The Conservative Party

[metalblue]

There isn’t any evidence either way yet, as you say, hopefully now it will come out. That and the three cases already underway.

On the VIP lane, how could it be used by all Mps when they didn’t even know about it’s existence? It was never told to parliament or the House of Lords as a whole, only to select groups and across government - why do you think it got so much publicity when the NAO reported on its existence and the Lib Dem’s and Labour, let alone potential suppliers, kicked off about it?

Yes it was essentially a Tory only pipeline, that’s the controversy!

I’ve spent a bit of time looking into this as this would for me, be a government resigning event and I would expect to find a lot of damming evidence. You said there was loads of publicity about it but I can’t find any to support this assertion at all. Would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction please?

The cross party parliamentary debate chaired Angela Eagle (Labour) has following extract

“Far from being a ‘secret referrals lane’, this mailbox was in part a triage for directing more credible leads, and in part an engagement/communication tool for managing correspondence from parliamentarians of all colours, including Opposition MPs. As the NAO itself says, it was right that we looked to sift credible PPE offers from others.”

This does not appear to be ever challenged or disputed. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speec...rks-on-westminster-hall-debate-on-procurement

Part of debate shows Dan Carden refusing to respond to Jane Hunts intervention. Source: https://www.parallelparliament.co.u...799C/Covid-19NAOReportOnGovernmentProcurement which if she was wrong he would have had her on that surely?

Otherwise I can’t really find anything either way.

This is the £10bn like for like cost increase I promised https://www.thenational.scot/news/18895629.uk-overpaid-ppe-10-billion-watchdog-finds/

 

[metalblue]

They overpaid because they had failed to maintain stockpiles of PPE and actually failed to have any PPE to handle High Consequence Infectious Diseases. (Despite that being a recommendation of their own Cygnus and Cygnet Report in 2016)

As ever with the Conservatives

• Create a problem
• Listen to the noise caused by the problem.
• Throw a load of money to solve the problem (usually to their mates)
• Claim the praise for solving the problem that they created in the first place.

and yet some people are so blinkered that they cant see that this is what they do.

I think the UK was one of only 3 or 4 countries that had PPE stockpiles at all. There was only one country globally that didn’t struggle with sourcing at all (Thailand IIRC and that is believed due to domestic production).

So I don’t think you can say this is a conservative problem. It’s just a problem of the interconnected nature of global trade. Initial government thoughts were the stockpiles we had would suffice (this thought process disappeared in March when the scale of the problem was starting to be understood)

That said if they knew we were ill equipped then they should have implemented the recommendations else what’s the point in doing it? What were the actual recommendations of that report?

 

[metalblue]

Grandiose schemes tend to be the work of a certain type of politician. A man who can come up with the vainglorious plan to build a bridge with a garden on it across the Thames or a man who can reimagine his capital as being the new Rome.

I have said before the whole point of his becoming PM was not to serve the country, but to get his name on the Eton honours board. Then he can boast to his hearts content over his achievements. Vainglorious men however earn the scorn of wise men, the admiration of fools, become the idol of flatterers, and are slaves of their own pride. I doubt very much he will be remembered with affection, he will be cast aside by his party when his usefulness ends and he will suffer ignominy and opprobrium. I don't believe he is mentally ill, I believe he is puffed up with his own self importance and genuinely believes he is doing a wonderful job, the job he always expected would be his.

The sooner the man goes the better, the sooner his lickspittles disappear with him and the sooner the country can have some of its sanity back. He has been an unmitigated disaster and will enter the Hall of Prime Ministerial infamy and take his place in the gallery of shame. A man driven by self interest and righteous entitlement has through his own idleness, lack of compassion and vacuity of common decency and morality was never the man who should have been in charge when the proverbial shit hit the fan, He lacks the gravitas and seriousness to do the most important job in the country and he has failed on an epic scale and no amount of caveats will alter the fact over 100,000 people have needlessly died on his watch.

You have to say if anyone would actually do this it would be Boris .... but its hard to see the value in doing any of it.

 

[meltonblue]

I’ve spent a bit of time looking into this as this would for me, be a government resigning event and I would expect to find a lot of damming evidence. You said there was loads of publicity about it but I can’t find any to support this assertion at all. Would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction please?

The cross party parliamentary debate chaired Angela Eagle (Labour) has following extract

“Far from being a ‘secret referrals lane’, this mailbox was in part a triage for directing more credible leads, and in part an engagement/communication tool for managing correspondence from parliamentarians of all colours, including Opposition MPs. As the NAO itself says, it was right that we looked to sift credible PPE offers from others.”

This does not appear to be ever challenged or disputed. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speec...rks-on-westminster-hall-debate-on-procurement

Part of debate shows Dan Carden refusing to respond to Jane Hunts intervention. Source: https://www.parallelparliament.co.u...799C/Covid-19NAOReportOnGovernmentProcurement which if she was wrong he would have had her on that surely?

