Catching up with what the government is doing

I gather there were four of these screenshots released but we seem to be only seeing one. Has anyone seen the others?

Undoubtedly Cummings has an axe to grind and is not of great character generally. He is also doing this in a way to cause the greatest damage he can, rather than sending these to the committee. However, they must be tested for their veracity and included if they are found to be authentic.

Why does the speaker allow Johnson to constantly call Starmer Captain Hindsight? I thought MP’s were supposed to be respectful towards each other?

It’s all there though isn’t it?

You can understand why Johnson is resisting a covid washup can’t you?

Guilty as charged it seems.

Whitewavemark2

What does it say about Johnson’s judgement that he continued to inflict “totally f……g hopeless” Hancock on the NHS and us?

Maybe he was thinking of providing himself with an alibi?

What does it say about Johnson’s judgement that he continued to inflict “totally f……g hopeless” Hancock on the NHS and us?

It is probably something the opposition could be pointing out if it weren't for covid. I wonder if the time has now come that they should start bringing it forward.

but as a tool to persuade voters that they are better off under the Conservatives. Sadly, this seems to work too. Many people are unaware of just how savage the grants have been to local authorities, and the excruciatingly difficult decisions they have to make as a result. I wish local authorities would be more open about this.

Thank you for the posts regarding how this government (Conservative for the last 11 years) has starved councils of money and how this has affected Labour councils to a much greater degree than Conservative ones.

Being a Councilor is a pretty thankless task but for many Labour councils it has been dire and all this at a time when austerity was chosen, not for the need - it doesn't work in building an economy - but as a tool to persuade voters that they are better off under the Conservatives.

Austerity is a policy decision, not an economic one and I despair that we are already reading of it, even as we recognise the devastation caused by this policy previously. But, it is likely that the government will be supported by the tabloids and Tory supporting press and we will start getting stories of 'benefit cheats', 'bogus asylum seekers' etc., as they whip up the public. Hopefully enough people have watched the excellent Time and will stop believing that prisons are a holiday camp. At a slight tangent, I wonder how the tabloid editors will spin the blame on single parents, fathers with multiple children etc., when we have such a bastion of morality in No 10.

To those who think austerity is the way to go, just have a look at the economic policy that Biden is implementing, then at how far the USA is ahead in recovery already.

The last three posts by Eloethan and Callistemon are speaking of the tory austerity policies implemented from 2010.

Having seen the damage that this policy caused, not only to local authority provision, but also to the NHS, I really think that people should be aware that the tories intend to implement swingeing cuts to public spending yet again. There may be lots of publicity about bungs to tory voting towns and areas (particularly 'red wall' areas) in the name of 'levelling up', but government departments are, apparently, being warned of future budget cuts.

This is unnecessary, but will be sold as restoring the nation's finances after running up a large budget deficit during the pandemic. Just remember, taxation doesn't fund spending and cutting public expenditure causes depressions...

Much of what you say is true - but it is a Conservative government that has made the poorest communities even poorer, whilst protecting the least deprived communities. It is obvious that such measures will lead to a huge deterioration in the monitoring and maintenance of housing and to a general decline in vital services.

LAs have been short of funding for years and are expected to do too much with what funds are available.
The whole infrastructure of the UK has been crumbling for years.
New housing has been built but it is shoddy and definitely not fit for purpose in many, not all, areas.

Old council houses, many of which were sold off, are generally spacious, sturdy and well built.

With regard to the posts regarding the disgraceful housing conditions in boroughs such as Southwark, I agree.

Because several of the boroughs mentioned are Labour controlled, the claim is that the Conservatives cannot be blamed for this appalling situation.

This appears to overlook the fact that since 2010, the Conservatives have made massive cuts to the local authorities' budgets. In November last year it was reported in the Guardian:

"Tory (note Tory) Council leaders have delivered a stark warning to ministers that failure to tackle English local authorities' cash crisis will force them to cut vital services......".

It goes on:

"even before the onslaught of the second wave, councils were facing difficult choices ...... over the coming months they face further escalating costs resulting in an immediate cliff-edge next year".

Lest some posters scorn Guardian reportage, in 2020 the Evening Standard (hardly a left wing publication) reported:

"London boroughs warn of "catastrophic" cuts and council tax rises unless government plugs the £1.3 billion shortfall.

As far back as 2015, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported that:

"The most deprived areas have borne the brunt of cuts - nearly six times higher than the cuts experienced in the least deprived areas."

And housing is not the only part of our social structure that is falling apart. The justice system was in disarray even before the pandemic. Trials of serious offences were taking as much as two years to be heard. Now there is a huge backlog and it is being reported that it may take several years for serious cases to be heard.

Cressida Dick has been criticised by the panel for her unhelpful- ness in the investigation.

She was also unhelpful in the investigation into the vote leave fraud.

The report talks about corruption over 700 times and yet the Met refuses to acknowledge that there is corruption in the Met.

What is it with those in power never putting up their hands and admitting culpability?

Did anyone listen to Patel’s speech on the HoC. I’m sure the civil servants who wrote it chose as many words ending in “g” as she /he could find?

Comparison between our farming practices and Australia’s.

I shall always insist on supporting our farmers

They have obviously never heard of glass houses in NY.

I don't think the NYT supported Trump.

Nor do I think that journalists are forbidden to make judgements about a leader just because they had a worse one of their own...

Just.
He was, however, more powerful and left behind chaos which could take more than one term to rectify.

They have obviously never heard of glass houses in NY.

Callistemon

Whitewavemark2

NY Times opinion, has there ever been a British PM who has attracted such derogatory criticism?

“As a UK citizen, how does it make you feel to see the New York Times describe Boris Johnson as “a terrible leader ...... freewheeling ...... clownish ...... slapdash ...... venal ...... incompetent”, and “a greased piglet” involved in “dodgy dealings, sleaze and chumocracy”?”

As a US based newspaper, how does it feel to be an integral part of the country which elected Trump?

And then got rid of him after just one term.

Whitewavemark2

NY Times opinion, has there ever been a British PM who has attracted such derogatory criticism?

“As a UK citizen, how does it make you feel to see the New York Times describe Boris Johnson as “a terrible leader ...... freewheeling ...... clownish ...... slapdash ...... venal ...... incompetent”, and “a greased piglet” involved in “dodgy dealings, sleaze and chumocracy”?”

As a US based newspaper, how does it feel to be an integral part of the country which elected Trump?

I’ll refer you back to the first part of my last post Maizie. Enough said.

However the vaccine rollout has been exemplary and as a nation we have vaccinated far more people than the majority of other countries.

Indeed it has; thanks to the lucky appointment of a very competent person to lead it who already had some experience in medical fields and who put effectiveness over bungs to big business.

That does not compensate for the government's failings; incompetence, lawbreaking, cronyism and lying, in every other aspect of their handling of the pandemic.

Thousands of people have died needlessly. Thanks to government incompetence, yet again, we now have the Delta variant cutting a swathe through children and young people. The speed of the vaccine roll out doesn't mean anything to the partially or unvaccinated; they're still very vulnerable to a highly tranmissable variant.

Unfortunately you will have a permanent long term job whitewavemark2 keeping your ^beady eye* on the Government as unless Labour get their act together I can see the Conservatives winning the next election.