It's becoming fairly obvious that the world is now a very different place as every nation, institution and living person has to come to terms with the long-overdue pandemic that recognises no man-made borders. One minute we thought the greatest threat was man-made climate change, still inexplicably deniable by some, but coronavirus changes that in the short term and in a bizarre and novel way becomes something that uniquely unites mankind.
I don't know about others, but I'm finding it hard to feel the same about much else at the present time and a blog on some esoteric aspect of human endevour on a tiny bit of a huge planet seems so - well, pointless. Like everything else at the moment, I don't know what's going to happen or how I'm going to feel, but this piece in the Times today serves to highlight how this world-wide emergency is certainly going to shine a very harsh light on our domestic politics and policies over the last few years. I have an overwhelming sense that an awful lot of chickens are going to come home to roost in the coming months.
Chief constable weeps under strain of severe budget cuts
A chief constable broke down and wept as he described the weight of responsibility of running a force struggling to keep the public safe amid severe budget cuts.
Gareth Morgan, the head of Staffordshire police, said that he had found it hard to decide how to best serve the public with diminishing resources. A police officer with 32 years of service, he told the BBC: “We’ve had difficult choices to make about where you prioritise the limited resources that you’ve got.
“My job is to try and balance those competing needs. With what I’ve got, where can I get the best return to keep the public as safe as I can? And that’s a continual challenge and I feel that very powerfully with the staff.” He then said, “I need a minute”, before bowing his head and wiping away tears.
Mr Morgan, 53, continued: “And it is hard when you’re trying to get that balance right. It does weigh heavily on you in terms of ‘was that the right choice? Is this the right direction to go in?’ But when I’m not here, and people are off doing this stuff, 24/7, looking after people, and I live here, I’m part of the community, they’re doing it on our behalf, and I feel I’m responsible.”
According to the Staffordshire Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, the force has seen a drop of 30 per cent in their workforce over the past ten years, from 2,400 to 1,670, while grappling with rising and increasingly complex caseloads.
Sudesh Amman, the terrorist who launched a knife attack in Streatham, London in February, was from the area, as were his former associates. Staffordshire has also experienced a growth in serious organised violence linked to “county lines” — drugs transported from cities into provincial towns — and cyber-enabled offences.
Mr Morgan is on secondment to the College of Policing at present. He spoke to the broadcaster for a new series, Cops Like Us, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow on BBC Two.
About a year ago Mr Morgan attracted controversy for wrongly sacking a PC for drink-driving when she drove 500 yards down a country road to flee an abusive partner as he slept. Speaking to The Times, he explained: “Not every day is total bedlam, but there are many days where it’s hard and it takes its toll emotionally and physically. You’re constantly weighing up, ‘is this right for the public? And how will it be for the staff?’
“At times we’ve been stretched, and we’re not always able to do the job we want to do for the public.” He said that his views were largely shared among other chief constables.
Mr Morgan, a father of two who lives in north Staffordshire, said that he had shifted a number of officers from a response role into neighbourhood policing and investigations in an attempt to prevent crimes from happening rather than only reacting to them.
“Some of those decisions have been tough,” he said. “It takes its toll on me. I think we should be open about taking difficult decisions and their effects.”
Last year Boris Johnson announced that police forces would receive 20,000 extra officers.
Mr Morgan said that while that was “very welcome . . . those increases don’t come anywhere near the reductions [we had before austerity] and it’ll take us a long time to get back to where we were.”
--oo00oo--
Cops Like Us
Series 1 Episode 1 of 3
Following officers from Staffordshire’s overstretched police force as they talk candidly about the frustrations of being on the beat in one of the UK’s most deprived cities - Stoke-on-Trent. In recent years, Staffordshire police have lost more than a quarter of their officers due to budget cuts. Filmed over six months, this series follows emergency response teams trying to combat a backlog of cases and a rise in gang culture, hate crime and domestic violence. Searingly honest interviews from the chief constable and his team reveal how they manage their limited resources and how they feel about the decisions they have to make.
