"The combination of a 3-4 month suspension of elective surgery, reduced availability of operating theatre space and reduced throughput on operating lists will greatly lengthen surgical and diagnostics waiting lists. I suspect this productivity will drop by 50% or more for the duration of the coronavirus, so likely to be for 12-24 months. Within a year patients waiting over a year for treatment in England and Scotland will be common, they are already in Northern Ireland and Wales. Within 2 years we will see some patients waiting 24 months. Non surgical specialities including mental health will be similarly affected, though these get less media attention."
I waited over 2 years for my bi lateral hernia surgery in Wales and long before covid was a issues
But this is Wales NHS under labour
Now gone nationwide. 2 year waiting lists will be the norm shortly, and the delays for priority 2 patients with cancer and heart disease alarming too.
It was 65 weeks from seeing the surgeon to the operation
About 10 years ago it was about 4 months from my first (bowel) cancer diagnosis to operation. And five years later it wasn't much longer from diagnosis of prostate cancer to conclusion of radiotherapyi
All NHS.
That is good news but to be fair mine was all NHS, but under Wales labour which has a terrible record on health
I had the impression that while organisations like Betsi Cadwallader were 'not very good' (ahem) services outside hospital were good.
We come under Betsi Cadwallader and it has been in special measures
However, our GP practice has greatly improved under covid as everything is done by telephone and if necessary a specific appointment time at the surgery where you wait in your car and are called straight into the consultation
I do not see a return to the old way at anytime in the future
I believe GP's as a whole are dissatisfied with telephone conversations and want to return to the 'old ways'. I must say I would have though that for many conditions FaceTime was useful; however, I understand it's not considered 'safe'.
I hope not
They need to expand into zoom and adopt the ways of the future
Certainly the new way at our practice is much better
I dont think its sinister just more pathetic that politicians on £78K a year plus all the rest think they are there to push this sort of empty policy that benefits nobody and potentially divides or makes us look more American
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
Yes, I agree. There is nothing wrong with flying the Union Flag, just a bit Blimpish.
So it is the same for the EU and Saltire flags then
Absolutely.
I’ve never flown a flag in my life from anywhere and I don’t intend to start. To me it’s all a waste of time
And the suggestion that it be compulsory is simply repugnant.
I dont think its sinister just more pathetic that politicians on £78K a year plus all the rest think they are there to push this sort of empty policy that benefits nobody and potentially divides or makes us look more American
I sense we’ll see an upswing in the Green vote. Once COVID is out of the way, climate will return to the agenda (and with some new case study data both about the effects and consequences of suspending economic activity especially travel, that we never expected to get).
There will be young people making the point that they have made sacrifices to protect the older generations from their emergency; now is the time for older people to step up and address the emergency they may face down the line. There will be Corbynites, and some LibDems, looking for a new home.
The problem I have with the UK Greens is that they are an authoritarian rather than a libertarian party, even in the way they (try to) run themselves before you get on to policy. On matters concerning the climate this is perhaps a consequence of their objectives, but I feel they’d have greater appeal if, beyond climate protection, they were stronger on freedom and and liberty. Caroline Lucas often said the right things, but behind her there are a lot of authoritarian socialists.
In the last council election they won a seat here, giving them a potential platform on the island, which after all is supposed to be a target of theirs. But when the new councillor realised that internal Green Party policy is that the local party has the right to direct how their representatives must vote on key issues, he promptly resigned and has sat as an Independent. It will be interesting to see if they do any better this time.
Good morning everyone. Round here the opposition on the District Council is "Green & Independent" and although we haven't by any means got the full list of candidates there are certainly some under that title. Which could turn out to be difficult, given Mr B2's scenario. There are several environmental issues locally which embarrass the ruling Conservatives, both at Distraict and County level. Interestingly I had occasion to speak to a local Cons. councillor the other day on a non-political matter and remarked that I was surprised to find them in; thought they'd have been canvassing and was told that yes they'd been leafletting; did I know if Labour were standing and volunteered that the Greens seemed to be active and it was pity they seemed all over the place on policies! I must admit I bit my tongue instead of saying something about a leader who was all over the place on everything; I had other things to do. It will be interesting to see how things turn out.
From an OKC with a sore arm from his second Pfizer vaccination! Bu who doesn't mind at all!
The other handicap they have is their clueless organisation. As my seat was one in which the LibDems stood down for the Greens in 2019, I thought it would be friendly to offer a bit of help so I turned up at the office they had rented in Newport to volunteer to deliver some leaflets. "I'm happy to deliver some leaflets", I said. "There are some in that box in the corner", the guys says, pointing across the room. Said box contained a mix of two different leaflets, loose and uncounted. "Which one are you delivering at the moment?", I ask. "Take some of each", says the guy, thereby breaking an election 101. "Where do you want me to deliver them?", I ask. He asks where I live. "Anywhere round there will be good, just do where you like". He looks away as if expecting me to go away. "Don't you want to know where I've done?", I ask. So he gives me an email, but he looked sufficiently mystified as to why I would need to report back. So I didn't bother.
There wasn't any election organisation that I could recognise as a LibDem, and I have been in a lot of election HQs both winnable and very unwinnable, so I know what an organised campaign should look like. If they were using a computer it wasn't obvious. There were no maps, no instructions for volunteers, not even any questions asked of a stranger who had basically walked off the street, to check that I was genuinely offering help rather than spying them out and stealing leaflets. They never checked afterwards that I had delivered anything; I had signed in and provided my contact details, but I have never heard from them again.
Bear in mind this was supposedly their number two target in the whole of the UK, into which the national Green Party had apparently directed money and help.
Oddly round my way the local Greens are notably highly organised and work hard between elections as well, certainly better at getting press albeit through aligned green groups than other parties.
Didn't do them any good last time despite quintupling their candidates, but I'll be very interested if the improved organisation helps.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
I don't recall any occasions when the union flag has been burned in UK. Have I missed something?
I sense we’ll see an upswing in the Green vote. Once COVID is out of the way, climate will return to the agenda (and with some new case study data both about the effects and consequences of suspending economic activity especially travel, that we never expected to get).
There will be young people making the point that they have made sacrifices to protect the older generations from their emergency; now is the time for older people to step up and address the emergency they may face down the line. There will be Corbynites, and some LibDems, looking for a new home.
The problem I have with the UK Greens is that they are an authoritarian rather than a libertarian party, even in the way they (try to) run themselves before you get on to policy. On matters concerning the climate this is perhaps a consequence of their objectives, but I feel they’d have greater appeal if, beyond climate protection, they were stronger on freedom and and liberty. Caroline Lucas often said the right things, but behind her there are a lot of authoritarian socialists.
In the last council election they won a seat here, giving them a potential platform on the island, which after all is supposed to be a target of theirs. But when the new councillor realised that internal Green Party policy is that the local party has the right to direct how their representatives must vote on key issues, he promptly resigned and has sat as an Independent. It will be interesting to see if they do any better this time.
Good morning everyone. Round here the opposition on the District Council is "Green & Independent" and although we haven't by any means got the full list of candidates there are certainly some under that title. Which could turn out to be difficult, given Mr B2's scenario. There are several environmental issues locally which embarrass the ruling Conservatives, both at Distraict and County level. Interestingly I had occasion to speak to a local Cons. councillor the other day on a non-political matter and remarked that I was surprised to find them in; thought they'd have been canvassing and was told that yes they'd been leafletting; did I know if Labour were standing and volunteered that the Greens seemed to be active and it was pity they seemed all over the place on policies! I must admit I bit my tongue instead of saying something about a leader who was all over the place on everything; I had other things to do. It will be interesting to see how things turn out.
From an OKC with a sore arm from his second Pfizer vaccination! Bu who doesn't mind at all!
