politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » David Cameron once said Dominic Cummings was a ‘career psychopath’, here’s further proof for David Cameron’s assertion.
David Cameron once said Dominic Cummings was a 'career psychopath', here's further proof for David Cameron's assertion. This is the sort of thing that could destroy the Tory party forever. https://t.co/c2eoGtqZ0u
I don’t think it will destroy the Tory Party. The kryptonite that will destroy the Tory Party has yet to be found. But it might hasten Cummings (in my view inevitable anyway) departure.
It's proof that a "whitehall official" is waging an internal war at a point they should be focused on keeping the country as safe as can be
It’s not proof of anything. It’s a piece of evidence capable of varying interpretation. No doubt more will emerge in the fullness of time; until then, it’s pure speculation.
If it is true, you can understand why someone would want to leak it.
Liverpool stewards are volunteering to help with crowd control and assisting the elderly with their shopping at supermarkets, the club’s chief executive has said.
Over the past few days images have been shared of chaotic scenes at supermarkets as long queues form for groceries, while a number of branches have introduced restrictions to prevent panic buying during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore said his club’s stewards were on hand to help manage the situation.
“Message to supermarket managers here on Merseyside. Our stadium stewards here LFC are offering their time and expertise in volunteering to help with crowd control, queue management, parking control, assisting the elderly and infirm taking their groceries to their cars, etc,” Moore wrote on Twitter.
“They are truly the best in the business and would be delighted to help in whatever way you would deem appropriate (and safe) on your premises. Please DM me so that I can put you in contact. YNWA”
It is the latest gesture from football clubs, a number of whom have already donated food, pledged help with food banks, or donated the use of facilities to healthcare services in recent days.
Mate, it’s not the herd immunity strategy, it’s the comment about pensioners dying that is the problem here. Specifically the sentence ending “...too bad.”
It's proof that a "whitehall official" is waging an internal war at a point they should be focused on keeping the country as safe as can be
It’s not proof of anything. It’s a piece of evidence capable of varying interpretation. No doubt more will emerge in the fullness of time; until then, it’s pure speculation.
If it is true, you can understand why someone would want to leak it.
Actually, no, I can't.
As soon as you start leaking internal advice from officials then you cramp their ability to express their views. Additionally the quote is deliberately designed to damage Cummings.
They should really make clear that's not a Cummings quote, but from someone else - and that someone else who clearly has an agenda.
That's a fair point. The problem is that it seems eminently credible because of other things he's verifiably said - if say John Major or even Rees-Mogg was quoted as saying it, none of us would believe it for a second.
Nipped out in the "over 70s hour" at Sainsbury this morning, and it was well-stocked. Friends in Broxtowe say the same of their branch. So apart from one or two items (paracetamol still seems scarce), maybe the "don'r panic buy" message has got through.
Liverpool stewards are volunteering to help with crowd control and assisting the elderly with their shopping at supermarkets, the club’s chief executive has said.
Over the past few days images have been shared of chaotic scenes at supermarkets as long queues form for groceries, while a number of branches have introduced restrictions to prevent panic buying during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore said his club’s stewards were on hand to help manage the situation.
“Message to supermarket managers here on Merseyside. Our stadium stewards here LFC are offering their time and expertise in volunteering to help with crowd control, queue management, parking control, assisting the elderly and infirm taking their groceries to their cars, etc,” Moore wrote on Twitter.
“They are truly the best in the business and would be delighted to help in whatever way you would deem appropriate (and safe) on your premises. Please DM me so that I can put you in contact. YNWA”
It is the latest gesture from football clubs, a number of whom have already donated food, pledged help with food banks, or donated the use of facilities to healthcare services in recent days.
Are these the same people who just helped with crowd control for the Madrid game? Because if you're elderly you really want to stay away fron those people. If possible stay away from Liverpool.
Mate, it’s not the herd immunity strategy, it’s the comment about pensioners dying that is the problem here. Specifically the sentence ending “...too bad.”
And that is NOT a quote from Cummings.
It is the person-who-planted-the-story's claim/interpretation of what Cummings allegedly said
It's proof that a "whitehall official" is waging an internal war at a point they should be focused on keeping the country as safe as can be
It’s not proof of anything. It’s a piece of evidence capable of varying interpretation. No doubt more will emerge in the fullness of time; until then, it’s pure speculation.
If it is true, you can understand why someone would want to leak it.
Actually, no, I can't.
As soon as you start leaking internal advice from officials then you cramp their ability to express their views. Additionally the quote is deliberately designed to damage Cummings.
