It turns out that the public don't take kindly to being told that horse balls are oranges.
Leave Stephen Milligan out of it.
Now there is someone with a good memory. LD I assume because that was also my first thought.
But Milligan was a Tory. "Potential Prime Minister material" was the eulogy added after the bit about oranges, binbags and kitchen tables. I think fishnets were involved too....
I always felt very sorry for Stephen Milligan, and particularly for his parents.
He was a very able man in many ways, rather a thoughtful, moderate Tory, and probably did have a bright future. Clearly, he had an, er, interesting hobby. But he wasn't hurting other people and it's just terribly sad that - to the extent he is remembered at all - it is inevitably for the colourful nature of his departure.
I must admit I am surprised that anyone could be relaxed about this or indeed, anything other than deeply uncomfortable, even if they want Cummings to stay.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
I would have thought they would have just used the Google / Apple API, to be able to say to UK government, see this is how it is done.
Seems a big misstep from Sturgeon not to have any app. Every other developed country is.
What happens now when the UK government finally goes for the Google / Apple one, and it works in every country in Europe, but Scotland.
On the island we were supposed to be getting a revised version of the App to test, before the now delayed national rollout. But, unless it updates itself, I haven’t seen anything yet, and one wonders whether this trial is going to quietly drift.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
I would have thought they would have just used the Google / Apple API, to be able to say to UK government, see this is how it is done.
Seems a big misstep from Sturgeon not to have any app. Every other developed country is.
What happens now when the UK government finally goes for the Google / Apple one, and it works in every country in Europe, but Scotland.
On the island we were supposed to be getting a revised version of the App to test, before the now delayed national rollout. But, unless it updates itself, I haven’t seen anything yet, and one wonders whether this trial is going to quietly drift.
You can tell all isn't well, they weren't pushing any updates to the app since its release. That isn't normal process of software development with something that is supposed to be released shortly. You would expect rapid bug fixes being pushed in order to get as long to test as possible.
At it's core, prorogation was an attempt to thwart parliament as parliament attempted to thwart the referendum result. There's no referendum that will be overturned at the core of this one.
It turns out that the public don't take kindly to being told that horse balls are oranges.
Leave Stephen Milligan out of it.
Now there is someone with a good memory. LD I assume because that was also my first thought.
But Milligan was a Tory. "Potential Prime Minister material" was the eulogy added after the bit about oranges, binbags and kitchen tables. I think fishnets were involved too....
I always felt very sorry for Stephen Milligan, and particularly for his parents.
He was a very able man in many ways, rather a thoughtful, moderate Tory, and probably did have a bright future. Clearly, he had an, er, interesting hobby. But he wasn't hurting other people and it's just terribly sad that - to the extent he is remembered at all - it is inevitably for the colourful nature of his departure.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
Going for a more traditional tracing scheme with real people running it instead.
Using human alone is too slow. You need to be testing and results within 24hrs and then immediately alerting all those at risk straight away, so they can be tested.
That is how South Korea keep this thing under control.
During the initial stages of the outbreak, the UK government did a decent job of contact tracing, but manually interviewing everybody takes days just for a small outbreak. You can't win the battle like that.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
I would have thought they would have just used the Google / Apple API, to be able to say to UK government, see this is how it is done.
Seems a big misstep from Sturgeon not to have any app. Every other developed country is.
What happens now when the UK government finally goes for the Google / Apple one, and it works in every country in Europe, but Scotland.
Points noted.
The problem might be that unlike all other countries Scotland can't control its border but has the "UK" - ie Johnsonian England - doing it for it, so it can't stop incomers and make them load the app.
Also, if Scotland goes for the G/A system, and the English system is still rolled out, the Scottish Gmt will be accused of wasting money on an incompatible system, and that incompatibility will become much more of a problem as travel increases.
So arguably forced to wait and see - and, indeed, perhaps, as you say, go for the G/A system when the "UK" Gmt does.
- I suspect Downing St can see a 'declining curve' in the story - or at least a peak - and will hold its nerve. There was a real point of danger on Sunday when the backbenchers started coming out publicly.. but a frankly heroic whipping operation seems to have persuaded enough to wind their necks in.
Wouldn't that also be within his own self-isolation period?
The public aren't capable of great technicalities. But they can smell self-serving bullshit when they pay attention and they're paying attention.
I can't for the life of me understand what the government is currently trying to achieve. Every contortion is making them look more dishonest, more arrogant and more stupid.
I think the government is trying to bore people to death and hope the media go away. It might work.
Spinning a yarn of having to spend a couple of hours in the driving seat of a car, taking your family by chance via a known beauty spot on a bank holiday, in order to test out your eyesight, is struggling to meet the boredom threshold.
