Elections Aftermath: Was our 2019 Vote & the EU Referendum Rigged? #TORYRIG2019

[Paul Barbara]

Regarding the recent leaks about the ‘Labour Party’ 5th Column Traitors, Momentum is asking people to sign petition to ask Starmer to set up an inquiry:
‘OPEN LETTER: Demand a Full Inquiry Following Leaked Labour Report’:
https://actionsprout.io/089CB0
I think it is certainly worth signing, though I an sure Starmer is ‘one of them’, the plotters.

[Paul Barbara]

One aspect I don’t think has been mentioned yet – the timing of the ‘General Selection’ and the ‘virus outbreak’. I reckon BoJo’s and others’ string-pullers would have known about the planned ‘Pandemic’, and that was why all the stops were pulled out to make sure the ‘Selection’ took place before the ‘Pandemic’. It would have been a whole different ball game if JC was still leader of the Labour Party; we couldn’t have had a ‘General Election’ in the midst of a ‘Pandemic’, and if the Labour 5th Column Traitors machinations that have just come out came out before an election, the PTB would hardly have been able to steal it so easily, possibly not at all.
‘Open Democracy’, to which I believe a couple of the ‘Led by Donkeys’ are attached (I believe Kim said that earlier in the thread), has a newsletter where they are watching how countries are using the ‘Pandemic’ to roll back rights; below is a sign-up site:
‘DemocracyWatch: Pandemic power grabs all over the world’:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/pandemic-power-grabs-all-over-world/
If ‘Led by Donkeys’ is linked to ‘Open Democracy’, the newsletter may open new possibilities for contact with them.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Covid 19 is targeting our elderly to inflict a grisly Holocaust in the Care sector as this Tory Government appears eager to dispense with the unnecessary cost of supporting “economically inactive” individuals who remain an inconvenient drain on their boundless predatory ambitions for increased wealth. This is a deadly and deceitful betrayal of the courageous generation who fought and died to remove the yoke of fascism and liberate Europe from Nazis oppression. The Coronavirus crisis is being manipulated by hard right authoritarian regimes in stealth power grabs under “Medical Marshal Law,” certainly not confined to the UK as the vile disease of neo-liberalism sweeps the globe: millions will die in America needlessly sacrificed to the rapacious greed of capitalism.

A recent survey revealed the 74% of respondents living in the UK accept the current restrictions of lock-down overwhelmingly prioritizing health over wealth, but this Tory Government has an entirely different agenda that continues to deliberately truncate the lives of the “expendable” vulnerable sector and wantonly risk those who valiantly care for them in our Hospitals and Care Homes. The stark tabloid warning of a “Catastrophe in Care Homes” with 92 new outbreaks in the past 24 hours, 2,200 homes now stricken and 30 deaths over Easter had been smouldering beneath the surface for a while! The situation is even worse in London where almost a quarter of the 1,300 Residential and Nursing Homes have been affected. An ex-minister railed that the elderly are being abandoned like “lambs to the slaughter!”

The Mainstream Media have finally caught on to the fact that the Tories shambolic mismanagement of Covid 19 is seriously life threatening to us all. “The coronavirus ‘care home catastrophe’ was ‘dramatically laid bare’ by the UK Government’s Chief Medical Officer,” the Daily Mail wrote that: “Prof Chris Whitty told the daily Downing Street briefing 92 care homes in the UK had detected an outbreak of the virus in the past day alone… ‘terrified’ staff members are refusing to work in the face of the ‘grave threat’.” In the Telegraph there came the shocking revelation that; “a third of NHS staff tested positive for the virus.”

Reporting on how incompetent Tory Ministers “asleep at the wheel” had not just mislaid a solitary email, the UK missed a total of three golden opportunities to bulk buy PPE under a joint procurement scheme! The Guardian revealed that “Britain missed three opportunities to be part of an EU scheme to bulk-buy masks, gowns and gloves and has been absent from key talks about future purchases…. as pressure grows on ministers to protect NHS medics and care workers on the coronavirus frontline. European doctors and nurses are preparing to receive the first of €1.5bn (£1.3bn) worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) within days or a maximum of two weeks through a joint procurement scheme involving 25 countries and eight companies, according to internal EU documents. On Monday Dominic Raab, acknowledged PPE shortages – rather than distribution issues only – for the first time.”

Thankfully, both Spain and Italy appear to have past the peak with Covid 19 deaths on the decline and the number of new cases gradually reducing, but very wisely they have not abandoned precautionary measures yet. Italy is still limiting inbound travel with temperature checks on new arrivals on inbound flights and a mandatory two week self-isolation period even for those without any symptoms. There are no such precautions or restrictions being taken at Heathrow airport where the UK continues to welcome passengers from Covid 19 hotspots around the world. This remains one of the strongest of several important indications that this Tory Government has yet to deviate from the disastrous eugenics program of “Herd Immunity.”

On Newsnight an ONS graph revealed a sharp spike in the “all cause mortality” figures for the UK. Although not all of the over 6,000 unexpected extra deaths was directly identified with Covid 19 the numbers are indicative of the type of collateral damage effect warned of in the excellent Article “The Hammer and the Dance.” However, rather than this damage occurring due to our NHS becoming overwhelmed and unable to cope with non Coronavirus patients, it appears that this might be due to a reluctance to call overstretched emergency services and fear of coming to Hospital. Meanwhile, credible advisors have warned that the UK is right on track to suffer the highest death toll from the Covid 19 outbreak in Europe.

The continuation of the disgusting Herd Immunity eugenics project to cull our elderly as the Tories “Final Solution” for Social Care and their stealth consolidation of unfettered control over Government, while remaining totally devoid of accountability, will not end until they are removed from power. The end of the Brexit transition period looms large as Sunak refuses to acknowledge that a second mortal blow to the UK economy in the same year is pure insanity. The need for a thorough Investigation into the Covert 2019 Rigged Election remains an urgent priority in the fight to stop the chaotic rampages of this hard Right Tory Government. We must act immediatly before we lose what little protection the EU might be able to offer the citizen victims of our failing democracy.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

The London Economic reports that New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said she and other New Zealand Ministers will take a 20% pay cut lasting six months to show solidarity with those affected by the coronavirus outbreak. In a most disgraceful contrast our MPs awarded themselves an extra 10,000 to cover the added expense of working from home at a time when the disabled will get a mere £1 increase to their PIP! This Tory Government is oblivious of those it has allowed to fall through the cracks.

The Canary reports that in the run up to his one hundredth birthday, veteran Captain Tom Moore continues to stir huge numbers of ordinary ry reports that in the run up to his one hundredth birthday, veteran Captain Tom Moore continues to stir huge numbers of ordinary working people in this country to donate towards the NHS from the precious little that they have; at last glance he had raised a whopping 14 Million! Meanwhile our millionaire class are still devising ways to game the system and profit from our collective misery. Shockingly, the most privileged in the UK retain the confidence to just stride onto their mega yachts totally oblivious of universal global suffering; any normal human being would want to crawl under a rock in shame over exposure of this level of inhumane indifference!

Led by Donkeys Hero v Zero campaign exposes the hypocrisy of the Tories rousing statement that “We’re all in this together.” Just like Orwell’s Animal Farm evidently some are more equal than others. While the impoverished can always image someone worse off than themselves, our wealthy elite can only strive to climb the greasy pole by continuing to trample everyone below them even in times of dire crisis. There are calls for football stars to scale back on their huge earnings, but who is ready to shame countless other global elite into pitching in to help those most impacted by this crisis? Once again the poor will be prepared to donate disproportionately more than those better able to afford it; this 2013 Civil Society Article quantifies the phenomenon.

Positive signs in Europe over coronavirus are ‘tempered by UK’, according to WHO as reported in the Canary. Dr Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said that while there have been “optimistic signs” in the countries worst affected by the coronavirus, others, such as the UK, demonstrated “sustained or increased levels of incidents.” This Canary Article includes WHO Dr. Kluge broadcast on the six vital measures before emerging from any lockdown.

Also highlighted by the Canary, again we are all quite shocked to witness Piers Morgan rip into a Tory minister, but this highly controversial TV personality is earning some serious respect for asking the tough questions and not letting Tory spin dominate his interviews. “Love Morgan or hate him, the UK needs a lot more of this kind of interview, instead of the usual supine acceptance of whatever misleading drivel and excuses Tory mouthpieces choose to spout.” Even worse the BBC’s relentless efforts to make excuses for the hopeless Tory arguments on their behalf have become so nauseating to the duped British public. The “Holocaust in Care” is publically exposed bu the Skwawkbox as Piers Morgan once again hits hard as Mat Hancock boasts of “Spare Capacity” in NHS while thousands are left to die or returned to Residential Care facilities to knowingly infect others in their Care Holmes.

For the Government it could not be any easier than to follow the well researched positive lead of other wiser European leaders and the WHO by adhering to the exact WHO guidelines for relaxing quarantine restrictions, but not the Tories…
The WHO’s tests are:
• Transmission is controlled
• Health system capacities are in place to detect, test, isolate and treat every case – and trace every contact
• Outbreak risks are minimised in special settings like health facilities and nursing homes
• Preventive measures are in place in workplaces, schools and other places where it’s essential for people to go
• ‘Importation’ risks can be managed
• Communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to adjust to the ‘new norm’
The Skwawkbox elaborates on how the UK have abandoned akk these goals.

The rapacious greed of the few to exploit this crisis to the detriment of the majority of UK citizens and others who reside here will not end while we allow a toxic Tory Government to remain propped in power doing the biffing of the elite who seek to exploit is all. The Tories “Final Solution” for Social Care and their stealth consolidation of unfettered control over Government, while remaining totally devoid of accountability, will not end until they are removed from power. We cannot afford to wait until the end of the Brexit for a second mortal blow to strike the UK economy. Only a thorough Investigation into the Covert 2019 Rigged Election will spare us from the chaotic rampages of this hard Right Tory Government.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

In a revealing Article the Canary warns that: “The government is trying hard to rewrite coronavirus history. We mustn’t let it.” In the article they go on to expose some telling numbers: “The figures from 31 January paint a damning picture of our government’s response to the crisis. For example, Japan had 14 cases on 31 January and Australia had nine. At the time of writing on 16 April, Japan had seen 178 deaths and Australia 63. The death toll in the UK, meanwhile, stands at a horrific and tragic 13,729 fatalities.”

The article states that: “These figures don’t improve when looked at in terms of deaths per million of the population. In the UK, this figure is 190. But in Japan, it’s 1, and in Australia, 2. Meanwhile, in Ireland, where King noted measures including cancelling St Patrick’s Day celebrations took place earlier, it’s 90.”

In other news the Canary highlight the disgraceful issue of: “The campaign to undermine Corbyn.. On 12 April, Sky News revealed that Labour lawyers had essentially stopped the party from sending a highly revealing internal investigation to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This has since generated widespread anger among people who have supported the party in recent years, because they feel the report shows they were right to defend Corbyn against widespread hostility from British elites. The investigation claims that “hyper-factional” opposition to the ex-leader among former senior officials was a key factor in hindering effective handling of complaints regarding alleged antisemitism. At the same time, it argues there was “no evidence” that such complaints received different treatment from other complaints.”

As Al-Jazeera reported, Starmer announced on 13 April that Labour would launch an investigation. This would look into “why the report was commissioned, its findings and also how the document was released into the public domain”. But this response hardly inspired confidence. It seems that the new leadership is far more heavily focused on targeting Whistleblowers and the reason the report was convened in the first place than eradicating the disloyal scourge that they uncovered in the Labour Party. Many current members who were inspired to join Labour by Corbyn’s radical socialist agenda are getting ready to quit the party in disgust. Sir Kier Starmer is not setting a fine example of actions that will unite the opposition just when we need them to fight for us.

Former Tory Health Secretary and 2019 leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt now leads the Health Select Committee and he entered the Covid 19 foray with avengeance… “Hell hath no wrath like a Tory scorned!” Hunt, publically cynical of the Government’s woeful strategy, was there to let detractors give vent to their litany of complaints and frustrations. In a very uncomfortable full on grilling that made him squirm, it proved a rare shot at genuine scrutiny with Mat Hancock scrambling to paper-over the Government’s most egregious errors and failings. The PR spin fell flat as one after another ministers and expert scientific advisors tore into him like a pack of hungry Rottweilers.

Hancock was at last asked why the Government had on 13th March got rid of guidance on self-isolation and checks at airports that were previously employed prior to that point, when proper testing and tracing was in place. The Health Secretary tried to explain by saying that at that point it was not an “epidemiologically significant means of transmission given the level of infection in the UK.” That would be following a point where the Government’s warped eugenics policy of “Herd Immunity” had allowed the virus to run rampant throughout the UK!

From a desperate Hancock there was more “following the science” excuses as Mat bobbed his head like one of those ornamental dogs at the back of the car; it was truly pathetic. The infection rate here had spiralled out of control there was no logical reason to abandon testing at that early stage. The persistent questioner was eager to remind him that: “even a small percentage of a very large number, is a very significant number… Given the evidence of asymptomatic transmission why were we not being a lot more cautious at our points of entry?”

Professor Anthony Costello of UCL grabbed the damning punch line of the day; “the harsh reality was that we were too slow to act, with a hope we would be better prepared for the second wave…” What second wave? No one had been given permission to talk of the prospect of an inevitable second wave yet! Costello talked in a matter of fact way about the possibility of over 40,000 deaths in the UK with the highest recorded death toll in Europe. Why was there such an unforgivable delay in the announcement of ramping up our testing capacity to 100,000, now a paltry 18,000, but it looked more like only 13,000 on the daily graph.

On plans to end the lockdown this decision was again deferred to one of the “experts” like Professor Fallon at SAGE. Jeremy Hunt certainly did not attempt to stifle critics in this lengthy Heath Select Committee meeting, but when confronted with the appalling death toll caused by the gross Tory mishandling of this crisis it was described as “disappointing!” Obviously the epidemic has not hit close to home, but in a week where a young pregnant Nurse died of Covid 19 saying “there is a desire to do testing…” is beyond tragic it’s verging on criminal negligence!

Later in the day the BBC interviewed Yvette Ashby representing the professional clothing industry worldwide, who said they were contacted too late… The interview seemed to indicate that the Government had avoided approaching the most well established professional clothing manufacturers, preferring to chase after the possibility to award contracts to their cronies as per usual. The Tories will never let a good crisis go to waste! Ashby sounded frustrated by being sidelined by the Government who now admit they are desperately short of PPE kit. She said: “tell us what you need and we will put it together and deliver it in a coordinated way.”

What we all desperately need is for this incompetent Tory Government to get out of the way so that a real leadership team can run the country in the genuine best interests of ordinary people. The team that grabbed power through the Covert 2019 Rigged Election will not just bow out quietly; it will be hard enough if we manage to fully expose the truth of their stolen Election victory through a thorough Investigation, but we cannot afford to be deterred from trying. The chaos that is claiming so many innocent lives will continue unabated unless we can remove this Tory Government from office; that remains an urgent priority.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Trump has recklessly decided to withdraw American funding of the WHO, choosing to scapegoat them for their reaction to Covid 19: could his ego make the current situation any worse? Continuing with his narcissistic and petty vengeful policies he has targeted three of the Democratic Governors who are resisting his call to end the lockdown by openly encouraging demonstrations! The main headline in the UK is that the Government have lowered the standard for the wearing of PPE by NHS staff to allow for the temporary re-use of disposable gowns because we have run out, again! Some staff may refuse to treat Covid 19 patients if there is not the proper protective equipment. The dire shortage of PPE looks like some facilities will run out by this weekend so it may become necessary to optimize the use of what little is still left; gowns are in particularly short supply.

It was the turn of Robert Jenrick, Local Government Secretary to be thrown to the wolves today, but the pack were quite easy on him after he offered another 1.6 billion to Local Councils. The much needed funding added to the 1.6 million already shelled out to keep Councils afloat for a total of 3.2 million so far. This would all be very impressive if the Tories had not been bleeding local authorities dry for the past decade with their swinging ideological austerity cuts! They will also be holding off on business rates at a time when the extra burden of shielding the most vulnerable and sheltering the homeless plus delivery of essential services with no revenue coming in to cover costs is forcing the rationing social care. Coping with the crisis would be unsustainable without further backing from the Government as many Councils are losing so much money they are now under huge strain and facing bankrupty.

We should really be questioning why it took a global pandemic to get this worthless Tory Government to mobilize the resources to get thousands of rough sleepers off the streets? What this horrific crisis is proving to us all is that sheltering the homeless was entirely within their means all along, but it was not a priority. Proper funding for the NHS was available too, but needlessly withheld; now the NHS is in overdrive supposedly no expense spared, but why did it take a crisis to pry the money loose? We must never accept that “Magic Money Tree” hype from the Tories again. National hero Captain Tom is putting the Government to shame trudging up and down his back yard to raise money for the NHS; 23 million and counting so far, but when did our precious NHS become a charity?

In another shallow gesture from the Government Captain Tom will be invited to open the new Nightingale Hospital in Harrogate. The special “Care” badges Mat Hancock touuted yesterday will be sold to Carers for over £8; more than most Carers earn an hour: that really sucks! It has been revealed that patients are to be excluded from the new Nightingale facilities unless they meet a strict set of criteria that bars the sickest patients. Apparently those patients who are considered for transfer to the Nightingale must bring with them a compliment of NHS staff and PPE kit. With the sickest patients turned away the Government hopes to be able to project a false impression of a tremendous success rate with Covid 19 in these high-end facilities; it is just a PR charade!

As the time came for questioning I couldn’t help but notice that even those chosen to quiz the Government team are selected due to their proclivity for Tory support; Guardian journalists have been conspicuous in their absence. There was more promise of PPE kit arriving tomorrow, but although the amounts sound staggering, spread thin across the country they represent just two to three days supply. While there was the regular name dropping of chosen fashion brands Burberry and Barbour more traditional SMEs that had offered to pitch in were still being ignored despite the dire need according to the increasingly demanding press. The “we’re doing all we can” retort is wearing thin with a crisis of confidence demonstrated as Unison calls for Mat Hancock to consider his position.

The issue of the Tories hostile immigration policy was raised due to the concern that migrants were too afraid to seek help; wasn’t it time to relax reporting of illegals and stop charging migrants for healthcare? There is serious concern now over the impact on Covid 19 on BME communities and we were told there will be a review of the increased incidence of those from BME backgrounds suffering a higher death toll. This was very noticeable among the pictures of NHS staff who had lost their lives due to Covid 19 which should rule out excessive poverty or poor lifestyle issues as an underlying cause. There are similar alarming trends among the minority communities in the US.

Jenrick took a hit for travelling to his Herefordshire home and visiting his parents before returning to Westminster; he gave a lame excuse typical of an entitled Tory… one rule for them! Boris Johnson is still in hiding, but not in a refrigerator; our part–time PM is hardly missed, but Raab is doing a tepid job of standing in for him. With well over 15,000 Covid 19 deaths in Hospitals and probably another 10,000 dying in care or at home, 888 dead in the last 24hours, the UK is crying out for real leadership. Compassionate policies to tackle this crisis require the progressive Government we should have tight now if it were not for the Covert 2019 Rigged Election. We cannot give up the fight to expose the truth through a full investigation of the results; only then will we earn the right to eject this toxic Tory Government from power.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

On the Marr show this morning the Sunday Times spread detailing the “38 Days when Britain sleepwalked into disaster” showed that even one of the most compliant of Tory supporting papers was no longer prepared to ignore the wilful negligence over Covid 19. The scathing piece reported that our part-time PM, Boris Johnson, had failed to attend any of the five Cobra meetings held in January and February while the Tory Government had grossly misjudged the seriousness of the situation. Presenting it as a low risk to the UK, Ministers weren’t fast enough to act, They highlighted that all through the austerity years there was recognition that a pandemic was always considered the single biggest threat to the country, but the Tories had stripped away UK preparedness funding and reduced stockpiling as if this would never amount to more than coping with seasonal influenza.

Professor Sarah Gilbert from the Oxford team busy working on a vaccine provided a truly illuminating and brutally honest appraisal of the team’s progress. It was so refreshing to hear honest answers to tough questions; she stands no chance of being elected as a future MP! Gilbert said that they are just completing final safety tests and approvals so human trials could get under way at the end of next week. They have already started recruiting and checking for healthy participants. The vaccine could potentially be ready as early as September, but there are no guarantees.

After reminding Marr that testing is not a simple process she described a gradual expansion of test subjects starting with healthy 18-55 year olds, then an older and a younger group as there is generally less immune response with older people. She provided a rapid explanation of what is involved in conducting a double-blind trial and how if that was successful then they could apply for an “emergency use” licensing to expand more widely.

