sunak gets points for being a technocratic vacuity who is mostly willing to listen to the basic and the obvious and do a 60% effective job. note that he was still late and slow to things like bridging loans, has not provided sufficient support for all kinds of things, has left various sectors out to dry etc
this puts him head and shoulders above most of the others nonetheless
Yeah like he got a lot of praise for the Furlough thing
But like
That's just what any chancellor would have had to do. Not particularly inventive in the slightest. He's doing 2/3rds of what you'd expect any reasonably person in his position to do, and it makes him look like the government's golden boy.
Its is pretty easy to look good while throwing money around. It is the equivalent to going into a pub and shouting "non-alcoholic drinks are 50% on you(r taxes)".
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GumpyThere is alwaysa greater powerRegistered Userregular
sunak gets points for being a technocratic vacuity who is mostly willing to listen to the basic and the obvious and do a 60% effective job. note that he was still late and slow to things like bridging loans, has not provided sufficient support for all kinds of things, has left various sectors out to dry etc
this puts him head and shoulders above most of the others nonetheless
Yeah like he got a lot of praise for the Furlough thing
But like
That's just what any chancellor would have had to do. Not particularly inventive in the slightest. He's doing 2/3rds of what you'd expect any reasonably person in his position to do, and it makes him look like the government's golden boy.
I thought it was pretty out there by global standards. Easy to go back and say that it was the only sensible move, but I remember it being received very unexpectedly when it was first announced. Are there other good examples of earlier, similar schemes?
Chris Grayling closes in on role as chair of UK intelligence committee
The accident-prone former cabinet minister Chris Grayling is expected to be appointed as chair of the powerful intelligence and security committee (ISC) next week after the Conservatives announced four other members who are expected to support him.
sunak gets points for being a technocratic vacuity who is mostly willing to listen to the basic and the obvious and do a 60% effective job. note that he was still late and slow to things like bridging loans, has not provided sufficient support for all kinds of things, has left various sectors out to dry etc
this puts him head and shoulders above most of the others nonetheless
Yeah like he got a lot of praise for the Furlough thing
But like
That's just what any chancellor would have had to do. Not particularly inventive in the slightest. He's doing 2/3rds of what you'd expect any reasonably person in his position to do, and it makes him look like the government's golden boy.
I thought it was pretty out there by global standards. Easy to go back and say that it was the only sensible move, but I remember it being received very unexpectedly when it was first announced. Are there other good examples of earlier, similar schemes?
Germany has a furlough/short time work program that pays 60% of the missed wages and in April they made it easier to apply for, extended the maximum duration and increases the pay the longer you are on short time to up to 80% after 7 months.
Chris Grayling closes in on role as chair of UK intelligence committee
The accident-prone former cabinet minister Chris Grayling is expected to be appointed as chair of the powerful intelligence and security committee (ISC) next week after the Conservatives announced four other members who are expected to support him.
sunak gets points for being a technocratic vacuity who is mostly willing to listen to the basic and the obvious and do a 60% effective job. note that he was still late and slow to things like bridging loans, has not provided sufficient support for all kinds of things, has left various sectors out to dry etc
this puts him head and shoulders above most of the others nonetheless
Yeah like he got a lot of praise for the Furlough thing
But like
That's just what any chancellor would have had to do. Not particularly inventive in the slightest. He's doing 2/3rds of what you'd expect any reasonably person in his position to do, and it makes him look like the government's golden boy.
I thought it was pretty out there by global standards. Easy to go back and say that it was the only sensible move, but I remember it being received very unexpectedly when it was first announced. Are there other good examples of earlier, similar schemes?
Canada just straight paid $2k a month to anyone losing their job, complete with mortgage and rent deferments, as well as furloughing to try and offset the job losses. Looks like it cost about $300bn or so including tax income losses so far, most of which were also deferred.
The UK scheme was decent, about halfway between the Canadian "give the people the money, obv" and the US criminal theft policy.
They really need to start referring to it as "dining out", when this is a BBC Headline - " Most Britons still 'uncomfortable' eating out"
I guarantee they know exactly how that reads.
This is the same site that reported on a newspaper publishing a template headline with the subheading 'short sentence summarising the story here'.
