Boris MISSED 5 COBRA meetings

The government has failed the people of this country. I'd add that all those who voted Tory have failed their fellow citizens too. Do they regret it now - or even understand what they voted for?

I'm just a bit anti-thanking. My friend risks her life every day working for the NHS. Her thoughts on the clapping?

Yes, it's lovely that people are showing their appreciation. Recognition is good. The problem is there's glaring gross hypocrisy too.

Some people have voted (for decades) to pay less tax and run down the NHS public services and all our care and support systems. It's been a case of 'I'm all right Jack' and no concern for the unfortunate, sick and needy.

Suddenly, now, there's the real prospect that they may be sick and needy themselves. So, with panic and trepidation, they clap enthusiastically, like loons and suddenly 'We're all in it together'!

What we want, she says, are decent, safe working conditions, enough funding, more staff - long term. I fear, what we'll get (when the crisis is over) will be just a return to more of the same. Publicly, they support us - privately, they vote against us.

I’ve not implied anywhere that the govt has got everything right. On balance I’m in support of the govts efforts to sort this out and am disappointed when it appears things could be done better. Anything that is printed in the press will have a political slant and some of it is quite misleading indeed so is always worth checking out sources if possible. For instance, in the Guardian there is a piece saying that Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet rebuts the Dept of Health’s rebuttal. I spent an interesting few minutes reading his Wiki page and he’s not the sort of person I’d be wanting batting for my side at all! If we are firmly on one side or another, I don’t think we are ever going to agree!

"All orders were now issued through Squealer or one of the other pigs. Napoleon himself was not seen in public as often as once a fortnight."

George Orwell, Animal Farm

Glorybee.... sensible comments on either the government, the civil service ( or anything else) aren’t welcome on threads like these.?
On the other hand, anything negative, wild surmise, hysteria and hyperbole is lapped up.

What exactly do you mean by a "political slant"?

Anything which involves the governance of 66 million people and distribution and utilisation of resources is political.

It must be obvious to anybody with more than half a brain cell that the majority of the printed media sources in the UK favours the current government and conveniently "omits" anything critical or attempts to divert attention from shortcomings.

Errrmmm ... wrong site lemongrove. Do you want directions to the Daily Mail comments?

“Publicly they support us. Privately they vote against us”

My goodness how true that statement is.

Hypocrisy writ large

Many of us knew that Johnson was a lazy, unreliable, duplicitous man who would make a lousy PM. Others posted how charismatic, forceful and dedicated he was and what a great PM he would make. He's spent most of his time in office on holiday, missed important meetings and is conspicuous by his absence. So who was right?
In any other job if you missed meetings and spent your first weeks on holidaay you would be sacked. Time he was.

Surely most reasonable people would be interested in what ‘the other side’ has to say, not necessarily to agree? How boring to have a thread on which everyone agrees! I read The Times, Telegraph (both paywalls) and the Guardian and delve into other bits and pieces if interested. The govt gets slagged on all of them, to varying degrees, and the below the line comments as you would expect, are a very mixed bag of views.

Yes agree trisher And Hetty58 When crisis over It will be more of the same.

Boris has been in this job since July so did not spend the first weeks on holiday! Presumably it's a job without holiday entitlement, in which case of course he should not have taken any time off at all, not even one day a week. (Mrs May did without public comment!) To do so, of course, is unforgivable!
being ill, the same!

Boris's contract of employment terminated when he went to the country in December 2019. He was re-employed and proceeded to clear off. It was effectively a new job.

Well said Hetty58.

The question. Why is Boris Prime Minister, the answer is that he was overwhelmingly voted in. That's the system here.

So once you are in power you can do the job as badly as you like and that's OK is it?

Most people when voting in a PM assume that he is going to turn up. (Illness aside)

He wasn't even 'overwhelmingly' voted in.

The tory majority in seats was gained with 45% of the votes. Which means that 55% of voters didn't want them & Johnson. Under any other voting system he wouldn't have done anything like as well.

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