone who suggests radical reform of this system as a sixth former. I'm confused.
Not normally interested in politics will admit but I think Boris has had to tread a difficult balance of lockdown/economy/keeping everyone happy. I respect all views above regardless of whether I agree with them or not, but...
Rather than just slagging off everything, why not list how you would have actually managed the pandemic differently? How would you have saved 1000's of lives, kept the economy going, kept every part of the country happy, vaccinated everyone more quickly and got the pubs open more quickly 🤔
You should be bloody angry! Everyone should.
But instead of anger we seem to have passive acceptance. Theres something very British about that
How about putting the kettle on binners?
I'm sure you'll feel a lot better after a nice cup of tea.
Rather than just slagging off everything, why not list how you would have actually managed the pandemic differently?
This is exactly what Cummings did yesterday. He listed all the occasions where Johnson was advised to take actions by experts which he then ignored or just dithered until it was too late.
He's still doing it now. He's learnt nothing. Just repeating all the same mistakes of the last year. Have you not seen the latest figures? Despite the vaccination programme, infections are steadily rising again
Rather than just slagging off everything, why not list how you would have actually managed the pandemic differently?
Shutting the borders for a start - look at Aus/NZ for starters. But no, the government put the economy and holidays first and wilfully allowed care homes to take the hit.
Not normally interested in politics will admit but I think Boris has had to tread a difficult balance of lockdown/economy/keeping everyone happy. I respect all views above regardless of whether I agree with them or not, but…
Rather than just slagging off everything, why not list how you would have actually managed the pandemic differently? How would you have saved 1000’s of lives, kept the economy going, kept every part of the country happy, vaccinated everyone more quickly and got the pubs open more quickly 🤔
It's pretty clear that earlier action in 2020, light touch restrictions and travel restrictions a few weeks earlier, would have made a huge difference in outcome. It's easy to say this with hindsight, but Cumming's criticism is that a) Boris didn't take the Virus seriously, b) that the system was poorly structured and prepared to react and c) that experience from other countries was ignored.
This is a very odd comment from someone who supports the people who want to keep it exactly the same, and routinely derides anyone who suggests radical reform of this system as a sixth former. I’m confused.
I'm not interested in ideology, radical or otherwise. Whats sadly lacking in our present political class, on all sides, is even the most basic level of competence.
Look at them all. You wouldn't trust them to run a ****ing bath
Matt Hancock is presently on his feet in parliament, like all the accusations of gross incompetence on his behalf, which directly led to the deaths of thousands, never even happened. Not even acknowledged by little Matty. Doesn't even care.
Rather than just slagging off everything, why not list how you would have actually managed the pandemic differently?
There is a whole thread on this. Have a read. You'll see that all though the pandemic the advice that Johnson was ignoring (from people with expertise that extends beyond his of writing fiction dressed up as fact) was informing debate in there, well beyond "it's all very difficult, don't be hard on him".
This is exactly what Cummings did yesterday.
So at the start of this thread the problem was that Johnson was doing what Cummings told him. 65 pages later the problem is that Johnson wasn't doing what Cummings told him.
From zero to hero binners?
We need to get the message out that a lot of people in care homes survived Hitler's bombs but couldn't survive Dumbojo's incompetence.
The most fervent gammon would have to agree.
Not normally interested in politics will admit but I think Boris has had to tread a difficult balance of lockdown/economy/keeping everyone happy. I respect all views above regardless of whether I agree with them or not, but…
Rather than just slagging off everything, why not list how you would have actually managed the pandemic differently? How would you have saved 1000’s of lives, kept the economy going, kept every part of the country happy, vaccinated everyone more quickly and got the pubs open more quickly 🤔
The problem with your question is people on here don't/didn't have access to the resources Bojo & chums had.
I agree that the job was incredibly difficult and mistakes were inevitable but not turning up to Cobra meetings and allegedly lying about facts are quite inexcusable.
Why are you blindly repeating the nonsense that a Corbyn government would have been worse in dealing with the pandemic
I don't think a Corbyn government would have done any better. They were no better prepared or skilled to deal with a pandemic. They may not have made the same mistakes but they would have made other mistakes. I don't know if you ever saw Cornyn when under pressure, he wasn't very good!
However, that is besides the point as Corbyn wasn't the leader and we can only tackle the actual mistakes made by the government in power at the time.
