Health Secretary Hancock protests indignantly about the High Court judgement against him in three cases where PPE contracts were granted during the pandemic without competition and announcement delayed until long after the time period required under the regulations. His excuse based on urgency created by the pandemic seems plausible enough . However he might do better to tread more carefully in what may well prove to be a minefield, in the interests of his own future credibility. The purpose behind the regulations is transparency, in particular to ensure there is no suspicion of bias in the awarding of public contracts. This suspicion is aroused in at least one of the three cases concerned where a contract worth £252m was awarded to a tiny company founded by an associate of a Minister.
Your last gasp?
There are other such cases before the courts, including one where the beneficiary company was owned by friends of Michael Grove and Dominic Cummings, who was responsible for awarding the contract. If, as seems possible, findings against the government in this and other cases reveal the awarding of contracts at excessive prices, to firms unfitted to fulfil their commitments and resulting in huge waste of public money , the full extent of ‘chumocracy’, verging on corruption, within the Cabinet Office during the first wave of the pandemic will come to light.
In fact, there are grounds for suspicion that the Cabinet office, far from being desperately overworked in trying to find suppliers of PPE and other essential equipment at that time, may actually have obstructed some offers of supply. Could it be that they were seeking to avoid granting contracts to suppliers outside their own circle, preferring to wait until a favoured producer turned up? If that were so, the Cabinet Office is guilty of actually impeding the NHS in its war against the pandemic.
60 days of Brexit and the massive success stories of Brexit keep coming in. Here’s a roundup of recent news and fake news by The Express, Mail and Sun.
Brexit realities
Millions face economic shock from COVID. Brexit simply multiples the problem into the long term. See New Economics.
Meanwhile, Kent Police are involved in Operation Mask Brexit, drawing in thousands of Police officers from 33 forces to cover up the effects of Brexit on borders, ports and roads.
Steve Cock, who runs a customs consultancy, regularly sees lorry drivers forced to stay in his firm’s car park at Ashford for several nights because they do not have the right paperwork to get into Europe. Such confusion is echoed by the Road Haulage Association (RHA), which says that 50-60 per cent of freight vehicles are leaving the UK empty. A haulage source was blunt: “We have become the world leader in exporting fresh air.”
There’s still time to make your mark on Boris Johnson’s awful Junta. Please follow the links below and help us chart Dying for Boris this week.
Daphne Franks writes in The Craven Herald about the realities of clapping for carers versus the hard realities of paying key workers properly. If you care about carers vote the Tories out on May 6th in the local elections.
“We need our nurses. They care for us. We need to care for them”.
A stitch in time saves nine
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Masking Brexit 1984 style
The media are now running ads to tell people how well Brexit is going. The ads are not paid for by Russian oligarchs or our enemies, but by OUR Government !!
+UPDATE+
U.K. govt paying British newspapers & media outlets large sums of money to run pro Govt fake news items telling the population what a success Brexit has been.
Don’t die for Boris – download the song and take back control of our media – click on the image to find all options to bugger Brexit
A number of people are suggesting myself and others in the shellfish industry have been lazy, stupid (or both) for not being ‘prepared’ for the carnage Brexit has caused on the shellfish export industry. If we predicted this, why weren’t we ready? 1/9
You know we have reached rock bottom when businesses ask Michael Gove for help with Brexit. The Gove – Johnson marriage of convenience is clearly under strain now that Johnson has put unelected mediocre bureaucrat “Sir” David Frost into the cabinet to fight Gove.
Distraction and gaslighting
Andrew Bridgen wants us to drink “Peckham Spring Water” and not that “smelly Euro water”. Satire made real in his letter to the House of Commons to distract us from Brexit realities.
Peckham Spring
Get your copy of our book on Brexorcism – click on the extract
With thanks to Irina Fridman, Mike Cashman, Peter Daws, Helga Perry, Lisa Lanfranchi, Daphne Franks, Adrian Ekins-Daukes, Heike Wilms, Louise Hunter, Martin Housden, Carol Fraser, Paul Bowers and Susanna Leislle.
EU rules on some types of shellfish leave UK fishers ‘devastated’.
By Adrian Ekins-Daukes
Fishers around the UK have been “devastated” by fresh problems with exporting their produce to the EU, after the government admitted that exports of live mussels, oysters, scallops and certain other shellfish would be subject to ongoing restrictions.
