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  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    edited May 2020
    And he's off......so the Russians who go to Greece for a holiday won't be any bother?

    https://twitter.com/DavidDavisMP/status/1263864827535032320?s=20
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    HYUFD said:

    DougSeal said:

    HYUFD said:

    Fishing said:

    HYUFD said:

    malcolmg said:

    Interesting and possibly (uncharacteristically) smart:

    https://twitter.com/DominicRaab/status/12638625831546839h06ad ?s=20

    I am sure China are shaking in their boots, imagine a concerned Raab facing you.
    In terms of "soft power" aligning with Australia and Canada is smart.
    Indeed and offers an alternative middle way in foreign policy if you add New Zealand too midway between the USA and EU
    I think given Five Eyes and so on we'd be much closer to the US than the EU. Especially if America elects a sensible President in November.

    I also think we should tack much closer to other major non-NATO allies such as Japan, who I understand want to join Five Eyes.

    CANJUK not CANZUK?
    Empire 2.0
    Japan was never part of the British Empire, indeed in WW2 much of the Empire was occupied by Japan
    Really! You mean all those commemorations we had at school for pupils who died to keep Japan British were based on a lie?!?!!!???
    Had Britain fallen to the Nazis in 1940, India might well have ended up under Japanese control
    What was happening in 1940?
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    An interesting take.....

    https://twitter.com/IvanMassow/status/1263902244828860416?s=20

    Her main thing, doing what 90% of the planet had done a dozen weeks earlier.....
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601

    An interesting take.....

    https://twitter.com/IvanMassow/status/1263902244828860416?s=20

    Her main thing, doing what 90% of the planet had done a dozen weeks earlier.....

    It was Boris's job to take that decision, in February or March.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,675
    The creator of Clap for Carers wants next week's round of applause to be the last

    People across the region have stood by their front doors every week to clap and cheer for health care workers on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic

    https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/creator-clap-carers-wants-next-18299445
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601
    edited May 2020
    Priti Patel is disliked by the politically correct not because of anything she's done or said recently but because 10 years ago she appeared on Question Time and defended capital punishment, (even though she's said she no longer supports it).
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Clown car crash incoming....

    Home secretary Priti Patel to give UK daily briefing at 17:00 BST, outlining new travel restrictions

    'Half competent cabinet' gonna be tested to destruction.
    At least they're let out! Nicola frightened someone will steal her limelight? Nah - that can't be it!
    You are not too bright on quality of leadership and responsibility. Good Generals lead from the front, not from behind the couch.
    Like Eisenhower on D-Day?
    Eisenhower's not a bad comparison actually. Intimately involved in the planning of Overlord, resisted bullying from various quarters, personally took the weight of the decision to postpone from 5th to 6th, personally met the the airborne troops before they took off, sent inspirational message to all troops at the off, agonised over whether it would be a success and the price to be paid. I doubt there were many allied troops, particularly US ones, who didn't think Ike was with them in spirit at least. Yep, that's leadership.
    Did he skip one more important meeting than Churchill?
    Even Churchill did not skip a fraction of Bozo's record.
    The Yoons really are crapping it at Sturgeon's ratings. They even had to fire up the Ruthinator today, with mixed results.
    The crisis has exposed Sturgeon too, whatever the polling says.

    Despite good comms, the SNP have squandered their power. The health system seems to be worse up north than in England, and their COVID-for-care-homes scandal even more egregious.
    Loony tunes, another Scotland expert from inside the M25. Go read statistics before talking absolute bollox.
    Are you ever sober?
    You only post rants.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    ClippP said:

    ydoethur said:

    He used to, but he moved to Penarth to be nearer his friends Eadric, Byronic and MysticRose.
    Just as long as they were not all in the same room at the same time.....
    Jesus. We'd have much more serious problems than coronavirus if that happened:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyaLZHiJJnE
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Clown car crash incoming....

    Home secretary Priti Patel to give UK daily briefing at 17:00 BST, outlining new travel restrictions

    'Half competent cabinet' gonna be tested to destruction.
    At least they're let out! Nicola frightened someone will steal her limelight? Nah - that can't be it!
    You are not too bright on quality of leadership and responsibility. Good Generals lead from the front, not from behind the couch.
    Like Eisenhower on D-Day?
    Eisenhower's not a bad comparison actually. Intimately involved in the planning of Overlord, resisted bullying from various quarters, personally took the weight of the decision to postpone from 5th to 6th, personally met the the airborne troops before they took off, sent inspirational message to all troops at the off, agonised over whether it would be a success and the price to be paid. I doubt there were many allied troops, particularly US ones, who didn't think Ike was with them in spirit at least. Yep, that's leadership.
    Did he skip one more important meeting than Churchill?
    Even Churchill did not skip a fraction of Bozo's record.
    The Yoons really are crapping it at Sturgeon's ratings. They even had to fire up the Ruthinator today, with mixed results.
    The crisis has exposed Sturgeon too, whatever the polling says.

    Despite good comms, the SNP have squandered their power. The health system seems to be worse up north than in England, and their COVID-for-care-homes scandal even more egregious.
    Loony tunes, another Scotland expert from inside the M25. Go read statistics before talking absolute bollox.
    I would struggle to name a PB poster who lives within the M25. Eadric or one of his aliases when not in Penarth. Other than that...HYUFD is close but Epping is outside.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Clown car crash incoming....

