ForenSix Opposition - Politics in the Soon To Be Former UK in Autumn 2020

Sat on front bench today as the PM made his announcement on Covid restrictions in the regions. In Parliament l wore my new @Bunnymen Ocean rain face mask which arrived today. A posh Tory MP said to me “that’s a quaint face mask Angela” 😂 The Bunnymen quaint? 😳😝😝😝😝 pic.twitter.com/DVIpo6i1BY

— 🌈 Angela Rayner 🌈 (@AngelaRayner) October 12, 2020

at least Labour members voted for the white frivolous and fun deputy leader in great numbers - rather than for the best option Dawn Butler, because that is just what is needed right now

Nothing more quaint than getting butthurt about aging alternative bands

lol I was glad the possibly youngish person who retweeted this on my twitter dismissed them as a "90's band"

imo this kind of stanning is one of the worst possible looks for anybody over 16

https://i.imgur.com/9qMtCC3.jpg

xps good to see her priorities right when Duffield was in the Times saying she’d probably be killed because of her, eh, views on trans rights

Every time I think about the Dawn Butler result I get angry over again

Screaming from beneath the second wave

(lol)

Spare us the corona

never pls stop

johnson has previous with liverpool and he really, really loves to govern by trolling the libs, cf the grouse hunting thing

― Chip-vill-A (imago), Monday, 12 October 2020 bookmarkflaglink

all in very plain sight

― Chip-vill-A (imago), Monday, 12 October 2020 bookmarkflaglink

Wrong.

The contempt for anything above Watford is what is in plain sight.

New Perry Anderson:

https://newleftreview.org/issues/II125/articles/perry-anderson-ukania-perpetua

PA wheeling out degringolade for one more cheer from the real headz.

"when life gives you degringos, make degringolade"

sounds like a brand of dishwasher tablets

Read some large chunks of the Anderson just now. Great analysis. A knack for making the present moment sound like historical record. Little in the way of 'how we get out of this', perhaps because there are no easy escape routes

also he doesn't care, he's very old and very rich and lives in california where they have other concerns (he's also a bit #whocare abt trump)

goes for a jar with john lydon every week to scorn the brits and own the libs

I will do my best to read 10k posts on this and select the highlights to post #onhere because I love you all.

No surprises in the unemployment figs.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/13/uk-job-figures-why-there-is-worse-to-come

"At the start of September, there was still a lingering feelgood factor from August’s eat out to help out scheme..."

Fondly recalling the days when we’d all eat out to help out

Irony is dead https://t.co/lyfWVETpik

— Faiza Shaheen (@faizashaheen) October 13, 2020

And this is a report on Rishi's world beating arts fund:

"Twitter has been alive with effusive statements of gratitude from arts organisations across the country – because publicly welcoming the funding was a condition of receiving it..."https://t.co/om4WnUku4B

— ellie clare taylor (@MissE_Clare) October 13, 2020

omg i wondered why the local groups i know where doing that shit

Key points in the SAGE text that the government decided to almost entirely ignore.

Cases are increasing across the country in all age groups. The effect of opening ofschools, colleges and universities has only just begun to affect this increase. Even so,the latest data suggests that the doubling time might be as low as 7-8 days. COVID-19 related hospitalisations and intensive care bed usage have started to increase.

•

As over 90% of the population remain susceptible not acting now to reduce caseswill result in a very large epidemic with catastrophic consequences in terms of directCOVID related deaths and the ability of the health service to meet needs. As in thefirst wave, the burden of a large second wave would fall disproportionately on thefrailest in our society, but also those on lower incomes and BAME communities.
•

A package of interventions will need to be adopted to prevent this exponential risein cases. Single interventions are unlikely to be able to reduce incidence. If schoolsare to remain open, then a wide range of other measures will be required. The short-list of non-pharmaceutical interventions that should be considered for immediateintroduction include:

o

A circuit-breaker (short period of lockdown) to return incidence to low levels.

o

Advice to work from home for all those that can.

o

Banning all contact within the home with members of other households(except members of a support bubble)

o

Closure of all bars, restaurants, cafes, indoor gyms, and personal services(e.g. hairdressers)
o

All university and college teaching to be online unless absolutely essential.

