OV9

The "Turn" hasn't taken as long as I thought it would.

Rich B wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:53 am Meh, hindsight makes everything wrong.

It's not hindsight when you conduct a full practice exercise, then ignore all the findings, citing financial constraints, even though you're in charge of the purse strings.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/0 ... overnment/

@Zed - You can comfort yourself in being even further from popular opinion than normal given the government has a decade high approval rating

Rich is of course right - it really isn't all that clever to look back at a time when everything was in flux and declare - 'look - this is what we should have done, why was everyone so incompetent to see it'! When the WHO and editor of the Lancet are saying with effect "no big deal" and Brexit WA is in closure stage/just signed, it really isn't that surprising that he wasn't chairing the COBR meetings about something which was at that point being downplayed.

ZedLeg wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:56 am What about all the people who’ve been saying he’s an embarrassingly incompetent PM since he got the job?

High fives all round for being so clever?

Nefarious wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:58 am

Rich B wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:53 am Meh, hindsight makes everything wrong.

It's not hindsight when you conduct a full practice exercise, then ignore all the findings, citing financial constraints, even though you're in charge of the purse strings.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/0 ... overnment/

So in the three months that Boris was PM, in the midst of sorting out the disaster of the withdrawal agreement, you think it is likely that he would pivot towards preparations off the back of a 4 year old report commissioned by a predecessor for a impending crisis which their was no consensus of opinion by the medical professionals and WHO was going to happen?

I'm afraid you're a long way away from seeing the reality of what it must be like to run a government.

And yet here we are, ranked 7th in the entire world for deaths/million of population, despite being an island with complete control over our borders.

GG. wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:22 am

Nefarious wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:58 am

Rich B wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:53 am Meh, hindsight makes everything wrong.

It's not hindsight when you conduct a full practice exercise, then ignore all the findings, citing financial constraints, even though you're in charge of the purse strings.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/0 ... overnment/

So in the three months that Boris was PM, in the midst of sorting out the disaster of the withdrawal agreement, you think it is likely that he would pivot towards preparations off the back of a 4 year old report commissioned by a predecessor for a impending crisis which their was no consensus of opinion by the medical professionals and WHO was going to happen?

I'm afraid you're a long way away from seeing the reality of what it must be like to run a government.

Yeah Nef, stop blaming the Tories for what was, in fact, a Tory failure.

GG. wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:20 am @Zed - You can comfort yourself in being even further from popular opinion than normal given the government has a decade high approval rating

If there’s anything this last decade or so has shown us it’s that popularity is no guarantee of competence

Still a very "open" country Rev, despite the "control of our borders"...

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:23 am And yet here we are, ranked 7th in the entire world for deaths/million of population, despite being an island with complete control over our borders.

Fears were of 600,000 deaths if left unchecked. We're currently at 16,000 and it was declared at the outset that 20,000 was the minimum we could hope for and hospitals haven't been overwhelmed. Funny disaster this.

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:23 am And yet here we are, ranked 7th in the entire world for deaths/million of population, despite being an island with complete control over our borders.

plenty of time to improve/get worse on the rankings I expect!

GG. wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:26 am

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:23 am And yet here we are, ranked 7th in the entire world for deaths/million of population, despite being an island with complete control over our borders.

Fears were of 600,000 deaths if left unchecked. We're currently at 16,000 and it was declared at the outset that 20,000 was the minimum we could hope for and hospitals haven't been overwhelmed. Funny disaster this.

Yeah, it’s fucking hilarious, you fucking clown.

dinny_g wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:26 am Still a very "open" country Rev, despite the "control of our borders"...

That’s my point Dinny: we haven’t closed the fucking borders.

It’s funny that some think that questions shouldn’t be asked because it’s not as bad as it could’ve been.

If the best I did at my job was not entirely shit, I wouldn’t get a pat on the back at my review. Shouldn’t we hold the people running the country to the same standard?

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:28 am

GG. wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:26 am

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:23 am And yet here we are, ranked 7th in the entire world for deaths/million of population, despite being an island with complete control over our borders.

Fears were of 600,000 deaths if left unchecked. We're currently at 16,000 and it was declared at the outset that 20,000 was the minimum we could hope for and hospitals haven't been overwhelmed. Funny disaster this.

Yeah, it’s fucking hilarious, you fucking clown.

Second meaning of 'funny' Rev, come on - you're better than this.

ZedLeg wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:29 am It’s funny that some think that questions shouldn’t be asked because it’s not as bad as it could’ve been.

If the best I did at my job was not entirely shit, I wouldn’t get a pat on the back at my review. Shouldn’t we hold the people running the country to the same standard?

Yay, we’re better than San Marino!

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:28 am

dinny_g wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:26 am Still a very "open" country Rev, despite the "control of our borders"...

That’s my point Dinny: we haven’t closed the fucking borders.

Because with widely disseminated virus within the country it makes no difference. Italy banned inward flights early on and it didn't contain the spread. Its the scientific advice that it doesn't work.

GG. wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:31 am

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:28 am

GG. wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:26 am

Fears were of 600,000 deaths if left unchecked. We're currently at 16,000 and it was declared at the outset that 20,000 was the minimum we could hope for and hospitals haven't been overwhelmed. Funny disaster this.

Yeah, it’s fucking hilarious, you fucking clown.

Second meaning of 'funny' Rev, come on - you're better than this.

I’m pretty sure that the families of those 16,000 so far wouldn’t find either use of your phrase appropriate.

ZedLeg wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:29 am It’s funny that some think that questions shouldn’t be asked because it’s not as bad as it could’ve been.

If the best I did at my job was not entirely shit, I wouldn’t get a pat on the back at my review. Shouldn’t we hold the people running the country to the same standard?

depends if your job was to try and hold back a Huge unstoppable landslide of shit. “Not entirely shit“ would be a decent result!

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:28 am

dinny_g wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:26 am Still a very "open" country Rev, despite the "control of our borders"...

That’s my point Dinny: we haven’t closed the fucking borders.

Ah, gotcha... I sort thought you meant the Government weren't managing the situation within our own borders with the benefit of border controls.

However, I suspect if the Government had locked down borders 3 or 4 weeks ago, that would have resulted in different criticisms of the government. Hindsight and all that.

But do I wish the Government had reacted in a different way - of course - I'd love to be like other nations plotting our exit rather than continually worrying about whether we've reached this "peak" with no clear end in sight.

But given the circumstances in which these critical decisions were taken, I'm not going to be overly critical of the government for not getting everything 100% right.