If you think one of them, who possesses outsize influence, is a dangerous psychopath, then cramping the ability of officials to express their views is something of a secondary consideration.
Cummings is being scapegoated here. The focus on this article shouldn't be that one paragraph- the previous bit about there being a huge government U-turn when they realised that 100,000 deaths was going to be more like 250k or 500k is far more important.
Liverpool stewards are volunteering to help with crowd control and assisting the elderly with their shopping at supermarkets, the club’s chief executive has said.
Over the past few days images have been shared of chaotic scenes at supermarkets as long queues form for groceries, while a number of branches have introduced restrictions to prevent panic buying during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore said his club’s stewards were on hand to help manage the situation.
“Message to supermarket managers here on Merseyside. Our stadium stewards here LFC are offering their time and expertise in volunteering to help with crowd control, queue management, parking control, assisting the elderly and infirm taking their groceries to their cars, etc,” Moore wrote on Twitter.
“They are truly the best in the business and would be delighted to help in whatever way you would deem appropriate (and safe) on your premises. Please DM me so that I can put you in contact. YNWA”
It is the latest gesture from football clubs, a number of whom have already donated food, pledged help with food banks, or donated the use of facilities to healthcare services in recent days.
Are these the same people who just helped with crowd control for the Madrid game? Because if you're elderly you really want to stay away fron those people. If possible stay away from Liverpool.
Seriously. At this point in time to be running threads of this type seems to me to be highly irresponsible. At best it seems to be an attempt to shaft Cummings who is supremely irrelevant to what everyone should be focussed on. Staggering.
It's proof that a "whitehall official" is waging an internal war at a point they should be focused on keeping the country as safe as can be
Well, yes, but Cummings has always been pretty clueless about what his real target should be, so it’s not surprising he’s ‘waging an internal war at a point they should be focused on keeping the country as safe as can be.’
If, when all this is said and done, the cost of the economic damage from an extended lockdown is an order of magnitude greater than the value of the quality-adjusted life years saved, then the supposedly "callous" response would have been the right one.
I'm glad I'm not in government because it means I don't have to make decisions like risking the nation's economy, social stability and potentially even food and fuel security, versus allowing 3.4% of the population to die. But that is the nature of the job. For now, we have chosen. I hope it is the right choice.
I suspect this has been leaked from well off senior civil servants who don't want their cosy status quo disrupted by Cummings.
Is there any evidence that Boris wasn't following the advice of the CMO? I seem to remember him standing next to him when the "herd immunity" plan was announced.
Seriously. At this point in time to be running threads of this type seems to me to be highly irresponsible. At best it seems to be an attempt to shaft Cummings who is supremely irrelevant to what everyone should be focussed on. Staggering.
I think what is really irresponsible is the PM's Chief Adviser misunderstanding the Covid-19 and then selectively briefing friendly journalists.
If he can share his misunderstandings with journalists then he is likely to be giving the PM incorrect advice, and I'm someone who has gone out of his way to largely praise Boris Johnson for his handling of the crisis.
If, when all this is said and done, the cost of the economic damage from an extended lockdown is an order of magnitude greater than the value of the quality-adjusted life years saved, then the supposedly "callous" response would have been the right one.
I'm glad I'm not in government because it means I don't have to make decisions like risking the nation's economy, social stability and potentially even food and fuel security, versus allowing 3.4% of the population to die. But that is the nature of the job. For now, we have chosen. I hope it is the right choice.
The problem with the “shield the oldies and let everyone else get ill” mindset was that even at small percentages the numbers of younger people who would need intensive care would overwhelm the NHS unless spread over a very long period.
Seriously. At this point in time to be running threads of this type seems to me to be highly irresponsible. At best it seems to be an attempt to shaft Cummings who is supremely irrelevant to what everyone should be focussed on. Staggering.
I don’t buy that. Given that the alleged quote is out there, discussing and putting it in some sort of context is entirely reasonable.
And as kyf_100 points out, it’s not as though the hard choices government has been faced with haven’t been an active topic of discussion since the beginning of the pandemic.
People with underlying health conditions including severe asthma and specific cancers are being urged to stay at home “at all times” to protect themselves against coronavirus.
People who fall into the high-risk categories should avoid any face-to-face contact for at least 12 weeks, the government said.
I suspect this has been leaked from well off senior civil servants who don't want their cosy status quo disrupted by Cummings.
