Every time I think of getting involved in a discussion on PB I look at the comments and not a single one is about the article.
This forum is not fit for purpose.
Yes, but where do you stand on pineapple on pizza?
I have to let you all into a little secret, in the past few days something has started to bug me even more than pineapple on pizza.
Why do we pronounce the 'Kansas' in Arkansas differently to Kansas?
The one that bugs me is when people pronounce trans in transport with a long ah, like "trance-port", but I'm yet to see anyone drive a "trance-it" van. Nor have I met any trance-sexuals, for that matter. Though perhaps I'm not visiting the right clubs.
The English language is being altered almost by poor education and poor speech. Few speak anything close to received pronunciation anymore. Eg people say battries now instead of batteries.. and you was there wasnt you ?.and so on and so forth...
Almost daily...
So what? English has evolved, is evolving, and will continue to evolve.
So what is the point in teaching children grammar? I blame programmes like EastEnders where language(and pronunciation) is a foreign one to most who make utterances on the show.
More pertinently, what is the point of grammar?
It's the difference between helping your uncle jack off a horse and helping your Uncle Jack off a horse.
Since my uncle is not called Jack I am definitely not going to be helping him!
Off topic: Does anyone know who is behind Black Lives Matter UK?
For an organisation trying to raise half a million via a Crowd Funder, they seem very anonymous. Go Fund Me require a named individual on the campaign, and they don't seem to have one (unless I missed it).
It is continuous with the (all white iirc) clowns who blocked the City London Airport with the same slogan in 2016. There were whispers then that it was an SWP front, like Stop the War.
Is it still, and where is the half million going? They have already reached 220k.
If it were an SWP front then they would be linking to it, but in the anti-racism section on their website the SWP link to Unite Against Fascism, Love Music Hate Racism, etc, and not Black Lives Matter UK.
I make it 12 articles mentioning the exact phrase "Black Lives Matter" in the last four days on socialistworker.co.uk. There was a similar looking splurge in 2016.
Deaths are too high ... so let's have thousands of people go on a mass protest to really turbocharge the spread
I look forward to every single one of them getting the Cummings witch-hunt treatment ... but I suspect the same people who considered that the crime of the century won't give a damn about their actions.
So Ave ‘It says they’re all spongers but you imply that the protesters today are senior government advisers with a responsibility for setting the rules that public opinion considers to have been broken. Interesting takes from the right today.
Will mass protests with zero regard for social distancing increase the infection rate, and therefore the death rate?
Of course they will - but suddenly you don't seem to care any more. How very strange!
As in repeatedly pointed out to you I didn’t think Cummings should lose his job. I cared about his actions because he formulated the policy that he broke. You didn’t care that a symptomatic carrier of the virus spread it to the north but now you’re rattling your pearls. I also care about the infection rate going up as a result of this protest. And I also cared about the possibility of it going up after VE Day. You cared about today because you have a problem with the reason they are out. If it were a protest in support if Cummings you wouldn’t give a shit about infection.
That's some impressive whataboutery you've got going on there, not to mention a vivid imagination. Of course I wouldn't sanction a mass protest in favour of Cummings, because it would be a fucking dangerous and stupid thing to do - just like the mass protests today, which were a thousand times more dangerous as super-spreader events than Cummings could ever be.
But I bet we'll have to wait a loooooong time before the lefties conduct one of their famous witch-hunts against them, won't we?
I am sure the right will step in, as they so often do, to conduct their own.
Thanks for confirming that the Cummings witch-hunt had nothing to do with concern for public health then. Much appreciated!
Interesting take there based on nothing. I don’t think there was a “witch hunt” against Cummings, A witch hunt is a term that tends used by people who don’t like criticism of their actions,
Is Cummings on the road again? Wearin' different clothes again...
No, he's done worse than that, he's got Boris to give permission, and Tweeted his support, for a 'Get Brexit Done' rally, with the flimsiest 'social distancing' message tacked on to cover his arse. Social distancing was of course totally abandoned and some got lary - potentially the biggest superspreader event we've had since the Cheltenham Festival.
Oh no, he hasn't, that was Sadiq Khan with today's BLM rally.
Well that Obama bit was weird. I presumed he was going to come on and give a carefully crafted speech addressing the nations to call for peaceful protest & dialogue.
Instead it was like he was around for dinner and talking off the cuff about these protests he had seen on the telly and what we need is academic research, more elected positions, etc.
He always was long winded but right now he would make a fine President
That may be, but really not sure the purpose of it. As i say it sounded more like he was chatting to people at a middle class dinner party about solutions to something they saw on the news. Nobody on the streets protesting would have seen it and gone well Obama said some high level vague stuff about need for more research and elected positions, job done, future all sorted.
From the Daily Mirror who lost brexit and the 2019 GE
Bitter
True. But they have Starmer's 2024 landslide to end all landslides to look forward to.
I think you may either be jesting or are counting chickens
2024 is wide open and I am convinced Starmer will not be facing Boris
The economic shitstorm that is coming, nicely compounded in the UK by No Deal, will pitch the Tories out for a generation.
The Tories will have been in power 14 years in 2024, only one party has lasted in Government more than that, the Tories when they won in 1992 so hardly surprising if there is a change.
Starmer is clearly not getting Tory switchers as Blair did however, if he gets in it will likely be scraping in with the LDs
Is Cummings on the road again? Wearin' different clothes again...
No, he's done worse than that, he's got Boris to give permission, and Tweeted his support, for a 'Get Brexit Done' rally, with the flimsiest 'social distancing' message tacked on to cover his arse. Social distancing was of course totally abandoned and some got lary - potentially the biggest superspreader event we've had since the Cheltenham Festival.
Oh no, he hasn't, that was Sadiq Khan with today's BLM rally.
Fortunately there's Barry Gardiner around to make Khan, Mogg, Cummings & Johnson all look like absolute Covid champs.
Deaths are too high ... so let's have thousands of people go on a mass protest to really turbocharge the spread
I look forward to every single one of them getting the Cummings witch-hunt treatment ... but I suspect the same people who considered that the crime of the century won't give a damn about their actions.
So Ave ‘It says they’re all spongers but you imply that the protesters today are senior government advisers with a responsibility for setting the rules that public opinion considers to have been broken. Interesting takes from the right today.
Will mass protests with zero regard for social distancing increase the infection rate, and therefore the death rate?
Of course they will - but suddenly you don't seem to care any more. How very strange!
As in repeatedly pointed out to you I didn’t think Cummings should lose his job. I cared about his actions because he formulated the policy that he broke. You didn’t care that a symptomatic carrier of the virus spread it to the north but now you’re rattling your pearls. I also care about the infection rate going up as a result of this protest. And I also cared about the possibility of it going up after VE Day. You cared about today because you have a problem with the reason they are out. If it were a protest in support if Cummings you wouldn’t give a shit about infection.
That's some impressive whataboutery you've got going on there, not to mention a vivid imagination. Of course I wouldn't sanction a mass protest in favour of Cummings, because it would be a fucking dangerous and stupid thing to do - just like the mass protests today, which were a thousand times more dangerous as super-spreader events than Cummings could ever be.
But I bet we'll have to wait a loooooong time before the lefties conduct one of their famous witch-hunts against them, won't we?
I am sure the right will step in, as they so often do, to conduct their own.
Thanks for confirming that the Cummings witch-hunt had nothing to do with concern for public health then. Much appreciated!
Interesting take there based on nothing. I don’t think there was a “witch hunt” against Cummings, A witch hunt is a term that tends used by people who don’t like criticism of their actions,
The take is based on the fact that one man was hounded by the entire media and Opposition for driving to Durham for childcare, and yet thousands can risk spreading the virus for the sake of their international political activism and yet the Opposition & media don't give a shadow of a shit, because they are rank hypocrites. Likewise I don't see you rushing to insist that the protesters should have to defend their actions in a court of law, as you so passionately did with Cummings.
I'm not sure how much clearer I can make this for you...
What a shambles of a day from the government. Indeed a double shambles with the quarantine policy fiasco and the House of Commons voting change collapsing on the same day.
Is Cummings on the road again? Wearin' different clothes again...
