Why tell me to try harder when a Cabinet minister said it?

 

Your mistake is believing every bit of shite the government says when they are known liars

 

Anyway I’m done feeding the troll this evening. Bring forth the wine :)

Why tell me to try harder when a Cabinet minister said it?

 

Right, well it's hardly a huge surprise is it Chris that a government minister - whose job it is to support the government - is supporting the government by shifting the legitimate blame away from itself and instead on to the public.

Knowing that we have a lot of elderly and a lot of obese people should have made Boris act sooner. It was no secret that these people were affected worse.

 

Boris has today said the government has done everything it could in this pandemic. Whichever way you take that, it’s alarming, if they have truly done the best they could then it is frightening how poor they are at the job. If he’s talking bullshit, then he just doesn’t care about the 100k who have died, more than half of which were during the second wave. If he had an ounce of decency, he’d resign.

Well Therese Coffey yesterday blamed it on our elderly population and too many obese. Her exact words just before 8am on ITV1. We do have a huge number of obese including her and me.

 

She does have a point to a degree but it is also blame defecting. Obesity is a huge problem for this country (and will be for years to come) which causes a range of other problems too. Quite simply we were too slow to react in the first wave and the second wave caught both the Government and the general public off guard. The only grey area for me is how much people knew about how widespread the new variant was in the community.

 

Has anyone read this article on a seperate note? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-55756452

 

When all this is said and done I do think the world will rightly blame China and their attitude last January. So it's no surprise operation brainwash is in full operation there from the Government.

The thing that gets me is Vietnam, a much poorer nation state, which has a very long land border WITH China... has had 35 deaths in total. The most recent being in September LAST YEAR.

 

The whole of the West has been shown up as utterly complacent. I doubt the same mistakes will be made again, though a pandemic as brutal as this thankfully seems to be once every century.

What would you have done differently then? List what you'd have done differently to what he did. I'd have cancelled Cheltenham races last year. I think that was a huge oversight. I'd have sacked Cummings immediately and wouldn't have let him do a press conference. I also think Eat Out To Help Out was a mistake but that was apparently Rishi's bright idea or rather one of his staff. I think it helped the spread.

 

Any more?

Lockdown earlier. Lifted the lockdown later (which might not have been the case if it had been implemented earlier). More control of people arriving in the country. Better provision for people forced to self-isolate to aviof people not being able to afford to. Not sending Covid patients into care homes.

 

That'll do for a start. Surely even someone with his head as far up Johnson's massive arse as yours must see that the UK's record compared with the rest of Europe suggests things haven't gone very well.

The thing that gets me is Vietnam, a much poorer nation state, which has a very long land border WITH China... has had 35 deaths in total. The most recent being in September LAST YEAR.

 

The whole of the West has been shown up as utterly complacent. I doubt the same mistakes will be made again, though a pandemic as brutal as this thankfully seems to be once every century.

 

I mean, again with some of these countries, they only tell us what they want to tell us.

 

But The West was way, way underprepared for a pandemic and how to deal with one. But let's also be open as well, in Vietnam you're likely to be arrested and thrown in jail if you throw any shade at the Government, in the West you probably get congratulated. Let's hope this has been a major lesson for us for the future when the next one comes along

I mean, again with some of these countries, they only tell us what they want to tell us.

 

Indeed - but in New Zealand we know that life is pretty much back to normal now. They gambled on a vaccine being developed (the late 1960s pandemic had a vaccine developed within a year so it was a viable gamble) and won big. Sure there have been downsides there, but I know which outcome I'd rather had.

 

There are many other examples: https://www.endcoronavirus.org/countries

 

Not all of them are communist states. :lol:

Indeed - but in New Zealand we know that life is pretty much back to normal now. They gambled on a vaccine being developed (the late 1960s pandemic had a vaccine developed within a year so it was a viable gamble) and won big. Sure there have been downsides there, but I know which outcome I'd rather had.

