A Levels, Covid, Brexit. Worst Government Ever?

[Siddo]

Looking at this government's recent performance, some critics from all sides of the political spectrum are highly critical of the government. What do you honestly think?

[TVC15]

One word
Clusterfuck

[jurek]

Rest assured there's more to come.
Blame game already started.
There'll be plenty cluster bombs dropping
over the next 12 months.

[jurek]

Rest assured there's more to come.
Blame game already started.
There'll be plenty cluster bombs dropping
over the next 12 months.

[jurek]

Sorry posted the same message twice.

[evensteadiereddie]

It will be interesting to see how long Johnson and Cummings last.

[Stayingup]

They have unfortunately had to try to deal with unprecedented circumstances.
Unbelievable ones and they are not experienced. I think almost all governments have been critisized about their handling of Covid. Ours was particularly hampered with Brexit negotitations, and the useless quango PHE.

Mistakes aplenty yes but its easy to be critical after an event.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

A-Levels - Ofqual are responsible, they're held to account by Parliament, not the government and they aren't ran by a government minister, so whilst many will blame the Gov for this it isn't really their fault.

Covid - ongoing situation and yes they've made mistakes, but every gov has around the world.
We've dropped to 5th in the number of deaths from Covid, India have risen to 4th.
I suspect we will drop again, but it's a unique situation and there was no one way to get through this.

Brexit - they're honoring the result of the ref, they drew a line in the sand to stop negotiations dragging on forever and it can't be declared a success or disaster for many years yet despite the best efforts of both sides to claim victory.

[Stayingup]

One word
Clusterfuc

Insightful comment.

[joey13]

They have unfortunately had to try to deal with unprecedented circumstances.
Unbelievable ones and they are not experienced. I think almost all governments have been critisized about their handling of Covid. Ours was particularly hampered with Brexit negotitations, and the useless quango PHE.

Mistakes aplenty yes but its easy to be critical after an event.

Hampered by Brexit negotiations, are you on drugs ?

[joey13]

A-Levels - Ofqual are responsible, they're held to account by Parliament, not the government and they aren't ran by a government minister, so whilst many will blame the Gov for this it isn't really their fault.

Covid - ongoing situation and yes they've made mistakes, but every gov has around the world.
We've dropped to 5th in the number of deaths from Covid, India have risen to 4th.
I suspect we will drop again, but it's a unique situation and there was no one way to get through this.

Brexit - they're honoring the result of the ref, they drew a line in the sand to stop negotiations dragging on forever and it can't be declared a success or disaster for many years yet despite the best efforts of both sides to claim victory.

Comedy gold you’ve excelled yourself ,I’ll just pick one nugget out , you do realize India’s population is somewhat larger than the UK’s

[Stayingup]

Hampered by Brexit negotiations, are you on drugs ?

Haven't you noticed the UK is trying to strike a deal with the EU? Who do you think.is represnting the UK

They are also trying to strike a deal with France to.try to stem the flow of illegal immigrants to UK. It takes up resources. Difficult one again as France cant wait to be rid if them irrespective it seems of the danger to these poor souls.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Comedy gold you’ve excelled yourself ,I’ll just pick one nugget out , you do realize India’s population is somewhat larger than the UK’s

Yes I'm aware it's bigger and it's also being claimed that their numbers are under reported due to the poor state of their health system.
Interestingly people claimed our numbers were also under reported yet our health system is very good.

Care to disprove the other two points?

[ksrclaret]

The first government I was old enough to make a judgement of was the first Blair government. I can comfortably say that this current government is the worst I have ever lived through in terms of domestic competence. It feels like disaster after disaster. The cabinet, with the exception of Sunak, are second-rate politicians with the lowest collective intelligence I can remember seeing.

If there is to be a worse government in the future, I'm not sure I want to see it.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

So a gov that's been in charge for a small fraction of the time that Blairs lot were in charge is worse than Blairs lot?
Not really sure that's correct.

[basil6345789]

This lot are better than Blair/Brown - they promised so much but were atrocious. Architects of pension treason.

[evensteadiereddie]

This is brilliant.

[ksrclaret]

So a gov that's been in charge for a small fraction of the time that Blairs lot were in charge is worse than Blairs lot?
Not really sure that's correct.

Well, no, it's not "correct" because it's only my opinion. Blair's government made catastrophic errors with foreign policy but they got a lot right domestically (some wrong, too). Admittedly the current lot have had a lot of things thrown at them in their short tenure, but let's be honest, it's been nothing but disastrous since December.

To put it another way, in my opinion, future governments will have to put up one hell of a show of incompetence to match the amount of things this current government have got wrong in their first 9 months.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Well, no, it's not "correct" because it's only my opinion. Blair's government made catastrophic errors with foreign policy but they got a lot right domestically (some wrong, too). Admittedly the current lot have had a lot of things thrown at them in their short tenure, but let's be honest, it's been nothing but disastrous since December.

