U Turn after U Turn after U Turn......

[LLPunting]

He is a dick but he is also got dyslexia as per this piece in The Telegraph from 2018

External Link/Members Only

Being told how to pronounce someone's unfamiliar foreign name by a staffer before you go out to the public doesn't relate to dyslexia.  He just didn't remember or wasn't listening to the staffer.

[lostandfound]

I don’t know to much about painting a plane but I would guess that you would not nip down to Halfords and get a lot of spray cans of paint, it will be expensive.
It pains me to say this but, I don’t think it presents a good image of the country if the British PM turns up to meetings in a military transport plane. Changing the colours to red white and blue I think will project a better image and I take it the Royal Family can use it.

It's a $240M plane which may be useless to the military once it's painted red white and blue.

External Link/Members Only

[David1970]

Being told how to pronounce someone's unfamiliar foreign name by a staffer before you go out to the public doesn't relate to dyslexia.  He just didn't remember or wasn't listening to the staffer.

I am sure you are correct, I was only pointing out the fact that he is dyslexic, another post cast doubt on that.

[LLPunting]

I am sure you are correct, I was only pointing out the fact that he is dyslexic, another post cast doubt on that.

Indeed and I was just making the point that pitiable dyslexics can also be lying, careless, prideful arseholes.

[David1970]

Indeed and I was just making the point that pitiable dyslexics can also be lying, careless, prideful arseholes.

What do you mean by “pitiable dyslexics” ?

[LLPunting]

What do you mean by “pitiable dyslexics” ?

One can pity someone for being dyslexic, feel sorry for their disability, that which demonstrates compassion.  So I'd help him read something for the sake of reading and understanding it but I might be very inclined to ill-thoughts about him for the conclusions he might draw that are founded in his privilege and serve to maintain that privilege at the expense of others, being everyone equally or some people more than others.

[David1970]

One can pity someone for being dyslexic, feel sorry for their disability, that which demonstrates compassion.  So I'd help him read something for the sake of reading and understanding it but I might be very inclined to ill-thoughts about him for the conclusions he might draw that are founded in his privilege and serve to maintain that privilege at the expense of others, being everyone equally or some people more than others.

I don’t think they would want pity or people feeling sorry for them, maybe just understanding and not negatively.
Calling them “pitiable dyslexics“ sounds negative and not understanding.

[LLPunting]

I don’t think they would want pity or people feeling sorry for them, maybe just understanding and not negatively.
Calling them “pitiable dyslexics“ sounds negative and not understanding.

The term has both connotations, I was trying to avoid "pitiful" and sadly only came up with a synonym rather than a better, singular meaning one..

[Thephoenix]

I can't think of any of the current crop of ministers who don't appear to be completely out of their depth apart from the chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Watching the young man being questioned by Andrew Marr on Sunday, I was quite impressed with his performance, considering he's been thrown in at the deep end to do a job as Chancellor which surely ranks as the most difficult since the war.
Possibly future PM material if he can survive this?

[LLPunting]

I can't think of any of the current crop of ministers who don't appear to be completely out of their depth apart from the chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Watching the young man being questioned by Andrew Marr on Sunday, I was quite impressed with his performance, considering he's been thrown in at the deep end to do a job as Chancellor which surely ranks as the most difficult since the war.
Possibly future PM material if he can survive this?

Not by the millions he excluded from support after his government locked us all down.

[A Decent Fist]

Let's not worry too much about Matt Hancock's dyslexia. The man has demonstrated in successive press conferences that he is a self-regarding arse who is currently intoxicated by the power of his position.

As someone who grew up poor on a northern council estate, a lifetime of experience and observation has led me to define my political views as "anti-Socialist".

So I was happy to vote for the Boris-led Tory party. But their handling of the virus and the Black Lives Matter protests has been a shambles. I can't put it any better than this article:

External Link/Members Only

[Beamer]

Let's not worry too much about Matt Hancock's dyslexia. The man has demonstrated in successive press conferences that he is a self-regarding arse who is currently intoxicated by the power of his position.

