As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

[Hiberno-Britannic Politics] Let’s Do The Lockdown Again

14344464849100

Posts

  • CasualCasual Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Flap Flap Flap Registered User regular
    Boris earlier today: "Our Corona reponse shows the might of the Union!"

    Boris later on today: "Mistakes were made."

    You know I'll disagree with Nicola and say I don't see a problem with patting yourself on the back if you do a good job handling crisis as a government. After all handling crisis is exactly what we want governments to do, shit happens, and if you deal with it well you should be able to put that on your PM CV. The problem is Boris hasn't done well. No one thinks he's done well. His comments in the news this evening show even he doesn't think he's done well. Even his messaging is a bloody mess, I honestly don't know what's more aggravating, telling such blatant lies in the first place or flip-flopping on them.

  • klemmingklemming Registered User regular
    Local news doing their level best to drum up a 'people won't wear masks' story by asking police if they'll actually fine people for not wearing masks? No. Should stores call police if they have customers who won't wear masks? No. Will stores refuse to serve people not wearing masks? No, because they're bleeding to death and need every penny that people will spend. So please, everyone wear a mask because it's the law and it's safer for everyonerefuse to wear a mask because you can get away with it and we can do a story about it.

    Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
  • ElldrenElldren Is a woman dammit ceterum censeoRegistered User regular
    Thirith wrote: »
    Oh, I totally misunderstood that one at first. I thought it was calling people wearing face masks ticks (which is what the far right in German-speaking countries call left-wing activists, punks and the like - predictably charming, eh?).

    Also ticks are pests for cats so it was confusing

    fuck gendered marketing
  • Commander ZoomCommander Zoom Registered User regular
    Elldren wrote: »
    Thirith wrote: »
    Oh, I totally misunderstood that one at first. I thought it was calling people wearing face masks ticks (which is what the far right in German-speaking countries call left-wing activists, punks and the like - predictably charming, eh?).

    Also ticks are pests for cats so it was confusing

    I had to explain that British-ism to a friend earlier today, when I quoted the post.
    ("oh, check mark. got it.")

  • Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    Elldren wrote: »
    Thirith wrote: »
    Oh, I totally misunderstood that one at first. I thought it was calling people wearing face masks ticks (which is what the far right in German-speaking countries call left-wing activists, punks and the like - predictably charming, eh?).

    Also ticks are pests for cats so it was confusing

    I had to explain that British-ism to a friend earlier today, when I quoted the post.
    ("oh, check mark. got it.")

    What's wrong with Mark?

  • I ZimbraI Zimbra Worst song, played on ugliest guitar Registered User regular
    Elldren wrote: »
    Thirith wrote: »
    Oh, I totally misunderstood that one at first. I thought it was calling people wearing face masks ticks (which is what the far right in German-speaking countries call left-wing activists, punks and the like - predictably charming, eh?).

    Also ticks are pests for cats so it was confusing

    I had to explain that British-ism to a friend earlier today, when I quoted the post.
    ("oh, check mark. got it.")

    What's wrong with Mark?

    You'd best check your Mark before you wreck your Mark.

  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    This is possibly only interesting to policy wonks like me, but this is the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (not an elected post, appointed by the elected PCC) for Bedfordshire



    He is also the preferred Tory candidate for Beds PCC in the May 2021 election

    Now, a PCC explicitly cannot be a serving police officer, because their job is to hold the Chief Constable to account, however this is apparently not an obstacle for the Deputy PCC?

    It's all very strange. To be fair, Festus Akinbusoye has been very clear that he'll resign as a Special if elected, which kind of begs the question as to why he's signing up in the first place



    (Cate Moore is chair of Lincolnshire Police's ethics panel)

  • altidaltid Registered User regular
    I guess today is the last hurrah for the Russia report. It'll be covered by the sunday papers and almost entirely forgotten by next week. At least by government and the public at large.

  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    altid wrote: »
    I guess today is the last hurrah for the Russia report. It'll be covered by the sunday papers and almost entirely forgotten by next week. At least by government and the public at large.

    Because it's irrelevant.
    I'm sure it and Boris' other blunders will be brought up in the next election but, for the moment, the people in charge are more interested in holding power than ensuring it's used properly.

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • TastyfishTastyfish Registered User regular
    The House of Lords disclosure thing I expect will get fixed though.