To put it another way, in my opinion, future governments will have to put up one hell of a show of incompetence to match the amount of things this current government have got wrong in their first 9 months.

You're so desperate to batter the Tories its amusing and slightly disturbing.

They've had to deal with a Covid Pandemic, Brexit and the normal day to day running for the last 9 months.

Blair and Co made some utterly shocking decisions during their reign, one of which we are still suffering the effects of to this very day.
Their invasion of Iraq under false pretences destabilised the entire region and its never settled down since then.

That's why we have Isis, why we have so many migrants, why we have home grown terrorists etc.

To sit there and say Boris etc are worse than Blair is laughable.

[ksrclaret]

You're so desperate to batter the Tories its amusing and slightly disturbing.

They've had to deal with a Covid Pandemic, Brexit and the normal day to day running for the last 9 months.

Blair and Co made some utterly shocking decisions during their reign, one of which we are still suffering the effects of to this very day.
Their invasion of Iraq under false pretences destabilised the entire region and its never settled down since then.

That's why we have Isis, why we have so many migrants, why we have home grown terrorists etc.

To sit there and say Boris etc are worse than Blair is laughable.

I could say you're so desperate to defend the Tories it's amusing and disturbing.

To sit there and say Blair is worse than Boris is laughable.



Opinions.

[Devils_Advocate]

There's a lot to go at here so maybe best to just focus on the last 10 days.......


1/ The govt said they had to "balance the nation’s health with our economy", and in that respect, they have succeeded: both are evenly balanced as the worst in the G7......

....So Boris Johnson went on holiday. See if you even notice.

Britain’s death toll, pretty much the worst per-capita in the developed world, rose again to the levels it was 2 months ago.....

.....Fortunately, the govt solved those deaths by the simple expedient of publishing the figures on a different website and not telling anybody

2/ A mere 6 months into the Covid-19 crisis, the govt advertised for a "Head of Pandemic Preparedness" with a salary of – honest to god – less than mine. And I do colouring-in for a living.

In Feb the govt said "nobody will go hungry as a result of Covid-19".......

......The FSA said 7.8 million Britons had skipped meals or eaten unsafe food as a result of skyrocketing “food insecurity” since the outbreak

So the govt is planning to stop the furlough scheme to force us to go back to jobs that don’t exist

3/ Britain’s GDP fell 21%, more than twice as much as Germany or the USA, and even more than Spain, which we keep telling ourselves is doing terribly, whilst avoiding mirrors......

......And an IFS study showed UK can expect to be permanently 9% poorer if we have no Brexit deal by Nov

So naturally, Liz Truss paused a £14bn trade deal with Japan over concerns for the fate of Stilton, which is 0.007% of the deal. But she’d made a big deal over Brexit saving Britain’s vast and vitally important Stilton industry, and everything else comes second

4/ Liz Truss suggested increasing the speed limit to 80mph could be the solution to all our economic woes.......

......And then The Express – yes, them – suddenly discovered the USA favour a deal with the EU over a deal with the UK because, and this will shock you, the EU is much bigger

5/ Boris Johnson insisted the central Test and Trace system was "still world-beating" after it traced only 56% of cases......

......Local councils set up their own tracing in Lancashire, Liverpool and W Yorkshire and traced 98%. "World-beating" isn’t even beating Blackburn council

NHS Providers said Test and Trace is “not fit for purpose, let alone world class”

6/ A month after knighting Sir Tom for raising £32m, the govt gave 10x as much to company valued at £100, and with no expertise in producing PPE, for 50m masks we can’t use......

......By one of those massively rare coincidences that happen 9 times out of 10, the owner is a close friend Liz Truss.....

......And then it was revealed the govt didn’t just sign one inexplicable contract with a useless and inexperienced supplier: they had at least 20 contracts.....

......One of the contracts is for £108m, paid to a pest control company with assets of just £18,000. The company is now using money from that contract to threaten legal action against a lawyer who asked what it is doing with the money. I kid you not.

7/ Education news, and in the beginning, the govt opposed adjusting A-level grades......

......Then top fireplace salesman and irony no-fly-zone Gavin Williamson said “The danger is that pupils will be over-promoted into jobs that are beyond their competence”.......

......And then the govt introduced a “moderating” algorithm to adjust grades......

......Then the Tories told the Scottish govt to abandon its own adjusted grades.....

......And when the Scottish govt did Tories had asked, the Tories said it was a disgrace and they should resign.....

......Then multiple Tories called for Gavin Williamson to do exactly the same thing

8/ The Assoc of Headteachers said the govt’s handling of this is "a rolling disaster"......

