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Betting opens for the May 6th locals on the BBC’s Projected National Shares for CON and LAB – politi

SystemSystem Posts: 11,002
edited April 2021 in General
imageBetting opens for the May 6th locals on the BBC’s Projected National Shares for CON and LAB – politicalbetting.com

This year’s elections cover those seats last voted on in both 2016 and 2017 because, of course, last year’s elections were postponed because of COVID and so will be substantially larger than usual.

Read the full story here

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Comments

  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    edited April 2021
    MattW said:

    I'm interested to know what difference to rollout pace in April Moderna will make.

    First order 7 million. Second order is 10 million.

    Party time in Wales and Scotland, it would appear. Meanwhile, in England and Northern Ireland, the endless, interminable waiting continues.

    Although, then again, when we do finally get the stuff there'll be very little of it, and it'll just be used to mop up elderly stragglers anyway. So more waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

    Joy.

    EDIT: Except, we know that Northern Ireland has already dropped down an age group to the over 45s, anyway. So it's just us who are left endlessly waiting. What a surprise.

    I think the distribution of these vaccines must be determined with reference to the Barnett Formula. We're not just expected to pay for the Union, we're expected to die for it as well.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958
    That above 38% for the Conservatives does look value. I don't see UKIP/Brexit/REFUK making much of a showing. LibDems are fighting to hold what they have. But more importantly, what is the driver for the Labour vote to come out? Their sparkling leader? Their great team? Their attractive policies? I am expecting a significant movement from Labour --> Can't Be Arsed Party... Turnout isn't going to break any records, on the up side at least.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,080
    Third
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841

    MattW said:

    I'm interested to know what difference to rollout pace in April Moderna will make.

    First order 7 million. Second order is 10 million.

    Party time in Wales and Scotland, it would appear. Meanwhile, in England and Northern Ireland, the endless, interminable waiting continues.

    Although, then again, when we do finally get the stuff there'll be very little of it, and it'll just be used to mop up elderly stragglers anyway. So more waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

    Joy.

    EDIT: Except, we know that Northern Ireland has already dropped down an age group to the over 45s, anyway. So it's just us who are left endlessly waiting. What a surprise.

    I think the distribution of these vaccines must be determined with reference to the Barnett Formula. We're not just expected to pay for the Union, we're expected to die for it as well.
    Wales has used 2nd jabs far too quickly
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,226

    MattW said:

    I'm interested to know what difference to rollout pace in April Moderna will make.

    First order 7 million. Second order is 10 million.

    Party time in Wales and Scotland, it would appear. Meanwhile, in England and Northern Ireland, the endless, interminable waiting continues.

    Although, then again, when we do finally get the stuff there'll be very little of it, and it'll just be used to mop up elderly stragglers anyway. So more waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

    Joy.

    EDIT: Except, we know that Northern Ireland has already dropped down an age group to the over 45s, anyway. So it's just us who are left endlessly waiting. What a surprise.

    I think the distribution of these vaccines must be determined with reference to the Barnett Formula. We're not just expected to pay for the Union, we're expected to die for it as well.
    Morn all.

    Do Wales and Northern Ireland publish granular data on how many from each age group have been vaccinated, as per PHE? Perhaps Cat 6 is proportionally larger in England than the other home nations and it’s not a grand Celtish conspiracy to kill the English.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    That above 38% for the Conservatives does look value. I don't see UKIP/Brexit/REFUK making much of a showing. LibDems are fighting to hold what they have. But more importantly, what is the driver for the Labour vote to come out? Their sparkling leader? Their great team? Their attractive policies? I am expecting a significant movement from Labour --> Can't Be Arsed Party... Turnout isn't going to break any records, on the up side at least.

    The problem is how accurate are the BBC calculations? They always seem to overweight the Lib Dems and minor parties and underweight the Tories and Labour; whether that's because the BBC are inaccurate, or because people vote differently in the locals to how they vote nationally.

    Take 2015 for instance, the Lib Dems got 11% on the same day as they got 7.9% in the actual General Election.

    Or 2017, the Lib Dems got 18%, when at the time they were polling ~10% - and at the subsequent General Election they again got 7.9%
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,080
    Where is everybody this morning?
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    Pulpstar said:

    MattW said:

    I'm interested to know what difference to rollout pace in April Moderna will make.

    First order 7 million. Second order is 10 million.

    Party time in Wales and Scotland, it would appear. Meanwhile, in England and Northern Ireland, the endless, interminable waiting continues.

    Although, then again, when we do finally get the stuff there'll be very little of it, and it'll just be used to mop up elderly stragglers anyway. So more waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

    Joy.

    EDIT: Except, we know that Northern Ireland has already dropped down an age group to the over 45s, anyway. So it's just us who are left endlessly waiting. What a surprise.

    I think the distribution of these vaccines must be determined with reference to the Barnett Formula. We're not just expected to pay for the Union, we're expected to die for it as well.
    Wales has used 2nd jabs far too quickly
    How is it too quick?

    If doses are being "held back" for 2nd jabs, and the prerequisite minimum number of weeks have lapsed, then they may as well be injected into arms.

    There is a point in not doing 2nd jabs yet, if you're using the doses for first instead. But if you're "holding back" the second jabs there's no point stalling on injecting them any longer.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    MattW said:

    Where is everybody this morning?

    Dubai, where after a foggy start, it’s a bright and sunny morning.

    You?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,053

    That above 38% for the Conservatives does look value. I don't see UKIP/Brexit/REFUK making much of a showing. LibDems are fighting to hold what they have. But more importantly, what is the driver for the Labour vote to come out? Their sparkling leader? Their great team? Their attractive policies? I am expecting a significant movement from Labour --> Can't Be Arsed Party... Turnout isn't going to break any records, on the up side at least.

    The problem is how accurate are the BBC calculations? They always seem to overweight the Lib Dems and minor parties and underweight the Tories and Labour; whether that's because the BBC are inaccurate, or because people vote differently in the locals to how they vote nationally.

    Take 2015 for instance, the Lib Dems got 11% on the same day as they got 7.9% in the actual General Election.

    Or 2017, the Lib Dems got 18%, when at the time they were polling ~10% - and at the subsequent General Election they again got 7.9%
    No, it is simply that LD voters vote tactically about 50% of the time in Westminster elections.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,053
    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Where is everybody this morning?

    Dubai, where after a foggy start, it’s a bright and sunny morning.

    You?
    Dusting of snow here in the East Midlands and overcast.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,080
    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Where is everybody this morning?

    Dubai, where after a foggy start, it’s a bright and sunny morning.

    You?
    Hope you haven't been photographing yourself group naked on a balcony....
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    Hackers hit the EU last week.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-06/european-institutions-were-targeted-in-a-cyber-attack-last-week


    A spokesperson for the commission said that a number of EU bodies “experienced an IT security incident in their IT infrastructure.” The spokesperson said forensic analysis of the incident is still in its initial phase and that it’s too early to provide any conclusive information about the nature of the attack.

    “We are working closely with CERT-EU, the Computer Emergency Response Team for all EU institutions, bodies and agencies and the vendor of the affected IT solution,” the spokesperson said. “Thus far, no major information breach was detected.”
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080
    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Where is everybody this morning?

    Dubai, where after a foggy start, it’s a bright and sunny morning.

    You?
    Wow, who'd have thought we have the same weather as Dubai! A tad cooler, perhaps.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734
    edited April 2021
    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080
    I can't remember the last time quite so many of my holdings hit new highs on the same day. Is the market having a last hurrah?
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    MattW said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Where is everybody this morning?

    Dubai, where after a foggy start, it’s a bright and sunny morning.

    You?
    Hope you haven't been photographing yourself group naked on a balcony....
    Nope, that wasn’t me! My wife is Ukranian though, and is laughing at some of her more liberated compatriots.

    Half of Kiev and Moscow are here at the moment, as their own cities get closed down and there’s very few places still open for inbound travel. UAE, Maldives and Seychelles at the the moment, that’s pretty much it.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734
    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Where is everybody this morning?

    Dubai, where after a foggy start, it’s a bright and sunny morning.

    You?
    Hope you haven't been photographing yourself group naked on a balcony....
    Nope, that wasn’t me! My wife is Ukranian though, and is laughing at some of her more liberated compatriots.