Otherwise I can’t really find anything either way.

This is the £10bn like for like cost increase I promised https://www.thenational.scot/news/18895629.uk-overpaid-ppe-10-billion-watchdog-finds/

On the first point, any newspaper report on the audit when it came out at the time, just google high priority lane PPE and you should find plenty of links. The government response about who used it said this -

“The cross-Government PPE team of officials considered that leads referred by Government officials, Ministerial private offices, Parliamentarians, senior National Health Service staff and other health professionals were likely to be the more credible and needed to be initially reviewed with more urgency. This was widely advertised across Government as a way of more quickly triaging offers of support. This was commonly referred to as a ‘priority’ or ‘VIP’ channel.”

Note there, cross government, not cross parliament.

With the debate, I think you need to read the whole thing as that shows opposition MPs didn’t know of the existence of a separate referral channel. Hunts intervention doesn’t change that. On the closing remarks and the secret referrals lane, you won’t find a challenge as it is closing remarks...Again though, you need to read that properly. She doesn’t say that it was a lane known to everyone, she says that it was used as a triage for directing more credible leads - so as per one of the questions raised in the debate, who decided that and how did it get into that lane. Managing correspondence to all opposition MPs again is a loose description as is that reactive or proactive.

Flip your point around, all they needed to say was that the high priority lane email was available and used by all. There’s a reason they didn’t say that though and why there are all the questions and points raised in that debate you linked to.

I don’t see the existence of it in particular as a government resigning event as such, if I was a supplier in certain constituencies I’d be very angry about it and it’s a grossly unfair way of doing it though.

What would be resigning for me depends on the outputs of who was awarded contracts via that lane.

 

[meltonblue]

On the first point, any newspaper report on the audit when it came out at the time, just google high priority lane PPE and you should find plenty of links. The government response about who used it said this -

“The cross-Government PPE team of officials considered that leads referred by Government officials, Ministerial private offices, Parliamentarians, senior National Health Service staff and other health professionals were likely to be the more credible and needed to be initially reviewed with more urgency. This was widely advertised across Government as a way of more quickly triaging offers of support. This was commonly referred to as a ‘priority’ or ‘VIP’ channel.”

Note there, cross government, not cross parliament.

With the debate, I think you need to read the whole thing as that shows opposition MPs didn’t know of the existence of a separate referral channel. Hunts intervention doesn’t change that. On the closing remarks and the secret referrals lane, you won’t find a challenge as it is closing remarks...Again though, you need to read that properly. She doesn’t say that it was a lane known to everyone, she says that it was used as a triage for directing more credible leads - so as per one of the questions raised in the debate, who decided that and how did it get into that lane. Managing correspondence to all opposition MPs again is a loose description as is that reactive or proactive.

Flip your point around, all they needed to say was that the high priority lane email was available and used by all. There’s a reason they didn’t say that though and why there are all the questions and points raised in that debate you linked to.

I don’t see the existence of it in particular as a government resigning event as such, if I was a supplier in certain constituencies I’d be very angry about it and it’s a grossly unfair way of doing it though.

What would be resigning for me depends on the outputs of who was awarded contracts via that lane.

Just to add on this, the opening remarks even include this -

“What is perhaps most remarkable is that Ministers actually created a VIP high-priority lane for companies bidding for contracts, which were put forward by Government officials, Ministers’ offices, MPs and Members of the House of Lords. It is not just a perception of cronyism; we now know that the system was rigged, with privileged access granted to companies with connections to top politicians. These favoured companies were 10 times more likely to be successful than those without political connections. This flies in face of one of the key principles of procurement: that suppliers should be on a level playing field. If this happened in any other country, we would call it corruption.”

So it clearly wasn’t known about.

 

[Rascal]

You have to say if anyone would actually do this it would be Boris .... but its hard to see the value in doing any of it.

I am sorry who is this person you speak off?

 

[Ifwecouldjust.......]

I am sorry who is this person you speak off?

I think he/ she is referring to Johnson .... the lying American

 

[Rascal]

I think he/ she is referring to Johnson .... the lying American

Ah! so he/she meant the indolent immoral philandering lying bumptious vainglorious American.

I do not call my Professor by his first name, so there is no way a man who I hold in utter contempt would ever see me using his preferred nom de plume.

 

[bluethrunthru]

Now they want a bigger trough

 

[dave_blue12]

Now they want a bigger trough

Maybe the other parties need to figure our how to tap into all that dodgy Russian money that flows into the Conservative party.

 

[bluemoon32]

It's only a joke...