  • surrealitychecksurrealitycheck lonely, but not unloved dreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered User regular
    the ppe tender stuff has got into committees:

    obF2Wuw.png
  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    edited July 2020
    Eesh, those are not confidence inspiring answers

    I don't think anyone would necessarily expect that Hancock would be able to provide figures on the performance of individual contracts (although basic contract management good practice should mean that he at least has some idea), but it absolutely should not be a difficult ask to go back and find out and report to the committee in detail

    The fact he's being evasive suggests either that he knows that the performance of the specific contracts mentioned was dire, or he knows that there has been no coherent contract management and so that information either doesn't exist or can only be determined forensically

    I'm leaning towards the latter, because if it was the former it would be possible to make an evidence based case that high risk contracting was justifiable in the circumstances, and that though individual contracts may have underperformed, the approach as a whole still delivered value for money

    Those answers were ... not that

    japan on
  • surrealitychecksurrealitycheck lonely, but not unloved dreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered User regular
    hancock is up to his eyeballs in dubious dealings of this nature anyway

    let's just say he is an avid rider of horses...

    obF2Wuw.png
  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    It's interesting to see that he's learned Johnson's tactic of responding to any scrutiny with "how dare you impugn our hard working public servants"

    I don't think he's quite thought it through, though, on the basis that if he's explicitly insisting the civil service were, at all times, acting on ministerial instructions, then the ultimate responsibility is necessarily ministerial...

  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    hancock is up to his eyeballs in dubious dealings of this nature anyway

    let's just say he is an avid rider of horses...

    Yeah, the third option is he knows it was corrupt because he participated in the corruption.

  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    I fully expect that there are a number of senior civil servants who have asked for instructions in writing on this

  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    Jackson Carlaw has stepped down as Scottish Tory leader

    Douglas Ross tipped to be his replacement

    I confess that when I read that I confused him with Ross "has been under investigation for groping for over a year" Thomson so had a spit take moment

  • CasualCasual Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Flap Flap Flap Registered User regular
    Have to admit I'd forgotten all about the SCons. They've been such a non-entity since Ruth Davis quit. You could have accused her of towing the party line too often and many did, but if we can use what's-his-name as a comparison it seems like she took just enough of an independent path to justify calling the SCons a distinct entity. It feels like the SCons answer to increasing independence sentiment is to double down on unionism to the point of cancelling out their own existence.

  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    Late last night the government announced a return to some lockdown rules for bits of northern England. They announced it on Twitter.

    The sheer level of incompetence their messaging has displayed is utterly without purpose. There's simply no reason for them to be this bad.

  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    They also blamed the public for not following the regulations

    You know, all of those regulations that are so clear and obvious and consistent

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    edited July 2020
    Also: they are now frantically scrambling to clarify whether or not two households, who cannot meet in either of their respective homes, can nevertheless meet in a pub

    Edit: interesting point being bandied about legal twitter: anyone still in a pub that was open at midnight last night may have been automatically committing an offence on the basis of the retrospective application of law that hadn't been (and still hasn't) been published

    Currently it's impossible to say whether that's the case because the government refuses to clarify whether we're talking about law implemented via statutory instrument or guidance

    japan on
  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
  • AntinumericAntinumeric Registered User regular
    Bogart wrote: »
    Absolute shower of shit.

    It doesn't really matter.

    This government already fucked up when the whole Cummings thing happened. No one cares about lockdown anymore. The public are, at best, paying lip service to it. Hundreds will die, it will be the governments fault, but poor messaging is the glaze on the cherry of this shit sundae they have delivered.

    In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god’s blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my intelligence.
  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    At least I'm seeing more masks at the CoOp...

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • AntinumericAntinumeric Registered User regular
    At least I'm seeing more masks at the CoOp...

    I am the only person I know who is wearing a mask when going out, the only person I see in shops wearing a mask. My wife's family have stopped wearing masks when they visit friends and family, despite looking after her disabled mid-seventies diabetic grandfather.

    It is infuriating.

    In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god’s blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my intelligence.
  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    I imagine there's a lot of regional variation. Purely on personal experience 98% of people seem to be wearing a mask in shops now.

  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    To add another layer of bullshittery: today is Eid

    As Twitter is pointing out, imagine if the same news was announced at 10pm on Christmas Eve

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    To add another layer of bullshittery: today is Eid

    As Twitter is pointing out, imagine if the same news was announced at 10pm on Christmas Eve

    It's Eid Al Adha at the weekend not Eid Al Fitr, the latter is the big important one that people usually compare with Christmas. This one is less of a big deal for most Muslims.

