Anything Political

[Oztalgian 3,294]

5 hours ago, DJ360 said:

the one who wanted to replace lifelong Civil Servants with ..what was it? 'Loonies and nutjobs'?.. I forget now..  but the gist is that he..in his infinite self determined wisdom had decided that there was no 'deep expertise' in the Civil Service. 

Having spent the last years of my working life alternating between inside the public service and in the private sector her in South Australia I feel that I must comment on this post.

In my time in the public service there was serious knowledge and deep expertise in the department I worked in. Admittedly there were some "time servers" too that should have been weeded out years ago but at the time tenure prevented that. What went wrong with the public service was its' politicisation when heads of department were appointed on their allegiance to the governing political party not on the capacity to do the job. In my early days it was the role of the public servant to put forward the pros and cons of what their political masters were proposing and to give frank and fearless advice. As the service became more politicised the ministers only wanted to hear the upside of what they were proposing and certainly not any view that differed from theirs or their spin doctors. It became only about good news stories that supported the minister and not about any informed debate that helped develop good policy. I saw many smart committed and skilled public servants become disillusioned as they saw their roles diminished and being more and more governed by spin and the maxim of "protect the minister".

[DJ360 6,730]

8 hours ago, Brew said:

you again quickly gloss over and pass by Labours record.

 

Not intentional Jim and I have said many times that I do not excuse wrong doing in Govt. by any party. However, I'd also point out that Ecclestone's £1m donation to Labour was a donation to the party, not a personal bribe to Blair.. who I suspect had no personal need for another 'mil' even back then. Still wrong.. but ..

Also.. it seems to me that Hoon..Caborn et al.. were rank amateurs compared to the current mob... though tht's no excuse.

8 hours ago, Brew said:

Cameron was allegedly on for 'earning' sixty million which to me is a sickening amount but with numbers like that and the fact it's not actually illegal, it would be difficult for anyone to turn it down.

 

Again though.. not even a donation to the party.. but a purely personal gain.  In other words.. rank corruption. Payment for favours based on priveleged access.

[DJ360 6,730]

5 hours ago, Oztalgian said:

What went wrong with the public service was its' politicisation

 

Exactly Oz.  And when you combine that sort of politicisation.. as driven here by that odious little $£1t Cummings.. with the commercialisation of Govt and Govt. Depts.. you have a recipe for exactly the sort of industrial scale graft and corruption which is obvious in this country.

[DJ360 6,730]

Yet more on the utter morality and integrity free zone that the current Tory Govt. represents.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/19/tory-sleaze-scandals-johnson-john-major

 

And:

Quote

The Good Law Project statement on Greensill in its entirety here:

“The Greensill scandal has once again exposed cronyism right at the heart of Government. The more we learn, the more shocking the revelations become.

The former Prime Minister David Cameron used cosy back channels to lobby Rishi Sunak for taxpayer-funded grants for Greensill, a company in which he held lucrative shares. A top civil servant, responsible for all Government procurement, took a job as an advisor for Greensill whilst unbelievably continuing to work in Government. The Chair of the Government lobbying watchdog, responsible for regulating this mess, failed to declare that he himself is the president of lobby group The Enterprise Forum, which boasts of connections to Government.

Whilst this particular scandal has laid bare the special access and perks enjoyed by those who have friends in high places, it doesn’t come as a surprise. For many in Government, the Greensill scandal is just business as usual.

In the face of such blatant disregard of basic fairness and respect for our democracy, it would be easy to become despondent. Instead, with the support of thousands of you, we are pushing back:
 

• We are suing Government over the award of lucrative PPE contracts, including to companies with political connections. The case will be heard in the High Court next month.
• We are challenging the Cabinet Office for handing out market research contracts to not one but two companies with close ties to Dominic Cummings. We await the final judgment from the Court in relation to a contract handed to Public First.
• With Runnymede Trust, we are challenging the culture of cronyism that means top public sector jobs are handed out based on who you know, not what you can do. The litigation challenges the appointment of Dido Harding, amongst others. We have now been granted permission for this case to be heard.
• We are challenging the award of a whopping £22.6 million contract, awarded without competition to Bunzl Healthcare. Lord Feldman, former Conservative Party Chair, worked as an unpaid adviser to Health Minister Lord Bethell last year – whilst also running a lobbying firm. One of the clients of that lobbying firm was – you guessed it – Bunzl Healthcare. And next week will see the launch of further litigation – involving the award of a vast contract to a company represented by a man with links to No.10.