As someone who grew up poor on a northern council estate, a lifetime of experience and observation has led me to define my political views as "anti-Socialist".

So I was happy to vote for the Boris-led Tory party. But their handling of the virus and the Black Lives Matter protests has been a shambles. I can't put it any better than this article:

External Link/Members Only

Agree. Hancock has to be one of the worst appointments to a senior government post in living memory.
As someone bought up on a Southern council estate where both amazing right and left wing bigots tried to drive their own opinions I have no allegiance to either party now, just to some individuals. 

[Kev40ish]

Let's not worry too much about Matt Hancock's dyslexia. The man has demonstrated in successive press conferences that he is a self-regarding arse who is currently intoxicated by the power of his position.

As someone who grew up poor on a northern council estate, a lifetime of experience and observation has led me to define my political views as "anti-Socialist".

So I was happy to vote for the Boris-led Tory party. But their handling of the virus and the Black Lives Matter protests has been a shambles. I can't put it any better than this article:

External Link/Members Only

It’s an interesting article. The biggest problem nowadays is that reporting and fact checking is instantaneous and unfortunately politicians haven’t realised that you can’t just tell people something and hope they will accept it..

It’s a shame as it will ultimately lead to a society where everyone is scared to make a decision.. you can always find fault in any decision made and with hindsight it’s even easier..

Everyone talks about consultation, collective agreement but all that leads to is delay in someone making a decision..

I can pick holes in any political decision that has been made in the past, with hindsight I can tear apart any politician or great world leader with mistakes they made or what they could have done differently.

I get frustrated that all people are thinking about is a few mistakes that people have made.. yes it’s easy to see they have been made, but what would you do differently to protect both the nation and the economy..

What would you do differently, what would you try to protect, people? Economy? Or try to balance it..

[winkywanky]

I can't think of any of the current crop of ministers who don't appear to be completely out of their depth apart from the chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Watching the young man being questioned by Andrew Marr on Sunday, I was quite impressed with his performance, considering he's been thrown in at the deep end to do a job as Chancellor which surely ranks as the most difficult since the war.
Possibly future PM material if he can survive this?

Yes, I've been nothing but impressed by Sunak, from the very first moment the job was sprung on him.

One to watch for the future, definitely.

[sub_marine]

I can pick holes in any political decision that has been made in the past, with hindsight I can tear apart any politician or great world leader with mistakes they made or what they could have done differently.

I get frustrated that all people are thinking about is a few mistakes that people have made.. yes it’s easy to see they have been made, but what would you do differently to protect both the nation and the economy..

What would you do differently, what would you try to protect, people? Economy? Or try to balance it..

Most logical thinking people with the hindsight of the situation would agree that certain decisions could have been made differently for a better outcome.  Matt Hancock disagreed and was adamant that even with hindsight, UK made the best decisions.

S. Korea government called all the pharma comapnies with entities in S. Korea to a meeeting on day 8 to ask for help with testing.  Uk waitied till day 100.  Thats one example of something that could have been done differently

[Home Alone]

Yes, I've been nothing but impressed by Sunak, from the very first moment the job was sprung on him.

One to watch for the future, definitely.

I still can't get over how quickly - and permanently - the country went from having governments led by Prime Ministers a generation older than me, through a few years of having a government led by someone who was more or less a contemporary of mine, to people who are pretty well a generation - not a precise measurement, I know - younger than me.

The mightily impressive Sunak - a very bright fellow, educated at Oxford and Stanford - is nearer to half my age! I could imagine him being a mightily impressive PM if the current one were to fall under the wheels of a bus.

[Home Alone]

Have a look at this article
External Link/Members Only

One of the most important points it makes, imo, was the basis on which Johnson's selections to sit round the Cabinet table were made.

As they probably still say in exam questions, "Compare and contrast" Matt Hancock with his predecessor, Jeremy Hunt who, as the previous Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is, I would imagine, quietly enjoying his current Parliamentary role as Chair of the House of Commons Health  Select Committee.