It turns out that the public don't take kindly to being told that horse balls are oranges.
Leave Stephen Milligan out of it.
Now there is someone with a good memory. LD I assume because that was also my first thought.
But Milligan was a Tory. "Potential Prime Minister material" was the eulogy added after the bit about oranges, binbags and kitchen tables. I think fishnets were involved too....
In the days of LDs being able to overturn any majority in a by election (days of the past!). One tends to remember the background of each very well. Although bitter sweet when it is due to a death.
My fondest was Winchester. It was great fun, lots and lots of funny stories and it was one hell of a party on the night.
The Milligan death demonstrates how Black Wednesday had utterly poisoned the political environment for John Major. In normal circumstances it would have been treated as a sad and bizarre episode but ultimately a personal tragedy. Instead it was met with sustained and contemptuous laughter and was made to symbolize the corruption and decadence of Major's government itself. Shows what happens when respect and moral authority are squandered.
- I suspect Downing St can see a 'declining curve' in the story - or at least a peak - and will hold its nerve. There was a real point of danger on Sunday when the backbenchers started coming out publicly.. but a frankly heroic whipping operation seems to have persuaded enough to wind their necks in.
Wouldn't that also be within his own self-isolation period?
The public aren't capable of great technicalities. But they can smell self-serving bullshit when they pay attention and they're paying attention.
I can't for the life of me understand what the government is currently trying to achieve. Every contortion is making them look more dishonest, more arrogant and more stupid.
I think the government is trying to bore people to death and hope the media go away. It might work.
Spinning a yarn of having to spend a couple of hours in the driving seat of a car, taking your family by chance via a known beauty spot on a bank holiday, in order to test out your eyesight, is struggling to meet the boredom threshold.
I think it's incredibly entertaining and will provide meme material for weeks
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
Going for a more traditional tracing scheme with real people running it instead.
Even with an app it is run by real people. The app is just a way to immediately get a list of people to test.
I thought it was going to be based on self-diagnosis. Has that changed?
The IOW App claims to alert your contacts within four hours of a user reporting symptoms - it doesn’t wait for a test. Whether (as would be sensible) the four hours is for someone to phone the user and check that they aren’t a child prankster, drunk, or an Eadric type hypochondriac, or for some unspecified technological process, isn’t clear. It would be *bold* for the whole process to be automatic.
I must admit I am surprised that anyone could be relaxed about this or indeed, anything other than deeply uncomfortable, even if they want Cummings to stay.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
Going for a more traditional tracing scheme with real people running it instead.
Even with an app it is run by real people. The app is just a way to immediately get a list of people to test.
I thought it was going to be based on self-diagnosis. Has that changed?
The IOW App claims to alert your contacts within four hours of a user reporting symptoms - it doesn’t wait for a test. Whether (as would be sensible) the four hours is for someone to phone the user and check that they aren’t a child prankster, drunk, or an Eadric type hypochondriac, or for some unspecified technological process, isn’t clear. It would be *bold* for the whole process to be automatic.
Relying on self reporting part is as dumb as not using Apple/Google API. There are going to be a load of total twats who spend a day wandering around all the busiest parts of London, then self report and cause 1000s of people to have to go and get a test.
At it's core, prorogation was an attempt to thwart parliament as parliament attempted to thwart the referendum result. There's no referendum that will be overturned at the core of this one.
Yeah, the two are completely different. A huge amount of political capital being wasted on this. You can tell that Cummings isn't a party man. If he was, he'd realise the damage he was doing and would stand down.
It turns out that the public don't take kindly to being told that horse balls are oranges.
Leave Stephen Milligan out of it.
Now there is someone with a good memory. LD I assume because that was also my first thought.
But Milligan was a Tory. "Potential Prime Minister material" was the eulogy added after the bit about oranges, binbags and kitchen tables. I think fishnets were involved too....
I always felt very sorry for Stephen Milligan, and particularly for his parents.
He was a very able man in many ways, rather a thoughtful, moderate Tory, and probably did have a bright future. Clearly, he had an, er, interesting hobby. But he wasn't hurting other people and it's just terribly sad that - to the extent he is remembered at all - it is inevitably for the colourful nature of his departure.
It was the only interesting thing that he did.
Unfair and mean-spirited.
He was a decent journalist prior to entering Parliament, and was right at the start of his career as an MP.
I accept that, if he'd died of a heart attack or whatever in 1994, his CV wasn't big enough for him to be widely remembered now. But he had potential to rise significantly further (although the "potential PM" thing is silly). So you're being needlessly harsh.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
Going for a more traditional tracing scheme with real people running it instead.