Going up against the significant resources of the state is not easy. But the alternative, of allowing those in power to continue to benefit from rampant cronyism, is simply not an option.

It is only with your support that we can continue to hold Government to account. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so here.


Copied and pasted from here.

 

 

 

How much more do people need to see and hear of these crooked thieving B&$t&rd$..before the penny drops?

[Brew 5,417]

There will now be a short interlude while opposing parties in government line their ducks up and begin  tit-for-tat accusations.

 

I said earlier I don't really give a damn who had the contract, it could have been the mafia for all I care.

 

Due to a legal wrangle with an American company that held £500,000 of PPE we were heading for a crisis in the supply of masks and gowns. It may have been Hancock, it may not, but well done to whoever averted a major shortage of essential equipment by taking the bull by the horns and getting the job done. Whoever it was does not deserve the opprobrium for showing some initiative.

the approved list of suppliers anyway. Bunzl are on the list and are major suppliers to the NHS.

 

Every government on the planet has lobbyists, maybe under another name but doing the same job, advertising by personal recommendation - ours is no different.

Feldman ran a company of lobbyists - Bunzl were clients - Bunzl gets job - lobbying successful - problem?

 

Again as noted previously the tendering process usually takes months to sort out and then only a very few are on the approved list of suppliers anyway. Bunzl are on the list and are major suppliers to the NHS.

 

The public sector jobs has and always will be down to who you know not what you know, if they can stop it then good luck to them but cronyism and nepotism are not exclusive to the Tories as I'm sure you are aware.

 

The rest I reserve judgement on till the courts decision is handed down.

 

I agree there is a distinct lack of morality in government at the moment and yes it stinks but whether it is actually illegal we shall have to wait and see.

[DJ360 6,730]

Jim, I do appreciate that there were extenuating circumstances which might excuse a bit of corner cutting.. in terms of process, in a couple of instances.  Especially if it can be shown (which I very much doubt..) that extreme profiteering did not take place.  Far too many coincidences though.. far too many friends and relatives of Tory MPs, ministers and peers just happen to have been in a position to come riding over the hill like the Cavalry and heroically save the day..for a price...

 

I'm also unshakeably of the view that the current government is inherently corrupt.

 

Furthermore, the Tories, over that last 20 years or so have quietly, deliberately and cynically re-structured the whole of Government, via 'outsourcing', the creeping politicisation of the Civil Service and the insistence on privatising almost every last damned public service function in their determination to carve up the whole of public spending between themselves. It is undeniable.

Much as I detested Thatcher.. I believe that even she would be appalled at the blatant thievery enacted constantly by the current verion of the Conservative Party.

 

Thatcher flogged off the family silver.  These crooks are stripping the lead off the roof...and then making 'yer average' voter stump up for the cost of replacing it.

 

9 hours ago, Brew said:

The (allocation of ?) public sector jobs has and always will be down to who you know not what you know,

 

I have added in what I suspect might be the missing words in your statement quoted above. I think it's a very sweeping statement and it certainly wasn't true at the levels I operated at in Local Govt. and the successor organisations which were charged with carrying out the whole 'Career/Youth Employment etc'.. function.

 

9 hours ago, Brew said:

I agree there is a distinct lack of morality in government at the moment and yes it stinks but whether it is actually illegal we shall have to wait and see.

 

And therein lies the crux of it. We are currently governed by a bunch of spivs who regard the Law as yet another tool to be used for their own benefit and changed or ignored for similar reasons.  We saw this in action when Johnson tried to impose his will on Parliament from a minority position before the last election and we see it in their determination to change the law on protest, and in other areas which they tucked neatly away in their last manifesto.