The other handicap they have is their clueless organisation. As my seat was one in which the LibDems stood down for the Greens in 2019, I thought it would be friendly to offer a bit of help so I turned up at the office they had rented in Newport to volunteer to deliver some leaflets. "I'm happy to deliver some leaflets", I said. "There are some in that box in the corner", the guys says, pointing across the room. Said box contained a mix of two different leaflets, loose and uncounted. "Which one are you delivering at the moment?", I ask. "Take some of each", says the guy, thereby breaking an election 101. "Where do you want me to deliver them?", I ask. He asks where I live. "Anywhere round there will be good, just do where you like". He looks away as if expecting me to go away. "Don't you want to know where I've done?", I ask. So he gives me an email, but he looked sufficiently mystified as to why I would need to report back. So I didn't bother.
There wasn't any election organisation that I could recognise as a LibDem, and I have been in a lot of election HQs both winnable and very unwinnable, so I know what an organised campaign should look like. If they were using a computer it wasn't obvious. There were no maps, no instructions for volunteers, not even any questions asked of a stranger who had basically walked off the street, to check that I was genuinely offering help rather than spying them out and stealing leaflets. They never checked afterwards that I had delivered anything; I had signed in and provided my contact details, but I have never heard from them again.
Bear in mind this was supposedly their number two target in the whole of the UK, into which the national Green Party had apparently directed money and help.
They should try and duplicate Lucas' obviously good Brighton operation to Bristol West, Sheffield Central, IoW and Norwich South.
That was really good post by @IanB2. I suspect that Lucas is winning in Brighton despite a lack of a good ground game.
Not really, see my earlier post. The Greens' ground game is phenomenally good in Lucas's own constituency where she is almost worshipped by her many followers who help to get out the vote, but it doesn't extend to the other two Brighton constituencies.
Does anyone know whether the “all other restrictions removed” in June definitely includes face masks?
I’d be keen on a trip to the theatre but I’m not going if I have to sit there in a mask.
Also I don’t understand this stuff about vaccine passport trials for theatres. It’s somewhat incompatible with “all other restrictions” are being removed on 21st June isn’t it?
I also wonder how that policy would go down in NI, with, err, re-education for Catholic separitist teachers. I'm sure the DUP would wank themselves blind over it.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
I agree with you, however, we had a year of being told that people who didn't take a knee etc... were racist so it's inevitable that this is the reaction from right wingers. I don't personally fly any flags but I'm comfortable around people who do. The issue for Labour is that they might be ok with the flag, but they loathe the people who like to fly them and it's extremely obvious to the nation, a nation that has become more patriotic over the last 20 years driven by Labour and Blair in the early parts of that.
When were people saying that those not taking the knee were racist? I recall lots of discussion about how taking the knee wasn’t the right thing to do. Again personally I think it it’s a personal thing, if somebody wants to do it then they can. Or they can’t. We live in a free society and that’s how it should be.
There’s nothing wrong with being patriotic and nor should there be. Labour is making slow progress on that front with Starmer. It is slow though.
What I do not agree with is that being patriotic is one single thing. People who believe that are the kind of people that love to cry out about cancel culture but love to cancel other people for having opinions different to their own.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
Yes, I agree. There is nothing wrong with flying the Union Flag, just a bit Blimpish.
So it is the same for the EU and Saltire flags then
Putting colonialism to one side, the problem unique to the Union Flag is that it was in the recent past used by far right parties with a penchant for violence and intimidation of immigrants, including no doubt the parents and grandparents of the Pimlico yoof.
Now it might be said that one way to dissociate the flag from this past is to fly it everywhere like Americans do in order to normalise it. But then you'd have to stop the Conservative Party using it as a political symbol. Especially when pulling stunts like the Windrush deportations.
Looking at this, Hunt's Twitter account features many photos of him wearing a Union Flag mask. I think such masks should be compulsory not just in schools but throughout The Land.
Agreed - and with matching Union Jack suit or dress (according to sex assigned at birth, obvs).
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
Yes, I agree. There is nothing wrong with flying the Union Flag, just a bit Blimpish.
So it is the same for the EU and Saltire flags then
Neither of those are stained with imperialist slaughter and oppression.
"The combination of a 3-4 month suspension of elective surgery, reduced availability of operating theatre space and reduced throughput on operating lists will greatly lengthen surgical and diagnostics waiting lists. I suspect this productivity will drop by 50% or more for the duration of the coronavirus, so likely to be for 12-24 months. Within a year patients waiting over a year for treatment in England and Scotland will be common, they are already in Northern Ireland and Wales. Within 2 years we will see some patients waiting 24 months. Non surgical specialities including mental health will be similarly affected, though these get less media attention."
I waited over 2 years for my bi lateral hernia surgery in Wales and long before covid was a issues
But this is Wales NHS under labour
Now gone nationwide. 2 year waiting lists will be the norm shortly, and the delays for priority 2 patients with cancer and heart disease alarming too.
It was 65 weeks from seeing the surgeon to the operation
About 10 years ago it was about 4 months from my first (bowel) cancer diagnosis to operation. And five years later it wasn't much longer from diagnosis of prostate cancer to conclusion of radiotherapyi
All NHS.
That is good news but to be fair mine was all NHS, but under Wales labour which has a terrible record on health
I had the impression that while organisations like Betsi Cadwallader were 'not very good' (ahem) services outside hospital were good.
We come under Betsi Cadwallader and it has been in special measures
However, our GP practice has greatly improved under covid as everything is done by telephone and if necessary a specific appointment time at the surgery where you wait in your car and are called straight into the consultation
I do not see a return to the old way at anytime in the future
I believe GP's as a whole are dissatisfied with telephone conversations and want to return to the 'old ways'. I must say I would have though that for many conditions FaceTime was useful; however, I understand it's not considered 'safe'.
I hope not
They need to expand into zoom and adopt the ways of the future
Certainly the new way at our practice is much better
A small example is schools’ parents evenings. No way are any who’ve successfully used scheduled zoom meetings going back to the old chaos. And parents appear to prefer it, too.
I dont think its sinister just more pathetic that politicians on £78K a year plus all the rest think they are there to push this sort of empty policy that benefits nobody and potentially divides or makes us look more American
He certainly comes across as a tosser of the first-water.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
I agree with you, however, we had a year of being told that people who didn't take a knee etc... were racist so it's inevitable that this is the reaction from right wingers. I don't personally fly any flags but I'm comfortable around people who do. The issue for Labour is that they might be ok with the flag, but they loathe the people who like to fly them and it's extremely obvious to the nation, a nation that has become more patriotic over the last 20 years driven by Labour and Blair in the early parts of that.
When were people saying that those not taking the knee were racist? I recall lots of discussion about how taking the knee wasn’t the right thing to do. Again personally I think it it’s a personal thing, if somebody wants to do it then they can. Or they can’t. We live in a free society and that’s how it should be.
There’s nothing wrong with being patriotic and nor should there be. Labour is making slow progress on that front with Starmer. It is slow though.
What I do not agree with is that being patriotic is one single thing. People who believe that are the kind of people that love to cry out about cancel culture but love to cancel other people for having opinions different to their own.
Being patriotic is of course not one single thing, but unless it is meaningless there are actions and opinions that are unpatriotic. And this is where the problem starts and the desire to control (like Tory MPs tweeting) begins.
Patriotism does require (not because of control but because unpatriotism has to be a thing for patriotism to be meaningful) some areas of common ground, and shared loyalty.
A discussion of what they are may be interesting. If patriotism doesn't require any common ground then it isn't going to mean anything much, and the obvious candidates for common ground (queen, flag, free speech, respect for democracy?) become totem poles for extremists.
Looking at this, Hunt's Twitter account features many photos of him wearing a Union Flag mask. I think such masks should be compulsory not just in schools but throughout The Land.