No, he's done worse than that, he's got Boris to give permission, and Tweeted his support, for a 'Get Brexit Done' rally, with the flimsiest 'social distancing' message tacked on to cover his arse. Social distancing was of course totally abandoned and some got lary - potentially the biggest superspreader event we've had since the Cheltenham Festival.
Oh no, he hasn't, that was Sadiq Khan with today's BLM rally.
Every time I think of getting involved in a discussion on PB I look at the comments and not a single one is about the article.
This forum is not fit for purpose.
Yes, but where do you stand on pineapple on pizza?
I have to let you all into a little secret, in the past few days something has started to bug me even more than pineapple on pizza.
Why do we pronounce the 'Kansas' in Arkansas differently to Kansas?
The one that bugs me is when people pronounce trans in transport with a long ah, like "trance-port", but I'm yet to see anyone drive a "trance-it" van. Nor have I met any trance-sexuals, for that matter. Though perhaps I'm not visiting the right clubs.
The English language is being altered almost by poor education and poor speech. Few speak anything close to received pronunciation anymore. Eg people say battries now instead of batteries.. and you was there wasnt you ?.and so on and so forth...
Almost daily...
So what? English has evolved, is evolving, and will continue to evolve.
I'm still flabbergasted to learn that apparently it is acceptable usage to use ferment instead of foment. I've been hanging my english snobbery on that for years.
It must have been a terrible merment when you learnt that!
As far as I'm concerned, it isn't acceptable. The Oxford English Dictionary can dumb down if it wants, doesn't mean I have to.
'Ferment' has been used as a synonym for 'foment' (stir up, exacerbate) since the 17th Century.
I'm sure it has - why would a common mistake occurring between two similar terms with a different meaning have only begun in the late 20th century?
A dictionary is a record of language as it is used, not of correct usage. Innit?
My uncle, in a care home in Penzance, reports that all the staff and residents were tested yesterday as a precautionary measure (no known cases but results not back yet). Are care homes being sent tests whether they ask for them or not, or do they have to apply somewhere?
I wouldn't be surprised if they were unusual in doing it - we were incredibly lucky to get him a slot there: he's been looked after for years, though with advanced Parkinsons and barely able to walk across the room. Cornwall County Council's official arranged the placement, arranged 100% funding and came round twice after he started living there to make sure he was settling in well. Whenever I'm tempted to generalise about our terrible care system I think of him and refrain.
From the Daily Mirror who lost brexit and the 2019 GE
Bitter
True. But they have Starmer's 2024 landslide to end all landslides to look forward to.
I think you may either be jesting or are counting chickens
2024 is wide open and I am convinced Starmer will not be facing Boris
"When danger reared its ugly head, He bravely turned his tail and fled, Yes Brave Sir Boris turned about, And gallantly he chickened out, Bravely taking to his feet, He beat a very brave retreat, Bravest of the brave Sir Boris ..."
I don't believe Johnson will be PM by the next GE either.
However, if he is, the antics he will get up to to avoid scrutiny and debate after 4 years in office will be hilarious. Will make hiding in a fridge and running away from an interview Andrew Neill look like chicken feed. He'll probably claim to be struck down with laryngitis the moment the campaign kicks off.
Is Cummings on the road again? Wearin' different clothes again...
No, he's done worse than that, he's got Boris to give permission, and Tweeted his support, for a 'Get Brexit Done' rally, with the flimsiest 'social distancing' message tacked on to cover his arse. Social distancing was of course totally abandoned and some got lary - potentially the biggest superspreader event we've had since the Cheltenham Festival.
Oh no, he hasn't, that was Sadiq Khan with today's BLM rally.
Fortunately there's Barry Gardiner around to make Khan, Mogg, Cummings & Johnson all look like absolute Covid champs.
Gardiners behaviour was crazy, but Khan's tweet was pretty stupid too. I can't quite believe the two of them have done what they did.
It is alleged that NHS hospital managers tried to get non-tested patients into care homes in the evenings, claiming to junior staff on duty that the care home manager earlier in the day had agreed this. This was untrue.
Every time I think of getting involved in a discussion on PB I look at the comments and not a single one is about the article.
This forum is not fit for purpose.
Yes, but where do you stand on pineapple on pizza?
I have to let you all into a little secret, in the past few days something has started to bug me even more than pineapple on pizza.
Why do we pronounce the 'Kansas' in Arkansas differently to Kansas?
The one that bugs me is when people pronounce trans in transport with a long ah, like "trance-port", but I'm yet to see anyone drive a "trance-it" van. Nor have I met any trance-sexuals, for that matter. Though perhaps I'm not visiting the right clubs.
The English language is being altered almost by poor education and poor speech. Few speak anything close to received pronunciation anymore. Eg people say battries now instead of batteries.. and you was there wasnt you ?.and so on and so forth...
Almost daily...
So what? English has evolved, is evolving, and will continue to evolve.
I'm still flabbergasted to learn that apparently it is acceptable usage to use ferment instead of foment. I've been hanging my english snobbery on that for years.
It must have been a terrible merment when you learnt that!
As far as I'm concerned, it isn't acceptable. The Oxford English Dictionary can dumb down if it wants, doesn't mean I have to.
'Ferment' has been used as a synonym for 'foment' (stir up, exacerbate) since the 17th Century.
I'm sure it has - why would a common mistake occurring between two similar terms with a different meaning have only begun in the late 20th century?
There's no reason to believe that the early users of 'ferment' were just too stupid to realize they should have been using 'foment' instead. It's quite possible that the synonymous meanings evolved independently. As 'ferment' also has the sense of murky liquids bubbling away menacingly in demijohns, you can imagine how the sense of 'stir up', 'instigate' came about. We shall never know.
Now all those in the media who got very concerned about of Big Dom touched a petrol pump or went to a whizz in the toilets...i presumed they will be absolutely doing their nut about the BLM attacking the plod outside #10 all crammed together.
I genuinely believe that since the Cummings fiasco weekend just about everyone under 40 has pretty much abandoned the rules. It gave those who wanted a reason and didn't feel much threatened by the virus an excuse.
Things noticeably changed around where we are after that and there have been loads of instances of crowds in cities, beaches and beauty spots. In that sense the lockdown has gone, for better or worse. Sadly, tonight's events are just a continuation of what has, in reality, been happening everywhere for the last couple of weeks.
Deaths are too high ... so let's have thousands of people go on a mass protest to really turbocharge the spread
I look forward to every single one of them getting the Cummings witch-hunt treatment ... but I suspect the same people who considered that the crime of the century won't give a damn about their actions.
So Ave ‘It says they’re all spongers but you imply that the protesters today are senior government advisers with a responsibility for setting the rules that public opinion considers to have been broken. Interesting takes from the right today.
Will mass protests with zero regard for social distancing increase the infection rate, and therefore the death rate?
Of course they will - but suddenly you don't seem to care any more. How very strange!
As in repeatedly pointed out to you I didn’t think Cummings should lose his job. I cared about his actions because he formulated the policy that he broke. You didn’t care that a symptomatic carrier of the virus spread it to the north but now you’re rattling your pearls. I also care about the infection rate going up as a result of this protest. And I also cared about the possibility of it going up after VE Day. You cared about today because you have a problem with the reason they are out. If it were a protest in support if Cummings you wouldn’t give a shit about infection.
That's some impressive whataboutery you've got going on there, not to mention a vivid imagination. Of course I wouldn't sanction a mass protest in favour of Cummings, because it would be a fucking dangerous and stupid thing to do - just like the mass protests today, which were a thousand times more dangerous as super-spreader events than Cummings could ever be.
But I bet we'll have to wait a loooooong time before the lefties conduct one of their famous witch-hunts against them, won't we?
I am sure the right will step in, as they so often do, to conduct their own.
Thanks for confirming that the Cummings witch-hunt had nothing to do with concern for public health then. Much appreciated!
Interesting take there based on nothing. I don’t think there was a “witch hunt” against Cummings, A witch hunt is a term that tends used by people who don’t like criticism of their actions,
The take is based on the fact that one man was hounded by the entire media and Opposition for driving to Durham for childcare, and yet thousands can risk spreading the virus for the sake of their international political activism and yet the Opposition & media don't give a shadow of a shit, because they are rank hypocrites. Likewise I don't see you rushing to insist that the protesters should have to defend their actions in a court of law, as you so passionately did with Cummings.