Due to the exchange on my first ever house purchase (yay me) being delayed a week, I actually ended up making a pretty huge saving on stamp duty thanks to the chancellor.
Due to the exchange on my first ever house purchase (yay me) being delayed a week, I actually ended up making a pretty huge saving on stamp duty thanks to the chancellor.
Still never voting Tory, mind
Don't be so sure! This is how it starts, you join the home owning class, you start getting more and more favours. Suddenly putting a cross in the Tory box starts to look mighty tempting when you know it'll give you lots of extra money...
Due to the exchange on my first ever house purchase (yay me) being delayed a week, I actually ended up making a pretty huge saving on stamp duty thanks to the chancellor.
Still never voting Tory, mind
Don't be so sure! This is how it starts, you join the home owning class, you start getting more and more favours. Suddenly putting a cross in the Tory box starts to look mighty tempting when you know it'll give you lots of extra money...
You're making it sound like Tories are drug dealers, and their policies, especially their housing policies, are drugs.
Due to the exchange on my first ever house purchase (yay me) being delayed a week, I actually ended up making a pretty huge saving on stamp duty thanks to the chancellor.
Still never voting Tory, mind
Don't be so sure! This is how it starts, you join the home owning class, you start getting more and more favours. Suddenly putting a cross in the Tory box starts to look mighty tempting when you know it'll give you lots of extra money...
You're making it sound like Tories are drug dealers, and their policies, especially their housing policies, are drugs.
That analogy is a little unfair.
To drug pushers.
It's probably closer to having an illicit bookie that tells you which events are fixed. You're gonna use that guy rather than an honest one. If you're a selfish scumbag.
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BethrynUnhappiness is MandatoryRegistered Userregular
edited July 2020
July 4th: Pubs re-open and social distancing requirements lowered.
July 11th: Mysterious uptick in cases that were previously falling FT Figures (Deaths also uptick so something else might be at play here)
In other news, the leader of the Brexit party in Wales, a Mr... *squints at screen and sighs deeply* ..."Reckless" thinks people in Wales have had enough of having a say in their own government and want to go back to more centralised UK government. He proposes having a Welsh first minister that gets scrutinised by Welsh MPs in Westminster instead of a Welsh parliament. He also has other fascinating insights like lockdown being "too restrictive" (where do I start?) and something we should only do if the virus reaches the levels of "overwhelming local services" (i.e. after it's too late).
What is it with the Brexit party continually trying to abolish the only institutions that actually give them representation?
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surrealitychecklonely, but not unloveddreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered Userregular
edited July 2020
an amusing detail I had not seen brought up much; one reason PPE supplies were such a problem in the uk was that PHE ( public health England, an “arms length body” aka quango that nonetheless is technically directly under the control of the minister albeit via weird briefing letters etc) has reduced the stockpile of ppe in the uk due to having secured emergency order guarantees from European suppliers - if we needed it we were guaranteed immediate priority. however, in January when these orders were called in the french/German govs requisitioned all ppe in France/Germany ( well, banned export) effectively taking control of the theoretical British stockpile.
Absolutely incredible. imagine having disaster contingency plans that are vulnerable to other countrys disaster responses
added bonus; usual Brexit people (bill cash, Owen Paterson, Howe etc) now complaining that our current agreement is a poison pill for reasons that were made exquisitely clear to them before during and after them all voting it through.
surrealitycheck on
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jaziekBad at everythingAnd mad about it.Registered Userregular
edited July 2020
I was today years old, and reading your post, when I finally realised that Quango means Quasi-non-governmental-organisation.
I guess I had previously assumed it was just a reference to something inefficient and bureaucratic that I had never heard of.
whenever someone says that it is rude to called voters stupid I always think that a) They are techinally right as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is not stupidty (it is often portrayed as madness) and b) Society tried treating voters as Intellient beings who handle facts and do their own research back in 2016 and look where that got us.
So that DeltaG story where SportUK gave their athletes experimental military performance enhancers while contractually putting all the risks and legal consequences on them is at the same time super what the fuck and also doesn't surprise me the least bit. Athletes as grist for the medal mill is like it always seems to turn out.
