Analysis comment

Johnson and Starmer in lock-step against lockdown recommended by SAGE – and delay has led to more deaths

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35 Comments on Johnson and Starmer in lock-step against lockdown recommended by SAGE – and delay has led to more deaths

1,000 people have died and 150,000 infected since SAGE called for 2-week lockdown

Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer remain in lockstep in their opposition to a new nationwide lockdown – 21 days after the government’s ‘SAGE’ scientists said that a two-week lockdown across the country was needed to break the back of the ‘second wave’ of the coronavirus pandemic.

In those 21 days:

  • 150,000 people have been infected by the virus
  • 9,000 have been hospitalised
  • 1,000 people have died
  • scientists are now warning that we are a month away from levels of hospital admissions and potentially deaths greater than those seen at the height of the first wave

The guilt for those consequences is on the heads of both men.

Johnson’s discriminatory partial lockdowns will not suppress the second wave, as even many of his own scientists agree – even his deputy chief medical officer declined to say they would when asked on Monday evening. At the same time, the government’s inadequate support for those hit by regional measures intensify the discrimination and ruin lives.

But neither leader of the UK’s main parties are willing to grasp the nettle and do what needs to be done – a full lockdown and full support for workers, businesses and the vulnerable across the nation.

In his virtual conference speech, Starmer made clear that he is opposed to a new lockdown – calling for a ‘national effort’ to avoid one:

The Tories have failed abysmally to protect the people and economy of this country. Tragically, Labour’s centrist front bench is doing far worse than enable Johnson’s damage.

It is swinging wildly, between deserting the field by abstaining on key votes while failing to call Johnson’s guilt what it is and actively driving Johnson hard toward the wrong course of action, as with Starmer’s appalling ‘no ifs no buts’ call on the schools return that has driven the second wave and is being stubbornly ignored by both party leaders.

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35 comments

  1. Great Barrington, the Mises Institute- these people are fascists.
    They believe that the sacrifice of a couple of million proletarian and peasant lives is a small price to pay for maintaining the capitalist system, without raising taxes or borrowing to expand the health system to deal with pandemics. And the fact that those most likely to die are the malnourished, the elderly and the weak makes these social darwinists wish that we had pandemics all the time.
    When people talk about ‘herd immunity’ it is fairly obvious that they regard the people as a mere flock of animals to be milked and butchered as convenient.

    Reply

    1. The multi billionaire US funders (like Koch) who support the most extreme ‘Libertarian’ Far Right laisse faire economics-promoting network of pro neoliberalism propagandisers like the ‘Mises Institute’ who dredged up the crap science-based ‘Great Barrington Declaration’, aren’t fascists, bevin , and their politics definitely aren’t fascist. Fascism has a very different ideological basis . Toxic and mad too of course , but very different to the mainstream laisse faire globalism behind the Mises Institute’s nonsense ‘Great Barrington Declaration’. https://bylinetimes.com/2020/10/09/climate-science-denial-network-behind-great-barrington-declaration/

      The Mises Institute , and the wider huge worldwide plethora of similar bogus ‘institutes, pressure groups, and lobbyists ( like the UK- based Institute of Economic Affairs for instance), are just another toxic part of the billionaire classes’ domination of the ideological space of most states for 30 years now with their pernicious doctrines of ‘small government’, very low taxation of the rich and corporations, privatising of all state functions, denying the ecological damage of capitalism, and the promotion of deregulated unfettered globalisation generally.

      On thecovid19 issue , these ultra neoliberals think everything must be left to ‘the market’ (a market rigged entirely in their multi-billionaire class’s favour of course – given that only a few hundreds of them own more of the planets wealth than half of the world’s poorest citizens collectively). And so a rampant pandemic just has to be , at best, an opportunity for the diversion of lots of state cash to the private sector – to fuck up the fight against covid19 , as in the UK, or , as per the Great Barrigton bollocks, just left to run free to kill the unfit and old – the ‘Social Darwinism’ so popular in the 1930’s too. With the ‘unfit’ and old (poor) removed, capitalism they think, will continue fitter and better once covid19 supposedly simply fades away as ‘herd immunity ‘ is achieved . So after the pandemic they think their version of capitalism will then continue, less burdened, and fitter, with the huge national debts built up an opportunity to complete the sell-off of all remaining state assets, everywhere.

      That Terry Alderman actually supports the laughable ‘Great Barrington Declaration’ reveals him as either a gullible, scientifically ignorant fool, or simply a neoliberal shill – or both – alongside lundiel, Doug, RH, Jack T, timfrom, et al. .

      Reply

  2. What a bloody mess ,cooked up by a bunch of parasites and neo liberal tripartite fanatics pretending to run a country Totally sick of the waste of lives and the damage to the economy by this so called government and Opposition.Do posters not read what long term damage to the country that the establishment are doing .Whilst billions are being thrown away and the Chumocracy of the public schoolboys tramples freedom and civil liberties.Wake up the Barbarians are upon and amongst you..!

    Reply

  3. Woke up this morning to BBC online news pannicking now about the handling of Lockdown.Even the establishment broadcasters are casting doubt on the government and the compliant Opposition now their lives and their families lives are at risk from a fanatical government…Do not risk lives by being a little helper of the establishment.and think before comparing this virus with a bad dose of flu.I have had the virus and realise that its not flu and its becoming increasingly more dangerous especially for the elderly and vulnerable.

