Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson

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Comments

  • Gee D wrote: »
    I wonder if those from the US and Canada can give details on registering to vote in those countries.

    Not from the US myself but I know voter registration varies by state, and red states have been ramping up voter ID laws and purging electoral registers with the intent of suppressing Democratic turnout, even going so far as to restrict opening hours of places that issue photo ID in Democratic-voting areas (sometimes laughably, one Thursday afternoon for 2 hours a month, so). That playbook is undoubtedly where the UK tories picked up the idea from.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Yes, voter registration was a major part of de-segregation campaigns starting back in the 60's and perhaps even earlier.
  • Well, the evidence from this morning's press statement is that Mr Johnson's brush with mortality has in no-way endowed him with humility, insight or wisdom.

    Whilst not remotely surprising, this is still disappointing because we are still governed by a feckless thug. The damage done by this failure of leadership is measured in thousands of lives.

    AFZ
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Give him a week or so to make his point, but then discover that his health is not as good as he thought it would be and he must reluctantly call it a day etc. That's my script for him. He can leave having won his election but get away from the hard work being PM.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I doubt that he'd want to give up the power and prestige, @Gee D - as long as he can find someone else to carry the can for his cock-ups.
  • O fie upon you!

    Why are you not all rejoicing - with burning hearts - that Our Glorious Saviour has risen from the Bed, and has appeared to us ALL - not just to His chosen toadiesdisciples?

    Is Outrage!

    (But yes, the sooner he is consigned to the Dustbin of History, the better).
  • Gee D wrote: »
    Give him a week or so to make his point, but then discover that his health is not as good as he thought it would be and he must reluctantly call it a day etc.
    In our dreams, I fear. And who would replace him? (La Sturgeon, this is your hour?)

  • SarasaSarasa Shipmate
    edited April 2020
    I thought the subtext to his saying in his speech that he wants to work with other parties is he’d like Starmer, Davey, Lucas etc to do the hard work and then he can either take the credit or dump the blame on them.
    I still think he’s going to slink off sooner rather than later.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited April 2020
    Please God, let it be sooner - so that we don't have to have his ridiculous overblown schoolboy features plastered all over our TV screens, newspapers etc. EVER AGAIN!!

    (Am I the only one reminded of Nigel Molesworth, the Curse of St Custard's?)

    Sir Keir, Madam Nicola, Doctor Lucas et al would do a Far Better Job, but no, it ain't gonna happen...
    :disappointed:
  • Gee D wrote: »
    I wonder if those from the US and Canada can give details on registering to vote in those countries.

    A while ago somebody had the bright idea of including voter registration on your annual tax return. You have to opt in (because the tax people can't share your information with your explicit permission) but for most people it kills two birds with one stone. There are other ways of registering if for some reason you didn't get on the tax list. When I didn't get a registration card* last election I went online and filled out a form and my name was on the list by voting day (if it wasn't there already).

    *(a postcard they send you to confirm registration. Ideally you should bring it with you on voting day, because it simplifies the process, but it's not essential)

    Federal requirements re. ID are here:

    https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=ids&document=index&lang=e

    The short answer is that it's much simpler if you have government ID with your current address (which most people can get, either a driver's license or for non-drivers a similar card which serves for ID purposes only). But it's not an impassable obstacle if you don't have one.

  • TelepathTelepath Shipmate
    Yes, he does remind me of Molesworth - by design, I'm sure.

    Molesworth updated his adventures in adulthood and it wouldn't surprise me if BoJo's character were based on these.
  • DafydDafyd Shipmate
    edited April 2020
    Am I the only one reminded of Nigel Molesworth, the Curse of St Custard's?
    He's a bit of a composite: hair and blithe carelessness Fotherington-Tomas, unearned privilege Grabber ma, dollop of Molesworth jr - well it would pain me to think I was of the same blud.

  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited April 2020
    Telepath wrote: »
    Yes, he does remind me of Molesworth - by design, I'm sure.

    Molesworth updated his adventures in adulthood and it wouldn't surprise me if BoJo's character were based on these.

    Did you note the price of that copy of 'How To Stay Topp'?

    FIVE HUNDRED QUID!! (well, with one New Pee change...)

    Obviously, a refugee from BoJo's very own bookcase...
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Marsupial wrote: »
    Gee D wrote: »
    I wonder if those from the US and Canada can give details on registering to vote in those countries.