I'm not sure how much clearer I can make this for you...
You appear to have expertise in misrepresentation and snowflakery. Firstly, Cummings did not drive to Durham “for childcare”. He went for his own childcare convenience. Secondly the concern about his trio came from more than the “opposition and media”, it came from significant sections of the government benches, Thirdly the media who cared about Cummings clearly do “give a shadow of a shit” -
My uncle, in a care home in Penzance, reports that all the staff and residents were tested yesterday as a precautionary measure (no known cases but results not back yet). Are care homes being sent tests whether they ask for them or not, or do they have to apply somewhere?
I wouldn't be surprised if they were unusual in doing it - we were incredibly lucky to get him a slot there: he's been looked after for years, though with advanced Parkinsons and barely able to walk across the room. Cornwall County Council's official arranged the placement, arranged 100% funding and came round twice after he started living there to make sure he was settling in well. Whenever I'm tempted to generalise about our terrible care system I think of him and refrain.
The care home my father is in had everyone tested a few weeks back - they found 1 case that had recovered
When that person was ill the doctor who came out said it would not be COVID so don't take any actions or precautions....... luckily no one else got ill
From the Daily Mirror who lost brexit and the 2019 GE
Bitter
True. But they have Starmer's 2024 landslide to end all landslides to look forward to.
I think you may either be jesting or are counting chickens
2024 is wide open and I am convinced Starmer will not be facing Boris
The economic shitstorm that is coming, nicely compounded in the UK by No Deal, will pitch the Tories out for a generation.
You may be right but you may not
It is impossible to predict in this climate
Impossible to predict, but a stint in the wilderness would be thoroughly deserved and needed.
Longest period of parties in government since WW2
1 Tories 1979 to 1997
2 = Labour 1997 to 2010 and Tories 1951 to 1964
3 Tories 2010 to 2020.
Even if they lose the next general election the current Tory government moves from 3rd to 2nd. If the Tories win they move to first, likely overtaking the Thatcher and Major governments
Deaths are too high ... so let's have thousands of people go on a mass protest to really turbocharge the spread
I look forward to every single one of them getting the Cummings witch-hunt treatment ... but I suspect the same people who considered that the crime of the century won't give a damn about their actions.
So Ave ‘It says they’re all spongers but you imply that the protesters today are senior government advisers with a responsibility for setting the rules that public opinion considers to have been broken. Interesting takes from the right today.
Will mass protests with zero regard for social distancing increase the infection rate, and therefore the death rate?
Of course they will - but suddenly you don't seem to care any more. How very strange!
As in repeatedly pointed out to you I didn’t think Cummings should lose his job. I cared about his actions because he formulated the policy that he broke. You didn’t care that a symptomatic carrier of the virus spread it to the north but now you’re rattling your pearls. I also care about the infection rate going up as a result of this protest. And I also cared about the possibility of it going up after VE Day. You cared about today because you have a problem with the reason they are out. If it were a protest in support if Cummings you wouldn’t give a shit about infection.
That's some impressive whataboutery you've got going on there, not to mention a vivid imagination. Of course I wouldn't sanction a mass protest in favour of Cummings, because it would be a fucking dangerous and stupid thing to do - just like the mass protests today, which were a thousand times more dangerous as super-spreader events than Cummings could ever be.
But I bet we'll have to wait a loooooong time before the lefties conduct one of their famous witch-hunts against them, won't we?
I am sure the right will step in, as they so often do, to conduct their own.
Thanks for confirming that the Cummings witch-hunt had nothing to do with concern for public health then. Much appreciated!
Interesting take there based on nothing. I don’t think there was a “witch hunt” against Cummings, A witch hunt is a term that tends used by people who don’t like criticism of their actions,
The take is based on the fact that one man was hounded by the entire media and Opposition for driving to Durham for childcare, and yet thousands can risk spreading the virus for the sake of their international political activism and yet the Opposition & media don't give a shadow of a shit, because they are rank hypocrites. Likewise I don't see you rushing to insist that the protesters should have to defend their actions in a court of law, as you so passionately did with Cummings.
I'm not sure how much clearer I can make this for you...
Deaths are too high ... so let's have thousands of people go on a mass protest to really turbocharge the spread
I look forward to every single one of them getting the Cummings witch-hunt treatment ... but I suspect the same people who considered that the crime of the century won't give a damn about their actions.
So Ave ‘It says they’re all spongers but you imply that the protesters today are senior government advisers with a responsibility for setting the rules that public opinion considers to have been broken. Interesting takes from the right today.
Will mass protests with zero regard for social distancing increase the infection rate, and therefore the death rate?
Of course they will - but suddenly you don't seem to care any more. How very strange!
As in repeatedly pointed out to you I didn’t think Cummings should lose his job. I cared about his actions because he formulated the policy that he broke. You didn’t care that a symptomatic carrier of the virus spread it to the north but now you’re rattling your pearls. I also care about the infection rate going up as a result of this protest. And I also cared about the possibility of it going up after VE Day. You cared about today because you have a problem with the reason they are out. If it were a protest in support if Cummings you wouldn’t give a shit about infection.
That's some impressive whataboutery you've got going on there, not to mention a vivid imagination. Of course I wouldn't sanction a mass protest in favour of Cummings, because it would be a fucking dangerous and stupid thing to do - just like the mass protests today, which were a thousand times more dangerous as super-spreader events than Cummings could ever be.
But I bet we'll have to wait a loooooong time before the lefties conduct one of their famous witch-hunts against them, won't we?
I am sure the right will step in, as they so often do, to conduct their own.
Thanks for confirming that the Cummings witch-hunt had nothing to do with concern for public health then. Much appreciated!
Interesting take there based on nothing. I don’t think there was a “witch hunt” against Cummings, A witch hunt is a term that tends used by people who don’t like criticism of their actions,
The take is based on the fact that one man was hounded by the entire media and Opposition for driving to Durham for childcare, and yet thousands can risk spreading the virus for the sake of their international political activism and yet the Opposition & media don't give a shadow of a shit, because they are rank hypocrites. Likewise I don't see you rushing to insist that the protesters should have to defend their actions in a court of law, as you so passionately did with Cummings.
I'm not sure how much clearer I can make this for you...
You appear to have expertise in misrepresentation and snowflakery. Firstly, Cummings did not drive to Durham “for childcare”. He went for his own childcare convenience. Secondly the concern about his trio came from more than the “opposition and media”, it came from significant sections of the government benches, Thirdly the media who cared about Cummings clearly do “give a shadow of a shit” -
But the transport worker wasn't spat at nor did the person she had a confrontation with have COVID. The authorities fully investigated and the media reports were untrue, so why is that being conflated with the case in America?
Deaths are too high ... so let's have thousands of people go on a mass protest to really turbocharge the spread
I look forward to every single one of them getting the Cummings witch-hunt treatment ... but I suspect the same people who considered that the crime of the century won't give a damn about their actions.
So Ave ‘It says they’re all spongers but you imply that the protesters today are senior government advisers with a responsibility for setting the rules that public opinion considers to have been broken. Interesting takes from the right today.
Will mass protests with zero regard for social distancing increase the infection rate, and therefore the death rate?
Of course they will - but suddenly you don't seem to care any more. How very strange!
As in repeatedly pointed out to you I didn’t think Cummings should lose his job. I cared about his actions because he formulated the policy that he broke. You didn’t care that a symptomatic carrier of the virus spread it to the north but now you’re rattling your pearls. I also care about the infection rate going up as a result of this protest. And I also cared about the possibility of it going up after VE Day. You cared about today because you have a problem with the reason they are out. If it were a protest in support if Cummings you wouldn’t give a shit about infection.
That's some impressive whataboutery you've got going on there, not to mention a vivid imagination. Of course I wouldn't sanction a mass protest in favour of Cummings, because it would be a fucking dangerous and stupid thing to do - just like the mass protests today, which were a thousand times more dangerous as super-spreader events than Cummings could ever be.
But I bet we'll have to wait a loooooong time before the lefties conduct one of their famous witch-hunts against them, won't we?