Even with an app it is run by real people. The app is just a way to immediately get a list of people to test.
I thought it was going to be based on self-diagnosis. Has that changed?
The IOW App claims to alert your contacts within four hours of a user reporting symptoms - it doesn’t wait for a test. Whether (as would be sensible) the four hours is for someone to phone the user and check that they aren’t a child prankster, drunk, or an Eadric type hypochondriac, or for some unspecified technological process, isn’t clear. It would be *bold* for the whole process to be automatic.
But I was querying the idea that it was a way of getting a list of people to test.
The idea is that people are notified without waiting for a test of someone with symptoms (even if that is going to be done later)?
At it's core, prorogation was an attempt to thwart parliament as parliament attempted to thwart the referendum result. There's no referendum that will be overturned at the core of this one.
Yeah, the two are completely different. A huge amount of political capital being wasted on this. You can tell that Cummings isn't a party man. If he was, he'd realise the damage he was doing and would stand down.
Again Mandy....slimey, unprincipled, dodgy as hell, but when it came to him vs party, he would go into exile for a bit for sake of the party.
If the same thing happened to any of us with young children without access to an empty house, it would be a pretty scary situation. Puts into perspective how different dealing with the virus is between the richest and the poorest. Hopefully that will be taken into account in future policies - there are many stealth taxes on the poor that dont appear on the statute.
That said, if we were offered the chance of such access I doubt many people would turn it down.
Agree. But then most of us aren't the government's senior advisor responsible for the policy saying it shouldn't be done.
Myself, I would still do what I thought best for my family if I were the government's senior advisor
I suppose that's why you are posting on PB instead of being that advisor.
That doesn't make sense, the senior advisor did it!
The point is that you are not prepared to make the many sacrifices that go with being the government's senior advisor. Hence you, and most others on here, stick to posting on PB.
Because if you are the government's senior advisor you should be aware that rules and expectations which don't apply to most people may well apply to you.
Haha
"If I were Eric Cantona, I'd have Kung fu kicked that Palace fan too"
"That's why you're posting on here not playing for Man Utd"
Eric Cantona didn't devise the rule which said "no kung fu kicking of Palace fans".
I presume that No 10 has assumed that given the Mary Wakefield article is a pack of lies nothing about it can be used to contradict the Big Dom's story.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
I would have thought they would have just used the Google / Apple API, to be able to say to UK government, see this is how it is done.
Seems a big misstep from Sturgeon not to have any app. Every other developed country is.
What happens now when the UK government finally goes for the Google / Apple one, and it works in every country in Europe, but Scotland.
On the island we were supposed to be getting a revised version of the App to test, before the now delayed national rollout. But, unless it updates itself, I haven’t seen anything yet, and one wonders whether this trial is going to quietly drift.
You can tell all isn't well, they weren't pushing any updates to the app since its release. That isn't normal process of software development with something that is supposed to be released shortly. You would expect rapid bug fixes being pushed in order to get as long to test as possible.
The problem isn’t that it has bugs, it’s that it has fundamental and unfixable flaws and will never work as advertised.
If they want a contact tracing app that works, they need to bin what’s been done so far, and start again with the Apple/Google framework almost every other country is using.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
Going for a more traditional tracing scheme with real people running it instead.
Even with an app it is run by real people. The app is just a way to immediately get a list of people to test.
I thought it was going to be based on self-diagnosis. Has that changed?
The IOW App claims to alert your contacts within four hours of a user reporting symptoms - it doesn’t wait for a test. Whether (as would be sensible) the four hours is for someone to phone the user and check that they aren’t a child prankster, drunk, or an Eadric type hypochondriac, or for some unspecified technological process, isn’t clear. It would be *bold* for the whole process to be automatic.
Relying on self reporting part is as dumb as not using Apple/Google API. There are going to be a load of total twats who spend a day wandering around all the busiest parts of London, then self report and cause 1000s of people to have to go and get a test.
In a way that's not the worst outcome. It could be that a lot of twats self-report and cause everyone else to ignore the whole app as a bad job.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
I would have thought they would have just used the Google / Apple API, to be able to say to UK government, see this is how it is done.
Seems a big misstep from Sturgeon not to have any app. Every other developed country is.
What happens now when the UK government finally goes for the Google / Apple one, and it works in every country in Europe, but Scotland.
On the island we were supposed to be getting a revised version of the App to test, before the now delayed national rollout. But, unless it updates itself, I haven’t seen anything yet, and one wonders whether this trial is going to quietly drift.
You can tell all isn't well, they weren't pushing any updates to the app since its release. That isn't normal process of software development with something that is supposed to be released shortly. You would expect rapid bug fixes being pushed in order to get as long to test as possible.