    A while ago somebody had the bright idea of including voter registration on your annual tax return. You have to opt in (because the tax people can't share your information with your explicit permission) but for most people it kills two birds with one stone. There are other ways of registering if for some reason you didn't get on the tax list. When I didn't get a registration card* last election I went online and filled out a form and my name was on the list by voting day (if it wasn't there already).

    *(a postcard they send you to confirm registration. Ideally you should bring it with you on voting day, because it simplifies the process, but it's not essential)

    Federal requirements re. ID are here:

    https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=ids&document=index&lang=e

    The short answer is that it's much simpler if you have government ID with your current address (which most people can get, either a driver's license or for non-drivers a similar card which serves for ID purposes only). But it's not an impassable obstacle if you don't have one.

    Most people in the UK don't have to fill in a tax return. Thank God; another thing to worry I'd done wrong would be just what I'd need. I lose paperwork the way sieves lose water.
  • KarlLB wrote: »
    Marsupial wrote: »
    Gee D wrote: »
    I wonder if those from the US and Canada can give details on registering to vote in those countries.

    A while ago somebody had the bright idea of including voter registration on your annual tax return. You have to opt in (because the tax people can't share your information with your explicit permission) but for most people it kills two birds with one stone. There are other ways of registering if for some reason you didn't get on the tax list. When I didn't get a registration card* last election I went online and filled out a form and my name was on the list by voting day (if it wasn't there already).

    *(a postcard they send you to confirm registration. Ideally you should bring it with you on voting day, because it simplifies the process, but it's not essential)

    Federal requirements re. ID are here:

    https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=ids&document=index&lang=e

    The short answer is that it's much simpler if you have government ID with your current address (which most people can get, either a driver's license or for non-drivers a similar card which serves for ID purposes only). But it's not an impassable obstacle if you don't have one.

    Most people in the UK don't have to fill in a tax return. Thank God; another thing to worry I'd done wrong would be just what I'd need. I lose paperwork the way sieves lose water.

    I started having to do one in the last couple of years. It was all online, and all the records I needed are either in my email inbox or obtainable from the relevant bank.
  • KarlLB wrote: »
    Marsupial wrote: »
    Gee D wrote: »
    I wonder if those from the US and Canada can give details on registering to vote in those countries.

    A while ago somebody had the bright idea of including voter registration on your annual tax return. You have to opt in (because the tax people can't share your information with your explicit permission) but for most people it kills two birds with one stone. There are other ways of registering if for some reason you didn't get on the tax list. When I didn't get a registration card* last election I went online and filled out a form and my name was on the list by voting day (if it wasn't there already).

    *(a postcard they send you to confirm registration. Ideally you should bring it with you on voting day, because it simplifies the process, but it's not essential)

    Federal requirements re. ID are here:

    https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=ids&document=index&lang=e

    The short answer is that it's much simpler if you have government ID with your current address (which most people can get, either a driver's license or for non-drivers a similar card which serves for ID purposes only). But it's not an impassable obstacle if you don't have one.

    Most people in the UK don't have to fill in a tax return. Thank God; another thing to worry I'd done wrong would be just what I'd need. I lose paperwork the way sieves lose water.

    I started having to do one in the last couple of years. It was all online, and all the records I needed are either in my email inbox or obtainable from the relevant bank.
    I did for a few years, because I had overseas income (from when I was working in Fukushima) and the forms weren't too bad though the results were very variable - first years I got a refund because the tax I paid in Japan on my salary there were higher than I'd have paid in the UK, the second and third year no rebate but a bill for a few extra pennies, then a couple of years when I shouldn't have needed to fill in a tax return having returned to the UK full time and PAYE - for which I got a bill for a few quid (it looked about 20% of the interest earned on my bank account and dividends on my small share holdings, even though the Spanish had already taken their share of that). Finally got off the list at the end of last year, so no longer need to do that.
  • I did for a few years, because I had overseas income (from when I was working in Fukushima) and the forms weren't too bad though the results were very variable

    For the couple of years after moving to the US, I had to fill out both UK and US tax returns. (We were renting out our flat in the UK while we decided whether this was a temporary or a permanent thing.) Neither form was terribly difficult for someone of my rather modest uncomplicated income, but the UK one was very much simpler than the US one.

