Tory delays and obstinacy are really to blame, as usual
Boris Johnson and his mouthpieces repeatedly blamed the new variant of the virus last week for the massive numbers of cases and deaths the UK has suffered in the latest wave of the pandemic – with the UK’s ‘mainstream’ media, of course, repeating and amplifying the claims with almost no scrutiny.
According to Johnson – and the media – the virus is not only ‘70% more transmissible’ but also ‘30% more deadly’ – and these factors are the issue. Unspoken, but written large between the lines, is the real point of these claims: ‘It wasn’t the government’s fault. Honest, guv’.
But the ‘UK variant’ of the coronavirus has been in Italy for 47 days now – since early December. Take a look at Italy’s daily case numbers:
Some spikes, but a clear downward trend during those 47 days. And as you’d expect, the reducing infection numbers, with the usual lag, also mean fewer deaths:
Unlike the Tories, the Italian government moved early in the latest wave to close schools. In the UK – where for weeks at the start of the pandemic the media showed non-stop horror footage of a situation in Italy that was far less severe than the UK is now seeing. And despite the fact that schools are known to be a key driver of transmission, the Tories are now wavering under pressure from right-wing lobby groups to throw open school gates to all pupils.
And the UK media continues to help Johnson and his drones to avoid the blame for thousands of needless deaths – the equivalent of around three jumbo jets crashing in the UK each day. It should sit like an anvil on their shoulders.
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These deaths will tragically continue. Billions will continue to be splashed around to Tory chums BECAUSE SIR Keith Starmer, Thatcher’s creation the slippery warmonger creature Blair, Peter Mandelson & Co “worked night and day” and OPENLY endorsed Johnson and the Tories to steal the GE. The blood of over 100,000 Covid-19 fatalities to date is on their heads. Further, the stress and distress of ALL frontline workers and bereaved is incalculable. Starmer brought that about with his gross dishonesty. Starmer is as GUILTY as Johnson for this Covid-19 tragedy🔴🔴🔴
I will never forget the vile self-serving treachery and disgusting deceit of K Starmer & Co. No one should. Starmer is unfit for ANY public office. The overwhelming evidence of that is clear for all. It should be crystal clear even to those reluctant to face facts ie – Starmer’s lot are pursuing their aims which are NOT ours. Their aims were never ours, nor should they ever be🔴🔴🔴
You are certainly right about the Tory chums.Billions have been siphoned off by The belize tax exile and former chairman of the tory party Micheal Ashcroft of former Lord Ashcroft ex.Just google Blue Arrow debacle,corporate services,Impellem group and the Medacs healthcare to get a understanding of how big business and Tory chums and corruption merge.I forgot another group linked to Ashcroft the Carlisle group owner of corporate services when the SFO managed to jail one minor accountant for the cooking of the books and manipulation of the share value.Obviously the real villians were untouchable as one of their directors said to me “let some looser sign the checks and youve got a ready made Fall guy who has been overpaid for the privalage.Total contempt and thats the people that control our lives.But luckily not mine anymore.buried in nowhere land and loving it.Solidarity Wind chimes
The Tory government and their compliant media are engaged in business as usual. Lest we forget, needless deaths were a feature of the old abnormal … and I would expect them to proceed if not intensify as we gear up for the new. The anvil will rest upon them so easily.
I wonder what Eton and other parasites schools are doing?..I genuinely don’t know..Because if they are going back then you can only assume that this government really are totally incompetent and not just a bunch of psychopaths hell bent on doing away with the oldies and vunerable working-class.I know nothing about a new variant and I am sure that this alleged government will use it to shift the blame…probably onto the NHS.
I seem to remember Eton not taking any chances on previous occasions. Got to batten down the hatches to protect the health of future rulers & administrators.
It must be a really devious mutation because it can’t be anything to do with anything Boris & his his chums have done or not done.
There will be lots of nasty mutations in the future with each one probably coinciding with Boris being late with a decision, as usual, & deaths rising as a result.