Union flag masks sounds like a good idea but not if marketed as wipe your snot and germs on the flag. Similar objections might be made to patriotic pants.
Interesting piece, as David's usually are! I think there's a vacancy for a left-wing environmental party without substantial public dislike (lots of Tories who would never vote Labour would consider voting Green at council level at least, even though the Greens are now well left of Labour) and in a PR or AV system they'd do well, as we shall shortly see in Scotland and maybe London.
Snags: their commitment to the Compass agenda (progressive parties standing down for each other) ean they're not standing at all next month in lots of places - in my patch I think they're only contesting 1 division out of 8. COP will probably be postponed or cancelled, I gather from various sources. And they really lack a major figurehead - Lucas is the only one who maybe even half the population would have heard of.
I would rephrase this Nick. There’s a vacancy for a centre right environmental party. I’d love to have that choice at the ballot box. A party that embraces Capitalism as an amazing force for the common good, while recognising that Eco101 market failures are most glaring in issues of the environment.
I want a positive Green Party that believes in the power of technology and innovation and recognises that the pursuit of higher economic living standards can and should go hand in hand with improved sustainability, rather than them being mutually exclusive. A party that intervenes to address market failure using the power of the price mechanism, that persuades with optimism rather than fear and public disorder.
I go to Brighton quite a lot. Sorry for anyone that lives there but what a dump. How is a Green run city so full of litter, graffiti and congestion, and so lacking in urban greening / biodiversity? Brighton is just the worst possible advert for the UK Green Party.
Does anyone know whether the “all other restrictions removed” in June definitely includes face masks?
I’d be keen on a trip to the theatre but I’m not going if I have to sit there in a mask.
Also I don’t understand this stuff about vaccine passport trials for theatres. It’s somewhat incompatible with “all other restrictions” are being removed on 21st June isn’t it?
I'd ignore the Government's pronouncements about June 21st. They are hedged around with caveats. We could quite easily find ourselves stuck with masks, social distancing and vaccine passports all at once this Summer.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
I agree with you, however, we had a year of being told that people who didn't take a knee etc... were racist so it's inevitable that this is the reaction from right wingers. I don't personally fly any flags but I'm comfortable around people who do. The issue for Labour is that they might be ok with the flag, but they loathe the people who like to fly them and it's extremely obvious to the nation, a nation that has become more patriotic over the last 20 years driven by Labour and Blair in the early parts of that.
When were people saying that those not taking the knee were racist? I recall lots of discussion about how taking the knee wasn’t the right thing to do. Again personally I think it it’s a personal thing, if somebody wants to do it then they can. Or they can’t. We live in a free society and that’s how it should be.
There’s nothing wrong with being patriotic and nor should there be. Labour is making slow progress on that front with Starmer. It is slow though.
What I do not agree with is that being patriotic is one single thing. People who believe that are the kind of people that love to cry out about cancel culture but love to cancel other people for having opinions different to their own.
Being patriotic is of course not one single thing, but unless it is meaningless there are actions and opinions that are unpatriotic. And this is where the problem starts and the desire to control (like Tory MPs tweeting) begins.
Patriotism does require (not because of control but because unpatriotism has to be a thing for patriotism to be meaningful) some areas of common ground, and shared loyalty.
A discussion of what they are may be interesting. If patriotism doesn't require any common ground then it isn't going to mean anything much, and the obvious candidates for common ground (queen, flag, free speech, respect for democracy?) become totem poles for extremists.
I consider myself patriotic. I don’t support the Royal Family in principle because it would make me a hypocrite. I am not calling for their removal either.
Patriotism is not a binary or simple concept. And anyone saying so is lying.
"The combination of a 3-4 month suspension of elective surgery, reduced availability of operating theatre space and reduced throughput on operating lists will greatly lengthen surgical and diagnostics waiting lists. I suspect this productivity will drop by 50% or more for the duration of the coronavirus, so likely to be for 12-24 months. Within a year patients waiting over a year for treatment in England and Scotland will be common, they are already in Northern Ireland and Wales. Within 2 years we will see some patients waiting 24 months. Non surgical specialities including mental health will be similarly affected, though these get less media attention."
I waited over 2 years for my bi lateral hernia surgery in Wales and long before covid was a issues
But this is Wales NHS under labour
Now gone nationwide. 2 year waiting lists will be the norm shortly, and the delays for priority 2 patients with cancer and heart disease alarming too.
It was 65 weeks from seeing the surgeon to the operation
About 10 years ago it was about 4 months from my first (bowel) cancer diagnosis to operation. And five years later it wasn't much longer from diagnosis of prostate cancer to conclusion of radiotherapyi
All NHS.
That is good news but to be fair mine was all NHS, but under Wales labour which has a terrible record on health
I had the impression that while organisations like Betsi Cadwallader were 'not very good' (ahem) services outside hospital were good.
We come under Betsi Cadwallader and it has been in special measures
However, our GP practice has greatly improved under covid as everything is done by telephone and if necessary a specific appointment time at the surgery where you wait in your car and are called straight into the consultation
I do not see a return to the old way at anytime in the future
I believe GP's as a whole are dissatisfied with telephone conversations and want to return to the 'old ways'. I must say I would have though that for many conditions FaceTime was useful; however, I understand it's not considered 'safe'.
I hope not
They need to expand into zoom and adopt the ways of the future
Certainly the new way at our practice is much better
My sister lives in the Channel Islands. She has complex health needs which require specialist consultants every so often. Those consultants regularly refuse to attend to her unless she flies over to the mainland. In extremis they will use ordinary telephones. According to my niece, her daughter, the NHS management adamantly refuses to consider any form of virtual consultation. My niece, works at quite a senior level for a Government department is 'quite' cross about it!
Does anyone know whether the “all other restrictions removed” in June definitely includes face masks?
I’d be keen on a trip to the theatre but I’m not going if I have to sit there in a mask.
Also I don’t understand this stuff about vaccine passport trials for theatres. It’s somewhat incompatible with “all other restrictions” are being removed on 21st June isn’t it?
I'd ignore the Government's pronouncements about June 21st. They are hedged around with caveats. We could quite easily find ourselves stuck with masks, social distancing and vaccine passports all at once this Summer.
A shame. I’d love to support the UK cultural sector right now by putting my money down, but I’m not going to unless I can be sure of getting a proper experience.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
Yes, I agree. There is nothing wrong with flying the Union Flag, just a bit Blimpish.
So it is the same for the EU and Saltire flags then
Neither of those are stained with imperialist slaughter and oppression.
If you are a Year Zero person about the history of Europe and the history of Scotland it may seem that their flags are great and the Union flag is covered in blood. Good luck with that one. It would be an egregious untruth.
I sense we’ll see an upswing in the Green vote. Once COVID is out of the way, climate will return to the agenda (and with some new case study data both about the effects and consequences of suspending economic activity especially travel, that we never expected to get).
There will be young people making the point that they have made sacrifices to protect the older generations from their emergency; now is the time for older people to step up and address the emergency they may face down the line. There will be Corbynites, and some LibDems, looking for a new home.
The problem I have with the UK Greens is that they are an authoritarian rather than a libertarian party, even in the way they (try to) run themselves before you get on to policy. On matters concerning the climate this is perhaps a consequence of their objectives, but I feel they’d have greater appeal if, beyond climate protection, they were stronger on freedom and and liberty. Caroline Lucas often said the right things, but behind her there are a lot of authoritarian socialists.
In the last council election they won a seat here, giving them a potential platform on the island, which after all is supposed to be a target of theirs. But when the new councillor realised that internal Green Party policy is that the local party has the right to direct how their representatives must vote on key issues, he promptly resigned and has sat as an Independent. It will be interesting to see if they do any better this time.