    Half of Kiev and Moscow are here at the moment, as their own cities get closed down and there’s very few places still open for inbound travel. UAE, Maldives and Seychelles at the the moment, that’s pretty much it.
    That sounds quite tense given the current situation. I hope they’re in different hotels/apartments.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878
    Anybody else confused by nadhim zahawi yesterday saying moderna would in the 3rd week of April, only to see it arrive in Scotland and Wales this week? Was he referring only to England? AIUI vaccines for the four nations have been procured by the U.K. gov, so we should be getting it all at the same time. Weird.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,612

    Pulpstar said:

    MattW said:

    I'm interested to know what difference to rollout pace in April Moderna will make.

    First order 7 million. Second order is 10 million.

    Party time in Wales and Scotland, it would appear. Meanwhile, in England and Northern Ireland, the endless, interminable waiting continues.

    Although, then again, when we do finally get the stuff there'll be very little of it, and it'll just be used to mop up elderly stragglers anyway. So more waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

    Joy.

    EDIT: Except, we know that Northern Ireland has already dropped down an age group to the over 45s, anyway. So it's just us who are left endlessly waiting. What a surprise.

    I think the distribution of these vaccines must be determined with reference to the Barnett Formula. We're not just expected to pay for the Union, we're expected to die for it as well.
    Wales has used 2nd jabs far too quickly
    How is it too quick?

    If doses are being "held back" for 2nd jabs, and the prerequisite minimum number of weeks have lapsed, then they may as well be injected into arms.

    There is a point in not doing 2nd jabs yet, if you're using the doses for first instead. But if you're "holding back" the second jabs there's no point stalling on injecting them any longer.
    At the risk of pointing out facts -

    image

    No one in the UK is "winning" a "vaccine race" - there are various distortions and local issues. But all in all, the rollout is remarkably even. I would bet that a similar chart for Spain, for example, would show major disparities between regions, given what I have heard of their rollout.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878
    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    Why don’t you say what you really think of them...😄
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    IanB2 said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Where is everybody this morning?

    Dubai, where after a foggy start, it’s a bright and sunny morning.

    You?
    Wow, who'd have thought we have the same weather as Dubai! A tad cooler, perhaps.
    Only a cool 29°C at the moment, just after 11am. Should be heading for nearer 35° by the weekend, as summer starts to bite.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734

    Anybody else confused by nadhim zahawi yesterday saying moderna would in the 3rd week of April, only to see it arrive in Scotland and Wales this week? Was he referring only to England? AIUI vaccines for the four nations have been procured by the U.K. gov, so we should be getting it all at the same time. Weird.

    Well, the third week of April is possibly next week, depending on how you count it. Meanwhile, Wales have been burning through vaccine faster than England so presumably had less left in reserve, and AIUI have been second jabbing more quickly (remember, England are still on second jabs which have to be the same vaccine).

    So it’s not ridiculously far ahead in rolling out moderna, or that surprising, if I’m right.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    Why don’t you say what you really think of them...😄
    Because I’d either be prosecuted for incitement to murder, or worse, get banned from PB.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958
    Sandpit said:

    Hackers hit the EU last week.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-06/european-institutions-were-targeted-in-a-cyber-attack-last-week


    A spokesperson for the commission said that a number of EU bodies “experienced an IT security incident in their IT infrastructure.” The spokesperson said forensic analysis of the incident is still in its initial phase and that it’s too early to provide any conclusive information about the nature of the attack.

    “We are working closely with CERT-EU, the Computer Emergency Response Team for all EU institutions, bodies and agencies and the vendor of the affected IT solution,” the spokesperson said. “Thus far, no major information breach was detected.”

    "We think people were searching for information on our vaccine stocks. But we don't have any......"
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734

    Sandpit said:

    Hackers hit the EU last week.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-06/european-institutions-were-targeted-in-a-cyber-attack-last-week


    A spokesperson for the commission said that a number of EU bodies “experienced an IT security incident in their IT infrastructure.” The spokesperson said forensic analysis of the incident is still in its initial phase and that it’s too early to provide any conclusive information about the nature of the attack.

    “We are working closely with CERT-EU, the Computer Emergency Response Team for all EU institutions, bodies and agencies and the vendor of the affected IT solution,” the spokesperson said. “Thus far, no major information breach was detected.”

    "We think people were searching for information on our vaccine stocks. But we don't have any......"
    You sure it wasn’t the Aussies looking for where the EU had hidden the vaccine supplies they’ve stolen?
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    ydoethur said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Where is everybody this morning?

    Dubai, where after a foggy start, it’s a bright and sunny morning.

    You?
    Hope you haven't been photographing yourself group naked on a balcony....
    Nope, that wasn’t me! My wife is Ukranian though, and is laughing at some of her more liberated compatriots.

    Half of Kiev and Moscow are here at the moment, as their own cities get closed down and there’s very few places still open for inbound travel. UAE, Maldives and Seychelles at the the moment, that’s pretty much it.
    That sounds quite tense given the current situation. I hope they’re in different hotels/apartments.
    The people all speak the same language, and usually keep themselves to themselves when it comes to political stuff. After all, we all look the same naked. ;)
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878
    ydoethur said:

    Anybody else confused by nadhim zahawi yesterday saying moderna would in the 3rd week of April, only to see it arrive in Scotland and Wales this week? Was he referring only to England? AIUI vaccines for the four nations have been procured by the U.K. gov, so we should be getting it all at the same time. Weird.

    Well, the third week of April is possibly next week, depending on how you count it. Meanwhile, Wales have been burning through vaccine faster than England so presumably had less left in reserve, and AIUI have been second jabbing more quickly (remember, England are still on second jabs which have to be the same vaccine).

    So it’s not ridiculously far ahead in rolling out moderna, or that surprising, if I’m right.
    I just think he must have known it was already here. Surely it didn’t take us by surprise, like an unexpected parental visit to the student house on a Saturday morning?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,583
    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    ...whose party will be rewarded handsomely on May 6th by a grateful nation.

    (Perhaps you and I need to polish up the rose tinted specs).
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,053
    IanB2 said:

    I can't remember the last time quite so many of my holdings hit new highs on the same day. Is the market having a last hurrah?

    Yes. All time highs make me a little nervous. Things aren't that great.

    EZJ back to where it was in June 2019 is just crazy. No one expects it to be flying a normal summer schedule.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    ...whose party will be rewarded handsomely on May 6th by a grateful nation.

    (Perhaps you and I need to polish up the rose tinted specs).
    I honestly don’t know who to vote for. If Labour finally grow a spine and do something about this they will get my vote, but there’s no sign of that yet. I’m not voting for the Tories. That leaves the Greens, and I haven’t heard a thing from them on anything recently except a load of anti-environmentalist propaganda about HS2.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734
    Sandpit said:

    ydoethur said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Where is everybody this morning?

    Dubai, where after a foggy start, it’s a bright and sunny morning.

    You?
    Hope you haven't been photographing yourself group naked on a balcony....
    Nope, that wasn’t me! My wife is Ukranian though, and is laughing at some of her more liberated compatriots.

    Half of Kiev and Moscow are here at the moment, as their own cities get closed down and there’s very few places still open for inbound travel. UAE, Maldives and Seychelles at the the moment, that’s pretty much it.
    That sounds quite tense given the current situation. I hope they’re in different hotels/apartments.
    The people all speak the same language, and usually keep themselves to themselves when it comes to political stuff. After all, we all look the same naked. ;)
    So in Dubai, the Russians have started screwing the Ukrainians a bit ahead of schedule?
  • NerysHughesNerysHughes Posts: 3,346
    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    Teachers could get a job in the real world where you have just 28 days holiday a year and your next pay cheque is dependent on whether your firm has picked up any work, so you work hours and hours of unpaid time to ensure your order book is full enough, and where you dont get paid sick pay for a bad back or stress
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    @ydoethur you put it mildly. Kudos for the admirable restraint. Maybe it’s time to consider a change of government.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734
    Jonathan said:

    @ydoethur you put it mildly. Kudos for the admirable restraint. Maybe it’s time to consider a change of government.

    Why thank you.

    But whatever the government, the DfE remains useless. Whoever leads it, they’re still awful.

    I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that what we really need is to dismiss large chunks of the Civil Service and start again.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958

    Pulpstar said:

    MattW said:

    I'm interested to know what difference to rollout pace in April Moderna will make.

    First order 7 million. Second order is 10 million.