 

There are many other examples: https://www.endcoronavirus.org/countries

 

Not all of them are communist states. :lol:

 

New Zealand is not a fair comparison, Japan I can totally get as its more comparible, but NZ is a massive country and was 2-3 weeks behind Europe in terms of initial spread. Add that to a 5m population vs 70m. But they are also unique in that they are totally isolated too and don't rely on imports.

New Zealand is not a fair comparison, Japan I can totally get as its more comparible, but NZ is a massive country and was 2-3 weeks behind Europe in terms of initial spread. Add that to a 5m population vs 70m. But they are also unique in that they are totally isolated too and don't rely on imports.

The UK was, of course, a few weeks behind the rest of Europe but Johnson's dithering and failure to bother to turn up to meetings threw that advantage away.

I thought Boris looked shattered today and so do others on other forums and Twitter. :( He looked a mess, which really isn't new, but also tired, stressed and generally awful. This must be affecting him and I wish people would stop saying he doesn't care. It's okay to criticise when you're not in the man's shoes. People seem to forget that he had Covid himself and had to rest for a few weeks. I wouldn't blame him at all if he just threw the towel in and said if I'm getting so much criticism, let someone else do it.

Edited January 26, 20214 yr by common sense

I thought Boris looked shattered today and so do others on other forums and Twitter. :( He looked a mess, which really isn't new, but also tired, stressed and generally awful. This must be affecting him and I wish people would stop saying he doesn't care. It's okay to criticise when you're not in the man's shoes. People seem to forget that he had Covid himself and had to rest for a few weeks. I wouldn't blame him at all if he just threw the towel in and said if I'm getting so much criticism, let someone else do it.

 

Well then maybe he does need to throw in the towel. He looks tired and stressed? So he should. He’s prime minister during a pandemic where we are all tired and stressed. And if he really does care then it’s clear that he’s just not really up to the job. And yes he had COVID but we can’t keep using him being ill for 3 weeks in April as an excuse. He was doing press ups for photo ops last Summer to prove how fit he was. No one has forgotten anything, we’re just way to preoccupied in the current Hell we’re all living in.

 

I don’t need to be in his shoes to criticise, governments should be held to account. I’m concerned about how much compassion you’re offering Johnson in comparison to the ~100k families who have lost loved ones, many due to his incompetence.

New Zealand is not a fair comparison, Japan I can totally get as its more comparible, but NZ is a massive country and was 2-3 weeks behind Europe in terms of initial spread. Add that to a 5m population vs 70m. But they are also unique in that they are totally isolated too and don't rely on imports.

 

I get that view, but I mean in terms of their government's plan/response - they used their advantage rather than wasted it through complacency. Deserves more recognition. We still have no plan from our government? Every step of the way it has been shambolic and chaotic.

 

Remember Cummings: 'herd immunity, protect the economy, and if that means some pensioners die, too bad'

I thought Boris looked shattered today and so do others on other forums and Twitter. :( He looked a mess, which really isn't new, but also tired, stressed and generally awful. This must be affecting him and I wish people would stop saying he doesn't care. It's okay to criticise when you're not in the man's shoes. People seem to forget that he had Covid himself and had to rest for a few weeks. I wouldn't blame him at all if he just threw the towel in and said if I'm getting so much criticism, let someone else do it.

 

He didn't look shattered but journalists ask the same question time and time again (and the same questions about the vaccine come up time and time again too). Today was a grim milestone that we knew was coming, there is definitely a heap of emotional guilt as so many of the deaths could probably have been avoided. You'd have to be pretty inhuman to not weigh some of that guilt.

 

I get that view, but I mean in terms of their government's plan/response - they used their advantage rather than wasted it through complacency. Deserves more recognition. We still have no plan from our government? Every step of the way it has been shambolic and chaotic.

 

Remember Cummings: 'herd immunity, protect the economy, and if that means some pensioners die, too bad'

 

Well yes, they had a strategy which worked really well which had to be applauded. But I think you only get one chance to lockdown and after that is becomes incredibly difficult. Look at Germany, they did amazing during the first wave, but have been battered during the second wave due to politics.

