Yesterday, Tuesday, the UK Government disenfranchised one quarter of the UK electorate.
Forced MPs to queue for what was the worse theme park ride ever.
MPs tweeted their disgust at the ridiculous spectacle, but most of them voted for it anyway.
Democracy dies from a thousand cuts, this was pretty deep.
Fresh from illegally suspending Parliament last year to remove scrutiny on Brexit, JRM forces the Commons to abandon a perfectly fine and working hybrid debate and voting system that allowed up to 50 MPs in the chamber to speak and vote, whilst the rest could be in their offices or homes.
Not now.
Although a weak concession was offered to allow MPs unable to travel to Westminster to debate, they would be barred from voting.
There is 27 days until the no deal Brexit become inevitable, and the Government is undermining democracy and scrutiny.
If your MP is over 70, has an underlying health issue, or someone in their household has, or they live too far from London to return home because they are not one of the rich landed gentry with a second London home and nanny, then you will not be represented in Parliament now.
And the Government whipped their MPs to support it, which they did.
A Government showing contempt for democracy and due process, an advisor who literally has Parliament in contempt as well as the country, now is able to ride roughshod over the country. An 80 seat majority wasn't enough, avoiding scrutiny and answering awkward questions had to be enabled.
Most people will just see the pictures of a line of Mps taking 45 minutes to snake their way from Portcullis House to the Lobby, but a major part of democracy died yesterday, and Mogg laughed and joked about it.
Tuesday, 2 June 2020
Tuesday
Today, the UK Statistic Authority issued a warning letter to the Government regarding its (the Government's) COVID data:
"The aim [of the government figures] seems to be to show the largest possible number of tests, even at the expense of understanding."
"It is not surprising, given their inadequacy, that data on testing are so widely criticised & often mistrusted."
"I do understand the pressures that those concerned have faced and still face. But I am sure you would agree that good evidence, trusted by the public, is essential to success in containing the virus."
This is like your Maths teacher giving you a D- and telling you, "you must do better".
But there is no consequences for such slight of hand. People will continue to die, Ministers will continue to lie, meanwhile football and F1 are due back soon, and the focus will be away from Government incompetence and the job done.
But about that second wave......
"The aim [of the government figures] seems to be to show the largest possible number of tests, even at the expense of understanding."
"It is not surprising, given their inadequacy, that data on testing are so widely criticised & often mistrusted."
"I do understand the pressures that those concerned have faced and still face. But I am sure you would agree that good evidence, trusted by the public, is essential to success in containing the virus."
This is like your Maths teacher giving you a D- and telling you, "you must do better".
But there is no consequences for such slight of hand. People will continue to die, Ministers will continue to lie, meanwhile football and F1 are due back soon, and the focus will be away from Government incompetence and the job done.
But about that second wave......
Monday 1st June 2020
Whit Monday (Denmark)
I mention this as this means none of my colleagues will be in work. And I can start work at eight, not half seven.
How lucky I am.
It is another warm and sunny day ahead, and I am stuck in the house. For the most part.
I don't feel like it, but I do an early morning session on the cross trainer, do my 20 minutes and although tired, I am happy.
I sit in the garden with the cats as I cool down. Mulder at my side and Scully on the step the other side. Maybe I should just do this all day?
I wish.
I did have work to do, stuff I had been putting off, so why not use the time to get ahead?
I'll just watch this video on You Tube first....
Only joking.
On with work!
Oh, the morning did drag, no smiling faces of my colleagues in the meeting, or the light hearted joking. Oh well.
If the morning is dragging, why not have an early lunch. So I do. I watch some A Word in Your Attic whilst I eat, Danny Baker in fine form, as usual.
And back to work, and an actual meeting, that I had arranged, and one in which I had to pass on good news, always strange for an auditor, but they are pleased.
As am I.
I needed to pay the window cleaner now that window cleaning is allowed again, he came last week but I had no cash. I have had no cash in my pocketses for months now. So, as I was going to go up to Collingwood, why not go for a walk?