Blatant mistakes such as sending people back to care homes without a test (which the NHS also have to take some responsibility for) need to be addressed
Here's hoping to day really does reveal the properly damaging stuff that has been hinted at, Cummings may well be an integral part of the mistakes and chaos we now have but he definitely knows how to set up a storyline to deliver a bombshell at the end.
Interesting paper headlines this morning, Express stating its all about revenge, more sane editors going with the the tens of thousands of preventable deaths headline, and the others trying to find the middle ground that fits their demographic.
No obvious cats dropped overnight to distract us though.
I feels to me like they are all waiting to see which way the electorate go on all of this before really pulling out the knives. In normal times this would be the start of a media assassination of the government leading to a General Election being called but due to the government's seemingly untouchable majority and incredibly favourable opinion poll lead no matter what they do every media outlet is taking the middle ground for now. Report the facts, add in the odd opinion piece that aligns with the paper's normal bias and wait to see how the readers react. The issue I see is that we have a sunny Bank Holiday about to happen and that will sway the mood towards the government as lots of people will just remember that the vaccine has allowed them a few days on the beach, in the pub and seeing friends. The 140k+ dead will be seen as a unavoidable sacrifice that was required to allow us left to go back to our normal lives.
Please let today turn the tide in favour of getting this lot out!
So at the start of this thread the problem was that Johnson was doing what Cummings told him. 65 pages later the problem is that Johnson wasn’t doing what Cummings told him.
From zero to hero binners?
The way he was portrayed was at the real power, the one really taking the decisions. What we learnt yesterday was that in reality it was Boris and he mainly ignored what Cummings and everybody else advised.
he mainly ignored what Cummings and everybody else advised.
So it turns out that what you thought about Cummings was wrong???
It's really time to sit down and have that cup of tea binners.
Binners wasn't working in the Cabinet Office last year Ernie, he has only heard Cummings' take on his time in government at the same time as the rest of us.
So it turns out that what you thought about Cummings was wrong???
Yesterday seemed to confirm that we were all wrong about Cummings role. Rather than some all-powerful Machiavellian puppet-master, he was simply another adviser who's recommendations Boris ignored
What we learnt yesterday was that in reality it was Boris and he mainly ignored what Cummings and everybody else advised.
"**** attempts to shift blame".
Maybe, but having been (pretty tragically) glued to the whole thing yesterday, his account seemed all too believable. It simply confirmed what a lot of us already thought. A sorry tale of chaos and incompetence among people wholly unsuited for such responsibility
I don’t think a Corbyn government would have done any better. They were no better prepared or skilled to deal with a pandemic.
Pointless to speculate.
How about putting the kettle on binners?
I’m sure you’ll feel a lot better after a nice cup of tea.
I'm disappointed in you, ernie. I expected you to at least recommend a specific kind of tea - what with you being a world-renowned expert on the subject, just like every ****ing thing else...🙄
Pointless to speculate.
Or take it at face value when someone else does.
Rather than just slagging off everything, why not list how you would have actually managed the pandemic differently? How would you have saved 1000’s of lives, kept the economy going, kept every part of the country happy, vaccinated everyone more quickly and got the pubs open more quickly 🤔
Where to start? Taking it seriously & not taking February as a holiday to sort out his divorce would've been a start, then going ahead with herd immunity plan, even tho painfully obvious was going to kill 100d of 1000s (was discussed in covid thread in early march)
Then lying repeatedly about testing
Using PPE procurement to bung your mates some cash,
Not blowing up credibility & compliance by backing Cummings ridiculous eye test story
And crucially learning the lessons of the first wave and not delaying lockdown in the autumn and again in January (more people died in the autumn/winter wave than spring/summer)
Oh and testing and quarantine at Borders, and not delaying 3 weeks to put India on red list coz he wanted a trade deal, thus jeopardisong the pubs opening next month....
Any comment @Bullet? A lot of these things were flagged up at the time in the media and even on the covid thread here
Pointless to speculate.
Yep, which is why I said that is besides the point and not to be used as a defence against how badly the actual government were doing rather than a theoretical government. It is unfortunately how a lot of people think and to a large extant I agree with them, speculation or not.
How would you have saved 1000’s of lives, kept the economy going, kept every part of the country happy, vaccinated everyone more quickly and got the pubs open more quickly 🤔
As a starter....
not releasing infected pensioners into Care Homes, despite saying they wouldn't (and then denying, ie lying about doing it)
by locking down harder and sooner - a week delay in lockdown results in the lockdown lasting a month longer in round numbers, due to the relative growth and decline rates
By allowing the experts to do their jobs instead of creating the 'I like chaos because then everyone is reliant on me to be in charge'. Look how well the vaccine program has gone, is it a coincidence that was outsourced to the NHS, etc. instead of the cabinet office.
