Lazy, lazy Boris

I agree growstuff. He should be be to cope and I am in despair. He didn’t fill me with confidence that he could do the job before he became ill and it has gone downhill since then. However, nothing will be done while he has such a majority and the support of people who say they “love” him and that he cheers them up. I do hope that one day soon the back benchers will have had enough and he will be ousted.

MamaCaz

Wasn't it reported a while back, when he became PM, that Boris requested simplified, easy-to-read versions of any such reports/documents - or did I dream that?

Perhaps he's having to wait for the the newspapers to publish such a version for him, one that he can understand !

Perhaps it was Prime Ministership for Dummies or

The Ladybird Book of Premiership

"coped brilliantly"!!!!????? - when, where, how? I cannot think of a single example.

For a start they failed to respond quickly enough at the beginning and this is exactly why we are in this mess in the first place. They have been beyond incompetent - it is terrifying to behold. Some people are simply allowing themselves to be comforted by the Jolly Chappie routine, behind which there is no substance.

I’m sure that those who voted for Johnson, never in their worse nightmares thought they would end up with what they’ve got.

Give Boris a break for goodness sake. He and the government are doing a fantastic job under such difficult circumstances, I think we need a hollow laugh emoticon.

Irrespective of political feelings, Johnson is a bone idle ill-prepared embarrassment, and the back benchers ( the ones we elected) can see this and are getting restless. Some of you may have such low expectations of your government that you are happy to have a man like Johnson running the place, but I am not. There have been many goverments and PM in my life, some I have agreed with, some not, but I always thought they were fit for the job, Johnson is not. I heard it said that the problem with Johnson is that he wanted to be Prime Minister, and to have been Prime Minister, it was the bit inbetween that he was having trouble with. I don't think he will be PM after Jan 2021, he will swan off into the sunset of after dinner speaking engagements and leave us with Gove and Cummings ( God help us all). I have friends who are lifelong Tory voters ( I am the odd one out) and without exception, they are ashamed of Johnson, think he is unfit for the job and is making an absolute horlicks of it.

My sentiments exactly,Gill57.

He is indeed incompetent, but we are stuck with him, because there are so many back benchers whose careers depend on not getting his hackles up - and they care more about that than our country's well-being. This is how "democracy" works.

Remember the note Cummings' friend Tory MP Danny Kruger sent to other MPs ...

"Devizes MP Danny Kruger - son of Bake Off judge Prue Leith and is also close to both Cummings and Wakefield - has sent a note to the new intake of Conservative MPs stressing how important it is that Cummings remains in government.

In it he stressed those calling for the senior aide to resign were effectively giving a vote of no confidence in the prime minister.

Kruger said that the pair “are why we won the 2019 election and them together is the only way to GBD [get Brexit done], level up the regions, and fix Whitehall – the only things which will win us the next election too”.

He added: “No 10 won’t budge, so calling for DC (Dominic Cummings) to is basically declaring no confidence in [the] PM.”

www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/danny-kruger-on-dominic-cummings-and-brexit-1-6672377

He wouldn't have had to send that note, if there weren't discontent. I expect most of them will put their position before their duty to the country, but some of them won't.

And there'll come a time when it will be in their best interest to get rid of Johnson. Johnson's personal poll ratings are going down almost every day. I suspect Gove sees himself in with a chance, but I have a feeling backbenchers wouldn't see it like that. Gove is toxic with the public. Jeremy Hunt is being relatively quiet, apart from the odd criticism of Hancock (which is a cheek considering what harm he did to the NHS), but I wonder ... And then there's "golden boy holder of the magic money tree seed packet) Sunak. Who knows what plotting goes on behind closed doors?

Reading all the above is like being in two parallel universes.

By the way, can someone please explain what is meant by "woke". I looked it up but the meanings that I found did not seem to apply to the way it is used in the above posts.

Dinahmo

Reading all the above is like being in two parallel universes.

By the way, can someone please explain what is meant by "woke". I looked it up but the meanings that I found did not seem to apply to the way it is used in the above posts.

You are right. People are using it in the entirely wrong context.

Every winter we see hundreds of deaths reported, who do we blame for all these unacceptable deaths ? It's become a guaranteed thing every year, caused by " ordinary " influenza regardless of who's in power at the time.

