Do you want to know a secret

The public should now become increasingly alarmed at the secrecy surrounding the government's management of the Covid -19 crisis. There is no need for secrecy pertaining to the scientific advice given to the government by the SAGE committee. The scientists on this committee have a moral obligation to publish their advice. Science is based upon the fact that knowledge should be shared. The scientists on this committee should share their advice with the public and ignore requests from the government to keep secrets. If they are not prepared to do this then they should resign.

Every day the governments and their scientists either refuse to answer simple questions from journalists or they dissimulate using ramble discourse which means almost nothing.

Today the figures have been released for the number of deaths in care homes. The public will be disturbed by the thousands of older people who have been left to die without hospital treatment. Was this deliberate policy or was this incompetence, we have a right to know? Why has the bravery of the coal face workers not been recognised, as they have worked through the crisis without adequate protection and testing. There should be an apology for the deaths of  so many doctors, nurses and care workers; not mealy mouthed platitudes and excuses.

Let's have a grown up conversation about this. One of the government's scientists claimed that we should do this. Let's have a grown up conversation about why Germany has been able so far to manage both the number of infections and death rate so much better than the UK. Why is the death rate of confirmed case so much higher in the UK than in the US ?

It is not true that the NHS "has not been overwhelmed" by the crisis; so many patients with other life threatening conditions have failed to be treated. It is difficult to get a GP appointment in person and Dental services have shutdown. GPs are not visiting care homes: why?

We are in a crisis and of course things can go wrong and there are failures, but the public understands this but it expects to be told the the facts.

Containment of the virus failed and it was bound to. The spread of the virus could not be stopped so why try to pretend that containment succeeded? Tell us why it failed and how that failure could have been mitigated if we had the resources to do it.

Why have public service employees across the board not been provided with adequate protection against infection?

We need to know why public health has failed to do enough testing. Is it a shortage of tests or staff or both. Is it because of a lack of effective decision making and organisation by the government and the administration?  If we are not told why then we will suspect a cover up.

All the scientific advice should be published so that the public can decide if and where and when the advice has been ignored  or played down by the politicians.   This is in the interest of the scientists themselves in case they are being set up for a fall.

The government and SAGE committee should open the books now. The public deserve some openness and honesty, especially as they have subjected themselves to house arrest. The public have played their part and it is incumbent on the government and SAGE to publish their deliberations as a mark of respect.

Social Market Foundation

The Social Market Foundation is proposing that pensions for the elderly should be disconnected from the triple-lock, because the financial burden of saving the lives of thousands of pensioners should not fall onto the working age poor. Pensioners should therefore pay for this intergenerational generosity.

Hold on a second. Anyone over 70 is now effectively under house arrest not just to save their own lives but to stop the virus infecting the younger generations. Hundreds of thousands of pensioners do not have gardens so house arrest for them is more like a prison sentence under solitary confinement. It is punishment for nothing. How do you count the cost of this suffering? Thousands of pensioners are being left alone to suffer for the effects of Covid-19 and if they don't die they could be left with long term illness. What is the cost of this?

Even in the best of times the state pension is not exactly a King's ransom especially if you do not own your house with a paid-off mortgage. Pensioners in this situation must pay rent which will take up a substantial amount of their meagre income. Who will take over the financial burden of looking after cash strapped pensioners if these recommendations are taken up? I suggest that it will be their cash strapped daughters and sons. If you are a pensioner on your own, then hardlines.

Many pensioners do voluntary work. How do you account for this Mr Social Market Foundation think-tank economist? What happens if the pensioner can't afford to do this work anymore? Who will take their place and how much will it cost?

How much more do you want to patronise the elderly? Do you want them all to be herded into care homes to be looked after by the poor? The carer and the cared for have been denied personal protection equipment so are they all part of the herd ? Will they all have to sacrifice their lives to keep the economy going? There could be no-one left to the buy the products of the economy which could die just as quickly as a Covid -19 victim.

It is time to put some thought back into the think-tank not remove it. Time for the financial burden to be put onto broader shoulders than the working age poor, perhaps?

http://www.smf.co.uk/press-release-scrap-pensions-triple-lock-coronavirus/

Get the Covid 19 testing done

The covid 19 virus has now killed over 3,600 in the UK. This is more people killed in a few weeks than were killed in the Northern Ireland troubles covering three decades from the late 1960's. The only resemblance that the Covid 19 struggle bears to a war is that both have a first victim - the truth.