Is there any evidence that Boris wasn't following the advice of the CMO? I seem to remember him standing next to him when the "herd immunity" plan was announced.
I don’t hold any particular brief for career civil servants, but given the shambles he left at Education Cummings should never have been allowed to work in a government position again.
Liverpool stewards are volunteering to help with crowd control and assisting the elderly with their shopping at supermarkets, the club’s chief executive has said.
Over the past few days images have been shared of chaotic scenes at supermarkets as long queues form for groceries, while a number of branches have introduced restrictions to prevent panic buying during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore said his club’s stewards were on hand to help manage the situation.
“Message to supermarket managers here on Merseyside. Our stadium stewards here LFC are offering their time and expertise in volunteering to help with crowd control, queue management, parking control, assisting the elderly and infirm taking their groceries to their cars, etc,” Moore wrote on Twitter.
“They are truly the best in the business and would be delighted to help in whatever way you would deem appropriate (and safe) on your premises. Please DM me so that I can put you in contact. YNWA”
It is the latest gesture from football clubs, a number of whom have already donated food, pledged help with food banks, or donated the use of facilities to healthcare services in recent days.
Are these the same people who just helped with crowd control for the Madrid game? Because if you're elderly you really want to stay away fron those people. If possible stay away from Liverpool.
Cummings is being scapegoated here. The focus on this article shouldn't be that one paragraph- the previous bit about there being a huge government U-turn when they realised that 100,000 deaths was going to be more like 250k or 500k is far more important.
And your objection to the little **** (or *** if you prefer) being shafted is what, exactly?
Many would say that his falling victim to a simplistic but factually dubious storyline is the very definition of karma.
Seriously. At this point in time to be running threads of this type seems to me to be highly irresponsible. At best it seems to be an attempt to shaft Cummings who is supremely irrelevant to what everyone should be focussed on. Staggering.
I think what is really irresponsible is the PM's Chief Adviser misunderstanding the Covid-19 and then selectively briefing friendly journalists.
If he can share his misunderstandings with journalists then he is likely to be giving the PM incorrect advice, and I'm someone who has gone out of his way to largely praise Boris Johnson for his handling of the crisis.
Then right now that should still be the focus of the site not engaging in this sort of pettiness now. You have zero evidence the government is following such advice wherever it may or may not be coming from.
Cummings is being scapegoated here. The focus on this article shouldn't be that one paragraph- the previous bit about there being a huge government U-turn when they realised that 100,000 deaths was going to be more like 250k or 500k is far more important.
And your objection to the little **** (or *** if you prefer) being shafted is what, exactly?
None at all, my problem is with that being used to distract from more important criticism of the government
I don’t think it will destroy the Tory Party. The kryptonite that will destroy the Tory Party has yet to be found. But it might hasten Cummings (in my view inevitable anyway) departure.
Most voters haven't heard of Cummings and even fewer care what he has to say about anything.
The kryptonite that will destroy the Tory Party will be (if it occurs) systemic socio-economic collapse, brought on by an excessively lengthy and Draconian clampdown on the Plague. Hence the special emphasis on expanding testing capacity, recommissioning retired NHS staff (who will presumably be supplemented by vets and volunteers with rudimentary training if necessary,) and the production of masses and masses of ventilators. The more people they can afford to allow to get critically ill without causing the collapse of the healthcare system, the quicker they can let more people get back to work and the lower the likelihood of this recession escalating into something very much worse.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Seriously. At this point in time to be running threads of this type seems to me to be highly irresponsible. At best it seems to be an attempt to shaft Cummings who is supremely irrelevant to what everyone should be focussed on. Staggering.
I don’t buy that. Given that the alleged quote is out there, discussing and putting it in some sort of context is entirely reasonable.
And as kyf_100 points out, it’s not as though the hard choices government has been faced with haven’t been an active topic of discussion since the beginning of the pandemic.
It's fiddling while Rome burns and with a nasty underhand twist. All the real evidence says the government is following the scientific and medical advice. I for one wish them well at a terrifying time in our History. The rest of you can play your silly games.
Seriously. At this point in time to be running threads of this type seems to me to be highly irresponsible. At best it seems to be an attempt to shaft Cummings who is supremely irrelevant to what everyone should be focussed on. Staggering.
I don’t buy that. Given that the alleged quote is out there, discussing and putting it in some sort of context is entirely reasonable.
And as kyf_100 points out, it’s not as though the hard choices government has been faced with haven’t been an active topic of discussion since the beginning of the pandemic.