 

We are being edged closer to the tactics used by the likes of Putin..who simply declares all credible opposition to be 'criminal', 'treasonous' etc.. and failing that just has opposition leaders killed. Of course we are not there yet.. but we are definitely heading in that direction.  Incidentally.. where is Cummings these days?  He made a big and obviously stage managed show of 'Leaving' Downiing Street.. but is his malign influence really gone?

 

So.. if 'the Law' supposes that many of the antics of the current kleptocracy are not illegal.. then to quote from Dickens: “If the law supposes that,” said Mr Bumble, “…the law is a ass – a idiot.”

 

 

[Brew 5,417]

You can probably tell it was late when I wrote that. My reference to cronyism in the civil service did not extend to local level but the upper echelons of Whitehall although at council level it's still quite common and often so blatant we've become inured to it.

 

We're going have difficulty defining 'excessive' profits and profiteering, niche markets often attract what is known in accounting terms as 'supernormal profits' before competition catches up.  Businesses' are going to maximise revenues regardless of any political affiliation - it's what they do.

 

 

[DJ360 6,730]

On 4/21/2021 at 12:50 PM, Brew said:

Businesses' are going to maximise revenues regardless of any political affiliation - it's what they do.

 

 

Businesses are of course entitled to make the maximum profit they can.. within the Law.

 

But when it is 'the Government' which determines which businesses get contracts.. and therefore which businesses get to maximise profits in extreme circumstances..often through rank Cronyism and the old boy network.. you know full well Jim that the awarding of such contracts is by definition corrupt..and the excess profits are effectively Govt. sanctioned THEFT of public money.

 

IT has to stop!!

 

And now we have the re-surfaced row over Johnson and his No.10 refurb.  To be honest that is the least of the theft Johnson is mired in. It's petty cash in the scheme of his utterly amoral and self serving approach to politics, life and everything. Forum rules prevent me from using the words I think adequately describe Johnson and his total lack of morality, scruples and integrity.

 

I'm certain that there are Tories now circling to unseat Johnson.  He's served his purpose..in getting them elected..via his 'He's a Laugh..if you don't think very much'.. appeal..

Thing is. the bulk of Tory ministers are either grossly incompetent... (Gove..Patel, Williamson.) or they should already be in Gaol.. (Jenrick. possibly Patel) ..etc.

And of course the rest of the sorry bunch clearly can't be trusted because if they could.. they would not be either defending..or staying silent.. on Johnson, sleaze.etc.. in the first place.

 

So we move onto Cummings.  Another morality free zone with seriously anti-democratic views..who thinks he knows better than Govts. the entire Civil Service etc.. and is another liar who should be fined (at least) for Covid breaches.

 

The sight of Cummings v Johnson in some sort of  'Top Liar' contest is beyond the pale.. even for the famously disloyal and backstabbing bunch that constitutes the Tories these days.

 

Meanwhile.. so long as 'Boris' opens up the pubs..soon.. his new voters will forget 130000 dead..and the public money Johnson wasted to achieve the distinction...

[Brew 5,417]

But when it is 'the Government' which determines which businesses get contracts 

 

Of course it’s the government who awards contracts, who else?

 

I said previously I couldn’t care less if the Mafia had the contract, people were dying and we needed extraordinary solutions to extraordinary problems.

Someone somewhere said “bogger the rules, get it done. We can argue the rights and wrongs at a later date”. I applaud them for doing so.

Now, when it looks safe, the knockers are crawling out of the woodwork to begin their jibes and accusations.

 

and the excess profits are effectively Govt. sanctioned THEFT of public money.

 

There is no accusation of excess profits or companies profiteering as far as I know. There is not, nor has anyone mentioned, theft from the public purse,

 

Bunzl, a major supplier to the NHS, has a published policy that states they NEVER make political contributions and have not been accused of not following the rules.

Dyson stumped up £20M for ventilator research and received nothing in return, the same goes for JCB. Dyson brought employees from Singapore to the UK to do the research. He asked for tax relief for them or their earning would be taxed here and at home, hardly fair treatment.

