Anyone understand why Johnson is so far ahead in the polls? ( 2)

Also what do we make of a man who is a remainer and then switches tack and goes all out Brexit, makes a speech ridiculing the idea of ID cards and now has this as one of his policies ?

Yes but it’s not all about the pandemic is it? I wouldn’t vote for just anyone because they wore a red or green or yellow rosette but it’s always been clear to me,since I was young and so it in my own family , that many Conservative voters would vote for and praise anyone with a blue rosette as long as the tories stayed in power.

Lucca

“ Put Party Politics aside “
?

Glad to be able to amuse Lucca ...but guess what, I would have sympathy for any PM from any political party that had to deal with the awful last year we have had.
Some posters obviously can’t see past political push me/ pull you and are either grudging with praise or give none at all, even where it’s due.

Alegrias1

^France had 250 deaths this week ^

Hmmm .... check your figures.....

Yes, you are quite right.....250 is the daily number of deaths on Tuesday 11th May in France ( 267 in Germany.)

Staffing was a massive problem, but at least within the hospitals staff could be identified to work extra hours, moved from one role to another etc. very much like the vaccination programme in fact. We have a huge amount to thank the NHS for.

Yes, we do.
Existing staff and newly qualified staff were trained in ICU procedures fairly quickly as the numbers needed were far above those required under normal circumstances. They also worked longer shifts.
Laboratory staff were also trained as testing for Covid was not carried out in the pathology labs; separate facilities were set up.

The Forces were also drafted in to help, especially with the vaccination programme.

MaizieD

Chestnut

Dinahmo The Nightingale Hospitals were a knee jerk reaction to the situation and ill considered.
I'm sure they could do with a few of those in India at the moment, so not ill considered at all. It was done in anticipation of a mass outbreak and showed foresight. I'm sure you would have been even more outraged if people had been dying in the road as there were no hospital beds.

We did have a mass outbreak, people who needed ventilation were left to die on wards because there was none available for them. People were left to die at home...

The Nightingales were useless because there was no-one to staff them. The NHS was already short staffed and was stretched to breaking point and beyond. You may be able to make a hospital substitute in a few weeks, but recruiting and training staff takes considerably longer.

What is so difficult to understand about this?

I have not heard of anywhere / any hospital in the UK where patients who needed ventilation or other forms of Oxygen delivery where left to die on wards?

Yes people did die at home, for what reason though? Was it due to not contacting the emergency services, or the Covid helpline? Or due to their fear of going into hospital, blaming the PM for that scenario is wildly off mark.

Please can you give any evidence of this.

Our posts crossed Chestnut. I have answered your point. Make no mistake, it was the NHS and other key workers that saved the population. The professional advisors to the the government should have been listened to and their recommendations acted on much sooner than they were. This is what will come from the Inquiry.

Maizie D The Nightingales were useless because there was no-one to staff them. The NHS was already short staffed and was stretched to breaking point and beyond.
Okay, what is your answer, how would you (and other critics) have dealt with the crisis, with too many patients and not enough nursing staff? I'm sure all those attacking Johnson for his approach would have handled the pandemic so much better. Do enlighten us.

The material point about the nightingale hospitals was that except in very specific circumstances where there was already a significant shortage of beds, they were not the solution the NHS itself had been involved in making, wanted, could staff or could see the logic in. It was a headline grabber for the government in the darkest times, aimed at reducing anxiety in the population.
Most nightingale hospitals weren’t needed, because most hospital systems have empty beds, which were recommissioned, and provided care in a safe environment. Staffing was a massive problem, but at least within the hospitals staff could be identified to work extra hours, moved from one role to another etc. very much like the vaccination programme in fact. We have a huge amount to thank the NHS for.

I laughed about the ruffled hair,Algerias . It certainly looks very ruffled. My English SIL says anyone who has a hairstyle like that shouldn’t be PM . ???

Chestnut

Dinahmo The Nightingale Hospitals were a knee jerk reaction to the situation and ill considered.
I'm sure they could do with a few of those in India at the moment, so not ill considered at all. It was done in anticipation of a mass outbreak and showed foresight. I'm sure you would have been even more outraged if people had been dying in the road as there were no hospital beds.

We did have a mass outbreak, people who needed ventilation were left to die on wards because there was none available for them. People were left to die at home...

The Nightingales were useless because there was no-one to staff them. The NHS was already short staffed and was stretched to breaking point and beyond. You may be able to make a hospital substitute in a few weeks, but recruiting and training staff takes considerably longer.

What is so difficult to understand about this?