It's fiddling while Rome burns and with a nasty underhand twist. All the real evidence says the government is following the scientific and medical advice. I for one wish them well at a terrifying time in our History. The rest of you can play your silly games.
Talking about fiddling why Rome burns...trending on twitter, Corbyn must stay...and no that isn't stay indoors and follow the official advice.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
They should really make clear that's not a Cummings quote, but from someone else - and that someone else who clearly has an agenda.
That's a fair point. The problem is that it seems eminently credible because of other things he's verifiably said - if say John Major or even Rees-Mogg was quoted as saying it, none of us would believe it for a second.
Nipped out in the "over 70s hour" at Sainsbury this morning, and it was well-stocked. Friends in Broxtowe say the same of their branch. So apart from one or two items (paracetamol still seems scarce), maybe the "don'r panic buy" message has got through.
Or they made a special effort to stock the shelves before letting the oldies (who should be indoors, not shopping) in through the doors.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Cameron’s net gain of seats was more than twice that of Johnson. And he wasn’t facing Corbyn.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Net gain of seats at the first general election
Cameron: +108
Johnson: +48
David Cameron did all the heavy lifting.
Yup - that's your agenda exposed for all to see. Pathetic.
Good article on why German figures are lower. Higher testing, lots of asymptotic / very minor symptoms picked up, youth affected first and generally healthier regions of Germany, higher ICU capacity, lag in recording deaths in official figures and no postmortem testing for those that died, even those suspected of having COVID-19 but never got tested.
The feeling being that when the dusts settles they aren't going to be that much better off than many other countries. In fact, it states German's are thought to be more unhealthy than the Italian (I was surprised to find out just how high the smoking rate was there).
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Net gain of seats at the first general election
Cameron: +108
Johnson: +48
David Cameron did all the heavy lifting.
Yup - that's your agenda exposed for all to see. Pathetic.
Don't be dense, I'm the one who didn't raise the issue about majorities.
If you don't think this isn't a story then I can't help you.
Read my opening again
'In the world of politics perceptions occasionally matter more than reality'
On a more serious note if my maths is any good Spain today:
Deaths up by 22%
Confirmed cases up 13%
We are told the next week or so are critical with the health service close to buckling under the strain. This is why I find threads like this so frustrating.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Cameron’s net gain of seats was more than twice that of Johnson. And he wasn’t facing Corbyn.
No he was facing a tired Labour party that had been in power for 13 years and was carrying the millstone of the Global Financial Crisis. He had also thrown away leads of up to 20 points. He should have won handsomely but ended up with a coalition.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Net gain of seats at the first general election
Cameron: +108
Johnson: +48
David Cameron did all the heavy lifting.
Yup - that's your agenda exposed for all to see. Pathetic.
Don't be dense, I'm the one who didn't raise the issue about majorities.
If you don't think this isn't a story then I can't help you.
Read my opening again
'In the world of politics perceptions occasionally matter more than reality'
This story is out there in the wild.
You use that phrase a lot, mostly when you want it to be the case.
People with underlying health conditions including severe asthma and specific cancers are being urged to stay at home “at all times” to protect themselves against coronavirus.
People who fall into the high-risk categories should avoid any face-to-face contact for at least 12 weeks, the government said.
Said advice being virtually useless unless:
(1) everybody who lives with said vulnerable persons is also instructed to do the same thing, which the authorities aren't doing (all they get is the parroting of the standard hygiene advice, which does next-to-no good if they're required to go out to work and to join the bunfight in the shops, bringing them into contact with a load of Plague vectors so that they just end up taking the disease home with them) AND (2) the most vulnerable people get absolute priority straight away (not in about six weeks' or three months' time) for home grocery deliveries, by whatever means can be found. There's absolutely no sign of this so, unless said persons are lucky enough to have friends or relatives close by who can do it for them, they or members of their household have to go out and join all the Plague vectors fighting over the last bag of pasta in the supermarket
If the support isn't in place for people who are meant to avoid all contact, then giving the advice in the first place is completely pointless. The NHS might as well save itself the cost (both monetary and in terms of finite working time) of sending all those letters and text messages.
On a more serious note if my maths is any good Spain today:
Deaths up by 22%
Confirmed cases up 13%
We are told the next week or so are critical with the health service close to buckling under the strain. This is why I find threads like this so frustrating.
If lockdown works, the rate should start dropping pretty dramatically over the next couple of days.
If it doesn’t we’re all fucked anyway so it’s time to reopen the bars and party.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Net gain of seats at the first general election
Cameron: +108
Johnson: +48
David Cameron did all the heavy lifting.