    Home secretary Priti Patel to give UK daily briefing at 17:00 BST, outlining new travel restrictions

    'Half competent cabinet' gonna be tested to destruction.
    At least they're let out! Nicola frightened someone will steal her limelight? Nah - that can't be it!
    You are not too bright on quality of leadership and responsibility. Good Generals lead from the front, not from behind the couch.
    Like Eisenhower on D-Day?
    Eisenhower's not a bad comparison actually. Intimately involved in the planning of Overlord, resisted bullying from various quarters, personally took the weight of the decision to postpone from 5th to 6th, personally met the the airborne troops before they took off, sent inspirational message to all troops at the off, agonised over whether it would be a success and the price to be paid. I doubt there were many allied troops, particularly US ones, who didn't think Ike was with them in spirit at least. Yep, that's leadership.
    Did he skip one more important meeting than Churchill?
    Even Churchill did not skip a fraction of Bozo's record.
    The Yoons really are crapping it at Sturgeon's ratings. They even had to fire up the Ruthinator today, with mixed results.
    The crisis has exposed Sturgeon too, whatever the polling says.

    Despite good comms, the SNP have squandered their power. The health system seems to be worse up north than in England, and their COVID-for-care-homes scandal even more egregious.
    Loony tunes, another Scotland expert from inside the M25. Go read statistics before talking absolute bollox.
    Are you ever sober?
    You only post rants.
    I thought it was compulsory to get pissed before coming on PB.

    Imagine how awful those Brexit debates would have been if you’d had to read them while sober.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    Andy_JS said:

    An interesting take.....

    https://twitter.com/IvanMassow/status/1263902244828860416?s=20

    Her main thing, doing what 90% of the planet had done a dozen weeks earlier.....

    It was Boris's job to take that decision, in February or March.
    Yes. It made sense then, when there were regions of the world with significant numbers of live cases and we had no measures in place to prevent the spread of those that reached the UK.

    Quite what the point is now, when foreign travel presents no more apparent risk than travelling within the UK is a mystery. One that Patel didnt explain during the presser.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421
    DougSeal said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Clown car crash incoming....

    Home secretary Priti Patel to give UK daily briefing at 17:00 BST, outlining new travel restrictions

    'Half competent cabinet' gonna be tested to destruction.
    At least they're let out! Nicola frightened someone will steal her limelight? Nah - that can't be it!
    You are not too bright on quality of leadership and responsibility. Good Generals lead from the front, not from behind the couch.
    Like Eisenhower on D-Day?
    Eisenhower's not a bad comparison actually. Intimately involved in the planning of Overlord, resisted bullying from various quarters, personally took the weight of the decision to postpone from 5th to 6th, personally met the the airborne troops before they took off, sent inspirational message to all troops at the off, agonised over whether it would be a success and the price to be paid. I doubt there were many allied troops, particularly US ones, who didn't think Ike was with them in spirit at least. Yep, that's leadership.
    Did he skip one more important meeting than Churchill?
    Even Churchill did not skip a fraction of Bozo's record.
    The Yoons really are crapping it at Sturgeon's ratings. They even had to fire up the Ruthinator today, with mixed results.
    The crisis has exposed Sturgeon too, whatever the polling says.

    Despite good comms, the SNP have squandered their power. The health system seems to be worse up north than in England, and their COVID-for-care-homes scandal even more egregious.
    Loony tunes, another Scotland expert from inside the M25. Go read statistics before talking absolute bollox.
    I would struggle to name a PB poster who lives within the M25. Eadric or one of his aliases when not in Penarth. Other than that...HYUFD is close but Epping is outside.
    Alistair used to, but he saw the light at last.

    Kinabalu? Not quite sure where he lives, though, to be fair.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,675
    Andy_JS said:

    Priti Patel is disliked by the politically correct not because of anything she's done or said recently but because 10 years ago she appeared on Question Time and defended capital punishment, (even though she's said she no longer supports it).

    Bullshit.

    She’s a national security risk, she had to resign in disgrace over it.

  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    Andy_JS said:

    Priti Patel is disliked by the politically correct not because of anything she's done or said recently but because 10 years ago she appeared on Question Time and defended capital punishment, (even though she's said she no longer supports it).

    The thing that worried me about that clip when I watched it again on YouTube is the way she kept trying to answer Ian Hislop’s points by saying “burden of proof” without any understanding of what it meant. I guess she had in her mind someone explaining to her there could be a higher burden than even beyond reasonable doubt in capital cases (beyond any doubt perhaps) but it was clear she didn’t really understand it.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    edited May 2020

    Andy_JS said:

    Priti Patel is disliked by the politically correct not because of anything she's done or said recently but because 10 years ago she appeared on Question Time and defended capital punishment, (even though she's said she no longer supports it).

    Bullshit.

    She’s a national security risk, she had to resign in disgrace over it.

    In what way has our national security been materially affected by one angstrom?
  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    TGOHF666 said:
    Interesting that you cite a Mail journalist in defence of the Home Secretary, given that newspaper's record in spouting racist tropes, including giving a platform to Katie Hopkins, over the years. And Mr Cole was educated at the very expensive Tonbridge school - presumably he regards himself as upper class rather than middle class.
    Tonbridge is upper class now? Oh dear.
    I went to Tonbridge, would not say I am upper class though
    Oops - apologies. Very clever but unpretentious has always been the impression I've had of its products.
    Indeed, Eton is upper class, along with to a lesser extent Harrow, Winchester and Westminster.

    Tonbridge is more upper middle class.

    My father did go to Harrow and there were plenty of sons of titles with him though he was a son of trade
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    TGOHF666 said:
    Interesting that you cite a Mail journalist in defence of the Home Secretary, given that newspaper's record in spouting racist tropes, including giving a platform to Katie Hopkins, over the years. And Mr Cole was educated at the very expensive Tonbridge school - presumably he regards himself as upper class rather than middle class.
    Tonbridge is upper class now? Oh dear.
    I went to Tonbridge, would not say I am upper class though
    Oops - apologies. Very clever but unpretentious has always been the impression I've had of its products.
    Indeed, Eton is upper class, along with to a lesser extent Harrow, Winchester and Westminster.