EllanVannin

Every winter we see hundreds of deaths reported, who do we blame for all these unacceptable deaths ? It's become a guaranteed thing every year, caused by " ordinary " influenza regardless of who's in power at the time.

So this winter it sounds as if there will be hundreds of deaths reported plus up to 150000 extra deaths (worse case)

So what would you propose Whitewavemark2 ?

Be prepared.

Read reports

Make early and forceable decisions

What would you tell the public to do WWM2 ? Advice ?

So it's down to the public isn't it ?
Is it Boris's fault if there are illegal raves, drunken behaviour and all the other airheads who engage in close contact thus spreading the virus to innocent bystanders ?
It only takes a couple of these brainless idiots to infect a whole village with the weakest falling foul to the virus.

Do you honestly think that everyone is going to abide by any rules ?

My primary focus would be on clear weaknesses in my strategy.

So first Care Homes. I would be ensuring NOW that they have sufficient PPE in stock for another wave.
They are clear as to the risk etc.

Test and trace would be my main form of defence in the absence of a vaccination.

Next I would be far clearer in my directions to the public. I would stop lying and I would try to rebuild trust both by my actions and directions.

Next I would give the promised funding to the NHS.

I would then produced the social care plan that I promised in 2019.

That is enough to be going on with, but I wouldn’t hold your breath

I was about to reply to EV but I think I had better take a deep breath, walk around the garden first.........

EllanVannin

Every winter we see hundreds of deaths reported, who do we blame for all these unacceptable deaths ? It's become a guaranteed thing every year, caused by " ordinary " influenza regardless of who's in power at the time.

I've lifted this from my cousin who is a doctor and lifetime peer. His view is that it goes much deeper than blaming an individual or a particular party.
The deepest lesson to learn from the crisis, however, is that no amount of dedication from NHS staff can correct historic neglect and that the currentmarketised NHS has been a disaster for preventive health…
He has seen 50 years of politics, been secretary of state, switched from party to party and still despairs that things will ever recover.
Like WWM2 he does think we should prepare better for the next wave and be making decisions well in advance.

Ellianne, in other words it's down to the common sense of the public who now know how many have died so hopefully will have been alerted to this, but sadly many members of the public haven't got the sense they were born with.
It's not rocket science to follow the prevention instructions.

I suspect that one of the biggest problems with this government is King Cummings who is acting as an unelected dictator which has the stultifying effect of preventing various ministers from making decisions and acting on them (assuming they are capable).

No one person can possibly oversee every decision made but it seems that is exactly what King Cummings is trying to do as we saw how nothing was done whilst Cummings was running around the country on holiday.

This has in effect a weakening affect on good decision making. I n good government, these things are thrashed out in cabinet but with Cummings having the final say, we are not getting the government we expect or deserve.

EllanVannin

Ellianne, in other words it's down to the common sense of the public who now know how many have died so hopefully will have been alerted to this, but sadly many members of the public haven't got the sense they were born with.
It's not rocket science to follow the prevention instructions.

Bit simplistic

Common sense counts for a lot but unfortunately it's in short supply for many. Cleanliness too counts for a lot but some people still smell which denotes a lack of hygiene.

I nursed patients through Asian flu in 1957 and remember having 2 vaccinations within 2/3 weeks of each other at the time but I don't remember any notices given out about what to do and nobody was in isolation. People still died from it including young adults.

Test and trace is as good as useless unless it's a blood test for antibodies. We haven't come that far in the NHS since the 1950's !

The other thing I would do apart from ditching Cummings is to make sure that I have the best person possible as Health Secretary. I would also recognise that the situation is unique and enormous, so I would give the Health Secretary a strong team of MPs with the power to direct decisions etc.

I would separate social care and give that Minister the task of formulating a plan for the future which can be brought to cabinet and thrashed out with funding guaranteed.

EllanVannin

Common sense counts for a lot but unfortunately it's in short supply for many. Cleanliness too counts for a lot but some people still smell which denotes a lack of hygiene.

I nursed patients through Asian flu in 1957 and remember having 2 vaccinations within 2/3 weeks of each other at the time but I don't remember any notices given out about what to do and nobody was in isolation. People still died from it including young adults.

Test and trace is as good as useless unless it's a blood test for antibodies. We haven't come that far in the NHS since the 1950's !

Oh dear