    In general, the US tax forms are very much more complicated than they need to be, and the likes of H&R Block (big national tax preparation firm) lobby to keep it that way.
  • I did for a few years, because I had overseas income (from when I was working in Fukushima) and the forms weren't too bad though the results were very variable

    For the couple of years after moving to the US, I had to fill out both UK and US tax returns. (We were renting out our flat in the UK while we decided whether this was a temporary or a permanent thing.) Neither form was terribly difficult for someone of my rather modest uncomplicated income, but the UK one was very much simpler than the US one.

    In general, the US tax forms are very much more complicated than they need to be, and the likes of H&R Block (big national tax preparation firm) lobby to keep it that way.

    I thought the simplified 1040EZ form wasn't too bad when I was living in the US. Mind you I was a salaried employee and I wasn't making very much money.

    (For non-US people: "EZ", of course, is intended to pronounced "easy", though some of us stubborn colonials insisted on pronouncing it "e-zed".)

    The Canadian tax forms are reasonably easy to navigate if you're a salaried employee. It gets a lot more complicated if you're self-employed. Almost everyone needs to file a return, either because they are legally required to (they owe the government $$), or because the government owes them money (or will owe them money if they claim the appropriate credits) and it would be silly not to.

  • As a Minister of Religion I have to fill in a UK tax form, but can't do it on line. At least, not without buying a separate package. As I object to this I'm back to doing it the old fashioned way.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Marsupial wrote: »
    Gee D wrote: »
    I wonder if those from the US and Canada can give details on registering to vote in those countries.

    A while ago somebody had the bright idea of including voter registration on your annual tax return. You have to opt in (because the tax people can't share your information with your explicit permission) but for most people it kills two birds with one stone. There are other ways of registering if for some reason you didn't get on the tax list. When I didn't get a registration card* last election I went online and filled out a form and my name was on the list by voting day (if it wasn't there already).

    *(a postcard they send you to confirm registration. Ideally you should bring it with you on voting day, because it simplifies the process, but it's not essential)

    Federal requirements re. ID are here:

    https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=ids&document=index&lang=e

    The short answer is that it's much simpler if you have government ID with your current address (which most people can get, either a driver's license or for non-drivers a similar card which serves for ID purposes only). But it's not an impassable obstacle if you don't have one.

    Thanks - I had assumed also that they differ from State to State as well. In theory, they could here, but the Electoral Commissions of the various jurisdictions are good friends one with the others, so the one registration covers your State and Federal enrolments. And no need to re-enrol either - if you change address of course, but not otherwise.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host
    In the two states in which I've lived as an adult, registering to vote has been quite straightforward. Of course, I'm white and middle-class, and I currently live in a district that's solidly Republican. Why wouldn't it be straightforward?
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host
    As a Minister of Religion I have to fill in a UK tax form, but can't do it on line. At least, not without buying a separate package. As I object to this I'm back to doing it the old fashioned way.
    I mistook the deadline for my paper Minister of Religion return (which proudly proclaimed on its front page information that I could complete it online, and only in the middle of the paperwork said that didn’t apply to Ministers of Religion). I found once I had completed the paper form I could translate the information into a format suitable for online completion as if I were an ‘ordinary’ employee, so I made an online submission as well, within the online filing period, and it seems to have been accurate and accepted.
  • Pangolin GuerrePangolin Guerre Shipmate
    edited April 2020
    As per Marsupial, my experience in Canada has been very straightforward. In one period of my life I was peripatetic-ish, and all I required was government ID and something establish the fact of residence within the riding - utility bill, broker's statement, the sort of thing that would firmly establish me. And, I would produce the documentation as I presented myself to vote. It took a few extra minutes, but that was it. I can't think of anything in the current Canadian experience that approximates American voter suppression.
  • So, according to the BBC radio news this morning, Mr Johnson will be leading a minutes silence for NHS workers who have died from Covid-19.

    My initial, visceral response was Fuck off

    Am I wrong?
  • If Mr Johnson wants to lead something then my vote would be for him to lead the entire cabinet on a long walk off a short pier.
  • EirenistEirenist Shipmate
    Could be a gesture of repentance.
  • Boris's address in Downing St yesterday was repulsive. The martial tone he adopts - one more push for victory - is quite inappropriate, with 21 000 dead. I suppose some people will hail the stricken king come back to us, but that's a Tory orgasmfest. Is there any sense of regret for the delays that have cost lives? That would require honesty.
  • "Success" my arse.

