[thread]

I want to write a thread with a simple theme

One from a sad day four years ago

We all have more in common

There are people who want divisive culture wars

And those who don't

Pick a side

Actually scrub that

Imagine there are no sides

Now I am going to make it clear at the start

I did not vote for Boris Johnson

I did not vote for Brexit

I did vote for Yes in 2014 for Scotland (although I am undecided how I may vote in any future choice)

I did vote to scrap FPTP
So as befits a Scot

I am a loser

I have "sucked up" all my losses
But
I want Boris Johnson and his party to succeed in their manifesto

I want Brexit to succeed

Within the manifesto's and campaigns they promised much

And I want them to simply deliver that
I disagree with the how, what and why

But that is a by the way

I want any political party in government to succeed
Because I live in this country

And the objectives that are pursued and how they are pursued are something that affect my life, my family's life and that of my community.
I want things to be better

I want to level up

I want to ramp up

I want to build back better
But I will always ask what & whom are we leveling up from, ramping up from or building back better from?

As if you do not know where you are coming from how can you understand where and how you are going?
Abraham Lincoln:

“I should regret to see the day in which the people should cease to express intelligent, honest generous criticism upon the policy of their rulers.”

smithsonianmag.com/history/honest…
I am moving away from talking about austerity

I will let Liz Truss - that rising star, that shining star of the Cabinet to do that

I will also move away from talking about brexit

Again here's a simple thread of how and what the UK "won" with brexit

Instead I want to talk about coronavirus

Yes that subject where the Prittster has reassured us the UK is "ahead of the curve"

Yup the Prittster

Where Boris Johnson claimed an apparent success, nay a great success, nay a massive success against it
Here's reality
So back to my introduction theme.

We all have more in common.

We are all concerned about coronavirus.

Everyone agrees that how we have managed it has been a disaster

That the UK has not been "ahead of the curve"

That the UK has not had a "massive success"
This is true

ESPECIALLY for those in Government

ESPECIALLY for those in the Conservative Party

They are terrified at it

You could call them consumed with "Fear"

"Project Fear" eh
I should be clear as I said previously

I did not vote for Boris Johnson

But I want him to succeed in brexit and in his manifesto more generally

I did not vote for it or him

But I do not want my country to get worse or to suffer "mightily" to borrow a phrase
I think Boris Johnson is and has always been an amoral cheating lying racist incompetent self serving charlatan

I don't find him funny

I don't find him in any way how would I put it

Oh yes - see Margaret below
Or as Jacob Rees Mogg puts it here when asked a simple question

He cannot answer yes when asked if his potential party leader has a moral compass

Now those who enabled Boris knew exactly what he was and is

So I hoped beyond hope

That they would provide some check to him
Yes - that Michael Gove, Sajid Javid, Liz Truss and so many other cabinet ministers

Would provide some semblance of check on Boris Johnson

They didn't

And that to me is even more damning upon them
Perhaps that explains the ferocity and desperation that lies behind their actions

As so many MP's turn into shopping channels as they promote local businesses

Or as a Home Secretary wants to talk about being "ahead of the curve"
So coronavirus

It has been a terrible year
The death toll from covid

Long covid

The impact to normal health provision

The impact to people's livelihoods

The impact to children's education

The impact to mental health, loneliness, domestic violence
Now I would like to think that my government (at all levels from local to Scottish to Westminster) have all been doing their best

I only ask that they do their best

There always will be surprises

if you make mistakes, admit & learn from them
Why is making a mistake viewed as a bad thing?

It is a positive

Being able to admit you made a mistake, that you have learned from it and can correct your plan/path to address it

Is a positive
Sadly the UK

Lost in the madness of brexit

(sorry) I said I wasn't going to mention it

But it is madness

A government and party are EXPLOITING a pandemic to hide brexit within

Imagine being so shameless you are doing that
So our responses to coronavirus and where we are at as we approach the end of 2020

We are all tired

We are all angry

We are all affected emotionally or financially by the crisis

(unless you have a government minister on speed dial and won a government contract)
I would quote Maya Angelou here in conversation with Dave Chapelle when faced with the crisis of America and a period of racial tension and assassinations
In the UK - a reminder

Yesterday - the daily death toll 691

The death toll

So far 68,307
So you can take your righteous anger at the year that has been 2020

But as Maya suggests

Channel it

Do not let it consume you
Now I have been accused of being a heartless person because I suggested a lock down was necessary in response to a certain individual who was championing his anger at lockdowns
I hate coronavirus

I hate what IT HAS MADE US DO TO OURSELVES

It is not a culture war

Covid doesn't give a shit what we believe about our political approach to dealing with it
I have suffered from covid

My family have suffered from covid

My friends have suffered from covid

My community has suffered from covid

My country has suffered from covid

The world has suffered from covid
This has been across the full spectrum

From financial/livelihood impact

To education impact

To health impact
I do not like lockdowns

I do not like tier restrictions

I do not like the notion of immunity passports

I do not like many things
But as we lose control of managing a deadly pandemic

Sadly some tools that I dislike

Become necessary

The key point though - is that we needed to manage it properly so that these tools did not become necessary
it is the job of government to lead

