is "sage" one of the worst named advisory group ever. We can't relay on them offering any sage advice, but with onions we can get stuffed
you could get rid of all theses posts and nothing bad would happen in the world. Just bring the functions back into government departments, get ministers to oversee and take responsibility for the functions and get ride of the arms length bodies. Huge savings
This performance is poor. There has been enough time since March to increase Lab capacity. The government said testing and then tracing were key and needed to be in place to allow schools to open up alongside opening the economy. They needed to increase capacity and then match the rationing of tests to clearly defined need. They should have used phamacy and GP's to undertake tests with extra trained people helping in these settings. Tracing should have been managed locally by Directors of Public Health. This would free government up to focus on lab capacity and strategic policy questions. Trying to operationalise these projects nationally through national web sites call centres and big regional testing centres was a classic error. At the centre you should only focus on what only you can do and let existing state organisations at a local level manage all the on the ground work.
i would lose the will to live if the went on another year
If I were negotiating this I would cancel the next round of meetings and send them a copy of a text of an agreement that is acceptable to us and then ask them to send back in writing the copied marked up para by para as either agreed, an alternative text which they believe we can agree in line with our known red lines. You set a 2 week time limit for the written reply. You publish the original text and the alternative reply. You then have a session with a respected mediator with both parties with the aim of resolving all matters. At the end of that session there is a short cooling off period and then a short session either achieving an agreement or there is an agreement to disagree.
What you do not issue mutual threats or continue negotiating back and forward as we have been. You do not allow the other side to try to use time or their threats to put the process under pressure.
well the economy is up and running and schools are open. We need to encourage social distancing and good hygiene and just then let the thing rip through the winter and kill whom ever it will. There is no point going on about it endlessly. We can't lock down again we will all be unemployed and starve, those under 50 seem to live through it ok, a percent of the rest, including me, will die, so what. You can't test everyone every day, you can't live without people working, you can't keep kids at home. There is nothing to be done. Would it not be better if the PM went on telly and said he is not able to stop the unstoppable and we just need to accept it.
in a free society employers and employees need to decide where it is best for people to work from. We live in a market economy and companies not governments will work this through. Right now lots of companies are saying stay at home, if safe for you and with IT and a good internet connection you can do your job as we would want it done. If long term a company can function well with people at home then cost savings on office accommodation makes economic sense. If teams need to meet there are ways for that to happen every now and again. I just don't know where people are coming from thinking they can tell organisations whats best for them and they should be in the office and by being there financially support the sandwich shop and the transport network.
if we want a good deal we should make a threat to rejoin, the though of having us back would drive them to it
I expect Cameron worked a lot harder than Boris. Cameron worked hard and took time out to relax and enjoy his family. Cameron built quiet an effective government with the LIB DEM's acting as a very active chairman of the board, keeping Ministers in their jobs for long periods and keeping all the moving parts together. He made a mess of things when he had a majority and tried to get the referendum out of the way and got nothing from his negotiations with europe.
Boris seems to be making every mistake in the book....he has got the wrong advisors and wrong people around him. He is not suited to the role in the times we are going through. Competence, detail and judgement are everything in the middle of this crisis. Big picture motivational talks and disruption are the last thing we need
someone seems to think Hannock is doing a good job.lol
Someone in our area in Berkshire was offered a test for the virus in scotland. They have run out of local tests and testing is being rationed because of lack of capacity.
Hank's law is "if Hannock says something is world class, it promptly falls apart"
The test and trace programme and the nhs app, are like that comedy car in the circus that drives onto the stage to a fanfare and every bit of it starts fall off as clowns run around collecting the bits.
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Opus