The problem isn’t that it has bugs, it’s that it has fundamental and unfixable flaws and will never work as advertised.
If they want a contact tracing app that works, they need to bin what’s been done so far, and start again with the Apple/Google framework almost every other country is using.
That's a backend change? You could push that update after it has been rolled out if needed.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
I would have thought they would have just used the Google / Apple API, to be able to say to UK government, see this is how it is done.
Seems a big misstep from Sturgeon not to have any app. Every other developed country is.
What happens now when the UK government finally goes for the Google / Apple one, and it works in every country in Europe, but Scotland.
On the island we were supposed to be getting a revised version of the App to test, before the now delayed national rollout. But, unless it updates itself, I haven’t seen anything yet, and one wonders whether this trial is going to quietly drift.
You can tell all isn't well, they weren't pushing any updates to the app since its release. That isn't normal process of software development with something that is supposed to be released shortly. You would expect rapid bug fixes being pushed in order to get as long to test as possible.
The problem isn’t that it has bugs, it’s that it has fundamental and unfixable flaws and will never work as advertised.
If they want a contact tracing app that works, they need to bin what’s been done so far, and start again with the Apple/Google framework almost every other country is using.
That's my point. I think they have ditched developing the original idea, otherwise you would expect bug fixes.
I presume that No 10 has assumed that given the Mary Wakefield article is a pack of lies nothing about it can be used to contradict the Big Dom's story.
Much trouble as he's in I don't think Dom can be held responsible for his wife's nonsense writing
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
Going for a more traditional tracing scheme with real people running it instead.
Even with an app it is run by real people. The app is just a way to immediately get a list of people to test.
I thought it was going to be based on self-diagnosis. Has that changed?
The IOW App claims to alert your contacts within four hours of a user reporting symptoms - it doesn’t wait for a test. Whether (as would be sensible) the four hours is for someone to phone the user and check that they aren’t a child prankster, drunk, or an Eadric type hypochondriac, or for some unspecified technological process, isn’t clear. It would be *bold* for the whole process to be automatic.
Relying on self reporting part is as dumb as not using Apple/Google API. There are going to be a load of total twats who spend a day wandering around all the busiest parts of London, then self report and cause 1000s of people to have to go and get a test.
Which is why I had assumed that the four hours is for some human intervention prior to that happening.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
I would have thought they would have just used the Google / Apple API, to be able to say to UK government, see this is how it is done.
Seems a big misstep from Sturgeon not to have any app. Every other developed country is.
What happens now when the UK government finally goes for the Google / Apple one, and it works in every country in Europe, but Scotland.
On the island we were supposed to be getting a revised version of the App to test, before the now delayed national rollout. But, unless it updates itself, I haven’t seen anything yet, and one wonders whether this trial is going to quietly drift.
You can tell all isn't well, they weren't pushing any updates to the app since its release. That isn't normal process of software development with something that is supposed to be released shortly. You would expect rapid bug fixes being pushed in order to get as long to test as possible.
The problem isn’t that it has bugs, it’s that it has fundamental and unfixable flaws and will never work as advertised.
If they want a contact tracing app that works, they need to bin what’s been done so far, and start again with the Apple/Google framework almost every other country is using.
They may be doing that already and pushing it out as a version update patch.
That API didn't exist when the trial started though.
A Remainer who had the whip removed isn't a fan of Cummings.
What's next, Dominic Grieve calls for him to go?
You can't get away with this Remainer stuff when Steve Baker has also called on him to go. It detracts from the quality of your other arguments. This is beyond that now.
Now he is a classic of example of by lying and concocting some elaborate story got himself in deeper and deeper shit.
I agree. The daft thing was he was well known for being in a rush, had a lot of points anyway so was probably going to get a ban anyway soon so just silly.
I'm just trying to imagine the conversation when Cummings tried to book a taxi: "Hello. My family should have been self-isolating in London because my wife developed coronavirus symptoms 6 days ago, but we decided it would be in our best interests if we came up to Durham instead. Now my son has also developed symptoms and my wife has gone with him to the local hospital, but they can't get back. Could you drive them back please? Oh - and is there any chance you could pick me up on the way there? I have symptoms too - actually I've been quite ill - but I think it would be in my family's best interests."
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
Going for a more traditional tracing scheme with real people running it instead.
Using human alone is too slow. You need to be testing and results within 24hrs and then immediately alerting all those at risk straight away, so they can be tested.
That is how South Korea keep this thing under control.