To inspire confidence

To inspire trust

To communicate clearly

To make it simple and clear the rules, guidance to follow

To plan for how you deal with covid

And how that plan addresses education, health, economy and all concerns
No plan is perfect

But be open about the plan

It's formulation

It's cratfing

It's presentation

And on learning from it as it goes wrong
I am angry

I am sad

I am frustrated

I am weary

I am concerned

I am tired

I am tearful
The range of choices you have in how you channel it

And you need to channel it

Because it is better channelled than bottled up
You can become a covid denier
You can go full conspiracy set whether that be Bill Gates, George Soros, a world order or microchips

I miss the days where brexiteers liked to tell me about the Kalergi conspiracy
You can go libertarian/keep britain free
You can go full tory and claim you are "ahead of the curve"
You can shrug and say no other party could have handled it better
You can try and how was it a PM put it - oh yes "Captain Handsight".
You can try and navigate the competing narratives and news channels and social media information being spread across the range of topics in the pandemic
You can sit down and imagine alternate historical timelines

What would have been happened had we let it rip

What would happened had we reached "herd immunity"

What would have happened if....
So

I am now about to link a number of people who cover a range of views

And at their core

They all share the same commonality

They all thing it has went badly

The difference is how and why they view the badly and what we do from here
As we approach the end of 2020

As we approach the start of a new year

As we approach a religious festival

Amidst a year where so many religion's have had their festival's disrupted and shifted to how to celebrate within the challenge of coronavirus
Look out for each other

Be kind to each other

We all have more in common

Don't be at war with people

The culture war is not worth it

It isn't

Sadly there are some who seek a war

Some who want the diversion of a war
So a plea at the last

josephranseth.com/gandhi-didnt-s…
Whatever your faith may be or if you are not a believer

Let's get through the last of 2020
So at the last

I have two threads to sum it up

One on the Prittster and "ahead of the curve"

It has for a year been a common refrain

What would anyone have done differently

Well short answer everything

And the final word

On Boris Johnson

If this is what "success" looks like

What would failure have looked like?

For all its victims

For all those who have suffered from covid and on how it has been managed

Remember this year.

Remember.

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More from @PandaScottish

21 Dec
[thread] There is a common refrain

What would Labour have done differently / better (or any party for that matter) in managing coronavirus

Now first I approve of the question

Because it admits that things could have been done better
So I am going to list some things now

These will not all focus on the government of Boris Johnson because well

He is not the origin story

He is only one chapter in a sorry saga

Of austerity, brexit and now covid

I will try and keep brexit as far as possible out of this list
1. When you carry out an exercise into pandemic preparedness. Learn from it.
Read 69 tweets
17 Dec
So really simple questions

And there are so so many

Why are concerns over race, gender and sexuality put into air quotes e.g. "fashionable"?

Is "fashionable" meant as a derogatory?

Who are you selling this shite to when you write it this way?
When did the government become "too focused" on race, gender and sexuality issues?

Define "too focused" ?

Will now "pivot" - what you mean from today 17th December 2020?
Read 12 tweets
16 Dec
[thread] an intro from

August 13th 1949 Miss M. Roberts

"Once they saw a Conservative Government in power they and all Young Conservatives up and down the country would be able to say with Keats. “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven.”"
Kidding

It doesn't

It works for Richard Desmond

"Mr Desmond had sent Mr Jenrick messages ahead of the approval telling him that “we appreciate the speed as we don’t want to give Marxists loads of doe [sic] for nothing!”,"

independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
"However, Pincher insisted housing secretary Robert Jenrick has “no relationship” with Richard Desmond (pictured, left), owner of developer Westferry Developments, and had no discussions with him about avoiding a levy charge"

housingtoday.co.uk/news/richard-d…
Read 17 tweets
15 Dec
[thread]

Drug policy is a complex area

It falls across social, health and criminal justice areas

I will leave the question of what Scotland is capable of in terms of devolved powers and what is reserved at Westminster

I just want to focus on "SNP cuts"
Read 15 tweets
15 Dec
[thread]

Can I be the first to congratulate Boris Johnson

On getting a "British shaped deal"

On a "gold standard" trade deal

On making the UK "mightily prosper"

/joking

He won't

But he will sell it as such

And that is all that matters
It is a sign of how desperate brexiteers are

They can no longer pivot to USA
Oh and in case you thought it was just Trump that wanted to exploit the damage of brexit
Read 39 tweets
14 Dec
"Even in the tumultuous hour of victory"

I saw how Gove and Boris looked in their "hour of victory"

They looked scared

Given that Michael can't recall what he did in core group

Why was it his hour of victory?
Not just forces

But mighty forces

How dark and ominous sounding
"I knew mighty forces would do anything to thwart Brexit"
Read 26 tweets

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