COVID Inquiry

[BillyStubbsTears]

Just watching over lunch.

It makes The Thick of It look like a documentary.

QC to Cummings. Due to the nature of your communications, we are going to have to coarsen the tone a little. You called ministers "f**kpigs", "Morons" and "Kitsons". Do you regret that language?

Cummings to QC: No, I think that reflects a widespread view.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Excellent theatre.

QC: You say that the Cabinet and many officials were not very good at their jobs. Who appointed them.

Cummings: The PM and I tried to get him to do better but I failed to convince him.

QC: Who appointed you Mr Cummings?

Cummings, (realising he's walked into a trap, mumbles): The Prime Minister.

[drfchound]

Just watching over lunch.

It makes The Thick of It look like a documentary.

QC to Cummings. Due to the nature of your communications, we are going to have to coarsen the tone a little. You called ministers "f**kpigs", "Morons" and "Kitsons". Do you regret that language?

Cummings to QC: No, I think that reflects a widespread view.

I’m quite surprised that the QC used the word Kitson.
I genuinely thought it was just used by Rovers fans in relation to THAT footballer.

[keyser_soze]

Maybe Cummings is a closet Rovers fan.

[RobTheRover]

It's fascinating. Been listening to it all afternoon.

The levels of misogyny and toxic culture is astonishing.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Maybe Cummings is a closet Rovers fan.

Or Kitson has been a Kitson to a lot more people than just Rovers fans!

[Donnywolf]

Strange he used Kitson but not for Hancock who at least once , he called a lying cnut

[Bristol Red Rover]

I think this was a particularly bad episode of government. It would be desperately naive to believe this isn't how government always functions.

It's worth realising how the governments of countries around the world are as bad or worse right now, we're so in the past and will continue to be in the future. There are sparse few rays of hope outside of delusion. .

[RobTheRover]

I think this was a particularly bad episode of government. It would be desperately naive to believe this isn't how government always functions.

It's worth realising how the governments of countries around the world are as bad or worse right now, we're so in the past and will continue to be in the future. There are sparse few rays of hope outside of delusion. .

There are a lot a darn sight better too.

[belton rover]

Strange he used Kitson but not for Hancock who at least once , he called a lying cnut

I reckon the political version of our ‘kitson’ should be a ‘hancock’:

Fiona Bruce: welcome to tonight’s Question Time live from Rotherham. We’ve got a right panel of  hancocks answering questions from the audience.

[Donnywolf]

... and of course an extremely biased Hancock running the show

[Glyn_Wigley]

I think this was a particularly bad episode of government. It would be desperately naive to believe this isn't how government always functions.

It's worth realising how the governments of countries around the world are as bad or worse right now, we're so in the past and will continue to be in the future. There are sparse few rays of hope outside of delusion. .

What, you think most governments ignore what their experts, advisors and civil servants tell them as normal behaviour?

[drfchound]

We were regularly told on here that Cummings was running the country.
If that is true shouldn't he be answering the questions and taking the blame for stuff that went wrong.

[Glyn_Wigley]

We were regularly told on here that Cummings was running the country.
If that is true shouldn't he be answering the questions and taking the blame for stuff that went wrong.

Who said that? I only recall one person saying that he ran the operation of government, not that he made policy decisions.

[drfchound]

One person in particular regularly suggested that Cummings ran the show.
Funny how he was deemed to be a liar back then but now people want to believe every word he says.

[Glyn_Wigley]

One person in particular regularly suggested that Cummings ran the show.
Funny how he was deemed to be a liar back then but now people want to believe every word he says.

Did that one person say Cummings was making policy decisions or running the operation of the machinery of government?

[drfchound]

Go back and have a look.
It isn't hard to find.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Go back and have a look.
It isn't hard to find.

It's your bad memory, you show us.

After all, it's not hard to find.

[drfchound]

We were regularly told on here that Cummings was running the country.
If that is true shouldn't he be answering the questions and taking the blame for stuff that went wrong.

Who said that? I only recall one person saying that he ran the operation of government, not that he made policy decisions.

Can you show us where the one person said that Cummings ran the operation of government?

[Glyn_Wigley]

We were regularly told on here that Cummings was running the country.
If that is true shouldn't he be answering the questions and taking the blame for stuff that went wrong.

Who said that? I only recall one person saying that he ran the operation of government, not that he made policy decisions.

Can you show us where the one person said that Cummings ran the operation of government?

After you.

[BillyStubbsTears]

One person in particular regularly suggested that Cummings ran the show.
Funny how he was deemed to be a liar back then but now people want to believe every word he says.

