And many other conservative and right wing accounts on Twitter
God I even follow Sean Hannity
I do so so as not to live in a "bubble" and so I make an effort to read the Spectator, Mail, MOS, Telegraph & others
He can't play the ball
So plays me
Thatcher would be ashamed of him
I am a left of centre/centre voter who have voted for a range of parties across my lifetime at local council, scottish parliament, european parliament and UK parliamentary elections
And in all those occasions I want those parties to do well
I want those parties to govern to the best of their abilities and be clear in what and how evaluate and pursue policy wise
Not unlawfully prorogue parliament
Not make up assaults to spin news
Not hide in fridges
Not flee from Andrew Neil after your opponents haven't
Not make up Fact Check UK
Not invent "more" nurses to include retention of existing staff
Are Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher
I don't know and that is exciting being open to change, being open to being persuaded to having my mind change
Then surely she can use that skill to clearly explain how and why what changed her mind
Tim thinks that me writing a thread about something is of no value and I should go for a walk instead
I thank him for his advice on going for a walk - I always endeavor to make the most of my daily exercise session in what is rare sunshine
Or the worth of what is gained by my writing it or by someone reading it
That is ok
Tim is entitled to have a view on it
And unlike him - I actually thought covid was serious well before Boris Johnson was infected, tested and hospitalised
I never made any claim that my writing would be widely read or have an wide impact
I prefer reading to writing
Both to read output from news organisations
AND also to see so many experts directly with their output
civilserviceworld.com/articles/news/…
He actually said think tanks were fantastic and he had a great respect for them
huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ifs-prop…
See told you I wasn't a good writer
I have already let the focus of this drift from its intent
I read it and gave my short response
Tim didn't like my short response
So I thought I would to coin a phrase strain every sinew, ramp up my thoughts on that blog post - my thoughts mind - not my capacity for thoughts
We begin
Here
surveypractice.org/article/2930-u…
From the very first you have title it solely and exclusively at one profession?
lbc.co.uk/radio/presente…
Certainly in Scotland where our First Minister was "nudging" warnings over covid on mass gatherings, schools, business and lockdown ahead of Boris Johnson
I am thankful
Thankful at Scotland moving slightly ahead of the UK
for each and every person afflicted both by this disease
for each medical, carer, emergency or essential worker dealing with response to this disease
and by the broader socio-economic impacts of this disease
Social media whether it be Facebook, Twitter or blog sites all I find are useful things
How they are used or consumed
I certainly find all of them have their short comings and strengths
Some of those reside in how I choose to use it and consume or output onto it
Perhaps they are in the sense their R number and what they carry
But that is also true of any communication mechanism
It it true of the printed word
It is true of radio
It is true of television
It is true of internet technologies
Well I find that they can be used to carry light and dark and every shade in between
As with all things
It is down to how humanity use it
nbcnews.com/politics/natio…
There are so many competing news feeds, channels, timelines, choices, lists, bubbles
And word of mouth to compare to the technical retweet or like is always a sign to a writer their words have been seen/appreciated
boingboing.net/2016/10/26/eu-…
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
blog.lboro.ac.uk/crcc/eu-refere…
and they face the same accusations from all side of being biased and of not being capable enough
bbc.co.uk/blogs/academy/…
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
I would refer you to Boris Johnson in my previous tweets
He really didn't want an argument
He didn't want it so badly he cowered in a fridge
He chickened out
Imagine doing that
Worse - imagine defending that
I am sorry does the role of the 4th estate change dependant on whether it is a general election or not?
Does it change if a local election, euro election or Scottish/Welsh or NI devolved election?
Let me know how?
Pray tell what do you mean by this
What should journalists write such that are supporting the national effort?
I find myself reading and quoting from this quite a lot in the current age
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22148/
"we are well prepared and well equipped"
"The UK is one of the first countries in the world to have developed an accurate test"
No sorry the capacity for 100,000 tests a day
No sorry the Prime Minister with his 250,000 tests a day
While a party claimed the "sun was shining" and they were "fixing the roof"
They were selling off / reducing disaster preparedness stocks
theguardian.com/world/2020/apr…
telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/1…
Well damn that Daily Telegraph for not being optimistic, having faith and being less negative.
livemint.com/Politics/CbDKd…
But it has to be credible and you have to be prepared to answer to it
Well... that's just spin
And it is easy to spot
threatening whistleblowers
oh yes and accusing staff of misusing it
Anyone who sold that bullshit and then clapped for carers or the NHS
Well I can tell you where you can shove your claps
I am thankful for that
That is all
It is unlikely to change my vote at any election
But hey I don't want to die
And I don't want fellow citizens to die
Simple really
Covered it earlier
Like how you repeat it again for added effect of those who have been gulled by it so far
Really?