Well, my back was in a shocking state for some reason, and each step caused a pain up my back. But I did make it to Fleet House before turning back.
I saw no butterflies, not much new in plants flowering.
And back home, check on mails, and after packing away, go upstairs to do a second session on the cross trainer. I felt even less like doing it, but do it anyway.
Dinner is sausage meat and bacon pie, with new potatoes and sweet chilli stir fry vegetables, and it all goes together really well.
But it was a quiet day, a typical working day, and another one we made it to the end of.
We live to fight another day. Hurrah!
I mention this as this means none of my colleagues will be in work. And I can start work at eight, not half seven.
How lucky I am.
It is another warm and sunny day ahead, and I am stuck in the house. For the most part.
I don't feel like it, but I do an early morning session on the cross trainer, do my 20 minutes and although tired, I am happy.
I sit in the garden with the cats as I cool down. Mulder at my side and Scully on the step the other side. Maybe I should just do this all day?
I wish.
I did have work to do, stuff I had been putting off, so why not use the time to get ahead?
I'll just watch this video on You Tube first....
Only joking.
On with work!
Oh, the morning did drag, no smiling faces of my colleagues in the meeting, or the light hearted joking. Oh well.
If the morning is dragging, why not have an early lunch. So I do. I watch some A Word in Your Attic whilst I eat, Danny Baker in fine form, as usual.
And back to work, and an actual meeting, that I had arranged, and one in which I had to pass on good news, always strange for an auditor, but they are pleased.
As am I.
I needed to pay the window cleaner now that window cleaning is allowed again, he came last week but I had no cash. I have had no cash in my pocketses for months now. So, as I was going to go up to Collingwood, why not go for a walk?
Well, my back was in a shocking state for some reason, and each step caused a pain up my back. But I did make it to Fleet House before turning back.I saw no butterflies, not much new in plants flowering.
And back home, check on mails, and after packing away, go upstairs to do a second session on the cross trainer. I felt even less like doing it, but do it anyway.
Dinner is sausage meat and bacon pie, with new potatoes and sweet chilli stir fry vegetables, and it all goes together really well.
But it was a quiet day, a typical working day, and another one we made it to the end of.
We live to fight another day. Hurrah!
Beyond Brexit
Whatever you may hear, one thing you can be sure of is that Brexit has happened.
Brexit happened on 31st January 2020 at 23:00, where, under international law, the Articles of the European Union no longer applied to the UK.
At that point, the EU and UK entered into a transition where, although having left, the UK would be considered under international law still a member, and the effects and privileges that brought.
But, as the A50 period was extended and extended, the end date by which a future arrangements were to be completed stayed the same. So, in the end, both sides were left with just 11 months to complete negotiations to unpick 40 plus years of intertwining legal and trading relationships and regulations.
Tory MPs are being whipped today to stop the virtual Parliament and block e-voting in motions, because "Brexit will be frustrated". It won't.
JRM is just trying to stop scrutiny. Which is funny from a Brexiteer who wanted Brexit to return sovereignty to Parliament. But clearly, Parliament actually doing its job of holding the Government to account is sovereignty too far.
The UK has 28 days to request an extension, this is the only time the UK can ask, and Johnson is saying there will be no further extension.
Industry and services will have to try to recover from COVID and prepare for Brexit at the same time. There is no capacity or money for this.
Johnson and Cummings don't care.
The EU has other worries, and really, if the UK does not want to live up to its obligations under the WA and PD, then fine, there will be nothing, no side or mini deals. Nothing.
The NI protocol is in place no matter what, and a hard or no deal Brexit will only break the UK further apart.
Very odd for the Conservative and Union Party.
But its not been that for some time, certainly not since Johnson has been PM.
Once the people realise how badly Johnson and his Government have screwed up with COVID-19, they will begin to wonder what elese they might have fucked up, eyes will turn to Brexit.
But it will be too late.
We have left, and too late for an extension.
Brexit happened on 31st January 2020 at 23:00, where, under international law, the Articles of the European Union no longer applied to the UK.