....Things are moving fast. But not as fast as the contents Gavin Williamson’s small intestine

The govt’s algorithm awarded twice as many grade increases to pupils from private schools as it did to state schools......

......And an Education Policy Institute report found wealthy pupils get 1/3 more funds from the "levelling up" budget as poor pupils get

9/ Scrupulous honesty news: property developers gave the Tories £11m in the last year, and then, miraculously, the Tories relaxed rules on planning permission......

......Amongst the regulations they tried to scrap was the one requiring dwellings to have at least 1 window.....

.....Robert Jenrick said "you can trust me on housing", 3 weeks after he admitted wrongdoing in helping a Tory donor avoid £45m tax......

......To be fair, he then denied admitting wrongdoing, even though he had admitted it on camera, and that's always the mark of a man you can trust

10/ The Royal Institute of British Architects said the reforms were "shameful" and would "lead to a generation of slum housing".....

......Housing charity Shelter said the reforms "will mean the end of affordable housing" and force more than 1m people onto housing waiting lists.....

......But Priti Patel said Syrian refugees were the real cause of our national housing crisis

11/ She asserted that people claiming asylum in the UK was illegal, which it absolutely is not, under any circumstances, ever.....

......Then she appointed an excitingly-titled "Clandestine Channel Threat Commander" tasked with, amongst other impossible things, pushing migrant boats back out to sea, in direct contravention of international law and British Navy regulations

A leak from inside the MoD said Patel’s plans were "completely potty", "inappropriate, impractical and unnecessary” and had "more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese". I’ll put them down as a 'maybe'.....

....Priti Patel then had an argument about this with some ice-cream

James Cleverley, a hugely successful one-man campaign against nominative determinism, joined in, but confused "virtue signalling" with "obeying the law"

12/ Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh had a solution: "We should never have lost Calais in 1558. Why not take it back?".....

......Then Sir Edward, a vocal, life-long Brexit fan, said we should pay the EU to manage migration for us, but it has been very warm, and he does look like a man who has been in the sun far too long

13/ Speaking of Brexit, it was revealed Tate and Lyle, Tory donors and No Deal cheerleaders, will gain £73m if we get No Deal, because they can import more of the very unhealthy sugar they supply......

.....So obviously, the govt started a TV campaign telling us to stop being fat

14/ The govt condemned the Russian state, which said it had a vaccine that hasn’t been approved by regulators.....

.....And then it was revealed UK’s much-vaunted 90-minute rapid Covid test has not been approved by regulators

15/ The govt said children would be safe if we re-opened schools.....

.....And then Boris Johnson said he would "bulldoze schools" in which there were Covid outbreaks, which seems a smidge excessive if Covid can’t spread in schools....

.....The govt said there was no evidence any children had caught Covid in school. Schools are closed, so it would be difficult right now, but let’s not try to apply logic any more

16/ An international study found pupils over 12 are just as susceptible to Covid-19 as any adult......

.....Scientists called for routine testing of teachers and pupils.....

.....The Schools Minister said no because, I’m sorry, I have no idea why the Schools Minister said no, and neither does he. People asked. He didn’t have an answer.

17/ And then Immigration minister Chris Philp asked if he could re-record a live interview, after he forgot what country he was from

[TheFamilyCat]

Haven't you noticed the UK is trying to strike a deal with the EU? Who do you think.is represnting the UK

They are also trying to strike a deal with France to.try to stem the flow of illegal immigrants to UK. It takes up resources. Difficult one again as France cant wait to be rid if them irrespective it seems of the danger to these poor souls.

Are you saying the Brexit negotiators are also patrolling the beach for immigrants on boats?

[boatshed bill]

Well done DA, super stuff well researched.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

I could say you're so desperate to defend the Tories it's amusing and disturbing.

To sit there and say Blair is worse than Boris is laughable.



Opinions.

Blair - Iraq invasion for never found WMD's but they had the sexed up dossier courtesy of Campbell.
That eventually led to creation of Isis, London and Manchester atrocities amongst others.

Allowed uncontrolled migration from the EU when our infrastructure wasn't ready.

NHS - PFI debt, closed numerous smaller hospitals and/or A&E departments to funnel patients to those newer super hospitals and in turn there was a drop in available beds and available services.

Let's not forget the gold being sold off cheap.

Brown has already admitted he didn't understand how entangled everything was prior to the recession, this meant he couldn't put in place measures to reduce the damage caused to the UK economy in the event of a recession but he'd already arrogantly stated he'd ended the Boom and Bust nature of the UK economy.
Just to be clear I'm not blaming Labour for the global recession, they just failed to protect the UK.

Yeah you're right though, this Tory gov is clearly far far worse

[GodIsADeeJay81]

I'm impressed people still think houses are affordable in this day and age.