    Tonbridge is more upper middle class.

    My father did go to Harrow and there were plenty of sons of titles with him though he was a son of trade
    Less flogging at Tonbridge I imagine?!
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    HYUFD said:

    stodge said:

    HYUFD said:


    I went to Tonbridge, would not say I am upper class though

    An Old Tonbridgian - greetings from an Old Alleynian.

    Once of your alumni, David Emms, was Master of Dulwich while I was there.

    You had E.M Forster, we had P.G Wodehouse. You had Bill Bruford, we had Phil Manzanera. You had the Cowdreys, we had Trevor Bailey.

    We also had Nigel Farage but there's no answer to that.

    Greetings, I believe you also had Peter Lilley, Bob Monkhouse, Sir Ernest Shackelton and Chiwitel Ejeifor.

    We had Sir Patrick Mayhew, Vikram Seth, Ed Smith and Zak Crawley and Dan Stevens and Keane and David Tomlinson
    Well we had Jonnie Stovin.

    Last seen in the back of a Black Mariah.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,102
    IanB2 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    An interesting take.....

    https://twitter.com/IvanMassow/status/1263902244828860416?s=20

    Her main thing, doing what 90% of the planet had done a dozen weeks earlier.....

    It was Boris's job to take that decision, in February or March.
    Yes. It made sense then, when there were regions of the world with significant numbers of live cases and we had no measures in place to prevent the spread of those that reached the UK.

    Quite what the point is now, when foreign travel presents no more apparent risk than travelling within the UK is a mystery. One that Patel didnt explain during the presser.
    I think it is also a means of the spending in tourism, hotels and caravan parks, is kept here in the UK rather than in Spain, Portugal, Italy and France.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,898
    HYUFD said:



    Had Britain fallen to the Nazis in 1940, India might well have ended up under Japanese control

    Well, it's hard to know what the terms of any British surrender to Germany would have been. The Germans lacked the means to occupy the Dominions of Canada, India, Australia and New Zealand at that time . It's entirely possible the British Government-in-Exile would have gone to Canada (though that wasn't what MacKenzie King, the Canadian PM at the time, wanted) in first instance.

    Canada, Australia and New Zealand would inevitably have come more into the American sphere and if (and it's a big if) events proceed as they did in our timeline, we'd have seen Empire forces try to resist Germany and Italy in North Africa as a sideshow until the German invasion of the USSR.

    Can the likes of Malta hold out? If they can and American supplies can come in after Pearl Harbor, the Empire forces might be able, with American help, to clear the Axis out of North Africa by say late 1943.

    We can envisage the powerful American fleet with the Royal Navy dominating the Atlantic by early 1944 and the Americans "persuading" the Irish to join the allies and enabling American and Canadian and Free British forces to land on the west coast of Wales and England in early 1945 and begin the liberation of the British Isles.

    The end comes with the atomic bomb detonations over Germany and the Nazi regime collapses.

    One scenario, there are others - alternatehistory.com awaits.

  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601
    Anyway, it's time for Top of the Pops on BBC4.
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,060
    ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Clown car crash incoming....

    Home secretary Priti Patel to give UK daily briefing at 17:00 BST, outlining new travel restrictions

    'Half competent cabinet' gonna be tested to destruction.
    At least they're let out! Nicola frightened someone will steal her limelight? Nah - that can't be it!
    You are not too bright on quality of leadership and responsibility. Good Generals lead from the front, not from behind the couch.
    Like Eisenhower on D-Day?
    Eisenhower's not a bad comparison actually. Intimately involved in the planning of Overlord, resisted bullying from various quarters, personally took the weight of the decision to postpone from 5th to 6th, personally met the the airborne troops before they took off, sent inspirational message to all troops at the off, agonised over whether it would be a success and the price to be paid. I doubt there were many allied troops, particularly US ones, who didn't think Ike was with them in spirit at least. Yep, that's leadership.
    Did he skip one more important meeting than Churchill?
    Even Churchill did not skip a fraction of Bozo's record.
    The Yoons really are crapping it at Sturgeon's ratings. They even had to fire up the Ruthinator today, with mixed results.
    The crisis has exposed Sturgeon too, whatever the polling says.

    Despite good comms, the SNP have squandered their power. The health system seems to be worse up north than in England, and their COVID-for-care-homes scandal even more egregious.
    Loony tunes, another Scotland expert from inside the M25. Go read statistics before talking absolute bollox.
    Are you ever sober?
    You only post rants.
    I thought it was compulsory to get pissed before coming on PB.

    Imagine how awful those Brexit debates would have been if you’d had to read them while sober.
    Never post drunk on PB. When I do, I always regret it the next day (but then I regret it when I post sober too...)
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    ydoethur said:

    Amazingly, that was before Starmer, his shadow Chancellor or his Shadow Home Secretary entered Parliament.
    One of the curious things about the BBC's coverage of the 1992 General Election is that they interviewed four of the next six Labour leaders (Miliband and Starmer the two not interviewed). None of the next six Tory leaders were interviewed.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,675
    Cummings going?

    Police spoke to Dominic Cummings about breaching the government’s lockdown rules after he was seen in Durham, 264 miles from his London home, despite having had symptoms of coronavirus, the Guardian can reveal.