The city of Stoke-on-Trent is made up of six small towns. It is known as ‘the potteries’ – a nod towards the world-famous pottery manufacture that once thrived there. Pottery made in Stoke-on-Trent was once shipped all over the world for use in the finest restaurants. But in the 1980s, much of the manufacturing closed down, many pot banks were shut and workers laid off. Although the employment rate in Stoke is now on the rise, it is a city still struggling with the loss of its iconic industry.
In recent years, Stoke City Council has reduced mental health and welfare services. More and more people are finding themselves in crisis – and ultimately at the end of 999 calls to the police. The police officers have also seen the numbers of suicide attempts they attend rise. It used to be a handful a year - now, it is a regular occurrence.
Staffordshire Police were not immune to the UK-wide cuts, and they have lost 594 response officers. Some police stations have been sold off, and many are now closed to the public. The number of support staff, from administration workers to cleaners, has also been reduced. But the Staffordshire Police officers are a resilient bunch – and despite the challenging circumstances, they work hard to keep the population safe in the face of a variety of crimes. No two 999 calls are ever the same, and it takes grit and a sense of humour to police the community.
The officers also have to deal with both the immediate impact and after-effects of crime in the areas they serve. After a stabbing in the suburb of Norton, one of the biggest jobs the police and local councillors face is reassuring the nervous community back to a sense of normality.
With reduced numbers the new norm, Staffordshire Police are looking to use their limited resources in ever more efficient ways. They are planning on moving the response team out of their run-down base at Hanley Police station and into the fire station across the road – fully aware that they will need to change their habits when they move into the immaculately-kept fire station.
Stoke-on-Trent, and the police force who serve it, is in a time of transition. This series explores the highs and lows of working in one of the most demanding and challenging jobs in the UK.
Following officers from Staffordshire’s overstretched police force as they talk candidly about the frustrations of being on the beat in one of the UK’s most deprived cities - Stoke-on-Trent. In recent years, Staffordshire police have lost more than a quarter of their officers due to budget cuts. Filmed over six months, this series follows emergency response teams trying to combat a backlog of cases and a rise in gang culture, hate crime and domestic violence. Searingly honest interviews from the chief constable and his team reveal how they manage their limited resources and how they feel about the decisions they have to make.
The city of Stoke-on-Trent is made up of six small towns. It is known as ‘the potteries’ – a nod towards the world-famous pottery manufacture that once thrived there. Pottery made in Stoke-on-Trent was once shipped all over the world for use in the finest restaurants. But in the 1980s, much of the manufacturing closed down, many pot banks were shut and workers laid off. Although the employment rate in Stoke is now on the rise, it is a city still struggling with the loss of its iconic industry.
In recent years, Stoke City Council has reduced mental health and welfare services. More and more people are finding themselves in crisis – and ultimately at the end of 999 calls to the police. The police officers have also seen the numbers of suicide attempts they attend rise. It used to be a handful a year - now, it is a regular occurrence.
Staffordshire Police were not immune to the UK-wide cuts, and they have lost 594 response officers. Some police stations have been sold off, and many are now closed to the public. The number of support staff, from administration workers to cleaners, has also been reduced. But the Staffordshire Police officers are a resilient bunch – and despite the challenging circumstances, they work hard to keep the population safe in the face of a variety of crimes. No two 999 calls are ever the same, and it takes grit and a sense of humour to police the community.
The officers also have to deal with both the immediate impact and after-effects of crime in the areas they serve. After a stabbing in the suburb of Norton, one of the biggest jobs the police and local councillors face is reassuring the nervous community back to a sense of normality.
With reduced numbers the new norm, Staffordshire Police are looking to use their limited resources in ever more efficient ways. They are planning on moving the response team out of their run-down base at Hanley Police station and into the fire station across the road – fully aware that they will need to change their habits when they move into the immaculately-kept fire station.
Stoke-on-Trent, and the police force who serve it, is in a time of transition. This series explores the highs and lows of working in one of the most demanding and challenging jobs in the UK.
