New Labour Scandal

Free Taylor Swift tickets for blue light escort or just another coincidence theory?

Attachment 6289

Pigs in the trough.

A no story she had the same in Cardiff and every city she played in.
Tory press crap again.

such a nothing story, some free concert tickets, worth a couple of hundred quid?

meanwhile we still haven't got to the bottom of where all the billions of pounds the Tories wasted during the COVID pandemic ended up going

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Originally Posted by Rjk

such a nothing story, some free concert tickets, worth a couple of hundred quid?

meanwhile we still haven't got to the bottom of where all the billions of pounds the Tories wasted during the COVID pandemic ended up going

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That's the cover up of the century

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Originally Posted by Rjk

such a nothing story, some free concert tickets, worth a couple of hundred quid?

meanwhile we still haven't got to the bottom of where all the billions of pounds the Tories wasted during the COVID pandemic ended up going

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Good point ,but many were happy to accept Track & Trace and the needless closure of businesses and fitness centres without question whilst those who merely wanted further clarification were called Conspiracy Theorists

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Originally Posted by TWGL1

Good point ,but many were happy to accept Track & Trace and the needless closure of businesses and fitness centres without question whilst those who merely wanted further clarification were called Conspiracy Theorists

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And here we go again.

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Originally Posted by TWGL1

Good point ,but many were happy to accept Track & Trace and the needless closure of businesses and fitness centres without question whilst those who merely wanted further clarification were called Conspiracy Theorists

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no, many people were questioning why track and trace cost so much, and never really worked, especially when other countries were able to introduce it a lot more quickly and cheaply. I'm sure you can find posts on this site going back to the time.

Mortgage rates going up
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93yenv5r74o

Wasn't so long ago higher mortgages were a "Tory penalty"

https://labourlist.org/2023/06/mortg...nterest-rates/

Its almost as if that wasn't true.

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

Mortgage rates going up
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93yenv5r74o

Wasn't so long ago higher mortgages were a "Tory penalty"

https://labourlist.org/2023/06/mortg...nterest-rates/

Its almost as if that wasn't true.

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Can you tell me where in that story it says mortgage rates will go up as you state with your "mortgage rates going up" claim. What I see is use of the word "could" and the words "are predicted" which is not quite the same thing Yes, one building society is putting its rates up, but you'd have been spitting feathers if I'd come on here during the last Government's time in office and said inflation's going up because I just paid 5p more for a tin of beans in my local Tescos.

Economy growing

GDP up

Starmer The Warrior

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Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY

Economy growing

GDP up

Starmer The Warrior

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I can't stand the man but I'm sure many will see this as a positive step.

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Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY

Economy growing

GDP up

Starmer The Warrior

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Everybody needs a hero :biggrin:

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

And here we go again.

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I don't understand why he won't pretend that it never happened, just like everybody else does. :shrug:

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Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

I don't understand why he won't pretend that it never happened, just like everybody else does. :shrug:

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From “New Labour scandal” about Taylor Swift tickets to yet another COVID thread when a different party was in Government :shrug:

So all you lot were after was “further clarification” was it.

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Originally Posted by Rjk

no, many people were questioning why track and trace cost so much, and never really worked, especially when other countries were able to introduce it a lot more quickly and cheaply. I'm sure you can find posts on this site going back to the time.

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I was actually looking for the thread because I was critical of the governments choices around the app at the time (which they later changed). I just remember a passionate discussion, no memory of being called a conspiracy nut or that happening to anybody.

Like everything else, track and trace was just a political football.

People were talking absolute monumental bollocks about this topic.

https://fullfact.org/online/37-billi...race-app-scam/

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

Like everything else, track and trace was just a political football.

People were talking absolute monumental bollocks about this topic.

https://fullfact.org/online/37-billi...race-app-scam/

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Madness.

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Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

Madness.

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The amount of times that I would hear people go on about the government spaffing "£37bn on an app". Wound me up so much, esp when they accuse others of believing, spreading conspiracy theories etc!

I'm very happy to criticise large parts of our response to COVID but that doesn't justify total misinformation

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

The amount of times that I would hear people go on about the government spaffing "£37bn on an app". Wound me up so much, esp when they accuse others of believing, spreading conspiracy theories etc!

I'm very happy to criticise large parts of our response to COVID but that doesn't justify total misinformation

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Yes,people were so quick to jump on this figure and yet so slow to acknowledge when it became apparent it was garbage.

This by the way is not a defence of the govt before some like Sludge or Dorcus make any snide remarks.

I fully agree with your final paragraph and that both National and Welsh governments made many mistakes.

As did governments throughout the world.

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

Like everything else, track and trace was just a political football.

People were talking absolute monumental bollocks about this topic.

https://fullfact.org/online/37-billi...race-app-scam/

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The claim of a £37 billion spend was first made in 2020, so it’s a little disingenuous to say people who were pointing this out at the time were wrong because of figures for the 20/21 financial year - according to your link, £37 billion was allocated to Track and Trace over a two year period and the Government of the time were promoting their scheme for months (until they dropped it like a hot potato) almost at the expense of the local Government schemes already in place (don’t forget the jobs for the girls element at play from Johnson either).