They're over priced, poorly built and there aren't enough being built because the housing developers strangle the market on purpose to keep prices inflated.

[ksrclaret]

Blair - Iraq invasion for never found WMD's but they had the sexed up dossier courtesy of Campbell.
That eventually led to creation of Isis, London and Manchester atrocities amongst others.

Allowed uncontrolled migration from the EU when our infrastructure wasn't ready.

NHS - PFI debt, closed numerous smaller hospitals and/or A&E departments to funnel patients to those newer super hospitals and in turn there was a drop in available beds and available services.

Let's not forget the gold being sold off cheap.

Brown has already admitted he didn't understand how entangled everything was prior to the recession, this meant he couldn't put in place measures to reduce the damage caused to the UK economy in the event of a recession but he'd already arrogantly stated he'd ended the Boom and Bust nature of the UK economy.
Just to be clear I'm not blaming Labour for the global recession, they just failed to protect the UK.

Yeah you're right though, this Tory gov is clearly far far worse

You very clearly have your problems with Blair's Labour government, and I have my problems with this Tory government. Both points of view are held with valid and good reason.

There is no need to attribute either viewpoint as "amusing" or "disturbing", just two people who happen to view politics differently. It was ever thus.

[NewClaret]

4 more years of this

Some folk on here are going to self-combust before the next GE.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

You very clearly have your problems with Blair's Labour government, and I have my problems with this Tory government. Both points of view are held with valid and good reason.

There is no need to attribute either viewpoint as "amusing" or "disturbing", just two people who happen to view politics differently. It is ever thus.

I have problems with the Tories too though.

They have made mistakes.
When Covid was first appearing they should never have transported people back into the UK and then ferry them to bases for isolation etc.
When it hit Italy hard our borders should've been closed to everyone.

Brits abroad - should've been left out where they were but with accommodation costs etc paid for, running around to get them home just increased the chances of the Virus being transfered from one place to the other.

They failed to get a grip early on and we all paid for it.

They got somethings right like the Furlough scheme and the lockdown.

[Stayingup]

Are you saying the Brexit negotiators are also patrolling the beach for immigrants on boats?

LOL

[boatshed bill]

Blair - Iraq invasion for never found WMD's but they had the sexed up dossier courtesy of Campbell.
That eventually led to creation of Isis, London and Manchester atrocities amongst others.

Allowed uncontrolled migration from the EU when our infrastructure wasn't ready.

NHS - PFI debt, closed numerous smaller hospitals and/or A&E departments to funnel patients to those newer super hospitals and in turn there was a drop in available beds and available services.

Let's not forget the gold being sold off cheap.

Brown has already admitted he didn't understand how entangled everything was prior to the recession, this meant he couldn't put in place measures to reduce the damage caused to the UK economy in the event of a recession but he'd already arrogantly stated he'd ended the Boom and Bust nature of the UK economy.
Just to be clear I'm not blaming Labour for the global recession, they just failed to protect the UK.

Yeah you're right though, this Tory gov is clearly far far worse

Much as we can point the finger at numerous past governments, we are actually talking about now...this government and their failings. William Pitt the younger may have made some monumental c**k-ups, so what?

[TheFamilyCat]

There's a lot to go at here so maybe best to just focus on the last 10 days.......


1/ The govt said they had to "balance the nation’s health with our economy", and in that respect, they have succeeded: both are evenly balanced as the worst in the G7......

....So Boris Johnson went on holiday. See if you even notice.

Britain’s death toll, pretty much the worst per-capita in the developed world, rose again to the levels it was 2 months ago.....

.....Fortunately, the govt solved those deaths by the simple expedient of publishing the figures on a different website and not telling anybody

2/ A mere 6 months into the Covid-19 crisis, the govt advertised for a "Head of Pandemic Preparedness" with a salary of – honest to god – less than mine. And I do colouring-in for a living.

In Feb the govt said "nobody will go hungry as a result of Covid-19".......

......The FSA said 7.8 million Britons had skipped meals or eaten unsafe food as a result of skyrocketing “food insecurity” since the outbreak

So the govt is planning to stop the furlough scheme to force us to go back to jobs that don’t exist

3/ Britain’s GDP fell 21%, more than twice as much as Germany or the USA, and even more than Spain, which we keep telling ourselves is doing terribly, whilst avoiding mirrors......

......And an IFS study showed UK can expect to be permanently 9% poorer if we have no Brexit deal by Nov

So naturally, Liz Truss paused a £14bn trade deal with Japan over concerns for the fate of Stilton, which is 0.007% of the deal. But she’d made a big deal over Brexit saving Britain’s vast and vitally important Stilton industry, and everything else comes second

4/ Liz Truss suggested increasing the speed limit to 80mph could be the solution to all our economic woes.......