    Officers approached Boris Johnson’s key adviser days after he was seen rushing out of Downing Street when the prime minister tested positive for the virus at the end of March, a joint investigation by the Guardian and the Mirror has found.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/22/dominic-cummings-durham-trip-coronavirus-lockdown?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226

    TOPPING said:

    TGOHF666 said:
    Is that happening? Shame on those people. Patel speaks a lot more clearly than her boss, and doesn't talk any more bollocks than he does.
    Nah. Her affectation of droppin her g is fuckin irritatin.

    Although once you realise she is speaking like Lord Peter Wimsey (as pointed out by @Chris?) the dynamic changes somewhat.
    :lol: Huntin Shootin Fishin and Controllin immigration.

    I like Patel by the way. Diane Abbot too.
    I don't see the need to keep coupling these dusky maidens. They are different in almost every respect.
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    kinabalu said:

    Government shambles through another day.

    It is clear they are making it up as they go along.

    The schools are due back on June 1, but a week later, we are effectively banning foreigners from travelling into the country.

    The govt are deviating from “the science” too. As far as I can tell, neither of the two policies above have the backing of the government’s own advisors.

    I sense the quarantine thing is a sop to public opinion.
    Almost certainly right, although there may be another motivation.

    If, come July and August, the weather is nice and the progress of the disease has been sufficiently checked to unshutter most of the hospitality sector - yet the country's doors are still bolted shut - then what are all those frustrated tourists who would've flown to the Med (not to mention all those who can no longer afford to travel abroad in any case) going to do?
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,354
    ydoethur said:

    DougSeal said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Clown car crash incoming....

    Home secretary Priti Patel to give UK daily briefing at 17:00 BST, outlining new travel restrictions

    'Half competent cabinet' gonna be tested to destruction.
    At least they're let out! Nicola frightened someone will steal her limelight? Nah - that can't be it!
    You are not too bright on quality of leadership and responsibility. Good Generals lead from the front, not from behind the couch.
    Like Eisenhower on D-Day?
    Eisenhower's not a bad comparison actually. Intimately involved in the planning of Overlord, resisted bullying from various quarters, personally took the weight of the decision to postpone from 5th to 6th, personally met the the airborne troops before they took off, sent inspirational message to all troops at the off, agonised over whether it would be a success and the price to be paid. I doubt there were many allied troops, particularly US ones, who didn't think Ike was with them in spirit at least. Yep, that's leadership.
    Did he skip one more important meeting than Churchill?
    Even Churchill did not skip a fraction of Bozo's record.
    The Yoons really are crapping it at Sturgeon's ratings. They even had to fire up the Ruthinator today, with mixed results.
    The crisis has exposed Sturgeon too, whatever the polling says.

    Despite good comms, the SNP have squandered their power. The health system seems to be worse up north than in England, and their COVID-for-care-homes scandal even more egregious.
    Loony tunes, another Scotland expert from inside the M25. Go read statistics before talking absolute bollox.
    I would struggle to name a PB poster who lives within the M25. Eadric or one of his aliases when not in Penarth. Other than that...HYUFD is close but Epping is outside.
    Alistair used to, but he saw the light at last.

    Kinabalu? Not quite sure where he lives, though, to be fair.
    Sunil does, I believe, as did I (Wanstead) until recently.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,898
    DougSeal said:


    I would struggle to name a PB poster who lives within the M25. Eadric or one of his aliases when not in Penarth. Other than that...HYUFD is close but Epping is outside.

    All my mentions of East Ham and Newham - oh dear.

    I never comment on Scottish politics - I know my place.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    ydoethur said:

    DougSeal said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Clown car crash incoming....

    Home secretary Priti Patel to give UK daily briefing at 17:00 BST, outlining new travel restrictions

    'Half competent cabinet' gonna be tested to destruction.
    At least they're let out! Nicola frightened someone will steal her limelight? Nah - that can't be it!
    You are not too bright on quality of leadership and responsibility. Good Generals lead from the front, not from behind the couch.
    Like Eisenhower on D-Day?
    Eisenhower's not a bad comparison actually. Intimately involved in the planning of Overlord, resisted bullying from various quarters, personally took the weight of the decision to postpone from 5th to 6th, personally met the the airborne troops before they took off, sent inspirational message to all troops at the off, agonised over whether it would be a success and the price to be paid. I doubt there were many allied troops, particularly US ones, who didn't think Ike was with them in spirit at least. Yep, that's leadership.
    Did he skip one more important meeting than Churchill?
    Even Churchill did not skip a fraction of Bozo's record.
    The Yoons really are crapping it at Sturgeon's ratings. They even had to fire up the Ruthinator today, with mixed results.
    The crisis has exposed Sturgeon too, whatever the polling says.

    Despite good comms, the SNP have squandered their power. The health system seems to be worse up north than in England, and their COVID-for-care-homes scandal even more egregious.
    Loony tunes, another Scotland expert from inside the M25. Go read statistics before talking absolute bollox.
    I would struggle to name a PB poster who lives within the M25. Eadric or one of his aliases when not in Penarth. Other than that...HYUFD is close but Epping is outside.
    Alistair used to, but he saw the light at last.

    Kinabalu? Not quite sure where he lives, though, to be fair.
    Hello. Yes NW London. Lived here for quite some time.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    stodge said:

    DougSeal said:


    I would struggle to name a PB poster who lives within the M25. Eadric or one of his aliases when not in Penarth. Other than that...HYUFD is close but Epping is outside.

    All my mentions of East Ham and Newham - oh dear.