 

You are well known for seeking evidence in support of a view you don’t necessarily agree with yet here you’re using belief and supposition rather than evidence to support your argument.

 

And now we have the re-surfaced row over Johnson and his No.10 refurb. 

 

Starmer is finally waking to the fact that being the opposition leader means he must stop his impression of the invisible man,  but he must really be struggling to raise his profile if all he can find to chunter about is the colour of the bloody furniture in No 11. He really is very weak leader.

You would do a much better job, your arguments are far better than any of his utterances. 

 

The rest of your diatribe is merely excess verbiage attacking various politicians’ personalities. Again it is only your belief and supposition they are as you say they are. 

 

So we move onto Cummings. 

 

A man seemingly without filters, who says what he thinks without regard for the consequences.

He appears to me as someone suffering from Asperger’s, I’ve no medical training to offer in support though his behaviour does fit the symptoms.

He did break the rules and was arrogant enough to offer the weakest of excuses in the belief he was right and enjoyed Boris’s protection. 

 

Meanwhile... so long as 'Boris' opens up the pubs..soon.. his new voters will forget 130000 dead..and the public money Johnson wasted to achieve the distinction...

 

Not a fair statement Col to infer people have such a cavalier attitude they will forget the huge death toll merely because they can go for a drink.

Was public money wasted? What, when and where? Anyone who expects an organisation to be right 100% of the time lives in a fairy tale.

That huge amounts of money was spent is true, some of the projects worked some didn’t – why do we always remember and condemn the bits that went wrong and not praise the bits that went right?

 

[DJ360 6,730]

Finaly coming back on this... 

On 4/28/2021 at 4:01 PM, Brew said:

why do we always remember and condemn the bits that went wrong and not praise the bits that went right?

 

Possibly because the bits that went wrong were pretty much all down to Johnson and his Band of Idiots ignoring the science for far too long.. whilst blatantly profiteering from the situation. The lockdowns were all too late and the opening up over last Christmas was. as all sane people predicted.. a disaster which cost many thousands of lives. I stayed away from family.  Being intelligent.. they stayed away from me.

The ONLY bit which has gone right is the vaccine programme. Yes.. it's true that our Govt. at least had the forsight to buy vaccines.. but it was scientists who developed the vaccine. (Have you tracked Tory funding of scientific research over recent years?) and pretty much the NHS which has delivered the vaccine.

Boris should hang his head in shame.

 

So. moving on.. It seems that French Fishermen around Jersey were hit with extra rules to deal with at the last minute.  A clear failure of Boris' much promoted 'Get Brexit Dun'..yet.. when a few French fishermen decide to protest.. (NOT blockade) around Jersey.. Johnson sees his chance and plays the Churchil/Thatcher card by sending in gunboats and presenting a little local difficulty as something verging on WW3.  Still..I'm sure it will play well with Boris's 'thick as mince' fans, who still don't get that they too are being screwed.

[Cliff Ton 10,466]

7 hours ago, DJ360 said:

.. Johnson sees his chance and plays the Churchil/Thatcher card by sending in gunboats and presenting a little local difficulty as something verging on WW3.  Still..I'm sure it will play well with Boris's 'thick as mince' fans, who still don't get that they too are being screwed.

 

I'm no big fan of Boris....but it wasn't helped when the French threatened to cut off the electricity supply to Jersey in retaliation. That's the kind of reaction you'd expect from North Korea.

[philmayfield 6,136]

They weren’t gunboats. They were there to intervene and keep the peace should hostilities have broken out. It was advisable to send them under the circumstances.

[Brew 5,417]

8 hours ago, DJ360 said:

Yes.. it's true that our Govt. at least had the forsight to buy vaccines.. but it was scientists who developed the vaccine. (Have you tracked Tory funding of scientific research over recent years?) and pretty much the NHS which has delivered the vaccine.

Boris should hang his head in shame.

 

I'm not following your reasoning here Col. Scientists developed the vaccine?, of course they did who else? 

You then imply a shortage of funding for scientific research in general yet we managed  to be among the first in the world to create an effective vaccine.  how did we do that if scientists are on their uppers?

