Share this page!

George Monbiot Profile picture
Twitter logo
19 Nov, 5 tweets, 2 min read
Having come to the party 6 months late, @BBCNews now claims to have "revealed" the PPE scandal. No acknowledgement of those (@GoodLawProject, @openDemocracy, @BylineTimes, some of us at @guardian) who've spent all this time banging our heads against the wall of media indifference
In reality, the PPE scandal reveals a massive failure of journalism, by the BBC and other mainstream outlets. They ignored it until it became unignorable.
And they STILL aren't covering a equally outrageous (and probably more lethal) parallel scandal: the replacement of trained clinicians with call centre workers, and the wastage of £12bn, caused by the government's outsourcing of contact tracing.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Time and again this year, those still committed to real journalism have found themselves looking around and asking "where is everyone?".
I should have added @PrivateEyeNews to the list at the beginning. They've done excellent work on this issue, as ever.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with George Monbiot

George Monbiot Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @GeorgeMonbiot

George Monbiot Profile picture
20 Nov
1. As another deadline for a deal with the EU sails by, there is still no sense of urgency from the UK government. It’s letting the clock run down towards the no-deal Brexit it wants. But why?
Because Brexit can best be understood as a civil war within capitalism.
Thread/
2. The point of it was best summarised by Steve Bannon: “the deconstruction of the administrative state.” If you create enough chaos, regulations cannot be enforced, tax evaders go unpunished, and the restraints on the most brutal and exploitative forms of capitalism fall away.
3. Broadly speaking, there are two main types of capitalist enterprise. One seeks an accommodation with the administrative state, and benefits from stability, predictability and regulations that exclude dirtier and rougher competitors. It can live with a thin form of democracy.
Read 18 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
18 Nov
A few words about what led to today’s column.
I’m writing a book about feeding the world without destroying the planet.
Some of the shocking things I’ve discovered prompted me to think about strategic food reserves. So I thought I’d asked the government about ours.
Thread/
I was startled to discover that we don’t have any. This made me think about January 1. Then it occurred to me to look into warehouse capacity.
In other words, it came from a deep dive into an issue that's not in the news, as most of my columns do.
I know this might sound strange, but I feel it’s essential that at least some journalists have as little to do with the media as possible. If you’re embedded in the media’s world, it is hard to see past it to the gigantic issues it doesn’t cover.
Read 6 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
18 Nov
This statement is bone-chilling.
The government “is not responsible for the supply of food and drink to the population in an emergency”.
What the hell is government for, if not for this?
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
The Tories have always had a thing about food. It brings out their most punitive instincts. Food is closely linked to their Malthusian mindset. If the poor starve, they have no one to blame but themselves, even if they’re paid starvation wages.
monbiot.com/2015/06/23/cur…
Thread/
After all, they can just go and forage in a bin. Or grow their own food on all the land they don’t have. Or hunt a deer in one of the places they’re not allowed into. Why *can’t* they fend for themselves?
Read 9 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
17 Nov
This week’s column covers yet another massive scandal, with horrendous implications: this time involving warehousing for post-Brexit food supplies. It’s likely to affect us all
With apologies for my ongoing contribution to national average blood pressure
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Warehouse capacity in the UK might not sound like the most thrilling topic for a column. But you *really* need to know about it. Please read and share the article. Time is running out, and we urgently need action to avert what could be a total disaster.
Thanks.
Food traders will have to build reserves, now and in December, to cover the likely shortfall in January. This means warehouse capacity. One minor hitch: there isn’t any. “The situation will quickly become critical.”
Read 4 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
13 Nov
Cummings will leave No 10 at the end of the year, just like he always said he would.

Media: "Oh my God, Cummings is leaving No 10!!! What does this mean???"

The state of these court stenographers.
Yesterday, I explained that Cummings's job will be done by the end of the year: the Brexit transition period will be over, ideally - from his point of view - with no deal, and his deregulatory dystopia will be locked in place.
All the rest is gossip.
Almost the entire media seems unable to distinguish between political journalism and court gossip.
Read 6 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
12 Nov
You can watch my very rare outing on the BBC today, here. You can see why they keep me off: bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod…
I'm grateful to have been allowed on air by @BBCPolitics, for the second time this year.
But it drives me mad that Farage and the dark money thinktanks are on every day, while it's an event to see anyone to the left of Keir Starmer.
We're considered extremists. They aren't.
Here's my column about how and why I think the BBC falls over. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Read 10 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get email notifications when new thread is out from this Author!

Check out other threads from this Author!

Read all threads by @GeorgeMonbiot