What on earth is going on in England ?
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Just to say on the subject of Nicola Sturgeon, I used to jokingly say in the run up to last year's election that I would vote Scottish Nationalist if they fielded a candidate down here and it was something that I heard from two others without any prompting from me at all. Also, there are two people up here I speak to regularly who I would say are pretty clued in politically that told me that they were serious when they said that if the sole criteria for casting your vote was the competence of the party leader, they would vote for her over the leaders of the Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems if the Scot Nats fielded a candidate in the Rhondda every day of the week.
I can remember a few times being accused of hating older people because of my opposition to policies that made no sense. Now the same people who criticised me for that would happily kill a bunch of them off for a slightly faster recovery or a few percentage points on GDP.
How things change...
All Sturgeon is doing is asserting her independence from England to kid the Scottish voters that she is the person who can run things. But in reality she relies on the experts in the NHS as much as Boris and Co and by announcing things early she is merely playing politics in a situation that deserves better.
On a separate point and as an outside observer who doesn't live in Wales it seems incredulous that there are so many hard left Labour supporters on here. What has the Labour Party done for Wales (not just Cardiff) post war?
For your first point - perhaps Sturgeon is frustrated at the inaction from the conservative party
For your second point, what have the Tories done for Wales post war?
You could also ask the question of what the UK has done for Wales, yet most people still support the union.
Wales was pretty much the poorest part of the UK when it joined the union and it is pretty much the poorest part today. That will never change as long as we are in the union as investment is always focused on the South East of England.
Unless the minutes of the SAGE meetings show differently, he didn't ignore some experts though did he.
Unless Messrs Vallance Whitty and Ferguson are telling fibs.
And by the way I am not defending Boris just pointing out the facts as they seem to be.
I am well aware that other experts such as professor Ashton take the opposite view.
I remember loads of uncertainty around which conditions were included when we were deciding who was most vulnerable at work. I saw a definition where high blood pressure was included and one where it wasn't. I saw a definition where asthma was included. I guess it depends what decisions you are using it to make.
My point is that the phrase was used as a way of implying to the public that only ill people were at high risk, lots of friends and colleagues had interpreted that from what they were told and were surprised when their own friends and family were deemed high risk because of conditions that they had managed (and would likely continue to manage) for years without complication.
Ah! It's all the Conservative Party's fault. It took me 28 years as a card carrying member of the Labour Party and Union member to try and see both sides of a political argument. Above someone asked how I would describe "hard left". What I meant in the context in which it was written, was people on here who are unable to see only good in Labour and bad in Tory. Not one of these has thought that the government has done reasonably well with their furlough arrangements and providing support to the many workers who benefit; or taking swift action is building the Nightingale hospitals; sorting out the logistics of equipment delivery and maintaining capacity in NHS hospitals. Of course mistakes have been made with testing, the lockdown timing and PPE but it's very easy to be critical in hindsight.
I agree with some of the comments that Johnson is winging it and does not inspire confidence but that's another story.
I think your anger towards the Chinese is pretty misplaced. They were pretty open about the virus from the start and their swift action managed to get it under control a lot better than we have. They have even sent experts be doctors to many countries to help their response
NHS procurement managers seem to be getting an easy ride for some reason.
My feelings as well, very well set out and probably a lot of folk like you and I feel that way , its very interesting to read your background mine is very similar .
I have crossed from public sector into the private sector management which does broaden ones view of life .
I don't see the current Tories party as the same one I hated under Thatcher .
Workers rights, pay, conditions,and pensions , unemployment low ( until now ) have moved on so much from my politically charged days as as an union official ,
And yes there is a lot more that can be done , I am hopefully the latest Labour party will form a decent opposition and bring forth brave new ideas and appeal , and move away from the blame and moan , of the last nasty regime