.....but you know all this already, it's been done to death in the CV19 thread.
We ****ed this up miserably and now the vaccines are bailing us out to an extent. And Jimmy Saville raised a lot of money for charity.
One thing is for certain, if Corbyn was P.M with 130000 dead, he certainly wouldn't be P.M now.
I know nothing about tea Danny, when I want to lift my spirits I drink a toast to the Fatherland.
Yesterday seemed to confirm that we were all wrong about Cummings role. Rather than some all-powerful Machiavellian puppet-master, he was simply another adviser who’s recommendations Boris ignored
There's some proper about turns being done here! Maybe DC liked the "I'm as big as the PM" or the "I'm CHIEF Advisor" hierarchy thing because, let's face it, the job of an advisor is to remain in the background, not be front and centre of everything. So he clearly enjoyed that role while it lasted and the puffing up of his own importance - that comes across in his blog posts too, the idea that he's some sort of super-thinker playing 4D-chess.
But now he's claiming that he was "just" an advisor, the PM ignored a lot of what he said and so on...
🤔
Why are you blindly repeating the nonsense that a Corbyn government would have been worse in dealing with the pandemic
I dont think they would have been worse dealing with it but the papers would have been full of the nonsense his brother spouts and basically rubbished everything Corbyn said leading to a country full of confusion.
There’s some proper about turns being done here!
Of course there is. Someone has stepped out of the smoke and mirrors, to show us something different (might also be meant to mislead, but looking to other sources, such as Sage reports published, will help you decide how much that is the case).
There’s some proper about turns being done here!
I always though Cummings had some good points. The civil service probably does need a shake up, as do most public services, things can be done more effectively etc,.
The problem I have with him is that he is always on the wrong side (Brexit, Tory Party) and that is either because he agrees with them or is doing it in a mercenary/lacking morals ways. Neither are good with me.
Listening to Hancock now. It sickens me. Tens of thousands have died (unnecessarily) in care homes yet tory MPs are congratulating him on his response and s****ing and laughing. How do these people sleep? - in my eyes they are nothing short of murderers.
Why do we accept being ruled by Etonians who hold us and the truth in contempt? I can only thing we are a nation of serfs.
Sorry. I boiled over.
Maybe DC liked the “I’m as big as the PM” or the “I’m CHIEF Advisor” hierarchy thing because, let’s face it, the job of an advisor is to remain in the background, not be front and centre of everything. So he clearly enjoyed that role while it lasted and the puffing up of his own importance – that comes across in his blog posts too, the idea that he’s some sort of super-thinker playing 4D-chess.
With what we learnt yesterday it would seem that this impression suited everybody. Cummings got to bask in his infamy as an evil genius, but it looks like he was also a convenient scapegoat for decisions taken by Johnson that were ultimately nothing to do with him, or in a lot of cases the polar opposite of what he recommended
On care homes - it was clearly a mistake but that clarity only came in hindsight. the advice at the time of the first wave was that transmission in care homes was unlikely. that advice was wrong and that mistake was made in Scotland and many other countries as well
What is unforgivable is that the second wave also led to large numbers of deaths in care homes in england - that is unforgivable
Not closing borders early enough is a clear error with no excuse. Not locking down early enough was a clear error with no excuse
Johnson and his cabal are directly responsible for tens of thousands of deaths because of their willful incompetence.
I know nothing about tea Danny, when I want to lift my spirits I drink a toast to the Fatherland.
In private, of course?
Could be seen as a bit decadent otherwise...
The civil service probably does need a shake up, as do most public services, things can be done more effectively etc
What do you base this statement on?
I think this is important. For a long time now, this kind of sweeping "that sounds like something we can all agree on" statement has been used to undermine public bodies and reduce budgets, which satisfies ideologues who despise the idea of a benevolent state and serves to then create the evidence the original statement usually lacked.
This is the starting point for kleptocracies where the blithe assumption that the private sector will do a better, most cost-effective job provides cover for Tory politicians to hand lucrative contracts to companies run by their friends with virtually no scrutiny.
Few processes are perfect, but making incremental improvements is seldom the chosen approach.
I know nothing about tea
Would that be because proper tea is theft?
April 2020 - people on the left had Cummings down as a liar and the new price of darkness. People on the right defended him and supported his position at the time.
May 2021 - people on the left are taking every word said yesterday as the truth and should be trusted. People on the right say he's a liar, bitter and twisted.
