“Test – Test – Test”- regardless …
There’s no end in sight if ‘Our MSM’ have anything to do with it! It’s tedious to find anything that isn’t about criticising Mr Hancock for everything PHE did wrong (more on that below), unless it’s criticising Mr Sunak and Mr Raab for everything they did. After all, ‘Our MSM’ must keep their ‘Project Fear&Hysteria’ going.
There’s one underlying theme in ‘Our MSM’ – and that is that government, that all those ‘culprits’, should have done what the discredited WHO told the world to do. This blind faith by ‘Our MSM’ in the wisdom of supranational institutions, without asking any questions, is something we know full well since 2016.
For example, Remain is still the religion of Whitehall Mandarins who advise all those hapless politicians who happen to become ministers. Woe to any Brexiteer in a ministerial chair! Their mandarins will never forget or forgive. A report in RemainCentral describes how the Chief Mandarin at the Foreign Office blamed ‘ministers’ – that’s Dominic Raab and Matt Hancock – for not entering into the EU ‘procurement effort’ to buy PPE and ventilators. He was asked about this at a select Committee hearing – and had to backtrack:
“Tom Tugendhat, the committee’s conservative chairman, asked Sir Simon whether it was a political decision by ministers. “It was a political decision,” he replied. “The UK mission briefed ministers about what was available, what was on offer, and the decision is known.” Later Sir Simon wrote to the committee saying: “Due to a misunderstanding I inadvertently and wrongly told the committee that ministers were briefed . . . on the EU scheme and took a political decision not to participate in it. This is incorrect.” (link, paywalled)
‘Incorrect’ is Mandarin-speak for ‘I lied’ – but RemainCentral could not resist to write anyway:
“There have been claims that Britain’s lack of involvement was motivated by Brexiteer ideology, which Downing Street denies.” (link, paywalled)
Obviously, they cannot bring themselves to ask if that Mandarin lied to the HoC select Committee because of ‘Remain ideology’. Equally obviously, like all Remain MSM, they cannot afford to delve into numbers, not even when it’s about our money going to Brussels. Our friends at facts4eu have published a devastating report yesterday, with numbers and graphs – here.
This report documents our ‘off-budget’ payments to the EU, payments which will go on regardless of us being Out. The sum is not negligible at all. It’s for ‘a good cause’, for ‘development’, see, like supporting refugee camps in Turkey!
You really ought to read the whole thing, but let me quote the devastating conclusion:
“At times like these, every £100 million the Government can spend is vital. It can have a real effect on people’s lives, whether it be used for buying PPE equipment to protect frontline health workers, or for payments to hard-working, self-employed people who will not otherwise be able to pay their bills at the end of the month. To report on £8.5 BILLION POUNDS of expenditure being wasted on the EU gives us no pleasure whatsoever.” (link)
Well, let’s hope that some on Mr Frost’s team are aware of this drain on our money and will put a stop to it!
As for ‘our fight’ against that virus: there’s a ‘secondary battlefront’ being opened, and that is about making people wear face masks when out. ‘Our scientific experts’ cannot bring themselves to say aye or nay – they’ve only come up with a ‘maybe’. Apparently ‘home-made’ masks (i.e. like tying a bandana across your nose and mouth) won’t protect you from infections but might slow the spread of CV-19 (link, paywalled).
‘Tis really difficult to make a right decision! We shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security by tying a piece of cloth across our face on the one hand but on the other, ‘real’ masks are needed for NHS staff and we shouldn’t deprive ‘Our Heroes’ from getting those.
In any case, opinions are divided – those experts have been meeting three times so far, to come to a conclusion. Now they are waiting for “WHO Guidance” (link, paywalled). Our experts, on which government relies, are so scared of putting a foot wrong, of being blamed across “Our MSM” for not following the WHO, that they prefer not to make a decision at all.
Just as the blessed EU cannot do wrong in the eyes of Remain so, in the eyes of ‘Our MSM’, the discredited WHO cannot do wrong. That’s the same WHO who told us to ‘test-test-test’, a strategy taken up by ‘Our MSM’ to clobber government with.
