Coronavirus

[SideBurns]

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Really? If you're worried about your unhealthy or frail loved ones, where's the reassurance in that?



I would bet that the vast majority, if not all of us, have loved ones who fall in those categories.

In my original post yesterday I said it gave a comparison between the likelihood of dying from this disease compared to other causes. It can therefore provide perspective and reassurance for many people anxious about the consequences of catching the virus, and I'd suggest that is the purpose of the article.

That isn't to downplay how serious it can be for the frail and vulnerable, which is obvious and reflected in the death toll.

[JeMeSouviens]

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In my original post yesterday I said it gave a comparison between the likelihood of dying from this disease compared to other causes. It can therefore provide perspective and reassurance for many people anxious about the consequences of catching the virus, and I'd suggest that is the purpose of the article.

That isn't to downplay how serious it can be for the frail and vulnerable, which is obvious and reflected in the death toll.

Doesn't everybody already know this?

[silverhibee]

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Pretty unusual. He’s not elected. It’s his elected boss that should be facing questions.


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England going back in to lockdown because to many people flouting rules and new spike in cases.

[JeMeSouviens]

The 7 day rolling average of new cases in Scotland dropped below 100 yesterday for the first time since the end of March. Another fall today taking it to 81/day. By next week when we should start contact tracing it'll hopefully be well below 50.

Lockdown has given us a chance of control.

[HappyAsHellas]

I wouldn't hold my breath on any test and trace system being implemented here - our record on testing is deplorable.

[jonty]

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Pretty unusual. He’s not elected. It’s his elected boss that should be facing questions.


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Am I the only one who's hoping he goes fully Malcolm Tucker?
I fear he's going to resign, but still stick around in the background. Then again the mans arrogance knows no bounds.

[SideBurns]

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Doesn't everybody already know this?

I presume not, as it was a new article yesterday from the BBC's health correspondent giving comparative statistics (which I, at least, hadn't seen before). Anyway, I originally posted about it hoping the article might prove helpful for at least someone reading it. I appreciate that's not the case for you, which is fair enough!

[grunt]

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I never said they made it but it was released and the subject is perception...surely you can't be defending using children like this...and apparently I am not alone who perceived that video as inappropriate

So who are you angry with? Sounds to me as though you think it's the fault of the SNP or SG?

[JeMeSouviens]

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I presume not, as it was a new article yesterday from the BBC's health correspondent giving comparative statistics (which I, at least, hadn't seen before). Anyway, I originally posted about it hoping the article might prove helpful for at least someone reading it. I appreciate that's not the case for you, which is fair enough!

Ok sorry, I probably am following stats too closely for the good of my own health!

[grunt]

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I think it's more than pretty unusual

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It's incredible, an unelected adviser giving a public statement and taking questions??

It's more than unusual or incredible; it's against the SPAD Code of Conduct.

[JeMeSouviens]

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Am I the only one who's hoping he goes fully Malcolm Tucker?
I fear he's going to resign, but still stick around in the background. Then again the mans arrogance knows no bounds.

My money's on haughty arrogance and "you plebs are just too thick to understand the great man (ME!)"

They are effectively trying what SG tried with Calderwood except that DC will proclaim himself entirely innocent of everything.

[Logie Green]

Hopefully he’ll make Prince Andrew’s interview look polished.

[BroxburnHibee]

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It's incredible, an unelected adviser giving a public statement and taking questions??

This is evidence that Cummings is actually de facto Prime Minister of the UK.

With each passing day I become more disillusioned with this country. (UK)

Advisers advise.

Ministers govern.

The fact hes taking questions says to me hes going nowhere.

[JeMeSouviens]

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I wouldn't hold my breath on any test and trace system being implemented here - our record on testing is deplorable.

It is. But then again just having a huge number of untargeted tests for propaganda reasons doesn't necessarily get you anywhere.

Having a functional tti system in place from being woefully behind the curve is a big ask and I hae ma doots ... but it's the only way we're not going to have a 2nd wave and be back in lockdown so hope to **** it works.