Did that one person say Cummings was making policy decisions or running the operation of the machinery of government?

Here we go again. Hound on his regular dose of "BST is a hypocrite" medicine.

I did say Cummings was running the Government.

I did and do think he was and is an overbearing megalomaniac Kitson, who believed it was his role to run the government.

I do think he lied about certain things. I think he told the truth about certain things. I made my judgements on what I thought were truth and lies according to other evidence. Who'd have thought THAT was possibly, eh Hound?

But whatever Cummings's behaviour, there's no question who was responsible for the carnage that he wrought. The PM who employed him and then gave him the reins to run the country when he was too bored with the detail to do the job himself.

Fill your boots Hound. Find the inconsistency and hypocrisy in there if you can. You won't, because there isn't any. But it won't stop you being convinced I'm a hypocrite.

[drfchound]

There you go Glyn.
Copy this post in too so bst will read it.
BST, I don’t ever recall you saying you thought Cummings was telling the truth but I was right in saying that you said Cummings was running the country.
I can’t ever recall calling you out as a hypocrite either.
You just don’t like to be challenged and consistently dismiss or belittle anything or anyone who contradicts your point of view.
I also remember being told that advisors advise but Ministers decide but you seemed to buck the trend with your insistence that Cummings was running the show.
For what it is worth I agree with your description of Cummings by the way.
I have obviously touched a nerve here.
I now expect one or two of your forum buddies to jump on me, one in particular is almost certain to be along soon.

[Glyn_Wigley]

BST says he said Cummings was running the government.

You say he said he was running the country.

They are not the same thing.

[drfchound]

Gareth Keenan.

[drfchound]

There you go Glyn.
BST, I don’t ever recall you saying you thought Cummings was telling the truth but I was right in saying that you said Cummings was running the country.
I can’t ever recall calling you out as a hypocrite either.
You just don’t like to be challenged and consistently dismiss or belittle anything or anyone who contradicts your point of view.
I also remember being told that advisors advise but Ministers decide but you seemed to buck the trend with your insistence that Cummings was running the show.
For what it is worth I agree with your description of Cummings by the way.
I have obviously touched a nerve here.
I now expect one or two of your forum buddies to jump on me, one in particular is almost certain to be along soon.

 

[drfchound]

BST says he said Cummings was running the government.

You say he said he was running the country.

They are not the same thing.

Sorry Glyn, you are wrong, read BSTs rant again, he clearly says that the PM gave Cummings the reigns to run the country when he was too bored with the detail to do the job himself.
BST did also mention that Cummings was running the government so perhaps you should also tell him that they are not the same thing.

[Herbert Anchovy]

What’s coming out of the inquiry is nothing short of scandalous. To many of them were incompetent, too many saw Covid as a business opportunity.

[MachoMadness]

It's actually quite funny reading the messages until you remember that tens of thousands of people died when they didn't need to.

Also surprised, given it's fair to say there are a few older gentlemen on here, that Johnson's attitude towards older people hasn't come up yet.

[BillyStubbsTears]

It's actually quite funny reading the messages until you remember that tens of thousands of people died when they didn't need to.

Also surprised, given it's fair to say there are a few older gentlemen on here, that Johnson's attitude towards older people hasn't come up yet.

Amen to that MM.

I've always said that you could just about forgive the Govt for the delay in locking down first time. I still think they got it badly wrong because they had 2 weeks advance notice from Italy of how horrifically fast and deadly the first outbreak was. But they had to make a monumental decision and you can understand them not optimising the outcome.

The second time, in late 2020, there is zero excuse. Everyone knew by then that if you didn't lockdown hard and fast, the outbreak would get out of control. You'd condemn tens of thousands of people to death. And when you inevitably had to lockdown after the outbreak was out of control, the lockdown would have to go on for much, much longer and be far more economically damaging.

There was zero excuse for getting it wrong that time.

Sunak, Heneghan, Gupta and the sheer stupidity and scientific illiteracy of Johnson were 100% to blame for that disaster.

Read this f**king idiocy from Johnson about "Get COVID - live longer". And the blithe dismissal of the crisis in the NHS from the numbers having to be treated.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67275967.amp

Classic example of Dunning-Kruger. He was too stupid to realise how stupid he was. The key question is, who was feeding that shit into his head?

[BillyStubbsTears]

And while we are talking about Dunning-Kruger, this looks like a prime example from a senior GB News employee.

https://twitter.com/tomhfh/status/1719254817606947029

Except he knows what he's doing. He's paid to make sure uninformed angry people stay uninformed and angry.