Off Topic Coronavirus and NOTHING to do with football thread

I had to look it up to see when a British PM had been so totally savaged in the Chamber at Westminster. As hard as I thought no event came to mind since Geoffrey Howe gave his resignation speech, and was the start of the end for Thatcher. That was in 1990, thirty years ago, so a long time has passed since one looked so weak, until today. Johnson was shown up as a chancer who had no idea of what he had signed up to by a MP who was almost a forgotten man, and had to make a last minute stand in for the isolating leader of the opposition. It was no wonder that the PM left the Chamber as fast as could, muttering to himself. I wonder if today will bring about the demise of Johnson in the same way that Howe finished off Thatcher?

 

A one-month-old firm - no doubt owned by Tory donors, with Tory MPs holding shares - awarded a multi-million pound PPE contract...

It seems to me that the Tories are intent on plundering as much of the UK's wealth as they can for themselves & their friends.

https://bylinetimes.com/2020/09/14/...lion-ppe-contract-to-one-month-old-firm/?s=09

 

Selon les informations d'Europe 1, certains laboratoires n'hésitent pas à proposer des tests PCR aux résultats plus rapides. Cependant, les patients doivent dans ce cas-là dépenser de l'argent et ne pas profiter de la gratuité du dépistage.

Basically if you want to pay you can get a test result quicker than going through the free system. It has created a debate about the ethics of such a thing happening. The ministry of health have said it is illegal and will stamp down on any labs offering the service, but some people see no wrong in queue jumping if you can afford it. Others still hold to the principle that it should be freely available to all, and the depth of your pocket should not come into it. Yesterday in a commons statement Hancock said that the UK testing system was stretched in part because too many people wanted a test because it was free. Will he use that argument as a means of charging people who want to get to the head of the queue?

 

Not fit for purpose... has been found out... and surrounding himself with a toxic inner circle..... cant see him lasting.... but the Tory govt emboiled in such a mess with Brexit and Covid.... I think he will go quietly at some agreed point......

 

I would agree that testing should be free and available for all Frenchie - but in Germany all tourists coming back from risk areas face either quarantine or testing. I do not see that a person who has returned from a holiday in Spain should be tested at the tax payers expense - they chose to go despite knowing the risks and should be expected to pay for their own tests on returning.

 

I agree.

 

i can go with that too...

 

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article...ior-congressmen-who-intervened-in-brexit/amp?
The Cummings/Johnson tangled web gets worse - four US congressmen warning that their proposed tinkering with the EU Withdrawal Agreement will impact on any UK/US trade deal. No bad thing in my opinion, but two of the four are known IRA sympathisers - an implied threat re the Troubles starting over?

 

And as if that wasn't enough, Japanese company Hitachi have pulled out of the Horizon nuclear power station project. Boris must be quaking like a jelly right now...

https://apnews.com/82caa5af265d70d0b79573d59455f1be

 

I think I would rather take the comment from Joe Biden who doesn't appear to have any links with the IRA.

"We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit. Any trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period."

Despite the UK government saying that by breaking the law they are strengthening the GFA, it is plain to anyone with half a brain cell this is untrue.

Meanwhile having not been able to sort out the infrastructure at the ports and airports the government has turned to an outside company from the USA to sort it for them.

"Palantir’s software will draw on data from HMRC, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office and the Department for Transport. An amendment will be added to a government trade bill later this year to provide the legal basis for sharing the data required by the software, the document says."

Who will have control of the borders? The UK or a software company from the States?

 

Trump has donated to the IRA in the past - just another reason to loathe the POS - having had meetings with Gerry Adams et al.

 

Nearly pooped myself this morning - whilst enjoying a cup of coffee my phone beeped at me - a notification from the Protect Scotland tracing app that I only downloaded last weekend.
I've only been out of the house twice since then, but the app has apparently 'spoken' twenty one times to other apps in that time and was just letting me know.
Nice to know it's working I suppose...

 

5th September. "Newspapers are already struggling-get out there and buy a paper to support the free press." Matt Hancock

18th September "You shouldn’t believe what’s in the papers. Tests *are* available in every part of the country." Matt Hancock

 

Arguably the worst news to come out America overnight with Justice Bader Ginsburg dying. A voice of reason and sanity gone from a land where religious extremists of a different flavour are looking to hold sway - particularly over women. I fear this could have wider ramifications. What a monumental, stress on the mental, mess the world is making of what really ought to be the best of times.

 

The three horsemen are riding across the plains
Just waiting for the fourth and the dead rising to take over the earth

 

From The Times - I suspect that both Scotland and Nth.Ireland will be looking closely at this and considering their futures.

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Sorry to be behind the times, here, I was suffering from nasty flu when you posted this.
Quite true. It was a mauling, and Johnson just wanted earth to swallow him up. But it doesn’t eat junk food.

 

This went to no tests available in 46 out of the 49 hotspots!