[Berwickhibby]

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So who are you angry with? Sounds to me as though you think it's the fault of the SNP or SG?

Not angry with anyone just highlighting a point about perception...my perception differs from yours. Had this been done by parents in the Home Counties praising Johnson by having their kids reading this from script...then have it mistakenly reposted by a major TV company ...would your perception be different

[JeMeSouviens]

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Advisers advise.

Ministers govern.

The fact hes taking questions says to me hes going nowhere.

I think he's been given a last throw of the dice. He better hope he does better than the double 1 his boss threw yesterday.

[JeMeSouviens]

Alistair Bunkall @AliBunkallSKY

I gather all Ministers were asked to tweet support for Cummings today.
One Minister, who didn’t, texted me: “a piece of you dies every time you see a friend or colleague tweet their support, after they’ve given you an entirely different view of Cummings in private”

[SideBurns]

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Ok sorry, I probably am following stats too closely for the good of my own health!

No problem. We're all going a bit stat-crazy at the moment!

[Chorley Hibee]

A damning article in the New Statesman:

No, Prime Minister. Your conduct at yesterday’s Downing Street briefing was not acceptable.

In a mature democracy, at a time when you have demanded enormous sacrifices from millions of your fellow citizens, you cannot seek to deflect*entirely legitimate questions*about the conduct of your top aide with flannel, evasion and obfuscation.*

You cannot simply declare yourself “content” that Dominic Cummings acted “responsibly, legally and with integrity” and expect the country meekly to accept that. You cannot claim some of the allegations against him were “palpably false” without saying which and why. You cannot ignore the questions you do not want to answer. You cannot get away without so much as a hint of apology or contrition.

At the very least you need to explain why it was permissible for Cummings, his wife and his four-year-old son to drive 264 miles to his parents’ house in Durham, when he had yet to contract Covid-19 and the rest of the country had been ordered to stay at home; why, even if he did fall ill, his family could not be supported by friends and relatives in London as countless other families were; whether he stopped at service stations en route, thereby jeopardising the lives of others; whether you sanctioned his journey; whether he and his family visited Barnard Castle on 12 April; and whether they subsequently returned to Durham from London and visited Houghall Woods on 19 April in an apparent breach of the lockdown rules.

No impartial observer would consider those unreasonable questions. Indeed journalists – of which you were once one yourself – would be remiss not to ask them. And yet you chose not to answer them last night, staging instead a charade of a press conference.*

Earlier, after the*Guardian*and*Sunday Mirror*printed the allegations concerning*Houghall Woods and Barnard Castle, your Downing Street spokespeople likewise opted for evasion, stating: “We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations about Mr Cummings from campaigning newspapers.”*So-called “friends” of Cummings – almost certainly the man himself – sought to dismiss the charges as “fake news”.

There is a pattern here. From the moment you became Prime Minister, and even before, you have sought to avoid being held to account. You have sought to avoid detailed scrutiny by MPs and journalists, even though accountability and scrutiny are essential ingredients of sound democracy.

In the run-up to last summer’s Conservative Party leadership election, your preferred means of communication with the public was your paid-for column in the*Daily Telegraph, and you ducked three of the six nationally televised debates.

As Prime Minister, during last autumn’s fraught battles over Brexit, you attempted to prorogue parliament for five weeks until the Supreme Court ruled that unlawful. You introduced*“People’s PMQs”*on Facebook – a ruse that gave the impression of openness and transparency but allowed you to vet the questions and avoid proper interrogation by professionals.*

During the December general election campaign you – alone of the party leaders – refused to be questioned by the BBC’s Andrew Neil, and at one point hid in a refrigerated warehouse to avoid a television crew. You sent Rishi Sunak, then chief secretary to the Treasury, to represent you at two televised debates, and Channel 4 replaced you with a block of melting ice after you ducked the debate on climate change. You campaigned instead through stage-managed photo ops and mendacious sloganeering.