Good morning everyone. Round here the opposition on the District Council is "Green & Independent" and although we haven't by any means got the full list of candidates there are certainly some under that title. Which could turn out to be difficult, given Mr B2's scenario. There are several environmental issues locally which embarrass the ruling Conservatives, both at Distraict and County level. Interestingly I had occasion to speak to a local Cons. councillor the other day on a non-political matter and remarked that I was surprised to find them in; thought they'd have been canvassing and was told that yes they'd been leafletting; did I know if Labour were standing and volunteered that the Greens seemed to be active and it was pity they seemed all over the place on policies! I must admit I bit my tongue instead of saying something about a leader who was all over the place on everything; I had other things to do. It will be interesting to see how things turn out.
From an OKC with a sore arm from his second Pfizer vaccination! Bu who doesn't mind at all!
The other handicap they have is their clueless organisation. As my seat was one in which the LibDems stood down for the Greens in 2019, I thought it would be friendly to offer a bit of help so I turned up at the office they had rented in Newport to volunteer to deliver some leaflets. "I'm happy to deliver some leaflets", I said. "There are some in that box in the corner", the guys says, pointing across the room. Said box contained a mix of two different leaflets, loose and uncounted. "Which one are you delivering at the moment?", I ask. "Take some of each", says the guy, thereby breaking an election 101. "Where do you want me to deliver them?", I ask. He asks where I live. "Anywhere round there will be good, just do where you like". He looks away as if expecting me to go away. "Don't you want to know where I've done?", I ask. So he gives me an email, but he looked sufficiently mystified as to why I would need to report back. So I didn't bother.
There wasn't any election organisation that I could recognise as a LibDem, and I have been in a lot of election HQs both winnable and very unwinnable, so I know what an organised campaign should look like. If they were using a computer it wasn't obvious. There were no maps, no instructions for volunteers, not even any questions asked of a stranger who had basically walked off the street, to check that I was genuinely offering help rather than spying them out and stealing leaflets. They never checked afterwards that I had delivered anything; I had signed in and provided my contact details, but I have never heard from them again.
Bear in mind this was supposedly their number two target in the whole of the UK, into which the national Green Party had apparently directed money and help.
Oddly round my way the local Greens are notably highly organised and work hard between elections as well, certainly better at getting press albeit through aligned green groups than other parties.
Didn't do them any good last time despite quintupling their candidates, but I'll be very interested if the improved organisation helps.
In my experience it varies enormously dependent on having ONE good organiser who knows what they're doing, hence the different experiences. Plenty of people come out at election time and mill around waiting for direction. Soon after I moved to Surrey there was a council by-election and the Labour effort was very much as Ian describes - I was in a group of about 20 people who leafleted at random. This time we have an agent who is politely spot on - "on date X please deliver N of these leaflets to the following pre-defined walks in our first target ward, here is your map, is that OK? Please call me that evening to confirm you've done them.". I have no idea how much it will help but it's great to feel that you're part of an organisation that actually makes sense.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
Yes, I agree. There is nothing wrong with flying the Union Flag, just a bit Blimpish.
So it is the same for the EU and Saltire flags then
Absolutely.
I’ve never flown a flag in my life from anywhere and I don’t intend to start. To me it’s all a waste of time
And the suggestion that it be compulsory is simply repugnant.
To be fair Boris Johnson doesn't often wrap himself in the Union Flag, but he does wear a hi-viz coat every day whilst out campaigning.
I find flags and flag poles very expensive. To demonstrate our patriotism for Boris Johnson perhaps we could fly our hi-viz vests from the car ariel.
Looking at this, Hunt's Twitter account features many photos of him wearing a Union Flag mask. I think such masks should be compulsory not just in schools but throughout The Land.
Union flag masks sounds like a good idea but not if marketed as wipe your snot and germs on the flag. Similar objections might be made to patriotic pants.
While in the vaccination queue yesterday I saw a lady .... obviously a daughter ..... escorting an elderly gentleman. He was wearing as ordinary mask. She had one which looked like a face, with nose and open mouth. She was at least once asked to put on a mask!
The Greens have 1 big advantage - they are unlucky to get tough interviews questioning where common sense green policies and utopian green policies begin and end given that most of the establishment media buy into a utopian green agenda typified by the BBC 'Environment Expert' Roger Harribin who is such a green activist that he has been campaigning for the coal mine in Cumbria not to be developed whilst sidestepping questions that point out if Britain does not mine the coal itself the coal will need to be imported to keep a steel industry going
Superb article. The business opportunities here are just incalculable and the UK is very, very well placed to take advantage. We need to remain absolutely committed to this even as the virus fades.
We have been massively ahead of the curve for years with the likes of the Sanger (David Willetts’ idea IIRC).
I’m personally sceptical about Nanopore (at least the expected valuation) but it’s an interesting play, while Congenica is cool as well. Obviously there are players like Blueprint (which I really like) and Sophia (not convinced that their model will work ultimately) etc etc
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
Yes, calls to mind re-education camps. I’d have thought Chinese schools have a pretty good record for displaying the flag, if that’s the kind of model he has in mind.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
I agree with you, however, we had a year of being told that people who didn't take a knee etc... were racist so it's inevitable that this is the reaction from right wingers. I don't personally fly any flags but I'm comfortable around people who do. The issue for Labour is that they might be ok with the flag, but they loathe the people who like to fly them and it's extremely obvious to the nation, a nation that has become more patriotic over the last 20 years driven by Labour and Blair in the early parts of that.
When were people saying that those not taking the knee were racist? I recall lots of discussion about how taking the knee wasn’t the right thing to do. Again personally I think it it’s a personal thing, if somebody wants to do it then they can. Or they can’t. We live in a free society and that’s how it should be.
There’s nothing wrong with being patriotic and nor should there be. Labour is making slow progress on that front with Starmer. It is slow though.
What I do not agree with is that being patriotic is one single thing. People who believe that are the kind of people that love to cry out about cancel culture but love to cancel other people for having opinions different to their own.
I believe after some fans booed footballers taking the knee a commentator, perhaps Dion Dublin, said not taking the knee, or not supporting taking the knee, was in itself evidence of racism.
That probably wasnt representative, but the problem is opposing it certainly would have been disapproved of, and someone making the extreme claim that not participating would be racist then looks representstive.
Your last para is spot on. Lots of snowflakes who had tailed against snowflakes too. I also think Cicero is right that playing this easy outrage game will eventually backfire for the Tories as they get into the habit of telling people what to do.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Granted, but its the compulsory bit that will backfire on the Tories. The unrestrained urge to keep telling people what to do, whether flying flags or obeying lock down will lead to a backlash of some force. If the Tories keep bossing people about, they will- pretty soon- be told where to go.
This authoritarian style is something else Johnson has borrowed from Labour.
I agree with you, however, we had a year of being told that people who didn't take a knee etc... were racist so it's inevitable that this is the reaction from right wingers. I don't personally fly any flags but I'm comfortable around people who do. The issue for Labour is that they might be ok with the flag, but they loathe the people who like to fly them and it's extremely obvious to the nation, a nation that has become more patriotic over the last 20 years driven by Labour and Blair in the early parts of that.
When were people saying that those not taking the knee were racist? I recall lots of discussion about how taking the knee wasn’t the right thing to do. Again personally I think it it’s a personal thing, if somebody wants to do it then they can. Or they can’t. We live in a free society and that’s how it should be.
There’s nothing wrong with being patriotic and nor should there be. Labour is making slow progress on that front with Starmer. It is slow though.
What I do not agree with is that being patriotic is one single thing. People who believe that are the kind of people that love to cry out about cancel culture but love to cancel other people for having opinions different to their own.
