This can't be right - competition is always the right answer, surely?
The only specific case he has is "a supplier who was in a position to offer 10m masks"
i.e. a dodgy chancer. If it was a primary manufacturer it wouldn't be described like that
I just looked up the company the Guardian says could do 10m masks. They have no website or social media presence, company accounts aren't up to date and in 2018, made gross profit of £16k.
If it was the same company as the one in Lewis Goodall's tweet the wording was delicious
"we are in a position to offer you 10m masks"
Yeah right. Fell of the back of a lorry did they mate?
"Nah we 'ad to unload 'em, proper" says Bert
Here's an example
Germany says six million coronavirus face masks missing in ...www.reuters.com › article › germany-loses-six-million-... 24 Mar 2020 - German customs officials are trying to track down about 6 million face masks, ordered to protect health workers from the coronavirus, that they say went missing at an airport in Kenya. ... the armed forces procurement office have been helping the health ministry to get hold of urgently needed protective gear.
This can't be right - competition is always the right answer, surely?
The only specific case he has is "a supplier who was in a position to offer 10m masks"
i.e. a dodgy chancer. If it was a primary manufacturer it wouldn't be described like that
I just looked up the company the Guardian says could do 10m masks. They have no website or social media presence, company accounts aren't up to date and in 2018, made gross profit of £16k.
I bet the Guardian didn't do that sort of checking.
This can't be right - competition is always the right answer, surely?
The only specific case he has is "a supplier who was in a position to offer 10m masks"
i.e. a dodgy chancer. If it was a primary manufacturer it wouldn't be described like that
I just looked up the company the Guardian says could do 10m masks. They have no website or social media presence, company accounts aren't up to date and in 2018, made gross profit of £16k.
If it was the same company as the one in Lewis Goodall's tweet the wording was delicious
"we are in a position to offer you 10m masks"
Yeah right. Fell of the back of a lorry did they mate?
"Nah we 'ad to unload 'em, proper" says Bert
Here's an example
Germany says six million coronavirus face masks missing in ...www.reuters.com › article › 6 million face masks went missing at an airport in Kenya.
In terms of the face mask poll, if the Govt are so ambivalent (that's being polite) the people will take a long time to come around. It's a big cultural and lifestyle change here.
£35 for ten FFP2, huh? The price I have been quoted is US$15 (admittedly, I have to place a 200k minimum order, 30% upfront, 70% on delivery from China - but they can supply me with 5m a week, I'm told......and 10m each of 3-ply medical and surgical)
I see the psychology of US voters explainers have signed in.
I'll have a go.
Part of Trump's appeal is openly saying:
I am a tax-dodger, that's how you know I'm on your side. I'm a racist, just like you. People look down on me because I constantly get basic facts wrong and can't spell, you know how that feels.
That's why he's also the most consistently unpopular president since a long time, certainly since ww2
In terms of the face mask poll, if the Govt are so ambivalent (that's being polite) the people will take a long time to come around. It's a big cultural and lifestyle change here.
If face masks were available and government advice changed from the current contradictory line, that would probably change very quickly indeed.
China’s coronavirus diplomacy has finally pushed Europe too far https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/04/22/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/china-coronavirus-diplomacy-europe/ .... With stock prices tumbling on the coronavirus crisis, countries including Germany that have investment screening regulations have tightened them and extended their scope in response to concerns that China, among others, could take controlling stakes in companies suddenly made vulnerable. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager suggested in a Financial Times interview that governments go further and buy stakes in companies themselves to stave off the threat of Chinese takeovers.
More far-reaching still are proposals to curb dependence on China, not just for medical supplies but in areas such as battery technology for electric vehicles. EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said last week there’s a need for a discussion “on what it means to be strategically autonomous,” including building “resilient supply chains, based on diversification, acknowledging the simple fact that we will not be able to manufacture everything locally.” Japan already earmarked $2.2 billion from its $1 trillion stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production away from China.
Without mentioning China, EU trade ministers agreed in an April 16 call on the importance of diversifying to “reduce the reliance on individual countries of supply.” As a first step, Berlin plans state funds and purchase guarantees to start industrial production of millions of surgical and face masks by late summer. China currently exports 25 percent of the world’s face masks....
This can't be right - competition is always the right answer, surely?
The only specific case he has is "a supplier who was in a position to offer 10m masks"
i.e. a dodgy chancer. If it was a primary manufacturer it wouldn't be described like that
I just looked up the company the Guardian says could do 10m masks. They have no website or social media presence, company accounts aren't up to date and in 2018, made gross profit of £16k.
I bet the Guardian didn't do that sort of checking.
Or worse, they did.
Who knows, or cares? PPE covers a multitude of sins but much of it is low tech and can be manufactured by any pb-er with a sewing machine or a 3-d printer, and so if a factory that does injection moulding of plastics says they can knock out visors, they are almost certainly right.
Demand for PPE worldwide has rocketed so the idea it can be met by existing suppliers is for the birds. New capacity needs to be found, and to be fair to the government, at least in some cases, including ventilators, it is looking.
Comments
Germany says six million coronavirus face masks missing in ...www.reuters.com › article › germany-loses-six-million-...
24 Mar 2020 - German customs officials are trying to track down about 6 million face masks, ordered to protect health workers from the coronavirus, that they say went missing at an airport in Kenya. ... the armed forces procurement office have been helping the health ministry to get hold of urgently needed protective gear.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1252204786059018240
Wow.
Part of Trump's appeal is openly saying:
I am a tax-dodger, that's how you know I'm on your side.
I'm a racist, just like you.
People look down on me because I constantly get basic facts wrong and can't spell, you know how that feels.
That's why he's also the most consistently unpopular president since a long time, certainly since ww2
China’s coronavirus diplomacy has finally pushed Europe too far
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/04/22/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/china-coronavirus-diplomacy-europe/
.... With stock prices tumbling on the coronavirus crisis, countries including Germany that have investment screening regulations have tightened them and extended their scope in response to concerns that China, among others, could take controlling stakes in companies suddenly made vulnerable. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager suggested in a Financial Times interview that governments go further and buy stakes in companies themselves to stave off the threat of Chinese takeovers.
More far-reaching still are proposals to curb dependence on China, not just for medical supplies but in areas such as battery technology for electric vehicles. EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said last week there’s a need for a discussion “on what it means to be strategically autonomous,” including building “resilient supply chains, based on diversification, acknowledging the simple fact that we will not be able to manufacture everything locally.” Japan already earmarked $2.2 billion from its $1 trillion stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production away from China.
Without mentioning China, EU trade ministers agreed in an April 16 call on the importance of diversifying to “reduce the reliance on individual countries of supply.” As a first step, Berlin plans state funds and purchase guarantees to start industrial production of millions of surgical and face masks by late summer. China currently exports 25 percent of the world’s face masks....
Demand for PPE worldwide has rocketed so the idea it can be met by existing suppliers is for the birds. New capacity needs to be found, and to be fair to the government, at least in some cases, including ventilators, it is looking.