I am sure the right will step in, as they so often do, to conduct their own.
Thanks for confirming that the Cummings witch-hunt had nothing to do with concern for public health then. Much appreciated!
Interesting take there based on nothing. I don’t think there was a “witch hunt” against Cummings, A witch hunt is a term that tends used by people who don’t like criticism of their actions,
The take is based on the fact that one man was hounded by the entire media and Opposition for driving to Durham for childcare, and yet thousands can risk spreading the virus for the sake of their international political activism and yet the Opposition & media don't give a shadow of a shit, because they are rank hypocrites. Likewise I don't see you rushing to insist that the protesters should have to defend their actions in a court of law, as you so passionately did with Cummings.
I'm not sure how much clearer I can make this for you...
You appear to have expertise in misrepresentation and snowflakery. Firstly, Cummings did not drive to Durham “for childcare”. He went for his own childcare convenience. Secondly the concern about his trio came from more than the “opposition and media”, it came from significant sections of the government benches, Thirdly the media who cared about Cummings clearly do “give a shadow of a shit” -
From the Daily Mirror who lost brexit and the 2019 GE
Bitter
True. But they have Starmer's 2024 landslide to end all landslides to look forward to.
I think you may either be jesting or are counting chickens
2024 is wide open and I am convinced Starmer will not be facing Boris
The economic shitstorm that is coming, nicely compounded in the UK by No Deal, will pitch the Tories out for a generation.
You may be right but you may not
It is impossible to predict in this climate
Impossible to predict, but a stint in the wilderness would be thoroughly deserved and needed.
Longest period of parties in government since WW2
1 Tories 1979 to 1997
2 = Labour 1997 to 2010 and Tories 1951 to 1964
3 Tories 2010 to 2020.
Even if they lose the next general election the current Tory government moves from 3rd to 2nd. If the Tories win they move to first, likely overtaking the Thatcher and Major governments
From the Daily Mirror who lost brexit and the 2019 GE
Bitter
True. But they have Starmer's 2024 landslide to end all landslides to look forward to.
I think you may either be jesting or are counting chickens
2024 is wide open and I am convinced Starmer will not be facing Boris
Boris reaches parts other Conservatives cannot reach.
True, but that highlights the strategic mess that the Conservatives' tactical triumph risks.
Since electing BoJo, they have become something of a one man brand; there's Boris and a bunch of nobodies. If Boris fell under the proverbial No 12 bus tonight, it's hard to see who could replace him in the "reaching other parts" stakes. But without that reaching, even an 80 seat majority looks shaky.
Can you please tell me who the Labour "body" is?
Doesn't matter so much, because I don't think Labour are going for an approach based on one charismatic individual. I'm sure that SKS would be happy to the Attlee to BoJo's Churchill. And I don't question that BACK BORIS was clever tactics in the second half of 2019. Question is whether tactics have driven the Conservatives into a strategic dead end.
Every time I think of getting involved in a discussion on PB I look at the comments and not a single one is about the article.
This forum is not fit for purpose.
Yes, but where do you stand on pineapple on pizza?
I have to let you all into a little secret, in the past few days something has started to bug me even more than pineapple on pizza.
Why do we pronounce the 'Kansas' in Arkansas differently to Kansas?
The one that bugs me is when people pronounce trans in transport with a long ah, like "trance-port", but I'm yet to see anyone drive a "trance-it" van. Nor have I met any trance-sexuals, for that matter. Though perhaps I'm not visiting the right clubs.
COD says both the long and short 'a' are correct for 'transport'. Why do you know better?
My uncle, in a care home in Penzance, reports that all the staff and residents were tested yesterday as a precautionary measure (no known cases but results not back yet). Are care homes being sent tests whether they ask for them or not, or do they have to apply somewhere?
Seems mailed tests are constantly increasing (see below), when you'd expect them to be falling due to lack of demand. Maybe they're using that spare capacity for care homes.
Deaths are too high ... so let's have thousands of people go on a mass protest to really turbocharge the spread
I look forward to every single one of them getting the Cummings witch-hunt treatment ... but I suspect the same people who considered that the crime of the century won't give a damn about their actions.
So Ave ‘It says they’re all spongers but you imply that the protesters today are senior government advisers with a responsibility for setting the rules that public opinion considers to have been broken. Interesting takes from the right today.
Will mass protests with zero regard for social distancing increase the infection rate, and therefore the death rate?
Of course they will - but suddenly you don't seem to care any more. How very strange!
As in repeatedly pointed out to you I didn’t think Cummings should lose his job. I cared about his actions because he formulated the policy that he broke. You didn’t care that a symptomatic carrier of the virus spread it to the north but now you’re rattling your pearls. I also care about the infection rate going up as a result of this protest. And I also cared about the possibility of it going up after VE Day. You cared about today because you have a problem with the reason they are out. If it were a protest in support if Cummings you wouldn’t give a shit about infection.
That's some impressive whataboutery you've got going on there, not to mention a vivid imagination. Of course I wouldn't sanction a mass protest in favour of Cummings, because it would be a fucking dangerous and stupid thing to do - just like the mass protests today, which were a thousand times more dangerous as super-spreader events than Cummings could ever be.
But I bet we'll have to wait a loooooong time before the lefties conduct one of their famous witch-hunts against them, won't we?
I am sure the right will step in, as they so often do, to conduct their own.
Thanks for confirming that the Cummings witch-hunt had nothing to do with concern for public health then. Much appreciated!
Interesting take there based on nothing. I don’t think there was a “witch hunt” against Cummings, A witch hunt is a term that tends used by people who don’t like criticism of their actions,
The take is based on the fact that one man was hounded by the entire media and Opposition for driving to Durham for childcare, and yet thousands can risk spreading the virus for the sake of their international political activism and yet the Opposition & media don't give a shadow of a shit, because they are rank hypocrites. Likewise I don't see you rushing to insist that the protesters should have to defend their actions in a court of law, as you so passionately did with Cummings.
I'm not sure how much clearer I can make this for you...
You appear to have expertise in misrepresentation and snowflakery. Firstly, Cummings did not drive to Durham “for childcare”. He went for his own childcare convenience. Secondly the concern about his trio came from more than the “opposition and media”, it came from significant sections of the government benches, Thirdly the media who cared about Cummings clearly do “give a shadow of a shit” -
Ah, those 'significant sections of the government benches' who posted a tweet to signal their virtue and otherwise did sod all. Or did you mean the very significant Under-Secretary of State for Scotland?
As for the media, this breach of the regulations is thousands of times the size of Cummings', and yet has drawn a tiny fraction of the ire, including from Piers Morgan et al. Where's the monomaniacal media feeding frenzy? Where's the biased Newsnight intro? Where's the leader of the Opposition calling for punishment? Where are the police investigations into the violations of the law?
Nowhere.
I can't be bothered with the matter of your own hypocrisy in approaching the two situations, since that is so obvious as not to require detailed exposition.
Furthermore. I also consider the ludicrous actions of JRM and the Tory Mps who backed him to be highly irresponsible also. We have all made sacrifices, some small, some very painful to get this bloody virus under some sort of control. We are in danger of throwing it all away and dishonouring those sacrifices, as well as possibly creating more, just cos folk seem to feel the time is right to do whatever the heck they want. This is not a Party political issue, but one of personal morality.
It is alleged that NHS hospital managers tried to get non-tested patients into care homes in the evenings, claiming to junior staff on duty that the care home manager earlier in the day had agreed this. This was untrue.
Public inquiry material of the highest order.
That the NHS was foisting people into care homes is already known. It was an error but its an outcome of the obsession with the acute care aspect of the response. The care home sector isn't as saintly as the bright hospitals so no one gave a fiddlers until they caught on that it was stupid thing to be doing.
I happen to think the Black Lives Matter protestors have reason to be angry, but cannot believe they've chosen to flout the lockdown in this way. Maybe it's my bias, because I voted Leave (nothing to do with Dominic Cummings or Vote Leave mind) but I can't see any inconsistency in not getting het up about Cummings Durham trip and being flabbergasted, not angry, at the swarms of protestors today
I happen to think the Black Lives Matter protestors have reason to be angry, but cannot believe they've chosen to flout the lockdown in this way. Maybe it's my bias, because I voted Leave (nothing to do with Dominic Cummings or Vote Leave mind) but I can't see any inconsistency in not getting het up about Cummings Durham trip and being flabbergasted, not angry, at the swarms of protestors today
I expect 27 daily articles in the Guardian about these breaches of Lockdown rules for the next week, no?