Until we stop hoping for crumbs from the likes of Starmer, the system will remain as is🔴🔴🔴
Devious = Neoliberal = SARS-COV-2 🇬🇧🇺🇲🇩🇪
Should we take some crumbs of comfort in the fact that the World Health Organisation has just issued advice detailing a worldwide amendment to the RT-PCR Test “cycle rate”? Although this correction was called for by scientists and medical experts as early as Spring 2020, we should now start to see a welcome reduction in false positives and an attendant drop in cases. But don’t be too surprised if the dishonest UK legacy media suddenly attribute the drop in cases to the roll-out of the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine. A practised cynic would probably claim that these two disparate matters with no common genus are not at all coincidental.
I don’t know if you read comments here regularly, but I was making this point in mid-December and posted a link to this article, which I shall do again for good measure. Note the “shockingly cynical conclusion” bit.
https://off-guardian.org/2020/12/18/who-finally-admits-pcr-tests-create-false-positives/
A friend called Johnson a “mutated new variant” and a “sexual super-spreader”, but I considered it would be heartless and irresponsible of me to pass this information on.
There were 3 different/distinct waves of illness during the pandemic, starting in March 1918 and subsiding by summer of 1919. The pandemic peaked in the U.S. during the second wave, in the fall of 1918. This highly fatal second wave was responsible for most of the U.S. deaths attributed to the pandemic ( SAGE knew this)
.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/three-waves.htm
The second wave of the flu virus showed how viruses that are novel develop without a vaccine in a population..
Viruses are viruses they all have R and K numbers and behave in the same way.
(Wirral IIT well put. )The new variant was a god-send to Johnson & Co. I don’t doubt they heaved a collective sigh of relief. The huge rise in infections and deaths that was already inevitable after their failure to act sooner and the Christmas easing in the danger zone of deep winter, could now be conveniently ascribed to the nasty old virus having pulled a fast one. I haven’t seen a single word said about this in the media, except in Marina Hyde’s Guardian column. The lack of outrage in the media is astounding, blithely recounting the numbers every day . . . ‘Oh, 1800 people died today: horrid virus!’ Never anything to do with the abject failure of government. Hardly any mention of the fact that this country is the worst hit country IN THE WORLD. It beggars belief. Boris (murdering cunt) Johnson and his Tory posh boys are teflon, non-stick, get away with murder (literally). (Alright, I’ll be kind, mass manslaughter). Something is dreadfully wrong with this country now. Perhaps the water has been tampered with. I despair.
Let’s not forget, the week or so before Christmas, several councils in the worst effected areas wanted to close the schools early for Xmas to curb thexspread of the virus. The government threatened legal action. How many lives did that cost? This report from 15th Decmber –
‘Headteachers have reacted with anger after the government ratcheted up pressure on schools to remain fully open in the run-up to Christmas, threatening legal action against a London council after forcing two others to back down.
On Tuesday evening, Islington became the latest to retreat after a letter was sent by the government. It told the Labour-led authority it should reconsider its decision to advise schools to move to remote learning or it would risk the legal consequences’
Yes Carlene. it’s culpable homicide. And they always trot out (and it’s hardly ever challenged) that they are responding to ‘unpredictable’ events. Even though everyone else, scientists, medics, you me, my grandma, my 15 year old daughter, seem to be able to predict them very accurately and do so. It really is incompetence on a scale never ever seen before. The only person who’s quite possibly pleased about it is probably Chris Grayling, who suddenly seems pretty on it and able by comparison. But it couldn’t go on, the government would have been brought down long since was it not for the complicit Tory-hugging media. I so look forward to an independent Scotland.
The only effective way to deal with a threat of legal action is to say Ok lets go to court and crowd fund the action if necessary. Ducking out of a legal challenge does nobody any good – in fact it encourages this useless government to continue on its callous way with that jolly good fellow Boris Johnson in charge.