During the initial stages of the outbreak, the UK government did a decent job of contact tracing, but manually interviewing everybody takes days just for a small outbreak. You can't win the battle like that.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
I would have thought they would have just used the Google / Apple API, to be able to say to UK government, see this is how it is done.
Seems a big misstep from Sturgeon not to have any app. Every other developed country is.
What happens now when the UK government finally goes for the Google / Apple one, and it works in every country in Europe, but Scotland.
Points noted.
The problem might be that unlike all other countries Scotland can't control its border but has the "UK" - ie Johnsonian England - doing it for it, so it can't stop incomers and make them load the app.
Also, if Scotland goes for the G/A system, and the English system is still rolled out, the Scottish Gmt will be accused of wasting money on an incompatible system, and that incompatibility will become much more of a problem as travel increases.
So arguably forced to wait and see - and, indeed, perhaps, as you say, go for the G/A system when the "UK" Gmt does.
The irony is that while Sturgeon is getting stellar polling the Scottish performance is pretty poor, especially around care homes and their predilection for doing some things differently with no benefit. But being more cautious with respect to lockdown has struck a public nerve even if ultimately it could be harmful for the economy. But politically the SNP are definitely benefiting from Covid.
Barnard Castle Eye Test sounds like the name of the type of crap indie band I would have paid good money to go and see at the Penny Theatre in Canterbury circa 1991.
You know what would really propel this story into the stratosphere?
A Cabinet Minister being caught infringing lockdown.
Do you reckon they've all been beyond reproach? I doubt it.
Cummings doubtless has the dossier.
How would he know he was in Durham for most of the lockdown?
How Did Damian McBride get to know things.... I do hope no Labour MP's are guilty of breaking the rules....
You are going to need to find one that travelled around the country with his family WHILST INFECTED WITH THE VIRUS for it it have any impact. If that happens and Starmer makes that MP resign it makes it even worse for Boris
PS Sorry to shout but those Tory spinners that are still backing Cummings are deliberately trying to trend all Cummings did was bend the lockdown rules when it is actually far more serious than that
Barnard Castle Eye Test sounds like the name of the type of crap indie band I would have paid good money to go and see at the Penny Theatre in Canterbury circa 1991.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
I would have thought they would have just used the Google / Apple API, to be able to say to UK government, see this is how it is done.
Seems a big misstep from Sturgeon not to have any app. Every other developed country is.
What happens now when the UK government finally goes for the Google / Apple one, and it works in every country in Europe, but Scotland.
On the island we were supposed to be getting a revised version of the App to test, before the now delayed national rollout. But, unless it updates itself, I haven’t seen anything yet, and one wonders whether this trial is going to quietly drift.
You can tell all isn't well, they weren't pushing any updates to the app since its release. That isn't normal process of software development with something that is supposed to be released shortly. You would expect rapid bug fixes being pushed in order to get as long to test as possible.
The problem isn’t that it has bugs, it’s that it has fundamental and unfixable flaws and will never work as advertised.
If they want a contact tracing app that works, they need to bin what’s been done so far, and start again with the Apple/Google framework almost every other country is using.
That's a backend change? You could push that update after it has been rolled out if needed.
Technically you could update app v1 for app v2 - but from a human factors point of view, if everyone downloaded v1 and it didn’t work, they are likely not to bother with v2 at all.
Thought. There is a tendency by some to dismiss Cummingsgate as a Westminster bubble story. I really don't think it is. The coronavirus pandemic is very unusual in that it has affected everyone. It's a shared experience. Will be long-remembered. Boris was rather fortunate (politically) in contracting it. He evidently thinks this has bullet-proofed him. But Dom has removed the bullet-proof vest. And now backbench (and even frontbench) support is haemorrhaging. He needs to act fast and get Cummings to resign. It's difficult to predict what will happen if he doesn't but the momentum does not appear to have abated as they must have hoped.
Barnard Castle Eye Test sounds like the name of the type of crap indie band I would have paid good money to go and see at the Penny Theatre in Canterbury circa 1991.
Taking their place alongside The Bernard Cribbins Experience no doubt.
Keir Starmer looking like a real PM today, he should walk 2024 if he plays his cards intelligently
And if he is allowed to by the LP.
Agreed. He has to stamp on any Corbynista stupidity very firmly. He has impressed so far and I think that the fact that he is running significantly ahead of the party in terms of popularity will give him the authority to do that.
Thought. There is a tendency by some to dismiss Cummingsgate as a Westminster bubble story. I really don't think it is. The coronavirus pandemic is very unusual in that it has affected everyone. It's a shared experience. Will be long-remembered. Boris was rather fortunate (politically) in contracting it. He evidently thinks this has bullet-proofed him. But Dom has removed the bullet-proof vest. And now backbench (and even frontbench) support is haemorrhaging. He needs to act fast and get Cummings to resign. It's difficult to predict what will happen if he doesn't but the momentum does not appear to have abated as they must have hoped.