    I never comment on Scottish politics - I know my place.
    Many apologies!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421
    edited May 2020
    tlg86 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Amazingly, that was before Starmer, his shadow Chancellor or his Shadow Home Secretary entered Parliament.
    One of the curious things about the BBC's coverage of the 1992 General Election is that they interviewed four of the next six Labour leaders (Miliband and Starmer the two not interviewed). None of the next six Tory leaders were interviewed.
    At the time, presumably the only one senior enough to have warranted an interview would have been Howard. Cameron was a special adviser, defeated candidates in North West Durham wouldn’t have registered, Hague had been in Parliament for only three years, Duncan Smith was a minor figure and Johnson was working for the Brussels bureau of the Torygraph.

    It is amusing to reflect though that had an enterprising journalist gone to NW Durham they would have had the chance to interview a future Chief Whip, a future Prime Minister and a future leader of the Liberal Democrats. While none of them were an unmixed success in their roles, it’s fair to say none of them had dull or commonplace political careers!

    Edit - it’s interesting though that they interviewed Corbyn.
  • Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,780

    From a journalist who has opposed the slightest hint of border control for her entire professional life...
    Instead of playing the woman and not the ball how about arguing about the substantive point of her tweet?
    Getting 5 months out of 18 weeks is not bad. Outside some Far East countries, most quarantine lockdowns started in March. The issue is PHE and the governmentS were following the science the flu pandemic plan for a much less serious virus. But the governmentS get to carry the can and deservedly so.
    Deservedly so as ministers should always carry the can for the failings of public agencies.

    But even more deserved in this case because:
    1. The creation of PHE as an independent agency, hived it off from the NHS, was one of the many contentious parts of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act.
    2. As a consequence spending on public health was no longer considered part of NHS spending, so it could be cut without jeopardising the government's pretence that it was maintaining NHS (minus public health) spending.
    3. The cuts in public health spending were especially severe because the public health budgets were transferred into the totality of local authority funding, which was then decimated for the rest of the decade.
    How do you account for the at least as bad (and in the case of Wales, arguably worse) performance outside England?
    Because I was addressing just one of the countless avoidable factors that explain the abysmal UK response, namely Cameron and Lansley's creation of PHE as a vehicle for savage underfunding of public health in response to a previous contributor who mentioned the failings of PHE. There is indeed a catalogue of other factors, all those we've been tearing our hair out on here over the last few months, and there are so many that I've lost count. If you feel that specific factors relating to Scotland and Wales are part of the overall calamity, then be my guest and add them to the list.
  • sarissasarissa Posts: 1,993
    More fake news -:

    On the official figures, E&W 41.6%, Scotland 46%

    research by LSE, reported on May 14th in Care Home Professional

    https://www.carehomeprofessional.com/research-estimates-put-real-care-home-covid-19-death-toll-at-over-22000/
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    sarissa said:

    More fake news -:

    On the official figures, E&W 41.6%, Scotland 46%

    research by LSE, reported on May 14th in Care Home Professional

    https://www.carehomeprofessional.com/research-estimates-put-real-care-home-covid-19-death-toll-at-over-22000/
    That cannot be right. Malc assures us that EVERYTHING is better in Scotland.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    Andy_JS said:

    Priti Patel is disliked by the politically correct not because of anything she's done or said recently but because 10 years ago she appeared on Question Time and defended capital punishment, (even though she's said she no longer supports it).

    Bullshit.

    She’s a national security risk, she had to resign in disgrace over it.

    On every occasion she appears in public she manages the gymnastic tric of fitting both feet in her mouth at the same time. I do hope she is elected next Tory leader, it guarantees an opposition government.
  • El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 4,239
    Cummings' trip is the first popcorn moment of the year. Bring it on.
  • MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,708
    edited May 2020
    Situation with F1 is ridiculous - everyone will be being tested all the time - it's a minimal risk and upside of staging GPs must outweigh risk of a tiny number of extra infections.

    And surely Govt will have to fold as far as football is concerned - otherwise clubs won't be able to play in Champions League and Europa League when they restart in August. That would surely be untenable.

    And if they are going to have to concede for football, why not for F1?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,217
    Phil said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Phil said:

    This explanation misses an important point about the Weimar hyperinflation, which extends to (I think) all hyperinflations that I’m aware of: Weimar Germany had significant external reparations that were demanded of by the Verseilles WWI treaty that were denominated in non-Mark currencies.

    I'm not sure that's true. (Well, it's obviously true that Germany had massive external reparations it had to pay. And that strained the budget, and in particular the collapse in world trade reduced Germany's export earnings, which meant it had no physical goods surplus to re-export as reparations.)

    What I mean about it not being true is the assumption that hyperinflation is a consequence of excessive external liabilities.

    Let's take recent ones: Zimbabwe (nope), Venezuela (the hyperinflation happened before the external liabilities), Brazil (not really), Argentina (yes most recently, but not really in the late 1970s when the country was running a large commodities export surplus).

    The causes of hyperinflation are various: most of the countries to experience it had explicit government policies of import substitution and self-sufficiency, quiet a few had big external debts, almost all saw excessive producer protection, a lot saw a period of above average growth (perhaps due to an export boom) come to an end, and the government sought to pretend the good times would continue to roll...

    But, and this is born out by reading histories like Taylor's excellent Downfall of Money about Germany's hyperinflation, I think in every case the government saw printing money as the path of least resistance at every turn.

    And that is what I fear.
    Zimbabwe had significant external currency obligations: it had to import food after wrecking it’s own agricultural economy. Venezuela likewise surely? They were using oil profits to subsidise imports of everything else & when the oil price cratered they were stuffed. Can’t say I know much about the Argentinian economy.

    I agree that governments are often tempted to print to cover obligations, but disagree that this inevitably leads to hyperinflation - that really needs the twin motors of external obligations (be it debt interest payments, food imports, whatever) that are not pricing in the internal currency and a collapsing economy to really drive it.