    "Hey hey ABdFJ, how many grannies did you kill today?"
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited April 2020
    Having BoJo simply shut his gob for a minute is quite refreshing...

    Was he much missed during those three weeks he was in the tomb bed/convalescence?
  • So, according to the BBC radio news this morning, Mr Johnson will be leading a minutes silence for NHS workers who have died from Covid-19.

    My initial, visceral response was Fuck off

    Am I wrong?

    Yes. Mr Johnson hasn't claimed he'd be "leading" the minutes silence, that was the BBC reporter - in any case, is it even possible to "lead" a period of silence? I don't think so.
  • So, according to the BBC radio news this morning, Mr Johnson will be leading a minutes silence for NHS workers who have died from Covid-19.

    My initial, visceral response was Fuck off

    Am I wrong?

    Yes. Mr Johnson hasn't claimed he'd be "leading" the minutes silence, that was the BBC reporter - in any case, is it even possible to "lead" a period of silence? I don't think so.

    Of course it is - as anyone who has led an Act of Remembrance knows. Someone is in charge of the timing.
  • DooneDoone Shipmate
    I’m seeing a bit more of “we’re vastly underestimating deaths / worse numbers in Europe” reports floating around, but can’t find anything definitive. Can anyone help, please? And why are the press being so coy?!
  • So, according to the BBC radio news this morning, Mr Johnson will be leading a minutes silence for NHS workers who have died from Covid-19.

    My initial, visceral response was Fuck off

    Am I wrong?

    Yes. Mr Johnson hasn't claimed he'd be "leading" the minutes silence, that was the BBC reporter - in any case, is it even possible to "lead" a period of silence? I don't think so.

    Of course it is - as anyone who has led an Act of Remembrance knows. Someone is in charge of the timing.

    IME the person I/C timing is not the person leading the Act of Remembrance but the one with control of the recording of The Last Post and Reveille.
  • Doone wrote: »
    I’m seeing a bit more of “we’re vastly underestimating deaths / worse numbers in Europe” reports floating around, but can’t find anything definitive. Can anyone help, please? And why are the press being so coy?!

    The purgatory thread discusses it, and links to FT, with an estimate of 50 000 deaths.
  • DooneDoone Shipmate
    Doone wrote: »
    I’m seeing a bit more of “we’re vastly underestimating deaths / worse numbers in Europe” reports floating around, but can’t find anything definitive. Can anyone help, please? And why are the press being so coy?!

    The purgatory thread discusses it, and links to FT, with an estimate of 50 000 deaths.

    Thank you, I’ll have look 😢.
  • EirenistEirenist Shipmate
    I gather it was the Royal College of Nursing and Unison who suggested the minute's silence. Boris just jumped on the bandwagon, as one would expect.
  • EutychusEutychus Shipmate
    So, according to the BBC radio news this morning, Mr Johnson will be leading a minutes silence for NHS workers who have died from Covid-19.

    My initial, visceral response was Fuck off

    Am I wrong?

    Your visceral response is your own, but if you're asking whether its unreasonable, then yes I think it is.

    You may think that the government in general and Boris in particular have handled the crisis terribly and abused the NHS, and you are doubtless well-placed to have an opinion on that. The fact remains, though, that Boris is PM and as such will be expected to lead some show of support for NHS workers, however hypocritical you may feel that to be. If no support had been forthcoming Boris would no doubt be being lambasted as an ungrateful coward.

    Similarly, re: the Panorama programme, there is no doubt plenty of blame to be apportioned, enquiries to be held, and so on, but I think that holding trial by tv documentary in the middle of a crisis is not going to do anything other than reinforce people's previously-held opinions. It's just the media scrabbling around for some fresh take on a current event that has far outlasted the usual news cycle.

    And re: the numbers, this is the fog of war, and the media are alighting on any and every figure with again, no filters and little critical distance.
  • Eutychus wrote: »
    So, according to the BBC radio news this morning, Mr Johnson will be leading a minutes silence for NHS workers who have died from Covid-19.

    My initial, visceral response was Fuck off

    Am I wrong?

    Your visceral response is your own, but if you're asking whether its unreasonable, then yes I think it is.