 

The NHS staff have worked hard to deliver the vaccines but let's also give credit to the 10 million volunteers that have stepped up and without whom we would be very much worse off.

 

The Jersey fishing row: 

 What would you have Boris do when faced with physical threats? take the Corbyn route and enter into 'meaningful dialogue' for the next few years? 

You may see it as gunboat diplomacy but sending the navy to answer a maritime threat is what they're for...

[DJ360 6,730]

2 hours ago, Cliff Ton said:

 

I'm no big fan of Boris....but it wasn't helped when the French threatened to cut off the electricity supply to Jersey in retaliation. That's the kind of reaction you'd expect from North Korea.

 

It wasn't a smart move Kev.. I'll give you that.  It was a threat to make the whole population of the island suffer because of the diplomatic failings  of the British, French and Jersey Governments.  That said.. I also suspect that it was largely for home consumption..as such things often are.

 

However. it also points up a couple of other issues.  Firstly it shows that there is real interdependency between nations, but secondly it shows up how successive UK Governments have allowed other nations to quietly gain control of much of our infrastructure.  I believe about 20% of the UK electricity supply is now controlled by a French Co. EDF Energy which is in turn owned by the French Govt.  So much for 'taking back control.'

 

It prompted this attempt at humour by me on another site: https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/our-impending-war-with-france.254948/#post-4350643

[Brew 5,417]

Few realise just how fragile the UK electricity distribution is. The time is now 12:00 ( a peak demand hour) and we are drawing 10% of our electricity from the French nuclear distribution through two undersea cables. Our much vaunted 'green energy' is less than half that from over 10,000 windmills.

 

I'm astonished that they even thought to threaten the supply line but not only is Jersey in danger of losing their power we could be in dire straits come winter if they decided to flick the big switch.

 

We are heavily dependant on France, Belgium, Holland, Norway and Ireland for our electricity, we can't afford to get too arsey.

 

EDF (mostly the French government) also control much of out home grown leccy giving  the French a strong hand when it comes to negotiating. 

[philmayfield 6,136]

Aren’t these inter connectors two way though and don’t we also export our surplus electricity to the continent when required? We have peak demands at different times.

[DJ360 6,730]

4 hours ago, Brew said:

The Jersey fishing row: 

 What would you have Boris do when faced with physical threats? take the Corbyn route and enter into 'meaningful dialogue' for the next few years? 

You may see it as gunboat diplomacy but sending the navy to answer a maritime threat is what they're for...

 

I would expect Boris to do exactly what he did, because the whole episode was an electoral gift for him on an actual election day. The whole episode was a God sent diversion from issues of corruption, cronyism etc..which in my view the British electorate almost accepts as 'normal' now.  He didn't need to say anything, as the gutter press in the form of the Daily Mail , Express and others turned it into 'Johnson's Falklands', portraying it as an invasion and claiming it was repulsed by the British Navy.

 

Of course as you know it was actually nothing of the sort. There was no threat.  It was a protest, by French fishermen who have fished those waters forever and who as far as I can see have a genuine grievance.  Furthermore.. it most emphatically was not a 'blockade'.  They gathered in protest and they politely moved aside to allow routine shipping in and out of the harbour. Even the BBC made that very clear. The French were even joined by some boats from the Jersey fleet, who shared in their discomfort.

 

Of course many will share the view of the pompous idiot on Question Time last night... who was popping blood vessels because the British Navy had the temerity to NOT sink the French fishing boats.  It seems to me that it is that sort of thinking which is prevalent in the UK at the moment and it is very worrying.

[DJ360 6,730]

2 hours ago, Brew said:

We are heavily dependant on France, Belgium, Holland, Norway and Ireland for our electricity, we can't afford to get too arsey.

 

I think most reasonable people would ask 'why?'. 

[Brew 5,417]

2 hours ago, philmayfield said:

Aren’t these inter connectors two way though and don’t we also export our surplus electricity to the continent when required? We have peak demands at different times.