I agree with CHB - and remember I'm a Corbynist who is on board for pretty much any woke issue you can think of. But I don't believe in winding people up for the sake of it, or in tokenism. Reform should be serious or it's a waste of time, and fussing about flags is just offensive to people who we want to attract.
I expect there IS someone somewhere who thinks that not taking a knee is racist, but it's an extreme rarity. However, if there is one, you can be sure that it'll be prominent in the Mail, even if it's just "former council candidate X" - having a story like that every couple of weeks feeds the sense that MaxPB feels that the left in general are nuts on the subject.
I'm not sure what can be done, except throwing them out of the party each time, which is OK up to a point but morphs into "new Labour split" stories.
"The combination of a 3-4 month suspension of elective surgery, reduced availability of operating theatre space and reduced throughput on operating lists will greatly lengthen surgical and diagnostics waiting lists. I suspect this productivity will drop by 50% or more for the duration of the coronavirus, so likely to be for 12-24 months. Within a year patients waiting over a year for treatment in England and Scotland will be common, they are already in Northern Ireland and Wales. Within 2 years we will see some patients waiting 24 months. Non surgical specialities including mental health will be similarly affected, though these get less media attention."
I waited over 2 years for my bi lateral hernia surgery in Wales and long before covid was a issues
But this is Wales NHS under labour
Now gone nationwide. 2 year waiting lists will be the norm shortly, and the delays for priority 2 patients with cancer and heart disease alarming too.
It was 65 weeks from seeing the surgeon to the operation
About 10 years ago it was about 4 months from my first (bowel) cancer diagnosis to operation. And five years later it wasn't much longer from diagnosis of prostate cancer to conclusion of radiotherapyi
All NHS.
That is good news but to be fair mine was all NHS, but under Wales labour which has a terrible record on health
I had the impression that while organisations like Betsi Cadwallader were 'not very good' (ahem) services outside hospital were good.
We come under Betsi Cadwallader and it has been in special measures
However, our GP practice has greatly improved under covid as everything is done by telephone and if necessary a specific appointment time at the surgery where you wait in your car and are called straight into the consultation
I do not see a return to the old way at anytime in the future
That's all well and good if you have a car to wait in. For those that haven't, medical centres will need to install seating areas under cover if we are not going to be allowed to wait inside. There is often a long time between the arrival of the bus and one's appointment time.
Even standing waiting for a long time is impossible for some. Standing waiting in the cold and rain will kill off quite a few patients or at the least make them a lot sicker.
Unless the GPs prefer to do a lot more home visits for those who aren't up to the rigours involved in going to the surgery, and I can't see that happening.
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
I dont think it would be but in any case it did have inverted commas so the sinister interpretation was clearly intended and benefit of the doubt need not be given.
Classic 'would party X defend this if their opponents suggested it?' Test failing.
To be quite honest the culture war turns me off from politics and anyone in engaging in it just makes me switch off.
Even in London, supposedly the wokest place on Earth according to some, I rarely talk about these kinds of issues and nobody else does either. We’re tired of it all, just let people do what they want
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
I dont think it would be but in any case it did have inverted commas so the sinister interpretation was clearly intended and benefit of the doubt need not be given.
Classic 'would party X defend this if their opponents suggested it?' Test failing.
That’s every post Charles ever makes. If you want the CCHQ answer you have it with him
Mr. B, the moving goalposts of predictions don't exactly inspire confidence.
Remember the global warming enthusiast scientist who reckoned snow in the UK would become a thing of the past, shortly before we had the two coldest and snowiest winters for a century?
If you look at the distribution of warmest years since accurate human recording began, there are too many recently for there not to be underlying warming. Absent of humanity net producing warming gasses - through industry, agriculture and depletion of forest you would EXPECT a steady decrease of temperature over the next 50,000 years or so to a glacial maximum in the current ice age (-6C or so from present). That's what has happened over the last 800,000 years or so approximately 11 times I think. The current rate of change is happening more quickly and we're likely to be up a couple of degrees by 2100 I think which is above the normal temperature peaks and troughs of the last half million years or so.
I can’t support the Greens with their weird opposing of nuclear power
I’m agnostic on nuclear - the (current) costs of new plants, and the enormous decommissioning costs for current technologies are deeply unattractive.
On the other hand, there are several possible new technologies which are promising.
And the example of Germany, which shut down their plants long before the end of their useful life, and built coal fired power plants to replace them, is not to be applauded.
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
I can see that it would look sinister to some. In my innocence I interpreted the inverted commas as highlighting a play on words, meaning he thinks it a bit odd that teachers should need to learn about that. These days perhaps asterisks would have worked better for that purpose.
What he actually meant? I wouldn't like to say, now that others have shared their interpretations.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
Yes, I agree. There is nothing wrong with flying the Union Flag, just a bit Blimpish.
So it is the same for the EU and Saltire flags then
Neither of those are stained with imperialist slaughter and oppression.
Comments like that make me doubt your backstory as an authentic rebel, and instead make me assume you are actually 14 years old.
As the Tories exploit very well, the only thing worse than a childish overlove of a flag is a childish hatred of a flag. Aid them in making those the only two options and see who wins.
Mr. Pulpstar, there has been recent warming, but the short scope of human history in geological terms does make it a limited sample. And we've seen warming during non-industrial periods (Caligula/Claudius' time, Henry VIII's reign).
I do support quite a lot of measures that those who believe such theories advocate, particularly around power generation (excepting wind, which is silly). Technological advancements in this area are no bad thing.
I can’t support the Greens with their weird opposing of nuclear power
When you are the party whose programme is to save the world you have to do several things to be plausible. These include:
What is your plan for big authoritarian countries carbon emissions, and how will you work with them? Basically is the answer to saving the world a technology and science development one, or a version of back to nature? How do you get the two billion or so poorest on your side when you already have so much more than them?
And you need some sane retail strategies, particularly for the non politically minded voter support (which currently they are bad at). Like how do you get rid of the impression that it is fine for posh and celeb greens to go to Angkor Wat and Nepalese nose flute festivals in Amarbhumi on their way to international conferences on reducing air travel but less fine for chavs from Grimville to fly to Magaluf?
Greens are much more class based than they would like to think.
Mr. Pulpstar, there has been recent warming, but the short scope of human history in geological terms does make it a limited sample. And we've seen warming during non-industrial periods (Caligula/Claudius' time, Henry VIII's reign).
I do support quite a lot of measures that those who believe such theories advocate, particularly around power generation (excepting wind, which is silly). Technological advancements in this area are no bad thing.
I just can’t converse seriously with people that deny science.
To be quite honest the culture war turns me off from politics and anyone in engaging in it just makes me switch off.
Even in London, supposedly the wokest place on Earth according to some, I rarely talk about these kinds of issues and nobody else does either. We’re tired of it all, just let people do what they want
Yet Labour keep walking into the garden rake of Woke-traps, doinging themselves in the face like a cartoon clown-cat. You can't blame the Tories for leaving more garden rakes lying around, in that case. It's human nature to torment the humourless Left
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Labour should just ignore this kind of stuff.
As I said above, I’m not in favour of pulling down flags and burning them. I just am against the idea that if you don’t fly a flag or don’t wish to take part, that’s somehow a bad thing.
I agree with you, however, we had a year of being told that people who didn't take a knee etc... were racist so it's inevitable that this is the reaction from right wingers. I don't personally fly any flags but I'm comfortable around people who do. The issue for Labour is that they might be ok with the flag, but they loathe the people who like to fly them and it's extremely obvious to the nation, a nation that has become more patriotic over the last 20 years driven by Labour and Blair in the early parts of that.
When were people saying that those not taking the knee were racist? I recall lots of discussion about how taking the knee wasn’t the right thing to do. Again personally I think it it’s a personal thing, if somebody wants to do it then they can. Or they can’t. We live in a free society and that’s how it should be.