His incompetence has resulted in 100,000 deaths, massive unemployment and the collapse of businesses from the local hairdresser to High St giants. I hope the next council threatened with legal action does not fold but allows this whole issue to be put under public scrutiny in a court of law. However I doubt if in those circumstances Johnson would follow through on his threat – he has too much to lose.
How many lives did that threat cost?
And when the vulnerable start dying waiting for the second dose
Disaster Capatalism
Right wing lobbyists are supporting the cull of British citizens for what reason? The Cabinet is ignoring the labs and scientists advice on the vaccines, which presents a so-called better number on the amount of people vaccinated. The promise was 15 million by February and we have…5 million. So far over 200 teachers have died, 620 medical staff dead. HMP Plague Island is an open prison run for the benefit of The Chumocracy with the Zionist led Labour Party an ineffective and compliant opposition. This matches the inept Kinnock & Bliar Regimes which ignored the wishes of the grassroots members and citizens alike.
(Barriereid). Yes. The headline figure is far more important than the efficacy of the interventions, and so many people have died and are dying that a few thousand either way don’t really matter, a sad reality. Just so long as the spin works and Johnson & Co can (perhaps for the very first time) appear to keep one of their promises.
What happened to those public health scientists resigning if the ‘rags peristed in ignoring them?
I remember a certain fellow said they’d still remain in their cushy overpaid positions no mattr what…And he was right (again)
Anyway, here’s one to show how fucked up things are…
My dad’s having an operation next Wednesday. On the 8th of this moths he went for a check-up at the royal Liverpool and was given an appt for a covid test back there for last Friday. We got a letter last week stating they’d postponed his op. until next Wednesay so I phoned the appropriate Dept, to ask if the covid test had been rescheduled – It had; was meant to be Friday just gone – rescheduled for today, still at the Royal.
Gets to the Daulby St car park…No signposting for the Covid testing. Asked several people – no idea. ‘Phoned the switchboard who told me it was where I was – except it wasn’t, so she then had no idea! Then someone passing by told me it was at the main entrance; went round there on foot (leaving me dad in the jamjar) and the security guard there told me it was at the ‘top’ end of the hospital (LInda McCartney building) so went back for me dad and we yomped around the wrong bleeding way to get to the covid inoculation place.
…Where we told by the receptionist that covid testing had been moved to Fazakerley Hospital!! The very helpful girl at reception then ‘phoned her boss at Fazak who apologised for the bum steer we’d been put on and asked if we could go there tomorrow?!
I explained to the manageress that less than a kilometre from my home there is a symptom-free covid testing station; asked if we could go there today instead and get tested. Was told ‘yes’ and she’d ok it with the station and the dept of the Royal dealing with me dad’s op.She then gave her particulars to the receptionist who passed them to me saying any problems ring her (manageress’s) mobile.
Gets to the testing station by ours; young lads there asked for booking confirmation…Explained to them what had happened, they still gave us the: ‘If yer name’s not down‘ shizzle. Called the manageress…
…Who instantly said she would order a taxi to pick me dad up take him the 11 or so miles to Fazakerley hospital, wait there and drop him off again tomorrow, instead of just simply phoning throught to the testing station and getting him tested there.
No wonder the NHS is skint FFS.
Now I fully appreciate this covid lark has put a spanner in the works, but there was NO information regarding the moving of the testing facility despite having had weeks of opportunity to tell us. And NO signposting for either the covid testing (Which was no longer there) OR the covid jabs centre at the Royal.
What a shitshow.
Anyone reading this who has a covd TEST appt at the Royal – forget it! Get in touch with the relevant Dept and ask them to redirect it to your local testing facility in the first instance. Don’t delay, and DON’T go to the Royal because you’ll be sent around the friggin’ estat to be told it was al unnecessary anyway.
It’s not very often that we see the Israeli government being taken to task by the BBC (I’m surprised nobody else has picked up on it). Below is an extract from this morning’s interview between Andrew Marr and Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein in which Marr challenges Israel’s policy of not supplying the Palestinians with Covid vaccines.