......And then The Express – yes, them – suddenly discovered the USA favour a deal with the EU over a deal with the UK because, and this will shock you, the EU is much bigger

5/ Boris Johnson insisted the central Test and Trace system was "still world-beating" after it traced only 56% of cases......

......Local councils set up their own tracing in Lancashire, Liverpool and W Yorkshire and traced 98%. "World-beating" isn’t even beating Blackburn council

NHS Providers said Test and Trace is “not fit for purpose, let alone world class”

6/ A month after knighting Sir Tom for raising £32m, the govt gave 10x as much to company valued at £100, and with no expertise in producing PPE, for 50m masks we can’t use......

......By one of those massively rare coincidences that happen 9 times out of 10, the owner is a close friend Liz Truss.....

......And then it was revealed the govt didn’t just sign one inexplicable contract with a useless and inexperienced supplier: they had at least 20 contracts.....

......One of the contracts is for £108m, paid to a pest control company with assets of just £18,000. The company is now using money from that contract to threaten legal action against a lawyer who asked what it is doing with the money. I kid you not.

7/ Education news, and in the beginning, the govt opposed adjusting A-level grades......

......Then top fireplace salesman and irony no-fly-zone Gavin Williamson said “The danger is that pupils will be over-promoted into jobs that are beyond their competence”.......

......And then the govt introduced a “moderating” algorithm to adjust grades......

......Then the Tories told the Scottish govt to abandon its own adjusted grades.....

......And when the Scottish govt did Tories had asked, the Tories said it was a disgrace and they should resign.....

......Then multiple Tories called for Gavin Williamson to do exactly the same thing

8/ The Assoc of Headteachers said the govt’s handling of this is "a rolling disaster"......

....Things are moving fast. But not as fast as the contents Gavin Williamson’s small intestine

The govt’s algorithm awarded twice as many grade increases to pupils from private schools as it did to state schools......

......And an Education Policy Institute report found wealthy pupils get 1/3 more funds from the "levelling up" budget as poor pupils get

9/ Scrupulous honesty news: property developers gave the Tories £11m in the last year, and then, miraculously, the Tories relaxed rules on planning permission......

......Amongst the regulations they tried to scrap was the one requiring dwellings to have at least 1 window.....

.....Robert Jenrick said "you can trust me on housing", 3 weeks after he admitted wrongdoing in helping a Tory donor avoid £45m tax......

......To be fair, he then denied admitting wrongdoing, even though he had admitted it on camera, and that's always the mark of a man you can trust

10/ The Royal Institute of British Architects said the reforms were "shameful" and would "lead to a generation of slum housing".....

......Housing charity Shelter said the reforms "will mean the end of affordable housing" and force more than 1m people onto housing waiting lists.....

......But Priti Patel said Syrian refugees were the real cause of our national housing crisis

11/ She asserted that people claiming asylum in the UK was illegal, which it absolutely is not, under any circumstances, ever.....

......Then she appointed an excitingly-titled "Clandestine Channel Threat Commander" tasked with, amongst other impossible things, pushing migrant boats back out to sea, in direct contravention of international law and British Navy regulations

A leak from inside the MoD said Patel’s plans were "completely potty", "inappropriate, impractical and unnecessary” and had "more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese". I’ll put them down as a 'maybe'.....

....Priti Patel then had an argument about this with some ice-cream

James Cleverley, a hugely successful one-man campaign against nominative determinism, joined in, but confused "virtue signalling" with "obeying the law"

12/ Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh had a solution: "We should never have lost Calais in 1558. Why not take it back?".....

......Then Sir Edward, a vocal, life-long Brexit fan, said we should pay the EU to manage migration for us, but it has been very warm, and he does look like a man who has been in the sun far too long

13/ Speaking of Brexit, it was revealed Tate and Lyle, Tory donors and No Deal cheerleaders, will gain £73m if we get No Deal, because they can import more of the very unhealthy sugar they supply......

.....So obviously, the govt started a TV campaign telling us to stop being fat

14/ The govt condemned the Russian state, which said it had a vaccine that hasn’t been approved by regulators.....

.....And then it was revealed UK’s much-vaunted 90-minute rapid Covid test has not been approved by regulators

15/ The govt said children would be safe if we re-opened schools.....

.....And then Boris Johnson said he would "bulldoze schools" in which there were Covid outbreaks, which seems a smidge excessive if Covid can’t spread in schools....

.....The govt said there was no evidence any children had caught Covid in school. Schools are closed, so it would be difficult right now, but let’s not try to apply logic any more

16/ An international study found pupils over 12 are just as susceptible to Covid-19 as any adult......

.....Scientists called for routine testing of teachers and pupils.....

.....The Schools Minister said no because, I’m sorry, I have no idea why the Schools Minister said no, and neither does he. People asked. He didn’t have an answer.