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BethrynUnhappiness is MandatoryRegistered Userregular
Reporting on a "reasonable" worst case scenario where Coronavirus persists through the new year. The sad part is that so many countries - including ours - have fucked this up, often through sheer stupidity and refusal to accept reality, that this is a very real possibility. My original hope in May was that we might see cases reduced to manageable levels by October (and then some fairly strict immigration policies on isolation), but it's hard to see that happening right now, especially with America's situation and our pair of blonde leaders wanting ever closer ties.
Due to the exchange on my first ever house purchase (yay me) being delayed a week, I actually ended up making a pretty huge saving on stamp duty thanks to the chancellor.
Still never voting Tory, mind
Don't be so sure! This is how it starts, you join the home owning class, you start getting more and more favours. Suddenly putting a cross in the Tory box starts to look mighty tempting when you know it'll give you lots of extra money...
Boris a week ago: "I don't think we need to make masks mandatory in shops."
Gove last weekend: "I think people can be trusted to use their own common sense about where to wear masks."
*whispers about how much common sense some people have*
Boris yesterday: "Masks will be mandatory in shops from the 24th."
Not sure what the delay till next Friday is for, as they haven't said they're going to actually use the time to do anything.
I suspect it's to give shops, local authorities, and the police some time to digest this new law...policy...whatever, and think about how they go about enforcing this.
It gives people who haven't bought masks some time now to get some, and you'll probably see more people start to wear masks prior to this deadline anyway.
That isn't to give this Government any credit; this should have been done ages ago.
As a sidenote, I'm enormously sceptical about the police actually enforcing this.
Not sure what the delay till next Friday is for, as they haven't said they're going to actually use the time to do anything.
I assume to allow people to buy them, but honestly, if they're going to be mandatory, I think they should be provided like WW2 gas masks
Only we've already seen how that'll work - the contract would go to a company with no mask production or distribution experience, but the director is a mate of Dominic Cummings
Not sure what the delay till next Friday is for, as they haven't said they're going to actually use the time to do anything.
I assume to allow people to buy them, but honestly, if they're going to be mandatory, I think they should be provided like WW2 gas masks
Only we've already seen how that'll work - the contract would go to a company with no mask production or distribution experience, but the director is a mate of Dominic Cummings
Eh, it's probably not necessary. The difference is you can't really DIY an effective gas mask, whereas here all you need is a face covering of any sort, like a scarf or pulling your tshirt over your face will do. They don't need to make a huge effort to get surgical grade face masks to everyone in the country and trying to do so would be counterproductive for reasons we've mentioned previously in relation to the public draining PPE supplies.
Good point - I've got three proper masks plus a collection of Snoods for when they're in the wash, assuming I start going out on a regular basis (hah)
I don't envy the poor shop staff who will have to enforce the rules
My local Co-Op can't even get the shoppers to follow the arrows on the ground
Tesco has now given up in one way systems because people can't be trusted.
This is why we needed lockdown enforcement snipers in all supermarkets. And parks.
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
Listening to people calling into the radio to complain about having to wear masks in shops is making me feel downright violent. We live in the most selfish, entitled, wilfully ignorant society, I can not comprehend people.
Good point - I've got three proper masks plus a collection of Snoods for when they're in the wash, assuming I start going out on a regular basis (hah)
I don't envy the poor shop staff who will have to enforce the rules
My local Co-Op can't even get the shoppers to follow the arrows on the ground
Tesco has now given up in one way systems because people can't be trusted.
This is why we needed lockdown enforcement snipers in all supermarkets. And parks.
Are you sure they've not stopped the one way system because of the loosening resctrictions on lockdown (and perhaps reduced foot traffic - whenever I went during the day, the one way system seemed to put you in contact with other people, since you've now got to use all of two aisles to get something rather than just half of one. But then I never went during normal peak times).
To be fair, people phoning in to talk radio shows are always dickheads. No one normal phones up Jeremy Vine and yells their opinion into the phone.
I too choose to believe that the silent majority are rational people. You have to really, otherwise you end up as some mad dickhead calling talk radio shows to stream of consciousness down the phone.
Posts
I thought it was pretty out there by global standards. Easy to go back and say that it was the only sensible move, but I remember it being received very unexpectedly when it was first announced. Are there other good examples of earlier, similar schemes?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/09/chris-grayling-expected-chair-isc-intelligence-security-committee
Germany has a furlough/short time work program that pays 60% of the missed wages and in April they made it easier to apply for, extended the maximum duration and increases the pay the longer you are on short time to up to 80% after 7 months.