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

The claim of a £37 billion spend was first made in 2020, so it’s a little disingenuous to say people who were pointing this out at the time were wrong because of figures for the 20/21 financial year - according to your link, £37 billion was allocated to Track and Trace over a two year period and the Government of the time were promoting their scheme for months (until they dropped it like a hot potato) almost at the expense of the local Government schemes already in place (don’t forget the jobs for the girls element at play from Johnson either).

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I note Labour was fully committed to T and T and the time and were fully behind all the other government initiatives around CONVID, including locking down harder and longer, ( similar to some posters in here ) when most normals were waking up and realising it was a scam and and a money grab.

Pesky ConsPIracy TheoRISts:hehe:

So yes Bob and others I will keep bringing it up as we are now seeing the results of these needless Diktats and will continue to do so for years.

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Originally Posted by TWGL1

I note Labour was fully committed to T and T and the time and were fully behind all the other government initiatives around CONVID, including locking down harder and longer, ( similar to some posters in here ) when most normals were waking up and realising it was a scam and and a money grab.

Pesky ConsPIracy TheoRISts:hehe:

So yes Bob and others I will keep bringing it up as we are now seeing the results of these needless Diktats and will continue to do so for years.

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Can you explain what relevancy that has to what I posted?

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

The claim of a £37 billion spend was first made in 2020, so it’s a little disingenuous to say people who were pointing this out at the time were wrong because of figures for the 20/21 financial year - according to your link, £37 billion was allocated to Track and Trace over a two year period and the Government of the time were promoting their scheme for months (until they dropped it like a hot potato) almost at the expense of the local Government schemes already in place (don’t forget the jobs for the girls element at play from Johnson either).

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Sure, but people were making the claim in late 2022 too.

Here is Labour MP Karl Turner doing it. He was only £36.965bn out.

https://fullfact.org/health/karl-tur...est-trace-app/

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

Like everything else, track and trace was just a political football.

People were talking absolute monumental bollocks about this topic.

https://fullfact.org/online/37-billi...race-app-scam/

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£35 million is also a huge amount for an app with limited functionality like the test and trace app.
Many of my projects involve software in a healthcare setting and several of them involving apps - none have got anywhere near that kind of expense. Although timescales are probably a factor.

My main gripe is after all that money spent it never really worked. I had notifications that I'd been in contact with someone 2 weeks after it happened, so after the quarantine period had already ended.

More incompetence probably than anything else.

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

Sure, but people were making the claim in late 2022 too.

Here is Labour MP Karl Turner doing it. He was only £36.965bn out.

https://fullfact.org/health/karl-tur...est-trace-app/

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This reminds me of my dad watching a cracking 4-4 draw and spending the whole game moaning about the commentators. Why is your main takeaway from the excessive waste, corruption and fraud during COVID, what some guy said? Deflection?

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Originally Posted by Rjk

£35 million is also a huge amount for an app with limited functionality like the test and trace app.
Many of my projects involve software in a healthcare setting and several of them involving apps - none have got anywhere near that kind of expense. Although timescales are probably a factor.

My main gripe is after all that money spent it never really worked. I had notifications that I'd been in contact with someone 2 weeks after it happened, so after the quarantine period had already ended.

More incompetence probably than anything else.

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It is quite ironic that the revisionists that James often cuddles with are the main perpetrators of the £37 billion myth on here.

That said as numerous contemporaneous posts on this board will attest, this was a crisis made worse by political decision making.

At the outset of the crisis the UK had a (mothballed) contingency plan for epidemics built around a test and trace capability structured around central government hub but driven by local government resources.

Instead of building out from that and drawing in private sector support, the government in its wisdom bypassed this resource, centralised decision making around Dido Harding and made it an almost private sector gig. It would be interesting to see the surge in Serco and Deloitte profits in that period.

The biggest scandal around the app was not that it cost £35 m. Eyewatering but small change in the scheme of things. It was that a decision was made to make it one of Johnson's jingoist projects.

One minute when it was promised it was "world beating", then when it failed and we reverted to tried tested and readily available apple/google technology it became "the cherry on the cake".

It was time, not money that was the crucial waste turning something that could have benefitted our lives by reducing or removing restrictions into an indulgent toy!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rjk

£35 million is also a huge amount for an app with limited functionality like the test and trace app.
Many of my projects involve software in a healthcare setting and several of them involving apps - none have got anywhere near that kind of expense. Although timescales are probably a factor.

My main gripe is after all that money spent it never really worked. I had notifications that I'd been in contact with someone 2 weeks after it happened, so after the quarantine period had already ended.

More incompetence probably than anything else.

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I don't doubt it, COVID was a great time for companies to exploit the public sector!

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Originally Posted by cyril evans awaydays

It is quite ironic that the revisionists that James often cuddles with are the main perpetrators of the £37 billion myth on here.

That said as numerous contemporaneous posts on this board will attest, this was a crisis made worse by political decision making.

At the outset of the crisis the UK had a (mothballed) contingency plan for epidemics built around a test and trace capability structured around central government hub but driven by local government resources.