The Professor said we need to be ready to manufacture, but said the UK does not have large scale manufacturing facilities for vaccines right now and that would require Government support to help set up and accelerate manufacturing without threatening other production lines. Marr asked who owns it? The repkt was that Oxford University and Vaxitech own the intellectual property, but it will be made available worldwide she said giving the impression this was not a major profit seeking enterprise. The cost of the vaccine is low so it must be made widely available for public health use; not free but inexpensive. She emphasized that her team had crammed five years work into just four months and she was in a hurry to get back to work,

Asked more general questions like can someone who has had Covid 19 become re-infected? She said that they know from similar infections that immunity does not last indefinitely, but she was quick to point out the difference between that type of naturally immunity acquired from exposure and the immunity acquired from a vaccine. She said that coronavirus itself does not leave a strong immune response, but that they were using a different vaccine and with the Adenovirus leaving a strong immune response that would stay at a high level for a longer period of time. This would seem to kibosh the Tory “Herd Immunity” solution as such naturally acquired exposure protection would not last for very long.

Marr asked if the virus would mutate Professor Gilbert thought that although it already had to some extent they were comparing their expectations of how the virus might behave to their knowledge about MERS. Tests on MERS showed not much change in the virus, but we could see five or more waves as people lose natural immunity and become infected again. Marr asked her if she could explain why some people were more vulnerable than others, older people and particularly men? She said that this was largely to do with the expression of the receptor the virus attaches to in order to get into cells. The ACE2 protein found on the surface of cells in the respiratory tract is at low levels in children, but increases with age and is higher in men.

The Professor also said that as the immune system ages we are less able to fight off viruses, this is particularly true if there is a high viral load at the time of infection. The exposure to a high viral load is almost certainly why some NHS staff have become so very ill and died after exposure to Covid 19 despite a younger age and healthier condition free of co-morbidities. There may also be genetic susceptibilities that might explain differences in vulnerability between various ethnic groups… we are still learning. The Proffessor offered more insight into Covid 19 in this one short interview than I have heard elsewhere in weeks of listening to the expert opinions’ I learned a lot.

Professors do give you very clear answers sometimes Marr said moving on to his next guest after a brief summary of the economic catastrophe unfolding worldwide dye ti the pandemic. Marr interviewed Angel Gurria, the Secretary General of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD to ask how bad is this recession going to be? Gurria stressed that it was going to be very bad, but it was not the great depression; it is a recession and the difference was the length of time the impact would last. This would mean the drop would not be as bad, but there would be negative growth throughout a very bad year in 2020 and wounds, scars in 2021 and 2922.

Marr said that a lot of people fear mass unemployment and Gurria said that’s already happening as the Coronavirus advances in waves we are having the immediate consequences, unemployment, the survival or not of hundreds of thousands of SMEs and large businesses will go down. Countries are trying to choose between getting their economy up and running again and health risks. Gurria said that’s a false dilemma you don’t separate between the virus and the economy they are absolutely related; the faster we deal with the virus the faster it will be to get the economy back in shape and the less castle it will be.

Marr concluded that he was saying that countries should not unlock until that are confident that the virus is safely defeated. Gurria said he could see a stop and go process with potential renewed surge… the cost could be very high if we get it wrong. All countries will have to decide how to pay for it Marr challenged would they go for austerity or tollover the debt further and further into the future. What is the perspective of the OECD? Gurria talked of the consequences of the crisis but said Governments had a duty to protect but with higher levels of debt that was the price we were all going to have to pay hopefully to avoid a second wave.

Marr then asked if there was so much debt who did they owe it to? Governments owe it to investors who buy debt in treasury bonds or to the central banks were buying up debt.. Marr noted that one positive thing we are seeing in response to a real challenge Governments can change direction very fast and do things very big the former Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carne said on the economist that we will expect greater attention to be paid to risk, more attention given to scientists and the great test of this new hierarchy of values is how we deal with climate change. Gurria emphasised our responsibility to the next generation to protect our planet.

Labour’s new Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds responded to Marr saying we must learn from the lesson of the slow recovery from banking crisis protect the most vulnerable as the impact of this crisis ripples across the economy. We should try to save the businesses who have furloughed workers and backfill their wages. She said there was low take-up due of the scheme due to multiple problems preventing the applications being processed. Perhaps it was deliberately poorly designed to focus only on looking good superficially as with most Tory programs? My comment not Dodds!

Dodds remarked that John Mc.Donnell had said that coming out of this crisis the Government must target banks, the wealthy and high earners who are best able to cope. After the Bank bailout UK workers had suffered the longest financial squeeze since Napoleonic times with a huge burden placed on the poor; we cannot repeat that error. In reaction to the Sunday Times piece Dodds said that Labour had been aware of all the Cobra meetings missed by the PM in his chaotic approach to the crisis and their MPs had been very worried; it was no revelation, but now the public know the truth. Should there be a public inquiry? The Unions were saying that the Governments inappropriate handling of this crisis represents a National Scandal.

Gove response to WHO guidelines for emerging from lockdown was a typical denial of reality. He started into familiar expansive Tory spin about the new tracking App they were working on and the fading hope of wide-scale testing and contact tracing with that lofty target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of this month. Who still believes this level of community testing will be made available anytime soon? Just 21,000 tests a day now with less than a fortnight to go. With capacity at 30,000, why was there less take-up? Government gas the brakes on as the tests are restricted to just NHS staff and patients we already know are infected. Gove describes the slow progress as “cautious and measured, guided by the science,” said he who once decried the input of experts! Gove returns to beta testing of their App lots of ers? Will it be obligatory? It all sounds like an excuse for big brother surveillance.

Moving on Gove warned we cannot relax yet and restrictions on the hospitality sector will come last. Sarah Gilbert and the Oxford ream want a major scale up of production Gove says is planned for Harwell. But no, there was not yet a network of vaccination centres being prepared for mass vaccinations. Marr pointed out that in France, Macron had admitted to making mistakes in a frank address to the French people, would the UK Government be as honest about their failings. What a ridiculous question to ask a Tory, they will be blaming everyone but themselves. Dodging fire Gove said “all Governments make mistakes!” None of us knew the consequences the Tories have adjusted their preparations, still learning lessons.

The Sunday Times article really riled Gove who would not admit to a “shudder of recognition” he claimed there were a number of things wrong with the piece. The PM did not attend the Cobra meetings because other Government Ministers were responsible for attending on his behalf and reporting back to the PM. Well that’s not a demonstration of strong leadership in a national crisis. Gove’s defensive comments and claims of “not fair” got desperate. A bizarre revelation that we had sent protective equipment to China, but not from our inadequate pandemic stock! Wow what a prosecution case, Gove was really losing his rag blaming bad press; he was sounding very much like Trump.

It was great to see Marr really get his teeth into Tory for a change; Gove became so perturbed by the aggressive questioning I thought his head would blast off! Scotland and Wales both had PPE, but not the UK, more defensive hype as Marr went for the jugular. Marr was not letting Gove get away with the usual Tory spin over early boasts that the UK “had the most equipment you could ever need in the world.” Marr switched to business, saying that the business loans were sorely needed as many SMEs will go bust in the coming week with only 0.25% of the Government money being accessed so far. Would the Government guarantee on these loans be raised from 80% to 100% of the loans, just as they had found it necessary to do in Germany? Gove couldn’t say, but I doubt the chancellor will correct yet another cheapskate Tory miscalculation that will cost us all in the end.

Later in the day Gavin Williamson drew the short straw and was thrown into the press conference bear pit today to talk about the children not returning to school after what would have been the end of Easter break. Gavin is not a good speaker often giving the impression he is addressing a group of five year olds; who will ever forget him saying that the Russians should “shut up and go away.” He splashed some cash on child help lines in response to horrific reports in the incidents of abuse. Williamson announced that Oak National Academy had prepared 108 video lessons to help parents with home schooling. There would also be a package available on TV and online, but what about that TV license? There would be free 4G routers and laptops for the disadvantaged and he ended with an apology to all those kids eager to get back to school.

Doctor Jenny Harris, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, was also on hand to present the daily update of graphs, but after explaining who she was the Doctor became just “Jenny no title” by the time Gavin Williamson handed over to her. I noted that testing was creeping up very slowly. The session then switched to questions which focused heavily on the missing PPE, how the Government had let stocks run down and then failed to expand resources in February and March.

I was totally gob-smacked by the Doctor’s unbelievable statement that the UK is “an international exemplar in preparedness:” really you have to be kidding? I would hate to see how poorly prepared countries might fair. Not getting back to willing manufacturers par among British suppliers who were eager to contribute came under attack again: the Tories are still cherry picking their suppliers. Was refusing to treat patients without PPE kit acceptable? Harris gave a convoluted answer about how it was their responsibility to understand agreed guidance, there was a lot of fudge, but it sounded like: “we failed to protect you so we just changed the protocol to make it OK to risk your life; suck it up and get over it!” The touted PPE from Turkey has now been delayed, but let’s thank the airforce who will be flying it in here, better late than never.

Boris Johnson not attending important Cobra meetings in person, just getting briefs. The PM leading from a confused rear end of you ask me. Again there was waffle about “best practices” and individual risk factors; right, analysing the data without testing so one major strand of the data is missing! Were they expecting schools to reopen in mid May as kids without computers with no support from home were falling behind. Gavin seemed a little taken aback, had he not announced a package of goodies, like IT equipment… why were the not impressed? Would schools stay open over summer break to catch up? No plans, sure we expected that.

But more intense scrutiny was to follow. At the end of March when the WHO said test, test, test your team said that this was not appropriate for the UK. It targeted Dr. Harris, but she defended her reasoning behind supporting this prevarication. Jemmy Harris obviously does not like being compared to the shining example of Germany, so she started into the “apples and oranges” excuse as if we were of a different species in the UK. There was no excuse for the glaring disparity caused by their massive testing program, but we all get that! Many countries did not realize they had a problem she meandered on, we had very strict quarantine until the end of the containment phase. So why did we quit testing and tracing? That is why has UK has been so badly hit.

Are we past the peak? Dr, Harris was reluctant to comment… deaths are down today, but always down on the weekend a plateau perhaps. One journalist had seen an controversial email re PPE saying that sustainable supplies were not available anf there was no date for solving problem, which was met with spin about the gowns from Turkey.
Do teachers need PPE? Is it safe for teachers to go back to work? Williamson invoked the Tories five tests, but said schools were not unsafe places there was no key element of risk as children are less affected.

Lack of PPE in Social care as the sector have been let down with Government promises that have been broken. There was a big diversionary pitch for Nottingham as Gavin skidded off sideways to avoid blame. Dr. Jenny Harris then called for a more adult conversation as if questioning why people’s lives were still being put at grave risk was such a petty thing to ask about: don’t blame us for screwing up. The reply shifted to the right equipment in right places, which was code for sub-standard kit for expendable poorly paid Carers. If we were demanding more bullets for guns to kill people there would be no supply problems or delays; the UK excels at supplying the arms trade, but saving lives is unimportant.

Sir David Attenborough also appeared on the Marr show this morning to remind us that the Covid 19 crisis the Climate crisis had not gone away. In an interview conducted before Social Distancing had kicked in to keep participants apart he talked about his new film. He highlighted a few good examples of countries we should try to emulate: the Netherlands for out-producing their own food needs; advances in Japan, but he was most impressed with Costa Rica. Their enlightened leadership had decided that they did not need to squander money on maintaining an army and should focus on re-wilding. Filmed hacking a path through dense undergrowth in a tropical rain forest he explained that the exact same spot 25 years earlier had supported grazing for cows.

David Attenborough described humanity as having become victims of our own success with dense overpopulation and he stressed the need for us to stop waste. It was no longer just about saving the planet he said, but about saving us as it was out last chance. However, the environment has no chance at all without removing tyrannical populist despots driven by ego and personal ambition like Trump in the US and Bolsonaro torching the Amazon in Brazil. Here in the UK we must prevent the Tory usurpers from joining this toxic elitist club by calling for a full investigation into the Covert 2019 Rigged Election to oust the corrupt leadership that seized power in December and has cost so many innocent lives through incompetence, negligence and greed.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Chancellor Richie Sunak was the Spin Master today at our excruciating daily party political broadcast from the Tory Party. He started in by elaborating on the damage control over the ever dwindling stocks of PPE and announcing a shipment from Myanmar. That debacle swiftly dispatched Sunak moved onto more comfortable territory by stating that the Government’s Furlough Scheme got off the ground today which was a huge relief to workers who desperately need this support and the businesses who want to keep them on stand by for a return to work. In the first day of registering for the Job Retention Scheme 140,000 businesses had applied in a bid to support over a million workers.

The Government’s Business Interruption Loans were still coming under heavy fire as unworkable, most recently with the Governor of the Bank of England weighing in to advise that this Direct Loan Scheme should go beyond the original 80% offer, but Sunak was adamant that these Direct Loans will not be raised to 100% despite universal calls for this to happen. Labour too had tried hard to insist on raising the loans to 100%, also demanding regular updates on the Government’s Job Retention Scheme. Richie Sunak then began to talk up a “Futures Fund” to get new SMEs started if and when we return to normal. This would see the Government owning stakes in UK start-ups, so questions were asked regarding whether this was a novel direction for the Tory Party?

We were told matter-of-factly that 40% of deaths from outside Hospitals might be going unreported, but we were assured that the Government will release comprehensive numbers later on this week. That will be a very unpopular day to draw the short straw for presenting the briefing to a critical press pack! Journalists had been contacted by anxious NHS staff worried about the downgrade for PPE supply requirements believing this was prompted by the inability to meet ongoing demand rather than the safety of staff. This was carefully reframed to avoid admitting that the safety standards had been downgraded. The “exceptional circumstances” excuse gives the Government a free pass especially when they hide behind their “best scientific advice” shield. One reporter asked if staff could refuse to put themselves at risk, but no one was surprised he didn’t get a straight answer.

Journalists continue to ask what seems to be redundant question about the timing for lifting the lockdown restrictions. The Tory Government has devised a list of criteria that must be met in order for them to lift the restrictions, which at first glance look like they have followed the WHO directives when in reality they have not. The Government was hardly going to box themselves in with a highly demanding wide-scale testing program and complex contact tracing requirement as advised by the WHO. By inventing their own criteria they will retain the right to move the goal posts later on and claim the divine guidance of, you guessed it, “scientific experts.” This should worry us all given the misdirection the “experts” they have relied on in the past have inflected on public policy.

One member of the press expressed concern that thousands of workers and self employed people were still not covered by any of the Governments support schemes saying it “doesn’t sound fair, it sounds callous!” It was time for a Tory spin injection as Sunak claimed Universal Credit was shelling out generous advance payment that in reality are now notorious for dragging people into spiralling debt and evictions. The Chancellor said he had injected 7 billion into the DWP to strengthen what he euphemistically calls the “Social Safety Net.” Most socially aware individuals know that this safety net has been decimated beyond recognition over the past decade of relentless Tory austerity cuts to become a pathway to destitution. Just as they were punished after the banking crash they did not cause, the working poor are bracing themselves for decades of increased hardship paying for Tory blunders.

The Liverpool Echo was allowed to question the Tory team to inflict a heavy blow regarding the consequences of the fatal decision to allow the Spanish football team from seriously infected Madrid to travel to Liverpool for a football game without cautions, checks or restrictions. Dr. Harris defended the flawed decision regarding letting large scale events proceed as planned; the horse racing at Cheltenham also got the green light despite strong public criticism of how reckless this was at the time. The Echo reporter spoke of a spike in Covid 19 cases in Liverpool and 250 Covid deaths in Hospital with more outside in the community. The arrogant Tory Government stooges expressed no shame or regret over this catastrophic mistake and its grisly consequences as they sang another chorus of “guided by the science to make the right decisions at the right time” repeated three times for painful emphasis!

The Marr show yesterday was quite exceptional and I couldn’t help but ramble on for far too long in yesterdays post; sorry for the lengthy rant. I was embarrassed to discover so many typos in my last post. I never seem to catch them all, but there was a bumper crop the other day; I will try harder to catch my mistakes. However I found the interview with Professor Sarah Gilbert from the Oxford team busy working on a vaccine really fascinating. What she said about the difference between the immunity acquired by natural exposure and the immunity bestowed by a vaccine has not gained much attention in the media, but it provides a logical debunking of the Tory eugenics program.

I found another source of valuable information on this among the comments of leading experts at Science Media Centre. Although our knowledge of how Covid 19 functions is still limited, there were a number of very important points made by these respected scientists and logical conclusions drawn that should be contributing to government strategy. One recurring conclusion was that if we start widespread antibody testing the most important thing we will gain is the missing input data allowing us to more accurately quantify the extent of infection and from that the percentage of sickness and mortality from Covid 19. The contributors were a lot more cautious about the level of immunity this might indicate, the duration and the effectiveness of any protection it might impart on those with antibodies. This is well worth reading about at the Science Media Centre.

The Canary picked up on the pronouncement I found so galling the other day when Dr. Jenny Harris, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, stunned the audience by saying that: “the UK is an international exemplar in preparedness!” Their article is worth reading. In just goes to show how this Tory Government are totally shameless in their delusional denial of responsibility and total avoidance of accountability. Boris Johnson is still capable of making yet more very damaging decisions from his safe bolt hole at Checkers where he is beyond public scrutiny during the excuse of his extended recovery. We must hole this reckless Government to account and demand a full investigation into the Covert 2019 Rigged Election to oust their corrupt leadership that from power before greater harm is inflicted upon the people of this nation through incompetence, negligence and greed.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

The big news today: Parliament will reopen… well a hybrid semi-virtual Parliament will open at least. Could this mean more than just the token scrutiny of those ghastly daily Tory PR stunts and a chance to genuinely put the Government on the spot at last? It seemed somehow incongruous for someone as wedded to the last century as Jacob Reese Mogg to be announcing such a high tech solution for our continued governance. He defensively mentioned how the House of Commons had remained closed during the Black Death and I’m sure a few honourable members were tempted to ask if he knew about that from personal experience?

There is no indication that Boris Johnson will participate in this parliamentary experiment despite being fully capable of video conferencing from the comfort of his Checkers hide away. While we do not know how sick he actually is right now it is a lot less intimidating for him to just “pull a sicky” and dive under the duvet until the worst of the Covid 19 crisis is over and he can emerge the triumphant warrior who fought to slay the virus and survived unscathed. He is still able to schedule an important call to his lord and master Donald Trump whose utter lunacy represents a far more insidious and dangerous contagion with the potential for poor decision making dominating the narcissistic presidential agenda.

After Gove’s disgraceful performance featured on the Marr show Sunday morning the indignant Tory spin has been rather insipid. In the US the media have started referring to Trumps briefings as “Press Bashings” as they have degenerated into abusive attacks on anyone not showering the president with adulation during his thinly disguised re-election messaging. I hope it doesn’t get that bad here in the UK when our lying toad PM returns to public life; he will be getting hot tips on how to deflect blame from Trump on that call later today. Boris Johnson doesn’t need to worry about getting re-elected just yet as he did such an amazing job of stealing our votes in the Covert 2019 Rigged Election. What a massive upset if a thorough investigation of the result tugged the fake legitimacy of his power out from under him and we were able to oust this wretched toxic Tory Government!

As if it were not vital for us to have a strong opposition right now, there is a storm brewing in the Labour Party. A leaked report has exposed the disgraceful conduct of certain right leaning members of the Labour Party to sabotage their fellow MP colleagues and encourage the targeting of Jeremy Corbyn. As many remain fearful that the Labour Party will lurch back towards the right Blairite faction the new leader appears more intent on targeting those who initiated the report and those who leaked it to the media than on investigating and removing those who were revealed as tractors to everything the party stood for. In one Canary Article, “MPs demand Keir Starmer publishes the leaked Labour report ‘officially’ and ‘in full.”

The Skwawkbox described Kier Starmer’s “investigation into the leaked report as a “Red Herring” in an Article where they criticize his skewed handling of the case it explains why the leaked investigation had to be initiated to defend the Labour Party in the case against those who had smeared the Party with lies during a Panorama broadcast and also: “A similar obligation exists because of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) investigation into Labour’s handling of antisemitism complaints. The party has a duty to investigate and provide its findings to the EHRC – and it found that right-wing party staff were failing to deal with, and in some cases obstructing, investigations into various complaints, not only concerning antisemitism.”

Starmer is not off to a great start with his warped focus on dealing with this issue. A revealing Canary Article exposed the source of donations Kier Starmer was so keen to keep under wraps until after the leadership result was announced. It said that; “Recently published data shows Labour leader Keir Starmer received a £50,000 donation from pro-Israel lobbyist Trevor Chinn – information which was not disclosed until after polls had closed in the leadership election.” Once again an external power is directing the course of our politics for their own benefit and not for the citizens of the UK.

There are worries that the Israeli lobby will pressure Starmer into targeting and persecuting Corbyn even further over fake anti-Semitism charges to totally vilify the inspirational Socialist leader. The Canary wrote that “Left-wingers around the UK are feeling cheated and betrayed in the wake of the Labour Leaks scandal. And there’s one particular response to the apparently consistent undermining of former leader Jeremy Corbyn that should really worry the party’s new leadership.” Starmer is already proving that he cannot be trusted with leading the opposition. The exposure of the horrendous smear campaign that was used to destroy Corbyn might help to set the record straight, but a full exposure of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election result should rightfully allow him to resume his progressive leadership role as Prime Minister.