Now though there are two reports in the DT about PHE and those tests. These come under ‘you really couldn’t make it up!’. In the first report we read that:
“Coronavirus tests given to thousands of NHS staff so they could return to work have been found to be flawed and should no longer be relied on, a leaked document reveals. The memo from Public Health England (PHE), sent earlier this month [April 11th], warns of “degraded” performance, meaning the results are less reliable than first thought. […] It raises the prospect that thousands of NHS nurses and doctors who were told they were free of coronavirus may have been sent back to work while they were contagious. In other cases, those found to be positive may assume they have developed antibodies to the virus when in fact they have never had it.” (link)
That raises the grisly question of NHS personnel unwittingly infecting their co-workers. Perhaps the death of NHS doctors and nurses, reported in ‘Our MSM’, is due to the fact that the PHE tests failed, rather than the virus sweeping the whole country, locked down or not. There’s more:
“All PHE’s 12 centres have been told to stop using the existing tests by Thursday [April 23rd], instead using checks supplied by commercial firms. NHS laboratories still using the method have been told any uncertain results must be double-checked until all have switched to only using such kits. The PHE memo […] warns of “quality assurance difficulties” in the programme, saying shortages of swabs and transport led to local variations in the way the national scheme has been run. It says enzyme performance in the tests had degraded since the results were originally validated.” (link)
So now commercial tests are acceptable! We recall that some of them, having been bought in, have had to be returned because they were contaminated. Remember though: this is not the fault of PHE or NHS lab staff – it’s only and exclusively the fault of Matt Hancock. He ought to have checked those enzymes personally …
The second report in the DT describes how in January (!), at the start of the outbreak, government scientists developed a ‘gold standard test for CV-19′. It was the scaling-up to mass production which seems to have led to this debacle:
“The original PHE tests, according to a memo sent by its senior lab team, were less reliable than first thought, struggling under the strain of mass reproduction. […] The problems, says the PHE, were first detected in March and showed that its effectiveness at the beginning was not matched in the mass roll out.” (link)
Note well that PHE detected those problems in March (!) – at the time when the whole MSM pack was clamouring the government had to do as the WHO told them to and ‘test-test-test’. Next, here’s the PHE’s rowing-back ‘excuse’ – it was ‘the plan’ all the time:
“The fact the PHE test is now being ditched in favour of the commercial kits is not a shock. The system is supposed to work that way, with PHE accepting that its home-grown kit is always intended as a stopgap until the commercial kits come on stream.” (link)
As these tests were run in PHE labs as opposed to private, commercial ones, it looks to me as if PHE should carry the can for this failure – but what do I know! And now ‘Our NHS’ is rolling out mass tests for NHS workers, according to an article in The Times. You have to savour this quote:
“Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said that checks on asymptomatic staff were part of the plan to hit a target of 100,000 tests a day, which is coming under increasing scrutiny as the amount of wasted laboratory time grows. Downing Street has insisted that it has confidence in Mr Hancock and has backed the target. More than half the country’s testing capacity is still going unused despite tens of thousands of NHS staff being forced to self-isolate.” (link, paywalled)
Ah – it’s all ‘part of the plan’: to hand over testing by PHE to commercial outfits, to test ‘asymptomatic’ NHS staff – who may be asymptomatic because of failed PHE tests. Is ‘lab time wasted’ due to the test problems PHE has flagged up, since March? The Times surely could have found out! Instead they and the massed MSM are baying for the scalp of Mr Hancock. I suspect that he’ll be out of his job as soon as Johnson is back in No10.
Meanwhile, ‘our scientists’ at Imperial College London, ‘providers’ of ‘that model’, are counselling that the age cohort of 60-70 year olds should also stay in self-isolation, for as long as the over-70s (link, paywalled). Why not put all the other ‘vulnerable’ people under house arrest as well? Like those with diabetes, high blood pressure, being overweight? Their GPs will have the data and can hand them over to plod, no?
Hurrah for getting closer to a society which only “The Healthy” are allowed to enjoy, a society governed by scientists and doctors, by “Our Sacred Cow”. Who needs democracy, who needs Parliament …
For me, until they remove my internet connection from my cold, dead hands, it’s
KBO!
this mask wearing thing is not to prevent anything as it won’t , its to make the public subservient . This situation must be stopped NOW
Mask Civil Disobedience? If we all refuse to wear one they couldn’t do anything about it. Unfortunately the “we” is very small still as most of the public are mainlining the KoolAid.
Hi Viv – Have you seen this – https://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2020/04/22/slogs-contrick19-claim-vindicated-by-2018-us-flu-data/
Yes, I have – I’m getting his blog entries delivered via email.
THE TEST FOR PM JOHNSON IS YET TO COME ! ….. His hope of good offices from the likes of PHE and the WHO have some black marks to it, and the UN should be under some real evaluation too. – These are all the business of Political Heads, whilst the pandemic is positively for advice from the the Medics, to Political game changers in the world’s Nations.
The MSM here in the UK should certainly be left well alone by Politicos, but should be evaluated by all individuals thinking of buying these comics ! – I include also the many Broadcasting arms of the MSM, as I don’t consider that the Public have been well served ! – Any of us, with the advantage of hind-sight, are able to criticise. – Holding a Degree is unnecessary for such as that !
So it’s a hoax!?
Well it’s not quite that simple. But TESTING in the US has just revealed a surprising number of CCP Virus survivors.
With the numbers of symptomless survivors known the total survival rate in the general population can be accurately established.
This gets round the confusion (if that’s what it really is) of people dying with, from or something else like the common cold misdiagnosed as the Chinese Communist Party Virus.
Perhaps our ‘experts’ here in the UK will now be able to overcome their ‘struggle’ to get to grips with testing?