Daily Telegraph 15/03/2020
ReplyDeletePrisoners could be released temporarily to ease pressure on the justice system as the coronavirus pandemic worsens, the head of the Prison Officers Association has suggested.
Steve Gillan, the general secretary of the organisation, said that while releasing low-risk offenders was not currently part of the Government’s contingency planning it may “come in the future to free up spaces in prisons.”
He suggested that this could come in the form of temporary release or allowing prisoners coming to the end of their sentence. However, the Government said it had no plans for an early release, with Justice Secretary Robert Buckland determined to ensure that prisoners completed their sentences.
Mr Gillan’s intervention comes amid fears that overcrowding in prisons could make it difficult for staff to contain an outbreak due to the limited amount of single-man cells available to put those with symptoms into self-isolation. Meanwhile, there are concerns that the virus could lead to staffing shortages, with Mr Gillan revealing that 113 prison officers were currently self-isolating nationally.
He also pointed out that there had been a number of prison riots in Italy, the worst-hit country in Europe, whilst in Iran the regime had chosen to release thousands of prisoners in a bid to slow the spread. Warning that the spread of coronavirus was "unprecedented", Mr Gillan added that the situation of “grossly overcrowded” prisons could “only happen for a period of time."
“We can’t just send prison officers home to self-isolate, that’s one of those occupations along with the NHS, you can’t just say to nurses go home because they have got to be at work,” he told Sky News.
“The Secretary of State has the powers to look at low risk category prisoners and just release them as that Executive Release. At the moment in the open estate, which is known as the Category D estate, there’s about 4,000 prisoners in that.”
Asked if it was possible to relocate prisoners to other buildings or facilities, Mr Gillan said that in the past the Government had been forced to “commander prison ships” as a means of increasing capacity. “I wouldn’t rule anything out at this moment in time but the welfare of those in our care is paramount and the welfare of staff is paramount.”
Responding to Mr Gillan's comments, a Prison Service spokesperson said:
“We have put in place robust contingency plans in consultation with Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care. These use available evidence and prioritise the safety of staff, prisoners and visitors while making sure normal regimes experience the minimum possible disruption. As a result of this planning, prisons are well prepared to take immediate action wherever cases or suspected cases are identified, including the isolation of individuals where necessary.”
I too think that there will be many chickens coming home to roost. None are going to bring any good news with them either, but I do think that many people will also now be realising just how fragile the world is today, and how our domestic politics over the last decade have led us to such a fragile position.
ReplyDeleteIt's my view that the world has in recent years being heading for a disaster of some magnitude. America, Russia, China, the Middle East, Europe, just everywhere has been ripping up old allegences, reshaping treaties and wagging fingers with threats at each other. People are aware of the many conflicts that exist and wars being fought around the globe, but there something we see on the telly, and as long as we all stay quite and focus on our own lives, then we'll be able to get up in the morning, go to work and carry on as usual.
Most of us in the UK (myself included) have lived through a pretty peaceful time. We've not experienced war or famine, and in relative terms to our recent history, we've been pretty well off. To that extent we've been privileged.
But our world leaders are no longer polititions, they're businessmen. Economics drive there approach to policy, not social well-being, and as a consequence our social fabric has worn dangerously thin.
It was inevitable something must happen to cause a pause in the direction of travel and afford the opportunity to press the global reset button.
Coronavirus perhaps offers that opportunity, I hope so, because the alternative scenarios that could offer that opportunity terrify me. We've all become individual units living in a social setting, and what others are doing is up to them just so long as it dosen't impact on our own little world.
Coronavirus perhaps will reinstill our social conscience, make us all realise how vulnerable we really all are without a strong social structure and ethos. We're not immune to what happens outside our own lives, nor can we always control things beyond our own front doors.
We all need economic security, but we also need a strong social ethos to draw upon because our safety and security isn't always dependent on economics.
Maybe Coronavirus will be the catalyst for pressing that reset button, and we'll all think a bit different in the future?