In a parallel universe we must return to the dystopian reality forced on us by December’s stolen Election. The atrocious Tory hype has become a repetitive onslaught of unanswered questions and lame excuses glossed over with some vague offering of future hope. The Health Secretary re-announced the progress on delivering vaccines with the only new revelation that the Government would be lavishing money on the Oxford lab and a second promising team at Imperial College boasting that the UK was spending more money than anyone else on developing a vaccine. The spin continues, we should thank China for sending more kit, but why are potential UK supply Companies being turned away? Why are we waiting so long for the PPE supply chain to stabilize and what constitutes enough PPE?

When lack of PPE came under attack yet again Hancock managed to name-drop favoured contributors while dismissing smaller companies who have experienced frustrating obstacles with the Governments convoluted and grossly inefficient procurement mechanism. Hancock defensively claimed that 159 UK manufacturers were “coming on stream” before hurled an all too familiar Tory insult about “credible offers” as if a bunch of shysters were trying to game the system during a crisis! This Canary Article highlights many of the questions raised in the briefing today; it makes for a shocking read when we learn that “with the government failing to respond to PPE offers. Many, meanwhile, have reacted to this reality by sending PPE to other countries in Europe instead.”

The accusation that the UK had opted out of an EU scheme for collaborative purchasing of PPE on purely political grounds was raised again. Although it is widely reported that this kit is being delivered all over the EU Hancock tried to pretend that the scheme had not yet made any deliveries. Possibly shamed by bad press the UK has now belatedly signed up. The need is unprecedented as staggering numbers of pieces of PPE were banded about by Hancock. When asked again if the public should be wearing masks there was more procrastination than firm policy amid claims they were “keeping evidence under review,” but reading between the lines it had more to do with the poor supply of masks and the fact that the potential public uptake would deprive NHS staff.

Hancock boasted of excess capacity for testing not being fully utilized by NHS staff amid complaints that the testing sites are not easily accessible and are often located too far away for exhausted staff to drive to between busy shifts. There were adventurous plans to send out testing by mail so that people could do a swab at home and send it in; mobile vans were mentioned too, but we want to see real action. Should we have asymptomatic NHS staff tested? We were told that the test will identify asymptomatic carriers, which is important for closed system studies in Care Homes and prisons… not to be used as a screen but to shows patterns. We didn’t know in the beginning and we still don’t know how infectious asymptomatic individuals are. Of course the public will have forgotten all the media headlines about the infamous “Super Spreader”

The alarming situation of our unforgivable lack of screening at UK airports, but today’s “experts” defended this blasé attitude. Although the claim that infected passengers can be asymptomatic on arrival was true there is no reason why airport authorities cannot treat them all as potentially infected and insist on a period of quarantine. In reality what they admitted to in a roundabout way was that we had managed to build up such a massive prevalence for the infection throughout the UK that those returning from overseas and foreign visitors would represent a drop in the ocean…

There were reports of NHS staff being targeted after publically raising serious concerns about the ongoing shortages of PPE kit as this caused embarrassment over government failures. Mat Hancock defensively claimed that staff were “Celebrating the conditions they were working under,” but then he felt the need to hastily select a more appropriate word than “celebrating!” Sure Mat they’re dancing a jig in the ICU! Then there was a question that must have come from one of the heavily tight wing supporting journalists as it seemed directed at the Tory playbook with hype about preventing Chinese disinformation: them not us! We must prevent that Chinese disinformation while feeding the UK population a string of disingenuous lies and blatant propaganda. “Tory transparency” is an oxymoron!

The Health Secretary proudly announced that with the measures taken so far the NHS was keeping ahead of demand; he gave a reassuring figure of “spare critical care beds” saying no one has been denied care due to lack of capacity. But Mat Hancock insisted that everyone who needs treatment is getting treated… the reality for the care sector paints a grim picture of deliberate neglect. Sure, everyone gets treatment, except the elderly recklessly being returned to Care homes where they can spread the infection to the most vulnerable residents. This is all part of the Tory “Final Solution” for Social Care a silent cull of the elderly and if their carers perish due to lack of protection such collateral damage is confined to poorly paid expendable workers.

17,366 dead in UK Hospitals alone with over 100 NHS staff and carers among that grisly tally, 852 today’s death toll. The plan is working Hancock insists disputing the alarming reality that 40% of deaths are occurring outside our Hospitals in the homes of abandoned elderly and in neglected residential care settings. When asked the three stooges are adamant that such estimates are not accurate, sure we believe you… Please don’t mention how Germany is doing so much better than we are here in the UK, that will really get him riled, responding swiftly Hancock knocked that one on the head fast swiftly bringing the day’s PR stunt to a juddering conclusion. The Covid 19 crisis and the Covert 2019 Rigged Election are inextricably connected; Covid 19 is being grotesquely mishandled, costing countless lives, because we have yet to seriously challenge the Covert 2019 Rigged Election result and oust these fraudsters. It is not too late to correct matters.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

A historic moment was reached today when the UK Parliament conducted their first semi-virtual hybrid PMQ session. Covering for our part-time PM Dominic Raab was keen to continue the repetitive false messaging that the Government was “making the right decisions at the right time following the scientific advice.” When the vast majority of the population know by now that the exact opposite is true one has to wonder who this propaganda is directed towards. Are the Government worried about the angry masses who, the second that this lockdown is lifted, might take to the streets in protest over those who have died caring for patients and the negligent slaughter of abandoned elderly being culled in UK Care Homes? They should be, very worried, as a reckoning will come and it might just be angry enough to force them from power; let’s face it, that is the only thing they really care about.

I have been watching PMQs on a regular basis for quite some time now; I have reached certain conclusions that are carried over, and if anything reinforced, by the new hybrid arrangement. While the one very significant improvement was the blissful absence of childish jeering from MPs, the questioning still oscillated between well targeted scrutiny from the opposition, universally met with lies or non answers, to vomit worthy “stroking” from the Tory benches, greeted by expansive boasts of promises never to be kept and the outlandishly untrue fabricated Tory achievements. While the obsequious language beginning with “does the Prime Minister agree with me” leading into self-congratulatory spin ditched the usual appeal for consensus; the emphasis now is on presenting the ideal opportunity for yet another bragging sales pitch to detract from the Tory Government’s incompetence.

It is quite nauseating to watch, but I still feel compelled to do so especially with the advent of this hastily organized hybrid session for which the organizers should be well proud. After telling us the PM was doing OK in hiding, Raab served up the standard fare of repetitive, broken record, propaganda pitch; “we were doing the right things at the right time yada… ya… Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives.” It was as if he was talking to toddlers! Raab replied by saying that “we expect and embrace scrutiny….” That must be why they have dodged all scrutiny so phenomenally well over the past few months! Without the customary fanfare, Kier Starmer made his debut appearance at the dispatch box as newly appointed leader of the opposition. He dived into the scrutiny vacuum with scathing comments on how the UK was slow to act. The WHO provided multiple opportunities for us to prepare.

Starmer began by saying: “Testing is crucial were we so slow and we are way behind other European countries,” now only 18,000 – 19.000 a day; what will we do in the next eight days to get to the 100,000 a day target by end of month? Raab tries to correct him, our capacity is now at 40,000 with expediential increase expected soon; that sounds like “the check is in the mail” excuse! Starmer countered that despite 40,000 capacity only 18,000 were tested, so why are we not using all the tests? Raab started with lots of sideways spin about broadening eligibility and name dropping. Starmer then asked about access to testing for those in the Care sector reminding Raab that the demand for testing is there, but testing facilities are up to a 45 min drive to get to and not all Care workers have cars. Raab replied: “We are working with resilience forums, using the army…” then there was an obscure attack re a Welsh Labour minister as he rambled on with irrelevant excuses.

Starmer identified a well respected NHS doctor who had died of Covid 19, one of the many NHS staff to have become infected, he asked how many NHS staff had now died and how many key workers had died? Raab quoted a reduced number of 69 NHS staff who had died, but did not know the Care Home staff fatality numbers. Starmer said the Government was on notice re Care worker numbers and went on to the issue of protective equipment saying, “staff are scared,” nurses are under pressure to take risks. There was more floury language from Raab who committed the obscenity of bringing his children into the response as a sympathy ploy. It was a massive international challenge; we got the ventilators, one billion items of PPE; it was now harder to source equipment… Wow, like we didn’t know that! Then Raab prattled on with more BS and expansive numbers.

Starmer spoke of the “gap between promise and delivery,” while admitting to understand the need for due diligence he raised the point that frustrated and ignored UK suppliers were now sending PPE overseas. He ended by saying: “something is going wrong, there’s a pattern emerging here, we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment and now slow to take up these offers from British firms.” Raab denies they have been slow to act, he sticks with the Government time honoured defence line about being “guided by the scientific advice” from their coapted Tory stooges and finishes with a flourish of more high numbers intended to impress: 8,000 businesses were contacted. Raab defensively added excuses about the quality of gear that was offered by some companies that must have added insult to injury among credible, well intentioned UK manufacturers.

Scottish MP Ian Blackford video linked in to ask questions on behalf of the SNP. He focused on the precarious nature of support saying it was now 34 days since the Government had offered a package of support saying that thousands find no support at all with arbitrary cut off dates and bureaucratic barriers people are being left behind. He stressed the need for a Universal Basic Income. Tories always answer with a series of empty accolades to help them buy enough time to formulate a way to evade the question or grapple for an excuse. Raab was emphatic there would be no support for Universal Basic Income from the Tories. While he insisted on what they innocuously refer to as a “focused approach” most realize it is targeted to exclude all sectors and people the Tories would prefer not to survive this crisis.
Blackford revealed that over 100 members of Parliament from seven different parties agreed with the need for this measure with 89% of the public in support of Universal Basic Income, he insisted that the self-employed and others had been left behind. Raab countered with the false claim that those who need it most are getting help and boasting that the UK has established one of the most extensive support packages in the world, but in reality the Tory approach is always to means test the poor.

Peter Bone was next to ask a question via video link to highlight the many people being forced to use their bank overdraft yet the banks are charging 20% interest per year going to increase to 40% in July. At the same time savers are being offered 0.1% “yet these are the same banks that were saved by billions and billions of pounds of taxpayers money. What on earth is going on? When are the banks going to act in the national interest?” Raab did a great job of covering for predatory banks and making them sound generous with their exploitation. We certainly know that the banks are not going to pick up the tab for this mess.

Lucy Powel was next up pitching for the hospitality sector who do not qualify for grants and loans are not an option; these venues will be the last to reopen after the lockdown is lifted; they will be hit hard. The lifeblood if our high streets will the Government come up with a rescue package to stop our pubs etc disappearing altogether. Raab spun a few soundbites of concern for the sector and moved on. The new Tory MP for coastal Hastings and Rye continued in this vain inquiring about hospitality and tourism what measures to enable recovery? This was the first of a succession of Tory invitations for Dominic Raab to pitch more party political advertising spin on the eerily empty chamber, but there was none of the usual Tory cheering for proposed promises of rescue.

Barry Gardener weighed in to remind the House that it was on the 26th of February that the Government was advised of the urgent need for a complete shut down, but it took another three and a half weeks to implement it. “The Government likes to claim that it has been following the scientific advice, but it hasn’t has it?” Raab says we did listen, but of course he was referring to their own very select group of scientific “yes men” Tory stooges who have enabled the Government to grossly mislead the country under the pretence of adhering to valid scientific input. Tory MP Nick Fletcher followed with a question that invited a stream of fanciful claims about securing NHS supplies; it was a golden opportunity for Raab to start into another nauseating party political advertising pitch.

Naz Shar demanded to know if they could rely on the Government to keep to their word and meet their promise to compensate the local Councils burdened with huge additional expenses. Without confirming the pledge this question just gave Raab another opportunity to boast of tossing another 1.6 million towards Councils that we know will heavily favour Tory constituencies as it always does. Matthew Vicars launched into his resounding praise for the Government’s willingness to write off the debt incurred by NHS Trusts; he sought a commitment to the continued fantastic Tory funding for the worlds greatest health service. He failed to mention that those NHS Trusts had been crippled by a decade of Tory austerity and should never have been burdened with so much debt if the Tories had not decimated the NHS with privatization! Undeterred by reality the Raab advertising campaign trundles on.

Steven Kinock raised concerns over the Steel industry who would be excluded from Government help by the 50 million cap, just a tenth of the need to allow steel to recover. Raab claims they have made funding quicker to access in the round. Another Tory offering a convenient scrutiny vacuum by praising public, private and volunteer sector workers, commending the very people the Tories have exploited unmercifully for the past decade, but the blatant invite for an additional advertising pitch was not to be wasted by Raab like a cat lapping up the cream.

Another Labour MP that failed to understand how the Tories manipulate the format of even the most carefully worded questions, she wanted to know when will they learn from the successes of other countries to deliver solutions to fit their promises. Like most Tory MPs, Raab is great at mouthing off empty sentiments about “lessons learned” while remaining tone deaf to the reality of their catastrophic ongoing failures. He started into a big pitch about the Nightingale Hospital, heroic Tory success amid an overwhelming sea of failure on every aspect of dealing with this crisis. Opposition MPs need to understand that it is pointless discussing lessons learned with any Tory MP as they are incapable of ever learning from their mistakes as they never acknowledge making mistakes.

A Tory MP opened up yet another line of advertising by saying that over 100 of their constituents had been stranded in India. Like so many Tory MP interventions it was phrased in such a way that it could not possibly be mistaken for even the slightest degree of criticism, but is intentionally worded to launch another nauseating round of crowing and self0 congratulatory hype. This is not scrutiny! Raab started his next pitch by boasting that over a I million nationals had been returned to the UK, 10.000 in charter flights, failing to mention who bought them back or how it was paid thus allowing those listening to assume it was at Government expense.

Sir Ed Davey personalized the crisis saying that his local Dr. Anton from Sri Lanka who had worked in NHS for decades had died of Covid 19 would the Government commit to an inquiry into the deaths among NHS staff? Raab tried to steal his thunder by claiming that the Doctor was from his local Hospital; there was no commitment to an inquiry due to zero Government accountability as usual. Another Tory enabling Welsh MP started heaping praise on the efforts of the army in Wales leading Raab to start into another shallow advertising pitch the comfort zone of Tory stroking at PMQs that neutralize any constructive criticism of the Tory Government.

A Labour MP was concerned that easing of lockdown restrictions across the country would be staggered according to infection prevalence in certain areas as this might encourage people to move around if lockdown is lifted area by area. This was a chance for Raab to demonstrate that this Tory Government had a total stranglehold on power throughout the UK, but he phrased it as if there was remarkably consistent cooperation. Tory Dr Luke Evens appealed to our universal love of animals in the UK by pitching for support for a local Zoo asking for money for animals. This was a real crowd pleaser of a pitch as Raab announced a new Zoo Support Fund; it was bound to go down well on all sides of the house and he knew it: great timing Evans.

The final question was from Labour MP Angela Eagle regarding a universally adopted global action plan that was vetoed by the US. She wanted an assurance that when the PM spoke to Trump in their upcoming phone conversation that he will tell the President that the UK believes the WHO is important and we will not be drawn into Trumps vendetta.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Following PMQs the other day there was a second accountability rally held in the Chamber of the House of Commons and via video link. This time it was Health Secretary Mat Hancock coming under fire from opposition MPs frustrated by the minimal access to scrutinize the Tory Government’s shambolic handling of Covid 19 Pandemic crisis. Hancock stated rather unconvincingly his commitment to “critical scrutiny and debate as it was no thwart to our democracy.” Hypocritically he began with the latest statistics for Hospital deaths with no mention of the growing death toll in the community and our Care Homes! Hancock started into his pitch by boasting about what had been their first priority, to increase NHS capacity. Second on his agenda was recovering their seriously diminished stocks of PPE, a task which most feel the Government has continued fail miserably unable to keep pace with demand.

Hancock boasted that there were “3,000 spare Critical Care beds” even before including the Nightingale Hospital and he excitedly talked of more such facilities being constructed throughout the country with two new places mentioned for the first time Exeter and Sunderland. He insisted that the NHS had not at any point been overwhelmed, but he failed to consider the brutal fact that the supply chain for PPE kit had been totally inadequate, putting frontline workers at increased risk. He failed to mention that the staff of NHS Hospitals, that had already been understaffed before the crisis, were totally overwhelmed. Hancock also omitted the fact that many NHS staff were forced to self-isolate at home unable to determine if it was safe for them to return to work due to the inadequate and utterly pathetic lack of access to testing. Hancock calls all of that a raging success!

Hancock insisted that people should contact their Doctor about other health issues. On the controversial subject of kit he started in with the big ticket items where all the money was to be made, ventilators then there was the meds and belatedly that missing PPE, 58,000 pieces being supplied… Lord Dyson had been appointed to direct PPE procurement and, although they were actively involved with UK suppliers, he again cautioned on their credibility as if this well meaning cohort were the latest target for Tory demonization after daring to complain about being ignored. These companies had failed to understand that Tories are always going to reward their friends, the investors and companies who have fawned over them by contributed to their coffers in the past: it is not about quality control or credibility it’s Tory payback!

The third part the Government’s agenda was to scale up testing… well after bringing it to a juddering halt on the 12th of March! The availability of testing has increased, but while Hamcock felt that demand was lower than expected, this discrepancy had a lot more to do with rigid constraints on eligibility and access to unreasonably remote test sites. He talked up the new App like everyone would welcome extra surveillance. There forth priority was “best use of science and research;” that would presumably include the warped eugenics program of “Herd Immunity;” that was a real crowd pleaser! Now this was the exciting stuff, like being the first to create a vaccine, with 40 million for the Oxford and Imperial Research Labs and a big ad pitch British exceptionalism. Their fifth priority was for everyone to play their part in subservient obedience to relentless Tory messaging on Social Distancing… Tory mind control!

As we have reached the peak we will introduce contact tracing at large scale, presumably with that App, but what if you do not have a mobile? What would determine the end of lockdown? Hancock repeated the rather vague five tests set by the Tory party and designed to allow for plenty of wiggle room to whitewash over serious failures in their plan. “First that the NHS can continue to cope; second that the operational challenges have been met; third that the daily death rate falls sustainably and consistently forth that the rate of infection is decreasing and most importantly fifth that there is no risk of second peak.” The sixth part of our action plan was to protect through shielding the most vulnerable. This, after their arrogance and negligent idiocy has already killed off many of the most seriously vulnerable! Hancock ends by calling Coronavirus “a war where all humanity on same side;” a shallow sentiment considering the Tory Government’s priorities thus far.

Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth was then invited to make his statement and ask questions. He wanted us to find an appropriate way to remember all those who lost their lives, the NHS and Care staff who have died and requested a number for how many Care workers have died. Ashworth asked why the UK has the highest death rate compared to other European Countries like Germany? Will the Government undertake to publish the SAGE Minutes that are not being published and also publish the evidence as to why we are following a seven day rule for isolation that appears to contradict the WHO requirement for a fourteen day isolation period with no sign of infection? Ashworth elaborated that although the virus attacks the respiratory system it also attacks other cells with ACE2 receptors, so this is leading to cardiovascular failure and renal failure; could we convene clinical scientists so that we can share understanding amongst clinicians?

Ashworth also felt it was necessary to investigate the reason for the higher death rate in BME patients; an inquiry has been launched so would he keep us updated on this inquiry? Horrified by the deaths in Care Homes we had already been calling for a Social Care strategy. Ashcroft demanded of Hancock: “Can he insure that all death are recorded on daily basis; can he insure testing is available near Care Homes; that PPE supplies go to Social Care and just like the NHS, can the Care Sector will get whatever it takes!” With beds available why not allocate them for Social Care use and other non Covid patients? Ashworth reported that people were angry over the Tory rejection of the EU’s procurement plan; he wanted to what went on and when with access to documentation of emails sent? Testing is vital and contact tracing is labour intensive so he asked can we use volunteers? We heard that some NHS staff got unreliable pcr tests can he provide information on this? It was a lengthy laundry list of troubling questions that had consistently bothered the opposition for some time.

Hancock attempted to reply to the barrage of questions that had been percolating during the extended period of stymied policical scrutiny. United Social Care had informed him that 15 Care workers had died. He said it wasm’t so straightforward interpreting and comparing the scientifically relevant statistics between countries; there were many explanations why Germany is in a better state than us. Hancock’s lame excuses sounded like a “get out of jail free card!” In reality this Tory Government has proved incapable of learning any lessons from other countries. The 7 day rule was advised by SAGE “guided by the science…” on the British exceptionalism principal that our science is better than their science, so the WHO must be wrong. Expert clinical understanding is being sought and we will convene to investigate BME death rate and also why men are more impacted.

Care Home recorded deaths measure different things at different time. It wasn’t true that the death rate was 40% of the Hospital death rate figure, Hancock said it was more like 20%. He said testing in Care Homes would soon use mobile service. On PPE for Care workers, he said they had created a new service, but this was a massive logistical undertaking. With the spare capacity of 10,000 free beds, Hancock wants to reopen Hospitals to non Covid 19 patients, saying “we need to send a message to patient to come forward.” There were elements of the warning documented in “The Hammer and the Dance” article regarding collateral damage anong those who felt too scared to come to Hospital during the crisis. Hancock says having reached the peak with contact tracing in beta trials there will be mass contact tracing.