Those are all classified as “live bivalve molluscs” – a category which also includes cockles and clams. Under longstanding EU rules, catches of live bivalve molluscs from non-EU member states can only be imported without treatment if they come from waters deemed of the highest quality. Vessels from non-EU states also cannot land live bivalve molluscs in EU ports.
These rules have closed off many exports of live bivalve molluscs from the UK, since Brexit took full effect. The market for such shellfish is a small and specialist one, valued at less than £12m a year, but for the small number of fishers who operate in it, it is often their main livelihood.
Selfish Shellfish? Click on the image to Re-Boot Britain
The rules, and the disruption their enforcement has caused for fishers, cannot be termed a “teething problem” as other red tape has been, because they will apply permanently under Brexit unless the government can forge a fresh agreement with the EU to make exceptions for UK produce.
The fishing industry called on the government to do more to try to resolve the problem. Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said: “This is devastating for those involved, and it cannot be left as a closed issue. Those of our members who produce mussels and cockles in particular are affected and are very seriously impacted – no exports to the EU as the UK is now a third country. This has to be sorted at government-to-government level and our understanding is that talks are under way, but so far without producing a satisfactory outcome.”
Alistair Sinclair, chair of the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation, blamed the French president, Emmanuel Macron, as well as the UK government for the difficulties, and warned that they were a foretaste of future negotiations. “This is possibly a demonstration of the difficulties that lie ahead Throughout the whole run-up to Brexit, our voice was not considered by the Scottish government and indeed the Tory grandees.”
Fishers could try to comply with the regulations by taking on further processing of the molluscs, to gain the health certification necessary for exports, but this can be costly and time-consuming. Many had hoped that the Brexit agreement would allow for their exports to continue. The EU is the main market for many such specialist fishers.
Brexit was sold on the promise of fish and ships
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Live bivalve molluscs such as oysters, mussels, clams, cockles and scallops can continue to be exported to the EU if they’re harvested from class A waters or cleaned, or have cleared end product testing in the UK. We will continue to raise the issue of live bivalve molluscs not ready for human consumption with the EU, to ensure the trade can continue securely.”
The European commission confirmed that the requirements were not temporary, and were applicable to all such shellfish imported from the UK.
Most of the fisheries affected are in England and Wales. Exports of bivalve molluscs are worth less than £12m a year, of which clams make up more than half, with oysters and mussels worth about £2.7m each. Defra said it could not estimate how much of this market would be affected as some are subject to “depuration” which would allow their export to continue.
The author
All at sea with Brexit?
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During the 2019 general election campaign, the Conservatives rebranded their official Twitter account as “factcheckUK” during the televised leaders’ debate and used it to publish anti-Labour posts. The inconspicuous Twitter handle remained as @CCHQPress, but all other branding was changed to look like an independent factchecking outlet. It was not obvious to an individual glancing at the account’s tweets in their feed that it came from Conservative party HQ. The public have increasingly turned to factchecking websites, such as the independent Full Fact, the BBC’s Reality Check, Channel 4 News’ FactCheck and the Guardian’s Factcheck, to verify claims made by politicians. Changing the site’s logo to hide its political origins, and using it to push pro-Tory material was a thus flagrant attempt to deceive voters. This was not the only case of malpractice by the Tory digital team. Other examples included a bogus website presented as Labour’s manifesto, and an interview with Keir Starmer, then Labour’s Brexit spokesperson, edited to make it appear he was unable to answer questions about the party’s policy on leaving the EU.
Topham and Guerin
The PR unit behind these deceitful stunts was Topham Guerin, a New Zealand digital team signed up by Isaac Levido, the Tory campaign leader. They were not in the least abashed by the criticism of their tactics, declaring that that the success in spreading the Tory message was well worth the controversy it aroused. After the election, Levido, was ennobled and in March 2020 Topham Guerin received a £3m Covid 19 contract from the Cabinet Office, without competitive tender, to work on the government’s public communications on the pandemic. According to PR Week’s site, they still play a key role in managing No10’s social media and digital output.
With the local elections coming:
Don’t believe anything Boris Johnson says
Don’t believe his Ministers
Don’t believe anyone speaking for the Conservative Party
It’s all been masterminded by experts in spin and deceit. And it’s all specially designed to fool YOU.
So, remain particularly alert for Tory fake news at this time !
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In this Dead Cat Special, “The Daily Maul” features the news that our Government want to you read whilst the nation sleepwalks deeper into fascism every day ….