Yup - that's your agenda exposed for all to see. Pathetic.
You could call it an agenda, you could also call it a viewpoint, opinion, assessment, judgement, position, two cents' worth or different interpretation of the facts. Either way, that’s largely the point of a message board where politics is discussed.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Cameron’s net gain of seats was more than twice that of Johnson. And he wasn’t facing Corbyn.
No he was facing a tired Labour party that had been in power for 13 years and was carrying the millstone of the Global Financial Crisis. He had also thrown away leads of up to 20 points. He should have won handsomely but ended up with a coalition.
He was also the one that convinced many like me that had normally voted conservative as the lesser of all evils to stop because they had lost their way and turned left
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Net gain of seats at the first general election
Cameron: +108
Johnson: +48
David Cameron did all the heavy lifting.
Yup - that's your agenda exposed for all to see. Pathetic.
Don't be dense, I'm the one who didn't raise the issue about majorities.
If you don't think this isn't a story then I can't help you.
Read my opening again
'In the world of politics perceptions occasionally matter more than reality'
This story is out there in the wild.
Yup definitely out there in the jungle. You are not wrong.
lol at thinking Cameron failing to get a majority after the financial crash and 13 years of Labour is better than Boris getting a massive majority after a decade of Tory austerity.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Net gain of seats at the first general election
Cameron: +108
Johnson: +48
David Cameron did all the heavy lifting.
Yup - that's your agenda exposed for all to see. Pathetic.
You could call it an agenda, you could also call it a viewpoint, opinion, assessment, judgement, position, two cents' worth or different interpretation of the facts. Either way, that’s largely the point of a message board where politics is discussed.
Of course in normal times .. but now to me at least it seems at best irrelevant and at worst irresponsible but that ma be what a week of lockdown with at least 3 more to go will do to you.
Go to right-hand side, click country, scroll down a bit, there's a bar chart on the right with daily +cases/deaths and %s. Quite useful to have it to a standardised form, because sometimes timezones confuse things (you don't know if you're talking about 1.5 days worth vs a part day etc).
Also good other data there like per country testing, if it's published.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Pedantically, 80/12 ≠ 8
Excluding the Speaker, there were 330 Conservative MPs after the 2015 GE. Since the zero line for an official majority is 325, the calculation should be 330 - 325 = 5, then multiplying by 2 gives a majority of 10.
Go to right-hand side, click country, scroll down a bit, there's a bar chart on the right with daily +cases/deaths and %s. Also good other data like per country testing, if it's published.
Wikipedia is rightly maligned but if you follow the links in the citations it does take you to some great primary sources
Why are European Influenza cases dropping like a stone in the last month?
What do they do in March in a normal year?
Also incubation and viral shedding periods for the flu are shorter than for this coronavirus, and it’s probably less contagious, so the effects of social distancing show up more quickly.
Everyone has seen messages telling you we must “act today or people will die,” COVID-19 is basically just the flu, and/or that “flattening the curve is a deadly delusion.” These often have numbers, charts, citations, retroactively edited titles (“taksies backsies”), and data “science.”
Unfortunately, all of the above are signs of DKE-19, a highly contagious illness threatening the response against COVID-19. We must act today to flatten the curve of armchair epidemiology, or we will all be in peril.
What matters now is how the government responds from now on, and looking at the curves it seems we are at the same place Italy was at this time! Which to put it mildly is scary asf We need to be doing so much more, people have proven they are very selfish and won't do the right things unless forced to.
If JD Sports and Sports Direct also follow suit. This is when the riots start.
Genuine question. How much is loss of demand and how much is loss of supply given that practically everything these stores sell comes from the Far East?
What matters now is how the government responds from now on, and looking at the curves it seems we are at the same place Italy was at this time! Which to put it mildly is scary asf We need to be doing so much more, people have proven they are very selfish and won't do the right things unless forced to.
They still haven't passed the emergency powers bill. They need to get that done Monday and then sort it out.
Placing Ocado and the supermarket home delivery services under the direction of the state would be a possible solution, but a mechanism would be needed to (1) list all the most important customers, in order of priority, up to the carrying capacity of the services; and then (2) give them access, whilst cancelling all the existing orders and locking all the other customers out.
If those hurdles can be surmounted then the grocers should be able to supply those 1.5m very vulnerable people and every NHS and care home worker with room to spare.
Why are European Influenza cases dropping like a stone in the last month?
What do they do in March in a normal year?
