Off Topic Coronavirus - 606 tales from the Inquiry

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Good to see the government have rescinded the NHS fee for migrant healthcare workers. How they even thought that would be an appropriate way to thank them for risking their lives during the pandemic is beyond comprehension. Priti Patel seems to be being set up for a fall (and deservedly so) but there is a snarling nastiness about these people that all the boffo jovialty of Boris can't wiite hide.
 
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Tories. Can't quite hide their nasty side, however charming they try to be.

Sir Keir can dine out on this one for a while (or he could if any restaurants were open).
 
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Ken Shabby said:
Good to see the government have rescinded the NHS fee for migrant healthcare workers. How they even thought that would be an appropriate way to thank them for risking their lives during the pandemic is beyond comprehension. Priti Patel seems to be being set up for a fall (and deservedly so) but there is a snarling nastiness about these people that all the boffo jovialty of Boris can't quite hide.
Click to expand...
 
Oh dear. Dominic Cummings...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52779356

"The British people do not expect there to be one rule for them and another rule for Dominic Cummings."
(Labour)

No, we should not expect that.
But why am I not even a little surprised to read about this.

All you poor buggers trapped in high-rise flats for weeks on end?
Mr Cummings was laughing at you all the time.

Will he be punished? <laugh>
Will he even get a rap on the knuckles? :emoticon-0145-shake
Here's what he thinks of the British people and all the NHS workers :emoticon-0172-mooni
 
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Cummings doesn't even think he has done anything wrong...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52782913

His arrogance is breathtaking.
Where in the lockdown rules does it say if you're showing coronavirus symptoms it's OK to drive 250 miles?

The instructions were crystal clear:
STAY AT HOME and SELF-ISOLATE.
Not drive the length of the country to your parent's mansion.

And he doesn't care whether the Public thinks he has broken the spirit of the lockdown rules (as well as breaking the rules themselves).
Cummings doesn't give a damn about setting an example, or even following the rules like everyone else has to.
He is a privileged, self-centred hypocrite.

And I read now that No.10 has said Cummings' actions were in line with lockdown guidelines.
WTF? :emoticon-0104-surpr
Since f**king when?
Since his epic journey while infectious with COVID19 was exposed by the pesky newspapers.
That statement of support for Cummings has utterly ruined the Government's credibility.

Now we all know this Government only requires plebs to follow the rules.
Obeying the lockdown is only for the peasants.

By the way, where is Boris?
He's been seen less often than Kim Jong-Un lately.

Maybe he's driven a few hundred miles to take a quiet holiday somewhere.
In line with the lockdown rules of course <whistle>
 
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The Government briefing this afternoon is an UTTER DISGRACE.

Grant Shapps is a spineless jellyfish. No surprise there.

But far, far more seriously:
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer (who has stood at the lectern and given seemingly impartial advice a dozen times or more during the last 8 weeks) was unwilling to give a straight answer to very simple questions.

She refused to comment of the case of Dominic Cummings bacause she didn't have the specific details of his case.
She refused even to say it is not a good idea to drive 250 miles if you are infectious with Coronavirus.
All she did was repeat phrases which she knows are open to interpretation, therefore giving tacit approval to the way Dominic Cummings has behaved.

Shame on her.
She was got at, and agreed to cover for Cummings rather than remain true to the principles of the lockdown rules.
She knows what Cummings did was wrong. But she lacked the courage to say so.

Nothing she says from this point onwards has any credibility with me whatsoever.
She is not an independent voice offering objective and clear medical reasons for obeying the lockdown rules.
She is a Government mouthpiece - a propaganda puppet.


This was exactly what so many people who believe in the lockdown response feared would happen.
The Government throwing away its integrity in order to protest one arrogant, selfish, privileged political player.

Now the rules are not clear and equal anymore.
Now it is up to individuals to use their own judgment to decide what is best for their own circumstances.
What does that mean?
It means whatever you want it to mean.
It means that if you're a powerful mover within the Tory Party you can do whatever you want.
It means it no longer matters what you know (the clear rules), it matters who you know.

This is the new position as endorsed by the Deputy CMO.

You can interpret the lockdown rules however you want to.
There is no such thing anymore as the 'spirit' of the lockdown rules, or even the 'letter' of them.
You can please yourself - and the more powerful and privileged you are, the more freedom you have.
 
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By the way, I would like to see Boris Johnson come out and say in front of the press that he gives Dominic Cummings his full support.

So far, we have only had news of this 'full support' in a Government statement.
That isn't anywhere near good enough.

I want to see the Prime Minister look the cameras in the eye and say it.
So all the NHS workers and care workers, and others who have made painful sacrifices to uphold the lockdown and save lives, can see him say it.
 