    Party time in Wales and Scotland, it would appear. Meanwhile, in England and Northern Ireland, the endless, interminable waiting continues.

    Although, then again, when we do finally get the stuff there'll be very little of it, and it'll just be used to mop up elderly stragglers anyway. So more waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

    Joy.

    EDIT: Except, we know that Northern Ireland has already dropped down an age group to the over 45s, anyway. So it's just us who are left endlessly waiting. What a surprise.

    I think the distribution of these vaccines must be determined with reference to the Barnett Formula. We're not just expected to pay for the Union, we're expected to die for it as well.
    Wales has used 2nd jabs far too quickly
    How is it too quick?

    If doses are being "held back" for 2nd jabs, and the prerequisite minimum number of weeks have lapsed, then they may as well be injected into arms.

    There is a point in not doing 2nd jabs yet, if you're using the doses for first instead. But if you're "holding back" the second jabs there's no point stalling on injecting them any longer.
    At the risk of pointing out facts -

    image

    No one in the UK is "winning" a "vaccine race" - there are various distortions and local issues. But all in all, the rollout is remarkably even. I would bet that a similar chart for Spain, for example, would show major disparities between regions, given what I have heard of their rollout.
    The Spanish region racing ahead would surely be the one with most priests and high-ranking military?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,583
    ydoethur said:

    Anybody else confused by nadhim zahawi yesterday saying moderna would in the 3rd week of April, only to see it arrive in Scotland and Wales this week? Was he referring only to England? AIUI vaccines for the four nations have been procured by the U.K. gov, so we should be getting it all at the same time. Weird.

    Well, the third week of April is possibly next week, depending on how you count it. Meanwhile, Wales have been burning through vaccine faster than England so presumably had less left in reserve, and AIUI have been second jabbing more quickly (remember, England are still on second jabs which have to be the same vaccine).

    So it’s not ridiculously far ahead in rolling out moderna, or that surprising, if I’m right.
    If Andrew RT Davies reads your post, he will undoubtedly be on tonight's Wales Today demanding an inquiry as to why Wales have been burning vaccines.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    Jonathan said:

    @ydoethur you put it mildly. Kudos for the admirable restraint. Maybe it’s time to consider a change of government.

    Whoever you vote for, the government always get in.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    What are you planning to do once you leave?
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841

    Pulpstar said:

    MattW said:

    I'm interested to know what difference to rollout pace in April Moderna will make.

    First order 7 million. Second order is 10 million.

    Party time in Wales and Scotland, it would appear. Meanwhile, in England and Northern Ireland, the endless, interminable waiting continues.

    Although, then again, when we do finally get the stuff there'll be very little of it, and it'll just be used to mop up elderly stragglers anyway. So more waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

    Joy.

    EDIT: Except, we know that Northern Ireland has already dropped down an age group to the over 45s, anyway. So it's just us who are left endlessly waiting. What a surprise.

    I think the distribution of these vaccines must be determined with reference to the Barnett Formula. We're not just expected to pay for the Union, we're expected to die for it as well.
    Wales has used 2nd jabs far too quickly
    How is it too quick?

    If doses are being "held back" for 2nd jabs, and the prerequisite minimum number of weeks have lapsed, then they may as well be injected into arms.

    There is a point in not doing 2nd jabs yet, if you're using the doses for first instead. But if you're "holding back" the second jabs there's no point stalling on injecting them any longer.
    At the risk of pointing out facts -

    image

    No one in the UK is "winning" a "vaccine race" - there are various distortions and local issues. But all in all, the rollout is remarkably even. I would bet that a similar chart for Spain, for example, would show major disparities between regions, given what I have heard of their rollout.
    The Spanish region racing ahead would surely be the one with most priests and high-ranking military?
    Well knights and bishops do get to move around the board more freely than the pawns...
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,583

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    Teachers could get a job in the real world where you have just 28 days holiday a year and your next pay cheque is dependent on whether your firm has picked up any work, so you work hours and hours of unpaid time to ensure your order book is full enough, and where you dont get paid sick pay for a bad back or stress
    And who should come along but Nerys to wheel out all the "lazy teacher" stereotypes.

    I work in the "real world" and teaching other people's horrible spawn and spending evenings marking barely readable homework is a lot more depressing than anything I do.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    TBH I don't think my grandson and granddaughter-in-law are proposing to quite teaching any time soon.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    ydoethur said:


    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    ?! Must be a generous retirement package compared to the private sector.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734

    ydoethur said:

    Anybody else confused by nadhim zahawi yesterday saying moderna would in the 3rd week of April, only to see it arrive in Scotland and Wales this week? Was he referring only to England? AIUI vaccines for the four nations have been procured by the U.K. gov, so we should be getting it all at the same time. Weird.

    Well, the third week of April is possibly next week, depending on how you count it. Meanwhile, Wales have been burning through vaccine faster than England so presumably had less left in reserve, and AIUI have been second jabbing more quickly (remember, England are still on second jabs which have to be the same vaccine).

    So it’s not ridiculously far ahead in rolling out moderna, or that surprising, if I’m right.
    If Andrew RT Davies reads your post, he will undoubtedly be on tonight's Wales Today demanding an inquiry as to why Wales have been burning vaccines.
    Will that be the first time he’s ever been fired up about something?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,612

    Pulpstar said:

    MattW said:

    I'm interested to know what difference to rollout pace in April Moderna will make.

    First order 7 million. Second order is 10 million.

    Party time in Wales and Scotland, it would appear. Meanwhile, in England and Northern Ireland, the endless, interminable waiting continues.

    Although, then again, when we do finally get the stuff there'll be very little of it, and it'll just be used to mop up elderly stragglers anyway. So more waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

    Joy.

    EDIT: Except, we know that Northern Ireland has already dropped down an age group to the over 45s, anyway. So it's just us who are left endlessly waiting. What a surprise.

    I think the distribution of these vaccines must be determined with reference to the Barnett Formula. We're not just expected to pay for the Union, we're expected to die for it as well.
    Wales has used 2nd jabs far too quickly
    How is it too quick?

    If doses are being "held back" for 2nd jabs, and the prerequisite minimum number of weeks have lapsed, then they may as well be injected into arms.

    There is a point in not doing 2nd jabs yet, if you're using the doses for first instead. But if you're "holding back" the second jabs there's no point stalling on injecting them any longer.
    At the risk of pointing out facts -

    image

    No one in the UK is "winning" a "vaccine race" - there are various distortions and local issues. But all in all, the rollout is remarkably even. I would bet that a similar chart for Spain, for example, would show major disparities between regions, given what I have heard of their rollout.
    The Spanish region racing ahead would surely be the one with most priests and high-ranking military?
    Or consider Peru - where the politicians bought the Chinese vaccine at an errrrrr.... interesting price. And not enough for the country. But enough for them, their friends and families.

    As a piece of incompetent, fucked-in-the-head corruption.... no real attempt to hide it either....
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,583
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    ...whose party will be rewarded handsomely on May 6th by a grateful nation.

    (Perhaps you and I need to polish up the rose tinted specs).
    I honestly don’t know who to vote for. If Labour finally grow a spine and do something about this they will get my vote, but there’s no sign of that yet. I’m not voting for the Tories. That leaves the Greens, and I haven’t heard a thing from them on anything recently except a load of anti-environmentalist propaganda about HS2.
    For anyone outraged at the behaviour of the current Conservative Party, a vote for anyone other than the main Conservative challenger is an abstention. It is a tacit half vote for the Tories.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,612
    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    MattW said:

    I'm interested to know what difference to rollout pace in April Moderna will make.

    First order 7 million. Second order is 10 million.

    Party time in Wales and Scotland, it would appear. Meanwhile, in England and Northern Ireland, the endless, interminable waiting continues.

    Although, then again, when we do finally get the stuff there'll be very little of it, and it'll just be used to mop up elderly stragglers anyway. So more waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

    Joy.

    EDIT: Except, we know that Northern Ireland has already dropped down an age group to the over 45s, anyway. So it's just us who are left endlessly waiting. What a surprise.

    I think the distribution of these vaccines must be determined with reference to the Barnett Formula. We're not just expected to pay for the Union, we're expected to die for it as well.
    Wales has used 2nd jabs far too quickly
    How is it too quick?

    If doses are being "held back" for 2nd jabs, and the prerequisite minimum number of weeks have lapsed, then they may as well be injected into arms.