Also incubation and viral shedding periods for the flu are shorter than for this coronavirus, and it’s probably less contagious, so the effects of social distancing show up more quickly.
Only goes up to the 10th of march. Simpler times back then.
It's proof that a "whitehall official" is waging an internal war at a point they should be focused on keeping the country as safe as can be
It’s not proof of anything. It’s a piece of evidence capable of varying interpretation. No doubt more will emerge in the fullness of time; until then, it’s pure speculation.
If it is true, you can understand why someone would want to leak it.
Actually, no, I can't.
As soon as you start leaking internal advice from officials then you cramp their ability to express their views. Additionally the quote is deliberately designed to damage Cummings.
If you think one of them, who possesses outsize influence, is a dangerous psychopath, then cramping the ability of officials to express their views is something of a secondary consideration.
No. There are processes internally for that. If the PM wants to work with him then it is not the job of an official to try and undermine him. Especially not now.
If JD Sports and Sports Direct also follow suit. This is when the riots start.
Primark only closed the stores after demand fell. Either way it is good news, and hopefully all the fast fashion retailers close their doors soon due to failing sales.
People with underlying health conditions including severe asthma and specific cancers are being urged to stay at home “at all times” to protect themselves against coronavirus.
People who fall into the high-risk categories should avoid any face-to-face contact for at least 12 weeks, the government said.
Said advice being virtually useless unless:
(1) everybody who lives with said vulnerable persons is also instructed to do the same thing, which the authorities aren't doing (all they get is the parroting of the standard hygiene advice, which does next-to-no good if they're required to go out to work and to join the bunfight in the shops, bringing them into contact with a load of Plague vectors so that they just end up taking the disease home with them) AND (2) the most vulnerable people get absolute priority straight away (not in about six weeks' or three months' time) for home grocery deliveries, by whatever means can be found. There's absolutely no sign of this so, unless said persons are lucky enough to have friends or relatives close by who can do it for them, they or members of their household have to go out and join all the Plague vectors fighting over the last bag of pasta in the supermarket
If the support isn't in place for people who are meant to avoid all contact, then giving the advice in the first place is completely pointless. The NHS might as well save itself the cost (both monetary and in terms of finite working time) of sending all those letters and text messages.
Actually there is sign of the second one. Certainly Sainsburys have a preference system in place whereby you can register if you are over 70 or have a condition which puts you inside this group and they will give priority to those people in assigning slots. This has been in place for a week or so now.
It's proof that a "whitehall official" is waging an internal war at a point they should be focused on keeping the country as safe as can be
It’s not proof of anything. It’s a piece of evidence capable of varying interpretation. No doubt more will emerge in the fullness of time; until then, it’s pure speculation.
If it is true, you can understand why someone would want to leak it.
Actually, no, I can't.
As soon as you start leaking internal advice from officials then you cramp their ability to express their views. Additionally the quote is deliberately designed to damage Cummings.
If you think one of them, who possesses outsize influence, is a dangerous psychopath, then cramping the ability of officials to express their views is something of a secondary consideration.
No. There are processes internally for that. If the PM wants to work with him then it is not the job of an official to try and undermine him. Especially not now.
It's proof that a "whitehall official" is waging an internal war at a point they should be focused on keeping the country as safe as can be
Where is a Whitehall official mentioned?
My reading is that at a private engagement (i.e. not govt business) Cummings is alleged to have said this by several people present ["those present"].
I think it's highly plausible that in his quest to be a misunderstood science genius, he would have said something that sounded a lot like that.
There was a buzzfeed article from yesterday with a similar line of attack which quoted a "whitehall official" [I assume a SpAd]. I'm working on the basis that they are a coordinated attack.
All employees to remain on full pay. That's the way to do it.
Everything I know about the Timpson family is really positive. Timpsons snr fostering 100s of kids, they treat their employees well even in normal times and genuinely believe in giving back to society.
What matters now is how the government responds from now on, and looking at the curves it seems we are at the same place Italy was at this time! Which to put it mildly is scary asf We need to be doing so much more, people have proven they are very selfish and won't do the right things unless forced to.
They still haven't passed the emergency powers bill. They need to get that done Monday and then sort it out.
What will the emergency powers bill allow them to do? Will it pass on monday?
Seriously. At this point in time to be running threads of this type seems to me to be highly irresponsible. At best it seems to be an attempt to shaft Cummings who is supremely irrelevant to what everyone should be focussed on. Staggering.
I don’t buy that. Given that the alleged quote is out there, discussing and putting it in some sort of context is entirely reasonable.