17/ And then Immigration minister Chris Philp asked if he could re-record a live interview, after he forgot what country he was from

Yeah, but Corbyn.

[Stayingup]

I have problems with the Tories too though.

They have made mistakes.
When Covid was first appearing they should never have transported people back into the UK and then ferry them to bases for isolation etc.
When it hit Italy hard our borders should've been closed to everyone.

Brits abroad - should've been left out where they were but with accommodation costs etc paid for, running around to get them home just increased the chances of the Virus being transfered from one place to the other.

They failed to get a grip early on and we all paid for it.

They got somethings right like the Furlough scheme and the lockdown.

Big mistake not stopping inbound flights as you say. Very remiss


Its a pity really that Boris Johnson isn't the son of God.

[ksrclaret]

I have problems with the Tories too though.

They have made mistakes.
When Covid was first appearing they should never have transported people back into the UK and then ferry them to bases for isolation etc.
When it hit Italy hard our borders should've been closed to everyone.

Brits abroad - should've been left out where they were but with accommodation costs etc paid for, running around to get them home just increased the chances of the Virus being transfered from one place to the other.

They failed to get a grip early on and we all paid for it.

They got somethings right like the Furlough scheme and the lockdown.

Agree with all of that - I've said on here before that the furlough scheme has been very good. And as I alluded to, I had problems with the Labour government as well. Being more left-leaning though, I'd far rather have them in charge for the domestic agenda.

That's the thing about politics, some like to pretend as though there are winners and losers depending on which side your vote for. In reality, we all win or lose together depending on the decisions taken after the government has taken office. I just feel like we've all been on the losing side since December, because even allowing for the sheer amount of crises they've had to deal with, the current government have got loads wrong. Maybe I'm biased at the moment because I've been dealing with the A Levels and Uni fallout since last week, but that's how I feel.

[NewClaret]

I have problems with the Tories too though.

They have made mistakes.
When Covid was first appearing they should never have transported people back into the UK and then ferry them to bases for isolation etc.
When it hit Italy hard our borders should've been closed to everyone.

Brits abroad - should've been left out where they were but with accommodation costs etc paid for, running around to get them home just increased the chances of the Virus being transfered from one place to the other.

They failed to get a grip early on and we all paid for it.

They got somethings right like the Furlough scheme and the lockdown.

This. The left have long forgotten the furlough scheme, or the business rate cuts, the VAT suspension or the business loans that have saved millions of jobs to date. Doesn’t fit with their “nasty party” messaging.

Agree they have made mistakes and also that not restricting inbound travel was of the biggest ones.

[CombatClaret]

This government is molded around Brexit and Brexit alone, which of itself was all PR & Spin with no substance or basis in what was actually good for the country or the every day person. Anyone not slavishly onboard was jettisoned and people with very little skill, knowledge or ability were elevated to high office based on their Brexit stance alone.

But they forgot other things can and will happen so when they did they were woefully unprepared and there was no one in place with any competence to deal with it.
But they keep trying the same thing which got them over the line, mostly lies, manipulation of statistics and taking the public for utter fools (see Barnard Castle). All the while people who fail (latest being Dido Harding) are again elevation even higher because of ideology and cronyism over ability.

[NewClaret]

Yeah, but Corbyn.

Spent his whole career opposing Europe and then couldn’t make his mind up (or Momentum’s) at the crucial moment

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Much as we can point the finger at numerous past governments, we are actually talking about now...this government and their failings. William Pitt the younger may have made some monumental c**k-ups, so what?

I'll stop dragging up Labour's mistakes when people stop with their moronic claims that this current Tory gov is the worst gov ever.

[Stayingup]

There's a lot to go at here so maybe best to just focus on the last 10 days.......


1/ The govt said they had to "balance the nation’s health with our economy", and in that respect, they have succeeded: both are evenly balanced as the worst in the G7......

....So Boris Johnson went on holiday. See if you even notice.

Britain’s death toll, pretty much the worst per-capita in the developed world, rose again to the levels it was 2 months ago.....

.....Fortunately, the govt solved those deaths by the simple expedient of publishing the figures on a different website and not telling anybody

2/ A mere 6 months into the Covid-19 crisis, the govt advertised for a "Head of Pandemic Preparedness" with a salary of – honest to god – less than mine. And I do colouring-in for a living.

In Feb the govt said "nobody will go hungry as a result of Covid-19".......

......The FSA said 7.8 million Britons had skipped meals or eaten unsafe food as a result of skyrocketing “food insecurity” since the outbreak

So the govt is planning to stop the furlough scheme to force us to go back to jobs that don’t exist

3/ Britain’s GDP fell 21%, more than twice as much as Germany or the USA, and even more than Spain, which we keep telling ourselves is doing terribly, whilst avoiding mirrors......