Is Cummings on the road again? Wearin' different clothes again...
No, he's done worse than that, he's got Boris to give permission, and Tweeted his support, for a 'Get Brexit Done' rally, with the flimsiest 'social distancing' message tacked on to cover his arse. Social distancing was of course totally abandoned and some got lary - potentially the biggest superspreader event we've had since the Cheltenham Festival.
Oh no, he hasn't, that was Sadiq Khan with today's BLM rally.
Fortunately there's Barry Gardiner around to make Khan, Mogg, Cummings & Johnson all look like absolute Covid champs.
Gardiners behaviour was crazy, but Khan's tweet was pretty stupid too. I can't quite believe the two of them have done what they did.
Khan's entire Twitter feed seems to be complaining that lockdown is being wound up too soon, and it's dangerous. Um...
Is Cummings on the road again? Wearin' different clothes again...
No, he's done worse than that, he's got Boris to give permission, and Tweeted his support, for a 'Get Brexit Done' rally, with the flimsiest 'social distancing' message tacked on to cover his arse. Social distancing was of course totally abandoned and some got lary - potentially the biggest superspreader event we've had since the Cheltenham Festival.
Oh no, he hasn't, that was Sadiq Khan with today's BLM rally.
Fortunately there's Barry Gardiner around to make Khan, Mogg, Cummings & Johnson all look like absolute Covid champs.
Gardiners behaviour was crazy, but Khan's tweet was pretty stupid too. I can't quite believe the two of them have done what they did.
Khan's entire Twitter feed seems to be complaining that lockdown is being wound up too soon, and it's dangerous. Um...
If the rate does go up in London, his twitter feed will be full of complaints about how Big Dom caused it.
They should, the potential for transmission is vast at this sort of mass event.
It isn't just problematical editorially, it's also downright irresponsible not to make some sort of comment on the potential health implications for the attendees and anybody they now come into contact with.
Every time I think of getting involved in a discussion on PB I look at the comments and not a single one is about the article.
This forum is not fit for purpose.
Yes, but where do you stand on pineapple on pizza?
I have to let you all into a little secret, in the past few days something has started to bug me even more than pineapple on pizza.
Why do we pronounce the 'Kansas' in Arkansas differently to Kansas?
The one that bugs me is when people pronounce trans in transport with a long ah, like "trance-port", but I'm yet to see anyone drive a "trance-it" van. Nor have I met any trance-sexuals, for that matter. Though perhaps I'm not visiting the right clubs.
The English language is being altered almost by poor education and poor speech. Few speak anything close to received pronunciation anymore. Eg people say battries now instead of batteries.. and you was there wasnt you ?.and so on and so forth...
Almost daily...
So what? English has evolved, is evolving, and will continue to evolve.
So what is the point in teaching children grammar? I blame programmes like EastEnders where language(and pronunciation) is a foreign one to most who make utterances on the show.
More pertinently, what is the point of grammar?
To increase the chance that you will be understood by others.
Oh god, CNN will now use this as proof that all the violence has been down to right wing extremists.
And FOX will declare it to be a vast conspiracy of the Deep State to embarrass Trump. It is the natural result of ever expanding consumer choice. These facts don't fit as I imagiined they would. I demand a full refund and will never shop here again. No point moaning about it.
Is Cummings on the road again? Wearin' different clothes again...
No, he's done worse than that, he's got Boris to give permission, and Tweeted his support, for a 'Get Brexit Done' rally, with the flimsiest 'social distancing' message tacked on to cover his arse. Social distancing was of course totally abandoned and some got lary - potentially the biggest superspreader event we've had since the Cheltenham Festival.
Oh no, he hasn't, that was Sadiq Khan with today's BLM rally.
Fortunately there's Barry Gardiner around to make Khan, Mogg, Cummings & Johnson all look like absolute Covid champs.
Gardiners behaviour was crazy, but Khan's tweet was pretty stupid too. I can't quite believe the two of them have done what they did.
Khan's entire Twitter feed seems to be complaining that lockdown is being wound up too soon, and it's dangerous. Um...
Perhaps he believes showing solidarity with this cause is more important than the lockdown advice. Maybe it is. But it goes against everything any politician I've heard speak had said. I thought there were no exceptions to the strict law of lockdown - to expect social distancing today was naive to the point of incompetence.
From the Daily Mirror who lost brexit and the 2019 GE
Bitter
True. But they have Starmer's 2024 landslide to end all landslides to look forward to.
I think you may either be jesting or are counting chickens
2024 is wide open and I am convinced Starmer will not be facing Boris
The economic shitstorm that is coming, nicely compounded in the UK by No Deal, will pitch the Tories out for a generation.
You may be right but you may not
It is impossible to predict in this climate
Impossible to predict, but a stint in the wilderness would be thoroughly deserved and needed.
Longest period of parties in government since WW2
1 Tories 1979 to 1997
2 = Labour 1997 to 2010 and Tories 1951 to 1964
3 Tories 2010 to 2020.
Even if they lose the next general election the current Tory government moves from 3rd to 2nd. If the Tories win they move to first, likely overtaking the Thatcher and Major governments
The period since 2010 is not really comparable though because the Tories lacked a majority for 7.5 years.
Has anyone been keeping tabs on which world governments have had the most Covid cases amongst representatives and underlings? Is the UK world beating on that measure too?
Every time I think of getting involved in a discussion on PB I look at the comments and not a single one is about the article.
This forum is not fit for purpose.
Yes, but where do you stand on pineapple on pizza?
I have to let you all into a little secret, in the past few days something has started to bug me even more than pineapple on pizza.
Why do we pronounce the 'Kansas' in Arkansas differently to Kansas?
The one that bugs me is when people pronounce trans in transport with a long ah, like "trance-port", but I'm yet to see anyone drive a "trance-it" van. Nor have I met any trance-sexuals, for that matter. Though perhaps I'm not visiting the right clubs.
The English language is being altered almost by poor education and poor speech. Few speak anything close to received pronunciation anymore. Eg people say battries now instead of batteries.. and you was there wasnt you ?.and so on and so forth...
Almost daily...
So what? English has evolved, is evolving, and will continue to evolve.
So what is the point in teaching children grammar? I blame programmes like EastEnders where language(and pronunciation) is a foreign one to most who make utterances on the show.
More pertinently, what is the point of grammar?
To increase the chance that you will be understood by others.
Every time I think of getting involved in a discussion on PB I look at the comments and not a single one is about the article.
This forum is not fit for purpose.
Yes, but where do you stand on pineapple on pizza?
I have to let you all into a little secret, in the past few days something has started to bug me even more than pineapple on pizza.
Why do we pronounce the 'Kansas' in Arkansas differently to Kansas?
The one that bugs me is when people pronounce trans in transport with a long ah, like "trance-port", but I'm yet to see anyone drive a "trance-it" van. Nor have I met any trance-sexuals, for that matter. Though perhaps I'm not visiting the right clubs.
The English language is being altered almost by poor education and poor speech. Few speak anything close to received pronunciation anymore. Eg people say battries now instead of batteries.. and you was there wasnt you ?.and so on and so forth...
Almost daily...
So what? English has evolved, is evolving, and will continue to evolve.
So what is the point in teaching children grammar? I blame programmes like EastEnders where language(and pronunciation) is a foreign one to most who make utterances on the show.
More pertinently, what is the point of grammar?
To increase the chance that you will be understood by others.
Or would you prefer
More chance your understand other?
Someone should tell that Yoda fella.
Understood you other with chance more (Arabic word order)
Every time I think of getting involved in a discussion on PB I look at the comments and not a single one is about the article.
This forum is not fit for purpose.
Yes, but where do you stand on pineapple on pizza?
I have to let you all into a little secret, in the past few days something has started to bug me even more than pineapple on pizza.
Why do we pronounce the 'Kansas' in Arkansas differently to Kansas?
