COVID-19

Yesterday’s opinion poll

 

Sky news this morning reduced to dragging out that stupid woman from Plaid Cymru and guess what she said about Cummings....?
For balance they should also ask Katie Hopkins...

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-emergency-cash-poor-england-hotspots-conservatives-a9528371.html

More on what we talked about the other day @Bronco. I hope this changes but can’t see it from what we have seen already and now the excuse of no money left after this pandemic passes.

 

Some possible good news (of course some of you will obviously think it must be rubbish because it's in The Guardian).
This backs up the findings of a much bigger study in Korea, which also found immunity in mild cases.

French tests show even mild coronavirus illness leads to antibodies

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/27/french-team-finds-mild-coronavirus-infection-does-lead-to-antibodies?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

 

Why would that be balance?

 

Public sector wastes money earned by the Private sector , this is why Socialism doesen't work . The former Nationalised bottomless money pit in the UK proves it without a doubt .

 

Should never have privatised that bottomless money pit. For god’s sake, every day I tried telling them.

 

Good grief. Still trotting out this discredited old Thatcherite/Friedmanite cliché? Even Boris Johnson doesn't believe this nonsense.
And you wonder why I called you right wing?

 

It’s quite interesting seeing this systematic erosion of people’s trust in the mainstream media. I’m all for balance, scrutiny and a healthy scepticism that maybe not all you are told is true, but folk also need to watch they are not being played. It’s almost too systematic to believe it is a natural progression. You only need to look at the notion of ‘fake news’ to realise that.

 

As far as the press and media is concerned it should be the law that news reports must be proved factual and opinion clearly marked as such, Both the press and media are guilty of passing opinion and speculation as fact.
Will never happen but still should be the case, Is it to much to ask them to tell the unfettered truth?

 

Can you tell me where the money the government (any government ) comes from to spend?
All money is created by private industry there is no other supply either to people in work, Local government or Westminster

 

Free to read links to the FT. No real political leaning I’d say. Just great reporting.
Awful handling by this government and no way of getting away from the facts. whichever side you lean they have not handled it well from day one

 

Personally, I think it is one of the most concerning aspects of social media and politics that has happened, or has unfolded in recent years. It’s pretty obvious what it is for. I’m not saying ‘you must believe the BBC’ and never question mainstream media, but I guess nothing will change that if people begin to think the likes of Donald Trump are men of the people, well, nigh on a philanthropists, with normal people’s best interests at heart.

 

who governs the law then? Not possible they could be got to and present the required narrative of someone else? Someone is pushing an over-exaggerated notion that much of what is put out is fake (If it helps their cause and sufficiently muddies the water). And that is from people like Donald Trump, probably one of the most powerful men on the planet. Yet conspiracy theorists get almost universally laughed at. It’s almost like they are using that idea or similar to give them traction from a position of power, it’s pretty clever and weird. I find it is probably better not to think about it too much, sometimes.

 

I mean, that’s quite demonstrably false. All money is created by the state - literally says it on the money itself. And the state can create or remove money more or less as it pleases.

Product and goods might be created through private industry, but this isn’t the same thing and it’s an important distinction. And let’s not forget that private enterprise benefits considerably from state backed research and investment. Whatever device you’re reading this on is a function of many state led initiatives that have been compiled into an end user product by private enterprise.

 

Anyone arsed about the Premier League returning in 3 weeks time? Nope, me neither.

 

I know that all of our GDP is created by the private sector. Please point me to where I said otherwise.
Of course that hasn't always been so. We have had some profitable state run manufacturing industries in the past.

My quarrel is with the statement that the "public sector wastes money created by the private sector". Sometimes it does. But often it uses money that is created by the private sector and collected in taxes in very effective and efficient fashion. The private sector cannot function with out public sector education, infrastructure, and social care etc. Some of those functions can be performed in part by the private sector, but they still require state sector planning at national and local level.
We've now seen enough examples of privatisation shambles and scandals to know that there are certain activities best performed as public, not for profit services. Eg. Serco's almighty balls up of Bradford's education provision; G4S's serial failures in prisons and the Olympics security; the virtual ruination of the Probation service; numerous care home scandals in private sector homes. I could go on, but it would be a very long list.

Private sector companies exist to make profit. The things they make or services they provide, are simply a means to do that. If a company cannot make a profit from the goods or services it is providing it has four main options -1. Switch to a different service 2. Cut costs/product service quality in an attempt to go into profitability 3. Improve the product and charge more for it (aiming for a smaller but wealthier market) 4. Go bust.

Options 1 and 4 are not an option when providing essential public services. So if the company can't make a profit from providing the service (as is often the case) and either pulls out or goes bust, the public sector invariably has to step in and take over, usually in crisis situations with inadequate resources.
In practice, options 2 or 3 are what usually happens. So companies slash costs by cutting wages, cutting out staff training and providing rock bottom services. These are the care homes where many people have died due to overworked, insufficient staff and little or no PPE. Or they go up market, provide good services, but only to people who can afford them - these are the homes with plentiful, well trained staff and abundant PPE, charging £1500+ PW in fees. I'm using care homes because they are a good example but the same principles apply across all essential public services.
The point is that, with essential public services, the provision of the service is the entire point of the exercise, not the pursuit of profit. It's not like making widgets - you can't just pull out if you're not making money from it, because people suffer.

All effective modern developed economies have a good balance between private sector wealth creation and public sector planning and provision of essential infrastructure and services. The idea that public sector spending 'squeezes out' the private sector and impedes it's it's effectiveness was a piece of Friedmanite dogma that Thatcher and Keith Joseph latched onto at the start of the 80s. It was abandoned by all credible economists and all successful national economies years ago. Only amongst the right wing of politics in Britain does this idiotic idea linger on.

 

Yeah me!...
Means my Sky bill will go back up ... BUGGER!

 

No, the season is dead as far as I am concerned. Its the summer break now.

Missing my cricket though, but at least the racing starts again next week