    There is a point in not doing 2nd jabs yet, if you're using the doses for first instead. But if you're "holding back" the second jabs there's no point stalling on injecting them any longer.
    At the risk of pointing out facts -

    image

    No one in the UK is "winning" a "vaccine race" - there are various distortions and local issues. But all in all, the rollout is remarkably even. I would bet that a similar chart for Spain, for example, would show major disparities between regions, given what I have heard of their rollout.
    The Spanish region racing ahead would surely be the one with most priests and high-ranking military?
    Well knights and bishops do get to move around the board more freely than the pawns...
    Surely the Queen should get there first, based on mobility?
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    TBH I don't think my grandson and granddaughter-in-law are proposing to quite teaching any time soon.
    Are you saying that @ydoethur is not telling the truth? He said "I mean every" teacher.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 113,957
    edited April 2021
    Jesus Fecking Christ.

    https://twitter.com/Jim_Edwards/status/1379701541410639874

    Have we discussed this?

    Is there a word for this man's behaviour in trying to get a pardon?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,612

    Bright and sunny here in N Essex, but cold (1 degC, according to the app on my phone...... how does it know what it is outside?) The bird-bath is frozen, to the disgust of the blackbirds.

    A pair of blue-tits have settled down in our bird box and are building their nest. There's a camera in it, connected to our TV, so every so often we turn off daytime TV and watch for nest-building activity. Although it's only spasmodic, it's often more exciting!

    You know that you can get activity sensing video recording software? - so you can record the motion in the bird box and leave out the nothing happens stuff.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,762

    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
    I am assuming that I do exist because they were able to phone me. And I can post on PB as well. I don't have enough imagination to make all this up.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734
    Pulpstar said:

    ydoethur said:


    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    ?! Must be a generous retirement package compared to the private sector.
    Yes. Those who reach 55 before the end of the current financial year still have effectively final salary pension schemes that can be taken at that moment.

    That’s one reason why anyone who cares about sound money should be worried about this. That’s a big chunk of money that needs to be found somewhere.

    Of course, there is always hope things will change. This is the worst time of year for lots of reasons, and generally things pick up as we go through the summer. But the problem is I don’t think Covid caused a single issue in education that wasn’t already there apart from the lockdown. It didn’t cause the chaos in the exam system, or the corruption in the DfE, or the excessive workload, or the disconnect between what people perceive and the reality. It’s made them all worse, of course, but they were all present before.

    What’s bothering me and almost every other teacher (modified in light of @OldKingCole comment) is that therefore, when/if Covid disappears these issues will not disappear with it.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
    I am assuming that I do exist because they were able to phone me. And I can post on PB as well. I don't have enough imagination to make all this up.
    Wait until you wake up from this dream and find that you are in fact a Cornish flint knapper and that PB doesn't exist.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,569
    The Emergent Biosolutions plant in the US which mixed ingredients for the AZN and Janssen vaccines has a long history of screwups.

    U.S. Bet Big on Covid Vaccine Manufacturer Even as Problems Mounted
    The Baltimore plant that recently had to scrap up to 15 million ruined doses had flouted rules and downplayed errors, according to internal audits, ex-employees and clients. Other doses had to be scrapped last year.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/06/us/covid-vaccines-emergent-biosolutions.html
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    ...whose party will be rewarded handsomely on May 6th by a grateful nation.

    (Perhaps you and I need to polish up the rose tinted specs).
    I honestly don’t know who to vote for. If Labour finally grow a spine and do something about this they will get my vote, but there’s no sign of that yet. I’m not voting for the Tories. That leaves the Greens, and I haven’t heard a thing from them on anything recently except a load of anti-environmentalist propaganda about HS2.
    For anyone outraged at the behaviour of the current Conservative Party, a vote for anyone other than the main Conservative challenger is an abstention. It is a tacit half vote for the Tories.
    That doesn’t help. My ward is a safe Labour ward.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,038
    "Bad enough that Covid killed so many of our people; must we let it destroy who we are as well?"


    Our vaccination freedom has become a betrayal
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/vaccination-freedom-has-become-betrayal/


    Pearson reviews the 8,000 odd comments to Gove's request for thoughts on the vaxport. And gives the minister both barrels in response. Unrestrained anger at Johnson and co.'s betrayal.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,762
    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
    I am assuming that I do exist because they were able to phone me. And I can post on PB as well. I don't have enough imagination to make all this up.
    Wait until you wake up from this dream and find that you are in fact a Cornish flint knapper and that PB doesn't exist.
    Arrgh! I think I'd have to invent it. In all seriousness the banter on here has been a great help these last few months.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    ydoethur said:

    Pulpstar said:

    ydoethur said:


    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    ?! Must be a generous retirement package compared to the private sector.
    Yes. Those who reach 55 before the end of the current financial year still have effectively final salary pension schemes that can be taken at that moment.

    That’s one reason why anyone who cares about sound money should be worried about this. That’s a big chunk of money that needs to be found somewhere.

    Of course, there is always hope things will change. This is the worst time of year for lots of reasons, and generally things pick up as we go through the summer. But the problem is I don’t think Covid caused a single issue in education that wasn’t already there apart from the lockdown. It didn’t cause the chaos in the exam system, or the corruption in the DfE, or the excessive workload, or the disconnect between what people perceive and the reality. It’s made them all worse, of course, but they were all present before.

    What’s bothering me and almost every other teacher (modified in light of @OldKingCole comment) is that therefore, when/if Covid disappears these issues will not disappear with it.
    Actually chatting to a friend, 52 he mentioned his colleagues 18 months older than him had final salary schemes (Private sector). I think that's the boomer/gen X divider - final salary.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    .
    ydoethur said:

    And I think you will find we don’t get bank holidays off either. So up your 28 to 36.

    Point of order: Without wanting to join Nervys unjustified attacks, why would you up from 28 to 36?

    The legal minimum is 28 including bank holidays. Not 28 plus bank holidays. So it is either 20 + 8, or if you're required to work bank holidays (and I have for a long time) then you get 28 over the year in lieu of bank holidays.

    The idea its 28 + bank is a strange myth I see from many people. Don't know where that comes from.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,734
    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
    I am assuming that I do exist because they were able to phone me. And I can post on PB as well. I don't have enough imagination to make all this up.
    Wait until you wake up from this dream and find that you are in fact a Cornish flint knapper and that PB doesn't exist.
    Arrgh! I think I'd have to invent it. In all seriousness the banter on here has been a great help these last few months.
    Are you saying you will never be caught knapping?

    Anyway, I have more work to do. Have a good morning.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    ...whose party will be rewarded handsomely on May 6th by a grateful nation.

    (Perhaps you and I need to polish up the rose tinted specs).
    I honestly don’t know who to vote for. If Labour finally grow a spine and do something about this they will get my vote, but there’s no sign of that yet. I’m not voting for the Tories. That leaves the Greens, and I haven’t heard a thing from them on anything recently except a load of anti-environmentalist propaganda about HS2.
    For anyone outraged at the behaviour of the current Conservative Party, a vote for anyone other than the main Conservative challenger is an abstention. It is a tacit half vote for the Tories.
    If only the main Conservative challenger showed much interest in challenging the Conservatives' worst policies rather than ithering then voting for them to have ever more powers. The real opposition is being done by the minor opposition parties while spineless Starmer vacillates. "I'm confused, I thought he was Labour ..."
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
    I am assuming that I do exist because they were able to phone me. And I can post on PB as well. I don't have enough imagination to make all this up.
    Wait until you wake up from this dream and find that you are in fact a Cornish flint knapper and that PB doesn't exist.
    Arrgh! I think I'd have to invent it. In all seriousness the banter on here has been a great help these last few months.
    I was reading the last few comments on the previous thread. Many PB posters (a robust bunch or we wouldn't be on here) suffering from anxiety and depression. This is horrendous.

    The disease is horrendous also but the govt responding to the current situation - which means some, all, or none of it may be justified - has broken a large number of people such that when we are told we will be allowed to sit on a park bench at some unspecified time in the future, there are tears of joy and gratitude. Extraordinary.

