Dominic Cummings

Well said Lemongrove.

Absolutely, Lemongrove.

On a different point, how many on here had their jobs (not their children’s or those of other family members) affected by lockdown?
My job was, my DH is retired.

Can I offer this by way of light relief?

youtu.be/I4fABe9Y_dQ

Very good ??

Mollygo

Absolutely, Lemongrove.

On a different point, how many on here had their jobs (not their children’s or those of other family members) affected by lockdown?
My job was, my DH is retired.

Did Cummings have anything to say about this?

I believe you're wrong Mollygo. Johnson is acutely aware of public opinion and his image, so the public does influence decision making.

In reality, many people on social media do have a clue what should have been done. There are many people who could do a much better job than this crew have done.

bmacca

He did indeed tell us what we already knew. It's not just Boris Johnson who takes the blame. It includes Cummings as he went along with it until he lost the power struggle inside no 10. It's those of his cabinet who went along with it. It is the MPs sitting behind him in the Commons who would rather keep the status quo. It is those sitting opposite who turned their attention on Jeremy Corbyn instead of aiming it where it should have gone. It is the opposition lead by Keir Starmer frightened to move unless popular opinion forces it in that direction. It's the media and others who used their time and efforts to draw attention away from Johnson. It is the voting public which still backed Boris Johnson no matter what. If any one of those groups had stepped up it might have been a different scenario played out.

Absolutely bloody right.

Growstuff
Where did I mention Dominic Cummings in relation to my question about how many on GN had their jobs (not their children’s or those of other family members)?

Where did I say BJ isn’t aware of public opinion?

In reality I’m sure a lot of people on social media, in families and over a pint in a pub garden, can say what they think should have been done, but fortunately for them, they can say it:

-without the knowledge or power to put their plans into place.
-without the responsibility of having to enforce it on a sometimes recalcitrant public.
without their decision affecting life and death, loss of livelihood, or mental health of the population.
-without the danger of being slated if their plans don’t have the desired impact.

Maybe social media can offer advice on how to recoup some of the furlough and welfare money fraudulently claimed during Covid.

Missed words above Jobs . . . affected by COVID

growstuff

Maybe the next question to Cummings should be "Do you watch Blackadder?"

Or - who is Edmund?

lemongrove

Forums are the modern equivalent of people moaning about the government of the day...in pubs.
On a comfy seat with a pint in front of them ( cup of tea on GN) whilst they pontificate on how things should be done and how much better they should have been done.Even though in reality they don’t have a clue what should have been done or when.Good job that they really don’t have to make those hard decisions themselves. Armchair experts is the phrase.

Very true lemongrove

Everyone knows what should or shouldn't be done with a or a and a keyboard in front of them.

However, locking down as they did in, for example China, would result in protests in this country (and did) and the British public is a lot more opinionated and bolshie than citizens of some other countries.

It's debatable what is right as life in China is, in the main, back to normal now and their economy is doing well.

I wouldn't like to balance it all.

Mollygo You didn't mention Cummings in connection with lost jobs, so I was wondering why it was relevant.

So Callistemon are you saying that Cummings was right, despite the denial by behavioural scientists that they said the British public wouldn't accept draconian measures?

Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive

By the way, what are these references to alcohol? I don't drink it.

I really don't understand people who think the public should behave like sheep.

growstuff

By the way, what are these references to alcohol? I don't drink it.

Tea or coffee?

I don't drink beer

Callistemon, I wouldn’t like to balance it all either.?
I have never claimed that anything has been done perfectly, but like everyone on here, (unless there’s a member of either cabinet who has enough free time to be a secret GN poster) we have no responsibility for how what we say will impact the rest of the country.
Most of us only have the time and the inclination to spend hours googling stuff and posting on GN because we are either retired, semi retired or not working full time.

lemongrove

Forums are the modern equivalent of people moaning about the government of the day...in pubs.
On a comfy seat with a pint in front of them ( cup of tea on GN) whilst they pontificate on how things should be done and how much better they should have been done.Even though in reality they don’t have a clue what should have been done or when.Good job that they really don’t have to make those hard decisions themselves. Armchair experts is the phrase.

Well that's the impression I always had of you in real life confirmed.

Mollygo

Callistemon, I wouldn’t like to balance it all either.?
I have never claimed that anything has been done perfectly, but like everyone on here, (unless there’s a member of either cabinet who has enough free time to be a secret GN poster) we have no responsibility for how what we say will impact the rest of the country.
Most of us only have the time and the inclination to spend hours googling stuff and posting on GN because we are either retired, semi retired or not working full time.

There will also be some people who have had to make tough decisions, which affect people's lives and/or come from families, some of whose members made decisions which affected the lives of the whole country during a crisis.

We know some of what he said was true - we lived through it. Some of it will be proved by evidence and some will be found wanting. The personal attacks will disappear into history as hopefully, will all those who thought being in government was their gravy train into fame and adulation with little effort involved.

Some of us were in the middle of it too, any front line NHS staff would be able to confirm the instruction to discharge to care settings without testing, the chronic shortage of PPE and the PPE which was purchased from overseas and was not fit for purpose, and the outdated government pandemic stockpiles which were unusable. We weren’t all in our armchairs.

Well done Lemongrove. You are acknowledged above, (in a roundabout manner), as a realist. Someone who sees social media (in this case GN) for what it truly is.

A place where posters can make bold statements for which they’ll never have to suffer the consequences, and endlessly talk about, ‘If they’d done it my way!’.
Posters can also quote lengthy and verbose passages found on Google to support the arguments.
I think GN argument threads are great. All that research and typing keeps brains and fingers active.
Every now and again you will get a subtle or not so subtle insult and that’s like in real life.

Then for a change you can get meaningful advice, join games or exercise your poetic talents.
Keep posting.

Yes it's interesting how our own experiences often make us think that everyone else is experiencing similar, I disnt spend the pandemic in my armchair either.

Well done Lemongrove. You are acknowledged above, (in a roundabout manner), as a realist.

Only if you are spending all your time in pubs, being an armchair expert, Mollygo: it isn't everyone's way of life. It seems quite a narrow view - almost as if there is no knowledge of life outside it wouldn't you say.