Chach

That article's main citation is research done by a left wing think tank, and the argument that research is making is that the government is essentially responsible for peoples poor lifestyle choices that result in preventable/premature death. There is likely a well thought out conservative position rooted in moral foundations theory how that is not a fair and equitable position for society as a whole. Hardly evidence of Fascism. No wonder we're getting hammered at every possible election. Non stop claims to victimhood get boring.

Romey, I haven't read your post but I think you are wrong.

@Matt were you after replies to this or just getting it off your chest?

Very emotional response there mate, you claimed the government had purposely downgraded a disease in order to save money on PPE and laid the entire blame at the feet of the elected representatives. A post pretty much anyone with a political bias against tories agreed with as though it was the gospel truth. When challenged with reasonable and factual information, all the toys go straight out of the pram and the whataboutism starts even though you get very close to the truth when you state it's very likely a failure of planning and procurement. And people wonder why our political discourse is in the toilet.

So that's a ranking that was changed based on new data though and by all accounts I've heard from Epidemiologists this virus ranks down the scale in terms of infectious diseases, one I heard who was debunking the "this escaped from the Level 4 infectious disease lab in Wuhan" conspiracy theory said this was level 2 at best. Even when you look at the criteria listed in the link you supplied it doesn't meet the criteria for a HCID. The particular claim made that they lowered it specifically to reduce the PPE required doesn't seem to hold up to scrutiny because the PPE requirements have have been updated and increased. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-infection-prevention-and-control/covid-19-personal-protective-equipment-ppe These decisions are being made by experts in the field who are held to the highest ethical standards, not elected members of parliament (whose ethics are questionable at the best of times)

But with regards to occupational health and safety the people who have control of workplace would and should take responsibility with duty of care going down the line. We're not talking about some labourers working with a building product they don't know causes cancer in this instance, these are all university educated people. It's not like this was a surprise, we were all watching China for a couple of months. Do you have a source for the downgrading of the disease?

That planning could be done within general business as usual risk management it wouldn't require its own budget, it wouldn't even be that big a piece of work in the context of a health system bureaucracy that large. If that work hasn't been done then it's almost certainly a failure of management and I don't see how you can immediately blame the government even though they must take ultimate responsibility. The Blair government threw money at the NHS left right and centre, was there a pandemic management plan then?

So for clarity, how are you putting responsibility for this with the elected reps and not the people paid to run the NHS? I know this is a novel virus but in terms of infectious diseases its fairly low down the ladder, surely medical professionals should know what precautions to take?

He was the Director of Public Prosecutions so I have no doubt he's a mad dog in a scrap, he also might come across as a bit posh but his mum was a nurse and his dad a fitter and turner so his soul is fundamentally purer than his opponents

factcheck says no. "But to suggest that he 'comprehensively, single-handedly destroyed' the nations pensions is an absurd exaggeration." https://www.channel4.com/news/articles/business_money/factcheck+did+gordon+destroy+our+pensions/171020.html

Show me one time I have criticised you for having an opinion on UK politics. We ALL comment on US politics and only about 3ish of us are from there, the reason we're on here is because we're opinionated! I demand a retraction!

We better all agree not to be too productive or they might realise they don't need us all!

That's whataboutery, Australia has had mandatory detention since the 90's for people arriving without a valid visa. (most of whom have been settled here as soon as their identify and status as refugees could be established) That is not analogous to detaining your own citizens and subjecting them to "re-education" because of their religious beliefs and then harvesting the organs of citizens who won't comply. The US and Australia are taken as credible because they ARE credible, we have multi layered government systems with separation of power and a robust free press. There is no comparison.

1) There's nothing in that Guardian article where Blair trashes Brown's performance as Chancellor. ( You're going to need more evidence that a news article link to demonstrate Brown's fiscal policy wrecked both employment and the economy too by the way) 2) Nice attempt at an ad hominem there, but pension schemes in Australia are mandated under law whereby ones employed contributes 9.5% on top of your salary into you fund. Private or public sector.

Government debt as a proportion of GDP under Brown was lower than the previous Tory government, government spending as a % of GDP has been constant since the war.

Update, two days WFH and have to admit I'm being much more productive so far, although not enjoying the video meetings at all.

I'm a public servant so very across the way things work, the average person would be amazed at how little changes when the government does. They will have their election commitments which in the grand scheme is typically fiddling around at the edges, the vast majority is BAU.

I really don't see you you can make this claim while you're denying to provide a definition of what money is and how it's created. Comparisons to the 70's when the UK was on the gold standard are spurious to say the least.

Thing is mate I would believe a right biased US news publication before anything the Chinese government was telling us, remember they currently have a couple of million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps for "re-education"

Mate, you're barking up the wrong tree trying to make this a partisan issue (and so is RPG). The civil service is running the show as best they possibly can and the government are just reporting on what they're doing. (badly)

That a cop out, it's not a political question. It's an important clarification when you are bandying around assertions that your party is spending it wisely and your political rivals are spending it wantonly. If you don't answer any further posts will moot until such time that you do.

Media bias has them as right biased but mostly factual, which is entirely possible unless you view conservatism as a mental illness. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/national-review/

Can I ask you what you think money is and how it is created?

What are the Tories doing now then?

haha, show me in the post where I said no companies were registered in the UK? Jog on and learn some reading comprehension.