    And it has been clapped (literally) and rewarded in the polls the whole time.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Alex Salmond can GET IN THE FUCKING SEA

    https://twitter.com/davieclegg/status/1379703727070797824
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
    I am assuming that I do exist because they were able to phone me. And I can post on PB as well. I don't have enough imagination to make all this up.
    Wait until you wake up from this dream and find that you are in fact a Cornish flint knapper and that PB doesn't exist.
    Arrgh! I think I'd have to invent it. In all seriousness the banter on here has been a great help these last few months.
    Oh and, talking of things being a great help, I discovered Black Mirror in lockdown. A more dystopian, nihilistic, depressing show I think you would be pushed to find. But pure brilliance also.

    Not 100% sure I would recommend it right now - probably Schitt's Creek is the better choice under the circs - but it is fantastic drama.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,612
    ydoethur said:

    Jonathan said:

    @ydoethur you put it mildly. Kudos for the admirable restraint. Maybe it’s time to consider a change of government.

    Why thank you.

    But whatever the government, the DfE remains useless. Whoever leads it, they’re still awful.

    I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that what we really need is to dismiss large chunks of the Civil Service and start again.
    In every large organisation of which I am aware, either they have periodic clearcuts, with mass firings, or they gradually silt up until they... stop.

    Read the Mitrokhin Archive - the KGB (well, it's predecessors) went from a dynamic start up of a few hundred enthused people to a global giant. At the start they were out spying and murdering their way round the world with wild energy.

    They certainly had some organisational clearouts... but this ended after Stalin died....

    By the 1970s they had 100ks of employees, and meetings about the biscuits for the meetings to discuss the meeting about the budget for the a guy to ask some local criminals how much they would charge to beat up Rudolf Nureyev.

    I did wonder how much the Salisbury Poisonings were part of an attempt to revitalise an organisation that was totally moribund. Some bold manager - "Open plan office, pool table, free soda. Flat organisation. When we want to murder someone - *we* get it done!"
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,263

    "Bad enough that Covid killed so many of our people; must we let it destroy who we are as well?"


    Our vaccination freedom has become a betrayal
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/vaccination-freedom-has-become-betrayal/


    Pearson reviews the 8,000 odd comments to Gove's request for thoughts on the vaxport. And gives the minister both barrels in response. Unrestrained anger at Johnson and co.'s betrayal.

    I think it's quite offensive to effectively compare 120,000 deaths with possibly being required to carry vaccine passports for some forms of recreation. The latter may or may not be a good idea. But they are not remotely comparable.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614

    "Bad enough that Covid killed so many of our people; must we let it destroy who we are as well?"


    Our vaccination freedom has become a betrayal
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/vaccination-freedom-has-become-betrayal/


    Pearson reviews the 8,000 odd comments to Gove's request for thoughts on the vaxport. And gives the minister both barrels in response. Unrestrained anger at Johnson and co.'s betrayal.

    She makes good points, but, as with Julia Hartley-Brewer, will be placed on ignore by ministers if they don’t tone down the hyperbole and try to be constructive.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950

    ydoethur said:

    Jonathan said:

    @ydoethur you put it mildly. Kudos for the admirable restraint. Maybe it’s time to consider a change of government.

    Why thank you.

    But whatever the government, the DfE remains useless. Whoever leads it, they’re still awful.

    I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that what we really need is to dismiss large chunks of the Civil Service and start again.
    In every large organisation of which I am aware, either they have periodic clearcuts, with mass firings, or they gradually silt up until they... stop.

    Read the Mitrokhin Archive - the KGB (well, it's predecessors) went from a dynamic start up of a few hundred enthused people to a global giant. At the start they were out spying and murdering their way round the world with wild energy.

    They certainly had some organisational clearouts... but this ended after Stalin died....

    By the 1970s they had 100ks of employees, and meetings about the biscuits for the meetings to discuss the meeting about the budget for the a guy to ask some local criminals how much they would charge to beat up Rudolf Nureyev.

    I did wonder how much the Salisbury Poisonings were part of an attempt to revitalise an organisation that was totally moribund. Some bold manager - "Open plan office, pool table, free soda. Flat organisation. When we want to murder someone - *we* get it done!"
    With presumably the same system in force for teachers? The new ones, that is, because every current teacher (almost every current teacher) is about to quit.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,762
    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
    I am assuming that I do exist because they were able to phone me. And I can post on PB as well. I don't have enough imagination to make all this up.
    Wait until you wake up from this dream and find that you are in fact a Cornish flint knapper and that PB doesn't exist.
    Arrgh! I think I'd have to invent it. In all seriousness the banter on here has been a great help these last few months.
    I was reading the last few comments on the previous thread. Many PB posters (a robust bunch or we wouldn't be on here) suffering from anxiety and depression. This is horrendous.

    The disease is horrendous also but the govt responding to the current situation - which means some, all, or none of it may be justified - has broken a large number of people such that when we are told we will be allowed to sit on a park bench at some unspecified time in the future, there are tears of joy and gratitude. Extraordinary.

    And it has been clapped (literally) and rewarded in the polls the whole time.
    I'll go back to them and have a read but I completely recognise what you are talking about. I had a serious discussion with my wife on our walk on Sunday about whether I needed to get anti-depressants. I have never felt like this before. Life has just had all the joy sucked out of it.

    I don't particularly blame the government although the Scottish government has been even more repressive than Westminster. We really don't know how to handle this and it has been a painful learning curve. There are definite trade offs between the risk of the disease and the risks of depression and isolation. I am not sure we got it right.
  • ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    Why don’t you say what you really think of them...😄
    Because I’d either be prosecuted for incitement to murder, or worse, get banned from PB.
    We cannot have you banned but we do understand the nuance of your comments and with Williamson, it sounds moderate
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,612

    .

    ydoethur said:

    And I think you will find we don’t get bank holidays off either. So up your 28 to 36.

    Point of order: Without wanting to join Nervys unjustified attacks, why would you up from 28 to 36?

    The legal minimum is 28 including bank holidays. Not 28 plus bank holidays. So it is either 20 + 8, or if you're required to work bank holidays (and I have for a long time) then you get 28 over the year in lieu of bank holidays.

    The idea its 28 + bank is a strange myth I see from many people. Don't know where that comes from.
    It's part of the standard package used by high end white collar employers - and quite a lot of people in such jobs have no idea what the low end looks like.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,583
    Fishing said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    ...whose party will be rewarded handsomely on May 6th by a grateful nation.

    (Perhaps you and I need to polish up the rose tinted specs).
    I honestly don’t know who to vote for. If Labour finally grow a spine and do something about this they will get my vote, but there’s no sign of that yet. I’m not voting for the Tories. That leaves the Greens, and I haven’t heard a thing from them on anything recently except a load of anti-environmentalist propaganda about HS2.
    For anyone outraged at the behaviour of the current Conservative Party, a vote for anyone other than the main Conservative challenger is an abstention. It is a tacit half vote for the Tories.
    If only the main Conservative challenger showed much interest in challenging the Conservatives' worst policies rather than ithering then voting for them to have ever more powers. The real opposition is being done by the minor opposition parties while spineless Starmer vacillates. "I'm confused, I thought he was Labour ..."
    You have missed my point. If the anti Conservative vote is best utilised by a minor party in the locals so be it. Its all about making the Conservative vote less efficient.

    I can't say I am enthused by Starmer, but the "Mr Thickie, useless Starmer" theme trotted out on here each day is rather tiresome.
  • Alistair said:

    Alex Salmond can GET IN THE FUCKING SEA

    https://twitter.com/davieclegg/status/1379703727070797824

    He's just a pound shop Arthur Donaldson.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,263

    That above 38% for the Conservatives does look value. I don't see UKIP/Brexit/REFUK making much of a showing. LibDems are fighting to hold what they have. But more importantly, what is the driver for the Labour vote to come out? Their sparkling leader? Their great team? Their attractive policies? I am expecting a significant movement from Labour --> Can't Be Arsed Party... Turnout isn't going to break any records, on the up side at least.

    Quite possibly. I do expect the Tories to win Hartlepool, too, and regular contributors will know i'm not one to play the negative expectations game.

    I'm curious whether our right-of-centre contributors who aren't active Conservatives think this a good thing. Does Johnson need a ringing vote of confidence, or would it be better to encourage a note of caution?
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195
    Alistair said:

    Alex Salmond can GET IN THE FUCKING SEA

    https://twitter.com/davieclegg/status/1379703727070797824

    Stick him in the same pile of muppets as Corbyn then
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,583
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    ...whose party will be rewarded handsomely on May 6th by a grateful nation.