The difference in their levels of competence is frightening.

[winkywanky]

I could imagine [Sunak] being a mightily impressive PM if the current one were to fall under the wheels of a bus.

...just what are you suggesting, HA?

[Beamer]

I still can't get over how quickly - and permanently - the country went from having governments led by Prime Ministers a generation older than me, through a few years of having a government led by someone who was more or less a contemporary of mine, to people who are pretty well a generation - not a precise measurement, I know - younger than me.

The mightily impressive Sunak - a very bright fellow, educated at Oxford and Stanford - is nearer to half my age! I could imagine him being a mightily impressive PM if the current one were to fall under the wheels of a bus.

Agree, he is impressive.  Not sure how much father-in-law is involved with him?
Apparently,  he is one of the uber rich

[Xtro]

I still can't get over how quickly - and permanently - the country went from having governments led by Prime Ministers a generation older than me, through a few years of having a government led by someone who was more or less a contemporary of mine, to people who are pretty well a generation - not a precise measurement, I know - younger than me.

The mightily impressive Sunak - a very bright fellow, educated at Oxford and Stanford - is nearer to half my age! I could imagine him being a mightily impressive PM if the current one were to fall under the wheels of a bus.

Maybe you've just aged too quickly over recent years HA.   
Listening to all these politician pirates has certainly put years on me. The more I learn about them the more I know they are the scourge of society.

Give it time.... The Oxford smart arse might look good on paper and if he becomes PM he certainly won't be looking after the interests of the common people. I believe his journey has already been mapped out for him!

External Link/Members Only   Such a lovely, sweet, caring man he'll have you know.

However, External Link/Members Only   

[Doc Holliday]

Maybe you've just aged too quickly over recent years HA.   
Listening to all these politician pirates has certainly put years on me. The more I learn about them the more I know they are the scourge of society.

Give it time.... The Oxford smart arse might look good on paper and if he becomes PM he certainly won't be looking after the interests of the common people. I believe his journey has already been mapped out for him!

External Link/Members Only   Such a lovely, sweet, caring man he'll have you know.

However, External Link/Members Only   

His dad was a GP and his mum a pharmacist so he's ok in my book 

I take your point but he does have a solid financial background which means he 'understands money'. How he uses that understanding is another matter, but at least if someone ask the Chancellor a question he will know what they are talking about.

Boris on the other hand with his background in 'classics' and journalism is a 'communicator' but his knowledge base on so many things seems very limited.

Angela Merkel is a very accomplished research scientist who only entered the political arena following the fall of the wall. In the case of Coronavirus she will have a good understanding of the science which gives her an edge. Boris hasn't a clue.

I won't even mention Hancock. 

[Adoniron]

I don’t know to much about painting a plane but I would guess that you would not nip down to Halfords and get a lot of spray cans of paint, it will be expensive.
It pains me to say this but, I don’t think it presents a good image of the country if the British PM turns up to meetings in a military transport plane. Changing the colours to red white and blue I think will project a better image and I take it the Royal Family can use it.

I was told by a friend who works in aerospace engineering that it costs about £200k to paint an airliner, so if this is going to cost £950k someone is trousering a lot of public money. Probably another of Dom's mates who will have set up a new company especially for it.

[David1970]

I was told by a friend who works in aerospace engineering that it costs about £200k to paint an airliner, so if this is going to cost £950k someone is trousering a lot of public money. Probably another of Dom's mates who will have set up a new company especially for it.

I don’t believe one of our esteemed politicians would do that, next you will be saying they have fiddled their expenses.

[Beamer]

I don’t believe one of our esteemed politicians would do that, next you will be saying they have fiddled their expenses.

How could you suggest such a thing?
You will be talking next about "pigs with their nose in....."

[David1970]

I was told by a friend who works in aerospace engineering that it costs about £200k to paint an airliner, so if this is going to cost £950k someone is trousering a lot of public money. Probably another of Dom's mates who will have set up a new company especially for it.

Maybe the extra money is for the big lie Boris will have written down the side of the plane, I wonder what this one will be?
His has got previous for doing it.