At that point, the EU and UK entered into a transition where, although having left, the UK would be considered under international law still a member, and the effects and privileges that brought.
But, as the A50 period was extended and extended, the end date by which a future arrangements were to be completed stayed the same. So, in the end, both sides were left with just 11 months to complete negotiations to unpick 40 plus years of intertwining legal and trading relationships and regulations.
Tory MPs are being whipped today to stop the virtual Parliament and block e-voting in motions, because "Brexit will be frustrated". It won't.
JRM is just trying to stop scrutiny. Which is funny from a Brexiteer who wanted Brexit to return sovereignty to Parliament. But clearly, Parliament actually doing its job of holding the Government to account is sovereignty too far.
The UK has 28 days to request an extension, this is the only time the UK can ask, and Johnson is saying there will be no further extension.
Industry and services will have to try to recover from COVID and prepare for Brexit at the same time. There is no capacity or money for this.
Johnson and Cummings don't care.
The EU has other worries, and really, if the UK does not want to live up to its obligations under the WA and PD, then fine, there will be nothing, no side or mini deals. Nothing.
The NI protocol is in place no matter what, and a hard or no deal Brexit will only break the UK further apart.
Very odd for the Conservative and Union Party.
But its not been that for some time, certainly not since Johnson has been PM.
Once the people realise how badly Johnson and his Government have screwed up with COVID-19, they will begin to wonder what elese they might have fucked up, eyes will turn to Brexit.
But it will be too late.
We have left, and too late for an extension.
Making it up as they go along
On May 12th, the Government announced setting up of a new "department", the Joint Biosecurity Centre, which will oversee and approve actions in relation to pandemics.
"The government has said this centre will lead a new biosecurity monitoring system. It will bring together experts on disease incidence and control (epidemiologists) with other analysts from across government to give ministers, via the chief medical officer, joined up advice on decisions about managing the disease.
The centre will have two main jobs. The first is as an independent analytical function to provide real-time analysis about infection outbreaks. It will look in detail to identify and respond to outbreaks of Covid-19 as they arise. The centre will collect data about the prevalence of the disease and analyse that data to understand infection rates across the country.
Its second job is to advise on how the government should respond to spikes in infections – for example by closing schools or workplaces in local areas where infection levels have risen. Should UK government ministers decide to impose different restrictions in different areas and regions across England, it will be on the advice of the JBC.
The JBC looks to be based on the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC). JTAC analyses intelligence related to terrorism and sets threat levels, which in turn inform ministers’ decisions on protecting the public and operational deployments by the police and other agencies."
Yesterday, under questioning at the daily briefing, Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted the JBC does not yet exist, and yet was supposed to have had oversight in the relaxing of the lockdown.
Although official figures showed that there had been just 111 deaths registered in the previous 24 hours, and additional 414 were added to the total, explained only by a footnote, like some kind of administrative clear up. Each one is a life lost before its time.
The FT's adjusted total of additional deaths was at just under 64,000 as of Tuesday last week, and with the lockdown now having pretty much broken down, kids going back to school and many people returning to work, and no measures in place to slow the infection down, we should know by the end of next week whether a second wave is coming.
I hope against hope it isn't, but a Government has prioritised the career of a political advisore over the public health of 67 million people. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) have said that the SAGE advisors have compromised their integrity for political reasons, and they should choose now to break away.
"The government has said this centre will lead a new biosecurity monitoring system. It will bring together experts on disease incidence and control (epidemiologists) with other analysts from across government to give ministers, via the chief medical officer, joined up advice on decisions about managing the disease.
The centre will have two main jobs. The first is as an independent analytical function to provide real-time analysis about infection outbreaks. It will look in detail to identify and respond to outbreaks of Covid-19 as they arise. The centre will collect data about the prevalence of the disease and analyse that data to understand infection rates across the country.
Its second job is to advise on how the government should respond to spikes in infections – for example by closing schools or workplaces in local areas where infection levels have risen. Should UK government ministers decide to impose different restrictions in different areas and regions across England, it will be on the advice of the JBC.