    To put it another way, high inflation is not hyperinflation. This is not to say high inflation is good, it’s not, but hyperinflation is a whole different kettle of economic problems.
    I don't think Zimbabwe did have significant external currency obligations - at least not compared with most countries that ended up with hyperinflation. But I think your second point gets to the crux of many of the times hyperinflation happens - when a country is dependent on exports of one thing (agricultural commodities in the case of Argentina or Zimbabwe, oil in the case of Venezuela) and then those exports dry up for one reason or another, then the path of least resistance is for the government to try and fill the gap with public spending.

    We are lucky, I hope, to have a diversified economy and so there is less risk of that.

    I also agree high inflation is not hyper inflation. And normally, the path of least resistance is to clamp down on inflation once it gets to double digits.

    But I wouldn't underestimate the damage even moderately high inflation can do to the poorest members of society. Sure, it's great for Richard Branson and people with massive debts. But it's not so great for someone who has a mortgage on 5x salary when interest rates go up to 13%. Or for a someone on a small fixed income, who finds their savings destroyed.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    Doubt Cummings is going anywhere.
    Except his country home in County Durham of course.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Any Questions on R4 has Gavin St Pierre Chief Minister of Guernsey - which has testing capacity equivalent to 600,000/day in the UK.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,898
    HYUFD said:

    Greetings, I believe you also had Peter Lilley, Bob Monkhouse, Sir Ernest Shackelton and Chiwitel Ejeifor.

    We had Sir Patrick Mayhew, Vikram Seth, Ed Smith and Zak Crawley and Dan Stevens and Keane and David Tomlinson

    I also see you are 12th in the rugby table and beat us 17-14 while we languish in 21st.

    Unfortunately, you were no match for Cranleigh either - typical Surrey !!

  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216

    From a journalist who has opposed the slightest hint of border control for her entire professional life...
    Instead of playing the woman and not the ball how about arguing about the substantive point of her tweet?
    Getting 5 months out of 18 weeks is not bad. Outside some Far East countries, most quarantine lockdowns started in March. The issue is PHE and the governmentS were following the science the flu pandemic plan for a much less serious virus. But the governmentS get to carry the can and deservedly so.
    Deservedly so as ministers should always carry the can for the failings of public agencies.

    But even more deserved in this case because:
    1. The creation of PHE as an independent agency, hived it off from the NHS, was one of the many contentious parts of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act.
    2. As a consequence spending on public health was no longer considered part of NHS spending, so it could be cut without jeopardising the government's pretence that it was maintaining NHS (minus public health) spending.
    3. The cuts in public health spending were especially severe because the public health budgets were transferred into the totality of local authority funding, which was then decimated for the rest of the decade.
    How do you account for the at least as bad (and in the case of Wales, arguably worse) performance outside England?
    Because I was addressing just one of the countless avoidable factors that explain the abysmal UK response, namely Cameron and Lansley's creation of PHE as a vehicle for savage underfunding of public health in response to a previous contributor who mentioned the failings of PHE. There is indeed a catalogue of other factors, all those we've been tearing our hair out on here over the last few months, and there are so many that I've lost count. If you feel that specific factors relating to Scotland and Wales are part of the overall calamity, then be my guest and add them to the list.
    But why is PHE uniquely bad when the performance in Scotland, Wales and NI is similar or worse? They were not subject to Cameron & Lansley's reforms - which might suggest that that is not the most important variable (not that I am remotely defending PHE - I've been a critic for a while, starting with the "command & control" testing.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,999
    kinabalu said:

    TOPPING said:

    TGOHF666 said:
    Is that happening? Shame on those people. Patel speaks a lot more clearly than her boss, and doesn't talk any more bollocks than he does.
    Nah. Her affectation of droppin her g is fuckin irritatin.

    Although once you realise she is speaking like Lord Peter Wimsey (as pointed out by @Chris?) the dynamic changes somewhat.
    :lol: Huntin Shootin Fishin and Controllin immigration.

    I like Patel by the way. Diane Abbot too.
    I don't see the need to keep coupling these dusky maidens. They are different in almost every respect.
    I know that noted PB reactionary and BJ fan TGOHF fancies one of them. Can't quite recall which of them it is...
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720
    IanB2 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    An interesting take.....

    https://twitter.com/IvanMassow/status/1263902244828860416?s=20

    Her main thing, doing what 90% of the planet had done a dozen weeks earlier.....

    It was Boris's job to take that decision, in February or March.
    Yes. It made sense then, when there were regions of the world with significant numbers of live cases and we had no measures in place to prevent the spread of those that reached the UK.

    Quite what the point is now, when foreign travel presents no more apparent risk than travelling within the UK is a mystery. One that Patel didnt explain during the presser.
    Yep, 2 weeks in Skeggy, or the far east at Hunstanton this year. Donkey rides rather than clubbing on Malia or Magaluf...
  • PB Tories will be oddly silent on Cummings, I think.
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    MikeL said:

    Situation with F1 is ridiculous - everyone will be being tested all the time - it's a minimal risk and upside of staging GPs must outweigh risk of a tiny number of extra infections.

    And surely Govt will have to fold as far as football is concerned - otherwise clubs won't be able to play in Champions League and Europa League when they restart in August. That would surely be untenable.

    And if they are going to have to concede for football, why not for F1?

    Could be argued that it amounts to one rule for the rich and privileged, another for the plebs?

    Once you exempt celebrity footballers and Lewis Hamilton, the path to A-list actors, bankers and anyone else who can pay top dollar for the cover of daily tests with express results is open.

    But, of course, if you're Mr & Mrs Plumber and family from Nantwich then the news is that no, you can't go to the Costa Brava for ten nights without spending another fourteen in miserable, employment-vaporising isolation after you get back. Off to Blackpool instead for you lot.

