Covid inquiry

[towny44]

I'm sure someone will have done one on the magical powers of Hindsight.

The main issue for me is the total waste of money, most of the lessons wil have already been learnt and implemented, or dismissed as far too expensive for a once in a lifetime, or less, event.
So as just a finger pointing exercise it seems far too long winded, as well as mean spirited.

I agree 100% John. I wonder if we will have actuwlly learned anything new by the time we are enjoying that pint/coffee/whatever in the sun in Funchal next March. I doubt it.

I just worry whether we will be able to afford a glass of water, if Keefies idea of a a new style of govt ever happens.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I'm not sure Keefie has ever told us what his new style of government looks like! No Monarchy and not the present system or people. But what next? Not sure even he knows!

[Onelife]

I'm not sure Keefie has ever told us what his new style of government looks like! No Monarchy and not the present system or people. But what next? Not sure even he knows!

Hi Sir Merv…it is difficult to give a comprehensive answer to that question especially when set against the status que who believe we are powerless to change direction from that which has always been. Our political system is broken, not particularly because it is a bad system but more so because the system is abused with little or no accountability. How many would argue that there is accountability within government? How many would argue that our first past the post electoral system allows for inclusive debate and decision making? how many would say they have trust in politicians? How many believe our political road map has direction?
I don’t kid myself that I have the intellect to understand the complexities of governance, but what I am sure about is that without a radical overhaul of our present system we/our country will suffer.

So, you ask what would I do? I would start at the top and get rid of the Monarchy, the precedent it sets is one where the privileged few rides round in horse drawn air-conditioned carriages while the other half can hardly afford to push round a shopping trolly…. all of this is propped up by sword waving ceremonies of pomp and title… get real people, is this really the way we bring together the social divides in society?

On the political front bearing in mind that change to any other system is a long way off I would work towards making the present system fit for its purpose…to do this there would have to be many changes, both in practice and in attitudes. To this end I would scrape the house of lords and introduce a higher chamber of independent academics, those chosen would be taken from a diverse field of expertise whose sole purpose would be to scrutinise government policy and have the authority to override if they see fit. There have been far too many political U-turns due to lack of joined up thinking.

I would work towards making all ministers demonstrate that they have the necessary qualification and expertise to fulfil the positions they are given, this could be done vie interview with the higher chamber of academics.
I would stop MP’s taking on second jobs…most of which are influenced based which often leads to corruption in one form or another.

I would stop televised PMQ as it serves no purpose other than giving a platform for two pantomime characters vying for media support.

With regard to taking our country forward both educational and culturally I would ban all faith schools whatever their origin…we need to have our eyes open to see where all this is heading.
My thoughts won’t have answered you question Sir Merv but knowing you as an intellectual poster I think you will agree with me that things cannot carry on the way they are going.

Just for the record I have for most of my life been a conservative voter.

[towny44]

Onelife, can I ask you who you propose should decide just which learned academics should sit on this new Senate you are proposing, and how would this process operate.
Far too many supposed learned academics are fervent left wingers and I certainly do not want any Senate to have a veto on my elected government, who IMHO try their very best to to ensure that they make the optimum use of the taxes raised to provide us with an adequate social system with education, healthcare, defence, social services.and all the infrastructure needed for a modern society.
And God save the King, from well meaning fools.

[david63]

I would start at the top and get rid of the Monarchy,

What would you put in place as a head of state?

As we will never agree on this then there is point discussing this any further.

I would scrape the house of lords and introduce a higher chamber of independent academics, those chosen would be taken from a diverse field of expertise whose sole purpose would be to scrutinise government policy and have the authority to override if they see fit.

That is basically what the House of Lords is now - although I will accept that there are too many of them.

I would work towards making all ministers demonstrate that they have the necessary qualification and expertise to fulfil the positions they are given,

With that I agree but would extend it to all MPs and at the same time put MPs on a "starting salary" that rises progressively with length of service. It does not make sense that someone becoming an MP can be paid £86k from day one.

How many would argue that our first past the post electoral system allows for inclusive debate and decision making?

First past the post is better than any alternative. Whilst the idea of proportional representation sounds good in theory virtually all countries that use that system have problems. The idea that the party with the most votes holds power in practice the opposite happens due to that fact that in most cases a minority party holds power in a coalition government. Also with PR there is very little accountability of the "appointed" MPs as they do not represent a constituency.

I would stop televised PMQ as it serves no purpose other than giving a platform for two pantomime characters vying for media support.

Don't disagree - but it is good fun.

I would ban all faith schools whatever their origin

What would you replace 75% of schools with?