    (Perhaps you and I need to polish up the rose tinted specs).
    I honestly don’t know who to vote for. If Labour finally grow a spine and do something about this they will get my vote, but there’s no sign of that yet. I’m not voting for the Tories. That leaves the Greens, and I haven’t heard a thing from them on anything recently except a load of anti-environmentalist propaganda about HS2.
    For anyone outraged at the behaviour of the current Conservative Party, a vote for anyone other than the main Conservative challenger is an abstention. It is a tacit half vote for the Tories.
    That doesn’t help. My ward is a safe Labour ward.
    If all your ward voters have such a casual attitude to the blue peril, before you know it, you will be represented on Cannock Chase DC by an Alun Cairns clone.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
    I am assuming that I do exist because they were able to phone me. And I can post on PB as well. I don't have enough imagination to make all this up.
    Wait until you wake up from this dream and find that you are in fact a Cornish flint knapper and that PB doesn't exist.
    Arrgh! I think I'd have to invent it. In all seriousness the banter on here has been a great help these last few months.
    I was reading the last few comments on the previous thread. Many PB posters (a robust bunch or we wouldn't be on here) suffering from anxiety and depression. This is horrendous.

    The disease is horrendous also but the govt responding to the current situation - which means some, all, or none of it may be justified - has broken a large number of people such that when we are told we will be allowed to sit on a park bench at some unspecified time in the future, there are tears of joy and gratitude. Extraordinary.

    And it has been clapped (literally) and rewarded in the polls the whole time.
    I'll go back to them and have a read but I completely recognise what you are talking about. I had a serious discussion with my wife on our walk on Sunday about whether I needed to get anti-depressants. I have never felt like this before. Life has just had all the joy sucked out of it.

    I don't particularly blame the government although the Scottish government has been even more repressive than Westminster. We really don't know how to handle this and it has been a painful learning curve. There are definite trade offs between the risk of the disease and the risks of depression and isolation. I am not sure we got it right.
    I wish you all the best - you are having the jab which is great news (that you are sure you exist can also in these times be reassuring) and we really are on the run-in.

    I think and hope, come June 21st, that we are going to get on and live with this and I'm sure there are enough people in or working with govt to realise that.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    edited April 2021
    The latest Yougov today has the Conservatives on 42%, Labour on 34% and the LDs on 7%.
    https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1379704961462849536?s=20

    The Conservatives are therefore up 4% on the 38% they got in the County council elections last time they were up in 2017, Labour are up 7% on the 27% they got in the last County elections and the LDs are down 11% on the 18% they got then. So on that basis we should see a few Labour gains from the Conservatives in the County elections and both the Conservatives and Labour should make gains from the LDs (albeit the LDs tend to poll a bit better locally than nationally).

    When the district council seats up this year were last up in 2016 however the Conservatives only got 30%, so they are now up 12% on that total, Labour are also up 3% on the 31% they got in 2016. The LDs however are again down 8% on their share then. So the district elections in May should see the Tories make some gains from Labour and again the Tories and Labour should make gains from the Liberal Democrats
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715

    Bright and sunny here in N Essex, but cold (1 degC, according to the app on my phone...... how does it know what it is outside?) The bird-bath is frozen, to the disgust of the blackbirds.

    A pair of blue-tits have settled down in our bird box and are building their nest. There's a camera in it, connected to our TV, so every so often we turn off daytime TV and watch for nest-building activity. Although it's only spasmodic, it's often more exciting!

    You know that you can get activity sensing video recording software? - so you can record the motion in the bird box and leave out the nothing happens stuff.
    No, I didn't; thanks. Granddaughter-in-law is, I think , considering one of the boxes & cameras for her increasingly housebound father, so I'll have to tell her, too.
  • Bright and sunny here in N Essex, but cold (1 degC, according to the app on my phone...... how does it know what it is outside?) The bird-bath is frozen, to the disgust of the blackbirds.

    A pair of blue-tits have settled down in our bird box and are building their nest. There's a camera in it, connected to our TV, so every so often we turn off daytime TV and watch for nest-building activity. Although it's only spasmodic, it's often more exciting!

    Fantastic

    have a pair of robins nesting in a bush on our patio, just 6 feet from our patio doors and yesterday while one robin was in the nest, the other arrived and hovered for quite some time until they exchanged places.

    It was wonderful to observe and to be honest, we had no idea robins could hover.
  • StockyStocky Posts: 9,653
    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.


    Ditto my poor mother in her care home. She can't understand why the home (aka the government) will still not allow me to take her for a ride in the countryside in my car. Unbelievable. It's all to do with protecting the government rather than these poor people/families and the children in your example above.

    Everyone seems grumpy this morning, so I thought I'd add one more to the pile.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,612
    TOPPING said:

    ydoethur said:

    Jonathan said:

    @ydoethur you put it mildly. Kudos for the admirable restraint. Maybe it’s time to consider a change of government.

    Why thank you.

    But whatever the government, the DfE remains useless. Whoever leads it, they’re still awful.

    I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that what we really need is to dismiss large chunks of the Civil Service and start again.
    In every large organisation of which I am aware, either they have periodic clearcuts, with mass firings, or they gradually silt up until they... stop.

    Read the Mitrokhin Archive - the KGB (well, it's predecessors) went from a dynamic start up of a few hundred enthused people to a global giant. At the start they were out spying and murdering their way round the world with wild energy.

    They certainly had some organisational clearouts... but this ended after Stalin died....

    By the 1970s they had 100ks of employees, and meetings about the biscuits for the meetings to discuss the meeting about the budget for the a guy to ask some local criminals how much they would charge to beat up Rudolf Nureyev.

    I did wonder how much the Salisbury Poisonings were part of an attempt to revitalise an organisation that was totally moribund. Some bold manager - "Open plan office, pool table, free soda. Flat organisation. When we want to murder someone - *we* get it done!"
    With presumably the same system in force for teachers? The new ones, that is, because every current teacher (almost every current teacher) is about to quit.
    LOL

    The point being that creative destruction is an important part of organisational lifecycles. The permanent potions of government were structured to prevent it happening.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,583

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    Why don’t you say what you really think of them...😄
    Because I’d either be prosecuted for incitement to murder, or worse, get banned from PB.
    We cannot have you banned but we do understand the nuance of your comments and with Williamson, it sounds moderate
    When Williamson is elevated to Conservative Prime Minister you will be singing his praises BigG.
  • ridaligoridaligo Posts: 174
    Sharing a sense of despair and powerlessness this morning with Maffew, Leon, alex, Mortimer, Black Rock and others (you know who you are) ... "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" ... maybe, just maybe a small resistance movement is beginning to stir. My sense of despair comes from a frustration that the government knows something I don't.

    As a rule of thumb, never believe what a politician says, watch what they do. Despite the overwhelming evidence in the public domain that COVID is now a miniscule risk, they are constantly moving the goalposts - why is that? What sane person would want this nightmare to continue a moment longer than absolutely necessary?

    There are 3 possibilities:

    1. The vaccine is not nearly as effective as we are led to believe. The plummeting infections, hospitalizations and death rates are actually a result of the lockdown. Therefore, different ongoing restrictions need to be dreamt up for the foreseeable ...
    2. The vaccine is extremely effective but the government has terrified the population to such an extent that zero-covid is the de-facto end state. Therefore, different ongoing restrictions need to be dreamt up for the foreseeable ...
    3. The vaccine is extremely effective and the government sees it as a means to introduce an ID card by the back door (to control movement, behaviour, access to services, etc). Therefore, different ongoing restrictions need to be dreamt up for the foreseeable ...

    It it's #1, we're screwed. If it's #3, we're screwed (if you enjoy freedom and the British way of life).

    I'm clinging to the hope that it's #2 because in that case there is a chance, however slim, that our tiny minority of resistance fighters will grow to the point the government will get the message that enough is enough - we've beaten this thing down to the level of seasonal flu; let's live with it. Change the messaging. Get back to normal (not "more normal" or "something approaching normal" ... just "normal").

