Daily briefing- lets get on with it!t

‘........to little, too late.......’

I totally agree, everything we have done has been too little and too late. Ironically a sudden reversal, too much, too early. The R rate is still too high.

The Durham police are under investigation themselves over the handling of the Cummings affair aren't they? The whole thing has resulted in a partial breakdown of lockdown and Johnson has eased what little lockdown rules there were in an attempt to divert away from Cummingsgate. At least the scientists are now standing up for themselves but even that is too little, too late which has been the pattern of the UK's pandemic response right from the start.

Not that stupid 'missing the mood of the country' thing again

We've discussed it two or three times already and remain as divided as ever.

Since the Cummings two fingers to everyone following what they thought were 'the rules' I think most journalists have read the mood of the country pretty accurately...

It's a bit tough on the folks with no sense of right or wrong who can't see what the fuss is about and support Cummings, but thank God most of the population seem to be on the side of decency and fair play...

Since the Cummings affair I've lost confidence in the government. Any message in the press briefing has been completely undermined. Why should I bother listening?
The press and general public should keep going on about it. Cummings is the rock that's 'holed' the government's ship.

Fair points by Lord Sugar but that was written a while ago before Cummings made a mockery of the rules and treated the British public with such contempt.

If he had a shred of decency he would have gone and we could all concentrate on the many other pressing matters.
He is a distraction. No-one is indispensable and Boris should have dispensed with him.

maddyone yes, absolutely.??

NanaAndGrampy well said Alan Sugar, that needs to be pasted up on hoardings around the country in large letters.

The medical and scientific advisors were not allowed to answer questions on Cummings so listen to a former chief scientific advisor Sir David King

www.channel4.com/news/40000-excess-deaths-could-have-been-avoided-if-government-had-acted-responsibly-prof-sir-david-king

‘The press regard it as their job to hold the government to account.........that was the job of Parliament, and the job of the press was to report, without bias, the facts of the news.’

Absolutely correct.

‘.......if the press are silenced at briefings, who else can voice concern on behalf of the public?’

That is the job of the Opposition of course. And now we have a Leader of the Opposition who is perfectly capable of doing just that.

I saw this tweet fromLord Sugar and whilst I don’t often agree with his point of view I think this is spot on !

Our test and trace doesn’t seem to be working. The world class app that was meant to go with it isn’t being used yet. Other countries that have controlled the virus far better than us have had test, trace isolate with a working app in place for months. Why are we supposed to feel upbeat and positive about it? On top of that many people don’t want to download the app if and when it is ready because they don’t trust the people behind it. I can’t somehow go woohoo; aren’t we doing great.

James O'Brien certainly agrees with you Dinahmo

"I bet Johnson & Cummings laugh at the craven sycophancy of their cabinet even more than they laugh at the tragic credulousness of their supporters."

twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1266052130735042563

I think that Cummings and the rest of them are laughing at us. Gove said, smirking, that he occasionally takes a drive to test his eyesight. We don't believe him and he knows that. He also knows that we can't do anything about it. For heaven's sake - if you are worried about your eyesight you would go to an optician. Not only do they check your vision they also do eye health checks.

Tooting29 Journalists have been political animals from day one. Almost as soon as the printing press was invented, pamphlets were produced. Cummings has acted with a great sense of entitlement, not the general public.

The chairman of the Police Federation has urged people not to drive if they think their eyesight might be impaired.

Twitter: twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

I hope there are no GNetters in that bonkers minority who think that if you should test your eyesight by driving 60 miles with your wife and small son as passengers.

Well I am happy to be the silent minority. I do not consider DC personal arrangements for his family to be any of my business. Sense of betrayal - the media fuel it because it sells papers and they look for the next story. People I feel have a great sense of entitlement to opine and judge anyone. What DC has done in these circumstances is between him and his conscience, and if people use this an excuse to not observe the guidelines then that's on their conscience.
What is good us that the lockdown is slowly lifting and we can start thinking about getting back to normal, let's hope the track and trace system works to come down on hotspots whilst still protecting the vunerable and people can get back safely to work.

Tooting29 The vast majority in this country feel their voices are not being heard, although we listened to DC's explanation of his misadventures, coupled with BJ's dismissal of the country's overwhelming disgust. We need journalists to say how we feel - betrayed. Our voices are being silenced. I wonder if the petition, signed by nearly a million people, will also be ignored.

Everyone I know thinks Cummings should go. Haven't had contact with one person, other than on here, who thinks BJ was right to let him stay.

I agree. BJ can't do the job without him.

boheminan who are these angry people. I'm not one of them and neither are my immediate family and friends. I wish Laura Kuennsberg would go the same way as Maitlass. Report yes but reporting isn't the same as opining. Take today's track and trace, immediately there was a negative story about problems logging on. Not so unusual for IT then an address on BBC website where trackers could tell stories about their experiences. You can bet they will only report on the negative.

Emily Maitlis spoke the truth in her introduction to newsnight.

It makes a change from the usual pro-Tory bias we get from Laura KUenssberg, Andrew Neil, Nick Robinson, etc

Cummings is going to get away with it. I thought he would have resigned by now but it doesn't look like that is going to happen now. The sheer arrogance of the man beggars belief. I don't think Boris can cope without him tbh.

But if the Press are silenced at briefings, who else can voice concern on behalf of the public?

It seems to me that Johnson's building a protective wall around Cummings, hoping this whole thing will disappear, but it won't. People are very angry and want answers to their questions, and action. An apology would go some way to appease the anger, but by no means is that enough, but we're being silenced.

The press regard it as their job to hold the government to account. I thought that was the role of Parliament, and the job of the press was to report, without bias, the facts of the news.

Delighted to see Emily Maitlis was reprimanded for her introduction to Newsnight, which was presented as a statement of fact. The statement issued by the BBC said her comments 'did not meet our standards of due impartiality.'

Entirely agree, and as long as the Briefing podium has an off button, the Press will not get the opportunity to “come back”

I agree. Members of the public ask sensible questions and then press Cummings Cummings Cummings. I understand that Durham police have stated he acted reasonably in the drive to Durham. Media are just interested in a feeding frenzy and I get really angry about it. I wonder who has done most harm in undermining the message Cummibgs or the media. I fear the latter.

I think most feel that the decent thing would have been an explanation, apology then resignation. Think Lord Carrington and the Falklands.

That was forty years ago and a different class of political oiks (of all persuasions) have invaded politics - think ‘Fill your boots’ in the 90s!

It’s not going to happen no matter how much people moan - time to move on for your own equilibrium.