I can see why some are saying it's not such a big deal what Cummings did, there's always a bit of 'do whay I say not what I do' etc and as long as people follow the advice that's all that matters, but not in these circumstances I would argue, not today. I'm not a fan of the current mob but I was prepared to cut them a bit of slack for the greater good, but not now - it's clear that they are chancers and bullsh*t artists who have been caught out first and foremost for under-funding the NHS for so many years, partly by p*ssing the money away on bloated management, PFI or saving money short term by losing it long term to private/public fiddles. The easing of the lockdown will always be 'too early' in one sense as long as it's b4 the vaccine is found, it's a matter of degree. The current instructiona are an indecypherable mess, I'll be keeping on the side of safety and taking all the official stuff with a massive pinch of salt, and there are millions like me, which can't always be said!

In this country, the centre and the right have the same views on business and capitalism i.e. broadly free-market. They just differ slightly on immigration. But these economic attitudes lead to and can't cope effectively with crises. Free-market capitalism created the 2008 crisis, and years of privatisation and out-sourcing has weakened the state's capacity to deal with current pandemic.

It's clear that the state needs to do more to protect its citizens against these crises. Obviously the growing climate emergency is another instance of this. These challenges require massive interventions from the state. The centre's free-market approach isn't enough.

It seems that neither Starmer nor Johnson have the ideas or the clarity of vision to deal with the challenges we face. Whether it comes from a Labour or a Tory government, there needs to be a basic change in how governments view their responsibilities towards their citizens.

The centre may be good enough in stable circumstances. But stability is a thing of the past.

Edited by Lucretius (01 Jun 2020 3.51am)

Well the runner who saw him a second time has admitted to making it up, so not sure how god a job the papers that reported it did.

Though this doesn't absolve of him of the mistakes he did admit to.

If a person steals £100 but the papers inaccurately report that he stole £200, it doesn't mean that he didn't do anything wrong.

An interesting post.

I certainly agree that the future is far less stable. Open societies aren't designed for the modern media age and we are seeing their manipulation from all sides.

Centralism won't work against identity tactics and the future is going to be more division not less.

China and Russia are watching and waiting and this age is essentially a battle between authoritarian societies and democratic open ones....besides the US race riots it's currently peaceful between these systems (which we can only hope it remains so)....However, eventually one form of society will win out.

Edited by Stirlingsays (01 Jun 2020 1.55pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

2m and clean regularly. Nothing has changed in that. If Cummings makes you want to go against that which is 3months old then fill your boots.