Thread (1/13)
According to both the Daily Mail and ITV, Prime Minister Johnson said that rather than Institute a further lockdown, he would prefer to see “bodies pile high in their thousands”
itv.com/news/2021-04-2…
(2/13)
And he has indeed seen them pile up, to the tune of over 150,000 – one of the world’s worst death tolls.

And this despite the fact that the UK is a rich country with a strong science base.

This thread explores how that came to pass.
99-percent.org/the-best-we-co…
(3/13)
The continual refrain from ministers has been that “we are doing all that can be done.”

The implication is that COVID was virtually impossible to manage – nobody could have done better.

The facts say otherwise.
standard.co.uk/news/uk/uk-cor…
(4/13)

When we look back at our articles, we see many concrete suggestions, some made over a year ago, that the government has still not fully acted on.

And of course, many others have been saying the same things.

They have not been doing all they could.
(5/13)
For example we pointed out in February 2020 that if the government did not provide adequate financial support for people to comply with the guidelines on isolation et cetera, many would not do so, and the antivirus strategy might unravel.
99-percent.org/when-mass-impo…
(6/13)
The government was slow to lockdown, even when lockdown was the only way of containing the virus.

We wrote this 26 days before the government finally locked down.

Each week of delay roughly quadrupled the death toll in the first peak.
99-percent.org/containing-cor…
(7/13)
The government was then too quick to unlock – doing so before the incidence had fallen far enough for the UK to have put in place a test, trace and supported isolation system of sufficient scale and efficiency to maintain control over the virus.
99-percent.org/wp-content/upl…
(8/13)
Almost as soon as lockdown was in place, the government appeared to flip-flop with its coronavirus strategy.

99-percent.org/what-is-the-go…
(9/13)
As late as September last year, when it was clear to the scientists that another lockdown was needed, the government was going to extraordinary lengths to avoid it.
99-percent.org/happy-new-year/
(10/13)
Throughout, the government has sought to circumvent normal NHS procedures – even though in many cases nothing useful was delivered.

In the case of PPE, the total costs of these unorthodox procurements comfortably exceed £1 billion.
99-percent.org/money-for-noth…
(11/13)
In the case of the UK’s test and trace system, which ministers insist on referring to as “NHS test and trace” even though it is no such thing, it is costing us £37 billion!

And its failures are costing us countless lives.
99-percent.org/whats-in-a-nam…
(12/13)
Almost throughout the pandemic, the government has suffered from a number of blind spots, which have combined to deliver the tragic UK death toll.
99-percent.org/how-did-we-get…
(13/13)
In conclusion, the government has been both careless of the cost in human lives and incompetent even when it has attempted to mitigate the effects of the virus.
So, for all these reasons, we should have an Inquiry now.
99-percent.org/the-fierce-urg…

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More from @MrMarkEThomas

9 Jun
Thread (1/11)
The Johnson government’s propensity to mislead the public has already been widely documented.

This thread explores the single most damaging lie of all – the lie that the UK can no longer ‘afford’ to remain a civilised country.
(2/11)
Most recently, the government claimed that the impact of Covid on its finances meant that sticking to its manifesto pledge on foreign aid was no longer ‘affordable.’
bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-…
(3/11)
Closer to home, the Education Recovery Commissioner for England, Sir Kevan Collins, recently resigned because the government knocked 90% of his proposed catch-up budget, again on the grounds of ‘unaffordability.’
bbc.co.uk/news/education…
Read 11 tweets
5 Jun
Thread (1/11)
This thread explains the assault the UK government is mounting on the NHS: its historical roots, its recent manifestations and the plans for the future.

Most importantly, it explains what we need to do to prevent the assault succeeding.
99-percent.org/three-risks-to…
(2/11)
If you can't believe that any UK government would think "healthcare for the bulk of the population could be shifted from the state to privately owned and run medical facilities" make sure you read the cabinet paper at the end of this article.
99-percent.org/what-is-the-ma…
(3/11)
Over the last decade, the assault has been waged largely by economic means – starving the NHS of funds so that it increasingly struggles to perform.
99-percent.org/crisis-what-cr…
Read 11 tweets
31 May
Thread (1/13)
This thread pulls together some of the key facts about the UK economy that your newspaper may not have told you.

Many people are aware that the world’s billionaires have done very well over the last 12 months…
ft.com/content/747a76…
(2/13)
Not so many know that this is a 40-year trend which has seen worse economic performance, and far worse income growth for ordinary people, than we saw in the largely forgotten Golden Age of Capitalism, but a great boom for the very wealthy.
99-percent.org/a-golden-legac…
(3/13)
This is not an accident: it is the result of a deliberate – though not publicly communicated – market fundamentalist agenda which aims, among other things, to replace ‘mass democracy’ and get rid of the NHS.
99-percent.org/what-is-the-ma…
Read 13 tweets
27 Feb
Thread. (1/5)
@FT quotes Rishi Sunak saying that there are "enormous strains" on the public finances:

“There are people who think you can ignore the problem. And, worse, there are people who think there isn’t a problem at all. I don't think that.”
ft.com/content/ad974b…
(2/5)
This is yet another example of debt hysteria...

99-percent.org/debt-hysteria/
(3/5) ...being used to justify another round of austerity, which will be even more damaging than the first round...
99-percent.org/austerity-why-…
Read 5 tweets
26 Feb
Thread (1/5)

Both the US and the UK have a problem with mass impoverishment...
(2/5)

The middle-class is hollowed-out...
99-percent.org/poverty-in-a-w…
(3/5)

The middle is levelled down towards poverty and their wealth trickles up to the already wealthy....
99-percent.org/trickling-up-a…
Read 5 tweets

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