Jeremy Hunt, Chairman of the Health Select Committee, urged the Government to track and trace in a way that met WHO criteria. Hancock insisted that this is determined by the infection incidence in community in other words, their imprecise best guesstimate! This implied that, once again, the UK would ignore the WHO guidelines and reinvent the criteria for safely emerging from lockdown.

Philippa Whitford MP raised the issue of poorly paid Care workers and the need to recognize the contribution they have made and pay them a real living wage. The contact tracing and antibody test must be in place. She asked whether the issue of asymptomatic transmission was being taken into account? She also raised a point about the 20% cut in public health England funding. Mat Hancock was defensive about the living wage he claims that Carers are paid this already, which most people realize they are not! Asymptomatic transmission is a challenge overcome by test, track and trace he admits.

Typical of the genuine sentiments of public spirited Jeremy Corbyn he started with a heartfelt tribute to all of the regular folk who are pitching in to do their part in this crisis. Determined to hold to the current Tory Government to account, he began at the very beginning, the point where he had criticized our “part-time Prime Minister” after the PM was informed by the WHO of the epidemic in January and clearly warned of the dire need to “test, test, test;” Jeremy was emphatic, we didn’t do that! On the 24th of February and again in March, still nowhere near the required testing target; this defied explanation, but this revered Socialist icon was expecting one. The Health Secretary made the bogus claim that, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, testing was increasing at a pace! With the tone of yet another derogatory putdown, enabled by the success of their relentless smear campaign, Hancock refuted the”story told” by Corbyn implying that Jeremy was lying. The Health Secretary falsely boasted of having his “foot on the gas:” what utter crap!!!

Hillary Benn raised the issue of facial masks, that are part of the requirements in many countries. Regarding wearing of masks he asked, will they provide protection? If introduced as mandatory, how will this requirement be sourced and supported or must we all get our own masks? With a tone of incredulity Hancock balked at the suggestion of free masks, saying he could not promise that they will be giving everyone free masks due to the priority supply needs for health and care workers. His tone implied absolute derision that the Government might supply protective masks to poor people! The “Slaughter of the Sheeple” involves the conscious targeting of the most vulnerable sectors of our society so that they no longer present a financial burden to the ruling wealthy elite.

Lucy Powell said that only patients admitted to NHS Hospitals or discharged are being tested. We should be testing all patients and all care providers. Hancock replied that we are testing all Hospital leavers going back into Care Home; the Government stance regarding abdicating responsibility. Caroline Lucas our solitary Green Party MP questioned the contact tracing strategy worried about transparency data anonymity she wanted to see a community led process, saying “we should learn lessons and adopt a decentralized approach to contact tracing.” Hancock admitted that contact tracing required people as well as an App, saying we were giving up liberty with Social Distancing. He assured us that there would be more testing made available locally.

Barry Sheerman, Labour MP for Huddersfield ripped into a scathing attack of the Government’s shambolic record, so far behind Germany, “with deaths the equivalent of two jumbo jet crashes in a day! This is not a triumph!” He was angry that early NHS whistleblowers had been silenced and weren’t allowed to reveal the truth. Mat Hancock complained that the member who just spoke “misses the tone!” Do not dare to criticize the Tories? Our prime goal was to flatten the curve enabling us to treat everybody – despite the obvious retained underlying objective of Herd Immunity. Claiming Sheerman was completely wrong to suggest that Whistleblowers cannot raise an issue in public or in private, Hancock’s derisive response sounded like spoilt brat Donald Trump…

Patrick Grady talked of the long term Nursing shortage due to EU Nurses leaving the NHS. Mat Hancock was quick to cut him off by insisting there was no impact on our response to Coronavirus from the impending Tory crash-out Brexit: a blatant lie!

Maria Eagle brought up the atrocity of allowing potentially Covid 19 infected football fans to come flooding into Liverpool from a Madrid hotspot. She highlighted the higher than national average incidence of Covid 19 infections in Liverpool and asked for an admission that it was a mistake to go ahead with the game. Will the Government investigate? Eagle was in the chamber and this was the only time during the debate when I heard the distracting noise of grumbling in the background. Hancock tossed this one over to the scientists as if the Government was in no way responsible for making a deadly decision. This last point raised is very telling as it reflects the Government’s total abdication of responsibility when they made a blatantly obvious deadly mistake that cost lives.

I applauded the genuine, well deserved, criticism of the Government expressed by the Labour MP, Barry Sheerman, over the shambolic handling of the Covid 19 crisis when he compared the daily death toll to the equivalent of “two jumbo jet crashes in a day!” The true magnitude of the tragedy really hit home and we cannot let the enabling treatment that Hancock enjoyed throughout most of that questioning to continue in this way, because the situation will get a lot worse. These incidents of gross negligence can no longer be written off as simple errors of judgement because in many cases this Tory Government has knowingly taken a huge calculated risk. Collectively these deadly risks have snuffed out thousands of lives in a “Slaughter of the Sheeple” that will continue unabated unless we stand up to the userpers and vigerously fight back. We need to investigate the Covert 2019 Rigged Election as it may be the only way to get rid of this Tory Government ASAP.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

You get what you pay for and the Press sold you a Lemon – A very bitter tasting lemon at that! In an uncharacteristic flourish of honesty, the Sunday Times dropped a most revealing “Truth Bomb” last weekend that has got many in the Conservative camp crying foul. Indignant and totally outraged over the naked exposure of the worst failings of their illustrious leader and his rotten cabal of hard right cronies in dealing with Covid 19, their protests have been vocal, and vociferous. It was high time the Tories felt the media wolves teeth ripping at their delicate elitist flesh for once, but where was that secure cloak of protection, bestowed by national crisis, that they counted on to hide their shame?

The media landscape had changed; Tories believed they had seized total control of the narrative. The token political balance of “This Week” had morphed into a toxic dollop of Andrew Neal’s uncut bigotry and bias. They gagged Victoria Derbyshire by getting the BBC to nix her program, seen by the Tories as a serious threat early on. The Daily Politics made a far quieter exit without much fanfare or protest, perhaps because it was already so heavily right lurching. The Paper Review now features a number of foreign publications in a way that helps to water down the presentation of a plethora of negative domestic news. Instead we get the daily nauseating Tory Party Political broadcasts that masquerade as “press briefings” while churning out propaganda to those who dutifully contribute by paying the compulsory TV license fee!

What a terrific start it had been for Johnson, with Labour MPs repeatedly humiliated by a contrived defeat in the Covert 2019 Rigged Election and their cheated voters distracted by a popularity contest to choose a more compliant leader as instructed. The illusion of a “landslide Tory victory” the fabrication of “borrowed votes” and the crumbling Red Wall had dominated the headlines in the New Year. Glory boy’s conspicuous absenteeism as “Part-Time Prime Minister” was only remarked on by a discredited thorn about to be wrenched from Boris’s portly side. Then his mate Trump’s brinkmanship with Iran almost ruined an idyllic Caribbean Holiday with Carey and returning to sodden regions of the flooded north to pose with mop and bucket was so beneath him.

But then the rubber really hit the road with an even more serious global crisis that was not going to conveniently evaporate; it required real leadership, he just hadn’t counted on such demands as PM. The worrying news was about to detract from Boris Johnson’s greatest triumph. “Get Brexit Done” could not be outdone by some pesky Chinese bug; it would have to be put on hold for a while at least! So no big drama in the press, ministers could cover his Cobra meetings, he would fall in line with Trump and downplay the danger to the British people, job done. Of course participating in an EU Covid 19 procurement program was out of the question; the Tories needed to prove that Brexit Britain was no longer beholden to Brussels: the UK would boldly go it alone.

Ignoring the warnings of credible scientific advisors Johnson and his team procrastinated and wasted precious time when they should have been bracing for the worst. Replenishing stockpiled items they had not bothered to maintain, preparing the NHS for a virus much worse than seasonal flue, setting up strict quarantine requirements at points of entry, testing, tracking and tracing any cases that slipped through the net; but basking in the glory of their fake win the Tory Government did none of that. On the 12th of March they decided it wasn’t worth testing anyone accept those hospitalized with a serious case of Covid 19; no more track and trace just let it go.

Spanish football fans poured into Liverpool from a Covid 19 hotspot in Madrid to attend a game that should have been cancelled. There were no health checks when their charter flights landed at John Lennon Airport and they were soon booked into area hotels, crammed into Liverpool pubs, visiting restaurants and letting rip in local night spots. It was a time-bomb of tragedy where the Government had every right to step in and refuse to allow such a large gathering to proceed in light of the pandemic. This was the inexcusable atrocity raised by Labour MP, Maria Eagle, in a targeted question to Mat Hancock in the House of Commons the other day. Pointing to the higher than national average incidence of Covid 19 infections in Liverpool, she wanted an honest admission that it was a mistake to go ahead with the game and asked if there would be an investigation?

Seeking the standard cowardly cover of the “best scientific advice,” Hancock prevaricated, as if the Government was in no way responsible for making this deadly decision. However, this was not the only disastrous miscalculation made by the reckless Tory Government under the misguided direction of Boris Johnson; there was that high point of the social calendar the Cheltenham Festival. Four days of highbrow hob knobbing, a huge investment among the wealthy elite, but had any race goers recently returned from a ski holiday in Italy or a business trip to the Far East? The Canary reported on the unusually high infection rate in the area around Cheltenham in the relatively unscathed southwest of the UK; a second time-bomb of tragedy in March would soon unfold.

The virus had taken hold in the UK and it would soon run rampant throughout the country so why not pretend that such widespread infection was actually part of a well developed strategy of “Herd Immunity.” From major screw-up to an intentional Government policy it would be draped in a cloak of respectability with repeated references to the “best scientific advice.” That was until credible scientific experts at Imperial College scotched Dominic Cumming much favoured eugenics program after modelling demonstrated massive death rates. Sadly a small percentage of a very large number is still a frighteningly large number; in the case of the UK population left unchecked Covid could claim half a million lives.

Despite the warning signs of heavily stricken Italy, ignoring strong examples of national strategies that worked really well to contain the contagion and the appeal from the WHO to “test, test, test,” the Tory Government stubbornly tried to stick to their failing plan, wasting precious time as the virus spread exponentially unchecked. In the media it was time to row back on their gushing support of herd immunity; it had never been a Government policy, it was a potential consequence. They knew that the virus would take the elderly, the weak and infirm; a segment of the population Tories derided as “economically inactive scroungers” could be effectively “culled!” Forget the nostalgia for veteran war heroes and doting grandparents who had paid into the system all their lives, this cruel cull remains the Tories “Final Solution” for Social Care a devastating “Holocaust in Care!”

“Herd Immunity, protect the economy and if that means some pensioners die, too bad!” That now highly publicized abhorrent sentiment from Boris Johnson’s sicko side kick “Chief Adviser” Dominic Cummings remains still smouldering below the surface. The Canary reported how central this was to Tory strategy as they cherry-picked only the advice that they wanted to hear to meet their goals. All of the current evidence points to the strong probability that that the Tories have yet to jettison their herd immunity strategy; it is still being actively pursued, but in a more covert way. The UK is not just a perverse “outlier” romping ahead with the highest Covid 19 death rate in Europe by some freak bad luck; we are virtually alone in defying the advice and directions of the WHO. The unforgivable failings go way beyond just gross incompetence to consciously personify organized culpable negligence!

According to the Canary: Cummings chaired a meeting on the virus with representatives of big tech companies. Also present at the meeting were the government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance (who backed the herd immunity strategy) and NHS chief executive, Simon Stevens. Others played a role – The Sunday Times also reported how: David Halpern of the Whitehall “nudge unit” put the phrase in the public domain. Two days later, Vallance repeated the idea on Radio 4.” Who can forget jovial Johnson’s “Take it on the Chin” comment when he floated the ‘theory’ of building herd immunity to tackle coronavirus on TV, concluding that “we need to strike a balance.”

TV bruiser Piers Morgan has started earning public accolades from the left for calling out Tory miscreants. Health Secretary Mat Hancock suffered Morgan’s mauling when he tried to backpedal fast in an attempt to rewrite history in denial of the Government’s policy of herd immunity as the Canary reported. In a second ruthless takedown from Morgan: “Care minister’s ‘claptrap’ PR highlights Tory hypocrisy” the Skwawkbox reported on Whately’s car crash interview when Morgan pulled up House of Commons footage taken in 2017 where Tories cheered after they voted down an above 1% pay rise for Nurses and asked her why she had voted against the below inflation pay increase.

Skwawkbox will not let the Tories whitewash over their atrocious record with a few shallow rounds of applause: “Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and other Tory MPs cynically milked last night’s public applause for our NHS heroes, in spite of the government’s abject failure to protect front-line NHS staff by providing enough proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and coronavirus testing capacity. But the exploitation sparked anger among staff who know all too well the Tories’ real record on the NHS. And nowhere is that record better encapsulated than in this short video showing the Tories cheering in 2017 as they ‘successfully’ blocked a desperately-needed pay rise for nurses, along with firefighters – just a couple of weeks after the Grenfell Tower blaze – and other key front-line workers.”

So what of the Tories feigned horror over the revelations in last weekend/s Sunday Times? They thought they had the right wing press under control; they must be worried about what might emerge this Sunday. Most of these rags thrive on sensationalism and right now the sensation is cantered on the almighty mess this Tory Government are making of their gross mishandling of the Covid 19 crisis. What there journalists uncovered was a scoop to big to pass up. But the papers are struggling too, hoping that their expose will attract readers.
What the print media had not bargained for was that much of the material had already been presented to the public by the alternative press and most were not eager to pay to get past their commercial fire wall. As core snippets of what was written have been cut and pasted into blogs and featured in twitter posts they are urging the public for patronage as they plead poverty have garnered more derision than support. Would we want Murdoch’s bigoted right wing press go under? Sure! The Canary have highlighted their pathetic cause asking do we really want to rescue the rogues that have lied to the public with their shoddy journalism that persuaded so many to vote for the worthless gang of losers running the country?

How are the Government dealing with the crisis right now? By any measure extremely badly, their blunders go from bad to worse! Are the media still covering for this Tory Government? The Canary take a look at the smear campaign that denied the people on both sides of the Atlantic the strong and principled leader we deserved and ended possibility of civilized politics. Can we safely continue with bad governance? More on how the media are waking up to their public responsibility tomorrow to come this weekend I hope. Meanwhile don’t forget your responsibility to keep them under pressure. Do not passively absorb everything you hear from the Government or their tame media stooges, we need to keep them under intense scrutiny. We must question the result of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election and push for a full investigation into the result. It is never too late to seek the truth.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Another Daily GasLamp article: “GE2019 System under Strain,” makes for interesting reading, referencing a report in the London Economic that analyses the 2019 Election Report that I presume was produced by the Electoral Commission. I will need to wade through that Electoral Commission report in full to see what was and was not uncovered, but this London Economic piece touches on the general conclusions. Surprise, surprise they didn’t manage to fully expose postal vote fraud because they seem determined not to look. The late mailing of overseas postal voting packages appears to be simply written off as poor management, although it could just as easily be deliberate.

While London Economic report mentions that there are ongoing investigations people who have tried to progress complaints have slammed into a brick wall. This was true for one of Dominic Raab’s constituents who went to great lengths to try and get the highly irregular and unexpected result looked at especially after Raab was confident enough in his win to announce the results ahead of the election. Raab seemed to know that the postal votes would hold the key and they would be largely in his favour, but “nothing to see here!” There is no avenue allowed for serious anomalies to be fully investigated because the system is not set up to include checks and balances it is explicitly designed to exclude them.

A Watchdog that cannot watch is just a Dog! We must “Rescue our Watchdog.”

The GasLamp rightly points out the core element that is missing from the London Economic: “reference to (illegal) Cambridge Analystica and PysOp methods of sock puppets and artificial intelligent bots suckering people into revealing personal details, not just voting preferences not also voting intentions: the likelihood of people voting at all. This information is then suspected to be for widespread postal fraud in marginal seats – widespread but targeted and minimal – not too much, not too little but just right amount. Dominic Cummings’ Voter Intention Collection System would statistically be so accurate that it could determine not only voter’s politically preference but also how likely they are to vote at all. Thus providing exactly the right level of postal vote fraud to allow the Conservatives an 80 seat majority – just as Cummings promised a month before the election.”

Also on the Daily GasLamp site is the post: “Democracy and Big Data,” which contains two really good video presentations. The first of the videos is one of those highly effective rapid drawing presentations. It’s quite a short video entitled: “the threat of Big Data explained simply” and it really is a very illuminating and straightforward explanation of the collection and manipulation of our data. The second is a longer video that’s described as containing: “information on “exhaust data” and Machine Learning and predictive techniques.” This covers the emergence and invasive impact of what is referred to as “Surveillance Capitalism;” it shows how our data has been hijacked, without our knowledge, for commercial purposes and how it was used to manipulate voters by stealth. In the explanation it says: “This video starts about selling this predictive data to business… but it applies equally to political leanings.”

There is a glimmer of hope within the EU with some protection offered by the EU’s Data protection laws, but we are will soon lose even that protection as the transition period ends with crash-out Brexit in December. The interesting phenomenon pointed out by the Daily GasLamp in the post detailing Dominic Cummings excellent knowledge of how to harness this technology is the precision with which he was able to predict actual votes in such a way that allowed for the complementary matching of the fraudulent postal votes to be added into the mix at the exact amount necessary to win marginal seats just as he predicted. Cummings himself had promised an 80 seat majority and he was able to deliver exactly that.

In yet another GasLamp post the writer describes technology that was harnessed by the huge financial assets of the 1% to cover the significant cost of manipulating the masses to vote against their own best interests, highlighting, “….the use of intelligent Bot systems (where developers actually get help and support from the bot technology that they are using!)” According to the author this was probably “a key tool in automating the Conservative GE2019 campaign, to control the message.”

Unwary individuals can be influenced by compelling disinformation in the targeted messages, that are reinforced by the approval of a like or supportive comment from the AI manipulator pretending to show genuine interest in opinions that the messaging originally spawned. It described a service called Botpress that “has a nice graphic interface and the developers get support from the bot, giving friendly advice on how to achieve particular goals. It can even autocomplete various functions.” There are similar tools from Google or Pandora that the author refers to in another GasLamp post linked above on bots and sock puppets. This is strange territory for me but we are told that “Botpress would be the Bot component (while a “sock puppet” is just a person with multiple identities).”

The piece highlights how “these systems are used by some major, major companies that supply the UK government with their systems… so this type of technology would be known to Dominic Cummings who from his blog post seems to have quite an interest in the subject.” There are useful links included for those who want to understand how “Botpress also comes with a facebook connector” and how the tool is used. Alarmingly the author identifies that “the peak downloads for this software was June 2019 – plenty of time to ramp up development for GE2019” and there is a link for examining how the capabilities of Botpress compare with competing products. This sophisticated technology, requiring massive investment to set up and run, pits the wealthy elite against the exploited poor who are easily outgunned, democracy itself has been outgunned!

While the uncanny precision of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election might have kept the ballot numbers from becoming too outlandish on the night, in combination with the highly unlikely result in many seats it was that almost miraculously close victory that has aroused so much suspicion. This was especially true in Raab’s seat that was fully expected to be won by the Liberal Democrat candidate and where Raab himself had confidently blurted out on public television that the postal votes were going his way; what did he know and how did he know that information well ahead of Election Day? Despite rigorous attempts to have Raab charged for his illegal disclosure and investigate the suspicious result, the police were eager to let any case against him drop.

Even the success of Boris Johnson in retaining his own seat was considered questionable before the election in a constituency that he had neglected, with a high volume of student voters. But despite these valid doubts Boris was so arrogantly confident of winning his seat that he did not even bother to cast his own vote in his constituency. This as Johnson was gaining a reputation for being jeered at wherever he went, his painfully stage managed photo-ops and in spite of his devious efforts to hide that included diving inside a refrigerator! He breezed past all those that openly despised him in the secure knowledge that the Covert 2019 Rigged Election vote was rigged in his favour and he could jet off to the Caribbean with his girlfriend on a donor sponsored holiday while the country wallowed in grief reeling over the result: there was no Christmas cheer for most in the UK.

The bottom line is that what Dominic Cummings did was illegal. Those EU data protection laws were still in place in the run up to the December election and they are still in place here until later this year. Facebook were heavily fined in the US for their clandestine sale of personal information that was manipulated by Cambridge Analytica proving the illegality of what transpired. Cummings has refused to appear before House of Commons committees, but it is time for this evil and heartless man who calously approved of the Covid death toll slaughtering our elderly, to be put under intense scrutiny.

In a crude attempt to provide legitimacy for the Tory Government’s deviations from the WHO directives, the public are repeatedly told that the decisions being made are following the “best scientific advice.” Now we are shocked to discover that, despite holding zero scientific credentials, Dominic Cummings is exerting his Svengali like influence over the Scientific Advisory Group SAGE. The Guardian Article: “Top Tories join calls to bar Cummings from scientific advisory group” elaborates on how a “Cross-party demand for transparency after chief adviser is revealed as attending meetings of Sage.” They write: “Boris Johnson is facing cross-party calls to stop his chief adviser from attending meetings of the secret scientific group advising him on the coronavirus pandemic, as demands grow for the committee’s deliberations to be made public.”

