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THREAD for your coffee. During the biggest pandemic in living history, here's a summary of how our government managed to really, royally fuck up. Ya know, just in case any of you are still even considering voting Conservative in the future. Here's a quick snippet of a few months:
1. Despite the mess in Italy, less than 2 hours by plane from here, despite them having to store bodies in churches, Boris Johnson missed the first FIVE Cobra meetings regarding the small issue of the global pandemic killing thousands daily. What's five meetings hey?
2. The mess around PPE. Did it ever even arrive? We were told we were getting the PPE that the NHS badly needed on a plane from Turkey "tomorrow". This didn't happen. When it finally did happen, the PPE wasn't fit for purpose. So the NHS never got those gowns.
2. NHS staff were exempt from parking charges. "YAY" we thought. That is an actual tangible help! This ended as quickly as the clapping. So nurses, on almost minimum wage, were forced onto unsafe public transport, before treating patients... all still without the correct PPE.
3. Testing. We were meant to hit 100,000 tests in England, by May. "We did it!" the government announced. What they didn't tell us, was they were counting people who had 2 swabs twice, as well as counting almost 30,000 tests in the mail, that hadn't actually been carried out.
4. NHS staff from abroad were not granted permission for their families to remain in if they died of Coronavirus until it became a national scandal and Priti Patel performed one of the quickest Tory U-turns this year.
(Meanwhile, it's worth noting, while all this is happening in Westminster, we've got a 100 year old man with an actual zimmerframe walking round his garden to fund the NHS.)
5. Track and trace... I'm a little hazy on this, but there were a LOT of u-turns and a LOT of dodgy technology. The Isle of Wight trial never really took off. Nobody downloaded the app for fear of privacy. Then Boris Johnson lied about the success of track and trace apps at PMQs.
6. Despite teachers and headteachers being very clear that it couldn't happen, we were promised that ALL children would be returning to school before the summer holidays. This didn't happen. In fact, there's no guarantees they'll be back by September. Another broken promise.
7. Speaking of children, the government was happy to let children go hungry during the summer, despite parents struggling thanks to Coronavirus impact on jobs. It took a football star and enormous public pressure and ABRACADABRA. Another u-turn! Kids will now receive the meals.
8. Which brings us to today and the A Level fiasco. Thousands of futures threatened by the most corrupt and brazen "keep them in their place" scandal I've ever seen. Protests and appeals and anger ensued. And hey PRESTO. Another u-turn. But this is still a mess. Watch this space.
(On that note... Gavin Williamson will be on BBC Breakfast this morning, at 7.30am, instead of packing up his desk and heading home. Here's hoping he gets a grilling on TV, and then marching orders later today.)
All this is not just a scandal, it is criminal. People have lost family members whose deaths could have been prevented with an efficient government. This is what happens when you vote in a government based on one issue. And when a government is FORMED based on one issue...
They will care not. They've already blamed the NHS, social workers, care home workers, the police, the public, teachers, and today Gavin Williamson makes a start on blaming Ofqual for the A-level mess. And it won't be long until universities are blamed for whatever comes next.
Where is Boris Johnson? On fucking holiday. It would be laughable if it wasn't so serious. He's poncing around with a bucket and spade, while his government ruins the country. There's not been a worse party since Michael Barrymore suggested getting in the swimming pool.
I'm sure I've missed some, but there's a few points to remember when it comes round to voting. ESPECIALLY all of you turning 18 this year who were affected in the past week. Please do not go to uni, get drunk, and forget how to vote. We NEED you! #ExamResults #GTTO #ToryShambles