•

Although beyond the scope of this paper, the rapid rise in cases means that
a raft ofcomplementary measures is required to reduce transmission in care homes,hospitals and other enclosed settings
, such as prisons and hostels for the homeless.

•

All these interventions listed above have associated costs in terms of health andwellbeing and many interventions will affect the poorest members of society to agreater extent. Measures will be needed urgently to mitigate these effects and toachieve equity and social justice.
•

The more rapidly these interventions are put in place the greater the reduction inCOVID-related deaths and the quicker they can be eased. However, somerestrictions will be necessary for a considerable time.

•

Clear, consistent communications will be essential, and a consistent package ofmeasures should be adopted that does not appear to promote contradictory goals

that’s fucking sinister

xpost

o shit boris is gonna get fuckin' schooled

I will be holding a press conference at 5pm today in response to the Prime Minister’s statement yesterday and the ongoing rise in coronavirus cases.

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 13, 2020

"you're handling this terribly, carry on"

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/13/failure-test-trace-folly-huge-contracts-private-giants-uk?

This is really good on the ongoing outsourcing of the public sector

Keir Starmer has urged the prime minister to impose a two- to three-week national “circuit breaker” lockdown on England to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed, in a dramatic escalation of his criticism of the government’s approach.

I suppose the first time something happens could be described as a "dramatic escalation"

143 deaths today, 17000+ infections.. I can't see us being in a very good place by November.

National lockdown feels almost inevitable at this stage but the 'protect the economy first' faction appear to have the upper hand in the Cabinet right now so when it does happen it'll be too late.

Either that or they've decided herd immunity is the goal after all.

hat mancock was saying earlier today that herd immunity was a stupid idea that would not work, which was... otm?

they are going after herd immunity, deliberately or not

even a lockdown feels relatively fucking pointless, they had a 2 month lockdown to get test and trace ready, to refit the economy and the country's infrastructure, to come up with a coherent long term strategy and they spaffed it up the wall

remember in the spring when the Beeb's news coverage regularly discussed the situation in Spain, Italy, lots of other countries? i don't know if it's just me but i feel like that coverage has gone really fucking quiet

There was a great graphic showing that the UK effectively can’t reach herd immunity without vaccination any longer because so many people are opting for a tougher level of distancing/non-socialisation than the rules require (and hence aren’t likely to catch it).

the amount of time, money, public goodwill and human life they’ve wasted is staggering, really

yeah stet i don't mean it's a secret master plan i just think this is a government torn between factions representing different brands of ignorance and stupidity

the amount of time, money, public goodwill and human life they’ve wasted is staggering, really

i mean surely, at some point, some kind of media narrative that reflects this screamingly obvious fact might emerge? unless nothing matters lol

yeah they've even confirmed it today with the "sage advises ministers decide" thing when "we're following the science" was their last defence against charges of that. perfect-storm level stupid now xp

don’t make me post the spinning words xp

the amount of time, money, public goodwill and human life they’ve wasted is staggering, really.

^ Yeah, this.

It feels like an unforgivable situation (as distinct from "the government did everything they could to protect everybody but it didn't work").

herd immunity without a vaccine has been a red herring from the start

when any cunt speaks of a herd immunity strategy they mean sacrificing the elderly and the weak (and the unlucky) at the altar of capitalism

99ish % of us will survive and that's enough for some

I've seen that "99% will survive" statistic on Twitter tonight, very much in a "Fuck that one per cent" sort of way.

Any firm numbers yet on what proportion of us will have long term or permanent debilitating after effects and what the knock on effect on the economy will be?

99% of people will survive *if* there isn't an uncontrolled epidemic because that depends on hospitals being able to cope.