The more that the public discover about the dangerous unelected eugenicist deviant Cummings the more alarm there is over his controlling influence over the man we did not elect as Prime Minister. As it becomes increasingly apparent that Dominic Cummings is the true power behind the dictatorship his warped ideology and disregard for human life point to a dystopian nightmare ahead for the UK. The case for a serious nationwide investigation into the Covert 2019 Rigged Election with the illegal acquisition and use of data to manipulate voters as well as potentially topping up postal ballots is gaining critical urgency. The “best scientific advice” has already been tainted by the sick influence of Cummings who favoured extermination of the sector he considers “economically inactive scroungers.” How far will we allow this “Slaughter of the Sheeple to go before we take the required action to oust this Tory Government?

[Paul Barbara]

I don’t know if this has been covered on here, but I don’t think so:
‘Why did Cabinet Office Rush through Procurement of Controversial Electoral Services Company IDOX Just Before the General Election?‘ (Byline Times).
Just search the headline and source. (I haven’t yet got the hang of putting links on here other than direct url’s, which is verboten).

—
[ Mod: Hyperlinking is easy if you have javascript enabled in your browser. Just highlight the text you want to hyperlink, then click the LINK button and paste in the URL.

If you’re not running javascript then you have to rely on intervention from the mods. Just precede the text to hyperlink with something obvious like {link=", followed by the URL and "}, then add {/link} at the end. And then hope the mods notice it.

Regards. ]

[Paul Barbara]

It appears from the above article that Peter Lilley resigned his Directorship in IDOX before the General Election:
‘…he Idox contract raises questions about how close politicians should be to the electoral process, which has to be neutral.

Until he resigned his directorship in 2018, Peter Lilley, who is an ardent Eurosceptic and a member of the Conservative European Research Group (ERG), was also the director of a company with contracts that covered counting in the 2016 EU Referendum. He has a second biggest director’s shareholding in the group which is valued at $219 million and has risen in value by 32% in the past year…’

If this is the case, we should take note, and not refer to him as a current ‘Director’.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Paul Barbara – That subject has been raised here before, but it is an excellent Link well worth posting again so here is how to do that. The process to embed a link is so easy even I get it… I tend to highlight the words: “Byline Times Article” as my link words; then go the tool bar just above the dialog input box. I have only figured out B = Bold; / = Italicize and the next one in from the left is: “Link.” When you click on Link another box will open and you can cut and paste your url into the url box and press Add Link. Byline Times Article will become a clickable link to: ‘Why did Cabinet Office Rush through Procurement of Controversial Electoral Services Company IDOX Just Before the General Election?’ I encourage you to discover and post more interesting links.

Is it all in a magic fortnight of risk? Boris Johnson’s hailed return to office after surviving what was claimed to have been a serious brush with Covid 19 virus, actually complies with the WHO directives on isolation: two full weeks after the complete cessation of all symptoms. While it was OK for the punters to go straight back to work just seven days after the initial onset of symptoms it was not considered safe to risk the elite team toiling at number ten! There are hints that restrictions on those entering the UK are set to change after weeks of pointed questions regarding our lax control of entry points. Without any distinction between those returning home and foreign visitors to the UK, everyone arriving from overseas will be expected to self-isolate for, you guessed it, two weeks…

In response to his views on the possibility for remote voting in future, the new House Speaker, Lindsey Hoyle, felt sessions earlier in the week had been a success; he was particularly enamoured of his ultimate control of the mute button. Damian Green offered a bizarre version of “the dog ate my homework” by raising a concern that “cats walking across laptops might vote on a critical finance bill!” Coming from the man who was caught with a load of porn on his work laptop, one has to wonder about the proclivities of his feline friends, were they just searching for more pussy? Seriously, it would be hard to imagine the moggies making worse political decisions than the likes of Reese Mogg. My concern is that the public will have no way of knowing if MPs even bother to listen in to a debate before dutiful compliance with Boris Johnsons dictates under threat of removal; the Tory whip is now a Cat-o’-nine Tails.

In the daily Tory deluge of misinformation and party political spin it was Environment Secretary George Eustace’s turn to make a pitch. He focused on convincing us all that, despite early panic buying ahead of the lockdown the UK food supply chain was back on track and stocks on supermarket, store shelves had returned to normal pre-crisis levels. It sounded reassuring except that it was not the experience of most shoppers who were aware of big gaps on the shelves, shortages of key items and price hikes on many food basics. He talked of supermarkets opening up more food delivery slots, but that too is a nightmare of impossibility, especially for the elderly, the vulnerable and the poor: those least used to shopping online. The higher prices are hard to reconcile for those who are forced to subsist on a benefit that increased by only a paltry one pound from its previous non survivable frozen weekly amount.

We waded through painfully repetitive preaching from Dr. Steven Powis, National Medical Director for NHS England, after he had made the monotonous presentation of doom filled statistics ending with how many had sadly died in our Hospitals of Covid 19. The customary lament was followed by stone faced sympathy in the common refrain of “my heart goes out to… all our hearts go out…” In reality the “hearts” of many Tories vacate their bodies in childhood at the inconsolable moment of boarding school abandonment. The most enduring impression of my first day at school was the sight of two scrawny little boys with jet black hair, six year old twins left to sob their hearts out in a gut-wrenching spectacle that would not be tolerated by their fellow boarders in a future deprived of parental sanctuary.

I was lucky to be going home that day, but disturbed by what I witnessed that made a lasting impression on me. Latter on in my stay at that school I longed to become a boarder, a seemingly exciting, independent life, but it was probably for the best that I did not. During extended time away from home, children of the privileged soon learn to seriously toughen up as any display of emotion is totally unacceptable. It is this cruelly instilled inhumanity that endures throughout their life, as only ruthless self preservation at the expense of others will allow them to get ahead, satiating the constantly reinforced greed for power, privilege and extreme wealth. British private and public schools are “factories for fortune hunters” where they acquire the determination, techniques and skills to trample on those they are taught to consider beneath them, like the worthless “economically inactive skivers” who will perish in the Tory “Holocaust of Care.”

At the point of unanswered questions there was another plea as one media representative urged the Government to count all of the deliberately hidden deaths in Care Homes on a daily basis just do for the Hospital deaths so that “we can make sure we know what’s happening on the ground…” Little hope of that when the Tory policy is to keep such sensitive statistics under wraps. There was lengthy, convoluted, disingenuous waffle from Powis on the difference in gathering such numbers in terms we were already fully aware of. In a strange inconsistency that belayed the truth that the Care Home death toll is a known quantity, Powis claimed that this number was falling. If, as he claimed, Care Home death remained unquantified, how could he assert with any confidence that they were going down? Even the Tories cannot extrapolate scientific fact out of imaginary, contrived, non-existent numbers.

The Tory Government’s exhaustive efforts to hide the most shocking consequence of their unconscionable negligence and neglect has fuelled wild speculation of numbers that double the total number of lives lost. Their reticence over revealing numbers, that they must have ready access to, is completly discrediting their claimed reliance on the “best scientific advice.” Despite their obfuscation and constant denial of the evidence, mathematics is inextricably wedded to science as credible scientific modelling relies on hard data. Back in the early days of my sailing career I used a sextant to navigate on long ocean passages; you cannot possibly fix your position without taking sights and crunching the numbers. The Tory decision to end testing and allow the infection to run rampant throughout the UK population has produced a state of “data free” analysis that has no scientific credibility; as the Americans say: “garbage in – garbage out!”

The reality of the Tories negligent conduct with regard to the vulnerable in our Care Homes comes under fire every single day. The constant battle to acquire PPE for Care Home staff… is met with more feeble excuses. The excruciating and inexcusable delays in testing Care Home staff… elicit yet more excuses. These same points were raised and callously glossed over at PMQs on Wednesday as the press fawned over Starmer claiming he is providing a new level of scrutiny despite his obvious gestures of right leaning enablement that must come as a huge relief to the Tories.

We had a testing program in place, but it was inexplicably stopped on the 12th of March, we should all be asking why? The first guest confronted by Andrew Marr on Sunday was Labour MP Rachael Reves, Shadow to Michael Gove. After giving vent to her alarm over Care Home neglect she was asked a really telling question. Marr said “are you concerned that early on people were released from Hospital without being tested and sent back to Care Holmes where we might have unwittingly been sending the virus into the homes where people were most vulnerable?” The word “unwittingly” was far too forgiving as the Tory Government’s “scientific experts” must have known exactly what the result of this horrific strategy would be, compounded by the lack of PPE and testing for Care Home Staff. Surely culpable negligent homicide on an industrial scale is the only reason for them hiding the shocking death toll!

With regard to rumours of stricter controls on UK arrivals Andrew Marr, declared that very early on “testing was just a side issue,” but said: “I see you quote the WHO,” in response to Rachael Reeves reliance on globally accepted directives. Marr pointed out that Dr Jenny Harris from Public Health England, who he admitted had later contracted Covid 19 herself, said testing those entering the UK was “not an appropriate mechanism going forward!” He also said that Professor Chris Van Dam had said that the advice Government got was not good. In a post press conference BBC interview with the Independent’s Travel Editor, Simon Calder, regarding the possibility of more stringent border controls it was revealed that in Australia you are “frog marched off the plane to an upmarket detention centre;” he noted that the UK was unlikely to be that strict.

Labour Shadow Health Minister Justin Madders expressed concern over the ongoing shambolic mess evolving in the Social Care sector. The other concern he raised was over Dominic Cummings participation in SAGE committee meetings, what was his full remit? George Eustace had said in no uncertain terms that the naming of SAGE participants would not be revealed to the public saying in a strange perversion of reverse scrutiny that it would insure that they remained “free from outside influence.” However, keeping SAGE participant names secret is further eroding trust and the greatest concern is over the potential for Cummings’s unqualified warped eugenics pseudoscience to manipulate the credible advice of scientific experts.

The same tired footage of an NHS staff member being kitted up to go into the ICU has been screened over and over again as if she is the only Doctor or Nurse in the entire country to get access to proper PPE! Another frequently repeated piece of footage of a test being administered to someone in a car is on constant auto-repeat; this does not inspire confidence that the Tories are rolling out an extensive program of testing. The BBC reported that the army were being brought in to help roll out testing. The accompanying footage showed a soldier in fatigues wearing a flimsy plastic apron, gloves, and a simple surgical face mask administering tests to potentially infected people in their cars; I thought they might as well have dressed him in pink ballet tutu! Contrast the comprehensive level of PPE worn by technicians in many places overseas administering the exact same test to a similar public cohort.

Trump shocked staffers by ditching his daily propaganda stage show; due to the less than adulatory response he went into a truly astounding self-gagging, mouth lockdown! This follows the public derision over his bizarre comments on “disinfectant by injection” that had officials extremely worried that junkies would adopt the intravenous “make me great again” strategy. However America’s prolific and most infamous twitter twat took to his favoured medium to insult the “lame-stream media who don’t report the facts” as the profuse praise he had expected did not materialize or wasn’t sufficient to make his daily narcissistic bragging worthwhile.

Well known TV Horticultural specialist Allan Titchmarsh was interviewed on Sunday making a strong pitch for opening up gardening centres. He revealed the dire situation British growers faced, saying that a third of them would be forced out of business if they were unable to open for several more weeks. He made coherent logical arguments that in garden centres social distancing was easier to manage outdoors, that plants will die but books will still be on shelf after the lockdown is lifted and that gardening is really important to our mental health. We need to preserve and maintain our ability to grow plants, especially as many may be thinking for the first time of growing their own vegetables to maintain independence. We have communal gardens here with little individual control over what is grown, but even without a garden or a balcony, I am considering hydroponics and a window garden to supply my greens.

They are reporting that the sky is a more distinctive blue now with the huge reduction in all that toxic pollution from so many cars. Mother earth is filling her lungs, taking a long, deep, pollution free breath of clean unspoilt air. The oil magnates are running out of space to store their dirty cargo in readiness for a return to our addiction to commuting and air travel. But some things may never return to the old “normal.” Do snap peas really need a jet flight from Kenya to rapidly rot in our fridge? Why not spend more time with family and continue working from home if possible? The Covid 19 crisis has proven that, yes we absolutely can spend less time in transit. Perhaps the indoor confinement has taught us to enjoy our precious natural environment a little more.

The powerful forces of the super wealthy are still at work, feverishly trying to manipulate this dire crisis situation to turn a profit; we must fight to thwart their selfish goals. The elite who manipulated, bought and stole our votes in the Covert 2019 Rigged Election must have their bogus Tory “landslide victory” fully investigated so that the truth is exposed and the gross injustice is corrected. A progressive Government would be in a unique position right now to move on from this crisis with the bold new initiatives of a Green New Deal. None of this will ever be possible if we leave this toxic Tory Government in place to ramp up exploitation of the poor and disadvantaged, any who still remain following the cull, desperate and ready to toil for subsistence or die in destitution under a resumption of Tory austerity. The bright blue sky will turn to a dull polluted gray if we accept such misery without a fight.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

A Boris Johnson “takedown” is now more urgently required than ever as he blunders back into the seat of power with the arrogant bravado of a returning national hero and the press eating out of his hand. In the bluster of his speech at the lectern outside number ten Boris said: “If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger, which I can tell you from personal experience it is, then this is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor.” In reality it is Johnson who is “the assailant” dragging the entire country into the ground with his brutal assault on our NHS under cover of the Covid 19 crisis. We really have to stop thinking of “Boris” as just an innocuous clown with a silly grin and a nervous hair fetish, playing the naughty boy, a lovable rogue; he is warped, ruthless and his dangerous decisions are costing countless lives: he must be removed from office.

Boris Johnson tried to sound Churchillian in his rousing speech to the nation as he boasted of his resounding success in keeping the virus from overwhelming our NHS, but he may live to regret his frequent to World War II sacrifice and heroism. In this Canary Article Kerry Anne Mendoza points out that: “The UK government only reports deaths from coronavirus (Covid-19) that happen in hospitals. New research shows that the true number of people dying is more than double government reports. Figures prepared by the Financial Times (FT) show that 45,000 people have likely died from Covid-19. To put that in perspective, 43,000 died in the Blitz. Coronavirus has killed more British people than the Blitz.”

This Skwawkbox Article criticizes Johnsons boast of deifying the expectations of NHS collapse was achieved by “letting old folk die untreated and hiding health worker deaths.” The insidious reality intensifying public horror as the well obscured truth is exposed, reveals a national scandal of epic proportions. Despite the excuses for delaying the release of accurate figures regarding deaths in private homes and the hidden deaths in Care Homes across the country double the current admitted death to reach a staggering 40,000 and 45,000 total deaths. This is not a “success” it is a “Holocaust in Care” and a deliberate genocide of the British people!

Tory Government officials and advisors have assiduously steered clear of comparing the UK’s Covid 19 track record to that of any other country for good reason; it would deeply trouble the public and call for demands that Boris Johnson and his dangerous cabal of Tory ministers must step down in disgrace. “How dare he boast?” The Skwawkbox rant in righteous fury, revealing that: “In reality, the performance of Johnson and his party has led to the UK, which has less than 1% of the world’s population, having 10% of global coronavirus deaths, even on the government’s admitted figures – and the real figure is more than 20%.”

Interesting that Boris Johnson should refer to “opportunity” in his speech as this greedy, narcissistic opportunist was caught on camera elaborated on the opportunities he would seize on during this crisis as exposed by the Skwawkbox in the article: “Johnson knew his ‘take it on the chin’ herd immunity would kill millions from the outset” “Johnson said the UK can profit from ignoring anti-coronavirus measures” in this piece that includes damning footage of the Greenwich speech where he elaborated on his ghastly plan to exploit tragedy and a graphic presentation of how the intention is to “turn lockdown measures on and off like a tap” to manage the impact on the NHS over a longer period of inevitable ICU patient deaths. On the steps of Downing Street Johnson said: “…and so it follows that this is the moment of opportunity. This is the moment when we can press home our advantage.”

The Canary focused on the recent critical Sunday Times article that reported: “As Britain was hit by unprecedented flooding, [Johnson] completed the EU withdrawal, reshuffled his cabinet and then went away to the grace-and-favour country retreat at Chevening where he spent most of the two weeks over half-term with his pregnant fiancée, Carrie Symonds.” The Sunday Times have now been added to the list of reporters banned from attending the Tory Government’s daily PR briefings to prevent them asking questions and holding the PM to account. In another Canary Article they claim that: “Covid 19 is making the fight against far right populists even more urgent.”

Ahead of his imminent return to duties the Skwawkbox criticized the PM for even considering the reopening of schools in the light of concerning new information of an emerging potential Covid danger targeting children. Perhaps the hope was to deter such a rash decision when they printed the full text of a warning letter sent out by NHS North Central London where a number of children have presented with a similar array of alarming symptoms. Skwawkbox say: “The symptoms include inflammation of multiple organs – and even of ‘atypical’ inflammation of blood vessels (Kawasaki disease) and the heart occurring ‘commonly’, and ‘toxic shock’ with potentially fatal complications – along with ‘strange’ and unexplained rashes, abdominal pain and stomach upsets.” Kawasaki is normally a very rare disease therefore such a tight cluster presenting during a Pandemic is cause for extreme concern.

The deadly combination of a power hungry, narcissistic and totally Prime Minister leading a far right Government with a massive majority determined to move the country steadily in the direction of dictatorship would be bad enough without trying to cope with a global Pandemic. The realization that this crisis will continue to be manipulated it a way that is guaranteed to cost thousands of lives is an unacceptable price to pay even if it were not the result of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election, but the firm belief that the Tory “landslide victory” was the result of fraud offers us a glimmer of hope. Despite the restrictions and distraction of Covid 19 we must demand a comprehensive investigation into the December election result in the hope of ousting the rogue Tory Government. We cannot afford to remain complacent as too many lives have already been lost; as the dull extent of the shocking truth continues to emerge more and more people will join the public outcry; we cannot give up.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Today’s breaking news is that Boris Johnson’s mistress, Carrie Symonds, has just given birth to a baby boy, the latest of his still undetermined number of children. Despite finding time to brag about the birth on ITV this morning, it was announced just in time for him to conveniently dodge his obligation to attend Prime Minister’s Questions. Early speculation regarding the likelihood of Boris not making an appearance at PMQs had already been mentioned for health reasons. Although, due to the new video connections, he would not necessarily have needed to be present in the chamber, we fully expected him to at least make an effort to check in by video link. Now, the BBC are bending over backwards to cover for him as if we were not dealing with the most serious national crisis in my lifetime: no, it was a real priority for him to ditch scrutiny, while deserting mother and baby, to put in a TV appearance!

The baby was not expected quite so soon, but arrived in the early hours of the morning with Boris Johnson present for the birth. If he had the opportunity to be there for the birth of his baby and still fitted in a TV interview, why couldn’t he pay attention to his duty to the British public during this time of crisis? This wasn’t even a consideration for our totally shameless “part-time Prime Minister” who is counting on the reluctance of any politician to dare criticizing the PM for bailing on responsibility yet again. Johnson, who has fanciful aspirations of being considered a Churchillian hero, should reflect on whether Churchill himself would have evaded debate in the chamber during World War II for a domestic call to coo over the recent birth of a baby. Now the media are floating the idea of Boris taking paternity leave, testing the public reaction to the PM vacating his public duties for an even longer period.

Ian Duncan Smith was interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire over his reaction to the sudden early arrival of Boris Johnson’s baby. His effusive praise and joy at the event was well over the top, like the entire country was hanging on this news as the most important event of the year. Wonderful news of “renewal and change;” no nappy changing and no change for the working poor subsisting on Universal Credit! Duncan Smith’s gushing statements about this “fantastic message of hope” made the arrival of Boris Johnson’s baby sound like the second coming. Political leaders are sending their obligatory congratulations while many must be seriously worried that this will provide an awkward distraction and an excuse for yet more skiving from our lazy part–time Prime Minister.

Egged on by the BBC who are now soliciting solid justification for Johnson to take more time off for parental leave, one Tory MP commented that they wouldn’t begrudge him taking extra time out. They went into overdrive to make a big deal of the birth and instil the impression that this personal joyous event for the PM, must lighten the mood for everyone during the grim times we all face. The BBC are seriously delusional if they don’t get it that most of us have very little to rejoice right now; a baby at number ten offers nothing to those desperate for pragmatic planning to support the most vulnerable impacted by the Covid 19 crisis. People are out of work, worried if there will be a job to return to, worried about feeding their families, worried about eviction, worried about the danger of their job caring for Covid patients without proper PPE, but such concerns will evaporate because Boris has a baby!

Norman Smith commented that Keir Starmer would need to modify his approach today at PMQs, “he should go easy on the PM as obviously he could not go hard on the attack.” Really, was this a warning that any opposition MP who dares to provide due scrutiny during PMQs today will face criticism from the BBC? This is another media trap: we must adhere to this period of mandatory adulation for Britain’s most prominent dead-beat dad, a man who refuses to even admit how many children he has irresponsibly fathered! Scrutiny will not be tolerated by the media. Who will have the courage to ask tough questions and raise the criticism Boris Johnson and his incompetent team of Tory MPs so richly deserve?