Boris could have easily spun this to his advantage, clear decisive leadership, play on having had it, how it important collective action, how thanks to nation we are winning...and still had Cummings back in a few months.
Sturgeon confirms Scotland wont have a track and trace app.
Carrier pigeon to send messages next ?
I would have thought they would have just used the Google / Apple API, to be able to say to UK government, see this is how it is done.
Seems a big misstep from Sturgeon not to have any app. Every other developed country is.
What happens now when the UK government finally goes for the Google / Apple one, and it works in every country in Europe, but Scotland.
On the island we were supposed to be getting a revised version of the App to test, before the now delayed national rollout. But, unless it updates itself, I haven’t seen anything yet, and one wonders whether this trial is going to quietly drift.
You can tell all isn't well, they weren't pushing any updates to the app since its release. That isn't normal process of software development with something that is supposed to be released shortly. You would expect rapid bug fixes being pushed in order to get as long to test as possible.
The problem isn’t that it has bugs, it’s that it has fundamental and unfixable flaws and will never work as advertised.
If they want a contact tracing app that works, they need to bin what’s been done so far, and start again with the Apple/Google framework almost every other country is using.
That's a backend change? You could push that update after it has been rolled out if needed.
Nope it would be a fundamental change in how the application worked - and the api in the replacement has very strict privacy terms that the previous application completely ignores.
There is a valid reason for actually saying that the api version will have significant take up issues but is a different issue.
A Remainer who had the whip removed isn't a fan of Cummings.
What's next, Dominic Grieve calls for him to go?
You can't get away with this Remainer stuff when Steve Baker has also called on him to go. It detracts from the quality of your other arguments. This is beyond that now.
But if the vast majority of leave voting MPs support him surely you cannot ignore that too?
The Chris Huhne reference has given me an idea. Is there anyway that Cummings can give a sworn statement so that he his guilty of perjury if it is proven to be false?
If Cummings does go after all this, I don't see how Boris can stay long term. Mr Yorkshire Tea could have the fastest promotion from nobody to PM in history.
You know what would really propel this story into the stratosphere?
A Cabinet Minister being caught infringing lockdown.
Do you reckon they've all been beyond reproach? I doubt it.
Cummings doubtless has the dossier.
How would he know he was in Durham for most of the lockdown?
How Did Damian McBride get to know things.... I do hope no Labour MP's are guilty of breaking the rules....
You are going to need to find one that travelled around the country with his family WHILST INFECTED WITH THE VIRUS for it it have any impact. If that happens and Starmer makes that MP resign it makes it even worse for Boris
PS Sorry to shout but those Tory spinners that are still backing Cummings are deliberately trying to trend all Cummings did was bend the lockdown rules when it is actually far more serious than that
The longer he stays in place the more lockdown popcorn we consume.
If it wasn't for the fact that their negligence has the potential to kill us with a deadly virus I would be laughing my nuts off.
If Cummings does go after all this, I don't see how Boris can stay long term. Mr Yorkshire Tea could have the fastest promotion from nobody to PM in history.
Er, why is he called that, please? I'm assuming the unfortunate obvious reason doesn't apply.
Thought. There is a tendency by some to dismiss Cummingsgate as a Westminster bubble story. I really don't think it is. The coronavirus pandemic is very unusual in that it has affected everyone. It's a shared experience. Will be long-remembered. Boris was rather fortunate (politically) in contracting it. He evidently thinks this has bullet-proofed him. But Dom has removed the bullet-proof vest. And now backbench (and even frontbench) support is haemorrhaging. He needs to act fast and get Cummings to resign. It's difficult to predict what will happen if he doesn't but the momentum does not appear to have abated as they must have hoped.
Boris could have easily spun this to his advantage, clear decisive leadership, play on having had it, how it important collective action, how thanks to nation we are winning...and still had Cummings back in a few months.
That's the bizarre thing, even with Cummings 'officially' gone he could have had him back Once, twice, three times like Mandy. It's what I expected to happen in fact.
If Cummings does go after all this, I don't see how Boris can stay long term. Mr Yorkshire Tea could have the fastest promotion from nobody to PM in history.
Er, why is he called that, please? I'm assuming the unfortunate obvious reason doesn't apply.
When writing his first budget he took a photo with a massive bag of Yorkshire Tea, with caption something like "making a brew for the team"...and the twitter hate mob went into meltdown and bombarded Yorkshire Tea, who had to say we don't support political parties.
