In an attempt to disentangle some of the discussion threads, I thought I'd start this one to pursue a comment on another.
So, please submit your examples of this Government's stunning competence.
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Best Government Ever
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The timing is odd. My guess is the report is all about how Russia's interference helped the Tories, so they gave a statement about how (and I think this is a rehash of an old story) Russia 'amplified' (I'm guessing they can't show Russia leaked it originally) a leaked document to help Labour and trying to paint it as Russian interference more generally.
We're out of Europe........ :-)
I'm intrigued...what part of us leaving Europe has shown competence? Bearing in mind 'competence' denotes an element of success and efficiency, and that it's been 4 years of divisive in-fighting since the referendum and despite having ended our EU membership, we're still not out of Europe by any definition, and have no idea to what extent and when we will be.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Of which, of course, there have been a few on both sides- coalitions, hung parliaments, minority governments. However, it is fair to say of the 21 elections since 1945, only 7 governments had a larger majority - and you could cling to the fact that two of those went on to lose the subsequent election.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Child poverty
There are around FOUR MILLION children living in poverty here in the UK
A staggering number.....that can't have been easy to achieve
But they have managed to pull it off
So well done Tories
Heroes one and allhttps://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/ending-child-poverty/what-is-child-poverty
Posted 6 months ago # -
Of which, of course, there have been a few on both sides- coalitions, hung parliaments, minority governments.
How many have their been where the winner did not go into government? I love how you're clinging to the notion we should judge government competence by the fact that they are in a position to govern, rather than by their record of actually governing. No cognitive dissonance here, move along please.
I'm hopeful this administration will set a new record for the largest governing majority to lose at the next election.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Well, I think we could agree they do have a certain gift for winning elections?
I am sure that as part of Vet School exam prep, ID, that you were told - "read the question". Tory Party competence in winning elections is not the subject of my query.
So ID - clearly you are unable to provide any items of evidence?
Posted 6 months ago # -
Gero - I always have a problem with poverty stats, because of the way they're calculated. They're really a measure of the distribution of wealth - which is well worth tracking, but there's the weird situation where North Korea has zero child poverty - because everybody is uniformly dirt poor, so nobody is at half the average level - whereas Lichtenstein has high levels of child poverty because most children have two yachts and a jet, whereas some children have to make do with one small yacht.
I'm making up nonsense, obvs, but the principle is sound. A government could do a cracking job, make us all much wealthier, but if the relative distribution of wealth goes the wrong way then the child poverty figure would go up - even if absolute poverty for the very poorest was actually much better than previously.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Describing poverty as some sort if comparative/percentage income is also at odds with the general perception of the word.
In some definition a now, it doesn't mean going without, it means there are a number of other people with much more.Same with foodbank use...if you smoke a pack of twenty and use a Food bank to feed your kids breakfast, that's a choice that's been facilitated by availability, not one of necessity.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Yes, we've left the EU
To date, there hasn't been a single announcement about what that actually means, in any area as far as I know
After over 4 years since the vote, you'd think they might've come up with something by now. Would have been a courtesy to mention it before the vote, so voters have some facts to work with
So, then and now, it's all about manipulation
Is that really the way to govern the lives of 66+ million people ?
Posted 6 months ago # -
According to the Independent the government has been releasing some of the details, mainly about promises and assurances it is going to renege on
Posted 6 months ago # -
we have physically left the club
No. We've ceased to be members of the club without actually leaving and we have no idea if we'll leave, when or to what extent but you've given such a broad remit to Johnson that whatever he does/is forced to do it'll be within the brief for Brexit you gave him. Congrats!
Posted 6 months ago # -
Same with foodbank use...if you smoke a pack of twenty and use a Food bank to feed your kids breakfast, that's a choice that's been facilitated by availability, not one of necessity.
My God, these food banks are the only thing keeping people smoking - they should be banned and the money given to the organisations helping the government stamp it out...like BAT.
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I, too, share your outrage that children in poverty in the UK aren't as poor as those in poverty in countries like North Korea.Posted 6 months ago # -
Sorry
I didn't realise child poverty was based on whether the child actually starved to death or not
So....let me get this right.....unless a child actually dies of hunger here in the UK then they were not really in poverty
And even then it was all down to bad parenting and not government policy
OK.....got it now
Thanks for clearing that upSo
There are 320,000 homeless people living here in the UK because they haven't got a second home to fall back on?
Parents can't afford to privately educate their children because they insist on buying fags
Child poverty is acceptable if you can blame the parents for making shit decisions with their Universal Credit
Poverty is a lifestyle choice
Just ask anybody down your local golf club.....they'll put you rightPosted 6 months ago # -
"Same with foodbank use...if you smoke a pack of twenty and use a Food bank to feed your kids breakfast, that's a choice that's been facilitated by availability, not one of necessity."
God give me strength. No-one with a brain, let alone a degree in a demanding subject like veterinary science, has any excuse for this lazy, stereotyping, blame-the-poor-because-the-tabloids-have-pointed-out-some-bad-examples thinking. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Our Supreme Oaf-in-Chief summed up the competence question quite nicely for himself the other day when he said, ‘The chief scientific adviser and the chief medical officer, give us advice, which we of course take very very seriously. But in the end decisions are taken by the elected politicians and we have to weigh the advice that we get.’ So much for follow the science.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Just to clarify something that was bugging me
The term "homeless" doesn't mean "sleeping rough". 92% of the homeless are "in forms of temporary accommodation after being accepted as homeless by their local authority" - ie, not enough money to mortgage or rent, or know people to help long-term
So, 25,000 sleeping rough (2018)
The headline figure makes it sound that 320k people are on the street, which is blatantly incorrect, and which makes the (accurate) headline implausible
It's a difficult figure to comprehend in, say, Cornwall - where there are just 53 sleeping rough & 429 technically homeless (2018 figures)
Not helped by muddled reporting such as:
https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/cornwall-more-homeless-streets-any-2492879.. which also says: "Across the UK, only London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Brighton had higher numbers of rough sleepers than Cornwall" - so exclude half the population for the headline
Posted 6 months ago # -
Grant Shapps today softening the 'it'll all be over by Christmas' announcement, saying it's the people's fault (not the Governments) if it isn't as it's all dependent on how we respond, and: “...how good and alert we are...”
Being 'alert' is no longer an ineffectual wishy-washy piece of rhetorical government nothingness...it's become a fucking KPI.
Posted 6 months ago # -
I think you'll find it's our fault for not locking down sooner - for goodness sake the Prime Minister had to tell us to do it otherwise we'd all still be working side by side now. Like it was the care homes fault they didn't tell the nasty NHS to keep their covid infected patients until they were better. Like it was the fault of the Grenfell residents to follow the tower block fire safety protocols - the unelected have a lot to answer for.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Like many others here, I am not particularly impressed by the present government.
However I am even less impressed by what appears to be on offer from the other side of the house.
Although some might wish that it were, our particular form of parliamentary democracy is not about having the best possible government. Nor is it about having a government which accurately represents the will of the people. Whether we like it or not, it is simply (and deliberately) about having the option of an alternative.
And the present situation demonstrates the consequence of this, which is not a party political point: any government is only as good as the opposition which holds it to account.
Posted 6 months ago #
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