The second semi-virtual PMQs got under way with Dominic Raab deputising for our missing-in-inaction PM; this time the excuse being that his girlfriend had given birth early this morning and a TV interview was a lot more important that the chaotic state of the Tory Government’s handling of this crisis or facing scrutiny over the ongoing disaster. After the congratulation bucket had done the rounds the session got under way and thankfully the miracle of birth was not raised by every questioner, only a few during PMQs. There was a concern over the need to resume urgent and even elective surgery cases raised by the first questioner; a fair point considering the frequent boasts of vast numbers of “spare” critical care beds the Government has liberated by focusing on high-end equipment while thoroughly neglecting the basics like PPE. Raab conceded the need to return to normal NHS functioning..

After congratulating the PM on the birth of his latest son Raab responded to Starmer’s PMQ demand of last week by accounting for some of the deaths of NHS and Care staff, but his claim of just 85 NHS deaths and 23 Care staff fell short of claims elsewhere that put the current total over 140. The Tory Government is still leaning heavily on their support for public gestures like the one minute silence of remembrance for the heroes who died caring for Covid 19 patients; like the clapping for carers, it all detracts from any Tory responsibility for the carnage and normalizes dying on the job due to negligent safety standards. He also wished Captain Tom Moore a Happy one hundredth birthday for tomorrow after the veteran raised 29 million pound for the NHS: his determined personal effort has really put the UK Government to shame!

Keir Starmer made sure to congratulate the cowardly, lying, toad over his baby despite any resentment he may have felt that yet another excuse prevented our “part-time Prime Minister” from facing scrutiny again. Forget the baby “coo” factor, this was not the time to let the entire Tory Government off the hook regarding their shambolic handling of Covid 19. Starmer raised the crucial death toll numbers saying that the Chief Medical Officer had said he hoped we could keep the overall number of deaths to below 20,000; he said that would be good, meaning successful under the circumstances. We are clearly way above that number, only part way through this crisis and possibly on track to have one of the worst death rates in Europe. With a subtle dig at Boris Johnson’s self-congratulatory speech where he said that “many were looking at the comparative success of the United Kingdom,” Starmer asked for agreement that “far from success these latest figures are truly dreadful?”

Raab defensively claimed that this explicit rendition of the truth was “not fair;” it was too early to make cross country comparisons. He digressed by suggest that it was irresponsible to pre-empt the advice of SAGE on ending the lockdown which was not actually part of Starmer’s first question. Starmer corrected him, not to be diverted from his second question that the incidents of infection and deaths were not going down in Care Homes they were rising; there was real anxiety in Care Homes over access to testing and the limited supply of PPE and the Government’s response was too slow: why were there so many Care Home deaths?

Raab feigned making good progress, hyped up the challenges in Care Homes as they were decentralized and then blamed the ebb and flow of family and staff as if it were all their fault, despite their own strictly imposed controls, abysmal Government support and lack of resources! His next pitch was that they were expanding the workforce, recruiting more carers, presumably to replace those who quit out of fear or died despite their best efforts to care for and protect the vulnerable. One has to wonder what the job ad would look like: A challenging job caring for the disabled, elderly and dying. No benefits or holidays are provided, below minimum wage pay on a zero hours contract with no pay for travel time on home visits. Your health and safety is no concern of ours, so why not risk your life by joining the abandoned frontline cannon fodder supporting the Tory Government’s “Holocaust of Care!”

Starmer emphasized that Care Home deaths were not falling despite a claim on the Marr program to the contrary. We just had a moments silence in memory of the dead. It is ten weeks since the Health Secretary declared that there was an imminent threat to life; you would hope that by now things would be getting better not worse. A survey at the Royal College of Physicians published on Monday reported that one in four Doctors are still not getting the protective equipment that they need. The RCP President was quoted: “it is truly terrible that PPE supply has worsened over the last 3 weeks rather than improved!” Raab claimed he was not sugar coating the margin of error with delivering PPE, but does not agree that the situation is getting worse not better, implying that the illustrious Doctors were lying. Raab banged on about the global supply shortage and started reeling off lots of big numbers, kit from China, Turkey and Myanmar.

Starmer takes exception to the denial saying it was not his personal input, it was from Doctors on the front line. He then asked about further extending of testing, while capacity is 73,000 a day, there were only 43,000 tests done and NHS or Care staff only account for 29,000. There is no lack of demand, demand is through the roof so why were 50,000 available tests not used and when would they go to the 250,000 a day that Boris Johnson pledged, is that still a Government target? Raab is really defensive about things getting worse. They have doubled capacity he waffles on, spouting more numbers waffle, waffle… On the difference between capacity and demand, unable to think of who to blame, he claims they are widening eligibility and on track, but 250 is an aspiration.

Starmer wants to know the way forward, what is the next stage, not a release of the lockdown, not a rigid timeframe, but we do need information. Raab is non committal hiding behind SAGE’s decision making, with only a pretence as he claims maximum transparency. On the exit strategy there are no proposals as they are waiting on SAGE. Starmer countered that other countries have set out a plan, but not UK. Raab says there will be no concrete plans laid out. In a direct dig at Starmer he makes the accusation: “does he think he knows better than SAGE?” This is the classic Tory response, hide behind the “scientific experts.”

Among other pressing questions the SNPs Ian Blackford MP brought up the need for an extension of the transition period in both of his two questions, to which Raab emphatically refused to budge; this will return next week. Also from the SNP, David Doogan bought up the need for a Universal Basic Income, which also received a flat “no” from Raab. That too will be back; you have got to admire that Scottish tenacity. There was also the standard non-question “stroking” as Tory MPs offering Raab an opportunity to embellish on Government promises that they have no intention of following through on. One such fawning invitation elicited the comment from Raab that the Conservatives were the party of the NHS; try telling that to the staff risking their lives without access to proper PPE! Raab said when he read out the Covid 19 death toll, he walked away ashen faced, and that he paid tribute to NHS with the minute of silence; conveniently ignoring how many needless deaths were directly caused by Tory policy!

Allan Dorans wanted to know that if we developed a vaccine the distribution would be global to meet greatest need, not dictated by wealth. Raab superficially agreed; the Oxford team did seem committed to that principal. Garant Davies wanted more information about why the UK opted out of the EU procurement plan for PPE and equipment; was it a political choice and will we join any new option in future? Raab reiterated the false claim that it was just a communications failure, a lost email, but it would not have made any difference and we will look at participating in future; he should have added only if shamed into doing so. Protection for those at risk of Domestic violence came up and Raab rattled of measures taken and funds spent.

Robert Court said banks were not providing finance, businesses were being denied help. Raab said banks must do their bit. Zarah Sultana insisted that big businesses being bailed out by the Government should not be handing out dividends or using offshore tax havens as ordinary people were still not getting much, if any support. Without offering any assurance of fairness or equality Raab replied with a typical rude Tory insult, accusing her of inserting her “partisan baggage.” David Mundell raised the issue of our key worker lorry drivers still on the road with little access to hot food, toilets or showers as many truck stops closed. Raab said they were doing their best for our recently discovered key workers. Both Desmond Swage and Mark Prichard made a plea for garden centres to be opened. Raab seemed impressed that more than one MP felt so strongly about this and said SAGE we will consider it.

The media discreetly talk of Boris Johnson’s fiancé giving birth to their son, but let us not forget how Johnson himself characterized children of single mothers “ill-raised, ignorant, aggressive and illegitimate.” Due to the personal circumstances of my own birth, I was practically outraged and offended by this, one of Boris’s numerous truly disgraceful insults. Legitimacy is immaterial, but full responsibility for, and unashamed acknowledgement of children you have brought into this world is essential. I know the hardship and sacrifice of mothers who are abandoned to raise children without the support of men too shallow, feckless and negligent to even contribute towards raising them, so I have no time for dead-beat dads like Boris. But one rule for the elite and another for the plebs, Johnson’s latest little bundle of joy will be in a class of his own.

What really was heart-warming news this morning as well as a reminder that despite losing her show Victoria Derbyshire is still determined to highlight the news that really matters to ordinary people, the story of the owner of a four star hotel in Shrewsbury who accepted the challenge of providing accommodation for the homeless during the Covid 19 crisis. Hotel proprietor Mike was interviewed alongside one of his new hotel guests and admitted how the experience has changed the way he viewed homeless people. Chris who was homeless living on the streets before the crisis hit said how much it had transformed the lives of the people who were taken in, how they were becoming fit and well even seeing addicts get off drugs. Amazing that we could get everyone off the street when the Government felt compelled to make it happen; we must hope there is no regression from this positive initiative.

This crisis has shown just what is possible with the right political will and the funds the Tory Government have insisted was not there for public services or the common good. From housing the destitute to rescuing our polluted environment, we have made massive transformative changes overnight. Now this ground has been taken we must never allow the Government to take back what is rightfully ours or resume their reckless destruction of the planet to satiate corporate greed. If allow this hard right Tory Government to get away with gaming the system as they did with the Covert 2019 Rigged Election they will continue putting NHS staff and Carers at risk as they pursue their warped eugenics program to cull the elderly with the “Holocaust of Care.” They will crash out of the EU and double down on the working poor; austerity and homelessness return. A full investigation of the Election result could rob the Tories of their legitimacy and remove them from power; we must try.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Johnson returned to the podium to pollute the public debate with his bombastic blather and utter “Boris Shit” at the daily broadcast of Tory Party Political propaganda euphemistically called a “Press Briefing.” In reality, a genuine press briefing would take place in front of a diverse group of uncensored journalists from whom a random selection of reporters would be invited to ask pertinent questions providing public scrutiny. Since Johnson came to power there have been unreasonable restrictions imposed to prevent outspoken, progressive and left leaning journalists from attending, with the Tory Government cherry-picking of only the most reliably supportive right wing media allowed to attend. This is a powerful warning sign of the blatant campaign of censorship that is so typical of an emerging authoritarian dictatorship.

After printing a scathingly critical article last weekend as a major expose cover story, the Sunday Times became the latest press team to be banned by our dishonest, incompetent, narcissistic leader and his toxic Tory cabal incapable of tolerating any form of criticism or even answering straight questions. They outright deny proven facts, dispel the input of frontline Doctors as untrue and use phrases like “to be fair” to signal that they intend to be grotesquely biased and unfair in their defence of the wholly indefensible Those who have hosted the daily deluge of disinformation in Boris Johnson’s absence are working hard to emulate the arrogantly dismissive style of Trump in their defensive replies.

They try to assert that the WHO and the vast majority consensus among epidemiological experts worldwide are just dead wrong. Only the Governments secret team of scientific advisors at SAGE are capable of providing reliable information that is used to direct public policy. That is the same SAGE team we recently discovered has non-scientist Dominic Cummings sitting in and potentially contributing or manipulating policy. Why would such a suspicion of inappropriate meddling arise? Because these SAGE scientific experts were relied on to guide Government policy when Boris Johnson boldly announced we should “take it on the chin” and the warped pseudo-science of Dominic Cummings’s “Herd Immunity” eugenics program was floated as the way forward

The PM did not look bold or confident when he ambled out behind his two trusted “credibility shields,” the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty and his Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Valance. He thanked those who had covered for him during his time out and was profuse in his gratitude to the NHS staff who had saved his sorry arse. It was time to spin the numbers, to make what in reality was abysmally bad look like a victory, his personal victory. The fatality figures they had been forced to amalgamate to reveal the total death toll were in the range of 26,000 with 674 dead in the last 24 hours. Boris Johnson knows full well that the total his is quoting is a deliberately deceptive lie, but no one ever expects him to tell the truth. In an appeal for us to accept the awful death toll he says he knows how many have lost love ones, we have the strength and resilience to overcome this challenge.

Johnson states that he will not risk a resurgence as he adapts the hypnotic Tory messaging to cover their most recent disgraceful failure as if everything was falling into place exactly as planned; referring to the chronic shortage of PPR he repeats their mantra, instead of “steps” it was “the right protective gear, to the right people, at the right time!” It sounded painfully shallow and must have enraged abandoned NHS staff, but he went on to embellish his fake support by saying, “they were throwing everything at it, despite global shortages in global Pandemic.” Not his problem for not stockpiling, not his problem for not attending Cobra meetings and taking action sooner when supplies were available, not his problem that we failed to opt into the EI procurement scheme, no it was a global Pandemic. There was no apology, zero shame or accountability for massive failures that were still costing innocent lives.

The number of patients in ICU was falling Johnson outrageously claiming that we had “ succeeded” in avoiding the tragedy pf our NHS becoming overwhelmed, he insisted that at no stage was the NHS overwhelmed and no one was turned away. Not really true as many of the elderly and those from Care Homes were never admitted or were sent back with the virus to facilities that were not equipped to treat them. Those dying of Covid 19 in hospital were on ventilators, but Mat Hancock has never explained why those dying in Care Homes didn’t require ventilation equipment or the support of intensive care trained medical staff. Despite the fact that it was primarily the elderly who were most at risk of needing intensive care there was a conscious choice made not to provide care to those who are still most in need of those 3,000 “spare” critical care beds that Hancock boasts are available right now.

Johnson boasts of how they were warned of the possibility that 5000,000 could die; he fails to mention that this figure was in response to Dominic Cummings insane “Herd Immunity” eugenics program. Without admitting to the horrendous folly of even considering this strategy the shockingly inflated death toll doing nothing and “taking it on the chin” would have caused Boris grasps for that figure of 500,000 deaths as a baseline from which we are supposed to gauge our success, which give him lots of scope for future disastrous statistics to emerge. Johnson confidently asserts that we are “past the peak” and should be hopeful.

It was now time for Johnson to show off by saying that the UK is leading international efforts to create a vaccine as if this were a personal achievement he had every right to be proud of. It was time to talk up the incredible magic bullet vaccine that he hoped would obscure all of his unforgivable errors of judgement that have cost so many lives. While we have at least two excellent teams, one at Oxford the other at Imperial College, both working on this even a greatly expedited process will take months or possible more than a year to perfect. Once again the Tory team vault to the high tech solution while ignoring the basics of infection control wearing PPE, testing, tracking and tracing. Not that there shouldn’t be investment in a vaccine, but that we should not ignore the fundamentals.

Johnson announced that next week he would at last unveil a comprehensive plan to get the economy moving again, get children back to school, people back to work and safely using public transport while suppressing the disease and restart the economy he said “guided by the science.” He wanted to build maximum critical consent across all parties and across the whole of the UK. It was another “they must accept my dictates” rather than an open call for collaboration and consensus. There is still no transparency at all with no one even permitted to know exactly who is on the all important SAGE committee or whether Dominic Cunnings, with his lack of scientific knowledge and warped views, is exerting his menacing and mendacious influence.

There followed an incantation of the requirements for the UK to come out of lockdown: Protext the NHS; a sustained fall in death rate; infection rate falling; overcoming the logistical challenges and no risk of a second spike. Johnson talked of how we had come through peak, under the tunnel to sunny pastures, but we would not lift the restrictions to risk slamming into the mountain again; for one awful moment I was reminded of the delusional “sunny upland” promises of Brexit that future Tory horror show we have yet to fully endure the worst pain if until the December crash-out date. Another “Titanic Success” Boris has in store for the unsuspecting British public just as we might potentially be recovering from the badly managed disaster of Covid 19 under Tory dictatorship.

There was an impressive video that made it really easy for people of all levels of education, even quite young children, to fully understand the rate of infection. It was well illustrated for simplicity as we really do need young children to understand the situation we are facing and the new ways we should interact with one another. I liken it to a fire, spot a smouldering ember and smother the flames quickly, you will have the situation under control; let the fire take hold to become established and you are fighting a raging inferno.

Patrick Valance was then charged with explaining before presenting the day’s data slides. What he essentially said was that we were trying to get back to a point we should never have reached in the first place, if we had instituted proper quarantine controls at our entry points, tested, tracked and traced just as the WHO had advised. The UK started out testing, tracking and tracing, but then gave up and let the virus sweep the country, further exacerbating the problem with a large influx of untested Madrid football fans flooded into Liverpool and then there was the decision not to cancel the Cheltenham festival.

We should not forget that as a big fan of Dominic Cummings, Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Valance was one of the early advocates of highly unscientific non vaccine Herd Immunity. We still do not know if exposure to the virus bestows any lasting immunity, how this is quantified if the exposure is mild and the reaction minimal or how long such immunity might last. There were too many variables for any credible scientist to take such a huge gamble and accept such a potentially massive loss of life. That was where the experts the Tories were relying on to guide UK policy lost all credibility and it has been very difficult to take them seriously beyond that initial huge error of judgement. Herd Immunity is a noted phenomenon that comes into play when a high proportion of the population has been reliably immunized with a well tested vaccine.

Questions began with two from ordinary citizens the first of which was a woman concerned that people might flock to Cornwall to escape the lockdown bringing infection with them; it was a valid concern if the lifting of restrictions is piecemeal by area. There was a question about mental health support and Johnson set ito a pitch about all the support they had put in place. There was a pitch for help lines and Johnson said it was a goof reason not to ptolong the lockdown any longer than we needed to.

Kuennsberg said that people were struggling to make ends meet; strange how such a serious issue has never concerned this Tory hack over the past ten years of excruciating austerity! She asked, “are you saying the economy will have to wait?” She also asked about the R value being between .6 and .9 and said “where does the R value need to get to for us to lift the lockdown? These questions really play into Tory hands as they push the Government into doing exactly what they want to do, prioritize the economy over people’s lives, but they need to pretend that moving in this direction was due to public pressure so that when lifting the lockdown results in thousands more deaths they can claim it was not their fault.

We got Johnson rising to the opportunity for self-congratulation saying we had done so much better than other places around the world in total denial of our staggering death rate! This led into the classic Tory tactic of denying what you want to get what you want. The collateral damage of other medical conditions being neglected as described in “the hammer and the dance” article came up. This has only just made it onto the Tory radar, but they are now telling people it really is safe to go to Hospital for non Covid ailments, despite the fact that their testing of NHS staff is not nearly comprehensive enough. The R value must be lower than one but ideally we want the trend to go from doubling to halving the infection rate.

Peston asked something he should have known never to ask a Tory, he said “you made the reasonable point that we avoided 500,000 deaths, but by your own chart the deaths are possibly the worst in Europe… what lessons have you learned from that seemingly worrying outcome?” Tories do not learn lessons ever! He then fawned over Johnson referring to the unprecedented help going to small businesses and individuals, a record amount in peacetime, so he asked about the national debt, how great was the risk that you will feel compelled to cut public services and move us into a new era of austerity? We were told not to make comparisons until the end of this crisis when we can look back… what to reflect on the carnage after the Tories have completed their “Holocaust of Care;” we need to stop the genocide right now!

The trio all claimed it was not the right time to analyse their mistakes and make critical changes, but Tories never learn lessons. Johnson repeated “the right moves at the right time” mantra and went on to bring up mental health and suicides due to being confined at home, how it was best to have lockdown coincide with the peak, we’re now past the peak. “we’re learning lessons every day” Boris repeats twice hastily like a broken record, but without meaning, adding that he did think that they had done “the right things at the right time.”

Johnson said there was a worry over ICU beds and ventilators as we saw in some other countries. It was necessary to emphasize overseas failures to get the Tories off the hook. “This country came together, to enforce, to obey the social distancing rules and to save lives…” The public has learned to obey the dictator, he thinks the economy will bounce back strongly he says no more austerity, but he is delusional over the economy and he lies all the time. He passed to others in his shielding team for support and they stressed not making comparisons yet we had a long way to go. At the end of this we will look at all cause mortality adjusted for age in a post action review. The experts hailed our UK success with getting people into trials.

Talk radio raised the issue of a “cancer time bomb” due to delayed diagnosis and treatment. Professor Whitte addressed the concern over collateral damage identifying three other areas of impact, emergency situations, health and preventative measures, increasing impact of deprivation. They are phasing in cancer treatment in a way that it is safe to proceed. PM said emphatically “anyone who needs cancer treatment gets it” he does not seem to compute the delays of the last two months. He admitted that some people are scared to go for treatment, but they will get treated. The Times asked about the R rate between 6-9 what is manageable? What is the guidance for safer transport and getting back to work and the use of face masks?

The experts tell us that R is different in different places, but we are getting better data so we can now respond as a collective endeavour. We will soon be measuring R in random survey. What number for testing and tracing to be effective? Once you control the spread of Covid and self-isolate the need to track and trace is much lower level. Johnson says he thinks masks will be useful in giving people the confidence to go back to work. This sounds like a desire to give people a false sense of security so that the working poor get back to slave labour. The really important thing about masks is that people wear them properly and do not contaminate their face by half on half off handling of the mask. If worn and removed cautiously they can provide a degree of protection.

Johnson was a lucky idiot, others were less lucky, the NHS do their best to save lives but this is not focused enough on protecting the elderly, they just die. Bus Feed ask about why if the NHS is functioning under capacity why is the death rate so high in Care Homes? Johnson starts into massive Boris Shit and urges waiting till the end of the epidemic to look back at the excess mortality rate. Of course Johnson and the Tories would advocate that as they will have ample opportunity to cull the “economically inactive” elderly population with their “Holocaust in Care.” This is the Tories “Final Solution” for managing Social Care a mass extermination they can just blame on the Pandemic. If we want to end this carnage we need to stop the Tories by removing them from office. We absolutely can do that by investigating the Covert 2019 Rigged Election and correcting the fraudulent vote to restore justice and democracy.