    Reply

  4. That’s extremely unfair to stammer, Skwawky…He, after all, only tried to give the government the benefit of the doubt in his letter giving de piffle his full support

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  6. OF COURSE Sir Keir Rodney and Boris are “as one” on this. The trilateral billionaires don’t buy politicians and then allow them to disobey them.

    Schools are holding pens and MUST be open and lockdowns harm the economy. It’s not rocket science (or virology)!

    Reply

    1. Querboi…I guess you are a fan of fools and horses and its very appropriate that “Rodney the knight is leading the limp back Opposition.The only problem being the laughs on the people and the membership of the Labour party.I see even Angela Rayner has had enough of the softly..softly approach and yesterday described the Government as incompetent and incapable..IT must be extremely frustrating for Rodney not to be recognised as a real leader,just a plant for the establishment.and even they must be worried that they might have wasted their money and assets in securing his misfit chums and Rodney.the knight..

      Reply

      1. Hehe, yes! Even if it wasn’t the original plan, his inept leadership ineffectiveness now means he’s only good enough to be a placeholder until the billionaires can helicopter David Miliband in.

        Sounds too crazy to be true, I know, but Armando Iannucci thought the same about them first time round, then wrote “The Thick of It” anyway.

      2. “Sounds too crazy to be true” – No qwertboi, does not sound crazy to me. The Right are ruthless. They have no adolescent fantasies of “bringing the world together”, bringing the country together… even bringing a “party together”. NB they happily withdrew the whip from Tory Grandees!!! After that, which party was more “together”??? And which Party has won most elections??? … despite tiny membership numbers, embarrassing Social Media nous and being vision free??? Same across the pond. We MUST learn and DEVELOP or whats the point❓❓❓ 🌹🌹🌹

  7. That’s not quite the quote @helsbells

    Whitty urged the public to abide by the new system of restrictions, adding: “The central thing about this is, these only work IF people buy into them.”

    Happy to help 🙂

    Reply

  8. Not ‘Lockdown’ just partial closure that drags on & on………..until?

    Reply

  9. One death is a tragedy; 60,000 a statistic. They are literally just numbers on a spreadsheet to our “leaders”.

    Reply

    1. Yes, herd immunity would cost the billionaire-backers (most notably bill gates and. George Soros)billions $$, and that’s ‘immoral’ to people like him.

      ( try typing ‘soros’on an iPhone and the built-in spellchecker turns into ‘siri’s’. Detestable!). I LOVE OSX, but DETEST Apple inc.)

      Reply

  11. “Leadership” Wet rag Tory Keith Starmer style – Starmer has instructed MPs to ABSTAIN re tonight’s Dominic Cummings’ Covid-19 concoction.

    Not a surprise to us on Skwawkbox.org but these things must be pointed out for the record. DITHERING Sir Starmer, is afraid to upset his masters so must keep instep with their orders. Blue Tory MPs are ready to defeat Johnson tonight. They are willing to disobey orders and help sink Blo John. But Max Headroom whips PLP to abstain. Because as everyone except a handful here could see plainly? Starmer was always bad news, is bad news and ALWAYS will be bad news. Someone, please tell McCluskey, McDonald et al Max Headroom Sir Starmer is a Tory tosspot‼️‼️‼️

    Reply

  12. BREAKING NEWS LIVE PRESS CONFERENCE

    Keir is calling for ‘short circuit’ lockdown’ LOCKDOWN

    Reply

      2. Nah, you was (almost) right first time.

        Just that I could’ve been forgiven for thinking you was on about stammer’s renouncement of the working classes he claims to represent.

      3. Toffee – Thanks for your critic. On reflection you are right, I could have got away with leaving it as Starmer’s renouncement [of Boris’s ‘strategy’].

  13. The gift that keeps on giving, as far as the Tories are concerned. Sir Forensic is in lockstep with spaffy Johnson. He doesn’t think or for that matter care about us ordinary folk Even the Starmerbots are twitching at Sir Forensic’s political manoeuvring. Boosted no doubt by fulsome support of Neil Coyle who’s taken up the mantle left by Chris Leslie as the numpty brain of the PLP.

    https://labourlist.org/2020/10/exclusive-starmer-says-labour-should-not-vote-down-spycops-bill-even-if-unamended/

    Reply

      1. You’re doing a lot of Kier…

        But I s’pose it’s the equivalent of ‘boris’ for your lot, is it?

      2. Toffee – You may recall that I often refereed to Jeremy in the same way.

      3. No I don’t, actually.

        And certainly you didn’t refer to Corbyn as ‘Jeremy’ in consecutive posts like you have here.

        Honestly, take a step back and look at those posts…urgh!

      4. Toffee – In future I’ll try and remember your sensibilities and vary how I refer to individuals in consecutive posts. I do usually make a conscious effort to vary names within a post.

      5. Yeah, and while you’re at it, try getting a little less over-excited about Kier simply because he’s about-turned from giving de piffle his full support (And will probably revert to writing ‘private and confidential’ letters of support that he’ll make only too public if the rags finally get some minor detail right that stammer might mention in said letters).

  14. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/sage-advice-boris-johnson-ignored-22839399
    Bombshell documents show Boris Johnson’s own advisors urged him to go much further with a short, sharp lockdown.

    SAGE shortlisted five measures including a two-week ‘circuit break’ lockdown and the closure of pubs, cafes and bars to halt spiralling rates of virus.

    But the PM only implemented one of the five measures after the SAGE meeting on September 21, after weighing them up against the hit to the economy.

    Reply

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