Hidden Image/Members Only

[sub_marine]

I don’t believe one of our esteemed politicians would do that, next you will be saying they have fiddled their expenses.

External Link/Members Only

This artile doesn't go into the detail, but cant find a better link right now that does, but basically Matt Hancock sat on his hands from Feb till April about buying PPE then used emergency rules that allows government to give out contracts without the tendering process.  About 60 proper UK PPE firms were trying to supply the government wth PPE but some shady under the table deal was made with Pestfix.  The Chairman was then posting on Linkedin a few days later asking if anybody had 10,000 boxes of latex gloves as they had none.

External Link/Members Only

Blatant lining of the pockets by the tories in this time of pandemic, outrageous

[Beamer]

Latest info..... getting ready for another u turn....???


"Health leaders are calling for an urgent review to ensure Britain is properly prepared for the "real risk" of a second wave of coronavirus.

Ministers have been warned that urgent action is needed to prevent further loss of life and to protect the economy amid growing fears of a renewed outbreak in the winter.

The appeal is backed by the presidents of the Royal Colleges of Physicians, Surgeons, GPs and Nursing - as well as the chairman of the British Medical Association"

....assume 1metre plus will solve the problem??
Couldn't make it up if we tried!!!
 

[sanchez]

Still 2 meters as far as I was aware but only 1m or 1m+ in cases where that is not possible therefore allowing for pubs and hairdressers to re open.

Interesting how this was reported as a change to 1meter when even Whitty was trying to stress the importance of caution and distance in yesterday’s presser.

[spiralnotebook]

According to the font of all knowledge twat at approximatly 5 minutes into this mornings daily rant, this I know as I turned the television off at 6 minutes. The distancing rule is not law just advisory.   

This should read as twat 

P  i  e  r  s  M  o  r  g  a  n . . . . . .

[Doc Holliday]

I don’t know to much about painting a plane but I would guess that you would not nip down to Halfords and get a lot of spray cans of paint, it will be expensive.
It pains me to say this but, I don’t think it presents a good image of the country if the British PM turns up to meetings in a military transport plane. Changing the colours to red white and blue I think will project a better image and I take it the Royal Family can use it.

The new paint is dry.

External Link/Members Only

[David1970]

The new paint is dry.

External Link/Members Only

I think it looks good, better than arriving at a G7 meeting in a grey plane

[LLPunting]

The new paint is dry.

External Link/Members Only

What clueless prick thought that paint scheme was going to trailblaze the UK as a modern, forward thinking, exciting, inspiring investment for the future?

And what duties is it now fit for given you can now spot it easily?

Might start a petition for Boris to pay for the paint job as it's clearly a total waste of taxpayer money.

[David1970]

What clueless prick thought that paint scheme was going to trailblaze the UK as a modern, forward thinking, exciting, inspiring investment for the future?

And what duties is it now fit for given you can now spot it easily?

Might start a petition for Boris to pay for the paint job as it's clearly a total waste of taxpayer money.

If it’s a clueless prick I would guess that would be Dominic Cummings, he of the bad eyesight.
Or some Tory donor got the contract after a meal with some halfwit in the cabinet, and a nice brown envelope

[Metalcrue]

What clueless prick thought that paint scheme was going to trailblaze the UK as a modern, forward thinking, exciting, inspiring investment for the future?

And what duties is it now fit for given you can now spot it easily?

Might start a petition for Boris to pay for the paint job as it's clearly a total waste of taxpayer money.

The 900k isn't just the paint job. It's the cost of all the scheduled maintainance checks, service etc. All normal SOPs for the aircraft. Went in, had its C check and with it the fresh paint. Painting in a different colour would hardly alter the cost.

In terms of money, it's not wasting any money that "could" be used for other means. It will come out of the RAF's budget for aircraft maintainance. So if there was any extra cost incurred, the only people who suffer would potentially be pers at Brize as it will come out of their camps allotted budget. (Brize is home of the Voyager force).