    You may think that the government in general and Boris in particular have handled the crisis terribly and abused the NHS, and you are doubtless well-placed to have an opinion on that. The fact remains, though, that Boris is PM and as such will be expected to lead some show of support for NHS workers, however hypocritical you may feel that to be. If no support had been forthcoming Boris would no doubt be being lambasted as an ungrateful coward.

    That's fair. I suspect I'm not the only one who felt strongly about this. Some contrition and acceptance of responsibility would make it palatable for me.
    Eutychus wrote: »
    Similarly, re: the Panorama programme, there is no doubt plenty of blame to be apportioned, enquiries to be held, and so on, but I think that holding trial by tv documentary in the middle of a crisis is not going to do anything other than reinforce people's previously-held opinions.

    This is where we diverge. You may well be right about reinforcing previous held views and I am cognizant of the danger of trial by media. However, where the hell is the accountability? And it really does matter right now because the next decisions will mean thousands of deaths or not too... The free pass given to the government is really dangerous.

    AFZ
  • The Panorama programme might increase pressure to actually get more PPE.
  • Eirenist wrote: »
    I gather it was the Royal College of Nursing and Unison who suggested the minute's silence. Boris just jumped on the bandwagon, as one would expect.
    It's International Workers Memorial Day, an annual time to remember all those who have died or suffered life changing injury or illness at work. This year we happen to have a particular group of workers, in our health and care services, who we have a particular reason to remember at this time.

    It's good to see that the whole nation has become Socialist ...

  • EutychusEutychus Shipmate
    However, where the hell is the accountability?
    Have you or any organisation you're familiar with ever been the subject of a TV documentary, or a mainstream media article?

    If not, breathe a sigh of relief.

    If you have, you should know that the picture they portray is very often wildly selective when it's not downright inaccurate. And that's the friendly ones.

    The time to talk about accountabilty is after the crisis and for governments, the best place to talk about it is at the ballot box. There is simply no critical distance right now.
  • If you're in danger of dying on the front line, sod critical distance, get me some protection.
  • EutychusEutychus Shipmate
    That's fair. I suspect I'm not the only one who felt strongly about this. Some contrition and acceptance of responsibility would make it palatable for me.

    Macron's most recent national TV broadcast was noted for his expression of humility, mistakes being made, and vulnerability. I found him totally believable, but then again I voted for him. His opponents just moaned about how much hot air he was talking.

    I don't think contrition and acceptance of responsibility are part of Boris' political persona, and I think we all know that. He's not the only leader like that and not all of them are Tories.
  • This has been circulating on Facebook for a few days:
    A message to all our Negative UK Press - including Laura Kuenssberg of the BBC, Robert Peston of ITV, Beth Rigby of Sky, Piers Morgan of ITV, BBC News in general and all the other negative UK press.

    Journalism is missing the "mood" in this great country of ours - the United Kingdom. We do not want or need blame. We do not want constant criticism of our Government who are doing their very best in a very difficult and unprecedented global emergency.

    We want and need a constructive contribution to the national effort to help us out of this crisis. We need hope, optimism and faith, with less negativity and more positive support from these journalists. It is time you all changed your negative and political rhetoric for the health of this nation and start supporting our Government.

    🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

    Let's get this message VIRAL and they might just take note.

    Over the weekend it was shared by a lovely lady I know who I suspect everyone here would like a lot. She had written "I couldn't agree more." So I took a while to think about it before I responding.

    This is my response:
    I couldn't disagree more. The media is not nearly critical enough. I would be surprised if you can find any healthcare workers who think the government is doing even an adequate job.

    Detailed analysis here: (it's very long but a complex topic): https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com/.../did-scientists...

    For me, it's not the mistakes (which are much more political than scientific, as expounded in that link) that's the biggest issue. It's the blatant dishonesty.

    Do you remember, it was 3 weeks ago that the government PROMISED testing for all frontline workers (like me). It's still not fully in place. And don't get me started on the false promises about PPE.

    Failure to admit past mistakes is a big deal. Not only because the government SHOULD be accountable but because without such honesty, it's incredibly difficult to make the correct choices going forward.

    The problem being that in this context, such missteps are measured in thousands of lives.

    This is personal. I have dozens of friends and colleagues in the frontline. Healthcare workers are dying. And I have to go to work, wondering if I am putting my family at risk by doing so.