[Paul Barbara]

@ Kim April 27, 2020 at 17:19
Thanks for the tutorial on Hyperlinks – I’ll try it, but I’ll have to build up my courage!

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Paul Barbara – Be bold and give it a try; I manage to use the features available here and I am not at all tech savvy.

On Friday Mat Hancock strutted up to the podium pleased as punch and ready to tout his great success at not just reaching, but surpassing his 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month goal he had audaciously set for himself. There have been so many attempts by the media to lower our expectations that I was already suspicious we were being played. The target was a red herring and we just chocked on a fish bone! The public were being set up for that “you didn’t think we could meet that ambitious goal, but we romped past it” moment. No, the reality was that we should have met this testing demand months ago, and we could have done, without Tory over-centralizing the effort and grossly mishandling the roll out. Now we were expected to congratulate Hancock as he announces 122,347 tests done in 24 hours; as my brother used to say: “What do you want, a medal or a chest to pin it on?”

Steve Powis, Medical Director of NHS England, joined Mat Hancock the other day as did Professor John Newton, who is responsible for coordinating the Government’s testing; both were in attendance to share the praise and adulation, but during questioning we were not so easily duped. During the question session, after Hugh Pym had finally quit fawning over Hancock and the Tory Government strategy, he asked if the phenomenal extra capacity would prioritize health and care workers; a redundant question that was just an excuse for “stroking.” Of course the Government was going to focus on care homes at last!

Sam Coates with Sky News asked a far more telling question, “were a number of these tests, kits that were merely sent out but not yet returned, were those too being counted in that impressive 122,000 total?” He wanted to hear a breakdown of the type of tests that were counted… Oops! Mat Hancock was really on the spot, quickly peeling off the numbers hoping no one would notice that the tests counted as soon as they were shipped out; he said they had always done it that way, “nothing to see here.” This is a new take on “my check is in the mail” “your test is in transit!” Just as he thought he had quashed that embarrassing fact a Channel 4 reporter again asked if the tests are counted once sent out, before asking about the increased infection rate in deprived areas of the UK?

Hancock said they were looking at all the evidence… it was like he wanted us to move on from detail on the test kits. A reporter from the Nursing Times reminded Hancock that all Nurses feel really stressed out right now and asked how to protect Nurses from burn out and what about their BME staff given increased risk among ethnic minorities. Mat Hancock tried to claim credit for all the Nurses who felt compelled to return to work out of duty despite retirement, sure they wanted to do their bit during the crisis, but I doubt they will want to continue working after the NHS is back to normal. These returning Nurses were part of the Government’s pledged 20,000 more Nurses; sadly, the risk of working with the chronic shortage of PPE is no way to stimulate their retention.

Germany seems to be experiencing supply problems too, but their Doctors have found an attention grabbing way to get their point across; Doctor’s pictured in the buff! This protest is so “tailor made” for the British sense of humour that it’s only a matter of time before the great NHS staff “take off” launches in a big way here. Expect to see revealing twitter posts from naked GPs, Naturist Nurses, Surgeons going well beyond Commando and coy Carers; this will be a major eye opener. So Mat Hancock, your NHS staff are looking rather “vulnerable” in their birthday suits, are you finally going to get the hint and provide the protective kit they need? The German protest was featured on the BBC yesterday morning; let’s hear it for the naked truth. This provided a few minutes of mirth in a time of very grim statistics like 739 dead in the last day and more shocking manipulations by this Tory Government.

The most recent Daily GasLamp post exposes a disquieting phenomenon with regards the engagement of our military, not to fight a foreign foe or to intervene militarily where they would be better not to get involved; this mission turns one branch of the British Army inward to target UK citizens! The GasLamp reveals how our Army “has been reorganised over the last 10 years as part of a plan called Army 2020 Refine. While generally shrinking the Army organisation, there is one area which is new and growing and that is 77th Brigade. This is the UK’s military PysOp group.” The post highlights how: “In April 2019, a Scottish Labour candidate faced questions over links to a ‘secretive military propaganda unit’ aka 77th Brigade. The implication being is that 77th Brigade was involved in operations to secure the union in the Scottish Referendum.” They note that this was a point made within Craig’s blog.

The GasLamp Linked to an interesting Newsweek Article from October 2019, where they say a Twitter executive was accused of working for 77th Brigade. Entitled: “Twitter Executive Revealed to Be ‘Psyops’ Soldier Linked to Spreading Disinformation Across Social Media” it is worth checking out. In the article Twitter had defended their stance by stating that: “Twitter is an open, neutral, and independent service.” A spokesperson for Twitter went on to tell Newsweek: “We do not allow our data services to be used for surveillance purposes or in any other manner inconsistent with people’s expectation of privacy. Employees who pursue external volunteer opportunities are encouraged to do so in line with company policy.”

The GasLanp comment that “Twitter is also deceiving us because it is not acting as transparently as it could. If they are working with army personnel in this way, it is extremely damaging to our democracy.” The article points to a quote by David Miller, a professor of political sociology in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol, whose study of propaganda and public relations efforts concerning the British government led him to believe that links between social media and 77th Brigade posed “a threat to our democracy.” The professor noted that we should be concerned that we know so little about the covert operations of this secretive branch of our UK military; “Are they just tracking accounts or are they trying to influence people’s views?”

While on a superficial level the Government will claim that they are trying to prevent radicalization and acts of terrorism, in reality this does not appear to tell the whole story. In the GasLamp Post there was mention of “documents leaked by Edward Snowden about the NSA and its JTRIG [Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group] program.” Few people in the UK now trust this Tory Government, especially following the strong suspicion of fraud associated with the Covert 2019 Rigged Election result. In the post it talks of deceiving people by creating troll farms and fake accounts that try to influence the way people think. This builds on copious information from previous GasLamp posts on PsyOps.

There is growing public concern over the malign influence of Boris Johnson’s Chief Adviser, Dominic Cummings, both before and during the stolen election as well as over the most recent discovery that Cummings is present, in an undisclosed capacity, at the SAGE meetings between top scientific advisors steering Government policy. Now we are informed through this GasLamp post, “that 77th Brigade has been working to counter disinformation in the CovId-19 lock-down.” But they cynically ask, “Is that the disinformation from the UK Government, Donald Trump or where? That bit is not so clear.” They post a video that they describe as “worth a watch” revealing that, “What we do now know is captured from a whistleblower and reported UK Column, Friday 24th April, 2020.”

Sadly PsyOps has embedded itself into our politics, but the involvement of our military on one side of the political divide indicates that we no longer have a functioning democracy in the UK. We cannot continue to ignore the wilful manipulation of our population by this rogue Government in the hope that there might be an opportunity to vote them out of office in five years time. Look at the catastrophic amount of damage done and the innocent lives lost in less than five months of their tyranny and you can envisage the dystopian nightmare that lies ahead for the UK under their rule as we careen towards the disaster of crash-out Brexit. There is still time to appeal to the EU before the end of the transition phase in December, but we must urgently prioritize a full investigation of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election result if we want to have any hope of rescuing our diminishing democracy; do not give up!

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Newsnight’s Kirsty Wark interviewed Dr. David Nott to examine a little considered perspective on the Covid 19 crisis: how it will impact refugees, those trapped in conflict zones and the impoverished Developing World in general. Dr. Nott is a massive personal hero of mine; I have been fortunate enough to hear him speak at the Royal Society of Medicine and to chat with him after his presentation. His contribution to trauma Surgery in some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones has been long sustained and truly remarkable. In the interview Nott was his usual pragmatic, thoroughly down-to-earth self as he spoke with great humility about how he had felt compelled to pitch in and retrain to join the front lines in intensive care; it was typical of his selfless dedication to the medical profession.

Dr. David Nott just published an article in the Lancet that was quite critical of the Government’s unfathomable delay in taking action. He pointed to a paper out of Hong Kong, published on the 30th of January, containing a telling quote from the author, Professor Woo, with a note of warning that: “Large cities overseas with close transport links to China could also become outbreak epicentres unless substantial public health interventions at both the population and personal levels are implemented immediately.” Nott emphasised that it had been published back on January 30th saying that he did not understand why, “from an epidemiological standpoint, why nobody picked up this and waved this red flag, because we had four weeks really of everybody just shrugging their shoulders and thinking it was all going to go away as if it was nothing to worry about.”

Dr. Nott stressed that he is very worried about refugee camps, areas of conflict and the situation in the Developing World. He said how, “in the UK we had the equipment, the ventilators, we had Nursing staff, we had Doctors and when you think about the results we had… this disease is so virulent, so dangerous and so pathogenic.” He referenced a study that showed, “it causes such high mortality that results recently from the Intensive Care Society have shown that 65% of patients, in the best hands possible, died and if you had another problem on top of that… then you had an 80% chance of dying on a ventilator.” He was obviously referring to those who become hospitalized not the total of those infected, however, Dr. Nott is not a raging alarmist and he does not just reel of shocking numbers like that lightly or without sound statistics from credible peer reviewed studies to back up his claims.

Dr. Nott elaborated on how we have another crisis looming. He said, “David Milliband, with the International Rescue Committee, has shown that if we don’t do anything, in the next few weeks 500 Million to one Billion people will become infected and of that 3 Million will possibly die, that is in the low income countries, hostile environments and so on.” Nott said that, “the big problem is that it is nothing to do with ventilator support in these countries it is all to do with nutrition. We really, really, have to ramp up public health support in all these countries, otherwise it’s too late.”

Kirsty Wark interjected, “you saw the failure of international cooperation in Syria, what you as a Surgeon are saying is that you have doubts about international cooperation here unless its led by someone specific, not a country, not a group, not a committee.” It was a valid point that Nott was eager to respond to, saying that: “the big problem how I see it is this, it is a big problem a global problem and we are all in our countries dealing with the problem on our own and making big mistakes.” I was quite shocked to hear him say “not our country, but other countries are making huge mistakes;” personally I think we have made some pretty catastrophic mistakes, but perhaps he was trying not to burn bridges.

Dr. Nott evoked crisis policy in the past saying, “when you look at the Ebola crisis and you look at what happened to the monetary system in 2008, it was led by global leaders and that was America, but now I don’t think we have got that global leadership anymore.” That’s a serious understatement! David Nott went on to say that, “what we really, really need is in a Global Pandemic Executive, that can go to every country of this world and say we have learned from this Pandemic, we have learned how to deal with it, we know what the problems are…” Kirsty piped up saying, “led by whom?” Nott replied without hesitation, “led by David Milliband, without a shadow of a doubt, you have got somebody who is a respectful statesman, a politician with an enormous track record and he needs to be in charge of it.” I would certainly trust the recommendation of an experienced disaster medic like Nott.

Kirsty Wark probed further asking Nott, “you say some of these refugees, in dire straits, will try and come here and that they will then re-infect the west and you paint a gloomy picture, but I wonder if there is anything that gives you a thread of hope in all this?” David Nott had to admit that, “no there isn’t, we really need to get our act together within the next few weeks.” As he described it, “what we have now is this time that is like February was for us this year, we have now got their February this time, so we’ve got four weeks to do as much preventative treatment, as much preventative care as we possibly can. We need to ramp up public health services get people in, water consultants, engineers; make sure that all these countries have proper hand washing, have facilities for social distancing because that is the only way that this virus is going to be contained.”

Kirsty Wark thanked Dr. David Nott. It was such a thoroughly respectful, non adversarial and informative interview that I was quite taken aback; it was a return to a forgotten era where the BBC honestly did their level best to inform the public as best they could and without political bias. I think that Kirsty Wark recognized that Dr. Nott had a very important message to deliver and she focused on helping him get that message across in the most effective way. It was a really impressive interview so I wanted to feature it here and remind people that, as dire as our situation might seem here in the UK, the challenge faced in the Developing World will be truly staggering. It was reassuring to see the BBC feature a few days ago on how South Africa has coped so far, it was a real testament to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decisive leadership that, from the same starting point and with much greater challenges, they have experienced a far lower death toll than we have here in the UK.

The issue of how Developing countries will cope with Covid 19 has been bothering me since the very beginning of the outbreak as my 2009 ten country tour of sub-Saharan Africa doing a “Needs Assessment of Anaesthesia Care” exposed me to just how severely deprived and overwhelmed their healthcare systems were under routine circumstances. Having worked as a Medical Volunteer myself in Surgery following disasters, including in the conflict zone of Aceh after the Boxing Day tsunami, I have great respect for Dr. Nott’s huge contribution as he has faced the toughest of challenges. He spoke at the RSM after returning from a dangerous mission to Syria, a country that he told us, was one of the few in the world to not be a signatory to the Geneva Convention. The International Rescue Committee funded one of my projects in Aceh and I know from dealing with them that it is a very professional organization; we would do well to follow Dr. Nott’s advice.

I now from my Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine training with the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries that there are internationally defined spaces assigned to each and every person housed in a refugee or IDP camp, but there is little scope for Social Distancing. It is hard to provide enough water supplies for drinking without the burden of greatly increased hand washing. Sheltering those displaced by our proxy wars, and feeding those forced into starvation due to our alignment with foreign despots, has remained a massive challenge for a very long time. Aid money has been weaponized to dominate resources and wealth at the expense of ordinary people who are swept aside as collateral damage in the carnage we leave behind. We have barely scratched the surface on alleviating global poverty and I doubt there is the political will to intervene now and fix major problems in a few short weeks.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link; Mario Cuomo, the Governor of New York State, has just recently learned to appreciate that reality. After years of the US clinging to their costly for-profit Healthcare system they are discovering the horrific ramification of not instituting the kind of universal access common in most industrialized democracies. The people the US has refused to treat, those who are denied access to healthcare, represent a fertile breeding ground for diseases that, in a highly mobalized society, are capable of sweeping the entire country in a matter of days. America is right on track to have the highest per capita death toll in the world, but shamefully we are not that far behind.

The untreated prevalence of Covid 19 in the Developing World increases the likelihood of mutation to an even more deadly strain that we absolutely cannot allow to incubate unimpeded. The Spanish Flu epidemic morphed into a more deadly disease that hit many countries with a second wave of infection and death; we cannot be certain that a vaccine will save us from a similar fate. Covid 19 will not cease to be “our problem” when it is eliminated here! We cannot simply detach the UK from the enormity of the far greater looming crisis overseas because we are just one international flight away from importing a new wave of infection. As Dr. Nott reminds us, this is such a virulent, highly infectious virus that we must treat the global population as one; if we fail to heed his advice we will be forever held hostage by its lingering presence in the poorer nations of the world.

I fear that this Tory Government seriously lacks the expansive humanitarian thinking to take a leadership role in driving this urgently needed international rescue agenda. This could all have been so very different without the grotesque injustice of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election. A progressive Government could have made a significant difference, not only domestically here in the UK following a decisive action approach, similar to South Africa, to save countless lives; we could be beyond the crisis and ready to demonstrate global leadership countering the toxic interventions of Donald Trump. If we fail to investigate and correct the injustice of the stolen election we are destined to continue on the current trajectory of disaster as Boris Johnson strips away every last vestige of democracy in the UK. There is still time to correct the damage and forge a recovery, so we must not give up the fight.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

Boris Johnson, our narcissistic, pampered “part-time Prime Minister,” brazenly begged for public sympathy in a Sunday tabloid press interview, probably hoping to detract from his shambolic handling of the Covid 19 crisis. Brave, “take it on the chin” Boris didn’t sound quite so bold as he wallowed in self-pity relaying his precautionary Hospital admission as if it was a terrifying near death experience. His melodramatic portrayal of requiring “litres and litres of oxygen” and facing his own mortality when “at one point the Doctors were close to putting a tube down his throat,” seriously over-egged his personal plight. He was parked in ICU in case he rapidly deteriorated, but no, he was never put on a ventilator. He might well have thought, “how am I going to get out of this,” but he had better understand, when the grim reaper comes for him, his lies and false promises are not going to cut it!

The Andrew Marr show offered an interesting line up including Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to explain how social distancing could be maintained on public transport as people went back to work. Sir Michael Palin would be sure to lighten our mood with his much needed humorous take on this wretched situation while Sir Ian Diamond, the Government’s Chief Statistician could be relied on to compact the deadly death toll into a barely acceptable, not quite fit for human consumption, but fully Tory compliant, fake reality. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO Technical Lead on Covid 19 would inform us of the latest well researched directives that the Tory Government will be certain to ignore. First Minister for Wales, Labour’s Mark Drakeford would be interviewed and the actor Eddie Marsan was invited to tell us about a TV lockdown drama with his wife manning the camera. The Guardian’s Editor in Chief Katherine Viner and the BBC’s Health Editor Hugh Pym would start with the Paper Review.

The most newsworthy issue of the Paper Review focused on a Sunday Telegraph article, “‘Crystal ball gazing’ over Covid-19 has left Nightingale hospitals empty.” Hugh Pym noted it revealed that, since opening, the Nightingale Hospital has only treated between 20 and 30 patients, while there was room for at least 500. Initially they had reported that it might need to expand to accommodate several thousand critical Covid 19 patients in ventilator equipped beds. This begged the question, was too much capacity created, but my enquiring mind delved even deeper: who made money on the hasty procurement of all that high-end equipment? “White elephant” squandering of time and resources occurred while the Tories ignored simple, far less costly, items like the vital PPE to protect NHS staff. The defence was that the modelling had predicted that a large number of the over 80s would need intensive care … but that was only if they were allowed to come to Hospital!

Sir Ian Diamond, the Government’s Chief Statistician, when asked by Marr how many deaths there have been, dutifully quoted the Tories latest deliberately deflated total of 28,131. He did say that the Office of National Statistics was seeing the highest number of excess deaths each week that have ever been recorded since records began at the ONS; 8-9000 test positive Covid deaths, but there were also indirect deaths. This was the shocking “Collateral Damage,” as was pointed out in “the Hammer and Dance” article, accounting for an increased death rate now and probably a continuing impact into the future. As warned before the NHS doesn’t necessarily need to be overwhelmed to cause deaths in other patient cohorts, people are fearful of coming to Hospitals. Diamond said that, higher fatality numbers will result from the changes in prioritization of treatment that will cause more deaths over next few years due to delayed cancer treatment, but also a lengthy and deep recession with a long period of unemployment will take a toll.

Marr speculated, “a total north of 30,000” and referenced the “excess deaths,” saying that “the Financial Times, Chris Giles has done an assessment and he says that about 60% above Hospital deaths is the kind of figure we should be looking at.” Without attacking Giles there was an attempt to downplay his alarming “prediction.” Diamond was quick to deny the possibility that the UK was heading for the highest death toll in Europe, insisting that making international comparisons is an unbelievably difficult thing to do. Ian Diamond then said something else in defence of our incompetent Government, claiming that we have, “the best reporting, the most transparent reporting and the most timely reporting… as fast as we possibly can…” I was Gobsmacked! Marr said, “does this mean we will never ever know?” I would say if this Tory Government stays in power, we will definitely never know the truth.

Andrew Marr welcomes Sir Michael Palin; who could fail to crack a smile at this iconic entertainer who admits he is enjoying the calm of lockdown. He says a friend had shared that “he got snow blindness looking at his diary!” Marr asked Palin about a book he was contributing to in order to raise funds for NHS charities. Palin said it was full of funny anecdotes and experiences while in Hospital. Michael Palin is also renown for his travel presentations but he admitted he would be travelling less and it would be very different with no air travel until a vaccine is found; he said we should learn to enjoy our own country, sure bigoted Brexit Britain! As a healthy guy over 70, how did he feel about restrictions targeting the over 70s? Asked Marr, Palin responded by saying that, “many in their 70s are active, thoughtful, with ideas… we have just got to be careful.”

Marr wanted to know what the Welsh First Minister, Labour’s Mark Drakeford would be doing differently in Wales as the country emerged from lockdown to go back to work. Drakeford insisted Wales would try to remain in lockstep with the rest of the UK, easing the restrictions at the same time and working to the same plan. His priority was to open work places safely. He said it would take three weeks lead time to organize reopening schools in June at the earliest. Marr asked how they will maintain the social distancing in schools, will they limit the number of children allowed to attend. Drakeford said they would make sure it was safe and reassure people by organizing in advance and prioritizing those most in need of returning to school.

Asked by Marr about Care Homes in Wales Drakeford said they were testing for Covid in Homes with only the non-symptomatic sent back to a Care Home, while testing everyone one leaving Hospital. Marr pointed out that 40% of their deaths were in Care Homes and it sounded like the BBC was becoming too eager to make this point as a problem specific to Wales. He then asked why Wales had abandoned their 5000 a day target for testing, but Drakeford was quick to counter by saying it was more important to target where tests were needed most rather than squander their limited resources. So, unlike the political point scoring of the Tories randomly chucking thousands of Covid 19 test kits in the mail before the deadline so that Mat Hancock could save face!