......And an IFS study showed UK can expect to be permanently 9% poorer if we have no Brexit deal by Nov

So naturally, Liz Truss paused a £14bn trade deal with Japan over concerns for the fate of Stilton, which is 0.007% of the deal. But she’d made a big deal over Brexit saving Britain’s vast and vitally important Stilton industry, and everything else comes second

4/ Liz Truss suggested increasing the speed limit to 80mph could be the solution to all our economic woes.......

......And then The Express – yes, them – suddenly discovered the USA favour a deal with the EU over a deal with the UK because, and this will shock you, the EU is much bigger

5/ Boris Johnson insisted the central Test and Trace system was "still world-beating" after it traced only 56% of cases......

......Local councils set up their own tracing in Lancashire, Liverpool and W Yorkshire and traced 98%. "World-beating" isn’t even beating Blackburn council

NHS Providers said Test and Trace is “not fit for purpose, let alone world class”

6/ A month after knighting Sir Tom for raising £32m, the govt gave 10x as much to company valued at £100, and with no expertise in producing PPE, for 50m masks we can’t use......

......By one of those massively rare coincidences that happen 9 times out of 10, the owner is a close friend Liz Truss.....

......And then it was revealed the govt didn’t just sign one inexplicable contract with a useless and inexperienced supplier: they had at least 20 contracts.....

......One of the contracts is for £108m, paid to a pest control company with assets of just £18,000. The company is now using money from that contract to threaten legal action against a lawyer who asked what it is doing with the money. I kid you not.

7/ Education news, and in the beginning, the govt opposed adjusting A-level grades......

......Then top fireplace salesman and irony no-fly-zone Gavin Williamson said “The danger is that pupils will be over-promoted into jobs that are beyond their competence”.......

......And then the govt introduced a “moderating” algorithm to adjust grades......

......Then the Tories told the Scottish govt to abandon its own adjusted grades.....

......And when the Scottish govt did Tories had asked, the Tories said it was a disgrace and they should resign.....

......Then multiple Tories called for Gavin Williamson to do exactly the same thing

8/ The Assoc of Headteachers said the govt’s handling of this is "a rolling disaster"......

....Things are moving fast. But not as fast as the contents Gavin Williamson’s small intestine

The govt’s algorithm awarded twice as many grade increases to pupils from private schools as it did to state schools......

......And an Education Policy Institute report found wealthy pupils get 1/3 more funds from the "levelling up" budget as poor pupils get

9/ Scrupulous honesty news: property developers gave the Tories £11m in the last year, and then, miraculously, the Tories relaxed rules on planning permission......

......Amongst the regulations they tried to scrap was the one requiring dwellings to have at least 1 window.....

.....Robert Jenrick said "you can trust me on housing", 3 weeks after he admitted wrongdoing in helping a Tory donor avoid £45m tax......

......To be fair, he then denied admitting wrongdoing, even though he had admitted it on camera, and that's always the mark of a man you can trust

10/ The Royal Institute of British Architects said the reforms were "shameful" and would "lead to a generation of slum housing".....

......Housing charity Shelter said the reforms "will mean the end of affordable housing" and force more than 1m people onto housing waiting lists.....

......But Priti Patel said Syrian refugees were the real cause of our national housing crisis

11/ She asserted that people claiming asylum in the UK was illegal, which it absolutely is not, under any circumstances, ever.....

......Then she appointed an excitingly-titled "Clandestine Channel Threat Commander" tasked with, amongst other impossible things, pushing migrant boats back out to sea, in direct contravention of international law and British Navy regulations

A leak from inside the MoD said Patel’s plans were "completely potty", "inappropriate, impractical and unnecessary” and had "more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese". I’ll put them down as a 'maybe'.....

....Priti Patel then had an argument about this with some ice-cream

James Cleverley, a hugely successful one-man campaign against nominative determinism, joined in, but confused "virtue signalling" with "obeying the law"

12/ Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh had a solution: "We should never have lost Calais in 1558. Why not take it back?".....

......Then Sir Edward, a vocal, life-long Brexit fan, said we should pay the EU to manage migration for us, but it has been very warm, and he does look like a man who has been in the sun far too long

13/ Speaking of Brexit, it was revealed Tate and Lyle, Tory donors and No Deal cheerleaders, will gain £73m if we get No Deal, because they can import more of the very unhealthy sugar they supply......

.....So obviously, the govt started a TV campaign telling us to stop being fat

14/ The govt condemned the Russian state, which said it had a vaccine that hasn’t been approved by regulators.....

.....And then it was revealed UK’s much-vaunted 90-minute rapid Covid test has not been approved by regulators

15/ The govt said children would be safe if we re-opened schools.....