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There are new allegations in the "campaigning" newspapers today;
  • That Dominic Cummings made more than one journey from London to County Durham during the lockdown.
  • That he was seen at a beauty spot 30 miles from his parents' home more than once.
It is possible that there is no truth whatsoever in these reports from the Mirror and the Observer.
Downing Street is flatly refuting these stories, saying they are false.

For the sake of Mr Cummings' career they had better be groundless.
There is absolutely no way the Government could backtrack and try to justify these actions if they turn out to be proven.
Any attempt to say such behaviour was still within the lockdown rules would be drowned in ridicule and laughter.

And there is already an issue regarding an account by Mr Cummings' wife, which differs from her husband's version of events.

If there is any truth at all to these new accusations, that truth will come out.
I would expect Mr Cummings to resign within the next 48 hours, and cover himself by saying he is going for the greater good of the battle against COVID19, while still denying he has done anything wrong and painting himself as a dignified victim of the vindictive left-wing press.
And I don't expect Boris Johnson to show his face or say a single word on the matter.

If Dominic Cummings still has his job by the end of next week it will mean one of two things;

A) That there is no truth in the new allegations and they have been completely discedited.
B) That the Government has lost all the trust it was given by the British people regarding the Coronavirus lockdown rules.
 
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Former Director of Communications for John Major's Government Jonathan Haslam has just stuck the boot in to Dominic Cummings in a BBC breakfast interview.
Well done Mr Haslam <applause>

He has said there was a cover-up by the Government (pretty strong stuff).
That the 260 mile journey of Mr Cummings should have been explained to the public at the time it happened - especially if it was within the lockdown rules.

Perhaps they decided not to reveal the facts because it might have confused the Government's very simple message
STAY HOME ... PROTECT THE NHS ... SAVE LIVES

Rather than
STAY HOME ... unless one of you gets sick and you're worried about childcare in which case you can drive to anywhere in the country in order to be within easy reach of members of your extended family..........................

Doesn't roll off the tongue quite so easily does it.

And does anybody really believe that the Government's most powerful and influential political advisor - the only non-scientist who has access to the secret SAGE meetings where medical advice to the Government is decided - and the man who has the ear of the Prime Minister whenever he wants it, would not have access to the best quality child care options within reach of his London home should he need them?

Dominic Cummings is not a fuloughed shop worker stuck in a 15th floor flat.
He is one of the most powerful non-elected people in this country. Possibly the most powerful non-elected person.

He has blatantly abused his privileged position.
Having been exposed, he should have done the decent thing and resigned immediately.
But the coordinated rallying around him by a flock of Government ministers, and the cowardly ambiguity of the Deputy CMO, is nothing short of a scandal.
Apparently the position of Mr Cummings is more important to Boris Johnson than the trust of the British people.

PS:

I liked the way Jonathan Haslam pulled no punches in his attack on the current Government and Dominic Cummings.
But a couple of questions did spring to mind;
  1. Does Mr Haslam have an axe to grind?
  2. What did My Haslam know about John Major's affair with Edwina Currie - and if questioned, would he be quite so forthright in asserting that it should have been in the public domain, in the same way that Dominic Cummings' trip to County Durham should have been made public?
 
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Regardless of status or party lines these people who ignore what the rest of us have sacrificed should resign or be sacked. If Johnson feels he cannot bear to lose Cummings, it's an ominous look out for the country. Numbers are finally dropping but most experts take it as read we can expect to face a second wave. We need a government up to the task ahead. Johnson, Hancock and Patel have all proved well below basic levels of competence, although I will happily admit after their initial herd immunity mistake, and the woefully lack of ppe, they have tried hard to keep the country safe. With the exception of Johnson. Skipping Cobra meetings for me shows he is what his critics say. Not a 'detail' man but one who prefers to wing it and see what happens.
 
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Boris Johnson now faces a straight choice.
He can have Dominic Cummings, or the trust of the British people.

If Johnson isn't a complete fool, he will sack Cummings now.
Make a clean break, and show the people that the message is still clear and it applies to everybody.
Then in a couple of years' time he can quietly bring Cummings back into the fold.

Grant Shapps in on TV right now, muddying the waters and blurring interpretations, to help get Cummings off the hook.
Destroying the clear message, and destroying public trust in the Government.

Sorry folks, he is effectively saying.
The rules apply to you, and the Police fines and enforcements apply to you.
The rules don't apply to us and our friends.
We can behave how we please, and use loopholes and technicalities to justify our behaviour.

And if you obeyed the lockdown rules in good faith and suffered emotional anguish because of that,
then you are too stupid to understand the small print we never bothered to tell you about.
The small print that Dominic Cummings rightly took advantage of.

Keeping to the spirit of the lockdown rules because you want to save lives makes you all a bit thick.