The covid 19 virus is not brutal, it is not devious, it is not intelligent and it is not trying to avoid being eliminated. The disease can be contained and eliminated by taking effective measures. These are social distancing and the protection of health and care workers and the emergency service workers.   We have got the social distancing but more needs to be done. Why should the health of doctors, nurses, care workers, policemen, ambulance workers and  pharmacists,  have their health put at risk for lack of equipment.

It i also essential that antibody tests should be started as soon as possible. Public health administrators claim that the tests are not accurate enough at 90% to be used diagnostically. This may or not be true but fairly accurate tests could still be of use for data collection rather than diagnosis. This is the ultimate key to a solution.

It looks as though these tests could be used anonymously to test the general population to find out the proportion of the population who have already recovered from infection. The tests could be done twice on each individual and any conflicting result could be ignored. The 90% that are accurate could then be used to assess how many have been infected and have recovered. Polling statisticians can predict election results quite accurately from low samples. If we were to test 20,000 people across the nation we would have a reasonable set of data to help plan for the recovery.

When the tests are 99% accurate they can be used diagnostically. Home testing by the public should be ruled out because of the risk of fraud and people misjudging their result. Allowing some people to go about business as usual and others to remain locked away is a recipe for disaster.

The time to start this testing is now, if the antibody tests are to be useful. There should  be no dithering and no excuses why we cannot do this. Singapore used experimental tests to help fight the virus why can we not follow their lead? They had nothing to lose if the testing could not provide the right result and everything to gain if they did. They succeeded to control the virus with testing and other measures. We need to find out if we can do the same.

It is time for clear headed thinking and effective management of the crisis. If  the heads of government and health administration cannot provide this now and produce a clear and honest plan for the future, then they should resign and make way for others who are more competent.

There is a cheque in the post

How many times have creditors heard the words there is a cheque in the post. My thoughts and words are my own. Often, I do not communicate them. But now I feel that I must.

A global calamity is at our feet. Our leaders, in nearly every country, are reacting and mouthing the same platitudes.

I constantly hear the words, “the ventilators are coming next week, the tests will be here next week, the human resources are coming”.

These platitudes are repeated endlessly whenever a difficult question is asked.

The words that I do not hear are “I was warned that this was coming and did very little or nothing about it. I have failed you. I resign to let someone better experienced to run things: someone from the front line who has put their life at risk for others”.

The first victim of war

Many politicians and people in the media have likened the current health emergency to a war. This is not true and off course the first victim of war is always the truth.

There  are still cruel wars being fought in Syria and Yemen. They have been going on for years with no end in sight. Hundreds of thousands have died, have been displaced and traumatised. We must not forget them in this time of crisis and be aware of what will happen if the disease spreads to their refugee camps.

Yesterday it was announced that Prince Charles had contracted the Covid 19 virus and today Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock,the prime minister and health secretary respectively, had also contracted the virus.

On social media Prince Charles was criticised for being prioritised for being tested when others do not have testing available. But come off it, he has been making an enormous number of public appearances to try to improve morale.

Likewise, the prime minister and health secretary have been meeting an enormous number of people. It is inevitable that public figures will catch the virus having put their health at risk.

No-one deserves to catch this virus and everyone has a family that does not want to see someone ill.

I am not a big supporter of the monarchical system of government but I wish Prince Charles a speedy recovery.

I am not a member of any political party, and sometimes I am sceptical about the motives of politicians but Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock have put their health on the line, so I wish them a speedy recovery.
Above all, I wish anyone who has got ill in the NHS, The Police and Fire Brigade a speedy recovery.

It is easy to be critical of others when you are sitting at home in confinement. There is no need, however, for nasty "schaden freude" comments to be posted on social media. To all those that are posting such messages, I say shut up.

Post Covid19 planning and European Co-operation

In a time of crisis there is no room for complacency and the blue skies thinking of weirdos. Obviously, people need to be told what to do to alleviate the emergency and this should be done. There should be no room for yes men, however. Authority and responsibility should be firmly linked together. If  adminstrators or civil servants ordered to do something then those doing the ordering should take responsibility. There is no other way management of a crisis can be conducted.

We need to be planning for the post Covid19 recovery now. This is no time to be thinking about anything else. The Brexit transition should be extended indefinitely.  We need to be working with our European neighbours as closely as possible to recover the health of our nations and our economies. This is no time for ideology to replace practicality.

