Boris Johnson would lose majority and seat in election tomorrow – poll

[AtW]

At least Boris has got a bit of caricature about him.

FTFY

[BlasterBates]

If May had been in charge things would have looked a lot brighter now. She would have clamped down at the beginning of the pandemic instead of "trying to be funny" and businesses would have been investing because her withdrawal agreement had a sensible UK wide backstop. There would also have been no border between the UK and Northern Ireland, and I doubt that Scotland would be on the verge of leaving the UK.

[AtW]

DUP seems happy -

"Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster has said there "is a gateway of opportunity for the whole of the UK and for NI" after the UK-EU trade deal.

MPs last week approved the post-Brexit trade deal in a parliamentary vote.

Mrs Foster told The Andrew Marr Show it was "important" in NI's centenary year to "take the opportunities that are there for all of our people".

She also said the deal dealt with "some of the great difficulties that there are with the (NI) Protocol".

Brexit: Arlene Foster sees '''gateway of opportunity''' in UK-EU trade deal - BBC News

Brexit should bring very juicy smuggling opportunities

[xoggoth]

The UK has had the biggest recession of all the major economies.

UK crashes into deepest recession of any major economy

and his big success is that he's just narrowly avoided mass shutdown of the UK manufacturing industry with a sh*te deal with the EU.

So how is that all just a result of policies of the present government? More likely due to decades of focusing on services and growth of low productivity businesses, shop, cafes etc. which are more seriously impacted by the virus. Mass low skilled immigration from the EU, encouraged by Blair, has been a significant factor in that. Not to mention that Covid is bound to be more serious in more densely populated nations.

A "sh*te deal with the EU" ?. So explain, apart from just ignoring the results of the referendum and staying in in all but name, how you think another government could have done better, given the intransigence of the EU's zealots?

[AtW]

So how is that all just a result of policies of the present government?

Tory Scum were in charge since 2010.

So yes, it's on them since it was Tory Chunts who ignored pandemic planning few years ago.

And it's not like they cut taxes either.

[Old Greg]

So how is that all just a result of policies of the present government? More likely due to decades of focusing on services and growth of low productivity businesses, shop, cafes etc. which are more seriously impacted by the virus. Mass low skilled immigration from the EU, encouraged by Blair, has been a significant factor in that. Not to mention that Covid is bound to be more serious in more densely populated nations.

A "sh*te deal with the EU" ?. So explain, apart from just ignoring the results of the referendum and staying in in all but name, how you think another government could have done better, given the intransigence of the EU's zealots?

There we go. It’s the fault of the EUSSR and saboteurs! That didn’t take long.

[xoggoth]

There were plans in place some years ago. Just documents of course, how much actually preparedness there actually was I have no idea. But neither do you atW!

NHS England >> Operating Framework for Managing the Response to Pandemic Influenza

Britain has a well developed set of plans if emergency action is needed to protect public health. This week the Department of Health highlighted the UK’s “influenza pandemic preparedness strategy”, originally published in 2011. It remains the core public document to guide the likely public response.

What are the UK's plans for dealing with a pandemic virus? | World news | The Guardian

[AtW]

There were plans in place some years ago. Just documents of course, how much actually preparedness there actually was I have no idea. But neither do you atW!

Well, it's pretty clear now as to what level of preparedness was - fook all about describes it.

[Old Greg]

Well, it's pretty clear now as to what level of preparedness was - fook all about describes it.

The plans probably didn’t account for having the most incompetent PM ever in charge.

[AtW]

The plans probably didn’t account for having the most incompetent PM ever in charge.

It's not just that -

1. No PPE stockpiled in the first place
2. No local production of essential things that would become in high demand during pandemic (like PPE)
3. Testing capacity of about zero
4. Lack of training given to population on what to do in event of pandemic - so no well thought out furlough plans, food distribution etc
5. No proper isolation plans - hotels are still not used to host those who tested positive, instead they go back to multi-generational homes to spread virus further

etc etc etc

Getting prepped would have cost a fraction of pandemic cost now, and IF they were prepared then Brexit could have actually become success (if UK was almost virus free country like Australia/New Zealand).