Government writes off £8.7bn

[Jordi Culé]

Do you have any comprehension of quite how hard trying to manage a global pandemic is? Do you honestly think it's possible to do it with zero mistakes being made?

Before spending billions and billions, there is usually years worth of research and preparation, and even then money goes to waste when viewed with hindsight.

On this occasion, PPE, economic support, medical interventions etc were all done in the matter of weeks.

What is frustrating, is that had they delayed furlough support or PPE orders then no doubt you would have been the first to moan at that point.

Considering the 'VIP' fast tracking has now deemed to be unlawful and the experience some of the 'VIPS' who were fast tracked amounted to running Matt Hancocks local pub, I was just wondering why and where all this money was piissed away?

You are right though, I've been too kind when considering the mistakes the government has made. Let's change incompetence for malpractice.

[the other bob wilson]

Do you have any comprehension of quite how hard trying to manage a global pandemic is? Do you honestly think it's possible to do it with zero mistakes being made?

Before spending billions and billions, there is usually years worth of research and preparation, and even then money goes to waste when viewed with hindsight.

On this occasion, PPE, economic support, medical interventions etc were all done in the matter of weeks.

What is frustrating, is that had they delayed furlough support or PPE orders then no doubt you would have been the first to moan at that point.

But it was the Conservative Government who completely ignored the recommendations of the Cygnus Report following a pandemic “dress rehearsal” in 2016;-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_Cygnus

They shouldn’t have been caught on the hop like they were.

[lardy]

But it was the Conservative Government who completely ignored the recommendations of the Cygnus Report following a pandemic “dress rehearsal” in 2016;-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_Cygnus

They shouldn’t have been caught on the hop like they were.

The UK had developed what was considered to be the best pandemic response in the world (if I remember rightly, south Korea and Singapore, to name but two, copied it in around the time of SARS). It might have taken us ordinary folk by surprise, but people are employed to deal with this kind of thing.

[JamesWales]

Great! How many other countries did you uncover who had given massive contracts to associates and donors? Did any other high courts brand their government actions as "illegal"?

We love balance, so this is perfect. Thanks for doing the research and sharing.

Here you go! Google news is your friend.

No doubt in every country in the world there were scandals of different kinds. And no doubt in every country there are those on the fringes with orthodox opinions who think their own country was uniquely awful at handling the pandemic.

The reality is different, and living in reality is better than living in fantasy land. None of this excuses the mistakes the UK made, but it does demonstrate that to some extent, in managing a global pandemic, mistakes and scandals of various kinds are inevitable.

Just a few I found across western Europe in about 10 minutes.

German scandal over mask purchases
https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-healt...ses/a-56946274

Italy Scandal over PPE contract in China
https://www.ft.com/content/ae05d6be-...c-d4c0b9b57829

Spanish doctors awarded payouts for lack of PPE
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...k-of-covid-ppe

Finlands PM goes clubbing after covid contact (she is very attractive..click on this story if none others!)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59577371

Dutch celeb in €11m facemask profit scandal
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-facemask-deal

Belgium criminal investigation into masks order
https://delano.lu/article/delano_bel...-mask-provider

France bungled chance to manage pandemic
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/17/w...ronavirus.html

German govt minister accused of embezzlement
https://www.dw.com/en/covid-mismanag...ire/a-57726240

Ursula Van der Leyen criticism re awarding of contracts
https://www.politico.eu/article/the-...von-der-leyen/

“Procurement scandals unfolded across the continent of Europe”
https://www.transparency.org/en/news...ntegrity-pacts

[Doucas]

Here you go! Google news is your friend.

No doubt in every country in the world there were scandals of different kinds. And no doubt in every country there are those on the fringes with orthodox opinions who think their own country was uniquely awful at handling the pandemic.

The reality is different, and living in reality is better than living in fantasy land. None of this excuses the mistakes the UK made, but it does demonstrate that to some extent, in managing a global pandemic, mistakes and scandals of various kinds are inevitable.

Just a few I found across western Europe in about 10 minutes.

German scandal over mask purchases
https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-healt...ses/a-56946274

Italy Scandal over PPE contract in China
https://www.ft.com/content/ae05d6be-...c-d4c0b9b57829

Spanish doctors awarded payouts for lack of PPE
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...k-of-covid-ppe

Finlands PM goes clubbing after covid contact (she is very attractive..click on this story if none others!)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59577371

Dutch celeb in €11m facemask profit scandal
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-facemask-deal

Belgium criminal investigation into masks order
https://delano.lu/article/delano_bel...-mask-provider

France bungled chance to manage pandemic
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/17/w...ronavirus.html

German govt minister accused of embezzlement
https://www.dw.com/en/covid-mismanag...ire/a-57726240

Ursula Van der Leyen criticism re awarding of contracts
https://www.politico.eu/article/the-...von-der-leyen/

“Procurement scandals unfolded across the continent of Europe”
https://www.transparency.org/en/news...ntegrity-pacts

This is absolute peanuts compared to the tories Jesus Christ.

You have two different standards, one for the tories and one for everything else. If anyone does 5% of what they do you think they're the same in your bizarro world.