    My view is we should lift all restrictions now - immediately. I very reluctantly accept that we will have to wait until June 21st for that (but my Tory vote is lost forever - these people are not conservatives). I fear that after June 21st there will still be restrictions in place.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,038
    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
    I am assuming that I do exist because they were able to phone me. And I can post on PB as well. I don't have enough imagination to make all this up.
    Wait until you wake up from this dream and find that you are in fact a Cornish flint knapper and that PB doesn't exist.
    Arrgh! I think I'd have to invent it. In all seriousness the banter on here has been a great help these last few months.
    I was reading the last few comments on the previous thread. Many PB posters (a robust bunch or we wouldn't be on here) suffering from anxiety and depression. This is horrendous.

    The disease is horrendous also but the govt responding to the current situation - which means some, all, or none of it may be justified - has broken a large number of people such that when we are told we will be allowed to sit on a park bench at some unspecified time in the future, there are tears of joy and gratitude. Extraordinary.

    And it has been clapped (literally) and rewarded in the polls the whole time.
    I'll go back to them and have a read but I completely recognise what you are talking about. I had a serious discussion with my wife on our walk on Sunday about whether I needed to get anti-depressants. I have never felt like this before. Life has just had all the joy sucked out of it.

    I don't particularly blame the government although the Scottish government has been even more repressive than Westminster. We really don't know how to handle this and it has been a painful learning curve. There are definite trade offs between the risk of the disease and the risks of depression and isolation. I am not sure we got it right.
    I wish you all the best - you are having the jab which is great news (that you are sure you exist can also in these times be reassuring) and we really are on the run-in.

    I think and hope, come June 21st, that we are going to get on and live with this and I'm sure there are enough people in or working with govt to realise that.
    On your last point, all I can say is that I wish I had your faith.

    I suspect there is an element creeping in of those running the show not being able to realise/accept/understand that this is ending now with the massive vaccine uptake. Maybe there is some psychological thing going on here? Still determined to fight the war even though it is ending? I dunno. Maybe I am being too harsh, but the vaxport nonsense has got me so angry it is unbelievable.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950

    TOPPING said:

    ydoethur said:

    Jonathan said:

    @ydoethur you put it mildly. Kudos for the admirable restraint. Maybe it’s time to consider a change of government.

    Why thank you.

    But whatever the government, the DfE remains useless. Whoever leads it, they’re still awful.

    I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that what we really need is to dismiss large chunks of the Civil Service and start again.
    In every large organisation of which I am aware, either they have periodic clearcuts, with mass firings, or they gradually silt up until they... stop.

    Read the Mitrokhin Archive - the KGB (well, it's predecessors) went from a dynamic start up of a few hundred enthused people to a global giant. At the start they were out spying and murdering their way round the world with wild energy.

    They certainly had some organisational clearouts... but this ended after Stalin died....

    By the 1970s they had 100ks of employees, and meetings about the biscuits for the meetings to discuss the meeting about the budget for the a guy to ask some local criminals how much they would charge to beat up Rudolf Nureyev.

    I did wonder how much the Salisbury Poisonings were part of an attempt to revitalise an organisation that was totally moribund. Some bold manager - "Open plan office, pool table, free soda. Flat organisation. When we want to murder someone - *we* get it done!"
    With presumably the same system in force for teachers? The new ones, that is, because every current teacher (almost every current teacher) is about to quit.
    LOL

    The point being that creative destruction is an important part of organisational lifecycles. The permanent potions of government were structured to prevent it happening.
    That is true - but there are trade offs also - lower wage vs private and potential gong at the end of it vs not sure whether you will have a job in any six month future.

    Not sure what the answer is.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,583
    HYUFD said:

    The latest Yougov today has the Conservatives on 42%, Labour on 34% and the LDs on 7%.
    https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1379704961462849536?s=20

    The Conservatives are therefore up 4% on the 34% they got in the County council elections last time they were up in 2017, Labour are up 7% on the 27% they got in the last County elections and the LDs are down 11% on the 18% they got then. So on that basis we should see a few Labour gains from the Conservatives in the County elections and both the Conservatives and Labour should make gains from the LDs (albeit the LDs tend to poll a bit better locally than nationally).

    When the district council seats up this year were last up in 2016 however the Conservatives only got 30%, so they are now up 12% on that total, Labour are also up 3% on the 31% they got in 2016. The LDs however are again down 8% on their share then. So the district elections in May should see the Tories make some gains from Labour and again the Tories and Labour should make gains from the Liberal Democrats

    I think nationally that is about how the land lies. When the dust settles a little the poll margins will close, although there might be an extended Conservative lead for a while when Johnson is seen with a pint in a pub in each region everyday for a week from April 12.

    Excellent post by the way HYUFD.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555

    Fishing said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    ...whose party will be rewarded handsomely on May 6th by a grateful nation.

    (Perhaps you and I need to polish up the rose tinted specs).
    I honestly don’t know who to vote for. If Labour finally grow a spine and do something about this they will get my vote, but there’s no sign of that yet. I’m not voting for the Tories. That leaves the Greens, and I haven’t heard a thing from them on anything recently except a load of anti-environmentalist propaganda about HS2.
    For anyone outraged at the behaviour of the current Conservative Party, a vote for anyone other than the main Conservative challenger is an abstention. It is a tacit half vote for the Tories.
    If only the main Conservative challenger showed much interest in challenging the Conservatives' worst policies rather than ithering then voting for them to have ever more powers. The real opposition is being done by the minor opposition parties while spineless Starmer vacillates. "I'm confused, I thought he was Labour ..."
    You have missed my point. If the anti Conservative vote is best utilised by a minor party in the locals so be it. Its all about making the Conservative vote less efficient.

    I can't say I am enthused by Starmer, but the "Mr Thickie, useless Starmer" theme trotted out on here each day is rather tiresome.
    I don't think he's thick. If anything I think he's too intelligent. He sees every side of every issue, and looks on his opponents as intelligent, rational beings rather than scum who should be crushed, with the result that he dithers and triangulates and never takes a strong, risky, controverisal position.

    Even if he gets to be Prime Minister, I think he'd hate it, like Theresa May did. It's not like a courtroom, where you have weeks to build your case and get to research it thoroughly beforehand. Being Prime Minister is a job where you have to take a dozen high-stakes decisions a day on the basis of incomplete or missing information. He's temperamentally completely unsuited to that environment.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 10,341

    That above 38% for the Conservatives does look value. I don't see UKIP/Brexit/REFUK making much of a showing. LibDems are fighting to hold what they have. But more importantly, what is the driver for the Labour vote to come out? Their sparkling leader? Their great team? Their attractive policies? I am expecting a significant movement from Labour --> Can't Be Arsed Party... Turnout isn't going to break any records, on the up side at least.

    Quite possibly. I do expect the Tories to win Hartlepool, too, and regular contributors will know i'm not one to play the negative expectations game.

    I'm curious whether our right-of-centre contributors who aren't active Conservatives think this a good thing. Does Johnson need a ringing vote of confidence, or would it be better to encourage a note of caution?
    One comment from the centre slightly right, I doubt if it matters much how the Tories do, as long as it is neither triumph nor disaster. But there is a huge hole in ordinary UK politics skewing the whole machine. The long tradition of a choice (GE not local elections) between two PM candidates and two parties has been eroded. The choice, barring a miracle, is between a Tory majority and a Labour minority/coalition government.

    While, obviously, it is voters, especially Scottish voters, who have made this the case it makes a curious and unequal contest.

    It must be to the Conservatives advantage, if only slightly, that they can picture the real choice as between a clear majority government and an uncertain alliance. The idea of a government requiring the support of LD, Green, PC, SNP, Alba(!), DUP (lol) and SF staying away alongside a less than stellar Labour party has shortcomings.

  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    ridaligo said:

    Sharing a sense of despair and powerlessness this morning with Maffew, Leon, alex, Mortimer, Black Rock and others (you know who you are) ... "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" ... maybe, just maybe a small resistance movement is beginning to stir. My sense of despair comes from a frustration that the government knows something I don't.

    As a rule of thumb, never believe what a politician says, watch what they do. Despite the overwhelming evidence in the public domain that COVID is now a miniscule risk, they are constantly moving the goalposts - why is that? What sane person would want this nightmare to continue a moment longer than absolutely necessary?

    There are 3 possibilities:

    1. The vaccine is not nearly as effective as we are led to believe. The plummeting infections, hospitalizations and death rates are actually a result of the lockdown. Therefore, different ongoing restrictions need to be dreamt up for the foreseeable ...
    2. The vaccine is extremely effective but the government has terrified the population to such an extent that zero-covid is the de-facto end state. Therefore, different ongoing restrictions need to be dreamt up for the foreseeable ...
    3. The vaccine is extremely effective and the government sees it as a means to introduce an ID card by the back door (to control movement, behaviour, access to services, etc). Therefore, different ongoing restrictions need to be dreamt up for the foreseeable ...