There’s nothing wrong with being patriotic and nor should there be. Labour is making slow progress on that front with Starmer. It is slow though.
What I do not agree with is that being patriotic is one single thing. People who believe that are the kind of people that love to cry out about cancel culture but love to cancel other people for having opinions different to their own.
Re taking the knee, I agree. I would feel uncomfortable doing it as I find overt gestures uncomfortable. I also feel it is just a gesture for some who then do nothing else. I didn't clap for the NHS either but I'm grateful for what they did and I was an NHS volunteer. Still if people want to do it then that is up to them.
Re there being nothing wrong with patriotism I disagree. Mild patriotism is just fine. I of course support England in the rugby and GB in the Olympics, but after that I judge people on what they do and not what country they come from. Even in a sporting match I can flip. I was supporting England in the England/Scotland game, but when it became apparent that Scotland were playing the better rugby I would have been disappointed if England had won against the run of play as that would have been unfair on the Scots
Underdogs, sportsmanship, exciting play vs gamesmanship are all capable of flipping my support.
We disagree on a theory. If you don't want to talk, that's cool. Good luck persuading people by ignoring/patronising them.
I'm still waiting for that Mediterranean climate I was promised. And we're forecast some snow in the next few days, which was meant to be a thing of the past.
We disagree on a theory. If you don't want to talk, that's cool. Good luck persuading people by ignoring/patronising them.
I'm still waiting for that Mediterranean climate I was promised. And we're forecast some snow in the next few days, which was meant to be a thing of the past.
You are literally disagreeing with facts. You’re no better than those that claim the Earth is flat.
I can’t support the Greens with their weird opposing of nuclear power
I’m agnostic on nuclear - the (current) costs of new plants, and the enormous decommissioning costs for current technologies are deeply unattractive.
On the other hand, there are several possible new technologies which are promising.
And the example of Germany, which shut down their plants long before the end of their useful life, and built coal fired power plants to replace them, is not to be applauded.
One of my former colleagues has started working for a fusion energy start up, they're taking aim at aneutronic fusion energy. Obviously he realises they won't achieve it but thinks they will do "a lot of good science" along the way.
Conventional nuclear fission should be shoved into the bin. Keep what we have but put a moratorium on new investment into it. Hydrogen energy storage through water electrolysis with excess power generation strikes me as a better short to medium term bet than nuclear fission energy.
In fact the only argument in favour is to make plutonium for our weapons programme and people's opinions on the value of that is pretty variable.
'Bye folks: off to see one set of grandchildren. First time since September!
There's a ten pound fine they are entitled to collect for every time they are told " Haven't you grown since I last saw you...." For crimes against conversation.
The thing I am most looking forward to about the ending of Covid is there being more than the one topic of conversation: Covid.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Granted, but its the compulsory bit that will backfire on the Tories. The unrestrained urge to keep telling people what to do, whether flying flags or obeying lock down will lead to a backlash of some force. If the Tories keep bossing people about, they will- pretty soon- be told where to go.
This authoritarian style is something else Johnson has borrowed from Labour.
Many Tories must be grinding their teeth.
Piece on Ed Davey in Spectator this weekend. LibDems finally waking up again with the covid passport policy.
Like Mrs Thatcher I've always been a favour of environmentally friendly policies, the problem is the the policies of the English & Welsh Greens are so left wing they make commies look like centrists.
If I lived in Scotland I couldn't vote for the Greens because of the secessionist supporting policies and the fact they generally play the role of Emperor Valerian to the SNP's Shapur.
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
It’s extraordinary the lengths Tories will go to to defend their own. There’s no benefit of the doubt when it’s Labour.
Just undermines your whole point tbh
I’m not sure why you get that from my post? I’m not a fan of compulsion.
I am a fan of correct use of language.
Education without inverted commas is providing information and discussion about the pros and cons of the Union flag and the merits or otherwise of flying it. Education is a good thing.
“Education” implies compulsion and threats. An entirely different thing.
There is nothing in my post that supports what Tom Hunt MP (who is he anyway?) tweeted
I can’t support the Greens with their weird opposing of nuclear power
I’m agnostic on nuclear - the (current) costs of new plants, and the enormous decommissioning costs for current technologies are deeply unattractive.
On the other hand, there are several possible new technologies which are promising.
And the example of Germany, which shut down their plants long before the end of their useful life, and built coal fired power plants to replace them, is not to be applauded.
One of my former colleagues has started working for a fusion energy start up, they're taking aim at aneutronic fusion energy. Obviously he realises they won't achieve it but thinks they will do "a lot of good science" along the way.
Conventional nuclear fission should be shoved into the bin. Keep what we have but put a moratorium on new investment into it. Hydrogen energy storage through water electrolysis with excess power generation strikes me as a better short to medium term bet than nuclear fission energy.
In fact the only argument in favour is to make plutonium for our weapons programme and people's opinions on the value of that is pretty variable.
Does plutonium "go off" like old coleslaw at the back of the fridge? I thought it had a massively long half-life. And it's not like we use it on a regular basis. Why do we need to keep making more of it?
Mr. Pulpstar, there has been recent warming, but the short scope of human history in geological terms does make it a limited sample. And we've seen warming during non-industrial periods (Caligula/Claudius' time, Henry VIII's reign).
I do support quite a lot of measures that those who believe such theories advocate, particularly around power generation (excepting wind, which is silly). Technological advancements in this area are no bad thing.
I just can’t converse seriously with people that deny science.
That is actually a problem for the Green Party, or at least the green movement: their ideological opposition to certain technologies, not just nuclear power but more worryingly GM crops under any circumstances. Their opposition to Golden Rice has been a particularly bad episode and removed any ability to use the “deny science” accusation.
The truth is we all pick the science we like and ignore the bits we don’t when it comes to making political arguments. Even highly respected scientists do it: Albert Einstein and Sir Fred Hoyle are particularly good examples here.
Mr. Pulpstar, there has been recent warming, but the short scope of human history in geological terms does make it a limited sample. And we've seen warming during non-industrial periods (Caligula/Claudius' time, Henry VIII's reign).
I do support quite a lot of measures that those who believe such theories advocate, particularly around power generation (excepting wind, which is silly). Technological advancements in this area are no bad thing.
I just can’t converse seriously with people that deny science.
That is actually a problem for the Green Party, or at least the green movement: their ideological opposition to certain technologies, not just nuclear power but more worryingly GM crops under any circumstances. Their opposition to Golden Rice has been a particularly bad episode and removed any ability to use the “deny science” accusation.
The truth is we all pick the science we like and ignore the bits we don’t when it comes to making political arguments. Even highly respected scientists do it: Albert Einstein and Sir Fred Hoyle are particularly good examples here.
"The combination of a 3-4 month suspension of elective surgery, reduced availability of operating theatre space and reduced throughput on operating lists will greatly lengthen surgical and diagnostics waiting lists. I suspect this productivity will drop by 50% or more for the duration of the coronavirus, so likely to be for 12-24 months. Within a year patients waiting over a year for treatment in England and Scotland will be common, they are already in Northern Ireland and Wales. Within 2 years we will see some patients waiting 24 months. Non surgical specialities including mental health will be similarly affected, though these get less media attention."
I waited over 2 years for my bi lateral hernia surgery in Wales and long before covid was a issues
But this is Wales NHS under labour
Now gone nationwide. 2 year waiting lists will be the norm shortly, and the delays for priority 2 patients with cancer and heart disease alarming too.
It was 65 weeks from seeing the surgeon to the operation
About 10 years ago it was about 4 months from my first (bowel) cancer diagnosis to operation. And five years later it wasn't much longer from diagnosis of prostate cancer to conclusion of radiotherapyi
All NHS.