The one that bugs me is when people pronounce trans in transport with a long ah, like "trance-port", but I'm yet to see anyone drive a "trance-it" van. Nor have I met any trance-sexuals, for that matter. Though perhaps I'm not visiting the right clubs.
The English language is being altered almost by poor education and poor speech. Few speak anything close to received pronunciation anymore. Eg people say battries now instead of batteries.. and you was there wasnt you ?.and so on and so forth...
Almost daily...
So what? English has evolved, is evolving, and will continue to evolve.
So what is the point in teaching children grammar? I blame programmes like EastEnders where language(and pronunciation) is a foreign one to most who make utterances on the show.
More pertinently, what is the point of grammar?
To increase the chance that you will be understood by others.
Or would you prefer
More chance your understand other?
Someone should tell that Yoda fella.
Understood you other with chance more (Arabic word order)
That's wrong: Understood other you with chance more.
Meanwhile in more boring news, the heads of the German government coalition parties concluded their two day negotiations and agreed another 130 bn stimulus package.
Main points: Lowering VAT rates from 19/7 to 16/5 for the rest of 2020; doubling subsidies for e-cars up to 40k from 3k to 6k + subsidies to accelerate the installation of charging stations; 5 bn equity injection for Deutsche Bahn AG + additional bns for regional railways and metro area public transport; additional 25 bn for hospitality sector + 30 bn for other SME; for the optics one-off 300 EUR child care bonus per child.
My uncle, in a care home in Penzance, reports that all the staff and residents were tested yesterday as a precautionary measure (no known cases but results not back yet). Are care homes being sent tests whether they ask for them or not, or do they have to apply somewhere?
I wouldn't be surprised if they were unusual in doing it - we were incredibly lucky to get him a slot there: he's been looked after for years, though with advanced Parkinsons and barely able to walk across the room. Cornwall County Council's official arranged the placement, arranged 100% funding and came round twice after he started living there to make sure he was settling in well. Whenever I'm tempted to generalise about our terrible care system I think of him and refrain.
I was in hospital on Monday and many of the people I talked to had had an antibody test and were waiting for results.
So I'm back to scratching my head about why the British government is so terrible at governmenting.
Initially I thought they were just slow to update their mental models of the world, so when there was a virus that was spreading exponentially and killed maybe 1% of people who got it, they took some time to process what that meant, hence the amazing footage of that budget where everyone was crowded into the Commons in the middle of a raging pandemic. But now they've had not only had plenty of time to work it out, they've also taken very extreme measures to deal with it. So how do you explain this??? Why are MPs back in the actual physical House of Commons???
I was in hospital on Monday and many of the people I talked to had had an antibody test and were waiting for results.
Guessing they must be going hospital by hospital, heard a similar story a few times now. 36k done yesterday, but that's almost full capacity for the antibody testing system.
Second vote 2 hrs 27 in, Sharma votes. Noone near him that time though Mogg's water could potentially be infected.
I find it a bit worrying that whenever anyone feels ill from now on they might be suspected of having Covid-19, although it's more likely to be something else.
Every time I think of getting involved in a discussion on PB I look at the comments and not a single one is about the article.
This forum is not fit for purpose.
Yes, but where do you stand on pineapple on pizza?
I have to let you all into a little secret, in the past few days something has started to bug me even more than pineapple on pizza.
Why do we pronounce the 'Kansas' in Arkansas differently to Kansas?
The one that bugs me is when people pronounce trans in transport with a long ah, like "trance-port", but I'm yet to see anyone drive a "trance-it" van. Nor have I met any trance-sexuals, for that matter. Though perhaps I'm not visiting the right clubs.
The English language is being altered almost by poor education and poor speech. Few speak anything close to received pronunciation anymore. Eg people say battries now instead of batteries.. and you was there wasnt you ?.and so on and so forth...
Almost daily...
So what? English has evolved, is evolving, and will continue to evolve.
So what is the point in teaching children grammar? I blame programmes like EastEnders where language(and pronunciation) is a foreign one to most who make utterances on the show.
More pertinently, what is the point of grammar?
To increase the chance that you will be understood by others.
Or would you prefer
More chance your understand other?
Someone should tell that Yoda fella.
“Tell that Yoda fellow someone should“ I think you mean.
English is pretty flexible with word order, but mess up the tense or voice And you may end up saying the opposite of what you meant.
This forum demonstrates that getting people to understand your argument is hard enough without making up your own grammar rules as you go. Dialect and indifferent spelling are one thing, but I’ve seen too many pupils lose marks in tests and exams because what they wrote either made no sense or in extreme cases meant the opposite of what they wanted to say.
Has anyone been keeping tabs on which world governments have had the most Covid cases amongst representatives and underlings? Is the UK world beating on that measure too?
The Cabinet at least is approaching herd immunity. Fitting as they only speak bullocks.
So I'm back to scratching my head about why the British government is so terrible at governmenting.
Initially I thought they were just slow to update their mental models of the world, so when there was a virus that was spreading exponentially and killed maybe 1% of people who got it, they took some time to process what that meant, hence the amazing footage of that budget where everyone was crowded into the Commons in the middle of a raging pandemic. But now they've had not only had plenty of time to work it out, they've also taken very extreme measures to deal with it. So how do you explain this??? Why are MPs back in the actual physical House of Commons???
So I'm back to scratching my head about why the British government is so terrible at governmenting.
Initially I thought they were just slow to update their mental models of the world, so when there was a virus that was spreading exponentially and killed maybe 1% of people who got it, they took some time to process what that meant, hence the amazing footage of that budget where everyone was crowded into the Commons in the middle of a raging pandemic. But now they've had not only had plenty of time to work it out, they've also taken very extreme measures to deal with it. So how do you explain this??? Why are MPs back in the actual physical House of Commons???
God alone knows. But it's hard to shake the impression that the government just really really wants this to be over. So BoJo has been desperate to turn the Covid-ometer down from level 4 to level 3 for the best part of a month now, even though the evidence isn't really there to justify it. Yes, infections and deaths are falling, but too slowly to say "job done" yet.
Combine that with a political culture where saying something is more important than doing something and overlooking awkward realities is seen as a strength, and you get this mess.
So I'm back to scratching my head about why the British government is so terrible at governmenting.
Initially I thought they were just slow to update their mental models of the world, so when there was a virus that was spreading exponentially and killed maybe 1% of people who got it, they took some time to process what that meant, hence the amazing footage of that budget where everyone was crowded into the Commons in the middle of a raging pandemic. But now they've had not only had plenty of time to work it out, they've also taken very extreme measures to deal with it. So how do you explain this??? Why are MPs back in the actual physical House of Commons???
We live in the physical real world, pandemic or not. The percentage of people who are exposed to this virus who then die of it is not known, but it is thought to be fairly low. If you go to work, you are self-certifying yourself as being fit to work and that assessment should consider the possibility of your encountering coronavirus.
The virus isn't going away yet and life must go on. As soon as you are born you are at risk of death. That is the way it is. Frank Sinatra had a song for this: "It Was A Very Good Year".
So I'm back to scratching my head about why the British government is so terrible at governmenting.
Initially I thought they were just slow to update their mental models of the world, so when there was a virus that was spreading exponentially and killed maybe 1% of people who got it, they took some time to process what that meant, hence the amazing footage of that budget where everyone was crowded into the Commons in the middle of a raging pandemic. But now they've had not only had plenty of time to work it out, they've also taken very extreme measures to deal with it. So how do you explain this??? Why are MPs back in the actual physical House of Commons???
My 16 year old has filled me in on this. Folk who have never taken any time to self reflect are perfectly capable of adjusting their behaviour, often in quite extreme ways, during an emergency for survival purposes. But they are incapable of reflecting on it, or drawing any lessons from it, because they lack any experience of so doing. Therefore they mentally declare a date when the crisis is over and their behaviour returns to the status quo ante. It is evident all around.
So I'm back to scratching my head about why the British government is so terrible at governmenting.
