Cummings, Johnson and this whole shit show
- Thread starter James Wood
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- Jun 1, 2017
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- #202
I have, and never will, class myself as a ‘subject’ of anyone. I am a free citizen. But the class system and monarchy in this country stinks from top to bottom and the system of deference, cow-towing and obsequiousness that flows from this has further proven this.
It will never happen in my time, but it needs to be abolished and the whole system of demolished.
- Dec 18, 2014
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And that's a perfectly valid point of view. I think the issue that stalls the cause of republicanism is that wherever you look around the world, there are examples of presidents who don't behave as they should along with the same level of deference, cow-towing and obsequiousness, rich and poor. Across the channel being a perfect example.
So the argument that's never been successfully made is for a better alternative. What we have works, be that right or wrong, and even when we have attempted to make relatively small changes they end up being dumped or rolled . Perhaps it needs a revolution as in Russia to change the face of this country for ever - but really is there any desire for that to happen? I suspect not and are they any better off without the Czar?
- Jun 1, 2017
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- #204
I think that your view whether it works or not depends on where you are in ‘the system’.
- Jun 1, 2017
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- #205
- Dec 18, 2014
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Or Putin in his new Palace or Macron at the Versailles and so on. Whatever happens you don't end up with presidents catching buses or dipping into food banks.
Where you are in the hierarchy depends on a lot of factors, but people in this country have opportunities to succeed that often don't exist elsewhere
- Jun 1, 2017
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- #207
Then why has social mobility reduced, poverty increased, life expectancy reduced?
- Jun 1, 2017
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- #209
I’d rather see President Dylan the dog ??. He couldn’t do any bloody worse!
Now proposing to spaff more £Ms on another vanity project ?
- Jun 1, 2017
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- #210
Nightingale hospitals to close. A £532 million PR stunt to make it look as if the Govt were doing something. They ended up highlighting how ten years of austerity had cut staff and critical care beds so much in the NHS that even when you put more beds in place there was no one to look after patients
- Jun 1, 2017
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- #211
A Test and Trace consultant can earn as much in ONE DAY as a nurse earns in THREE MONTHS.????
- Dec 18, 2014
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All this angst and anger. Consultants in the city get paid more than most of us and the government built nightingale hospitals as a contingency - but would have been slaughtered if hospitals had been over run. Didn't hear the protests against them being built this time last year either.
As for president, well that's s whole new thread - but starter for 10, id vote for James
As for president, well that's s whole new thread - but starter for 10, id vote for James
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In my line of work we often put contingencies in place should something go wrong during some work. We don’t get angry at wasted money when they thankfully go unused.
Nightingales are no different. Strange to be angry they weren’t needed.
As for test and trace, it’s like catnip for some. But it’s largely run by the NHS, and surely you don’t want to bash the NHS? When I dealt with test and trace after getting Covid recently they were outstanding. They were fast, efficient and clear, contrary what Twitter would have you believe. Seems unfair the criticism the NHS get from test and trace. Seems like political games to me.
It was expensive yes, and certainly should be viewed in hindsight whether that much money should have been spent on it. But the government had a choice, throw money at it now, or do nothing?
Im sure in the coming years, people far more knowledgable than any of us on the subject, will study why test and trace hasn’t really worked in Europe as it has else where. I suspect it’s a cultural/ physiological nature of the UK and Europe. France’s test and trace has collapsed, almost given up on.
Test and trace relies on people going for tests, and then being honest about their contacts if they are positive. No government in the world, no matter how much money they throw at it can do anything about people not doing so.
Only takes a 30 second glance at a test and trace sign in book at any pub to see the majority of those names and numbers were made up. You can’t trace someone that doesn’t exist!
Nightingales are no different. Strange to be angry they weren’t needed.
As for test and trace, it’s like catnip for some. But it’s largely run by the NHS, and surely you don’t want to bash the NHS? When I dealt with test and trace after getting Covid recently they were outstanding. They were fast, efficient and clear, contrary what Twitter would have you believe. Seems unfair the criticism the NHS get from test and trace. Seems like political games to me.
It was expensive yes, and certainly should be viewed in hindsight whether that much money should have been spent on it. But the government had a choice, throw money at it now, or do nothing?