That is good news but to be fair mine was all NHS, but under Wales labour which has a terrible record on health
I had the impression that while organisations like Betsi Cadwallader were 'not very good' (ahem) services outside hospital were good.
We come under Betsi Cadwallader and it has been in special measures
However, our GP practice has greatly improved under covid as everything is done by telephone and if necessary a specific appointment time at the surgery where you wait in your car and are called straight into the consultation
I do not see a return to the old way at anytime in the future
I believe GP's as a whole are dissatisfied with telephone conversations and want to return to the 'old ways'. I must say I would have though that for many conditions FaceTime was useful; however, I understand it's not considered 'safe'.
I hope not
They need to expand into zoom and adopt the ways of the future
Certainly the new way at our practice is much better
My sister lives in the Channel Islands. She has complex health needs which require specialist consultants every so often. Those consultants regularly refuse to attend to her unless she flies over to the mainland. In extremis they will use ordinary telephones. According to my niece, her daughter, the NHS management adamantly refuses to consider any form of virtual consultation. My niece, works at quite a senior level for a Government department is 'quite' cross about it!
My GP was quite proactive about using virtual consultations - and has commented that some people in the health care system really, really don't like them.
I was a bit startled when she got me to take my mother-in-laws blood pressure for a re-prescription of a medicine. Even allowing for the fact that she was watching via the webcam, it seemed very un... NHS? to let the plebs do stuff.
But it works, and it works for a reason. There is little sympathy amongst the wider public for stroppy teens pulling down the flag and burning it. They don't come across as heroic anti-racism activists so much as anti-social vandals. It's not a good look.
Granted, but its the compulsory bit that will backfire on the Tories. The unrestrained urge to keep telling people what to do, whether flying flags or obeying lock down will lead to a backlash of some force. If the Tories keep bossing people about, they will- pretty soon- be told where to go.
This authoritarian style is something else Johnson has borrowed from Labour.
Many Tories must be grinding their teeth.
If it wasn’t for the Shirley Williams desire to tax and regulate at every opportunity the LibDems could be quite appealing
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
It’s extraordinary the lengths Tories will go to to defend their own. There’s no benefit of the doubt when it’s Labour.
Just undermines your whole point tbh
I’m not sure why you get that from my post? I’m not a fan of compulsion.
I am a fan of correct use of language.
Education without inverted commas is providing information and discussion about the pros and cons of the Union flag and the merits or otherwise of flying it. Education is a good thing.
“Education” implies compulsion and threats. An entirely different thing.
There is nothing in my post that supports what Tom Hunt MP (who is he anyway?) tweeted
The “educated” thing is silly, and unnecessarily menacing, but there really is nothing excessive about asking state schools, in Britain, funded by the British taxpayer, to fly the British flag. It is the correct thing to do
"The combination of a 3-4 month suspension of elective surgery, reduced availability of operating theatre space and reduced throughput on operating lists will greatly lengthen surgical and diagnostics waiting lists. I suspect this productivity will drop by 50% or more for the duration of the coronavirus, so likely to be for 12-24 months. Within a year patients waiting over a year for treatment in England and Scotland will be common, they are already in Northern Ireland and Wales. Within 2 years we will see some patients waiting 24 months. Non surgical specialities including mental health will be similarly affected, though these get less media attention."
I waited over 2 years for my bi lateral hernia surgery in Wales and long before covid was a issues
But this is Wales NHS under labour
Now gone nationwide. 2 year waiting lists will be the norm shortly, and the delays for priority 2 patients with cancer and heart disease alarming too.
It was 65 weeks from seeing the surgeon to the operation
About 10 years ago it was about 4 months from my first (bowel) cancer diagnosis to operation. And five years later it wasn't much longer from diagnosis of prostate cancer to conclusion of radiotherapyi
All NHS.
That is good news but to be fair mine was all NHS, but under Wales labour which has a terrible record on health
I had the impression that while organisations like Betsi Cadwallader were 'not very good' (ahem) services outside hospital were good.
We come under Betsi Cadwallader and it has been in special measures
However, our GP practice has greatly improved under covid as everything is done by telephone and if necessary a specific appointment time at the surgery where you wait in your car and are called straight into the consultation
I do not see a return to the old way at anytime in the future
That's all well and good if you have a car to wait in. For those that haven't, medical centres will need to install seating areas under cover if we are not going to be allowed to wait inside. There is often a long time between the arrival of the bus and one's appointment time.
Even standing waiting for a long time is impossible for some. Standing waiting in the cold and rain will kill off quite a few patients or at the least make them a lot sicker.
Unless the GPs prefer to do a lot more home visits for those who aren't up to the rigours involved in going to the surgery, and I can't see that happening.
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
I dont think it would be but in any case it did have inverted commas so the sinister interpretation was clearly intended and benefit of the doubt need not be given.
Classic 'would party X defend this if their opponents suggested it?' Test failing.
Agreed - it was an unpleasant post. I was just making an observation.
I can’t support the Greens with their weird opposing of nuclear power
I’m agnostic on nuclear - the (current) costs of new plants, and the enormous decommissioning costs for current technologies are deeply unattractive.
On the other hand, there are several possible new technologies which are promising.
And the example of Germany, which shut down their plants long before the end of their useful life, and built coal fired power plants to replace them, is not to be applauded.
I'm watching a video of a walking tour of Marseille from yesterday - crowds of people queuing with no distancing, packed outdoor dining / bars - I thought they were locking down a bit?
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
I dont think it would be but in any case it did have inverted commas so the sinister interpretation was clearly intended and benefit of the doubt need not be given.
Classic 'would party X defend this if their opponents suggested it?' Test failing.
That’s every post Charles ever makes. If you want the CCHQ answer you have it with him
I’ve no association with the Conservative party apart from casting a vote for them from time to time.
If you want to engage with my posts fine. But don’t try to dismiss them by association
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
Yes, calls to mind re-education camps. I’d have thought Chinese schools have a pretty good record for displaying the flag, if that’s the kind of model he has in mind.
Inevitable, given the conversation about "educating" and er.... "waking" people about institutional racism, sexism etc etc
Another irregular verb?
I educate You preach He is imposing fascist thought
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
I dont think it would be but in any case it did have inverted commas so the sinister interpretation was clearly intended and benefit of the doubt need not be given.
Classic 'would party X defend this if their opponents suggested it?' Test failing.
That’s every post Charles ever makes. If you want the CCHQ answer you have it with him
I’ve no association with the Conservative party apart from casting a vote for them from time to time.
If you want to engage with my posts fine. But don’t try to dismiss them by association
If it didn’t have the inverted commas around ‘ “educated” ‘ it would have been fine
I can see that it would look sinister to some. In my innocence I interpreted the inverted commas as highlighting a play on words, meaning he thinks it a bit odd that teachers should need to learn about that. These days perhaps asterisks would have worked better for that purpose.
What he actually meant? I wouldn't like to say, now that others have shared their interpretations.
That’s a fair point although if you are correct is is certainly naive of him
Mr. Pulpstar, there has been recent warming, but the short scope of human history in geological terms does make it a limited sample. And we've seen warming during non-industrial periods (Caligula/Claudius' time, Henry VIII's reign).
I do support quite a lot of measures that those who believe such theories advocate, particularly around power generation (excepting wind, which is silly). Technological advancements in this area are no bad thing.
I just can’t converse seriously with people that deny science.
That is actually a problem for the Green Party, or at least the green movement: their ideological opposition to certain technologies, not just nuclear power but more worryingly GM crops under any circumstances. Their opposition to Golden Rice has been a particularly bad episode and removed any ability to use the “deny science” accusation.
The truth is we all pick the science we like and ignore the bits we don’t when it comes to making political arguments. Even highly respected scientists do it: Albert Einstein and Sir Fred Hoyle are particularly good examples here.