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In the wake of absolute Brexit destruction, The Daily Excess reports on distraction via “Sovrinty”. Excess readers are easily fooled with colourful stories. Are you?
One year ago, COVID was put in the microwave oven by Boris Johnson. Let’s undertake some reflections on a year of unprecedented and unnecessary death, dither and delay.
“Dirty migrants bring disease” – Johnson
Boris Johnson reports that the third wave of COVID will “arrive on our shores” like unwanted migrants, in an attempt to sidestep responsibility for Stanley Johnson, who continues to exercise freedom of movement to service his Greek villa. Whilst the rest of us face a £5000 fine for going on holiday. Our Government now resembles the cast of “Dallas” in terms of policy making based on the needs of the Johnson family circle.
Priti Patel defends the breaking of international law on BBC Radio 4 – Click to read the latest on asylum policy
Priti Patel announcing her new headless plan for immigration on #r4today…
Hold tight, friends, I know it's awful. I'm going to try to take these proposals point by point. https://t.co/JgzoYDNKkk
We are also reminded that Johnson was more interested in hiding in fridges and minting Brexit 50 pence coins than listening to experts. When other world leaders were listening to scientists, Johnson was listening to Winston Churchill speeches at Chequers. The impact in Britain has been “world beating” deaths approaching 130 000 and probably nearly as many unnecessary additional deaths. We continue to have no plan for the future, except distraction via flag shagging, purchase of tanks and nukes and the ceremonial decoration of No 10 Downing Street for propaganda purposes.
A stitch up out of time saves no-one
Denial is not a river in Egypt
Mike Cashman has articulated the stages of Brexit awareness. Many are still at “stage zero”, believing that Brexit is either a boost to Britain or of no consequence, as the impacts have been masked by COVID:
Brexit has been harmful Brexit has no significant benefits Brexit was a mistake The Brexit mistake was predictable The Brexit consequences are the inevitable result of the “Deal” The Brexit leaders misled us The Tories are still misleading us The Tories have been damaging the UK The Tories are not fit to govern
The provision of inconvenient facts demonstrate that Brexit is a much bigger long term destructive force for Britain. Much bigger and deeper than COVID, but more “slow motion”.
Click to read the full article
Check out Edwin Hayward’s running log of Brexit impacts via Google. What will happen on April Brexit Fools’ Day?
At a basic level, read this story of someone who bought a racing bike from Poland, having been told by Gov.uk that there would be no tariffs who now finds himself having to pay £2000 more to receive the bike and £1000 to return it.
In the Falklands, their economy is being wiped out by tariffs applied to seafood and lamb. Reports also indicate that there are signs that this makes the security of the Falklands (and Gibraltar etc.) less certain.
Women, know your place
Meanwhile the country is gaslit by talk of riots amidst the peaceful protests by women in Bristol. Mysteriously, the Police withdraw their statement of injuries. This report presents an interesting view on the protest. It is enough of an outrage that the police should be involved in the murder case but beyond belief that they may have been involved in gaslighting activities to distract people from the murder.
Image by Cold War
Back to the “Good Old Days”
Northern Ireland are beginning to understand the impact of Brexit on the resurgence of what was euphemistically describe as “the troubles”. We warned Johnson and his Government of this but clearly he may as well have said “Fuck Northern Ireland” as well as “Fuck Business”.
‘Nobody off-limits’.
Won’t be ‘nobody’.
Will be a human being.
With a life to live, with hopes and dreams, and a family destroyed forever.
Join us every Monday at 8 pm for our regular event and 7 pm for induction
Distraction politics
Meanwhile the real wars are in the race to have the best presidential style briefing platform, as Johnson spends an eye watering £2.6 million on home improvements for 10 Downing Street. All furniture is to be sourced from Ikea as this tweet shows.
The other popular bloodsport in Brexit politics is to blame others for your own failures. Let’s remember that Britain has not exported a SINGLE VIAL of vaccine to other countries when we start pointing fingers at others. Even the Telegraph accept that Sir David Frost is not up to the job.
Relations with the EU desperately need improving – Frost can’t do it https://t.co/qld6ra6WWC
One year ago we were at the height of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Even before, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine was warning that acute care was struggling, emergency departments were under-resourced and overcrowded, and often outdated in terms of facilities and equipment. However, this article is intended to give a snapshot of conditions 12 months ago, not a full history of preceding events.