Well yes, they had a strategy which worked really well which had to be applauded. But I think you only get one chance to lockdown and after that is becomes incredibly difficult. Look at Germany, they did amazing during the first wave, but have been battered during the second wave due to politics.

 

Whaf do you mean due to politics was there a rise of anti lockdown sentiment in the German parliament compared with the first lockdown? Were there anti lockdown protests in Berlin that affected matters?

Whaf do you mean due to politics was there a rise of anti lockdown sentiment in the German parliament compared with the first lockdown? Were there anti lockdown protests in Berlin that affected matters?

 

I doubt the anti-lockdown protests will have made much effort, but you had states and politicians that did not want to lockdown in autumn/December. Silas is a better expert than me but I'm sure he would agree that some prominent politicians just buried their head in the sand (a bit like a lot of our own MPs). Similarly the whole of Europe kind of took the foot off the breaks over the summer and the mentality drive through to the general population. It's hard to be too critical as our economies were nosediving, but relaxing and then tightening the rules lost the public. Obviously I can't speak for the whole of Europe but we're all humans.

Also with regards to Germany recently looking at the figures I wouldn't be surprised if they have quite a high incidence of the UK variant there, don't know the evidence though regarding that.

 

I also seen the news that the Mexican PM has tested positive for Covid, the Covid figures haven't been good from there over the last month or so.

Edited January 27, 20214 yr by ElevenSnake

I think the one common factor with countries that have done well with COVID, whether Vietnam, New Zealand or anywhere else, is that they treated it as a top priority health crisis, shut their borders tightly right at the start when there was still a chance of widespread community cooperation, clearly communicated to their citizens what the restrictions were, and even now haven't even thought about opening up again, they get occasional cracks that show them they're right to. Doing whatever is necessary to stop the spread, no matter what lockdown sceptics or people saying pausing the economy would be a disaster were saying, and for their troubles they're doing rather well with their domestic economies and aren't seeing deaths.

 

Many in Europe got complacent over the summer. Unfortunately that seems to have set it up to have another brutal winter.

 

(I think I remember seeing that Vietnam's figures have been affirmed by neutral parties, moreso than China's)

Whaf do you mean due to politics was there a rise of anti lockdown sentiment in the German parliament compared with the first lockdown? Were there anti lockdown protests in Berlin that affected matters?

The German parliament is somewhat irrelevant in this. Like in the US, whose system it is modelled on post-WW2, the German federal states have the reigns. In the first wave everyone initially deferred to Merkel and there was a unified federal approach. Since then, it hasn’t been anywhere near as easy to get the federation to agree on a path forwards. Some states aren’t as hard hit and are causing issues.

 

Theres been plenty of anti-lockdown protests in the whole country. Most notably one in Berlin involved the storm of the Reichstag itself (aided and abetted by the AfD) but it was no where near as bad as the US Capitol storming. Recently there hasn’t been so many protests. Think the alarmingly high death rate and cold weather has dampened their spirit. Plus a lot of states are no longer willing to tolerate their bullshit and direct the cops to quickly disperse, with force if required, due to violations of corona regulations.

 

 

A bar in Berlin has been in our local news for hosting a „protest“ indoors as a bunch of these fringe loons form a political Party

 

I doubt the anti-lockdown protests will have made much effort, but you had states and politicians that did not want to lockdown in autumn/December. Silas is a better expert than me but I'm sure he would agree that some prominent politicians just buried their head in the sand (a bit like a lot of our own MPs). Similarly the whole of Europe kind of took the foot off the breaks over the summer and the mentality drive through to the general population. It's hard to be too critical as our economies were nosediving, but relaxing and then tightening the rules lost the public. Obviously I can't speak for the whole of Europe but we're all humans.