'Getafix
Seen on Facebook:-
ReplyDeleteAdvice for newly forming CJWU Committees during the Coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak.
It is clear the Coronavirus has taken hold in the UK and is more than likely to appear in our Prison and Secure Psychiatric estate if it has not already done so. It is unfortunate that Government resources are unlikely to stretch to testing facilities in closed Establishments and therefore we must assume all suspected cases are hazardous to our members and potential members. CJW Union has a right to address issues of health and safety at work which may affect our members.
Newly formed committees are therefore advised to contact their Senior leaders as soon as possible to better understand what comes next in terms of preparation for an outbreak. Whilst management assure us that preparations are being made for any situations that may occur, information for staff appears to be limited, and it would be inappropriate not to start issuing advice and more importantly, exploring the potential different scenarios staff may face.
Firstly, we are not just at risk from the virus itself and lack of personal protective equipment which does not currently seem to be available. We are also at risk of panic within the walls of any closed Establishment, this could culminate in a number of different problems such as concerted indiscipline, extreme staff shortages, increasing levels of violence or a quarantine scenario where staff are unable to get home to their families.
It will be important to speak to local leads on the COVID-19 outbreak, on how best we handle some of these questions, and whilst management may want to take a different stance than ourselves, we want to be in a position to influence the response to this this growing crisis for the best benefit of staff and placing Health and Safety as our highest priority.
Committee’s should seek to ensure that any staff member is asked to self-declare any serious underlying medical condition and should request that those with serious conditions such as diabetes and COPD who are at enhanced risk be isolated from potentially contracting the virus. This may mean not coming to work. Committee’s should confirm this officially first before advising staff to stay at home. In addition, staff who are at greater vulnerability due to their age or are at risk of exposing family members who have vulnerable health conditions should also form part of these local discussions.
We then have the issue of how we staff the closed establishments during quarantine or widespread epidemic, including upping staffing levels during vulnerable periods such as nights and in order to cope with the increased medical demands that may arise.
We have read in the news about bonus payments being arranged for staff, of course local committees will agree that anyone that is prepared to take the risk of contracting the virus in a situation of outbreak, should be rewarded with enhanced payments which far exceed what staff would normally expect. Therefore, it will be prudent that CJWU committees start collating a list of all staff grades that are willing to work. Committees are then advised to specify the terms of any work during a worst-case scenario, that would ensure all staff grades are fairly remunerated and rewarded for the high level of risk that they are required to take.
DeleteStaff are requested to identify to their local committee in either scenario with regards to health or availability to work. Committee’s should also request staff to respond to a message from the committee and answer the following questions if they are prepared to work in a scenario that exposes them to the virus;
Please provide your name and current grade?
Please state any previous grades you have held i.e. previously operational now non-operational.
Do you have any medical training? If so, what qualifications do you hold?
Are you prepared to work and risk contracting the virus if the financial rewards are sufficient?
Do you have any pending leave booked, and are you prepared to cancel any leave if necessary?
Are you prepared to sign out of the EU working time directive of a maximum 48 hours working week?
Would you be prepared to be quarantined at the Establishment for potentially extended periods of time, this may include staying at the Establishment?
Are you prepared to go on detached duty at another Establishments which may have a virus outbreak if the financial reward is worthwhile?
If you are not prepared to work at the Establishment in quarantine, would you consider being on call during an incident i.e. Negotiation advisor, vehicle driver, Tornado trained or attend daily instead?
Once committees have a better idea of staffing volunteers, they should approach management to ensure they negotiate the best deal for staff prepared to risk virus exposure. We can then ensure that closed establishments are managed during this National crisis.
Once negotiations are completed committees should then announce any financial package being offered and sure up the volunteer list. They should then work with local management to ensure sufficient cover identifying the need for increased staffing levels to match the increased pressures Establishments will face.
Committee’s should then also seek to ensure management provide appropriate facilities for any staff potentially being quarantined at work, such as appropriate PPE, hand-gel, face masks, washing and sleeping facilities, supplies of uniform/clothing, catering, hire vehicles for transport etc…
If you require any further advice, please do not hesitate to contact your CJWU regional representative or email info@cjwunion.co.uk.