[Onelife]

Onelife, can I ask you who you propose should decide just which learned academics should sit on this new Senate you are proposing, and how would this process operate.
Far too many supposed learned academics are fervent left wingers and I certainly do not want any Senate to have a veto on my elected government, who IMHO try their very best to to ensure that they make the optimum use of the taxes raised to provide us with an adequate social system with education, healthcare, defence, social services.and all the infrastructure needed for a modern society.
And God save the King, from well meaning fools.

Hi John, I don’t believe in any of the thousands of Gods which man has created, but if you believe one of them is looking out for your king then so beit.

In answer to your question, one could place an advert in “The New Statesman” and see who applies, the filtering process could be undertaken by respected past and present members of parliament (There are still some around I believe)

I’m sure there are those who would agree with you about how the Government distributes our taxes, I however feel that that they spend to much of our taxes filling up the pot-holes rather than resurfacing for long term use.

[Onelife]

Hi David, I would replace the head of state with a well-respected figure head who won’t be able to amass a personally fortune of £600,000,000 three castles and thousands of acres of land.

The house of lords has always had a very partisan feel about it which is why I feel decision making is very dependent on who is prepared to buy the first round of drinks at the subsidized bar.

I feel we need to move away for a two-party representation and allow for a more representative coalition of the smaller parties.

I would build more schools with an emphases of creating more grammer schools and in time doing away with private schools.

[oldbluefox]

Hi David, I would replace the head of state with a well-respected figure head who won’t be able to amass a personally fortune of £600,000,000 three castles and thousands of acres of land.

Hi Onelife
I don't know where you are getting your figures from but my understanding is that the Royal Family owns just two castles, Sandringham and Balmoral. The rest are official residences owned by the State. Charles personal wealth is unknown since likewise, many of the trappings are state owned viz paintings, crowns and jewellery so his personal wealth is mere speculation. Actually whilst you may think the Royal Family are very wealthy, which they are compared to moi, they do not even feature in the top 20 of the Sunday Times Rich List.

Just as a matter of interest who would you suggest as a suitable well respected figure head?

As David says, in those countries which have proportional representation it is seen not to work. We had a referendum in 2011 on Alternative Voting but this was rejected by the electorate with 67.9% on a 42.2% turnour voting to keep the current system.

I agree with the idea of reform of the House of Lords. There are too many lining their pockets for doing too little. It's got out of hand.

[david63]

I feel we need to move away for a two-party representation and allow for a more representative coalition of the smaller parties.

Laudable as the idea is that will never work as trying to appease all sides results in either nothing getting done or policies getting so watered down that they become ineffective.

I would build more schools with an emphases of creating more grammer schools and in time doing away with private schools.

Where will all the money come from to build these schools - especially when you have done away with the tax paying private schools. Anyway what do you have against private schools?

[Onelife]

Hi David, the reason why we should move towards abolishing private schools is three-fold.

(1) Most if not all get government hand-outs in one form or another.
(2) Private school education is in the main the domain of the rich.
(3) The rich get richer the poor stay poor because there is no evidence to my knowledge that the rewards and financial expectation of a private education bennift the state.

[Onelife]

Hi David, I would replace the head of state with a well-respected figure head who won’t be able to amass a personally fortune of £600,000,000 three castles and thousands of acres of land.

Hi Onelife
I don't know where you are getting your figures from but my understanding is that the Royal Family owns just two castles, Sandringham and Balmoral. The rest are official residences owned by the State. Charles personal wealth is unknown since likewise, many of the trappings are state owned viz paintings, crowns and jewellery so his personal wealth is mere speculation. Actually whilst you may think the Royal Family are very wealthy, which they are compared to moi, they do not even feature in the top 20 of the Sunday Times Rich List.

Just as a matter of interest who would you suggest as a suitable well respected figure head?

As David says, in those countries which have proportional representation it is seen not to work. We had a referendum in 2011 on Alternative Voting but this was rejected by the electorate with 67.9% on a 42.2% turnour voting to keep the current system.

I agree with the idea of reform of the House of Lords. There are too many lining their pockets for doing too little. It's got out of hand.

Hi Foxy, you are correct about how many castles Charlie owns but I was thinking more along the lines of “Every mans home is his castle” when referring to the other 4+ homes he owns in his own right.

The £600,000,000 of personal wealth is a fair estimate according to published figures…. that being said disclosure clauses mean we will never know the true figure of his obscene fortune.

…….
With me doing your PR I could see you filling that position.
…..
As I have said previously our political system needs a complete overhaul, with this in mind the only way this is going to happen (among other things) is if we break the tried and failed two party system of politics.

[david63]

is if we break the tried and failed two party system of politics.

But we don't have a two party system in this country - we have an unlimited number of parties/individuals. The fact that there are two main parties is not the fault of the system but how the electorate vote.

There is no way you can break the two party system as you call it unless there is only one party that you can vote for and there is no way that anyone would want that.