    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    To add another layer of bullshittery: today is Eid

    As Twitter is pointing out, imagine if the same news was announced at 10pm on Christmas Eve

    I think this is a bit race/religion-baitey.
    The government/Hancock want to be seen as "doing something" so "something" is exactly what they're doing.
    i.e. my aunt can't go visit my elderly grandmother (personal visit) at her house, but they could both go down to the local curry house and have a meal there.

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • BethrynBethryn Unhappiness is Mandatory Registered User regular
    80% of people I see in the local Co-Op (admittedly the only place I've been going to) are wearing masks now, so at least the mandatory masks policy seems to be working.

    They also have £3 disposable masks on sale at the tills which probably helps.

    ...and of course, as always, Kill Hitler.
  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    Mojo_Jojo wrote: »
    To add another layer of bullshittery: today is Eid

    As Twitter is pointing out, imagine if the same news was announced at 10pm on Christmas Eve

    It's Eid Al Adha at the weekend not Eid Al Fitr, the latter is the big important one that people usually compare with Christmas. This one is less of a big deal for most Muslims.

    Fair enough: replace with Easter, maybe? A day where people will go round to see family but not as big a social deal as Christmas?

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    Mojo_Jojo wrote: »
    To add another layer of bullshittery: today is Eid

    As Twitter is pointing out, imagine if the same news was announced at 10pm on Christmas Eve

    It's Eid Al Adha at the weekend not Eid Al Fitr, the latter is the big important one that people usually compare with Christmas. This one is less of a big deal for most Muslims.

    Fair enough: replace with Easter, maybe? A day where people will go round to see family but not as big a social deal as Christmas?

    Yeah, and remember Easter happened during lockdown

    It's the time of year when people usually do the Hajj, but for the majority it's a trip to temple and a big family meal.

    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    evilthecat wrote: »
    To add another layer of bullshittery: today is Eid

    As Twitter is pointing out, imagine if the same news was announced at 10pm on Christmas Eve

    I think this is a bit race/religion-baitey.
    The government/Hancock want to be seen as "doing something" so "something" is exactly what they're doing.
    i.e. my aunt can't go visit my elderly grandmother (personal visit) at her house, but they could both go down to the local curry house and have a meal there.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this was timed intentionally to fuck over the Muslim communities in the affected areas

    But there are going to be a lot more family meal plans which have been messed up than if this had been announced three days ago, or on Monday

    It's more of a "ain't that a pisser" comment than "gaze upon the racism of our rulers" comment

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • CasualCasual Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Flap Flap Flap Registered User regular
    I'll admit I never paid the slightest attention to them in the first place, but they stopped doing the corona briefings on the news right? It seems like that would have been the place to announce sudden changes in lockdown rules. Not a vague tweet, that no one over the age of 50 will see, the night before the rules come in to effect.

  • BethrynBethryn Unhappiness is Mandatory Registered User regular
    The daily news briefings were stopped when we re-opened, yes.

    ...and of course, as always, Kill Hitler.
  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    edited July 2020
    Jen Williams' (of the Manchester Evening News) thread of frustration is worth a read



    (Note: tweeted at 5:55 am)

    japan on
  • HerculePyroHerculePyro Lord Mayor's CroupierRegistered User regular
    Oh, I dunno. I want to believe this is petty malice on the part of the government, but I just don't think they're that competent. They don't seem to be able to leave a room without making themselves look like cretins.

  • PerduraboPerdurabo Registered User regular
    I'm having to travel from Leeds to Manchester for work two days a week from next week. So I'm allowed into the office, I'm allowed onto a train, but can't visit friends again. Cool cool.

  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    Perdurabo wrote: »
    I'm having to travel from Leeds to Manchester for work two days a week from next week. So I'm allowed into the office, I'm allowed onto a train, but can't visit friends again. Cool cool.

    Just meet on the train

    Sorted

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • PerduraboPerdurabo Registered User regular
    Actually it doesn't affect leeds I think, so I can visit friends in leeds, but not in Manchester? Giving workplaces the opportunity to tell people to go back to work is solely to do with keeping business around offices afloat.

This discussion has been closed.