    Next to that I don't think the Government is really that arsed whether or not Man City can make a successful run in Europe this season.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486
    Doug

    Yep, I live in London, as does Stodge, iSam (I think), Kinabalu, and Sean. Alastair used to until fairly recently but is now in the vastly underrated county of Essex.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,868

    The creator of Clap for Carers wants next week's round of applause to be the last

    People across the region have stood by their front doors every week to clap and cheer for health care workers on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic

    https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/creator-clap-carers-wants-next-18299445

    Yes please. It's become a werid
    More and more Starmer is starting to look like the only grownup in the room.
  • Starmer in the Telegraph again.

    This is superb work from the LOTO and I am starting to imagine him as PM.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,102

    PB Tories will be oddly silent on Cummings, I think.

    I do not understand the obession with a man who is only known in the political bubble but I would be quite happy to see him given his marching orders to be fair
  • Sir Keir went further saying that if he leads Labour to victory at the next general election, expected in 2024, he would not try to take the UK back into the European Union, telling the podcast: "I don't think there's a case for rejoining the EU and I'm certainly not making that case."

    Well that's the end of the only Tory attack line there was then.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486
    MaxPB said:

    The creator of Clap for Carers wants next week's round of applause to be the last

    People across the region have stood by their front doors every week to clap and cheer for health care workers on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic

    https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/creator-clap-carers-wants-next-18299445

    Yes please. It's become a werid
    More and more Starmer is starting to look like the only grownup in the room.
    Very impressive start by Sir Keir, agreed.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,381
    MaxPB said:

    The creator of Clap for Carers wants next week's round of applause to be the last

    People across the region have stood by their front doors every week to clap and cheer for health care workers on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic

    https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/creator-clap-carers-wants-next-18299445

    Yes please. It's become a werid
    More and more Starmer is starting to look like the only grownup in the room.
    Is he in a room on his own?
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    Scott_xP said:
    The idea that we need to give these people a 'swift explanation' is comical. Tell them to get stuffed!
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935
  • Getting rid of Cummings would be good for us all.

    And especially for me since it would leave Johnson exposed.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,675

    NEW THREAD

  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,217

    And he's off......so the Russians who go to Greece for a holiday won't be any bother?

    https://twitter.com/DavidDavisMP/status/1263864827535032320?s=20

    I tend to agree with this.

    I would have much stricter quarantines - as in people have to stay in quarantine hotels, not "go home by public transport and then stay there" - for people from higher risk countries, and then more modest checks for people who come from places where CV-19 is broadly under control.

    My biggest objection to the government through all of this is a lack of nuance.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,898

    Sir Keir went further saying that if he leads Labour to victory at the next general election, expected in 2024, he would not try to take the UK back into the European Union, telling the podcast: "I don't think there's a case for rejoining the EU and I'm certainly not making that case."

    Well that's the end of the only Tory attack line there was then.

    I'm sure there will be those who will assert Starmer will try to get us back in via the Single Market but that won't be on offer if there's no chance of us rejoining.
  • MyBurningEarsMyBurningEars Posts: 3,651
    edited May 2020

    From a journalist who has opposed the slightest hint of border control for her entire professional life...
    Instead of playing the woman and not the ball how about arguing about the substantive point of her tweet?
    Getting 5 months out of 18 weeks is not bad. Outside some Far East countries, most quarantine lockdowns started in March. The issue is PHE and the governmentS were following the science the flu pandemic plan for a much less serious virus. But the governmentS get to carry the can and deservedly so.
    Deservedly so as ministers should always carry the can for the failings of public agencies.

    But even more deserved in this case because:
    1. The creation of PHE as an independent agency, hived it off from the NHS, was one of the many contentious parts of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act.
    2. As a consequence spending on public health was no longer considered part of NHS spending, so it could be cut without jeopardising the government's pretence that it was maintaining NHS (minus public health) spending.
    3. The cuts in public health spending were especially severe because the public health budgets were transferred into the totality of local authority funding, which was then decimated for the rest of the decade.
    On a narrow point re PHE "hived off from the NHS", things go back a bit further than that - the main predecessor to PHE, the Health Protection Agency, was transferred out of the NHS (where it had been a "special health authority" since its creation in 2003) to become a non-departmental public body in 2005.

    So I think points 1 and 2 are somewhat muddled - the fact the HPA was outside the NHS structure from 2005, and the fact that PHE has been since its establishment, is actually quite distinct from the issue of how responsibility for public health spending was transferred. The majority of public health spending/services were through the NHS Primary Care Trusts, not the HPA, and nor have they been transferred to PHE. As you say, local public health services suffered from transfer to local authorities which were hit hard by fiscal austerity... and arguably if they'd been more successful at tackling obesity, smoking rates and the range of preventable "pre-existing conditions" which have proven to be risk factors for COVID-19, the death toll might have been somewhat lower. It's the national services provided by PHE that have had the lead role in the pandemic though, particularly in areas like testing, analytics/forecasting and building up the evidence base, so performance issues there are largely decoupled from the debate over local authority underfunding local services. Structural issues over how PHE's laboratory services function will certainly come under review, for example.

    For a bit of background on the creation of PHE, then tentatively named the "Public Health Service", from the merger of several arm's-length bodies (ALBs), this review from July 2010 (right at the start of the Coalition government) is instructive: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/216278/dh_118053.pdf
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,060

    Sir Keir went further saying that if he leads Labour to victory at the next general election, expected in 2024, he would not try to take the UK back into the European Union, telling the podcast: "I don't think there's a case for rejoining the EU and I'm certainly not making that case."