And as kyf_100 points out, it’s not as though the hard choices government has been faced with haven’t been an active topic of discussion since the beginning of the pandemic.
That's EXACTLY the problem.
It's NOT a quote from Cummings.
It's a summary of what he is alleged to have said. No doubt couched in inflammatory terms to serve an agenda.
My mate in Spain is saying one person per car now, and police checks for proof of where you’re going
Has been the case for a while now - I live in a very quiet coastal area which swells in the summer, but barely 30000 folk normally covering the villages and 4 or 5 very small towns. However, we have both soldiers and Guardia on the streets enforcing the rules. Very impressive if somewhat intimidating.
If JD Sports and Sports Direct also follow suit. This is when the riots start.
We call all probably survive a few weeks without clothes shopping.
How about a 20% drop in GDP?
Millions unemployed, receiving government handouts. The rest paying 90% of their salary in a super tax. People unable to pay mortgages, homes repossessed, people living in their cars, children without a roof over their head. Food rationing. Violent crime up. Civil unrest.
Because that is where we will be in six months time if we don't get a handle on this.
That starts to scare me more than the headline mortality rate for this thing.
Jesus Christ, don't you ever get tired of amplifying this nonsense? Yes, Boris and Cummings won a majority 8 times the size of Dave's. It's done, time to get over it.
Net gain of seats at the first general election
Cameron: +108
Johnson: +48
David Cameron did all the heavy lifting.
Or Johnson made the breakthrough that Cameron was unable to
All employees to remain on full pay. That's the way to do it.
Everything I know about the Timpson family is really positive. Timpsons snr fostering 100s of kids, they treat their employees well even in normal times and genuinely believe in giving back to society.
Comments
Plus even yesterday Matthew Parris was advising herd immunity for everyone bar the elderly and vulnerable in the Times and Parris is as wet a Remainer as they come and far from Cummings' ideology
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/crashing-the-economy-will-also-cost-lives-l9kz50dqb
It’s a piece of evidence capable of varying interpretation. No doubt more will emerge in the fullness of time; until then, it’s pure speculation.
If it is true, you can understand why someone would want to leak it.
Over the past few days images have been shared of chaotic scenes at supermarkets as long queues form for groceries, while a number of branches have introduced restrictions to prevent panic buying during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore said his club’s stewards were on hand to help manage the situation.
“Message to supermarket managers here on Merseyside. Our stadium stewards here LFC are offering their time and expertise in volunteering to help with crowd control, queue management, parking control, assisting the elderly and infirm taking their groceries to their cars, etc,” Moore wrote on Twitter.
“They are truly the best in the business and would be delighted to help in whatever way you would deem appropriate (and safe) on your premises. Please DM me so that I can put you in contact. YNWA”
It is the latest gesture from football clubs, a number of whom have already donated food, pledged help with food banks, or donated the use of facilities to healthcare services in recent days.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/mar/22/liverpool-fc-ceo-offers-club-stewards-assist-crowds-supermarkets-coronavirus
As soon as you start leaking internal advice from officials then you cramp their ability to express their views. Additionally the quote is deliberately designed to damage Cummings.
Nipped out in the "over 70s hour" at Sainsbury this morning, and it was well-stocked. Friends in Broxtowe say the same of their branch. So apart from one or two items (paracetamol still seems scarce), maybe the "don'r panic buy" message has got through.
It is the person-who-planted-the-story's claim/interpretation of what Cummings allegedly said
My reading is that at a private engagement (i.e. not govt business) Cummings is alleged to have said this by several people present ["those present"].
I think it's highly plausible that in his quest to be a misunderstood science genius, he would have said something that sounded a lot like that.
I'm glad I'm not in government because it means I don't have to make decisions like risking the nation's economy, social stability and potentially even food and fuel security, versus allowing 3.4% of the population to die. But that is the nature of the job. For now, we have chosen. I hope it is the right choice.
Is there any evidence that Boris wasn't following the advice of the CMO? I seem to remember him standing next to him when the "herd immunity" plan was announced.
If he can share his misunderstandings with journalists then he is likely to be giving the PM incorrect advice, and I'm someone who has gone out of his way to largely praise Boris Johnson for his handling of the crisis.
Given that the alleged quote is out there, discussing and putting it in some sort of context is entirely reasonable.
And as kyf_100 points out, it’s not as though the hard choices government has been faced with haven’t been an active topic of discussion since the beginning of the pandemic.