.....And then Boris Johnson said he would "bulldoze schools" in which there were Covid outbreaks, which seems a smidge excessive if Covid can’t spread in schools....

.....The govt said there was no evidence any children had caught Covid in school. Schools are closed, so it would be difficult right now, but let’s not try to apply logic any more

16/ An international study found pupils over 12 are just as susceptible to Covid-19 as any adult......

.....Scientists called for routine testing of teachers and pupils.....

.....The Schools Minister said no because, I’m sorry, I have no idea why the Schools Minister said no, and neither does he. People asked. He didn’t have an answer.

17/ And then Immigration minister Chris Philp asked if he could re-record a live interview, after he forgot what country he was from

Whats your point? Reiterating what we all now know isn't clever.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing
And like I said Johnson is not the son of God

[CombatClaret]

They got somethings right like the Furlough scheme and the lockdown.

A lot of experts backed up with data point to them not getting lockdown 'right'.

The furlough scheme was needed but it's not unlike many countries have done, it showed a basic level of understanding that to do nothing would destroy the economy irrevocably.
Only time will tell how many jobs were saved as opposed to firings delayed.

[boatshed bill]

I'll stop dragging up Labour's mistakes when people stop with their moronic claims that this current Tory gov is the worst gov ever.

Pointless..

[ksrclaret]

I'll stop dragging up Labour's mistakes when people stop with their moronic claims that this current Tory gov is the worst gov ever.

Again, opinions. There will always be people who have different ones to you. You may not agree but no need for the moronic jibe. Politics is toxic enough without that.

[CombatClaret]

Johnson is not the son of God

No he's the son of someone who think's he's also above the rules.

[Rileybobs]

I'm impressed people still think houses are affordable in this day and age.

They're over priced, poorly built and there aren't enough being built because the housing developers strangle the market on purpose to keep prices inflated.

Affordable housing in this terminology doesn’t refer to market sale houses. ‘Affordable housing’ is basically social housing although can include tenures such as rent to buy.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

A lot of experts backed up with data point to them not getting lockdown 'right'.

The furlough scheme was needed but it's not unlike many countries have done, it showed a basic level of understanding that to do nothing would destroy the economy irrevocably.
Only time will tell how many jobs were saved as opposed to firings delayed.

Lockdown was difficult.
They were laughed at for mentioning the chances of fatigue but that's exactly what happened.

Selfish people didn't want to lockdown, they didn't want to concern themselves with the wellbeing of others.
We've seen that again with the request to wear face masks when shopping etc.
People are refusing or asking why should they bother but they're just being selfish arse holes who'll be wanting hospital treatment if they get Covid.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Affordable housing in this terminology doesn’t refer to market sale houses. ‘Affordable housing’ is basically social housing although can include tenures such as rent to buy.

Affordable housing has been a buzz phrase for a while now, most people will assume they're on about private houses to buy, not council houses to rent and then maybe buy.

Affordable houses should be private houses for purchase, but the market prices are intentionally kept inflated by keeping supply low whilst demand is high.

It's a massive con that's gone on for decades.

[Quickenthetempo]

I know it won't change anyone's mind in the slightest but according to a guest on the BBC politics show tonight it was OFQUAUL that has reversed the decision because they hadn't got the capacity for the expected appeals process.

Not the Government

[CombatClaret]

Lockdown was difficult.
They were laughed at for mentioning the chances of fatigue but that's exactly what happened.

Selfish people didn't want to lockdown, they didn't want to concern themselves with the wellbeing of others.
We've seen that again with the request to wear face masks when shopping etc.
People are refusing or asking why should they bother but they're just being selfish arse holes who'll be wanting hospital treatment if they get Covid.

But the selfish people were in the minority and still are, if the majority goes along it still helps to a massive degree.
When they put a lock down in place it was obeyed to a huge percentage, but one of their many excuses for not doing it sooner was they didn't think people would abide by it.

It's not theoretical, we have a planet's worth of different national experiments and massive links between earlier lockdown to reduction of overall cases.

[CombatClaret]

Can anyone tell me why Dido Harding should be head of a new public health agency?
Answers on a postcard.

[martin_p]

Can anyone tell me why Dido Harding should be head of a new public health agency?
Answers on a postcard.

She’s married to a Tory MP so is Teflon coated against disaster by association.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

But the selfish people were in the minority and still are, if the majority goes along it still helps to a massive degree.
When they put a lock down in place it was obeyed to a huge percentage, but one of their many excuses for not doing it sooner was they didn't think people would abide by it.

It's not theoretical, we have a planet's worth of different national experiments and massive links between earlier lockdown to reduction of overall cases.

It only needs a minority to spread Covid.

They were right that people wouldn't abide by it.
I saw plenty taking the **** and breaking the rules, because they either felt that the rules didn't apply to them or they didn't believe/trust the gov.