Opposition to GM always struck me as strange
Some of the opposition to GM is opposition to giving control of agriculture to the companies who own the patents on the new GM crop varieties.
Comments
They need to expand into zoom and adopt the ways of the future
Certainly the new way at our practice is much better
Didn't do them any good last time despite quintupling their candidates, but I'll be very interested if the improved organisation helps.
I’d be keen on a trip to the theatre but I’m not going if I have to sit there in a mask.
Also I don’t understand this stuff about vaccine passport trials for theatres. It’s somewhat incompatible with “all other restrictions” are being removed on 21st June isn’t it?
There’s nothing wrong with being patriotic and nor should there be. Labour is making slow progress on that front with Starmer. It is slow though.
What I do not agree with is that being patriotic is one single thing. People who believe that are the kind of people that love to cry out about cancel culture but love to cancel other people for having opinions different to their own.
Now it might be said that one way to dissociate the flag from this past is to fly it everywhere like Americans do in order to normalise it. But then you'd have to stop the Conservative Party using it as a political symbol. Especially when pulling stunts like the Windrush deportations.
No way are any who’ve successfully used scheduled zoom meetings going back to the old chaos. And parents appear to prefer it, too.
And yet these same people complain about being cancelled and how you can’t say or do anything anymore.
A fake culture war is as boring as it is depressing. And sadly Labour seems to keep walking straight into it
Patriotism does require (not because of control but because unpatriotism has to be a thing for patriotism to be meaningful) some areas of common ground, and shared loyalty.
A discussion of what they are may be interesting. If patriotism doesn't require any common ground then it isn't going to mean anything much, and the obvious candidates for common ground (queen, flag, free speech, respect for democracy?) become totem poles for extremists.
I want a positive Green Party that believes in the power of technology and innovation and recognises that the pursuit of higher economic living standards can and should go hand in hand with improved sustainability, rather than them being mutually exclusive. A party that intervenes to address market failure using the power of the price mechanism, that persuades with optimism rather than fear and public disorder.
I go to Brighton quite a lot. Sorry for anyone that lives there but what a dump. How is a Green run city so full of litter, graffiti and congestion, and so lacking in urban greening / biodiversity? Brighton is just the worst possible advert for the UK Green Party.
Patriotism is not a binary or simple concept. And anyone saying so is lying.
My niece, works at quite a senior level for a Government department is 'quite' cross about it!
I find flags and flag poles very expensive. To demonstrate our patriotism for Boris Johnson perhaps we could fly our hi-viz vests from the car ariel.
Flag patriotism, what a load of ...
She was at least once asked to put on a mask!
Just undermines your whole point tbh
I’m personally sceptical about Nanopore (at least the expected valuation) but it’s an interesting play, while Congenica is cool as well. Obviously there are players like Blueprint (which I really like) and Sophia (not convinced that their model will work ultimately) etc etc
That probably wasnt representative, but the problem is opposing it certainly would have been disapproved of, and someone making the extreme claim that not participating would be racist then looks representstive.
Your last para is spot on. Lots of snowflakes who had tailed against snowflakes too. I also think Cicero is right that playing this easy outrage game will eventually backfire for the Tories as they get into the habit of telling people what to do.
Many Tories must be grinding their teeth.
I expect there IS someone somewhere who thinks that not taking a knee is racist, but it's an extreme rarity. However, if there is one, you can be sure that it'll be prominent in the Mail, even if it's just "former council candidate X" - having a story like that every couple of weeks feeds the sense that MaxPB feels that the left in general are nuts on the subject.
I'm not sure what can be done, except throwing them out of the party each time, which is OK up to a point but morphs into "new Labour split" stories.
Even standing waiting for a long time is impossible for some. Standing waiting in the cold and rain will kill off quite a few patients or at the least make them a lot sicker.
Unless the GPs prefer to do a lot more home visits for those who aren't up to the rigours involved in going to the surgery, and I can't see that happening.
Good morning, everyone.
Classic 'would party X defend this if their opponents suggested it?' Test failing.
I’ve never heard anyone on the right mention it outside of a historical context
Even in London, supposedly the wokest place on Earth according to some, I rarely talk about these kinds of issues and nobody else does either. We’re tired of it all, just let people do what they want
The current rate of change is happening more quickly and we're likely to be up a couple of degrees by 2100 I think which is above the normal temperature peaks and troughs of the last half million years or so.
On the other hand, there are several possible new technologies which are promising.
And the example of Germany, which shut down their plants long before the end of their useful life, and built coal fired power plants to replace them, is not to be applauded.
What he actually meant? I wouldn't like to say, now that others have shared their interpretations.
As the Tories exploit very well, the only thing worse than a childish overlove of a flag is a childish hatred of a flag. Aid them in making those the only two options and see who wins.
I do support quite a lot of measures that those who believe such theories advocate, particularly around power generation (excepting wind, which is silly). Technological advancements in this area are no bad thing.
*cognitive dissonance alert*
What is your plan for big authoritarian countries carbon emissions, and how will you work with them?
Basically is the answer to saving the world a technology and science development one, or a version of back to nature?
How do you get the two billion or so poorest on your side when you already have so much more than them?
And you need some sane retail strategies, particularly for the non politically minded voter support (which currently they are bad at). Like how do you get rid of the impression that it is fine for posh and celeb greens to go to Angkor Wat and Nepalese nose flute festivals in Amarbhumi on their way to international conferences on reducing air travel but less fine for chavs from Grimville to fly to Magaluf?
Greens are much more class based than they would like to think.
I am celebrating by getting AN ILLEGAL HAIRCUT
Re there being nothing wrong with patriotism I disagree. Mild patriotism is just fine. I of course support England in the rugby and GB in the Olympics, but after that I judge people on what they do and not what country they come from. Even in a sporting match I can flip. I was supporting England in the England/Scotland game, but when it became apparent that Scotland were playing the better rugby I would have been disappointed if England had won against the run of play as that would have been unfair on the Scots
Underdogs, sportsmanship, exciting play vs gamesmanship are all capable of flipping my support.
We disagree on a theory. If you don't want to talk, that's cool. Good luck persuading people by ignoring/patronising them.
I'm still waiting for that Mediterranean climate I was promised. And we're forecast some snow in the next few days, which was meant to be a thing of the past.
Conventional nuclear fission should be shoved into the bin. Keep what we have but put a moratorium on new investment into it. Hydrogen energy storage through water electrolysis with excess power generation strikes me as a better short to medium term bet than nuclear fission energy.
In fact the only argument in favour is to make plutonium for our weapons programme and people's opinions on the value of that is pretty variable.
The thing I am most looking forward to about the ending of Covid is there being more than the one topic of conversation: Covid.
Enuff!
If I lived in Scotland I couldn't vote for the Greens because of the secessionist supporting policies and the fact they generally play the role of Emperor Valerian to the SNP's Shapur.
I am a fan of correct use of language.
Education without inverted commas is providing information and discussion about the pros and cons of the Union flag and the merits or otherwise of flying it. Education is a good thing.
“Education” implies compulsion and threats. An entirely different thing.
There is nothing in my post that supports what Tom Hunt MP (who is he anyway?) tweeted
Keir Starmer was made for that kind of scenario - the Lib Dems are however still MIA
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1378274825907564545
The truth is we all pick the science we like and ignore the bits we don’t when it comes to making political arguments. Even highly respected scientists do it: Albert Einstein and Sir Fred Hoyle are particularly good examples here.
I was a bit startled when she got me to take my mother-in-laws blood pressure for a re-prescription of a medicine. Even allowing for the fact that she was watching via the webcam, it seemed very un... NHS? to let the plebs do stuff.
If you want to engage with my posts fine. But don’t try to dismiss them by association
Another irregular verb?
I educate
You preach
He is imposing fascist thought
Or am I misremembering?