 

[Vic]

Just to add on this, the opening remarks even include this -

“What is perhaps most remarkable is that Ministers actually created a VIP high-priority lane for companies bidding for contracts, which were put forward by Government officials, Ministers’ offices, MPs and Members of the House of Lords. It is not just a perception of cronyism; we now know that the system was rigged, with privileged access granted to companies with connections to top politicians. These favoured companies were 10 times more likely to be successful than those without political connections. This flies in face of one of the key principles of procurement: that suppliers should be on a level playing field. If this happened in any other country, we would call it corruption.”

So it clearly wasn’t known about.

Revealed: Cummings' role in handing Covid contract to firm run by 'friends' | Coronavirus | The Guardian

 

[bluethrunthru]

Revealed: Cummings' role in handing Covid contract to firm run by 'friends' | Coronavirus | The Guardian

Nothing to see here - move along please folks

On J O'B this morning the Good Law Project were going to court to get a cap put on costs because if they lost it could bankrupt them. The Govt response is 4 barristers and 8 solicitors will represent the Govt..........trying to frighten the Good Law Project and push costs even higher to make them back down................thats how this Govt see's the law

 

[bluethrunthru]

and another Brexit Tory triumph

World’s largest daffodil farm forced to let flowers rot in fields

Cornwall’s Varfell Farms doesn’t have enough pickers as Cornish workers don’t last

www.cornwalllive.com

 

[Vic]

and another Brexit Tory triumph

World’s largest daffodil farm forced to let flowers rot in fields

Cornwall’s Varfell Farms doesn’t have enough pickers as Cornish workers don’t last

www.cornwalllive.com

That's the price of your Mother's Day daffs going up. Just have to raid those central reservations.

 

[bluethrunthru]

That's the price of your Mother's Day daffs going up. Just have to raid those central reservations.

Sadly my mum passed 15 years ago so I don't bother - however if I did with an arse the size of mine I'd be a danger to vehicles in the outside lane lol

 

[Ifwecouldjust.......]

That's the price of your Mother's Day daffs going up. Just have to raid those central reservations.

Solved with a late evening stroll through the local graveyard.

 

[blue cigar]

Nothing to see here - move along please folks

On J O'B this morning the Good Law Project were going to court to get a cap put on costs because if they lost it could bankrupt them. The Govt response is 4 barristers and 8 solicitors will represent the Govt..........trying to frighten the Good Law Project and push costs even higher to make them back down................thats how this Govt see's the law

And still the Tory voting clowns on here are silent. I wonder if they sleep well knowing they have enabled this government of backhanders and the high death toll because of sheer incompetence. Still, so long as they have a few quid and the shares are doing well that's all that matters.

 

[VOOMER]

and another Brexit Tory triumph

World’s largest daffodil farm forced to let flowers rot in fields

Cornwall’s Varfell Farms doesn’t have enough pickers as Cornish workers don’t last

www.cornwalllive.com

I, a Cornish native, worked hard for Varfell for many years. As soon as the Eastern European workers came we were suddenly out of work. Dont believe the 'lazy locals' rubbish, who do you think used to do the farm work before they came? The truth is that greedy farmers can't claw back 70% of wages in static caravan rent from a local. A local has a life that precludes working 10/12 hour days under floodlights, which modern farms demand. A local doesn't have their passport held back until end of season. 'A daffodil picker should be respected' he says.....funny how us locals never got respected for all those decades we made profits for them. I've applied for scores of picking jobs since Covid and haven't been offered a single one, despite vast experience. Profiteering is one thing, but slandering your country-men to justify it is vile.

 

[bluethrunthru]

I, a Cornish native, worked hard for Varfell for many years. As soon as the Eastern European workers came we were suddenly out of work. Dont believe the 'lazy locals' rubbish, who do you think used to do the farm work before they came? The truth is that greedy farmers can't claw back 70% of wages in static caravan rent from a local. A local has a life that precludes working 10/12 hour days under floodlights, which modern farms demand. A local doesn't have their passport held back until end of season. 'A daffodil picker should be respected' he says.....funny how us locals never got respected for all those decades we made profits for them. I've applied for scores of picking jobs since Covid and haven't been offered a single one, despite vast experience. Profiteering is one thing, but slandering your country-men to justify it is vile.

except it doesn't say "lazy locals" does it? The owner describes hard work in harsh conditions and says local recruits can only hack it for a couple of days before giving up. Thats not being lazy thats finding out a job is not for you. Say you got a job on an ice cream stall and after a couple of days you decided its not for you is that you being lazy or choosing not to do something that doesn't suit?
In any event thanks to the effects of Covid on tourism and Brexit on fishing Cornish unemployment rates are right up there - you would have thought people would be beating a path to his door to get 3 months paid work. I don't imagine getting soaked bending over cutting flowers is any more back breaking nor dryer than working on the deck of a trawler.
There is a reason why all this work went to EU workers who came over to do it for a season - the locals had better paid easier jobs to do that they preferred. All over rural England this will happen as crops go unharvested because of a lack of pickers.