    Well that's the end of the only Tory attack line there was then.

    Bit like William Hague making the Tory Campaign in 2001 mainly on Labour taking the UK into the Euro, only for Blair to neutralise it by saying it would only happen after a referendum.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    justin124 said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    TGOHF666 said:
    Interesting that you cite a Mail journalist in defence of the Home Secretary, given that newspaper's record in spouting racist tropes, including giving a platform to Katie Hopkins, over the years. And Mr Cole was educated at the very expensive Tonbridge school - presumably he regards himself as upper class rather than middle class.
    Tonbridge is upper class now? Oh dear.
    I went to Tonbridge, would not say I am upper class though
    Oops - apologies. Very clever but unpretentious has always been the impression I've had of its products.
    Indeed, Eton is upper class, along with to a lesser extent Harrow, Winchester and Westminster.

    Tonbridge is more upper middle class.

    My father did go to Harrow and there were plenty of sons of titles with him though he was a son of trade
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    TGOHF666 said:
    Interesting that you cite a Mail journalist in defence of the Home Secretary, given that newspaper's record in spouting racist tropes, including giving a platform to Katie Hopkins, over the years. And Mr Cole was educated at the very expensive Tonbridge school - presumably he regards himself as upper class rather than middle class.
    Tonbridge is upper class now? Oh dear.
    I went to Tonbridge, would not say I am upper class though
    Oops - apologies. Very clever but unpretentious has always been the impression I've had of its products.
    Indeed, Eton is upper class, along with to a lesser extent Harrow, Winchester and Westminster.

    Tonbridge is more upper middle class.

    My father did go to Harrow and there were plenty of sons of titles with him though he was a son of trade
    Less flogging at Tonbridge I imagine?!
    Eton is also much more middle class than you’d expect. Of course there is always the occasional duke or prince but the core of the community is the gentry
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    sarissa said:

    More fake news -:

    On the official figures, E&W 41.6%, Scotland 46%

    research by LSE, reported on May 14th in Care Home Professional

    https://www.carehomeprofessional.com/research-estimates-put-real-care-home-covid-19-death-toll-at-over-22000/
    I don’t know whether Ruth’s comment is true or not, but you’ve cited proportion of deaths not death rates
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Doubt Cummings is going anywhere.
    Except his country home in County Durham of course.

    His wife was ill. Do you honestly expect a good husband to stay in London?
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Doug

    Yep, I live in London, as does Stodge, iSam (I think), Kinabalu, and Sean. Alastair used to until fairly recently but is now in the vastly underrated county of Essex.

    I know I live in Zone 2 but I think I stiff qualify 😜
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,139
    Charles said:

    justin124 said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    TGOHF666 said:
    Interesting that you cite a Mail journalist in defence of the Home Secretary, given that newspaper's record in spouting racist tropes, including giving a platform to Katie Hopkins, over the years. And Mr Cole was educated at the very expensive Tonbridge school - presumably he regards himself as upper class rather than middle class.
    Tonbridge is upper class now? Oh dear.
    I went to Tonbridge, would not say I am upper class though
    Oops - apologies. Very clever but unpretentious has always been the impression I've had of its products.
    Indeed, Eton is upper class, along with to a lesser extent Harrow, Winchester and Westminster.

    Tonbridge is more upper middle class.

    My father did go to Harrow and there were plenty of sons of titles with him though he was a son of trade
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    TGOHF666 said:
    Interesting that you cite a Mail journalist in defence of the Home Secretary, given that newspaper's record in spouting racist tropes, including giving a platform to Katie Hopkins, over the years. And Mr Cole was educated at the very expensive Tonbridge school - presumably he regards himself as upper class rather than middle class.
    Tonbridge is upper class now? Oh dear.
    I went to Tonbridge, would not say I am upper class though
    Oops - apologies. Very clever but unpretentious has always been the impression I've had of its products.
    Indeed, Eton is upper class, along with to a lesser extent Harrow, Winchester and Westminster.

    Tonbridge is more upper middle class.

    My father did go to Harrow and there were plenty of sons of titles with him though he was a son of trade
    Less flogging at Tonbridge I imagine?!
    Eton is also much more middle class than you’d expect. Of course there is always the occasional duke or prince but the core of the community is the gentry
    It was of course set up by Henry VI originally to educate those who were not of noble birth and did not have private tutors
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,139
    stodge said:

    Sir Keir went further saying that if he leads Labour to victory at the next general election, expected in 2024, he would not try to take the UK back into the European Union, telling the podcast: "I don't think there's a case for rejoining the EU and I'm certainly not making that case."

    Well that's the end of the only Tory attack line there was then.

    I'm sure there will be those who will assert Starmer will try to get us back in via the Single Market but that won't be on offer if there's no chance of us rejoining.
    Even to get a FTA the EU are essentially saying we will have to align with their regulations so closely as to be in the single market in all but name, so either way that attack on Starmer could work with Leavers at least
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,729
    stodge said:

    Sir Keir went further saying that if he leads Labour to victory at the next general election, expected in 2024, he would not try to take the UK back into the European Union, telling the podcast: "I don't think there's a case for rejoining the EU and I'm certainly not making that case."

    Well that's the end of the only Tory attack line there was then.

    I'm sure there will be those who will assert Starmer will try to get us back in via the Single Market but that won't be on offer if there's no chance of us rejoining.
    As if anyone would believe a politician... the world is full of politicians who say one thing to get the vote and then do something else. Starmer is not some sainted person who should be trusted. He is slick no doubt, but that's all the more reason to mistrust him.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,370
    NHS England numbers out - 116

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This discussion has been closed.