POLITICS CORNER

[plaques]

I can understand the pressure rising in America to lift the lockdown especially when there is little or no social support for those at the bottom of the heap. Allowing more transport, re airlines, within the confines of America will only extend the suffering within the country. The big problem will come when they want to fly outside America. Will the UK be strong enough to refuse them? No doubt we will hear plenty of weasel words why it is safe for them to come here but not for us to go there.

[PanBiker]

We should close our borders to all US traffic while it is being run by a moron who thinks he is God.

[Tizer]

Fortunately we are still, effectively, in the EU until the end of 2020...
`EU helps protect weak firms from foreign takeovers' LINK
`The EU plans to help block foreign takeovers of European companies struggling with the virus downturn. It wants to allow governments to invest in weak companies, which could include some form of ownership. While it called them "measures of last resort", the European Commission says it is consulting member states. A focus for the regulator is to counter unfair competition from state-owned firms, which are the backbone of economies such as China's. It is now looking at further protection for businesses based in the EU, in light of the significant financial impact coronavirus lockdowns are having on them..'.

[Stanley]

Regardless of what Sunak says about Brexit I'll believe it when I see it. We are not getting any information at all and will be presented with a fait accompli at the the end of the year. I suspect that it will be described as 'a good deal' but will in fact be indistinguishable from 'no deal'.
Have you noticed the fashion for ministers to have their red box in the background of the TV image just to prove that they are indeed a politician?

[Stanley]

A few containers are due to arrive from Turkey this morning and this is being hailed as a significant event. They are said to contain 400,000 sets of PPE, a drop in the ocean! This highlights the total inadequacy of the government response to the increased demand for PPE equipment. (Later... Just heard it is 30 tons so one container. Pathetic!) (Later still it is now 84 tons so say two containers. Still pathetic.)
When the dust eventually settles it is going to become obvious that the dangers of underfunding the NHS for 10 years pointed out so often by the Opposition were real and present. The focus was on the possibility of a flu spike in winter, we escaped this but then the hammer blow of Covid19 hit us and we are where we are. This isn't the time for blame but some very clear headed responses to the bleeding obvious like the stupidity of a country with a viable fashion industry waiting helplessly for deliveries from low wage economies bought solely on price.
I have always argued against the bean counter's rule of always accepting the lowest tender, regardless of other considerations. Far better to strike a balance between price, quality and delivery. A very simple lesson but one that has yet to be learned by government.

[plaques]

This isn't the time for blame but some very clear headed responses to the bleeding obvious like the stupidity of a country with a viable fashion industry waiting helplessly for deliveries from low wage economies bought solely on price.

How can it be cheaper to pay 80% of wages and have them do nothing? I think its a more of the old 'I'm in charge' syndrome where maintaining the position of authority is more important than the outcome. Almost daily for years we have been told that leaving it to the markets was the most efficient way of doing business (capitalism). Now we have a national emergency the Conservatives want to ditch that mantra and be in sole charge. It has been long said that the failure of the central government system is that in our complex world you can't control everything and there are instances where it is better and more efficient to let the rank and file get on with it. The PPE supply is obviously one of them.

[Stanley]

There's a Burberry factory at Crosshills next to Airedale Hospital. How many making up firms in Skipton and Burnley? If you remember the fashionable NHS reform talk was all about central purchasing in bulk? Is what we are seeing now a consequence of that or simply not contracting for enough stock to maintain a buffer in case of need, like this one?
Did you watch that pathetic man Gavin Williamson giving his best impression of empathy and humanity on the 3 podium programme? (It was evidently his turn on the rota) I'm afraid I couldn't stand it, I had to turn to another channel. Even well-done crocodile tears are excruciating. Badly done they are a form of torture!

[Stanley]

The only question in politics at the moment seems to be who is in charge. The money is on Johnson from Chequers despite what his ministers would have you believe.
Almost all the output we see from government at the moment is spin trying to convince us that competent and decisive management by politicians has complete control of events. Unfortunately the evidence as it inevitably emerges shows that this is far from the case.
It's pointless for them to try to hide, it will all come out in the wash sooner or later and it is not going to be a pretty picture. The elephant in the room at the moment is the situation in community care and the care homes.

[Stanley]

History will be made today, the first 'hybrid' parliament. My hope is that this diversion from tradition will be permanent. For instance, electronic voting.

[plaques]

And all the childish Yaboo noises that went with it.
Taxpayers Alliance making noises about Harry & Megan paying back the £2.4 Million for the Frogmore Cottage which they have abandoned. Also for good measure they have said that the £30+ Million paid for their wedding should be included in the payback. The silence is deafening as they say.

[Stanley]

Fat lot of chance there is of anything like that.... I note they have put their foot in it again by carrying forward their fight with the tabloids completely ignoring what is going on at the moment. Do you think they ever give a thought to others? Or is life just one long selfie.....?

[Stanley]

I see the great Orange Brain has suggested that injections of disinfectant might be useful against Covid19 virus.
Isn't it great that we have stellar brains like this to guide us.....

[PanBiker]

As I said in another thread, certifiable. It would be OK if he was the first recipient though.

[Stanley]

Quite....

[Stanley]

See THIS Guardian article attempting to analyse why Trump really stopped his daily coronavirus briefings. It looks as though his injectable disinfectant was a gaffe too far.