^ Johnson stood around and ruffled his hair.^ ?
I'm sure Boris does a lot more behind the scenes that we don't see. Don't forget he worked through his bout of covid last year as well.

nanna8

They announced how well the UK is doing here on our tv. I think congratulations are in order. The NHS has done very well and whether Boris has anything to do with it or not he is the PM so I guess some credit is due.

We are doing well, and I think we're all grateful for it nanna8. The vaccine program is going great guns and Boris is PM, but I'm not sure that those things are causally linked

Johnson put Kate Bingham in charge of the vaccine task force on the recommendation of Patrick Vallance, and Hancock made the money available to get the procurement bit done. Johnson stood around and ruffled his hair. Oh, and uses the vaccine program to trumpet how well the Conservatives have done, at every opportunity.

Dinahmo The Nightingale Hospitals were a knee jerk reaction to the situation and ill considered.
I'm sure they could do with a few of those in India at the moment, so not ill considered at all. It was done in anticipation of a mass outbreak and showed foresight. I'm sure you would have been even more outraged if people had been dying in the road as there were no hospital beds.

growstuff

*but the posters who live in the UK and dislike Johnson/ Conservatives have no excuse to constantly rubbish everything here.*

Is this an attempt to get them to shut up?

Quite a futile one, I think...

but the posters who live in the UK and dislike Johnson/ Conservatives have no excuse to constantly rubbish everything here.

Is this an attempt to get them to shut up?

grandmajet

250 is more like the daily Covid death rate in France at the moment. The worldometer site gives a daily update of new cases, deaths, etc. The new daily cases there are high.

Daily cases here in the UK are not diminishing. Only (thank heaven) deaths. We still face the prospect of many people suffering from Long Covid, which can be life altering, and the possible rise of a vaccine resistant mutation.

If we hadn't had the vaccine roll out we would still be doing badly.
The fact that we have done well with it doesn't negate a year of vacillation and incompetence that led to thousands of unnecessary deaths.

And the fact that the NHS has risen magnificently to the challenge of vaccinating the population so fast and efficiently doesn't negate tory neglect and underfunding over the last decade. And don't forget the contemptuous 1% pay rise NHS workers have been 'offered' after a year of dedication in the face of overwhelmingly difficult circumstances.

250 is more like the daily Covid death rate in France at the moment. The worldometer site gives a daily update of new cases, deaths, etc. The new daily cases there are high.

“ Put Party Politics aside “
?

France had 250 deaths this week

Hmmm .... check your figures.....

They announced how well the UK is doing here on our tv. I think congratulations are in order. The NHS has done very well and whether Boris has anything to do with it or not he is the PM so I guess some credit is due.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing ( especially on GN!)?
The Nightingale Hospitals were set up in case of need, we didn’t need them in the end, thank God.
You cannot compare countries and populations, but if you do
Then you really have to take size/ space of country into consideration. France had 250 deaths this week, we had how many? Was it even in double figures! All due to the slow vaccination programme there.
Don’t hold up France or Germany as wonderful examples of how things should have been done, they are still doing badly there, regardless of how fast they sourced PPE or whatever.
Put Party Politics aside and be honest as to the fact that the UK is doing really well.Those who live in France ( on GN) naturally feel defensive, but the posters who live in the UK and dislike Johnson/ Conservatives have no excuse to constantly rubbish everything here.

Chestnut

Dinahmo did you know that France has a smaller population than the UK, despite being 2.6 times larger in size? We are a tiny overpopulated country, so the potential for the virus spreading is therefore greater.

France has about 2.5 million fewer people.

The virus has spread in areas that are as densely populated as those in the UK - the major cities and the south - Marseilles to the border with Italy. In fact London with 9.4 million has a smaller population than Paris with 11 million (metropolitan areas).

The percentage of urban dwellers in France is 80.1% and in the UK is 83.6%,

So there's not a lot in it apart from those of us living in rural areas have a lot more space around us.

lemongrove The Nightingale Hospitals were a knee jerk reaction to the situation and ill considered.

The UK is not the only country to be financially supporting those people who were in danger of losing their jobs. The UK are not unique in doing that.

PPE was a problem early on, but by then other countries who had vast numbers of Covid patients had ordered so much it was hard to get hold of.

Perhaps you could explain how the other countries had the foresight to order so much PPE that the UK couldn't get hold of it?

As far as I can see, the two things that the have been organised efficiently in the UK has been the roll out of the vaccinations - carried out by the NHS and volunteers. Kate Bingham was suggested by the scientists as a person who was capable of leading the vaccine campaign.

The other, the development of an anti covid vaccine was carried out by the Oxford Vaccine Group. This was set up in 1994 in order to study new and improved vaccines for children and adults. The govt gave the Group additional funding in order that it could continue its work on a new vaccine.

I don't see that Johnson had a lot to do with it, other than to hand out money and to continually boast.