Doesn't stop the RAF using it. Which they have done today. That tail number of the Voyager was used as part of a UK training exercise today as an air-to-air refueler for the F-35s and Typhoons.



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[LLPunting]

The 900k isn't just the paint job. It's the cost of all the scheduled maintainance checks, service etc. All normal SOPs for the aircraft. Went in, had its C check and with it the fresh paint. Painting in a different colour would hardly alter the cost.

In terms of money, it's not wasting any money that "could" be used for other means. It will come out of the RAF's budget for aircraft maintainance. So if there was any extra cost incurred, the only people who suffer would potentially be pers at Brize as it will come out of their camps allotted budget. (Brize is home of the Voyager force).

Doesn't stop the RAF using it. Which they have done today. That tail number of the Voyager was used as part of a UK training exercise today as an air-to-air refueler for the F-35s and Typhoons.



Hidden Image/Members Only

Thanks for the info.  So you're saying it went in for a service and MOT and a spray for 900k?  Or is the 900k a contract of service for a period of time?  Are we really spending nearly £1m per aircraft at such a rate?  Seems awfully expensive for transports and tankers.

Found this commentary, wonder if the PFi is as described in which case it's a fucking travesty : External Link/Members Only

The photo was a stunt to try to justify the spend.

[Metalcrue]

Thanks for the info.  So you're saying it went in for a service and MOT and a spray for 900k?  Or is the 900k a contract of service for a period of time?  Are we really spending nearly £1m per aircraft at such a rate?  Seems awfully expensive for transports and tankers.

Found this commentary, wonder if the PFi is as described in which case it's a fucking travesty : External Link/Members Only

The photo was a stunt to try to justify the spend.

Yeah, it would have been pretty much like an MOT. Has to be done either after a set amount of flying hours or when it has been out of action for a while. That will be the overall costs for the servicing this time round. It would found like the right figure on average for aircraft. Will be slightly different depending on the size and type of aircraft.

For me the bigger travesty was getting rid of the Nimrods and the Sentinel that is apparently due out of service next year. Very short aircraft life and all due to cuts.

Not necessarily. Aircraft used for the exercises will be decided weeks before and only changed if serviceabity issues raise their head. Voyager force are active constantly. Transporting troops regularly between the overseas bases with some deployed in an aar role in our deployed operating areas.

[LLPunting]

Yeah, it would have been pretty much like an MOT. Has to be done either after a set amount of flying hours or when it has been out of action for a while. That will be the overall costs for the servicing this time round. It would found like the right figure on average for aircraft. Will be slightly different depending on the size and type of aircraft.

For me the bigger travesty was getting rid of the Nimrods and the Sentinel that is apparently due out of service next year. Very short aircraft life and all due to cuts.

Not necessarily. Aircraft used for the exercises will be decided weeks before and only changed if serviceabity issues raise their head. Voyager force are active constantly. Transporting troops regularly between the overseas bases with some deployed in an aar role in our deployed operating areas.

Did you read the link and further into the PFI behind the Voyagers?  I'm starting to wonder why we would've been paying for servicing etc given the contract wasn't just for hire of the aircraft.  None of the public response by government or MOD have clarified that the charge was for anything other than the repaint.

I appreciate the airframe would've been allocated to the exercise long ago and of course it's ongoing tasking to operations is expected but the opportunistic photo is simply a stunt to show the aircraft working not it's airwar suitability.  Even in the photo you can plainly determine the difference in visibility at close range of different colour schemes and the reason that military aircraft elect for visibility profile reduction schemes.  Whilst the colour may make no difference to a BVR engagement our aircraft are "decorated" for the event that visual identification and targeting by an enemy is as difficult as it can be made to reasonably be.

Sentinel commentary:
External Link/Members Only

I too was sad at the time to see the iconic Nimrods go but the programme to upgrade the fleet to the MR4A was such a disaster it wasn't surprising the politicians gave up on it.  The P-8s struck me as being a caught-short purchase tied with sucking up to the Yanks especially when interoperability with other assets and taskings wasn't fully accommodated.