    It it's #1, we're screwed. If it's #3, we're screwed (if you enjoy freedom and the British way of life).

    I'm clinging to the hope that it's #2 because in that case there is a chance, however slim, that our tiny minority of resistance fighters will grow to the point the government will get the message that enough is enough - we've beaten this thing down to the level of seasonal flu; let's live with it. Change the messaging. Get back to normal (not "more normal" or "something approaching normal" ... just "normal").

    My view is we should lift all restrictions now - immediately. I very reluctantly accept that we will have to wait until June 21st for that (but my Tory vote is lost forever - these people are not conservatives). I fear that after June 21st there will still be restrictions in place.

    Good post.

    I think the vaccine probably is effective (look at Israel is the cry here) but that the govt is also sh&t-scared that once people are out and about case rates will rise (who cares) and so will hospitalisations and deaths. They are sitting on a precious amount of goodwill atm and are worried about squandering it.

    Of course they might squander this either way - a resurgence in deaths or continued restrictive measures.

    I think, through gritted teeth, and although I am more with you on dates, I can see the logic for the current timetable.

    That said, let's imagine cases, hosps, and deaths do skyrocket after June21st. Will it be possible to impose another lockdown? There may be a resistance movement but look at the polls.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,415
    ridaligo said:

    Sharing a sense of despair and powerlessness this morning with Maffew, Leon, alex, Mortimer, Black Rock and others (you know who you are) ... "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" ... maybe, just maybe a small resistance movement is beginning to stir. My sense of despair comes from a frustration that the government knows something I don't.

    As a rule of thumb, never believe what a politician says, watch what they do. Despite the overwhelming evidence in the public domain that COVID is now a miniscule risk, they are constantly moving the goalposts - why is that? What sane person would want this nightmare to continue a moment longer than absolutely necessary?

    There are 3 possibilities:

    1. The vaccine is not nearly as effective as we are led to believe. The plummeting infections, hospitalizations and death rates are actually a result of the lockdown. Therefore, different ongoing restrictions need to be dreamt up for the foreseeable ...
    2. The vaccine is extremely effective but the government has terrified the population to such an extent that zero-covid is the de-facto end state. Therefore, different ongoing restrictions need to be dreamt up for the foreseeable ...
    3. The vaccine is extremely effective and the government sees it as a means to introduce an ID card by the back door (to control movement, behaviour, access to services, etc). Therefore, different ongoing restrictions need to be dreamt up for the foreseeable ...

    It it's #1, we're screwed. If it's #3, we're screwed (if you enjoy freedom and the British way of life).

    I'm clinging to the hope that it's #2 because in that case there is a chance, however slim, that our tiny minority of resistance fighters will grow to the point the government will get the message that enough is enough - we've beaten this thing down to the level of seasonal flu; let's live with it. Change the messaging. Get back to normal (not "more normal" or "something approaching normal" ... just "normal").

    My view is we should lift all restrictions now - immediately. I very reluctantly accept that we will have to wait until June 21st for that (but my Tory vote is lost forever - these people are not conservatives). I fear that after June 21st there will still be restrictions in place.

    Top post - agree with everything. This government and PM is weak and pandering to the "optics" ,taking all the easy decisions including massive deficits and debt to just avoid unpopularity now - They are letting everyone down . Life is not worth living if we are terrified of a illness that will kill less than flu now. Fkin unbelievble really that they are obsessing about coivd passports to go to the cinema . The young is being blamed by the old, the young need to be strong and resist this . We seem to now live in a country that services the NHS and services the odd notion that we must keep dememtia 95 year olds alive in care homes forever
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Well after some prodding and calls I finally got a phone call offering me a jab yesterday. It is to be given at the vaccination centre so I think it is genuine. 3.50 next Monday. It's a relief.

    Have you sorted out with NHS Scotland whether you exist or not? And are on a GP's list?
    I am assuming that I do exist because they were able to phone me. And I can post on PB as well. I don't have enough imagination to make all this up.
    Wait until you wake up from this dream and find that you are in fact a Cornish flint knapper and that PB doesn't exist.
    Arrgh! I think I'd have to invent it. In all seriousness the banter on here has been a great help these last few months.
    I was reading the last few comments on the previous thread. Many PB posters (a robust bunch or we wouldn't be on here) suffering from anxiety and depression. This is horrendous.

    The disease is horrendous also but the govt responding to the current situation - which means some, all, or none of it may be justified - has broken a large number of people such that when we are told we will be allowed to sit on a park bench at some unspecified time in the future, there are tears of joy and gratitude. Extraordinary.

    And it has been clapped (literally) and rewarded in the polls the whole time.
    I'll go back to them and have a read but I completely recognise what you are talking about. I had a serious discussion with my wife on our walk on Sunday about whether I needed to get anti-depressants. I have never felt like this before. Life has just had all the joy sucked out of it.

    I don't particularly blame the government although the Scottish government has been even more repressive than Westminster. We really don't know how to handle this and it has been a painful learning curve. There are definite trade offs between the risk of the disease and the risks of depression and isolation. I am not sure we got it right.
    I wish you all the best - you are having the jab which is great news (that you are sure you exist can also in these times be reassuring) and we really are on the run-in.

    I think and hope, come June 21st, that we are going to get on and live with this and I'm sure there are enough people in or working with govt to realise that.
    On your last point, all I can say is that I wish I had your faith.

    I suspect there is an element creeping in of those running the show not being able to realise/accept/understand that this is ending now with the massive vaccine uptake. Maybe there is some psychological thing going on here? Still determined to fight the war even though it is ending? I dunno. Maybe I am being too harsh, but the vaxport nonsense has got me so angry it is unbelievable.
    Oh I totally agree. There is a deep concern that we are in a status quo of a frightened populace consistently awarding the govt high approval. Not a good recipe for change (= opening up).

    But Boris gave the June 21st date and I think there is now more danger (for him electorally) not to keep to that than to keep to it.
  • ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    Why don’t you say what you really think of them...😄
    Because I’d either be prosecuted for incitement to murder, or worse, get banned from PB.
    We cannot have you banned but we do understand the nuance of your comments and with Williamson, it sounds moderate
    When Williamson is elevated to Conservative Prime Minister you will be singing his praises BigG.
    No.

    That is a step too far, believe you me
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb and every civil servant at the DfE are traitorous, lying, bullying, pig ignorant c-bombs who hate teachers and children part 124a:

    Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135

    These people just do not live in the real world. Masks are not merely horrible to wear, they are frequently used by children as playthings, spreading any virus over their hands and their desks, they make it impossible for both deaf children and deaf teachers to function effectively, and finally they are used for prolonged periods and not washed rather than for brief instances and cleaned/disposed of as they are designed to be. Moreover, they allow disruptive children to talk and mutter with impunity, creating constant disruption which makes it impossible to maintain an atmosphere of calm. Goodness knows how we will manage these exams we’re still being forced to do.

    They are also fluent liars. As evidenced by the fact they claimed pupil behaviour was better under Covid (a lie) that their new teaching framework will somehow reduce violence and assaults on staff (another lie) and that only 0.2% of children in school had tested positive for Covid (another lie) and that there would be no exams this year (yet another lie, because they’re still going ahead, it’s just that they are being marked by a different process).

    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    They are just utter, vile scum.

    Why don’t you say what you really think of them...😄
    Because I’d either be prosecuted for incitement to murder, or worse, get banned from PB.
    We cannot have you banned but we do understand the nuance of your comments and with Williamson, it sounds moderate
    When Williamson is elevated to Conservative Prime Minister you will be singing his praises BigG.
    Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 3,335
    edited April 2021
    Pulpstar said:

    ydoethur said:


    And then they wonder why every teacher - and I mean every teacher - is making plans to quit the profession in the next two years. That’s going to be rather expensive in itself given that those aged 55 or over will simply take retirement.

    ?! Must be a generous retirement package compared to the private sector.
    It's only generous if you wait until 60 or your state retirement age (depending on when you joined the scheme). If you go before, you lose a chunk of it. But then, it's not that cheap to pay into, so you only get back what you ut in, (plus rpi).
This discussion has been closed.