Coronavirus

[Deleted User 3150]

I get that some people don't forgive him for Brexit but that's a whole different issue Whiteinfrance.

The issue is that the man is an unprincipled liar, as evidenced by his running of the vote leave campaign

[Deleted User 728]

For anyone who doesn't get the anger surrounding Cummings' trip to Durham - which he very evidently DID make, Vid, so don't try to cast on doubt on it - and for anyone who is attempting to defend him and Boris' ham-fisted miscommunications about what to do under lockdown, read this :
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... gs-ashamed

The very same thing happened to an old friend of mine, only it was her father. To make matters worse, he died in a care home along with several other victims of Covid-19. A care home where zero PPE was provided.
It's personal for a lot of people.
It's one rule for them and another for us.
It's a despicable abuse of power.
It's wrong. End of.

[Wigan White]

The problem is the Cival service which is not fit for purpose, who resist all change a la yes minister.

Not sure what you're getting at there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cival

As a Civil Servant who has been helping to process the 10-fold increase in benefit claims since the end of March, who has seen process changes by the hour, I take exception to that remark.

I also work for the Civil Service, and totally agree Sniffer.

[johnh]

I am strongly against un-elected advisers such as Cummings. Both Labour and Conservatives have been stacked out with them over the years (remember Alistair Campbell?) They all end up with too much power and influence, while most elected MP's never get a look in. I can only think that whoever is PM at the time doesn't have confidence in themselves or their cabinet.

I disagree with you here John. Politics aside - I honestly think we should employ the best men for the job. In terms of brexit deal, the best negotiator. In terms of this crisis I honestly believe we should have engaged with the private sector earlier. Part of the issue was logistics. Why not get McDonald’s / Matalan / Primark handling the distribution. McDonald’s drop to their 1300 outlets daily. Look at how the supermarkets manage to supply up to 40,000 items to their stores daily.

I actually spoke to the NHS and a firm called refresco back in March Re visors. Refresco / Cotts as was bottle 2L pop for coke/Pepsi and own label. A 2L blow mould machine can manufacture 25,000 bottles an hour. I believe they have 6 such machines in their plant nr Wakefield. Retool them and you may be able to produce 4x25,000 visors per hour x 6. 600,000 per hour or 14.4m per day. Cotts has 8 bottling plants in UK. They could probably supply the whole of Europe in a week! Their european production director agreed it could be done but sod all was followed up.

The problem is the Cival service which is not fit for purpose, who resist all change a la yes minister. I will give you ne crazy example HMRC wanting everyone to do a digital quarterly tax return when they can’t even accept an email!

Ha Ho keep safe

I think you misunderstood my post. I am not saying we shouldn't use whatever skills are available. The key words in my post were 'power' and 'influence'. Guys like Cummings and Campbell don't just provide expertise, they are involved in defining 'policy - and no one voted for them.'

[Deleted User 3150]

A bit like the royal family!

[Deleted User 728]

[johnh]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 31266.html

Cummings and Boris - what a pair of prats/liars

Cummings is a major architect of lies and simplistic slogans such as 'Take back control' and 'Get Brexit done'

Did anyone see the documentary about him and the leave campaign?

It's called 'Bexit: The Uncivil War' and is worth a watch

I believe it's on Netflix.

Whiteinfrance. One of the attractive things about LUFCTALK is that, where there are disagreements, they are handled sensibly and rationally by members. Over the years, this is to the credit of the Moderators who do an excellent job of managing the site. Your post above does not fall into this category.

[Deleted User 3150]

Why not??

[Deleted User 3150]

Perhaps the truth hurts?

[Selby White]

This thread is about coronavirus and what he did was wrong. Whatever your political views are, common sense should tell you when you are steering the ship you have a duty to do it all by the book.
People are right to criticise his decision based on that fact alone.
However some of the posts here used to get points across are just dragging the forum down IMHO.
From Brexit to grooming gangs to Princess Di are things we've visited before and really don't come into this debate.
Whatever your political views each case should be discussed on its own merits. Dare I say one thing I believe is whether you are capitalist or socialist you are probably not right all the time, even if you think you are.

Please keep debate civil and relevant.