We may disagree with how much tax should and should not be paid (i was pretty hardcore tory when i was younger lol, funnily enough i've become more left wing as i have gotten older) but among the tragedy of your story theres lots of positivity in there. - The altruism of your mother to her sister even though it was tough on her not being able to live her own life - Your love and care for your mother - Your aunt "rewarding" the kindness of your mother. You should be proud of what you have done/achieved and no one can take that away from you
Been reading a bit about the COVID inquiry, which I haven’t spent much time on to date. It seems to have degenerated into a long slag off of Hancock and Johnson, as the lawyers lead every witness down the same gossipy path. I couldn’t give a **** about their reputation and legacy, they are both obviously venal incompetent twats, but they weren’t the only ones and this inquiry seems to be a massive waste of time and money if all it does is to confirm what we already know, rather than identify the specific systemic issues that need addressing so we can have a more managed approach to the next (inevitable) pandemic. At the moment all we have is ‘don’t vote for liars’.
I'm sure that the inquiry will, in the fullness of time, address the systemic failures and will be tasked to recommend what measures should be taken to make us better prepared next time, but I guess it will be up to politicians to make it happen. There was already a pandemic strategy report from 2011 that seems to have been largely ignored. The inquiry so far does just seem to confirm what many of us already knew about the incompetence and dishonesty of Boris Johnson, but it should have taken place much sooner - imagine the damage to Johnson if he was still PM. At least it should ensure that he can never make a comeback.
I’ve just read the terms of reference of the inquiry. I can’t see where the slagging off of individuals contributes to meeting these, no matter how much the individuals deserve it. It’s the lawyers doing the questioning who are at fault, and whoever is presiding over the whole thing for letting it drift in this tabloid direction.
On the subject of Public Inquiries, the Grenfell fire happened in 2017. The final report of the inquiry into it is not expected until next year. The inquiry has spent £170m in total to March this year, £70m of that in lawyers fees. The Covid inquiry is thought (by lawyers, the beneficiaries) to be likely to be the most expensive in history. It’s only a couple of months in to a process which, if Grenfell is a yardstick, could take a decade and they have already spent over £100m. Just to tell us that Johnson and Hancock are useless and liars. There’s got to be a better way to do these things.
Big fan of Argentina electing a Mick Jagger-impersonating far right PM intent on taking back the Falklands and just generally coming up with a variety of mad policies. Doubt he’ll last a year but the game needs characters.
I hope you’ll forgive me for posting this. Popped up on my phone today for some reason. I can honestly say I never experienced an occasion like it. Literally brought our wee country to a standstill for a few days. What a lady Watch this video on Facebook https://fb.watch/osLcaMxOEM/
A great occasion, Nuts, immaculately carried out by all. I liked and was sympathetic to the soldier who said he wasn't nervous until the Queen put her first foot on the step, and then all his senses closed down! Fortunately, he had his military training to rely on and all was well.
Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ Follow I find this rather sad. I'm not sure the BBC even realises how much it is damaging it's own brand now. Quote please log in to view this image BBC News (UK) @BBCNews · Nov 21 Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague https://bbc.in/40Nh5kG Readers added context A previous study "failed to identify any health disparities". The current unpublished research found 9/49 of plague burials and 8/96 non-plague burials had African cranial measurements. This is not a statistically significant difference, even without cluster effects. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…theguardian.com/society/2023/n…
Autumn Statement. Extremely worrying that judging by the length of his suit trousers, which finish mid shin, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is expecting serious flooding.
These Tory ****ers really do hate the disabled don't they. They should start by recouping all the millions they gave to their mates in corrupt PPE deals and the test & trace fiasco. They really are a horrible, nasty breed of people these Tory ****s.
So if a disabled person can't work cos they are ****ing disabled to start with, doesn't find a job where they can work from home, they will lose their benefits!!! What the actual ****?!?!?! Where are these home jobs that disabled people can do? Talk about demonising people who already feel demonised. More people will lose their homes and most likely their lives due to these cruel reforms. Absolutely sickening and disgusting. Tories are the lowest of the low.