AM: Right. Now, the United Nations says it’s your legal obligation to make sure the Palestinian people under occupation have a swift and equitable access to covid-19 vaccines. Why aren’t you doing this?
YE: As far as the vaccination is concerned, I think that it’s a Israeli obligation first and foremost to its citizens. They pay taxes for that, don’t they? But having said that, I do remember that it’s our interest – not our legal obligation – that it’s our interest to make sure that the Palestinians get the vaccine and they won’t have the covid-19 spreading.
AM: I understand that, but the Palestinians have asked you for vaccines and you haven’t given them some, and under the Geneva Convention, the 4th Geneval Convention, Israel is required to do so. I can read it back. Article 56 says that Israel ‘must adopt and supply the prophylactic and preventative measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics in cooperation with local authorities.’ Now, that means the vaccine. Why aren’t you giving them the vaccine
YE:I would say that first of all we can also look into the so-called Oslo Agreements where it says loud and clear that Palestinians have to take care of their own health.
AM: Again, I’m sorry to interrupt but the United Nations says that international law should supersede the Oslo Agreements on this.
YE: If it is the responsibility of the Israeli Health Minister to take care of the Palestinians what exactly is the responsibility of the Palestinian Health Minister? To take care of the dolphins in the Mediterranean?
AM: I’m so sorry. Let me put it to you that many of your own citizens also think you should be doing more. There was a petition by 200 rabbis which says: ‘Judaism teaches a moral imperative not to show indifference as our neighbour suffers but rather to mobilise and offer help in times of need.’ The rabbis are right aren’t they?
YE: The rabbis are always right I guess, but I would definitely say that that is exactly why when the Palestinians turn to us in terms of health with their medical teams I authorised passing some vaccines to those medical teams who directly work with corona patients in the Palestinian authority, and as you can hear from this interview it’s not because I think that we have a legal obligation, it’s because I understand that there are doctors and nurses that they don’t get the vaccine at this stage.
AM: Minister, thank you very much indeed for joining us this morning.
Israel’s callous disregard for their fellow man as well as their legal obligations and responsibilities are there for all to see.
Here’s a link to the video of the interview
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p094zc5h
The Zionists want to get rid of the Palestinians by any means possible. If it means starving them in Gaza fine, if it means letting the virus do it, that’s fine with them too.
Jack – The Tories have a very similar attitude towards the disadvantaged and vulnerable in this country.
AM: I’m so sorry.
Why? You shouldn’t be. You should be annoyed. You should be putting the irsaeli straight, and calling him n his impudence – NOT being ‘so sorry’ for asking him a question ffs.
Is It?
Is it, really?
He couldn’t help himself, could he? The journalist mask slipped (well it never did fit very well) and the habitual deference kicked back in. And he was doing so well…
Toffee – Your choice of response is revealing.
BMA chairman Dr. Chaand Nagpaul now says six weeks should be the absolute maximum delay if the manufacturer-authorised 3 weeks can’t be met (I’m paraphrasing).
As soon as it becomes clear that the Tories aren’t even sticking to their own self-prescribed but medically unsupported 12 week schedule for the second dose – much less the six weeks reluctantly accepted by the BMA yesterday – I’m digging up the pitchfork and servicing the steamroller.
I don’t care what lying excuses they make – we can’t let them continue killing us with impunity – if we want to retain a shred of self-respect we need to punish them.
Socialist Telly is a bit disappointing.
I get that it’s early days and that platform limitations are to blame, but unless it improves soon It’s going to look like a liability I think.
Unless the on screen viewer count is massively understated it seems to be just me and a few others watching.
Maybe that’s because despite requesting notifications the first and only notification I got arrived 11 minutes late.
The next video wasn’t notified at all, I just happened to see it on my home screen when it was almost over.
Also there seems little point inviting live chat when nobody responds and anything written disappears the moment the broadcast ends – also comments after the events appear to be disabled.
How did the alt. virus arrive here? Do you think it flew?
The Johnson / Modhi Variant.