Thank you in advance for your co-operation.
New laws next week are set to give police powers to detain anyone infected or showing symptoms of Coronavirus. Refusing to isolate is set to become a criminal offence that could lead to a £1000 fine.
DeleteThat surely means that police officers having to detain and process people with or suspected Coronavirus are being put into a very high risk situation?
If prisoners are being released early in an attempt to assist reducing the risk of Coronavirus in prisons, isn't a law allowing for the detention of those with or showing signs of infection counterproductive?
And I have to ask the question, but how will such a law impact on recall to prison for those that fall foul of it?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-politics-51900405
'Getafix
Safe spaces must be provided for the homeless and other vulnerable people to self-isolate, ministers are being told.
DeleteLib Dem MP Layla Moran is calling for empty offices to be requisitioned to ensure the homeless are treated with dignity as the coronavirus spreads.
Proposed new laws, reportedly giving the police the power to arrest anyone with the virus not self-isolating indoors, will be published this week.
She warned rough sleepers could be "disproportionately affected" by this.
Details of emergency legislation giving the authorities extra powers to deal with the outbreak are due to be published on Thursday.
It has been reported that the plans could give the police the power to detain anyone who has tested positive for coronavirus or even showing symptoms and who is yet still circulating in public.
The government's current advice is that anyone with a fever or a new continuous cough must remain at home for at least a week.
Further measures, including requiring every Briton over the age of 70 to stay at home for an extended period to "shield" them from the virus, are expected in the coming weeks.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the emergency legislation, which is expected to be fast-tracked through Parliament later this month, will "prepare" the country for the expected spike in cases over the coming months.
Speaking on Sunday, he would not be drawn on specific details but said he hoped some of the measures would not actually be needed because people would behave "responsibly".
Opposition parties say they support the government in its efforts to fight the virus but have expressed concerns about the scope of some of the powers being touted - which could remain in place for months.
DeleteMs Moran said there had been a welcome fall in recent years in arrests of homeless people and the power of arrest should only be used as a "last resort".
"I support all evidence-led action to prevent the spread of Covid-19," she said. "Yet I worry that these new detention powers will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable in our society, including the homeless.
"The idea of police arresting homeless people, many with complex health and addiction issues, without proper testing, and placing them in detention centres just doesn't sit right."
She said the government must provide "compassionate" accommodation which encouraged homeless people who might be showing symptoms associated with the virus to come forward.
"The government should seek to care for homeless people and set up special services for them in disused buildings or vacated offices in cities," she added.
"These facilities should provide a sanitised place to eat, drink water and use the toilet. And, they should provide safe spaces for vulnerable people to self-isolate with dignity, as opposed to within a detention facility following arrest."
Campaign groups have urged the government to block book empty hotel rooms to allow the homeless to self-isolate, saying the bills could be covered by the £500m hardship fund announced in Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Budget.
The Museum of Homelessness and Streets Kitchen said this would keep people safe, minimise the risk of cross-infection and allow better health monitoring.
It said its plan would "reduce hospital admissions, stop people being turfed out of hospital shelters onto the street and concentrate community efforts", adding that everyone should be given a roof over their head "regardless of the immigration status or situation".
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has asked for "urgent sight" of the draft laws and for a meeting with the prime minister to discuss the crisis.
Lisa Nandy, one of three candidates seeking to succeed Mr Corbyn, said she believed the public would support immediate action to safeguard people's health but she had reservations about some of the plans being touted.
"I'm really quite concerned about the idea we are giving sweeping powers to the police and immigration officers in order to detain people who are sick while we don't seem to have a real plan to deal with our elder people," she told the BBC Andrew Marr show.
Where exactly will those detained be kept?
Delete#covid19walkout
Deletehttps://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/16/mili-m16.html
ReplyDeletePlans are in place for the extensive domestic deployment of British army soldiers during the next months—possibly within 20 days.