We need the free movement of workers across Europe to help balance excesses in one nation against deficits in another. We need to allow musicians and artists to cross borders freely, to cheer us up and improve morale when the restrictions are finally lifted. We need scientists and medical staff to exchange ideas freely. We need security co-operation.

The British people are about to find out what happens when public services are denuded of resources. The health service will struggle. The Police do not have enough staff to maintain public order and to ensure that no-one is moving around or assembling unnecessarily. This situation must change, in the future there must be more resilience granted to the public services to account for an emergency.  The police,especially, are now going to have to rely upon the co-operation of the public. Probably the Army, Navy and RAF do not have enough resources to support the police in a real emergency if there is rioting or widespread social disorder.

The public must co-operate by staying at home and social distancing. Surely, it is worthwhile losing our civil liberties for a short period rather than let the virus spread uncontrolled to kill hundreds of thousands. Our economy could be damaged permanently if the the virus is allowed to "let rip".

It is time to stop the abuse of our police, ambulance and rescue forces and damage to their equipment. If you are told to disassemble or isolate yourself, or keep your distance by the police than do so without complaint.

There is some hope that drugs to alleviate symptoms will be on the market in a few months but the problem will not be solved. Only a vaccine can truly resolve the crisis.

Soon a serological test will be made available which will be able to test subjects for anti-bodies, so that doctors can tell who has already recovered from the virus, and who are still sick, and those that have not yet encountered the virus, and those who are infected but asymptomatic. This test can be done in ten minutes, and it will be a very powerful tool to help control the disease.

When a vaccine is finally available a substantial proportion  should be serologically tested before they are vaccinated to obtain demographic information about the virus. We should then be planning for the next pandemic to come our way and make sure all the equipment and people are in place before it comes a severe problem.

There is no room for complacency. Heed the warnings as well , please.

Covid-19 and Brexit

Michel Barnier has contracted Covid-19 and I wish him and everyone else who has been or will be affected good health. Michel Barnier is too much of a gentleman to blame Brexit, he is both rational and logical. To blame Brexit for his problems would be irrational just as it is irrational to blame the EU for Britain's problems.

Britain is now in a real pickle not only does it have to contend with a health and economic disaster, it also has to contend with cutting itself off from its most important trading partners after December 31st 2020. Brexit is dragging Britain further into the mire.

There is something wrong with the markets when both the FT100 index and the Pound plunge. The Bank of England has dropped interest rates to their lowest rates ever. Normally, a currency falls when interest rates go down but this time the Pound went up but how long for? The social and economic future looks grim.

Where are the unicorns and fields of milk and honey that Brexit politicians promised voters? They are all gone. Levelling up is now a dream to be left for a long time. Covid-19 will make everyone suffer but the poor will suffer most, and Brexit will make their plight worse. I would exchange Brexit anytime to be relieved of Covid-19.

Droves of doctors and nurses have returned to their home countries because of the Brexit attitude that made them feel unwelcome. We need all the health workers we can get in our hour of need. The covid virus doesn't care if you were a leave or remain voter but you could die or live with serious health consequences if there is no doctor or nurse to treat you.

Farmers need workers from the EU to pick fruits and vegetables;  they won't becoming, and this could lead to food shortages. 40% of our food comes from the EU, the lorries won't becoming, and eventually there will be extra food shortages if the crisis carries on much longer.

We have a shortage of care workers from the EU because they, too, have been made to feel unwelcome and  have gone home. Who is going to look after your grandmother or grandfather when there are severe staff shortages owing to both the covid-19 crisis and Brexit?

When this is all over, both the UK and the EU will be in desperate trouble. Britain will get over the health crisis. However, Brexit  will exacerbate the continuing economic problems, and it could finish us off. Can we really afford to have long queues at Dover and Calais to prevent food and industrial products coming in?

Can we afford to have a health service and social care system denied of health workers by the stupid bureaucracy of immigration controls. The poor will suffer most.

When this health crisis is over; Britain and the EU will have to stay very close to ensure a full recovery. Britain needs the Single Market and Customs Union and the EU needs us to stay in these organisations. Petty squabbling and nationalism won't help anyone. Mister voter and Mister Politician it is time to get real and to put the evil genie of Brexit back in its lamp.