On 21 March 2020, 10 Downing Street put out the following statement on the situation :
“Our response has ensured that the NHS has been given all the support it needs to ensure everyone requiring treatment has received it, as well as providing protection to businesses and reassurance to workers. The PM has been at the helm of the response to this, providing leadership during this hugely challenging period for the whole nation.”
This complacent and self-congratulatory declaration was issued on a day when the television news featured distressed NHS workers in fear for their lives because protective equipment was either unfit for purpose or lacking altogether. It is false in every respect.
Far from being at the helm, PM Johnson spent much of February at his country retreat, Chequers, with Carrie Symonds, then his new fiancee. His occasional visits to London seemed more about social appearances and Conservative fundraising than the nation’s affairs. During January/February he missed five consecutive meetings of the emergency “Cobra“ Committee during when the pandemic had been on the agenda, Only on March 2 did he take over the chair, when the virus was firmly established. Then, for a further 3 weeks, he toyed with an impractical policy of herd immunity instead of immediate lockdown. This dithering cost over 20,000 lives and has probably cost more since that time.
Too little, too late – 2020 revisited
Regarding support for the NHS, a leaked email disclosed on 18 March 2020 that some hospitals were just 24 hours away from running out of protective equipment (PPE) for nurses and doctors. Shortages included visors, masks and gowns. and some other items had run out entirely. In another email, to directors of infection control, NHS England said that there were no visors left nationally, no long sleeve disposable gowns, only goggles suited for flu.
This situation was confirmed by television and newspaper interviews with hospital staff over this period. One hospital manager who confirmed his hospital did not have enough PPE equipment to last the next 24 hours said that they’d been told specialist respirator masks would soon run out nationally and only less suitable masks without visors were available. Eye protection and long sleeve aprons had run out and they were buying safety goggles from industrial wholesalers. The previous night he’d had to ration equipment across four wards – normally one ward would have held 10 times that amount. Asked what they made of the claims there was enough stock in the country, he added:
“We’ve been told for weeks that there’s stock, there isn’t”.
Towards the end of March, one regional NHS director of procurement said he was unable to get hold of any gowns from the NHS supply chain, exclaiming in desperation “God help us all.” The GMB union said the lack of PPE and testing for frontline workers was “a national crisis”. Ambulance workers were not being given access to PPE, even when being sent to treat patients suspected of having Covid-19.
The consequences for patients of the delays and lack of essential equipment was horrendous, especially for the elderly. Some hospitals were overwhelmed and a system, drawn up by the Governments chief advisors, was introduced to select which Covid patients should receive intensive treatment. This was a death sentence to anyone over 80 or with a serious underlying medical condition; in practice it was also applied to many over 60. These patients were consigned to death wards where they received little or no nursing treatment or even attention . Steps were taken to conceal this from the public, but some witnessed the conditions in which their dearest were to die.
The government failed completely to give the NHS and patients the support needed at the height of the crisis. Its ‘reassurance’ to NHS workers was non-existent.*
WARNING. This lie is being repeated up to the present day as the Government attempts to rewrite history.
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No deal no problem? At the time of writing there is still no date set to ratify the Brexit trade and cooperation agreement. If this continues, by end of this month, arrangements in the Brexit agreement become null and void. In the extreme, this would mean that Britain would have to trade on WTO terms, i.e. No Deal Brexit with tariffs and quotas on goods. You may ask “Why the delay in ratification?” Well, Boris Johnson continues to break international law. All agreements require trust and we are in negative equity on this commodity.
Trust is essential for all trade and business – The UK is not trustworthy
This will almost certainly be unpopular but I’d personally like No Deal Brexit now. It will give Brexiteers their lived experience and offer the quickest way back to EU Membership after we have disposed of the Brexit Junta. I argued for No Deal Brexit through most of 2020. I was assassinated by Remainers who followed the herd of National groups such as Best for Britain, The European Movement, some regional groups and individual Remain elite mouthpieces who said “No to No Deal”. In effect these people facilitated Brexit. As a result we have a Brexit deal that is the proverbial slow boiling frog. The government is also able to mask Brexit by claiming that COVID is the cause of any problems.
See Brexit Choices for more insights into our mistake as Remainers.
What we have now is a slow death. No deal is a sudden death. Both result in death but one is more painfully slow than the other. Take your pick.
THINGS TO DO
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