The JBC looks to be based on the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC). JTAC analyses intelligence related to terrorism and sets threat levels, which in turn inform ministers’ decisions on protecting the public and operational deployments by the police and other agencies."
Yesterday, under questioning at the daily briefing, Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted the JBC does not yet exist, and yet was supposed to have had oversight in the relaxing of the lockdown.
Although official figures showed that there had been just 111 deaths registered in the previous 24 hours, and additional 414 were added to the total, explained only by a footnote, like some kind of administrative clear up. Each one is a life lost before its time.
The FT's adjusted total of additional deaths was at just under 64,000 as of Tuesday last week, and with the lockdown now having pretty much broken down, kids going back to school and many people returning to work, and no measures in place to slow the infection down, we should know by the end of next week whether a second wave is coming.
I hope against hope it isn't, but a Government has prioritised the career of a political advisore over the public health of 67 million people. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) have said that the SAGE advisors have compromised their integrity for political reasons, and they should choose now to break away.
Monday, 1 June 2020
Sunday 31st May 2020
The last day of May.
And the month has zipped by. Really.
And here we are on the cusp of the start of summer. Or something.
It was to be another glorious day, windy later, so if I was going to do some orchiding, best get out early.
And, amazingly, Jools did not want to come with me! She had planting in the garden to do, or something.
So, after coffee, I grabbed my stuff and was out and at the car park behind the old George and Dragon pub.
From there it is a heck of a hike up the down. Through the woodland, then up the side of the first meadow, up another track through trees until you reach a gate at the tree line.
From there it is a steady climb across two meadows, with away down below, the real world waking up. Two trains rattle along towards Canterbury, along the floor of the valley going towards the portal of Lydden tunnel. I turn back round and carry on climbing.
I had been hoping to see a few basking butterflies in the cool morning light, but maybe the wind was too keen, or that they are heavy sleepers, as I don't see any.
I reach the top of the second meadow, a brief restbite as the cattle track leads friend a shallow ravine, then up one last final short slope, and from there it was downhill. Other than the fact I would have to retrace my steps back once I was done photographing.
That's the way it is.
I pass a lady sitting with her dog. She was on her mobile, apparently more interesting than the view over the valley below. I beg to differ, but what do I know?
Finally into Lydden reserve, with a few Fragrant Orchid spikes on each side, none in bloom though. I had come out to search for Bee Orchids. I had failed to find any here a week ago, and at Sandwich Bay and Pegwell Bay, so the two unopened spikes I found back then was my last hope!
Also I could do one last search for the Burnt Tip. But of that, there was no trace. And so all I had to do was find two tiny spikes on the side of the down!
I thought I could remember where I saw them, but see none. However, I walked round a few steps, out of sight of the path, and there were two spikes, one with the flowers already dry, but the other fine.
And as I looked, more spikes, six or seven in the end, and all in good state and well worth photographing.
Which I do. Of course.
And after one last look for the Burnt Tip, I sigh and begin to walk up the down, a shallower climb, and my back grumbles less.
And before I know it, I am standing at the top of the two meadows, with an easy descent back to the car park, dodging the scatter dog shit and dog shit bags. The lockdown has made other things worse too.
I decide to go via Western Heights on the way home, as there is a butterfly there, and orchids, of course. The butterfly is the Small Blue, the UK's smallest, but a conservation project has seen them thrive above Dover.
I have to say, in all my time, butterfly or orchid hunting, this was the easiest. I park the car up Military Road, walk to the other side of the road, up the small bank, look down and there is one basking.
Snap!
I chase a few more round and take shots of the Common Spotted spikes that were just coming into flower.
I also get more shots of the butterflies, and am done.
So, I drive back through town, then up past the castle, along to the Duke of Yorks and back home. All done by ten in the morning.
For lunch, I decide to try some fusion cooking: roast beef, Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes, served with gravy and stir fried vegetables. And, it worked very well.