People who fall into the high-risk categories should avoid any face-to-face contact for at least 12 weeks, the government said.
Many would say that his falling victim to a simplistic but factually dubious storyline is the very definition of karma.
https://twitter.com/Samtrickett1/status/1241718298850537475?s=20
The kryptonite that will destroy the Tory Party will be (if it occurs) systemic socio-economic collapse, brought on by an excessively lengthy and Draconian clampdown on the Plague. Hence the special emphasis on expanding testing capacity, recommissioning retired NHS staff (who will presumably be supplemented by vets and volunteers with rudimentary training if necessary,) and the production of masses and masses of ventilators. The more people they can afford to allow to get critically ill without causing the collapse of the healthcare system, the quicker they can let more people get back to work and the lower the likelihood of this recession escalating into something very much worse.
Cameron: +108
Johnson: +48
David Cameron did all the heavy lifting.
If you can't interpret log scales, look away now.
We are looking for signs of a reduced gradient (i.e. a slowing in the rate of growth)
The feeling being that when the dusts settles they aren't going to be that much better off than many other countries. In fact, it states German's are thought to be more unhealthy than the Italian (I was surprised to find out just how high the smoking rate was there).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/22/germany-low-coronavirus-mortality-rate-puzzles-experts
If you don't think this isn't a story then I can't help you.
Read my opening again
'In the world of politics perceptions occasionally matter more than reality'
This story is out there in the wild.
Deaths up by 22%
Confirmed cases up 13%
We are told the next week or so are critical with the health service close to buckling under the strain. This is why I find threads like this so frustrating.
(1) everybody who lives with said vulnerable persons is also instructed to do the same thing, which the authorities aren't doing (all they get is the parroting of the standard hygiene advice, which does next-to-no good if they're required to go out to work and to join the bunfight in the shops, bringing them into contact with a load of Plague vectors so that they just end up taking the disease home with them)
AND
(2) the most vulnerable people get absolute priority straight away (not in about six weeks' or three months' time) for home grocery deliveries, by whatever means can be found. There's absolutely no sign of this so, unless said persons are lucky enough to have friends or relatives close by who can do it for them, they or members of their household have to go out and join all the Plague vectors fighting over the last bag of pasta in the supermarket
If the support isn't in place for people who are meant to avoid all contact, then giving the advice in the first place is completely pointless. The NHS might as well save itself the cost (both monetary and in terms of finite working time) of sending all those letters and text messages.
Primark closes stores as UK high street shuts doors.
Retailer also cancels all new orders from suppliers as demand shrinks.
https://www.ft.com/content/06d8b780-6c31-11ea-89df-41bea055720b
If it doesn’t we’re all fucked anyway so it’s time to reopen the bars and party.
https://twitter.com/thelonevirologi/status/1241722701292634112
https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP/status/1241698669771911169?s=20
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_coronavirus_pandemic
Go to right-hand side, click country, scroll down a bit, there's a bar chart on the right with daily +cases/deaths and %s. Quite useful to have it to a standardised form, because sometimes timezones confuse things (you don't know if you're talking about 1.5 days worth vs a part day etc).
Also good other data there like per country testing, if it's published.
https://twitter.com/jack_sommers/status/1241723051181555712
https://twitter.com/KTHopkins/status/1241717349436268546?s=20
Unfortunately, all of the above are signs of DKE-19, a highly contagious illness threatening the response against COVID-19. We must act today to flatten the curve of armchair epidemiology, or we will all be in peril.
https://medium.com/@noahhaber/flatten-the-curve-of-armchair-epidemiology-9aa8cf92d652
We need to be doing so much more, people have proven they are very selfish and won't do the right things unless forced to.
https://twitter.com/SamiZayn/status/1241016024490803208
If those hurdles can be surmounted then the grocers should be able to supply those 1.5m very vulnerable people and every NHS and care home worker with room to spare.
https://twitter.com/JamesTCobbler/status/1241693538523496448?s=20
Either way it is good news, and hopefully all the fast fashion retailers close their doors soon due to failing sales.
It's NOT a quote from Cummings.
It's a summary of what he is alleged to have said. No doubt couched in inflammatory terms to serve an agenda.
Millions unemployed, receiving government handouts. The rest paying 90% of their salary in a super tax. People unable to pay mortgages, homes repossessed, people living in their cars, children without a roof over their head. Food rationing. Violent crime up. Civil unrest.
Because that is where we will be in six months time if we don't get a handle on this.
That starts to scare me more than the headline mortality rate for this thing.