    Ask anyone on the frontline, there is a HUGE disconnect between what the government claims and what is really happening.

    The press are not being nearly negative enough.

    In March there was 11 days of inaction. 11 days when the government realised that the initial containment wasn't going to work (whether that was the right strategy up to that point is debatable but I am prepared to let that pass) but those 11 days of inaction upto the 23rd March are a major problem. It has been modelled mathematically and these things are very predictable - epidemics grow exponentially. So we can show that between 2/3rds and 3 quarters of the deaths would have been avoided if the government had not wasted 11 days.

    The government do have a very difficult job but they are doing very badly. Every mistake is very costly.

    The media are not nearly negative enough. I assure you the medical literature has a much more negative tone. And I know which I trust. This from the New England Journal of Medicine is very informative: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2005755

    AFZ
  • EutychusEutychus Shipmate
    Ah well, there's your mistake. You started reading social media, and worse still, reacting!
  • Eutychus wrote: »
    Similarly, re: the Panorama programme, there is no doubt plenty of blame to be apportioned, enquiries to be held, and so on, but I think that holding trial by tv documentary in the middle of a crisis is not going to do anything other than reinforce people's previously-held opinions. It's just the media scrabbling around for some fresh take on a current event that has far outlasted the usual news cycle.

    I think there is evidently something in the last point you raise (though ironically who would object most to the take would presumably endorse the marketisation of the news cycle which leads to that phenomena).

    Nevertheless I disagree with your first point -- there has to be a role for scrutiny and the presentation of contrary information if only because public pressure is one means of getting some kind of course correction. This is especially true when overall coverage has been remarkably kind to the government by historical measures (compare and contrast historical headlines with something like the Winter of Discontent).
  • EutychusEutychus Shipmate
    If you're in danger of dying on the front line, sod critical distance, get me some protection.

    Social media posts will not produce it, nor will post-mortems on why not enough has been found so far.
  • EutychusEutychus Shipmate
    there has to be a role for scrutiny and the presentation of contrary information if only because public pressure is one means of getting some kind of course correction.
    Remind me how that's going down under the Trump administration.

  • chrisstileschrisstiles Shipmate
    edited April 2020
    Eutychus wrote: »
    there has to be a role for scrutiny and the presentation of contrary information if only because public pressure is one means of getting some kind of course correction.
    Remind me how that's going down under the Trump administration.

    Yes, I'm sure agreeing with Trump would be a better way of getting him to change his mind, but sarcasm aside the two situations are not entirely analogous -- the current UK government is still somewhat responsive to public pressure.
  • Eutychus wrote: »
    However, where the hell is the accountability?
    Have you or any organisation you're familiar with ever been the subject of a TV documentary, or a mainstream media article?

    If not, breathe a sigh of relief.

    If you have, you should know that the picture they portray is very often wildly selective when it's not downright inaccurate. And that's the friendly ones.

    The time to talk about accountability is after the crisis and for governments, the best place to talk about it is at the ballot box. There is simply no critical distance right now.

    I've spent the best part of the last 10 years working in Children's Hospitals. There are always documentaries going on. I was in one of them (even though I tried not to be) but my (very brief) appearance never made it to air after the program was shelved. Yes, I do know that editorial slant is very important in how a documentary comes together. For the record two of my close colleagues played 'starring' roles in documentaries made in the last 4 years... people who I sent WhatsApp messages to when they were broadcast making fun of them! (Oh and a good friend and colleague appeared in one too - well his hands did...!)

    And one should always approach such things with caution. However, I know lots of medics and other NHS workers across the country. In fact, the NHS is a mini-community in many ways where there is a lot less than 6 degrees of separation usually. (This is because a lot of us move round the country - especially junior doctors). A lot of what was in the documentary I knew already and the BBC just confirmed it.

    The government are consistently lying to the public and much of the media is not challenging these lies. This is a democracy. That is not supposed to be possible in non-authoritarian states.

    People are dying. Many of these deaths could have been avoided. Some going forward still might be.

    What greater purpose of government is there other than to protect its citizens? What is the point of a free media if they don't publicize this kind of outrageous cover-up? How the hell will the ballot box fix it if the government's lies are unchallenged? How many deaths in the meantime? (Democracy is not just about voting!)

    AFZ
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