Instead of building out from that and drawing in private sector support, the government in its wisdom bypassed this resource, centralised decision making around Dido Harding and made it an almost private sector gig. It would be interesting to see the surge in Serco and Deloitte profits in that period.

The biggest scandal around the app was not that it cost £35 m. Eyewatering but small change in the scheme of things. It was that a decision was made to make it one of Johnson's jingoist projects.

One minute when it was promised it was "world beating", then when it failed and we reverted to tried tested and readily available apple/google technology it became "the cherry on the cake".

It was time, not money that was the crucial waste turning something that could have benefitted our lives by reducing or removing restrictions into an indulgent toy!

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Cuddles with? What are you going on about? I'm saying track and trace, like most of Covid was used as a political football and cited an example of an MP telling a total fabrication, whilst conceding governments still made huge errors.

What issue could you possibly have with that, apart from arguing for the sake of it?

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

Cuddles with? What are you going on about? I'm saying track and trace, like most of Covid was used as a political football and cited an example of an MP telling a total fabrication, whilst conceding governments still made huge errors.

What issue could you possibly have with that, apart from arguing for the sake of it?

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I don't think I was replying to you but I did mention you in dispatches. Basically, the guy(s) who have sounded off about £37b are TWGL1 and Wales-Bales.

Most of the rest of us at the time recognised test and trace as probably the most fundamental element of an epidemic management system. Others saw it retrospectively as a monumental waste of time.

The overwhelming majority of my post was addressed at the points made at the time and the political decisions made that in my view undermined rather than supported the recovery effort. If you want to demur then this is the place to be!

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Originally Posted by cyril evans awaydays

I don't think I was replying to you but I did mention you in dispatches. Basically, the guy(s) who have sounded off about £37b are TWGL1 and Wales-Bales.

Most of the rest of us at the time recognised test and trace as probably the most fundamental element of an epidemic management system. Others saw it retrospectively as a monumental waste of time.

The overwhelming majority of my post was addressed at the points made at the time and the political decisions made that in my view undermined rather than supported the recovery effort. If you want to demur then this is the place to be!

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Yes you did mention me, and you weren't accurate so it's fair to comment!

I dont think it was a waste of time. I think the restrictions were questionable and I don't think we got value for money across the board.

I'm not sure who moaned the most about the erroneous £37bn cost of it, but the point I was making was illustrated with an elected MP doing it..which carries more weight than whatever a couple of posters on this message board say..not to downplay CCMBs importance to global discourse.

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

Yes you did mention me, and you weren't accurate so it's fair to comment!

I dont think it was a waste of time. I think the restrictions were questionable and I don't think we got value for money across the board.

I'm not sure who moaned the most about the erroneous £37bn cost of it, but the point I was making was illustrated with an elected MP doing it..which carries more weight than whatever a couple of posters on this message board say..not to downplay CCMBs importance to global discourse.

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I had some mistaken idea that in responding you might get over the first sentence and have some contra-view on the rest, given that you think the government's response should be viewed without a political lens.Live and learn!

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Originally Posted by cyril evans awaydays

I had some mistaken idea that in responding you might get over the first sentence and have some contra-view on the rest, given that you think the government's response should be viewed without a political lens.Live and learn!

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No, you lost me at the image of me cuddling up to these characters off the internet I don't know!

I couldn't recover from that point.

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

No, you lost me at the image of me cuddling up to these characters off the internet I don't know!

I couldn't recover from that point.

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Fair point, with those personas you never know whether you might rack up to an orgy with A list sporting celebs from their school or some basement flat in Barry!

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Originally Posted by cyril evans awaydays

Fair point, with those personas you never know whether you might rack up to an orgy with A list sporting celebs from their school or some basement flat in Barry!

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It's a tough pick choosing who to cuddle up with on here tbf. Sludge seems more stable since the election.

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

It's a tough pick choosing who to cuddle up with on here tbf. Sludge seems more stable since the election.

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I heard that Clandestine, Lither, NinianOpinion1927, RedSetter, RonnieBird and a few others went to one of those wild parties and were never seen again. Take care!

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Originally Posted by cyril evans awaydays

I heard that Clandestine, Lither, NinianOpinion1927, RedSetter, RonnieBird and a few others went to one of those wild parties and were never seen again. Take care!

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:hehe:

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Originally Posted by cyril evans awaydays

I heard that Clandestine, Lither, NinianOpinion1927, RedSetter, RonnieBird and a few others went to one of those wild parties and were never seen again. Take care!

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Exactly! Hence nipping in the bud your visions of cuddling!

Mad this is, I've never seen anything like it. No idea what prompted it but I bet he'll be an independent MP before the end of Monday

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qdzqjlq2ko

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

Mad this is, I've never seen anything like it. No idea what prompted it but I bet he'll be an independent MP before the end of Monday

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qdzqjlq2ko

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You sure ?

https://youtu.be/WKM6nn8ie2A?si=m4ggLMOdzBZF8ymp

Mullet haired tory farmer boy 0

Socialism 1