But your argument seems to be corruption is ok because everyone is doing it?

[JamesWales]

This is absolute peanuts compared to the tories Jesus Christ.

You have two different standards, one for the tories and one for everything else. If anyone does 5% of what they do you think they're the same in your bizarro world.

But your argument seems to be corruption is ok because everyone is doing it?

First point - No it isn't.

Second point - No I don't. I literally do treat all political parties the same. That is what others do NOT do.

Third point - No, I don't. It's not okay, but in the management of a pandemic, with the completely constrained timelines for PPE ordering and the like, a degree of it is probably inevitable.

You would have moaned either way. You want procurement rules followed to the letter, and you want PPE delivered in time. Well with Covid in 2020, the two desires were absolutely impossible, so make your mind up and accept the Real Politik of the situation.

[ninian opinian]

And in other news the Tory’s voted to give bankers a multi-billion tax cut and Goves levelling-up plan ‘copied from Wikipedia’.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2006757.html

You couldn’t make it up.

[JamesWales]

And in other news the Tory’s voted to give bankers a multi-billion tax cut and Goves levelling-up plan ‘copied from Wikipedia’.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2006757.html

You couldn’t make it up.

Billions in funding announced and you moan about a tiny section taken from Wikipedia.

It's the opposition's job to come up with stuff like this. They are putting out milk for you and you lap it up.

You don't care about regenerating communities at all do you?

Any thoughts about the substance of the report? The stuff that actually matters?

[Doucas]

Billions in funding announced and you moan about a tiny section taken from Wikipedia.

It's the opposition's job to come up with stuff like this. They are putting out milk for you and you lap it up.

You don't care about regenerating communities at all do you?

Any thoughts about the substance of the report? The stuff that actually matters?

You're completely blind and I can't be arsed anymore. If the tories cared about regeneration communities brexit wouldn't have happened.

You are the typical tory who had completely buried their head in the sand and in the face of overwhelming evidence you double down. I won't engage with you again.

[JamesWales]

You're completely blind and I can't be arsed anymore. If the tories cared about regeneration communities brexit wouldn't have happened.

You are the typical tory who had completely buried their head in the sand and in the face of overwhelming evidence you double down. I won't engage with you again.

I'm screenshotting this to hold you to it, but fingers crossed this is true!

Note I posted about a dozen articles to scandals across Europe earlier, to which you replied, without reading them or understanding them:

"Thats nothing compared to the Tories, Jesus Christ"

You are a true believer, I will give you that.

[Jordi Culé]

Billions in funding announced and you moan about a tiny section taken from Wikipedia.

It's the opposition's job to come up with stuff like this. They are putting out milk for you and you lap it up.

You don't care about regenerating communities at all do you?

Any thoughts about the substance of the report? The stuff that actually matters?

Are this government really interested in regenerating communities? Hmmm...

https://www.theguardian.com/inequali...rdian-research

Levelling Up?

[JamesWales]

Are this government really interested in regenerating communities? Hmmm...

https://www.theguardian.com/inequali...rdian-research

Levelling Up?

Why wouldn't they be? 'Levelling up' was a central plank of their policies.

Urban Development Corporations, which created Cardiff Bay (imperfect as it is) were Tory policies.

Things like regeneration aren't really party political.

[Jordi Culé]

Why wouldn't they be? 'Levelling up' was a central plank of their policies.

Urban Development Corporations, which created Cardiff Bay (imperfect as it is) were Tory policies.

Things like regeneration aren't really party political.

Did you read the article buddy?

[JamesWales]

Did you read the article buddy?

Yeah I did. I read that the other day. But you can usually find unrepresentative examples of funding when it's based on bids like this.

Otherwise, you wouldnt have any funding bid process at all. You would simply draw up a list of most deprived boroughs on income and allocate them money irrespective of whether they have bid, or their ability to deliver, or the quality of the bids etc.

There are always some controversies with any funding bids.

I don't think the article is reflective of the reality of where the funding will be going, and nor does it attempt to do so.

[Jordi Culé]

Yeah I did. I read that the other day. But you can usually find unrepresentative examples of funding when it's based on bids like this.

Otherwise, you wouldnt have any funding bid process at all. You would simply draw up a list of most deprived boroughs on income and allocate them money irrespective of whether they have bid, or their ability to deliver, or the quality of the bids etc.

There are always some controversies with any funding bids.

I don't think the article is reflective of the reality of where the funding will be going, and nor does it attempt to do so.

I'm surprised you've come to that conclusion as there were two paragraphs within the article that could be particularly telling?

"Forcing local areas to bid for centrally controlled pots of money is resulting in an opaque and unfair allocation of already limited resources, as this analysis shows. The fact some of the most deprived local authorities have received no money from any of the government’s four main levelling up funds is unacceptable and will only widen the UK’s existing regional divides.”

The Commons public accounts committee, which scrutinises government spending, has ordered Gove’s department to provide more information about how its funding decisions were taken amid concerns about a lack of clarity and transparency from ministers and officials."

I'm not saying the content is gospel but it certainly made me wonder if this policy us more style than substance which seems to be a theme of this government.

As for the lack of clarity and transparency...