Especially with the second from last bottle of pink fizz.
And then the hardest part is trying to stay awake all afternoon. Which I am not successful with if I'm honest.
We are getting quite good of letting time slip through our hands. And soon enough it was evening, we have cold roast beef rolls, a hot brew and an ice cream, and then Uckers.
Jools wins.
And as ever, the weekend is rounded off with a session on Twitter uploading shots for #wildflowerhour.
And, once again, that was the weekend gone.
And the month has zipped by. Really.
And here we are on the cusp of the start of summer. Or something.
It was to be another glorious day, windy later, so if I was going to do some orchiding, best get out early.
And, amazingly, Jools did not want to come with me! She had planting in the garden to do, or something.
So, after coffee, I grabbed my stuff and was out and at the car park behind the old George and Dragon pub.From there it is a heck of a hike up the down. Through the woodland, then up the side of the first meadow, up another track through trees until you reach a gate at the tree line.
From there it is a steady climb across two meadows, with away down below, the real world waking up. Two trains rattle along towards Canterbury, along the floor of the valley going towards the portal of Lydden tunnel. I turn back round and carry on climbing.
I had been hoping to see a few basking butterflies in the cool morning light, but maybe the wind was too keen, or that they are heavy sleepers, as I don't see any.
I reach the top of the second meadow, a brief restbite as the cattle track leads friend a shallow ravine, then up one last final short slope, and from there it was downhill. Other than the fact I would have to retrace my steps back once I was done photographing.That's the way it is.
I pass a lady sitting with her dog. She was on her mobile, apparently more interesting than the view over the valley below. I beg to differ, but what do I know?
Finally into Lydden reserve, with a few Fragrant Orchid spikes on each side, none in bloom though. I had come out to search for Bee Orchids. I had failed to find any here a week ago, and at Sandwich Bay and Pegwell Bay, so the two unopened spikes I found back then was my last hope!
Also I could do one last search for the Burnt Tip. But of that, there was no trace. And so all I had to do was find two tiny spikes on the side of the down!
I thought I could remember where I saw them, but see none. However, I walked round a few steps, out of sight of the path, and there were two spikes, one with the flowers already dry, but the other fine.
And as I looked, more spikes, six or seven in the end, and all in good state and well worth photographing.
Which I do. Of course.And after one last look for the Burnt Tip, I sigh and begin to walk up the down, a shallower climb, and my back grumbles less.
And before I know it, I am standing at the top of the two meadows, with an easy descent back to the car park, dodging the scatter dog shit and dog shit bags. The lockdown has made other things worse too.I decide to go via Western Heights on the way home, as there is a butterfly there, and orchids, of course. The butterfly is the Small Blue, the UK's smallest, but a conservation project has seen them thrive above Dover.
I have to say, in all my time, butterfly or orchid hunting, this was the easiest. I park the car up Military Road, walk to the other side of the road, up the small bank, look down and there is one basking.Snap!
I chase a few more round and take shots of the Common Spotted spikes that were just coming into flower.
I also get more shots of the butterflies, and am done.
So, I drive back through town, then up past the castle, along to the Duke of Yorks and back home. All done by ten in the morning.
For lunch, I decide to try some fusion cooking: roast beef, Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes, served with gravy and stir fried vegetables. And, it worked very well.
Especially with the second from last bottle of pink fizz.
And then the hardest part is trying to stay awake all afternoon. Which I am not successful with if I'm honest.
We are getting quite good of letting time slip through our hands. And soon enough it was evening, we have cold roast beef rolls, a hot brew and an ice cream, and then Uckers.
Jools wins.
And as ever, the weekend is rounded off with a session on Twitter uploading shots for #wildflowerhour.
And, once again, that was the weekend gone.
The end of May
Whilst paying for refuelling the car, the assistant asked me if I had been OK during the lockdown.
I said we had done better than most. And this I think is true.
I have no family left, and Jools has her brother and sister, but she lost both her parents too. There is Jen and her Mother, but apart from that false alarm, they've been good too.