The China way as I recall was to move the “vulnerable” to “isolation camps” “kicking and screaming” if they were capable. That “knock on the door” it will happen. It seems some on this website may be in favour of as a minimum “house arrest”. The GPs have the “data” so why not! Unfortunately most of the readership here will be “vulnerable” as it is now 50 years and over on the radio this morning. Everyone is “guilty” until proved innocent until you test positive with a test that is not “reliable”. The “ultimate” horror movie.
So Sir Simon McDonald changed his tune after saying a decision not to buy PPE was ‘political’. I wonder if someone took him aside and asked him if he wanted to keep his job …
A civil servant, at risk of dismissal? Pull the other one!
When Call Me Matt was Minister for Energy and Climate Change he came within two weeks of crashing the Grid. The timely arrival of two bulk gas carriers avoided the crisis but it was a very narrow squeak. He is an amiable and polite young man — although he got testy with me a couple of times which was rather the point, I was trying to get him to see that Con energy policy was and is dangerous. On current figures and assuming we avoid repeat waves of infection, excess winter deaths caused by unnecessarily expensive energy will exceed the CV numbers if you add up a few bad years’ worth of old people turning down the heat in order to eat. But true to form he was quickly moved on, so he will avoid the blame if the Grid crash comes.
The most disturbing aspect of CMM’s personality is his shameless ability to lie with conviction, but he is, after all, a professional politician. A dedicated Remainer under Mrs May, he denied this flat-out on Radio Suffolk, no no, always knew that etc etc… We talk about politicians who will say and do anything to climb the greasy pole, but to encounter it in real life was shocking. Still, you can’t deny that it’s an effective technique,,, until the virus hits the PPE.
JF
Very well said! It is being said that it is PHE and other “experts” that are responsible for the shambles that is threatening to engulf us. I do not doubt that they are being particularly bureaucratic in order to preserve their own empires.
But…. if the Health Secretary is not able to do anything to rein in the damaging stupidity being perpetrated by these people, then what is the point of having politicians in charge of Ministries? Why do we have 650 expensive MPs if unelected civil servants and quangos are unassailable? Who actually governs Britain? We could save the taxpayer a great deal of money by getting this point sorted out!
I do not think that CMM is up to the job. But…. neither do I think that Boris chose his cabinet for their brains. Rather, he chose them for their docility!
The remain gang that told us Brexit was the end of civilisation as we know it (WW3, super gonerrhea, no sandwiches etc etc) are not the first people we should listen to for life and death medical information. They have ‘previous’ as the police say.
PHE is clearly unfit for purpose and has been for a long time. Time that we were rid of it. As for ongoing contributions to those EU institutions they have to be stopped; the money is needed at home.
The restoration of a proper Treason and Sedition Law also covering unwarranted / secretive financial contributions to foreign entities would be a great step forward. I’m beginning to think that the Swiss model of referendums on potentially controversial matters is a good one.
With the civil Service the answer always sounds right, irrespective of reality. This evil is extending to newspapers. The Times must join the Mirror, Guardian, and Observer,and other truthless papers now habitually left on the shelves.. I believe that the Telegraph actually tries very hard to be even handed. Also in a more sensationalised way, so does the Express. I used to read the journalistic content of the FT. Not now.
I did try , once a month, read the worst, to gain balance
I must thank you all at ID for revealing the trickery that now seems part of journalism spread from the Civil Service.
The whole testing issue appears to be in a mess. The figures that are generated from testing are completely unreliable. This is what is coming across loud and clear.
How can people trust what they hear anymore?
Will people be rushing out to buy newspapers anymore?
Can people still trust the Conservatives and not why not? It isn’t just the Chinese virus it is all the commitments to the EU and the reliance WHO (UN). It only seems to get worse.
These are old questions but they still seem so very relevant to me. There are two which may have deeper implications than just their implied short term choice.
Will there be a backlash towards China with regard trade, product and trust? Will consumerism be reduced where people think more about how they spend their money in the future?
“Why not put all the other ‘vulnerable’ people under house arrest as well?”
That would mean admitting the virus is mainly killing (or present in at time of death more like ) people with serious UHC not even elderly as such and everyone else has little to fear.
Meanwhile, under the cover of the supposed COVID-19 pandemic and using it as an excuse:
“Fed opens dollar swap lines for nine additional foreign central banks”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-fed-swaps-idUSKBN2162AX
So the Fed is printing trillions and funneling a lot of it to various other Central Banks internationally to buy assets: where does this end.
I’ll leave you all to decide what you think about this, answers above.
My ultimate conclusion, regardless of what happens in the meantime, is that as the US and China race to buy up international assets worldwide, it’ll ultimately bring the US and the West into conflict with China.
It’s always money that is the hidden root cause of a world war.
Just a short reply to get it off my chest. The story about Sir Simon and the Select Committee is now lead story this morning on the radio just before the first PMQs today with the Rabb at the “despatch box”. As an ex-civil servant people at this level permanent secretary are very intelligent people and know exactly what they are saying and the consequences. Sir Keir has an “open goal” today. Another “employment tribunal” to follow as I suspect some choice words were said after the Committee?