 

Very little, France has quite a lot of spare capacity and being nuclear can be brought online very quickly. The original idea was for two way but it hardly ever happens.

 

edit:

Just checked and at 3:30, a none peak time we are still drawing 10% from France

[Brew 5,417]

It was as you say an absolute gift for Boris, I could almost believe he and Macron arranged it, it was that convenient.

53 minutes ago, DJ360 said:

 

I think most reasonable people would ask 'why?'. 

 

The answer is simple a succession of governments, starting with Thatcher and gleefully adopted by the opposition flogged off most of the essential assets.

Before we begin a 'let's kick Boris in the goolies fest' we should remember Labour in 2019 even went so far as to suggest selling 40% of the NHS, a plan they first mooted back in 2003

[DJ360 6,730]

13 hours ago, Brew said:

I'm not following your reasoning here Col. Scientists developed the vaccine?, of course they did who else? 

You then imply a shortage of funding for scientific research in general yet we managed  to be among the first in the world to create an effective vaccine.  how did we do that if scientists are on their uppers?

 

The NHS staff have worked hard to deliver the vaccines but let's also give credit to the 10 million volunteers that have stepped up and without whom we would be very much worse off.

 

On the first point. It was pure serendipity that the UK was already well ahead of the field in a new type of vaccine research.  In other words it was no thanks to Johnson et. al.

On the second point.. of course I appreciate the role of volunteers in the vaccine roll out.  In fact on both occasions, I have made a point of personally thanking everyone I have encountered.. from those directing parking.. to the vaccinators themselves and those monitoring people afterwards.

Bottoom line.. the only aspect of the UK response to Covid which has worked.. is the creation and roll-out of the vaccine.. and Johnson can claim very little if any credit for that.

 

I just think that people are too willing to forgive and forget when it comes to the current Govt.  Remember that when you were accusing me of panicking, Johnson was still pretty much denying there was a problem.. and wandering about shaking hands with Covid patients in a display of supreme idiocy.

He was far too slow to introduce lock down measures.. and don't forget the early abandonement of any effort at controlling the disease..which was quickly reversed.. but should not have happened at all.  Countless thousands have died as a direct result of Johnson's failures.

Even now..this Govt. has not properly addressed the issue of inrternational travel and still has far too weak a system for controlling Covid 'imports'.

I'm not going to continue about the clear profiteering, the money wasted on Nightingale Hospitals, which were a great stunt.. but were never going to work because they could not be staffed.  Admittedly, that didn't occur to me.. but it ought to have occurred to somebody in Govt. or the NHS. 

[DJ360 6,730]

9 hours ago, Brew said:

The answer is simple a succession of governments, starting with Thatcher and gleefully adopted by the opposition flogged off most of the essential assets.

Before we begin a 'let's kick Boris in the goolies fest' we should remember Labour in 2019 even went so far as to suggest selling 40% of the NHS, a plan they first mooted back in 2003

 

Basically, yes. Thatcher started the rot.  I'm not sure I'd agree with 'gleeful' in regard to the opposition. In situations where the Left is seen to be behaving superficially like the Right.. it can be instructive to examine the motives behind the actions. Whatever Labour proposed.. does not detract from the fact that the Tories have a clear agenda to privatise the NHS.  Furthermore, that privatisation has nothing whatever to do with efficiency or effectiveness.. and everything to do with opening access to public money and profits, for private interests.

[DJ360 6,730]

Well the election results are clearly not good for Labour, although in many areas it seems that the Tories have not won votes from Labour, so much as 'hoovered up' former UKIP votes.

 

So.. it seems that Brexit.. which was and remains little more than a symbolic change.. around which all sensible people are trying to work.. continues to damage not only our trade and our economy.. but the very core of our Democratic system. 

I heard one BBC commentator at lunchtime on Friday actually describe the curent Tory ascendency as 'near hegemonic'. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hegemonic?topic=power-to-control

That is a big worry. The population of the UK really should not get fooled into giving such near unassailable power to a bunch of crooks and spivs.

 

Meanwhile.. Johnson is trotting out his new line.  "We are delivering the people's priorities". 