Marr asks WHO Technical Lead on Covid 19 Maria Van Kerkhove about the risk of a resurgence, a feared 2nd wave of infection in countries now easing lockdown restrictions? She says that in the Far East this has been mostly from returning expats. Marr asks about wearing face masks. She says the main priority is for Care workers to have the right masks. The real controversy here is that many NHS and Care sector workers are not being provided with the WHO recommended mask; sadly this point was not elaborated on. Van Kerkhove did stress that masks help to constrain virus transmission from asymptomatic infected individuals and if you felt the slightest bit unwell you should wear one or better still not go out. Masks alone cannot stop the spread. There is never a mention of wearing and handling masks properly to reduce self-contamination, another important point missed.

Marr asks if we should consider reopening schools first as children are less at risk of infection? Van Kerkhove says that adults can infect children and they can transmit the infection, but they are not so severely affected. Marr asks if those who have recovered can become re-infected? She says that some people test positive again several weeks after testing negative, but they are not really re-infected, it is just part of the normal healing process as the lungs slough off dead cells and the recovering Covid patient is no longer an infection risk to others. People do develop antibody protection, but we do not how long this protection will last.

Van Kerkhove said hundreds of trials are underway testing drugs and searching for a vaccine, but it must be made available to all countries. Marr asked for her reaction to Trump’s accusation that the virus escaped from a lab on Woohan; was Trump right to accuse the WHO of doing public relations for China? She dismissed the fake news outright and said Covid 19 came from an animal reservoir specifically from bats, but there might be an intermediate animal host so scientists were looking into this possibility. We need to do more research in this area to protect against future pathogens and we need to invest in public health globally she said.

Marr tells Grant Shapps, “the Government claims it has made the right divisions at the right time, we have not overwhelmed the NHS, we have all been obeying the rules on social distancing and the NHS has coped with this, so why do we have such a high death rate?” Oh no, I hear a familiar chant of “my heart goes out…” from Shapps as he defensively warns about making any international comparisons, before Marr even gets a chance to lob that contentious grenade. He brings up a recent opinion piece in the Guardian: “Coronavirus deaths: how does Britain compare with other countries?” The points made are all relevant, but it’s really annoying to hear Tory MPs blindly use it as a “fig leaf” to hide from the frequently repeated criticism. Author David Spiegelhalter says, “It’s tempting to try to construct a league table, but we’ll have to wait months, if not years, for the true picture.” But how many more will die while we wait?

Marr directs his attention to Care Homes, raising the issue of the elderly who were returned to Care Homes to relieve pressure on our Hospitals, but they were not tested before being sent back to infect others in their Care Home with Covid 19. The concern is that in a couple of weeks Care Homes will become the new epicentre for the virus. Ignoring any admission of past Tory mistakes, Shapps says they are testing everyone in Care Homes now. Shapps refuses to say that they should have done this at a much earlier stage, just boasting that they are ramping up testing… Marr voices the complaint of lack of PPE in Care Homes and how primary care GPs withdrew visits. Shapps said they used to purchase their own supplies privately before but now the Government was helping out and lack of PPE is a global problem, they are protesting in Germany over PPE; look elsewhere, “nothing to see here!”

Shapps tries to dominate the conversation with big numbers, gowns, millions… Marr interrupts, “before this started there were no gowns in the stockpile.” Shapps says this caught us off guard, we were prepared for flue. Marr says, “advise to the Government was to stockpile gowns, but you ignored that advice.” Shapps leans on “the science” a familiar Tory security blanket. Marr counters by saying that, “the scientific advisors told you, but you didn’t follow their advice.” The Tories are highly selective when it comes to “advice.” “Let’s be transparent,” Grant Shapps says, “learn lessons…” I was gobsmacked by this response; in reality transparency is the absolute antithesis of Tory policy and they never learn lessons, ever!

I was surprised that Marr failed to exploit the recent talking point over Mat Hancock claiming he had reached his 100,000 tests a day goal by including test that were sent out, but still in the mail; it was an easy political point missed, but with the testing numbers back down to 70,000 a day it was necessary for the BBC to cover for the Tories over their shallow PR stunt. Marr asked about not just testing, but the need for track and trace. Shapps says they will have 18,000 people trained to do the contact tracing as this training is not too complicated. The new App will start into live testing on the isle of Weight this week.

Marr asks, will we finally start checking people coming into the UK? Shapps says they will all be subject to the same restrictions as UK citizens to match our effort. Yes, but we all want to know why the UK did not establish quarantine restrictions that would have prevented the widespread outbreak here? “Other countries had stricter policies to protect their populations, why didn’t we?” Marr demanded. Shapps tried to minimize the significance of this massive Tory oversight and subsequent ignoring of continued risk that saw people strolling into Heathrow from global hotspots unrestricted just as the whole nation went into lockdown! He tried to insist that a strict quarantine might have delayed the inevitable for five days, but we had to consider our returning British nationals.

Marr brought up the need for social distancing on trains with only 12% capacity, running almost empty, as people returned to work. Shapps said the Government would expand the number of buses and trains running, but the Tories don’t exactly have a great “track record” on public transport, even after they demoted “failing Grailing.” Shapps said he hoped to see more people cycling to work; that will work well on the long commute into London from affordable housing well out of the city. He talked of staggering work times and said workers could go to their employer to get a bike on a new hire purchase incentive scheme to participate in what he called “active travel.” I am sure the underpaid slave labour pool will relish a new form of indebtedness…Not! Could people book a holiday asked Marr asked, he should have known the watch word was no travel at the moment.

Stress itself damages the immune system making us more susceptible to infection and disease. Oh… how very different this could all have been. With a progressive Government installed right before Christmas the entire country would have gone into the festive season celebrating the reality that our country could finally emerge from under the harsh boot of Tory oppression. I believe the new Government would have moved swiftly to rescue our NHS, restoring the strength of this crucial service to get us through what had become the winter crisis that now lasts year round. This relief package would have arrived just in time to significantly bolster the NHS, building on this with additional preparations for the pandemic without the two month delay that has cost us so many lives.

I have no doubt that a Corbyn Government would have heeded warnings from the WHO in good time and test, test,test, would have embraced offers from small labs all over the UK to crank up a powerful national effort launched at a far early date to halt the disease the second it hit our borders. With the trust and confidence of the people restrictions like the postponement of football games would have been accepted by citizens relieved at the prospect of ending ten torturous years of nationwide destitution and unnecessary deprivation of the poor that caused the UN to criticize this Tory Government. Due to the dire need to alleviate the extreme suffering of a decade of austerity the new Labour Government would already have launched numerous measures of much needed support that would be well on the way to becoming established before there was a real crisis to contend with.

Jeremy Corbyn would have had the people on side as he put the needs of the most needy and the vulnerable first and foremost in our national strategy. Instead of facing ridicule as the outlier supporting the warped eugenics program of “Herd Immunity” the UK would have put superfluous Brexit plans on hold and rebuilt Britain’s decimated overseas reputation for deplomacy by exhibited global leadership. We would have been bringing the Tory genocide to an end instead of manipulating a crisis to engineer round two with the “slaughter of the sheeple” and a preventable “Holocaust in Care.” If these considerations do not galvanize your thinking in support of demanding a full investigation of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election that extinguished such a vital ray of hope for our entire country, then just what will it take? How many more innocent people and dedicated NHS staff have to die before the British people realize the urgency of removing this Tory Government from office ASAP?

[SA]

David Nott may be a brilliant trauma surgeon but he is no hero of mine. He has been a strong advocate for ‘humanitarian intervention’ in Syria and worked directly and indirectly with factions allied to Al Qaida in Syria supported by the British government. It is of course great that such an eminent surgeon should be concerned about refugees and about treatment of victims in war zones, but a completely different thing to be a strong advocate for military intervention.
Here is what David Nott said in August 2016

The sticking point is whether Assad stays or goes. He has to go. The refugees who have left the country will not return unless he has gone. There is no alternative.
The British government has a new prime minister who is as steely as Sir John Major, who created a no-fly zone when the Kurds were being attacked by Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons. Theresa May must show some leadership. The first thing that must happen is to demand a no-fly zone for Syrian helicopters to stop them dropping their barrel bombs. The international community must get behind her and force this action.

Later on reports came in that the photo of Omran, the boy with the dusty face used by David Nott as a heart tugging plea, was faked by the White Helmets and that the family in fact supported the legitimate Syrian Government and not the fake democratic opposition David Nott was shilling for.

[Kim Sanders-Fisher]

The most recent Panorama report featuring progress on treatment and vaccines struck a positive note with: “Coronavirus, When will we be safe?” However, last week’s Panorama was a real shocker, convincing me that the situation in the NHS and Care Sector is far worse than any of us had imagined as Tory complicity in the scandal of blunders, cherished ignorance and neglect is laid out in grim detail in this Panorama special entitled: “Has the Government failed the NHS?” The warnings were clear, but despite plenty of time to take decisive action and fully prepare that opportunity was needlessly squandered, “leaving staff on the Covid ward frightened for their lives.” Information on the program content stated that; “Doctors and nurses have been warning for weeks that they don’t have enough protective kit to stay safe. So has the government let down the health workers leading the fight against the coronavirus? Reporter Richard Bilton investigates the delays and mistakes that may have put the lives of NHS staff at risk.”

A Professor John Ashton, an outspoken critic of the Government, stated emphatically that: “there was no excuse for not having adequate stockpiles to support the country when it faces a desperate crisis like this.” The presenter Richard Bilton began by stating that “the Government downgraded protection standards as the virus swept the country” The program started with the personal story of a thirty year tenure NHS A&E Nurse called Felix, who was now fighting for his life on a ventilator. Felix had felt unsafe due to the lack of PPE available to staff on shift, now four weeks in, he was highly likely to die. The program featured interviews with a number of intimidated NHS staff who felt compelled to come forward and expose the disgraceful truth. The Tory Government’s wilful abandonment of the NHS lies in stark contrast to their public displays of support for staff cheered on, clapped and showered with accolades for their heroic efforts, but abandoned in their hour of need to become infected and die.

The Government claims that a billion items of PPE have been delivered, which sounds impressive until you are informed of the reality behind that large number. Bilton discovered that the PPE kit that was counted included a lot of items that would not be a part of the vital protective clothing, things like cleaning equipment, waste bags, detergent and paper towels were lumped into the mix. In an obscure perversion of the accounting, although he said “more than half of the items are surgical gloves, where each individual glove is counted rather than pairs.” The second biggest item is the plastic apron that offer such limited protection that yesterday I remarked that the army test team might as well have been sent into the fray wearing a “pink ballet tutu!”

In his examination of the number of PPE items sent to each Hospital trust he uncovered the paltry numbers, “the Government delivered 360 gowns across the whole mid and south Essex Trust where Felix had worked – spread out across all the Hospitals that was pitiful. Bilton declared that: “The World Health Organization says those working with Covid 19 patients should wear a gown, gloves, face mask, and eye protection.” The focus of the film crew shifted to display a diverse array of homebuilt and donated equipment coming from the concerned community. What was needed were tight-fitting goggles, but local people had dropped things off and they were grateful. There are some interesting images posted online of NHS staff wearing homemade kit from bin bags to swimming goggles. Frontline Doctors speak out, worried about the kit that is running out as the virus can kill.

Bilton reminds us that: “a Pandemic is not an unexpected event for almost a decade it has been identified as the greatest threat to Britain.” Governments have been preparing for years; there was a brief public infomercial showing plans based on a severe flu outbreak. Like flu Covid is a potentially deadly disease with higher hospitalization rates very similar for both diseases. To be ready you need to stockpile; once it hits every country with the disease is clamouring for the same kit. A 2009 list of what is needed included a gown, the best type of face mask, and eye protection. The film crew cut to a warehouse in Derbyshire informing us that: “the Government says that having a stockpile is a very high standard but there is a problem with what has been bought.”

Bilton, the presenter, goes on to highlight what was not purchased for stockpiling as they: “didn’t buy any Hospital gowns at all!” Panorama discovered that: “just last year the Government’s own advisors warned that gowns were needed in the stockpile, but still none were bought.” The focus returned to the comments of Professor John Ashton who said, “there was no excuse, we need everything to protect against this kind of virus, its breathtaking that there were no gowns at all in stock, breathtaking!”

Panorama discovered: “it was not just gowns taken off the shopping list there the Government also failed to buy other essential items that would be needed in a Pandemic. They didn’t buy any visors at all; there were no swabs either which makes testing for the virus more difficult and the Government didn’t buy a single body bag despite the fact that they were supposed to be preparing for a Pandemic!” Panorama then uncovered that millions of respirator masks have gone missing. Although there were 33 million of these masks listed on the original stockpile only 12 million were handed out and according to their inquiries “the Government refuses to explain where the missing kit went.” The Government says swabs and body bags were not recommended and surgical gowns will be included for future stockpile.

The deadly consequence of this shortfall was the the Government were sending in staff not equipped to stay safe. All was not lost, Bilton described the ongoing disaster: “despite years of not getting the stockpile right when Covid appeared we still had time. At the start of Febuary the European Centre for Disease Control issued a warning: they advised us how much we needed to buy. The document says we need respirator masks, eye protection, gowns and gloves for the most serious cases; 20 sets of PPE per patient per day!” Agoristsa Baka, from the European Centre fo Disease Prevention and Control stated that: “February when we started seeing the big outbreaks in Europe, so actually February was our month to prepare. These four weeks were crucial.” Bilton asked: “What would be the implications if you did not take advantage of that 4 weeks of planning.” Baka said: “there would be devastating”

Panorama stressed that; “the Government has been accused of failing to act quickly enough, here’s the kind of opportunity we missed.” The film crew visited a factory in Bolton that makes the protective fabric needed to make specialist PPE gowns and masks, but they weren’t approached by the Government in February and in March the Company offered their services. They spoke with Thomas Hunt, Managing Director at TLX who said: “I’ve personally written to the Government, written to PMs and also written to Public Health England, at this stage we haven’t really had a response.”

Panorama filmed ten days after the company offered to help the UK, but they still hadn’t heard back. Hunt pointed to his machines saying: “this order is for the United States. Currently that line is running for about five to six days a week and the capacity 80-90% is being bought by America; essentially Trump is buying this UK capacity! Obviously we want to support the NHS if possible, but that’s where this material goes.” Bilton concluded that: “the factory is finally now providing material for the NHS through a private supplier, but in the missing weeks it could have provided enough material for almost 300,000 gowns. The Government has delivered just over 1.3 million gowns during the entire Covid crisis, but the NHS needs hundreds of thousands of gowns a day and the Government is not getting close to that.”

According to what had been discovered by the Panorama team so far: “the Government failed to appreciate the enormity of what was coming our way at the end of January, they failed to get a grip, they took advice from too narrow a range of people and when things continued to escalate out of control they started to spin the story to make out that actually they had been following the science and everything that they did made perfect sense.” I think it’s disgraceful Bilton interjected, “the Government says its had 9000 offers of assistance which are being prioritized for larger companies. It says there are shortages of PPE across the world and it is doing everything to increase our stock levels. It delivered 183,000 gowns last Friday.” According to one healthcare worker this was unprecedented but not unexpected.

But wait there’s more… Panorama say: “it looks like we did not stockpile the right kit and we didn’t react quickly enough so NHS workers were let down.” Amid pictures of clapping and cheering the presenter continues: “We are now a nation in lockdown our health service is at the heart of the nations fight against the disease. This public demon of support means a lot to those who work in the NHS, but some of them are worried that this outpouring of emotion helps the Government gloss over the shortages that are on some of the wards.” As one Intensive Care Nurse said to us, “calling us heroes just makes it OK when we die!” The Panorama team noted that: “many frontline staff are angry with the government, some say there’s a gap between what they hear is coming and what they see on the wards.”

They report a huge mismatch; an A&E Doctor reports on what remained when he got to work: “just four gowns left…it was pathetic.” We are told that: “when there’s a shortage of gowns the staff use plastic aprons. The Government says short sleeves are better for hand hygiene and that long-sleeved gowns can carry their own infection risk.” The A&E Doctor opens up a flimsy plastic apron, describing it as something you might expect the dinner lady to wear; he dons it and declares that it does nothing. According to the Panorama team: “the Government has denied the shortage of PPE and declares that they have brought in a whole new distribution network and bought in the army to sort it out.”

Bilton said they had “spoken to a number of heads of procurement at NHS trusts.” No one wanted to be identified but the supply chain still isn’t working. They had said that: “there is a complete lack of transparency from the Government, they are creating panic as we don’t know if they can supply us. We are scrambling to get it elsewhere. We have been told not to talk about the shortages outside of meetings and calls they don’t want people to know how bad it is. The sup chain is erratic unpredictable and incompetent we might ask for 10,000 gowns and be sent 5,000 aprons. Were the ones getting a call in the middle of the nights because staff are desperate. Were the ones getting out of bed to find gowns and masks.”

Panorama reminded us that: It’s not just Hospitals, GPs also need PPE. Although the massive deficiencies in the paltry amount of PPE available to Care workers was not the focus of the Panorama special we know that this is probably the worst affected area of Healthcare. The WHO says everyone dealing with Covid patients should have the full kit. A Doctor featured by the Panorama team said supplies were very limited they had bought their own PPE for the Surgery on Merseyside in a Covid hotspot, was this “hotspot” status a result of the Madrid football fans who attended a game that the Government should have cancelled? The Tory Government says GP Surgeries only need a plastic apron and a basic surgical mask, but Doctors don’t believe that. People in healthcare losing their lives and being put at risk keeps the Doctor awake at night; he said he, “wouldn’t work without PPE treating Covid patients and I will not ask that of his staff either.”

Panorama investigated the Government guidance telling people what PPE they should wear. It seems the rules have changed due to the shortages. They said: “in January the Gov designated Covid 19 what is called a High Consequence Infection Disease the Health and Safety Executive had already investigated what PPE was needed when tackling a High Consequence Infection Disease it concluded all staff should wear a respirator face mask, full face visor and a gown; gloves are not listed as they are standard in all cases. The Government has a legal obligation to make sure that NHS staff have the right kit. But six weeks ago the Government downgraded Covid 19 the most consequential disease of the last 100 years was taken off the list of High Consequence Infection Diseases.”

These are the recommended PPE components: apron, alcohol hand rub, gloves. Panorama noted that: “at the same time the virus was downgraded, the Government weakened the guidelines on PPE health workers were now told they were safe to wear the less protective aprons and surgical masks in all but the most dangerous situations.” They speculate that: “this must have been done because they realized they weren’t going to have enough equipment and they needed somehow to have a story that stacked up with actually being caught out on supplies.” They say: “Should Covid 19 be on that list? Covid 19 is the biggest infectious disease to hit this country in the last 100 years. Why on earth shouldn’t it be in the most serious category of classification?”

Panorama report that: “the official reason for the downgrading was that there was now a lab test for the virus and Covid 19’s mortality rate was low overall. The Government told us that scientific evidence evolves and plans are adapted accordingly. Removing the disease from the list was backed by a scientific committee,” but sources on that committee told Panorama that it had to be in part a pragmatic decision based on the availability of PPE. That is certainly the view of some on the ward. Guidelines are not about keeping them safe but making do with the shortage of PPE. PPE needs to be rationed now.

There were a number of heart-rending comments from staff who fear they or one of their colleagues will die due to this lack of PPE. The Government says it has: “taken the right steps at the right time” and “has been guided at all times by the best scientific advice…it has been working day and night to battle against coronavirus and to protect our NHS and save lives.” But, Panorama emphasize that: “as it stands in A&E and Covid wards have been issued protective kit that is not as good as what the WHO recommends.”

Reporting on the progress of stricken A&E Nurse they had featured at the beginning of the program they said: “Felix is still fighting for his life.” Panorama ended with a montage of NHS and Care staff who had died of Covid 19 as Bilton noted that: “so many NHS staff have already died while trying to protect us from the disease. Covid 19 will be with us for months; how many lives will be lost because of the scandalous shortage of PPE?”

We cannot allow the growing number of positive initiatives from the scientific community, scrambling to find treatment alternatives and produce a vaccine, to paper over the cracks that are developing into yawning chasms of logistical deficiency with regard to PPE supplies. The Government is now trying ban NHS Trusts from making any attempt to source PPE separately despite their unacceptable failures and lack or reliability so far. The plan will channel all purchasing through Tory preferred private providers who secured approval in uncontested bidding processes that favoured all the usual powerful Corporations already notorious for sopping up Government contracts in the advancing privatization of our NHS. Covid 19 is being manipulated to create a bonanza for the wealthy and a power consolidation for the Tory elite.

While the rapid creation of the impressive Nightingale Hospitals, full of costly high-end equipment, provided a massive money making opportunity for the Tory’s Corporate donors, Covid 19 deaths among NHS and Care staff have now surpassed 200, due in part to lack of PPE. These lower cost basic supplies were not seen as worthy of investment on behalf of the “expendable cannon fodder” frontline workers. Weeks after opening with a potential capacity for 4000 patients the Nightingale is transferring its last 20 patients in order to close, but sadly NHS staff are still not adequately protected caring for the sick and dying. Profits will continue to be prioritized over people under warped, rudderless Tory leadership. We must fully investigate the Covert 2019 Rigged Election that gifted the Tories their fake “landslide victory;” this is our only chance we still have to end the corruption and the carnage by removing them from office.

[Author]

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