[plaques]

Watched a You Tube interview between a presenter and an economist. Very wide ranging subjects but when it touched on the Coronavirus it dropped into a conspiracy theory. It went something like this. The trade dispute between America and China had been under negotiating during November and December of last year (2019). Finally and agreement was signed in early December but with some get out clauses that included a pandemic outbreak. Five days after signing China declared the virus outbreak which became a pandemic therefore cancelled the trade deal. The argument then goes along the lines that China knew all along that there was a pandemic in the making and kept quiet about it during the negotiations thereby allowing it to spread for weeks without telling anybody. This all seems a convoluted way of avoiding a trade deal and giving China a long term edge on trade by killing millions of people. If this is the way the Americans think then god help us. But at least it deflects attention and gives Trump someone to blame. Remember FAKE news?

[Stanley]

Sounds like a very good argument for not listening to presenters or experts P. There is always a very plausible theory out there.
I see Johnson is 'back to his old bullish self and ready to take control again'. 'Bullish', is that really what some people think we need? If so, God help us. What we need is a consensus cross party view informed by facts, not more calm sunlit seas to a glorious future guff.
In essence, the decisions that are taken now govern the balance between preserving lives or helping the economy. The fear is of course that the hawks will win and the economy is given precedence. We watch and wait.

[Stanley]

Well Johnson certainly was back on form and thank god did exactly what needed doing. He stamped firmly on any ideas of premature easing of the lockdown restrictions and made it very clear that easing could only be allowed when very firm conditions have been met. This is exactly what was needed, clear guidance and re=cognition that before we can ease off restrictions we need things like proper testing programmes in place and in some cases a vaccine. It's time to recognise that for some of us, social distancing is going to last a long time and will be at least a year, possibly longer, depending on what progress is made proving and delivering a vaccine.
Please take time to read THIS opinion by Tim Lang, one of our most reliable commentators on the food supply and distribution chains. He is scathing in his criticism of the government's handling of food service shop lockdowns and the way the government handed the whole trade on a plate to the supermarkets.He makes a lot of sense.....

[plaques]

Giving loans to businesses to keep them going may be a sound economic policy the problem arises when those involved in making loans are still wearing their old commercial hat with the benchmark of future profitability. This approach distorts the market by giving advantage to the already large firms while ignoring the small outlets. As Stanley's post points out the food market is now heavily slanted towards supermarkets while closing down many of the mixed trading outlets. Small shops and independent traders have always been high risk ventures and there will always be a number of failures but in desperate times its now the time for banks and governments to bite the bullet and take a risk. The one thing we should not be doing is taking the easiest option of more austerity and driving peoples living standards even lower. One should remember it was Winston Churchill's philosophy that when income fell behind outgoings don't cut back on spending but increase the earnings.

[Stanley]

From your mouth to God's ear P!

[Stanley]

IU listened to the Conservative MP for Middlesbrough defending the Tory record on local funding following the bleeding obvious reports that deprived areas are suffering most from the Virus. My first thought was Quelle Surprise! Seebohm Rowntree proved this in the late 19th century. My next reaction was that this is the tenor of what passes for 'politics' at the moment. Who do they think they are kidding?
The same can be said for the US. I had a long phone call with Paulette Bliss in St Louis yesterday and her reading of what is happening there, and in particular her take on Trump, was enlightening. I won't repeat her language, even she admitted that it wasn't lady-like!
The latest BBC NEWS reports on the blatant electioneering which is substituting for sensible debate. Trump insists that a vaccine is imminent and that the US economic recovery will be 'fantastic'.
(fantastic (adj.) late 14c., "existing only in imagination," from Middle French fantastique (14c.), from Medieval Latin fantasticus, from Late Latin phantasticus "imaginary," from Greek phantastikos "able to imagine," from phantazein "make visible" (middle voice phantazesthai "picture to oneself"); see phantasm. Trivial sense of "wonderful, marvelous" recorded by 1938. Old French had a different adjective form, fantasieus "weird; insane; make-believe." Medieval Latin also used fantasticus as a noun, "a lunatic," and Shakespeare and his contemporaries had it in Italian form fantastico "one who acts ridiculously.")
Looking at that definition I can for once agree with the orange jerk. (Although Paulette assures me he is "Way beyond jerk")
Is it my imagination or are some parts of our world going mad?

[Tizer]

They are not going mad, they've already arrived at the destination!

[Stanley]

That could be right Tiz..

[Stanley]

I listened this morning to James Brokenshire avoiding pertinent questions about reports from care home operators and owners that they were still short of PPE and that the testing procedures weren't working. There is little doubt that these reports are accurate. The suspicion is that the preference of Health England for central control has a part to play in this. The less central, but still official facilities under local control are a major part of the improvement under pressure of late. They should be properly funded!
Another matter that is causing problems is the fact that the system of food vouchers for children who qualify for free school dinners isn't working smoothly.
Just two of the matters that are rearing their heads requiring concrete action and not sophisticated spin.

[Big Kev]

A couple of things, is the provision of PPE in private care homes not the responsibility of the care home owner?

The school meal vouchers process is, in the majority, working. There is a minority that are 'falling through the net' but the media only seem to highlight those.

There are slso some who are under the misapprehension that all key stage one children should be receiving vouchers. This isn't the case, it is only those families in receipt of certain state benefits. This was mentioned in the Jeremy (what a cockwomble) Vine radio 2 programme yesterday.