If Cummings does go after all this, I don't see how Boris can stay long term. Mr Yorkshire Tea could have the fastest promotion from nobody to PM in history.
Er, why is he called that, please? I'm assuming the unfortunate obvious reason doesn't apply.
He famously (ish) posted a rather striking picture of himself making tea for his staff during the Budget preparations with a giant megapack of said product.
If Cummings does go after all this, I don't see how Boris can stay long term. Mr Yorkshire Tea could have the fastest promotion from nobody to PM in history.
Er, why is he called that, please? I'm assuming the unfortunate obvious reason doesn't apply.
When writing his first budget he took a photo with a massive bag of Yorkshire Tea, with caption something like "making a brew for the team"...and the twitter hate mob went into meltdown and bombarded Yorkshire Tea, who had to say we don't support political parties.
If Cummings does go after all this, I don't see how Boris can stay long term. Mr Yorkshire Tea could have the fastest promotion from nobody to PM in history.
Er, why is he called that, please? I'm assuming the unfortunate obvious reason doesn't apply.
When writing his first budget he took a photo with a massive bag of Yorkshire Tea, with caption something like "making a brew for the team"...and the twitter hate mob went into meltdown and bombarded Yorkshire Tea, who had to say we don't support political parties.
A Remainer who had the whip removed isn't a fan of Cummings.
What's next, Dominic Grieve calls for him to go?
You can't get away with this Remainer stuff when Steve Baker has also called on him to go. It detracts from the quality of your other arguments. This is beyond that now.
But if the vast majority of leave voting MPs support him surely you cannot ignore that too?
Much of that support isn't exactly full throated...
A Remainer who had the whip removed isn't a fan of Cummings.
What's next, Dominic Grieve calls for him to go?
You can't get away with this Remainer stuff when Steve Baker has also called on him to go. It detracts from the quality of your other arguments. This is beyond that now.
Quality of Phillip's arguments? haha. You re indeed a man of satire!
I presume that No 10 has assumed that given the Mary Wakefield article is a pack of lies nothing about it can be used to contradict the Big Dom's story.
Much trouble as he's in I don't think Dom can be held responsible for his wife's nonsense writing
Except of course if she sought his input at all and he directed her to make edits.
Thought. There is a tendency by some to dismiss Cummingsgate as a Westminster bubble story. I really don't think it is. The coronavirus pandemic is very unusual in that it has affected everyone. It's a shared experience. Will be long-remembered. Boris was rather fortunate (politically) in contracting it. He evidently thinks this has bullet-proofed him. But Dom has removed the bullet-proof vest. And now backbench (and even frontbench) support is haemorrhaging. He needs to act fast and get Cummings to resign. It's difficult to predict what will happen if he doesn't but the momentum does not appear to have abated as they must have hoped.
Boris could have easily spun this to his advantage, clear decisive leadership, play on having had it, how it important collective action, how thanks to nation we are winning...and still had Cummings back in a few months.
That's the bizarre thing, even with Cummings 'officially' gone he could have had him back Once, twice, three times like Mandy. It's what I expected to happen in fact.
People placing comparisons with Mandy or Campbell don't really get that he isn't remotely doing the same job that Mandy or Campbell did. They just wanted Labour to win. Cummings has a plan for something, a set of ideas about how he thinks things should be. We don't know the first thing about what Mandelson really believed, and it wasn't important.
A Remainer who had the whip removed isn't a fan of Cummings.
What's next, Dominic Grieve calls for him to go?
You can't get away with this Remainer stuff when Steve Baker has also called on him to go. It detracts from the quality of your other arguments. This is beyond that now.
But if the vast majority of leave voting MPs support him surely you cannot ignore that too?
I just don't see how it is relevant. This is nothing to do with Brexit. It's a deflection strategy. The number of Brexiteer politicians, media figures and, anecdotally, voters who want him to go is enough already to show it transcends a dead issue. Julia Hartley-Brewer? Nick Ferrari? Tim Montmonerie? Steve Baker? Iain Dale? The bleeding comments section of Mail Online? Who else do you need?
Thought. There is a tendency by some to dismiss Cummingsgate as a Westminster bubble story. I really don't think it is. The coronavirus pandemic is very unusual in that it has affected everyone. It's a shared experience. Will be long-remembered. Boris was rather fortunate (politically) in contracting it. He evidently thinks this has bullet-proofed him. But Dom has removed the bullet-proof vest. And now backbench (and even frontbench) support is haemorrhaging. He needs to act fast and get Cummings to resign. It's difficult to predict what will happen if he doesn't but the momentum does not appear to have abated as they must have hoped.