Initially I thought they were just slow to update their mental models of the world, so when there was a virus that was spreading exponentially and killed maybe 1% of people who got it, they took some time to process what that meant, hence the amazing footage of that budget where everyone was crowded into the Commons in the middle of a raging pandemic. But now they've had not only had plenty of time to work it out, they've also taken very extreme measures to deal with it. So how do you explain this??? Why are MPs back in the actual physical House of Commons???
We live in the physical real world, pandemic or not. The percentage of people who are exposed to this virus who then die of it is not known, but it is thought to be fairly low. If you go to work, you are self-certifying yourself as being fit to work and that assessment should consider the possibility of your encountering coronavirus.
The virus isn't going away yet and life must go on. As soon as you are born you are at risk of death. That is the way it is. Frank Sinatra had a song for this: "It Was A Very Good Year".
Life *was* going on, parliament were meeting perfectly adequately over the internet.
Getting the prevalence "fairly low" isn't enough if you go back to exact same habits that caused it to spread in the first place, you just end up with the prevalence being fairly high again, and you have to do the whole lockdown again.
Everybody knows this! Getting the prevalence down and keeping it there is the whole point of a huge, massively coercive, economically ruinous government policy!
From the Daily Mirror who lost brexit and the 2019 GE
Bitter
True. But they have Starmer's 2024 landslide to end all landslides to look forward to.
I think you may either be jesting or are counting chickens
2024 is wide open and I am convinced Starmer will not be facing Boris
The economic shitstorm that is coming, nicely compounded in the UK by No Deal, will pitch the Tories out for a generation.
You may be right but you may not
It is impossible to predict in this climate
Impossible to predict, but a stint in the wilderness would be thoroughly deserved and needed.
Longest period of parties in government since WW2
1 Tories 1979 to 1997
2 = Labour 1997 to 2010 and Tories 1951 to 1964
3 Tories 2010 to 2020.
Even if they lose the next general election the current Tory government moves from 3rd to 2nd. If the Tories win they move to first, likely overtaking the Thatcher and Major governments
The period since 2010 is not really comparable though because the Tories lacked a majority for 7.5 years.
Wrong.
Looking back from a perspective on the left I can honestly say that the Thatcher years were as nothing compared to the impact of Osborne and Hammond's austerity in taking a scythe to spending on public services and what was once the social security safety net.
Cameron and Osborne knew they could effectively do just about everything they wanted between 2010 and 2015, because their coalition partners knew from very early on that a general election would decimate the LDs and considered that the least bad option was to carry on in the vain hope that something might turn up by 2015. (One of very few exceptions was the non-implementation of the boundary changes, but only because the LDs knew that that would make their decimation even worse.)
Likewise May and Hammond had a comfortable working majority on just about everything not related to Brexit.
I did say downthread that Trump will be looking for a new Defence Secretary. He has really taken the hump with Esper's comments in the last couple of days. Esper got himself in knots because he can see that Trump's publicity stunts and threats to the use the regular army are not sound. Predecessor James Mattis has come out today and beat on Trump today with very forthright comments.
Regular US troops flown and positioned in Virginia & Maryland close to DC are reportedly heading back home. The regular military know its not a great look and its not the right use of their men and women. The situation doesn't require it right now, not by a long chalk. The National Guard are, by default, the states military back up for civil authorities. I could understand some small deployments of regular military police where things were very strained, and I'm not sure that's quite there yet, but the elements of the 82nd Airborne? Its not as if this is an insurgency.
As a Labour Party member, I am getting full value from my online subscription to the Telegraph. They are not pulling any punches in their criticism of the Government and, unlike that the Guardian and Mirror, such criticism is read by people whose votes the Conservatives unwisely take for granted. This is par for the course nowadays:
Health warning - PB Tories should not read the gory detail before the watershed:
"The Opposition’s job is to question and criticise. Has Boris Johnson forgotten? At PMQs, the Prime Minister seemed increasingly affronted by Sir Keir Starmer’s habit of asking him difficult questions
Traditionally speaking, an Opposition tends to oppose. It scrutinises the Government. Criticises it. Asks it difficult questions. It would be considered highly unorthodox for a Leader of the Opposition to stand up in the Commons and say, “Mr Speaker, I cannot help but observe that the Prime Minister is wearing an especially stylish pair of cufflinks. For the benefit on an admiring nation, could he enlighten us as to where we may purchase such a pair ourselves?” The next time Boris Johnson prepares for PMQs, it might be worth his while taking this into account. Because today in the Commons, Sir Keir Starmer asked six questions about the Government’s handling of the pandemic. And in response, the Prime Minister seemed to grow more and more put out by the minute. His voice grew louder and faster, and his manner more irate. With his index finger he stabbed at the despatch box, stab-stab-stab-stab-stab – like an indignant hotel guest, jabbing at the bell on an unmanned reception desk. Judging by his tone – hurt, aggrieved, and even bewildered – he seemed to view Sir Keir’s insistence on questioning him as an unexpected and uncalled-for impertinence..........
...... On the whole, the depth of Mr Johnson’s displeasure seemed surprising – not least because Sir Keir had hardly attacked him at all. He hadn’t mocked or insulted him, and his questions were delivered calmly. “Mr Speaker,” he said, “the Prime Minister is confusing scrutiny with attacks.”
In Mr Johnson’s defence, however, you can see how this confusion may have arisen. The Opposition has been AWOL for so long, the Prime Minister may simply have forgotten what its job is. "
You look at Trump and think my god what a disaster, you look at the alternative, and they appear to have been taken over by total I don't know what's....This guy is a nobody, but he is being retweeted by Democratic Senators. Shaming businesses that stock expensive products for taking steps to secure their locations.
Far more interesting than national opinion polls would be some constituency polling in the so-called "red wall" seats like Burnley, Sedgefield, Blyth Valley, etc. It could be that the relatively modest swing to Labour since the election is mostly concentrated in urban areas for instance.
So it appears that the reported plans to send the regulars positioned around DC back to their home bases has been shelved by Secretary Esper.
Something odd is going on. In what seems to be a clear set of statements by military and the ex Defence Secretary making much mention of the constitution, there looks to be a bit of a struggle going on.
The important thing to note is that the deployment of regular military versus the National Guard is a whole different ball game. That internal deployment in the event of unrest is one of the key National Guard roles, its not something the US regulars get involved in unless its exceptional and honestly, this is not right now..
Bearing in mind that military style uniforms are part of anti riot kit are worn by other federal agencies at times and that in the DC area you have not just the local police, you have the Parks Police, federal prison personnel, the National Guard and god knows who else, its not exactly clear that regular military personnel have yet been manning the lines.
Comments
Oh no, he hasn't, that was Sadiq Khan with today's BLM rally.
Starmer is clearly not getting Tory switchers as Blair did however, if he gets in it will likely be scraping in with the LDs
I'm not sure how much clearer I can make this for you...
I wouldn't be surprised if they were unusual in doing it - we were incredibly lucky to get him a slot there: he's been looked after for years, though with advanced Parkinsons and barely able to walk across the room. Cornwall County Council's official arranged the placement, arranged 100% funding and came round twice after he started living there to make sure he was settling in well. Whenever I'm tempted to generalise about our terrible care system I think of him and refrain.
However, if he is, the antics he will get up to to avoid scrutiny and debate after 4 years in office will be hilarious. Will make hiding in a fridge and running away from an interview Andrew Neill look like chicken feed. He'll probably claim to be struck down with laryngitis the moment the campaign kicks off.
Covid Alert Level 5, 4, 3 and a half...
It is alleged that NHS hospital managers tried to get non-tested patients into care homes in the evenings, claiming to junior staff on duty that the care home manager earlier in the day had agreed this. This was untrue.
Public inquiry material of the highest order.
https://twitter.com/CrimeLdn/status/1268296371678953473?s=19
https://twitter.com/SkyEnda/status/1268280084395446274?s=19
I genuinely believe that since the Cummings fiasco weekend just about everyone under 40 has pretty much abandoned the rules. It gave those who wanted a reason and didn't feel much threatened by the virus an excuse.