That seems abusive toward pillows...
The UK scheme was decent, about halfway between the Canadian "give the people the money, obv" and the US criminal theft policy.
Steve is a professor of EU law.
Wheeeeee......
(Joe Barnes is an Express journalist)
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
They absolutely do not.
This is the same site that reported on a newspaper publishing a template headline with the subheading 'short sentence summarising the story here'.
Still never voting Tory, mind
Steam: adamjnet
Don't be so sure! This is how it starts, you join the home owning class, you start getting more and more favours. Suddenly putting a cross in the Tory box starts to look mighty tempting when you know it'll give you lots of extra money...
You're making it sound like Tories are drug dealers, and their policies, especially their housing policies, are drugs.
That analogy is a little unfair.
To drug pushers.
It's probably closer to having an illicit bookie that tells you which events are fixed. You're gonna use that guy rather than an honest one. If you're a selfish scumbag.
July 11th: Mysterious uptick in cases that were previously falling FT Figures (Deaths also uptick so something else might be at play here)
What is it with the Brexit party continually trying to abolish the only institutions that actually give them representation?
Absolutely incredible. imagine having disaster contingency plans that are vulnerable to other countrys disaster responses
added bonus; usual Brexit people (bill cash, Owen Paterson, Howe etc) now complaining that our current agreement is a poison pill for reasons that were made exquisitely clear to them before during and after them all voting it through.
I guess I had previously assumed it was just a reference to something inefficient and bureaucratic that I had never heard of.
So glad things have changed since 1991.
whenever someone says that it is rude to called voters stupid I always think that a) They are techinally right as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is not stupidty (it is often portrayed as madness) and b) Society tried treating voters as Intellient beings who handle facts and do their own research back in 2016 and look where that got us.
Reporting on a "reasonable" worst case scenario where Coronavirus persists through the new year. The sad part is that so many countries - including ours - have fucked this up, often through sheer stupidity and refusal to accept reality, that this is a very real possibility. My original hope in May was that we might see cases reduced to manageable levels by October (and then some fairly strict immigration policies on isolation), but it's hard to see that happening right now, especially with America's situation and our pair of blonde leaders wanting ever closer ties.
Fuck them, got mine
Steam: adamjnet
Gove last weekend: "I think people can be trusted to use their own common sense about where to wear masks."
*whispers about how much common sense some people have*
Boris yesterday: "Masks will be mandatory in shops from the 24th."
Not sure what the delay till next Friday is for, as they haven't said they're going to actually use the time to do anything.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
I suspect it's to give shops, local authorities, and the police some time to digest this new law...policy...whatever, and think about how they go about enforcing this.
It gives people who haven't bought masks some time now to get some, and you'll probably see more people start to wear masks prior to this deadline anyway.
That isn't to give this Government any credit; this should have been done ages ago.
As a sidenote, I'm enormously sceptical about the police actually enforcing this.
I assume to allow people to buy them, but honestly, if they're going to be mandatory, I think they should be provided like WW2 gas masks
Only we've already seen how that'll work - the contract would go to a company with no mask production or distribution experience, but the director is a mate of Dominic Cummings
Eh, it's probably not necessary. The difference is you can't really DIY an effective gas mask, whereas here all you need is a face covering of any sort, like a scarf or pulling your tshirt over your face will do. They don't need to make a huge effort to get surgical grade face masks to everyone in the country and trying to do so would be counterproductive for reasons we've mentioned previously in relation to the public draining PPE supplies.
I don't envy the poor shop staff who will have to enforce the rules
My local Co-Op can't even get the shoppers to follow the arrows on the ground
Tesco has now given up in one way systems because people can't be trusted.
This is why we needed lockdown enforcement snipers in all supermarkets. And parks.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Are you sure they've not stopped the one way system because of the loosening resctrictions on lockdown (and perhaps reduced foot traffic - whenever I went during the day, the one way system seemed to put you in contact with other people, since you've now got to use all of two aisles to get something rather than just half of one. But then I never went during normal peak times).
I too choose to believe that the silent majority are rational people. You have to really, otherwise you end up as some mad dickhead calling talk radio shows to stream of consciousness down the phone.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3