DeleteA senior army source said, “From tomorrow [Monday] we’ll be working with regional authorities to reassure them we’ll be able to help … We are told this virus will peak in three to five weeks and that will be a critical time for hospitals, prisons, public services and people across communities who will need reassurance that they can still get food and water.”
Sources in the Department of Defence told the Mail on Sundaythat troops trained in chemical, biological and nuclear warfare will deep-clean empty public buildings in the event that they need to be turned into hospitals or morgues. The Royal Army Medical Corps is preparing to build tented field hospitals near care homes and army hospitals will be used to add capacity to the National Health Service (NHS). Soldiers may also be drafted into the three emergency services (police, fire and emergency medical service) to replace workers in isolation or who have fallen ill.
Under Operation Rescript, Lieutenant-General Tyrone Urch has been made responsible for contingency plans to stock supermarkets and refill petrol stations. The Royal Logistics Corps is being prepared to escort food convoys. At least hundreds and potentially thousands of troops will be involved.
The turn to the military is a mark of the total collapse of resources available to public authorities to respond to a crisis, after decades of private looting and central government cuts. Whether in the case of the Australian wildfires or of a global pandemic, the ruling class views every social problem as a military-police problem.
Of more serious concern still, the army is being called upon to play a frontline role in policing.
Soldiers are reportedly “stepping up” their training for public order roles, which will include “guarding” hospitals and supermarkets. Thirty-eight military liaison officers will coordinate with local councils over the deployment and use of military forces and the Royal Military Police will work with local police forces and prison officers.
The police are also being given powers to “detain and direct individuals in quarantined areas at risk or suspected of having the virus” to halt “any vehicle, train, vessel or aircraft” and close ports if immigration officers are forced to stop work. The elite SAS special forces stand-by squadron is set to be held in the UK rather than deployed abroad.
These deployments are being justified with references, taken from the tabloid press, to “staggering trail[s] of destruction” at supermarkets, with “shelves cleared like a riot.”
Having failed to make proactive preparations for the onset of the virus, the government is seeking to accuse the general population of irresponsibility. The same implication is behind the excuse that quarantines and closures cannot be implemented “too early” in case people grow tired of restrictions and begin to ignore them before the peak of the epidemic is reached.
Claims that shops are threatened with riots are almost entirely based on a single photo taken at a Tesco supermarket in north London, which shows one aisle with empty boxes and some canned goods piled on the floor.
Whatever role the military might have in providing logistical support to the health care services, its involvement in law enforcement is a grave warning to the working class.
Moves to deploy troops on the streets did not begin with the outbreak of the coronavirus. A significant element of the government’s Brexit preparations was Operation Yellowhammer. The secretive policy involved plans for the deployment of thousands of riot police and soldiers to deal with “civil unrest”—up to 50,000 regular and reserve troops, backed up by 10,000 riot police.
Discussions were also held among senior civil servants about the use of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, introduced by the Labour government of Tony Blair. Powers under this act include curfews, bans on travel, confiscation of property, the deployment of the armed forces to quell rioting, and enabling ministers to amend any act of Parliament, except the Human Rights Act, for a maximum of 21 days.
DeleteThese police-state measures were directed against a potential mass movement of the working class in response to the economic disruption of Britain’s exit from the European Union. The codename “Yellowhammer” was widely believed to have been given in reference to the yellow vest protests swelling in France at the time and cracked down on with savage repression by the French state. Heavily armed riot police and soldiers have since maintained a major presence in large French cities.
The same concerns are alive in the ruling class today. They have been heightened by the pandemic’s exposure of the rottenness of world capitalism and the mass opposition this is beginning to generate. The ruling elite operates on the premise “never let a crisis go to waste,” and will use this situation to introduce more permanent military deployments and normalise emergency powers.
The coronavirus crisis cannot be left in the hands of the capitalist class. Conducting an effective, global response to the pandemic while respecting human dignity and preserving democratic rights requires the independent mobilisation of the international working class.