Things noticeably changed around where we are after that and there have been loads of instances of crowds in cities, beaches and beauty spots. In that sense the lockdown has gone, for better or worse. Sadly, tonight's events are just a continuation of what has, in reality, been happening everywhere for the last couple of weeks.
https://mobile.twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1268198310579486721
https://mobile.twitter.com/JuliaHB1/status/1268200116424454144
https://twitter.com/mattuthompson/status/1268152638568357888
When that person was ill the doctor who came out said it would not be COVID so don't take any actions or precautions....... luckily no one else got ill
1 Tories 1979 to 1997
2 = Labour 1997 to 2010 and Tories 1951 to 1964
3 Tories 2010 to 2020.
Even if they lose the next general election the current Tory government moves from 3rd to 2nd. If the Tories win they move to first, likely overtaking the Thatcher and Major governments
https://news.sky.com/story/belly-mujinga-no-further-action-over-death-of-rail-worker-from-covid-19-after-spitting-attack-11996933
What am I missing here????
If there was ever a time to be a keyboard warrior, this is it.
Night all.
P.S. Summer in May, autumn in June. Snow in July?
Good night again.
As for the media, this breach of the regulations is thousands of times the size of Cummings', and yet has drawn a tiny fraction of the ire, including from Piers Morgan et al. Where's the monomaniacal media feeding frenzy? Where's the biased Newsnight intro? Where's the leader of the Opposition calling for punishment? Where are the police investigations into the violations of the law?
Nowhere.
I can't be bothered with the matter of your own hypocrisy in approaching the two situations, since that is so obvious as not to require detailed exposition.
We have all made sacrifices, some small, some very painful to get this bloody virus under some sort of control.
We are in danger of throwing it all away and dishonouring those sacrifices, as well as possibly creating more, just cos folk seem to feel the time is right to do whatever the heck they want.
This is not a Party political issue, but one of personal morality.
https://twitter.com/theSNP/status/1268212561746571280
Or would you prefer
More chance your understand other?
These facts don't fit as I imagiined they would. I demand a full refund and will never shop here again.
No point moaning about it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000k435/house-of-commons-02062020 Sharma first vote - non socially distanced conversation with Oliver Dowden
Media in the US is a sad state of affairs.
https://twitter.com/AngryScotland/status/1268312756530245632?s=20
So if all the violence is from right wing extremists they've been awfully kind in getting justice for Floyd.
Main points: Lowering VAT rates from 19/7 to 16/5 for the rest of 2020; doubling subsidies for e-cars up to 40k from 3k to 6k + subsidies to accelerate the installation of charging stations; 5 bn equity injection for Deutsche Bahn AG + additional bns for regional railways and metro area public transport; additional 25 bn for hospitality sector + 30 bn for other SME; for the optics one-off 300 EUR child care bonus per child.
https://twitter.com/FT/status/1268310052487811074?s=20
Initially I thought they were just slow to update their mental models of the world, so when there was a virus that was spreading exponentially and killed maybe 1% of people who got it, they took some time to process what that meant, hence the amazing footage of that budget where everyone was crowded into the Commons in the middle of a raging pandemic. But now they've had not only had plenty of time to work it out, they've also taken very extreme measures to deal with it. So how do you explain this??? Why are MPs back in the actual physical House of Commons???
https://twitter.com/lisanandy/status/1268262686825070594
English is pretty flexible with word order, but mess up the tense or voice And you may end up saying the opposite of what you meant.
This forum demonstrates that getting people to understand your argument is hard enough without making up your own grammar rules as you go.
Dialect and indifferent spelling are one thing, but I’ve seen too many pupils lose marks in tests and exams because what they wrote either made no sense or in extreme cases meant the opposite of what they wanted to say.
Fitting as they only speak bullocks.
Combine that with a political culture where saying something is more important than doing something and overlooking awkward realities is seen as a strength, and you get this mess.
The virus isn't going away yet and life must go on. As soon as you are born you are at risk of death. That is the way it is. Frank Sinatra had a song for this: "It Was A Very Good Year".
But they are incapable of reflecting on it, or drawing any lessons from it, because they lack any experience of so doing.
Therefore they mentally declare a date when the crisis is over and their behaviour returns to the status quo ante.
It is evident all around.
Getting the prevalence "fairly low" isn't enough if you go back to exact same habits that caused it to spread in the first place, you just end up with the prevalence being fairly high again, and you have to do the whole lockdown again.
Everybody knows this! Getting the prevalence down and keeping it there is the whole point of a huge, massively coercive, economically ruinous government policy!
https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1268324463550107651
Looking back from a perspective on the left I can honestly say that the Thatcher years were as nothing compared to the impact of Osborne and Hammond's austerity in taking a scythe to spending on public services and what was once the social security safety net.
Cameron and Osborne knew they could effectively do just about everything they wanted between 2010 and 2015, because their coalition partners knew from very early on that a general election would decimate the LDs and considered that the least bad option was to carry on in the vain hope that something might turn up by 2015. (One of very few exceptions was the non-implementation of the boundary changes, but only because the LDs knew that that would make their decimation even worse.)
Likewise May and Hammond had a comfortable working majority on just about everything not related to Brexit.
Sir Richard Dearlove tells Telegraph's Planet Normal podcast that new scientific report suggests key elements of the virus were 'inserted'"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/03/exclusive-coronavirus-began-accident-disease-escaped-chinese/
Regular US troops flown and positioned in Virginia & Maryland close to DC are reportedly heading back home. The regular military know its not a great look and its not the right use of their men and women. The situation doesn't require it right now, not by a long chalk. The National Guard are, by default, the states military back up for civil authorities. I could understand some small deployments of regular military police where things were very strained, and I'm not sure that's quite there yet, but the elements of the 82nd Airborne? Its not as if this is an insurgency.
What report from who?
Who is Richard speaking for? Himself as an informed talking head or as a cutout?
That the Wuhan lab was mixing viral components is already known, there were expression of concerns about their practices from a bit back.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/06/03/oppositions-job-question-criticise-has-boris-johnson-forgotten/
Health warning - PB Tories should not read the gory detail before the watershed:
"The Opposition’s job is to question and criticise. Has Boris Johnson forgotten?
At PMQs, the Prime Minister seemed increasingly affronted by Sir Keir Starmer’s habit of asking him difficult questions
Traditionally speaking, an Opposition tends to oppose. It scrutinises the Government. Criticises it. Asks it difficult questions. It would be considered highly unorthodox for a Leader of the Opposition to stand up in the Commons and say, “Mr Speaker, I cannot help but observe that the Prime Minister is wearing an especially stylish pair of cufflinks. For the benefit on an admiring nation, could he enlighten us as to where we may purchase such a pair ourselves?” The next time Boris Johnson prepares for PMQs, it might be worth his while taking this into account. Because today in the Commons, Sir Keir Starmer asked six questions about the Government’s handling of the pandemic. And in response, the Prime Minister seemed to grow more and more put out by the minute. His voice grew louder and faster, and his manner more irate. With his index finger he stabbed at the despatch box, stab-stab-stab-stab-stab – like an indignant hotel guest, jabbing at the bell on an unmanned reception desk. Judging by his tone – hurt, aggrieved, and even bewildered – he seemed to view Sir Keir’s insistence on questioning him as an unexpected and uncalled-for impertinence..........
...... On the whole, the depth of Mr Johnson’s displeasure seemed surprising – not least because Sir Keir had hardly attacked him at all. He hadn’t mocked or insulted him, and his questions were delivered calmly. “Mr Speaker,” he said, “the Prime Minister is confusing scrutiny with attacks.”
In Mr Johnson’s defence, however, you can see how this confusion may have arisen. The Opposition has been AWOL for so long, the Prime Minister may simply have forgotten what its job is. "
https://twitter.com/WillHaskellCT/status/1268334979920146435?s=20
Something odd is going on. In what seems to be a clear set of statements by military and the ex Defence Secretary making much mention of the constitution, there looks to be a bit of a struggle going on.
The important thing to note is that the deployment of regular military versus the National Guard is a whole different ball game. That internal deployment in the event of unrest is one of the key National Guard roles, its not something the US regulars get involved in unless its exceptional and honestly, this is not right now..
Bearing in mind that military style uniforms are part of anti riot kit are worn by other federal agencies at times and that in the DC area you have not just the local police, you have the Parks Police, federal prison personnel, the National Guard and god knows who else, its not exactly clear that regular military personnel have yet been manning the lines.