The squirming and wriggling from Shapps over times and dates is pathetic.
Can he not understand how tawdry his quibbling sounds?
And denying the Police spoke to the Cummings family about this matter is apparently a bare-faced lie.
The Police have stated that they did.


If all Boris Johnson cares about is the loyalty of a rump of right-wing Daily Mail readers,
then by all means he can stand by Dominic Cummings.
The rest of us will do what we think is right from now on, and never trust him again.
 
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lardiman said:
By the way, I would like to see Boris Johnson come out and say in front of the press that he gives Dominic Cummings his full support.

So far, we have only had news of this 'full support' in a Government statement.
That isn't anywhere near good enough.

I want to see the Prime Minister look the cameras in the eye and say it.
So all the NHS workers and care workers, and others who have made painful sacrifices to uphold the lockdown and save lives, can see him say it.
Click to expand...

Well blow me down, he said it.
Boris Johnson has just looked the entire nation in the eye and backed Dominic Cummings.

The message the PM just sent to the people of the UK could not be clearer.

Everybody who has faithfully followed the lockdown rules...
Everybody who has made sacrifices to protect the NHS and save lives...
Everybody who wanted to do what Dominic Cummings did, to provide for their own kids, but stayed at home and obeyed the rules because they knew it would be wrong to drive hundreds of miles while infectious with COVID19, and right to endure isolation and extra hardship because it was the proper thing to do...

You're all fools.
Gullible fools.

We're not all in this together. We never were.
You do as you're told.
We'll do as we please.


Boris' defence is apparently that Dominic Cummings only did what any caring father would do.
Absolutely breathtaking.

Thousands and thousands of caring fathers and mothers DID NOT do what Dominic Cummings has done.
They restrained themselves from his utterly selfish and reckless behaviour because they knew it was not safe (but was self-evidently incredibly dangerous) and it would NOT protect the NHS and would NOT help to save lives.

All of those parents who did not copy the 'responsible' and 'right' behaviour of Mr Cummings are simply dumber than him.

Boris expects us to believe that Cummings (who has family, friends and huge influence in London) had no other option to provide care for his child than to drive 260 miles to a second home next door to his parents in a rather nice part of leafy County Durham?
Utter garbage.

And how can Boris repeat over and again that Mr Cummings was acting to stop the spread of the virus!
Blatantly untrue and disconnected from reality.
For pity's sake <doh>
 
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First response from the Official Civil Service website;

Arrogant and Offensive.
Can you imagine having to work with these truth-twisters?

The message was removed almost immediately.
 
<laugh> The Government won't investigate Cummings, but they'll investigate this:

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A top Government advisor takes a 260 mile trip with his sick wife and a child in the car.
Don't tell us they didn't stop anywhere along the way.
Anywhere they stopped, anything they touched, exposed other people to risk of COVID19 infection.

Yet this unauthorised tweet is a more serious matter as far as the Government is concerned.

If they find the person who posted it, do you suppose Boris will just say he/she was following their instincts?
No. They'll be sacked.
And probably prosecuted for abuse of an official twitter feed.

Remember folks - it's one rule for us, and another rule for those who rule us.

You do as you're told
They'll do as they please.

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Better sack this lot too Boris. They aren't buying your bulls**t.

After all they're only respected scientists.
Not one of your mates.

UPDATE:

The BBC News website has closed its live feed on headlines related to this affair.
Social media meltdown perhaps?
 
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Yesterday I saw on TV a Daily Mail journo backing Dominic Cummings, so I assumed that would be the stance of the whole newspaper.

However the Daily Mail has come out more strongly against Boris Johnson than any other paper <applause>
The Mirror and the Guardian are also not impressed, but you would expect that.

I'm disappointed that the Sun has not criticised the Prime Minister.
Sadly (for a paper that claims to be the peoples' champion) the Sun seems to be backing Boris and ignoring his decision to sacrifice public trust in the Government.
 
I can see similarities between Boris protecting Cummings and RD continually backing Katrien Meire. Bit of a thin analogy though. Duchatalet always took the (mostly wrong) decisions at the Valley. But Johnson doesn't seem like that. Cummings looks like the power behind the throne.
It'll be interesting to see how long the Tories allow this to fester.
 
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The influence of Dominic Cummings must be even greater than most of us realised before.

I would not have thought Boris Johnson would be so reliant on an unelected advisor who is accountable to nobody.
But Johnson seems to believe he is. I'm not buying the line that Bojo has stick by Cummings just out of friendship or loyalty.

As you say, how long will it be before more Conservative MPs speak out - not just Mr Cumming's known enemies within the party.
Is every single member of the Cabinet going to bat for Cummings when Boris tells them to?
Every day that passes without this matter being corrected will see the abused trust of the people crumble more.
Irreparable damage has probably been done already.
 
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