We have both carried on working, getting paid. Heck, I even got my retention bonus paid.
We did lockdown until the second week of May, then began to visit reserves and woods, and carried on after that. Many others had been doing this anyway. But I did see "friends" policing friends questioning why they had been in the area of a certain reserve. It might have been a joke, but I don't think so.
We have tried making sourdough, baked bread, cooked, baked, listened to the radio, watched a little TV and listened to a lot of radio. And I have continued to write, reporting on things as I see them.
I do know people who have not left the house since the beginning of March, not left their garden, as they are in the "at risk" group. I don't know how they coped, but seeing the madness unfold whilst knowing that if the Government got it wrong, it could have fatal consequences. A very scary situation.
And for at least two weeks there was no leadership of the country. Johnson was infected. Cummings was infected and on his grand tour. The UK's top medical officer was infected. The head of the Civil Service was infected, and Dominic Raab was the defacto Prime Minister. Yesterday he could not answer as a direct questions that, as stand in PM, did he know Cummings was in Durham.
Not a good look.
The pause in infections that the lockdown created should have been the time that the Government prepared for the next stage: test, trace and isolate. They didn't do that, and so are unlocking before the country is ready, in order to distract from the Cummings story. Playing with the nation's health to cover up the elite Cummings claimed not to be a part of.
We are not going to change the way we live, we will stay pretty much isolated, not meet many people, not go to the beach or beauty spots, stay away from towns and cities. I don't trust the Government, not one that hides vital information like the daily totals of people actually tested. A Government that puts economics above human life now, but is happy to trash the economy at the end of year for Brexit.
And yesterday, with no notice or apparent consultation with anyone involved in public health, regulations were changed with little or no explanation as to why. If those in high risk groups were supposed to keep doing so until there was a vaccine, how on earth was the UK at the second highest COVID warning setting, as set up by the Government, but is apparently at the lowest level today; what changed?
I said we had done better than most. And this I think is true.
I have no family left, and Jools has her brother and sister, but she lost both her parents too. There is Jen and her Mother, but apart from that false alarm, they've been good too.
We have both carried on working, getting paid. Heck, I even got my retention bonus paid.
We did lockdown until the second week of May, then began to visit reserves and woods, and carried on after that. Many others had been doing this anyway. But I did see "friends" policing friends questioning why they had been in the area of a certain reserve. It might have been a joke, but I don't think so.
We have tried making sourdough, baked bread, cooked, baked, listened to the radio, watched a little TV and listened to a lot of radio. And I have continued to write, reporting on things as I see them.
I do know people who have not left the house since the beginning of March, not left their garden, as they are in the "at risk" group. I don't know how they coped, but seeing the madness unfold whilst knowing that if the Government got it wrong, it could have fatal consequences. A very scary situation.
And for at least two weeks there was no leadership of the country. Johnson was infected. Cummings was infected and on his grand tour. The UK's top medical officer was infected. The head of the Civil Service was infected, and Dominic Raab was the defacto Prime Minister. Yesterday he could not answer as a direct questions that, as stand in PM, did he know Cummings was in Durham.
Not a good look.
The pause in infections that the lockdown created should have been the time that the Government prepared for the next stage: test, trace and isolate. They didn't do that, and so are unlocking before the country is ready, in order to distract from the Cummings story. Playing with the nation's health to cover up the elite Cummings claimed not to be a part of.
We are not going to change the way we live, we will stay pretty much isolated, not meet many people, not go to the beach or beauty spots, stay away from towns and cities. I don't trust the Government, not one that hides vital information like the daily totals of people actually tested. A Government that puts economics above human life now, but is happy to trash the economy at the end of year for Brexit.
And yesterday, with no notice or apparent consultation with anyone involved in public health, regulations were changed with little or no explanation as to why. If those in high risk groups were supposed to keep doing so until there was a vaccine, how on earth was the UK at the second highest COVID warning setting, as set up by the Government, but is apparently at the lowest level today; what changed?
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