 

Cobblers. 

 

They are delivering their own priorities and ignoring whole rafts of people and issues. Johnson's perspective on who exactly constitute 'the people'.. is very narrow indeed.

 

-They are still doing bugger all to bring to book the crooks who installed. or accepted, substandard and dangerous cladding on buildings..more than 3 years after Grenfell... and there was another fire yesterday.

-They are still dragging their heels on sorting out citizenship issues related to the 'Windrush' scandal, and compensating those who were damaged.

-They have STILL not plugged the holes in support for people re: Covid.. such that many low income people who are dependent upon zero hours, self employment, etc.. are fearful of getting tested for Covid as this could result in them being instructed to self isolate.. with no income.

-Young people and especially University students.. have been appallingly treated throughout.. being royally ripped off by Unis and the Govt.

Etc.. etc..

 

Don't tell me Johnson is anything other than an opportunist crook.

 

But.. most worrying of all to me, even as a habitual Labour voter.. is not so much the issues for the Labour Party.. as the issues for the broad left in general.  This rise in support for a far right Tory Govt. which is clearly acting to the detriment of whole rafts of its own citizens.. is very worrying indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Brew 5,417]

Pure serendipity (a weak argument), would not have happened without sufficient funding (which you seem to overlook) and successive governments can take credit.

I must also take issue with the remark the Nightingale hospitals were a waste of money. They were by any measure a brilliant piece of logistical engineering and you would have been even more vitriolic, if not apoplectic had they been needed and not available - I'm amazed you can't see that. We don't know what plans were made to staff them so we will never know if they would have worked or not. Let's just be thankful we didn't need to find out.

Care to share the 'clear' examples of profiteering?

 

We have said many times hindsight gives us 20:20 vision. It's easy to claim idiocy or incompetence but the real facts don't actually bear that out. No one claims mistakes weren't made by governments all over the world and the UK is no different, not as good as some but better than many more. There will always be room for improvement but perfection? never going to happen I'm afraid.

 

We were actually among the first to go into lockdown. I gave you kudos for seeing the threat before many of us, myself included but the claim Johnson didn't and is responsible for 'countless thousands' dying  is just plain wrong.

SAGE gave advice on the 18th March and eight days later we locked down, the fourth in the Europe to do so.

 

It's too long for here but I recommend:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_United_Kingdom

 

Whilst arrogant selfish ****ds cheat the system by flying to such places as Turkey before coming here,  the only answer to your point about international travel is fortress UK, no imports, no exports and a gift for the Guardian writers who love being right after the fact.

 

You say Johnson can claim little credit and  as far as I know he himself doesn't do so, always it's 'we' an inclusive term I take to mean those of us who played by the rules.

 

Like a lot of leaders that were not nice people (Churchill is a prime example) Boris is the right man in the right job at the right time. Who else would you like to see in number 10?

 

Again you gloss over the Labour faults and emphasise the Tories when the truth is BOTH parties would like to get out from under the huge burden the NHS places on the treasury.

I don't know when but it's inevitable the behemoth that is the NHS will collapse under its own weight one day and private enterprise will have a feeding frenzy on the carcass.

 

[Brew 5,417]

Much of what you say is true Col though 'cobblers' is not your finest analytic comment - and I did know what hegemonic meant.

 

Yes The government  has failed to address many of the issues you raised but  can we lay all the blame at the feet of the blessed blonde one?

I said earlier there is always room for improvement but perfection is impossible.

 

Sir Silent has followed in the footsteps of previous Labour leaders and led them to a crashing failure. Why did he not raise any of the issues you mention? At PMQ he was no match for Boris in full flight.

Previous Labour  leaders do not have a great reputation:

Foot let in the militants and produced a Tory landslide

Callaghan was a disaster

Smith wanted a 25% raise in income tax

Kinnock a big loss again (good man though)

Blair set off OK but became legend in his own mind

Corbyn ...

 

Boris is not brilliant and when the dust settles maybe we can see him gone but we should not underestimate him, many have, and despite his faults he will not be easy to shift.