This is how we do it
ReplyDeleteLa, la, la, la la, lo lo...
Matt Hancock yesterday: ""We are saying that if you produce a ventilator then we will buy it. No number is too high."
_____________________________________________
Trump's words, Oval Office address last week:
"This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a ***foreign*** virus in modern history"
___________________________________________
The Trump administration has offered a German medical company “large sums of money” for exclusive access to a Covid-19 vaccine, German media have reported.
_____________________________________________
BERLIN — Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.
German government sources told Reuters on Sunday that the U.S. administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac.
Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag German newspaper reported that President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure CureVac to the United States, and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.
______________________________________________
Avoid pubs, clubs and other venues
DeletePrime Minister says everyone should stop ALL non-essential contact with others. Avoid pubs, clubs, other venues. Only essential travel.
Prison officer tests positive for Coronavirus at HMP Downview.
Deletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-prison-officer-highdown-hmp-surrey-test-positive-a9404931.html%3famp
'Getafix
Isolated? Then you only need to call Dom Cummings' mates at UberEats & Deliveroo. Hungry but need some medication as well? Then choose JustEat.
ReplyDeleteThe weirdos & misfits have got everything covered!
IAG [owner of British Airways] reports full year profits of €3.2 billion... British Airways and Iberia parent IAG’s operating profit before exceptional items slipped 5.7% for the full year in 2019 to €3.29 billion ($3.6 billion) as its fuel costs rose.
Now they want the taxpayer to bail them out?
Ok, but every UK taxpayer should expect a credit of 200,000 air miles to use as they choose before the end of 2025.
Thought For The Day: isn't it kinda neat that this pandemic is scything through the ideologies of right-wing governments across the world.
BA have not asked for state aid and CEO Willie Walsh has said 'there was better use for govt money than giving it to the air industry' in a clear swipe at Branson and Virgin. From FT:-
Delete"Mr Walsh said his group had not asked for state aid. He stressed that the group had total liquidity of €9.3bn and was taking actions to cut costs and preserve cash, such as grounding surplus aircraft, reducing and deferring capital spending and cutting working hours."
mea culpa - sorry JB, sorry Willie W
DeleteOk so they release more prisoners and these will need to be seen, but the advise is to limit face to face contact and work from home. Enhanced pay may be offered to those prepared to stay and work in offices. How soon will sodexo seetec etc respond to this?
ReplyDeleteAll face to face assessments for PIP and ESA have just been suspended for at least three months.
Delete"The first human trial of a vaccine to protect against pandemic coronavirus is starting in the US later on Monday, according to reports.
ReplyDeleteA group of 45 healthy volunteers will have the jab, at the Kaiser Permanente research facility, in Seattle."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51906604
On another front. What's happening about the increment next month? Unison are saying that the Treasury are refusing to fund it as predicted by me and many others when the pay deal was announced. NAPO are saying it's an payroll administrative issue and will be resolved. Apparently payroll can't handle giving everyone a rise. I know SSCL are shit but really? Has that clown Lawrence sold us down the river again? I fervently hope not but my cynisim is based on bitter experience.
ReplyDeleteNo real discussion or meaningful advice from the CRCs, the NPS, or the ministry - should we suspend groups? Office appointments? Any and all face to face contact? Enforcement? After all are we really going to breach or recall people for following government advice?... No doubt there will be no clear guidance any time soon so I guess it's going to be up to us. I wonder who'll be first to say 'fuck this - they may not care about any of our safety but I do' and lead the first walk out ?
ReplyDeleteAll weve ben told is take your laptops home every night incase you have to self isolate. I think someone needs to make some decisions and soon.
ReplyDeleteWhat about those of us who don't have laptops?
DeleteWhat about service users who are in one of those vulnerable groups do I still home visit those and risk passing on my germs to them.
Am sick of management's disregard for our health and safety. Prison POs still expected to go on the wings which are a breeding ground for germs even if they can work from home on a laptop expected in. PO prisons are non operational, how are they exempt from government advice.
ReplyDelete