The week in Tory is always a good read...
1. The govt said “we will work around the clock to ensure nobody goes hungry as a result of this crisis”
2. Four days later the govt ended free meals for the poorest 1.3m children
3. The govt ruled that teachers must wear face-masks on public transport whilst travelling to school “for safety reasons”
4. The govt then ruled that teachers must NOT wear face-masks in schools
5. Matt Hancock said he was “100% guided by the science”
6. A leading govt scientist said the failure to enter lockdown sooner “has cost a lot of lives”
7. Matt Hancock said that bit of science was wrong
8. The govt said nurses had received a “significant pay rise” in response to Covid-19
9. Nurses have not been awarded a pay rise since 2018
10. The govt said “a protective ring had been thrown around care homes”
11. The head of Outbreak Modelling at Imperial College said Covid-19 is still “spilling out of hospitals and into care homes”
12. The govt said “we have now managed successfully to offer tests to every care home”
13. National Care Forum found 13% of care homes had not been tested, and 43% had tests which were void due to testing infrastructure problems
14. Boris Johnson said the lockdown would "remain until the R rate falls below 0.7"
15. The govt announced “R rate is below 1 in each region of the country”
16. In some UK regions, the R rate was recorded as 0.98
17. Serco was granted the contract to do contact-tracing, despite having been recently fined £1m for multiple failures on a previous govt contract
18. The Health Minister responsible for the contract is a former Serco lobbyist
19. Boris Johnson said “decisions will be taken with the maximum possible transparency”
20. The detailed reasons for Serco’s fine have not been revealed, despite a 6-month freedom of information battle
21. The govt said the testing and contact-tracing system would be “world beating” and ready on1 June
22. It wasn't, and won't be ready until Sept
23. The former govt chief scientific advisor said it’s “not fit for purpose” and would miss 80% of contacts with the virus
24. Boris Johnson acknowledged the “incontrovertible, undeniable feeling of injustice” behind
#BlackLivesMatters
25. Boris Johnson has previously (sub-thread):
a. Referred to Commonwealth citizens as “picaninnies”
b. Described black people as having “watermelon smiles”
c. Called the people of Papua New Guinea “cannibals”
d. Suggested reinstating the British Empire in former colonies
e. Said “Islamophobia seems a natural reaction”
f. Stated that the UK must accept “Islam is the problem”
g. Referred to Muslim women as looking like “bank robbers” and “letter-boxes”
h. Recited a racist poem in Buddhist temple, and had to be stopped by the British Ambassador
i. Called Africa a “blot” and said “the problem is that we are not in charge any more”
Back to the main thread...
26. Boris Johnson said racism in the UK “cannot be ignored”
27. Two years after the Windrush scandal was revealed, only 60 of the 1,275 victims have yet received compensation
28. Boris Johnson said “I will not support or indulge those who break the law”
29. Dominic Cummings is still in his job. So is Housing Minister Robert Jenrick, who unlawfully approved a £40m property development for a Tory donor.
30. The Attorney General tweeted Cummings breaking the lockdown was not be a crime because he acted on “instinct”
31. The Home Secretary said she “understood the instincts” of
#BlackLivesMatter protesters, but they had to face justice
32. The govt said destruction of a slave-trader’s statue by
#BlackLivesMatter was “vandalism and completely unacceptable”
33. When Boris Johnson joined the Bullingdon club “the whole culture was to exert vandalism - they had to have their room smashed to pieces”
34. The govt (which promised an “oven-ready” deal on Brexit) said the deal had stalled
35. The govt (which said there were no down-sides to Brexit) agreed with the IMF that No Deal would mean a permanent 5% cut to GDP
36. The CBI said Covid19 left companies with “almost zero” resilience to No Deal
37. It is reported Boris Johnson shouted “Christ!” when told No Deal, on top of Covid, would lead to 3.5 million job losses
39. The govt refused to extend the transition period to avoid No Deal
39. In January, Boris Johnson agreed a Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and called it a “fantastic achievement”
40. Boris Johnson now says the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement he agreed is “defective” and wants to change it
41. Britons receiving German citizenship rose 2,300% last year
42. Boris Johnson said “I want to share all our working, our thinking, my thinking, with you, the British people.”
43. The govt is now facing a legal challenge from doctors and other health workers, because it refuses to order and inquiry into PPE shortages
44. And we still haven’t seen the report into Russian interference with the Brexit campaign
45. Boris Johnson said he is taking “direct control” of the handling of coronavirus (it is not clear who has been in control for the previous 132 days of the outbreak)
46. It was reported Boris Johnson takes naps for as much as 3 hours per working day
47. The UK govt now has the joint-lowest approval rating worldwide for how they have managed coronavirus
48. The govt said in March that a coronavirus death toll of 20,000 would be a “good result”
49. The ONS said excess deaths from coronavirus reached have now officially reached 64,000
50. Boris Johnson’s personal approval ratings have fallen 40% in 40 days
51. Boris Johnson said he was “very proud” of the govt response
52. It’s still only Tuesday