Since the start of the coronavirus emergency, you have made just*one statement to the House of Commons on the biggest crisis this country has faced since the Second World War. You have led just three of the 70 daily Downing Street briefings since 16 March, even though the journalists invited to pose questions are severely hampered by their lack of comeback. You have faced Keir Starmer in just three PMQs since he became Labour Party leader seven weeks ago, though admittedly there have been extenuating circumstances. Again, your preferred means of communication is through televised statements from Downing Street that avoid the need to answer questions.

On Wednesday you will face the Liaison Committee of 36 select committee chairs for the first time since becoming prime minister, but only after your government imposed its own man, Bernard Jenkin, as its chair, in defiance of the committee’s members.

Your refusal to answer questions about Cummings is not hard to understand. The proverbial dog in the street knows that he broke the spirit, and almost certainly the letter, of the lockdown rules, but you cannot sack him because you cannot survive without him. He made you. He steers you. He controls you.

You will doubtless attempt to brazen out this scandal, notwithstanding the considerable damage Cummings has done to your government’s credibility and the nation’s battle against Covid-19. You have a big majority. The next general election is far away (2024). You will bluster and lie. You will seek to distract attention with headline-grabbing stunts, announcements and – quite possibly – the premature lifting of restrictions. You will demand support from your spineless cabinet and the sycophantic right-wing press. You will hope that the public will move on and forget.

You may succeed, but I’m not certain. I sense a depth of public fury on this issue that transcends party and the old Brexit divisions. The disgust extends deep into Conservative Middle England, with even the*Daily Mail*mocking your performance*yesterday, and throughout the “Red Wall” constituencies of northern England that delivered your election victory last December.*

It may be that the “people” you profess to champion have finally seen through you.

Martin Fletcher is a*New Statesman*contributing writer and a former foreign editor of the*Times.*

[grunt]

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A damning article in the New Statesman

Thanks for posting.

[McD]

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A damning article in the New Statesman:

No, Prime Minister. Your conduct at yesterday’s Downing Street briefing was not acceptable.

In a mature democracy, at a time when you have demanded enormous sacrifices from millions of your fellow citizens, you cannot seek to deflect*entirely legitimate questions*about the conduct of your top aide with flannel, evasion and obfuscation.*

You cannot simply declare yourself “content” that Dominic Cummings acted “responsibly, legally and with integrity” and expect the country meekly to accept that. You cannot claim some of the allegations against him were “palpably false” without saying which and why. You cannot ignore the questions you do not want to answer. You cannot get away without so much as a hint of apology or contrition.

At the very least you need to explain why it was permissible for Cummings, his wife and his four-year-old son to drive 264 miles to his parents’ house in Durham, when he had yet to contract Covid-19 and the rest of the country had been ordered to stay at home; why, even if he did fall ill, his family could not be supported by friends and relatives in London as countless other families were; whether he stopped at service stations en route, thereby jeopardising the lives of others; whether you sanctioned his journey; whether he and his family visited Barnard Castle on 12 April; and whether they subsequently returned to Durham from London and visited Houghall Woods on 19 April in an apparent breach of the lockdown rules.

No impartial observer would consider those unreasonable questions. Indeed journalists – of which you were once one yourself – would be remiss not to ask them. And yet you chose not to answer them last night, staging instead a charade of a press conference.*

Earlier, after the*Guardian*and*Sunday Mirror*printed the allegations concerning*Houghall Woods and Barnard Castle, your Downing Street spokespeople likewise opted for evasion, stating: “We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations about Mr Cummings from campaigning newspapers.”*So-called “friends” of Cummings – almost certainly the man himself – sought to dismiss the charges as “fake news”.

There is a pattern here. From the moment you became Prime Minister, and even before, you have sought to avoid being held to account. You have sought to avoid detailed scrutiny by MPs and journalists, even though accountability and scrutiny are essential ingredients of sound democracy.

In the run-up to last summer’s Conservative Party leadership election, your preferred means of communication with the public was your paid-for column in the*Daily Telegraph, and you ducked three of the six nationally televised debates.