Boris could have easily spun this to his advantage, clear decisive leadership, play on having had it, how it important collective action, how thanks to nation we are winning...and still had Cummings back in a few months.
Agree. If Cummings had gone immediately there might even have been a modicum of sympathy. A dad doing what he thought was right for his family but accepting that the optics are terrible and that he doesn't want to be a distraction to the health messaging. And then, a few months down the line, back in Number 10. Sturgeon tried to hang on to Calderwood - they even had a joint presser - but had to give her up eventually. Doesn't have to be damaging.
I presume that No 10 has assumed that given the Mary Wakefield article is a pack of lies nothing about it can be used to contradict the Big Dom's story.
Much trouble as he's in I don't think Dom can be held responsible for his wife's nonsense writing
Except of course if she sought his input at all and he directed her to make edits.
I can't imagine anyone like Cummings wanting to vet his wife's account of the family's lockdown-breaking, self-isolation-defying activities before it was published.
Wouldn't that also be within his own self-isolation period?
The public aren't capable of great technicalities. But they can smell self-serving bullshit when they pay attention and they're paying attention.
I can't for the life of me understand what the government is currently trying to achieve. Every contortion is making them look more dishonest, more arrogant and more stupid.
I think the government is trying to bore people to death and hope the media go away. It might work.
I think the media is boring people to death.
Generally the degree to which people are bored is in direct proportion to their backing of Cummings.
It is the next line of defence once the "it's only a Westminster bubble" strategy has crashed and burnt.
Comments
There's no referendum that will be overturned at the core of this one.
The problem might be that unlike all other countries Scotland can't control its border but has the "UK" - ie Johnsonian England - doing it for it, so it can't stop incomers and make them load the app.
Also, if Scotland goes for the G/A system, and the English system is still rolled out, the Scottish Gmt will be accused of wasting money on an incompatible system, and that incompatibility will become much more of a problem as travel increases.
So arguably forced to wait and see - and, indeed, perhaps, as you say, go for the G/A system when the "UK" Gmt does.
https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1265261185567522817
As a Labour supporter, my popcorn is being consumed readily.
I have never seen such a massive fall from grace before.
He was a decent journalist prior to entering Parliament, and was right at the start of his career as an MP.
I accept that, if he'd died of a heart attack or whatever in 1994, his CV wasn't big enough for him to be widely remembered now. But he had potential to rise significantly further (although the "potential PM" thing is silly). So you're being needlessly harsh.
The idea is that people are notified without waiting for a test of someone with symptoms (even if that is going to be done later)?
If they want a contact tracing app that works, they need to bin what’s been done so far, and start again with the Apple/Google framework almost every other country is using.
What's next, Dominic Grieve calls for him to go?
That API didn't exist when the trial started though.
"Hello. My family should have been self-isolating in London because my wife developed coronavirus symptoms 6 days ago, but we decided it would be in our best interests if we came up to Durham instead. Now my son has also developed symptoms and my wife has gone with him to the local hospital, but they can't get back. Could you drive them back please? Oh - and is there any chance you could pick me up on the way there? I have symptoms too - actually I've been quite ill - but I think it would be in my family's best interests."
PS Sorry to shout but those Tory spinners that are still backing Cummings are deliberately trying to trend all Cummings did was bend the lockdown rules when it is actually far more serious than that
There is a tendency by some to dismiss Cummingsgate as a Westminster bubble story. I really don't think it is.
The coronavirus pandemic is very unusual in that it has affected everyone. It's a shared experience. Will be long-remembered.
Boris was rather fortunate (politically) in contracting it. He evidently thinks this has bullet-proofed him.
But Dom has removed the bullet-proof vest.
And now backbench (and even frontbench) support is haemorrhaging.
He needs to act fast and get Cummings to resign.
It's difficult to predict what will happen if he doesn't but the momentum does not appear to have abated as they must have hoped.
There's one other reason I think Dom is safe.
Agreed. He has to stamp on any Corbynista stupidity very firmly. He has impressed so far and I think that the fact that he is running significantly ahead of the party in terms of popularity will give him the authority to do that.
https://twitter.com/GdnPolitics/status/1265266322864140290
There is a valid reason for actually saying that the api version will have significant take up issues but is a different issue.
If it wasn't for the fact that their negligence has the potential to kill us with a deadly virus I would be laughing my nuts off.
Piss off some more Tory MPs...
https://twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1265269774424121344
Once, twice, three times like Mandy.
It's what I expected to happen in fact.
https://www.facebook.com/AaronBell4NUL/posts/287149366020927?__tn__=K-R
Do any of them have the gumption?
https://twitter.com/davidallengreen/status/1265232970585116673