Only when the full enquiry happens and his statements are compared with others will we know the "truth".
What do you base this statement on?
Experience. And I am not saying it to undermine anything or reduce budgets. Budgets should not be reduced but being more efficient with the same budget would be a good thing.
Would that be because proper tea is theft?
Excellent work! 😀
Only when the full enquiry happens and his statements are compared with others will we know the “truth”.
And it needs to happen as soon as possible. There is a chance that major pandemic decisions may have to be made again in the next 18 months, and we need to learn the lessons of the last 18 months to be ready for that. And by "learn the lessons", I don't mean just sack Hancock and move on...
There’s some proper about turns being done here!
Of course there is. Someone has stepped out of the smoke and mirrors, to show us something different (might also be meant to mislead, but looking to other sources, such as Sage reports published, will help you decide how much that is the case).
A lot of what Cummings owned up to yesterday- whatever his reasons - were already in the public domain, but being ignored and/or denied by the government, the media and a large proportion of the population.
Now they are front and centre. Answers are now much harder to avoid.
I still think he's a scheming ****, but broken clocks are still correct twice a day
Experience. And I am not saying it to undermine anything or reduce budgets. Budgets should not be reduced but being more efficient with the same budget would be a good thing.
Agreed, but I think statements like that without specifics are far too commonly used for ulterior ends.
Agreed, but I think statements like that without specifics are far too commonly used for ulterior ends.
And usually by people charging many thousands of pounds a day to do so, and the answer they come up with is invariably to cut staffing levels by 50%
I still think he’s a scheming ****
Aye, and there's the plaguy rub. Most MPs think he's a lying shit, most people (after Barnard Castle) think he's a lying shit, and so does the Chairman of the Inquiry (Hunt, said of the allegations, unless there's evidence, they're just speculation, and apparently he doesn't think Cummings saying "I was in the room" is enough), for a man who's reputation was largely built on weaponising "falsehoods" to come in front of a committee and play the "honest, Guv it was chaos, I did me best, but..." card seems at best Hopeful?
Hancock got off scot-free in the commons this morning, mostly because Tory MPs when it came down to it, will offer more support to him, than they will to Cummings...
Interesting points above and I hadn't bothered to read all the threads on the subject to be fair. Agree that an earlier lockdown and closing borders would have been a good idea but there would still have been a huge backlash against that.
The backlash would have been from the usual vocal-but-not-very-bright suspects. Unfortunately for the rest of us, these idiots represent Johnson’s core support, which he shamelessly panders too.
In reality, all polling showed overwhelming public support for a more cautious approach
I don’t know about you, but we’d effectively locked down weeks before the official lockdown, and I watched in utter disbelief as they continued to let large sporting events go ahead.
The Cheltenham Festival and Champions League match at Anfield (with 5000 fans flying in to Liverpool from Madrid, which was the epicentre of infection in Europe) being acts of what seemed to me to be suicidally reckless stupidity, under the circumstances
there would still have been a huge backlash against that.
Maybe not - other countries were doing it, pictures from Italy and Spain were horrific, and by going in harder and earlier, it would have been shorter, so less impact on business and the economy.
Several times Cummings said the groupthink was that the public wouldn't take lockdowns, when the vast majority actually did.
April 2020 – people on the left had Cummings down as a liar and the new price of darkness. People on the right defended him and supported his position at the time.
May 2021 – people on the left are taking every word said yesterday as the truth and should be trusted. People on the right say he’s a liar, bitter and twisted.
Whereas a lot of people have been and still do look at what he is saying, looking back at the historical data (news reports etc) at what was going on at that time, coming to their own conclusions and basing their assessment of the current news on that analysis. To state that one person is 100% a liar or 100% truthful is just stupid, it's also fuelled by the media.
I still think he’s a scheming ****, but broken clocks are still correct twice a day
More likely that right now what's in the best interests of the country and Dominic have aligned. When he was inside No 10 they were most likely at opposite ends of the scale.
More likely that right now what’s in the best interests of the country and Dominic have aligned. When he was inside No 10 they were most likely at opposite ends of the scale.
Very fair comment
Interesting points above and I hadn’t bothered to read all the threads on the subject to be fair. Agree that an earlier lockdown and closing borders would have been a good idea but there would still have been a huge backlash against that.
Sorta living on a island is a big benefit during a pandemic, squandering it by not shutting your borders after four years of a ‘taking back control‘ mantra seems to be an odd decision.