As Prime Minister, during last autumn’s fraught battles over Brexit, you attempted to prorogue parliament for five weeks until the Supreme Court ruled that unlawful. You introduced*“People’s PMQs”*on Facebook – a ruse that gave the impression of openness and transparency but allowed you to vet the questions and avoid proper interrogation by professionals.*

During the December general election campaign you – alone of the party leaders – refused to be questioned by the BBC’s Andrew Neil, and at one point hid in a refrigerated warehouse to avoid a television crew. You sent Rishi Sunak, then chief secretary to the Treasury, to represent you at two televised debates, and Channel 4 replaced you with a block of melting ice after you ducked the debate on climate change. You campaigned instead through stage-managed photo ops and mendacious sloganeering.

Since the start of the coronavirus emergency, you have made just*one statement to the House of Commons on the biggest crisis this country has faced since the Second World War. You have led just three of the 70 daily Downing Street briefings since 16 March, even though the journalists invited to pose questions are severely hampered by their lack of comeback. You have faced Keir Starmer in just three PMQs since he became Labour Party leader seven weeks ago, though admittedly there have been extenuating circumstances. Again, your preferred means of communication is through televised statements from Downing Street that avoid the need to answer questions.

On Wednesday you will face the Liaison Committee of 36 select committee chairs for the first time since becoming prime minister, but only after your government imposed its own man, Bernard Jenkin, as its chair, in defiance of the committee’s members.

Your refusal to answer questions about Cummings is not hard to understand. The proverbial dog in the street knows that he broke the spirit, and almost certainly the letter, of the lockdown rules, but you cannot sack him because you cannot survive without him. He made you. He steers you. He controls you.

You will doubtless attempt to brazen out this scandal, notwithstanding the considerable damage Cummings has done to your government’s credibility and the nation’s battle against Covid-19. You have a big majority. The next general election is far away (2024). You will bluster and lie. You will seek to distract attention with headline-grabbing stunts, announcements and – quite possibly – the premature lifting of restrictions. You will demand support from your spineless cabinet and the sycophantic right-wing press. You will hope that the public will move on and forget.

You may succeed, but I’m not certain. I sense a depth of public fury on this issue that transcends party and the old Brexit divisions. The disgust extends deep into Conservative Middle England, with even the*Daily Mail*mocking your performance*yesterday, and throughout the “Red Wall” constituencies of northern England that delivered your election victory last December.*

It may be that the “people” you profess to champion have finally seen through you.

Martin Fletcher is a*New Statesman*contributing writer and a former foreign editor of the*Times.*

what a well put together piece, absolutely eviscerates BJ, and really shines a light on the consistent appalling behaviours he's exhibited. And also calls out the pathetic relationship with Cummings.

[silverhibee]

KO time 4 o'clock in the Rose garden.

[jonty]

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KO time 4 o'clock in the Rose garden.

The rose garden. Makes it sound like a date.

[jonty]

we might not have hit more than 80k tests:

he government has quietly admitted that it's double counting its tests. Results have never hit more than 80k in a day.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/n...sted-0ln33dp7n


https://twitter.com/jonathanwakeham/...04812342149121


(we really need to get an easier way to embed tweets)

[marinello59]

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I think he's been given a last throw of the dice. He better hope he does better than the double 1 his boss threw yesterday.

This is really desperate stuff as it breaks the code of conduct he operates under, he is not allowed to take part in public political controversy. Looks like he can cause it but not speak about it afterwards.

[grunt]

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(we really need to get an easier way to embed tweets)

Agreed. It's possible to post pictures attached to tweets:

[lapsedhibee]

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This is really desperate stuff as it breaks the code of conduct he operates under

If he cancels at 3.55 for that reason, he'll have succeeded in taking heat off the man who works for him for a couple of hours or more.

[JeMeSouviens]

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KO time 4 o'clock in the Rose garden.

I beg your pardon???

[grunt]

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I beg your pardon???

[greenlex]

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I beg your pardon???

Promises promises.