Im sure in the coming years, people far more knowledgable than any of us on the subject, will study why test and trace hasn’t really worked in Europe as it has else where. I suspect it’s a cultural/ physiological nature of the UK and Europe. France’s test and trace has collapsed, almost given up on.
Test and trace relies on people going for tests, and then being honest about their contacts if they are positive. No government in the world, no matter how much money they throw at it can do anything about people not doing so.
Only takes a 30 second glance at a test and trace sign in book at any pub to see the majority of those names and numbers were made up. You can’t trace someone that doesn’t exist!
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- Jun 1, 2017
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- #214
Christ Knutsfordian. Even I wouldn’t vote for me! ??
- Jun 1, 2017
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- #215
Yes, consultants in the city get paid huge, obscene amounts. But most of the time they are being employed by the private sector.
There is and always will be a need for consultants to be employed by and bring their experience, expertise and knowledge to assist the public sector. I’ve personally done so on many occasions.
They enable the public sector to gain the benefits from what they deliver without having to take on the risks and costs of employing this additional resource themselves.
But this government just appears to be fixated with a view that the private sector consultancy business - the usual suspects like Crapita, Serco Mitie, G4S etc - can resolve all the ills of the world and automatically know better than highly experienced and knowledgeable people within the public sector
- Jun 1, 2017
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- #216
Johnson has now lied at PMQs three weeks on the spin. Clearly against the ministerial code. But do I see any of the right wing media calling for him to resign?Another example of Johnson telling porkies to the HoC. No calls for him from the MSM to resign though....
Quelle surprise....
Covid contracts still unpublished despite Boris Johnson's claim
Days after the PM said all contracts were "on the record", government lawyers admitted many were not.www.bbc.co.uk
- Dec 18, 2014
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James - I think they simply took the view that the public sector would be under huge pressure doing their day jobs and wouldn't have the capacity to undertake all the additional work required. They wanted to harness all the resources available to them to fight this pandemic - and they have largely been justified and vindicated
That most of these consultancies are based in London is no innocent mistake. Many of them have departments that are affiliated to government departments and work with together on a permanent basis, so they are not just dragged in off the street with no insight into what is required. I believe that to be true no matter which government is in office.
It has become de rigueur (for example) to criticise test, track and trace as a waste of public money without any real understanding of the scale of the actual spend versus delivery and what was actually needed to build a complete industry from scratch within the last year. The media have perpetuated this myth with lazy reporting, which also gives an indication of their personal positions on such issues. Angela Rayner was also on GMB this morning, again exposing her lack (and Labour's) of insight and understanding of what is actually being delivered in terms of a system that can now deliver over 1.5million tests per day. The actual cost are £10 billion, most of which is for the actual tests and about £2billion in grants to local authorities to support local tracing efforts. So the headline figure of £37billion is complete nonsense and if Labour really want to make an issue of this, they should at least do some decent analysis of the costs and systems in place
There's no doubt that people from the public sector have played an important role in fighting this pandemic. The Vaccine programme is an excellent example of where the public and private sectors have worked well to deliver a 1st class programme. I disagree with your assessment that the government is fixated with consultants. I think they are just fixated with getting things done and the pandemic over with
- Jun 1, 2017
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- #218
“That most of these consultancies are based in London is no innocent mistake.”
No shit Sherlock. The Chumocracy is alive and thriving thanks to the centralised, cronyist outlook of this corrupt government.
Even if you take into account the disbursements and hourly charge out rates of most major consultants (accommodation in London isn’t cheap after all), £6000 per day is just scandalous.
- Dec 18, 2014
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Your average Joe isn't charged out at that rate - that's going to be senior partners and the like.
If these guys didn't add any value, they would soon be on the ranks of the unemployed. Sometimes expertise costs. It's not always best used and doesn't always bring the benefits it should, but by and large they do add value and expertise that organisations don't have in-house
- Jun 1, 2017
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- #220
“Sometimes expertise costs.”
Couldn’t agree with you more.
So I take it that you will be supporting an above inflation pay increase for our expert nurses and doctors in the NHS?
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