[Onelife]

is if we break the tried and failed two party system of politics.

But we don't have a two party system in this country - we have an unlimited number of parties/individuals. The fact that there are two main parties is not the fault of the system but how the electorate vote.

There is no way you can break the two party system as you call it unless there is only one party that you can vote for and there is no way that anyone would want that.

Hi David, while you are technology correct in saying that we do not have a two-party system, in practice that is exactly what we have, with any fringe parties never realistically being able to gain seats. I see PR as a way of allowing more representation within parliament, this should make the two main parties more answerable for what at times seems a carte blanche way in which they conduct themselves…it may well be fun watching them joust for the higher ground but it is the people who are always left licking their wounds.

[oldbluefox]

Sounds good but it doesn't work any more than Republicanism does.

[david63]

PR will not make any difference to the principle of having two parties with other minor parties joining the party (pun intended). Where you may get a change is with the distribution of MPs between the parties - and that would all depend on how the PR was constituted.

As has been seen in several European countries they are almost ungovernable due to having a coalition of four or five parties.

One thing I would say is "beware what you ask for" - with PR it is possible that you would never get a change of government as one party could consistently get the most votes.

[Onelife]

I suppose she was just in the right place at the right time???

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/michelle-mone

[Mervyn and Trish]

Ah good, a nice impartial story from the Guardian...

[oldbluefox]

Of course it's impartial. It's front cover on The Mirror and you can't get more impartial than that

[Onelife]

The DHSC is suing PPE Medpro for the full return of the £122m it paid for the surgical gowns but never used, claiming they were unsafe for use in the NHS. The company is defending the claim.

The National Crime Agency is conducting an investigation into PPE Medpro, which is continuing. In a statement, an NCA spokesperson said: “The NCA opened an investigation in May 2021 into suspected criminal offences committed in the procurement of PPE contracts by PPE Medpro.”

The spokesperson for PPE Medpro declined to comment on the NCA investigation.

[david63]

The DHSC is suing PPE Medpro for the full return of the £122m it paid for the surgical gowns but never used, claiming they were unsafe for use in the NHS. The company is defending the claim.

The National Crime Agency is conducting an investigation into PPE Medpro, which is continuing. In a statement, an NCA spokesperson said: “The NCA opened an investigation in May 2021 into suspected criminal offences committed in the procurement of PPE contracts by PPE Medpro.”

The spokesperson for PPE Medpro declined to comment on the NCA investigation.

In other words - no news here

[Onelife]

The DHSC is suing PPE Medpro for the full return of the £122m it paid for the surgical gowns but never used, claiming they were unsafe for use in the NHS. The company is defending the claim.

The National Crime Agency is conducting an investigation into PPE Medpro, which is continuing. In a statement, an NCA spokesperson said: “The NCA opened an investigation in May 2021 into suspected criminal offences committed in the procurement of PPE contracts by PPE Medpro.”

The spokesperson for PPE Medpro declined to comment on the NCA investigation.

In other words - no news here

Maybe not...but there is some here....

https://committees.parliament.uk/commit ... committee/

[oldbluefox]

I blame the procurement agency. Did they not examine a sample before placing the order? Did they not consult with the medical profession? Did they not have a set of criteria? Surely if you're spending £122million on equipment you need to know precisely what you are getting and if, when it arrives it does not meet the specified criteria it should be returned.
Or am I missing something here?

[screwy]

On the subject of procurement etc, did anyone watch Celebrity SAS.?

Now Hancock did very well to get to the end but at times he really did show himself to be an Odious,Obnoxious arrogant fellow. After watching I can we’ll believe that he was guilty of bullying his staff.

[david63]

On the subject of procurement etc, did anyone watch Celebrity SAS.?

Now Hancock did very well to get to the end but at times he really did show himself to be an Odious,Obnoxious arrogant fellow. After watching I can we’ll believe that he was guilty of bullying his staff.

I don't disagree - but you cannot knock him for getting through that course for an alleged £45k

[Onelife]

I blame the procurement agency. Did they not examine a sample before placing the order? Did they not consult with the medical profession? Did they not have a set of criteria? Surely if you're spending £122million on equipment you need to know precisely what you are getting and if, when it arrives it does not meet the specified criteria it should be returned.
Or am I missing something here?

I think the only thing you are missing Foxy is that the covid committee at the time were pressurised into making rash/rushed decisions which seemingly allowed contracts being awarded without due scrutiny.
….

I’ve been of the opinion that any declaration of interests should be declared prior to further business which according to Michelle Morn is what happened when she suggested Medpro as a supplier of PPE equipment…what is not clear and under investigation is whether or not Medpro’s true ownership was hidden by a company controlled by her husband, Douglas Barrowman?

It is also alleged that her account was credited with £27 million shortly after the transaction.