That's weird given the political slurs and division trope garbage you have used to defame those who simply want the government to be competent and be able to defend its record
Can't say that I am particularly troubled by the use of that language
I know some did
And I can appreciate the subtleties in the choice of language
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…
“Of course EU countries will continue trading with us on a tariff free basis - they would be damaging their own commercial interests if they didn’t. That’s why EU politicians would be banging down the door for a trade deal on Friday 24/6/16”
Shame
Does that also apply to those many solutions to the NI border and Vote Leave said they had and what they finally resorted to to "get brexit done" ?
14/6/2016 Daily Telegraph
"To that end, Boris Johnson & Michael Gove, the 2 leading figures in the Leave campaign, have drawn up a blueprint for implementing a Brexit. Sensibly, it calls for flexibility and a period of reflection"
Yup morale matters
You know what also matters having a leader who is honest, has integrity and can demonstrate in how he leads what his guiding principles are
Not a judgement on his morals
But simply if he has a compass
Somebody who would how shall we put oh yes - "get brexit done"
Here's a reminder of what Matt Hancock said in relation to someone proroguing Parliament - let alone unlawfully proroguing it
He was just following orders
Or to put it in German
Befehl ist Befehl
Quite sad really how you will weaponise the prime minister's health to attack a profession that he himself was part of and demonstrated what a liar he was as he peddled for it
And you were capable of defending your record
You wouldn't be no-showing Radio 4 or Channel 4 or Newsnight or others
You would be turning up and making your case
Oh they pick on one issue
You don't think this is an issue that should be focused on in detail?
What is the gap between what is "Too little" focus and "too much" ?
Dear god the level of BS
The government said they were well prepared
Why can they not defend themselves on PPE?
Instead they threaten whistleblowers and accuse medical staff of misusing PPE
Again play the ball
What you don't like this?
That's weird
I thought open global Britain as it stands unshackled from the EU on the world stage, the lion resplendent would have no difficulties with comparisons of rest of world
But they aren't
Oh yes and see that Operation Cygnus that gave lessons of a simulation exercise
Why would a government suppress it?
Ah again with such generalist BS slurs
I think the questions have been disappointing
They haven't been forensic or as ranging as I would like
I stopped in the mid 30s range
I was trying to get to 72 questions in honour of a novella title penned by one Boris Johnson
no they are simply trying to get answers
again why if the government did the right thing at the right time - should there even be the opportunity to score political points?
I would suggest ministers be better prepared for the daily briefings then
if they are tripped up by simple questions then they should be better briefed
"Let us not forget that isolation, quarantine, and total lockdown are recognized public health measures that have been used for a long time."
livemint.com/news/india/lif…
But perhaps you screaming for propaganda journalism is something that happened in China as well as local officials being too scared to report honestly up the chain
Blaming China doesn't excuse a focus on the entirety of the timeline
Here's a reminder of journalist coverage
blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2017/07/24/dun…
Yup they did
I thought you said you didn't want comparisons right?
telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/0…
Which ones?
Please let me know a list of which newspapers
Or is it just specific staff at newspapers that need to be to pick a word "cleansed" of their disease ?
My simple one
Is irrespective of how you view the press and their coverage
Then they would have nothing to fear from the press
They would have no issue with how the press ask questions or what they ask
Rather than simply letting and encouraging a government play the ball
Is a sad reflection on them
Is take a blindfold
Put it on
Pretend Labour had managed to be in government and had managed covid like this
And were playing the spin game the current government is
Would you want propagandist journalists?
For those who retweeted or amplified it
Then thank you
Because you affirm just what garbage you will peddle to your followers, to your audience, to your base
I am not a great writer
I really lost interest halfway through in constructing a response to such a bullshit blog post
Thank's Tim for the suggestion
And to those questioning what I would ask journalists to ask
I drew up a small thread (sic) below