I agree, we left it too late to tackle wave 2 and when they did try to deal with it the measures were ineffective. Large parties got the blame in Berlin at the start of the second wave (it was a huge problem) but instead of putting a curfew in or something they shut stores between 23:00 and 06:00.... when almost everything in Berlin is shut anyway.

 

Nationwide we were slow off the Mark for wave 2 at the State Level. Federally Merkel was furious but couldn’t force the hands of the states (thanks America!) to get it under control sooner.

 

Although at no point has the UK been in a better position than Germany and while I may be bitching about our second wave response, Berlin has had lower incidence rates than places like Edinburgh and Glasgow. We peaked at a 7day rate in early November of 240 here in the City. Compared to a lot of places that’s fairly decent but our wave one peak was less than 40 and was controlled a lot quicker. We undid a lot of good work.

 

Also with regards to Germany recently looking at the figures I wouldn't be surprised if they have quite a high incidence of the UK variant there, don't know the evidence though regarding that.

 

I also seen the news that the Mexican PM has tested positive for Covid, the Covid figures haven't been good from there over the last month or so.

Looking at the spike in our second wave I thought it was directing that but word is there is very little of it in the country. Berlin has two hospital outbreaks of the UK variant and has responded by literally quarantining an entire hospital and all of its staff and patients.

I frequently provide a translation service for local government political statements, for colleagues.

 

Here's one for Johnson's

 

"I am really sorry 100,000 people have died. At every stage we thought we were making the right choice to protect the economy in the face of a mortal enemy - our prioritising making Brexit a complete break from Europe. That meant we had to keep global flights open from countries suffering from the horrid Covid-19. When my advisors said only a bunch of coffin-dodgers would stop draining the nations resources, this sounded like a great way of reducing benefit costs to make our new younger, isolated nation a success.

 

I took this terrible disease so seriously that, on expert medical advice, I immediately went to the nearest NHS hospital to show my support by shaking hands with every patient there so that I might show what a hero I was by catching the disease and setting the example that it was really a killer and everyone should not do what I do and say because that would get you killed. I did my best, and at every stage, we genuinely thought we were making the right decisions. Like the decision to not immediately sack my advisor who went on a jolly when he did a runner with Covid, and wanted to set an example by showing that the Tory elite don't have the same rules that the hoi polloi have to follow, or daddy, who needed to have his pint at the local or enjoy the sun in his holiday homes. We're all in this together! Rule Britannia! By which I mean, rich people who pushed for Brexit can safely enjoy a life in the Bahamas free from Communist tax rules, and have their own rules to follow.

 

Now, when we wanted a deal with our former colonies Ausland and Kiwiland, we stressed this despite their clear intentions to show us up by banning us God-blessed Brits form entering the country! And then banishing the disease by sticking Johnny Foreigners in hotel rooms! Our decision to not have any border controls whatsoever was completely compatible with our promises for 5 years that we would be able to control our borders free from the evil EU empire. So, obviously the first thing we did following Brexit was to make our borders as open and free as possible and usher in a new and wonderful life where we appeared to do something, spending vast amounts on IT systems that hadn;t been invented. But it wasn;t out fault! My bestie mates assured me they'd have it working by summer, and a man's word is his oath. Just like my word is my oath. And that oath is always in Latin so the oiks can't tell that I'm making it all up as I go along.

 

So, in conclusion, I'm sorry. I had no idea it was going to be this hard to run a country, and it's all your fault for dying in spite of our collective efforts to make sure that Brexit was a success. You voted for Brexit! So I'm not really to blame, but I am sorry so many of you have died 4 weeks after I'd spent months trying to make sure everyone had the bestest Xmassymus possible given the hard year we'd all had. I promised I would do that, and by Jove I delivered in that promise by giving you a few days to get together and hug and kiss your loved ones. And don't forget - those of you anxious to get your hands on granny's inheritance, had a bang-up opportunity to bring it forward a few years. So, in conclusion, VOTE FOR ME!

 

Sorry, not sorry, your fault."

 

I think that covers it.