1/. DAN WALKER: The guidance says you should choose what to do. What would you do

HELEN WHATELY: I’d choose to follow the guidance

Yet another car crash interview by govt minister, @Helen_Whately unable to say whether she will continue wearing face.
2/. Last year, @Helen_Whately attempted to blame scientists for the govt’s policy of transferring #COVID19 patients from hospitals into care homes without testing

@KayBurley wasn’t impressed

BURLEY: You can't stick this on the scientists

WHATLEY: I can
3/. On 28/5/20, @Helen_Whately, was asked four times by Fiona Bruce on #BBCQT where we are with the app which is essential for tracking & tracing

She didn’t answer

#HelenWhately: The app will support the...the...the...the...as we go further down the path
4/. Asked why the govt deliberately transferred people from hospitals to care homes without tests, @Helen_Whately, first tried the “guided by science” line, THEN claims “the world” didn’t know that #COVID could be asymptomatic recently

The world DID know!
5/. Asked about Exercise Cygnus
the 2016 govt simulation of a disease outbreak, which exposed the UK’s lack of pandemic readiness,
@Helen_Whately replies: "Could you tell me what you're talking about?"

@NickFerrariLBC is almost lost for words!
6/. “It will be safe for children to be back in schools" @Helen_Whately claimed last August, despite admitting to @louiseminchin that she “hasn’t seen the paper”

She also claimed we have “very low transmission”

This was not true.
#COVID19 #coronavirus
7/. “They cover up crime with scandal & covers up malice with incompetence...They want to project an image of being inept, instead of as having a cruel & well-defined plan.”

@sarahkendzior wrote this on the Trump’s admin, but could have been writing about Boris Johnson’s govt👇
8/. Johnson isn’t a ‘bumbling loveable buffoon’

He uses this persona as a front for deflecting scrutiny, avoiding questions & building his Teflon brand

Now more than ever, we need journalists & MPs not to be bamboozled by bluster, distraction & lies.
9/. Like many of the Cabinet, Helen Whately went straight from university to management consultancy & to politics

She has no background or experience in social care

She voted along with 344 other MPs against the weekly testing of NHS & Social Care Staff.
10/. “This is the govt most days
on this programme. Sometimes I do think our viewers would appreciate a straight answer to a straight question" @mrdanwalker to @Helen_Whately

Ministers boycotted @piersmorgan @Channel4News @BBCNewsnight etc. #BBCBreakfast
11/. Acting as if they’re above scrutiny is a deliberate & well-rehearsed strategy

If asked about any govt failings ministers deflect, or lie go on the offensive

Anyone questioning govt COVID strategy is “divisive”, “unpatriotic” or as Bobby Friedman wrote, “a danger to us all”

• • •

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

Keep Current with Stefan Simanowitz

Stefan Simanowitz 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 @StefSimanowitz

2 Jul
Wow!

The sea ablaze for 8 hours in the Gulf of Mexico after a pipeline ruptured.
n 1944, Winston Churchill described Nazi atrocities as "a crime without a name"

Soon after, the term 'genocide' was coined

Is it time to recognise ‘ecocide’ as an int’l crime?

And time for all of us to start getting active to protect our fragile planet?
“Lost somewhere between immensity & eternity is our tiny planetary home

There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world

This pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
(Carl Sagan)
Read 6 tweets
30 Jun
1/. “How is it that all scientists are not mystics?
Cosmologists not poets?
Biologists not shamans?
How is it that those to whom the Universe reveals such wonders, are not enraptured each day?
And each night, how do they close their eyes on this?”
2/. This👆clip shows the journey of the Hubble telescope ending at the Pillars of Creation - part of the in the Eagle Nebula - 6,500 light years away from earth

It’s so named because the pillars of hydrogen & dust are in the process of creating new stars
(Photo @NASAHubble 1995) Image
3/. The Sun is the star at the centre of our solar system

The solar system orbits the Milky Way, the spiral galaxy we call home

The Sun is just one of around 200 billion stars in the Milky Way

And the Milky Way is one of trillions of galaxies in the Universe

Let that sink in. ImageImageImageImage
Read 13 tweets
30 Jun
1/ A senior ExxonMobil lobbyist has been caught on camera claiming that the oil giant is waging a secret war on climate change legislation. The covert recordings filmed by @GreenpeaceUK & @UE lift the lid on the secretive world of US oil lobbying
@alextomo channel4.com/news/revealed-…
2/. Lobbyist Keith McCoy thinks is being interviewed by a headhunter

In reality he is being filmed by @Greenpeace @Channel4News

He claims Exxon “aggressively” fought science to deny climate change action in order to maximise profit & shareholder return & lobbied key senators.
3/. As parts of the US & Canada are gripped by #heatwave, an investigation by @UE reveals how @exxonmobil’s leading lobbyists reveal how America’s biggest oil company undermined climate policy under the Trump admin & is doing the same with the @biden admin
Read 5 tweets
22 Jun
1/. @MattHancock on #r4today claims he pushed back the GP #DataGrab by two months

@MishalHusain fails to point out that it is 8 MONTHS since the FIRST deadline passed to “opt out” of another NHS patient data sharing scheme!

Our data iseven advertised by the Dept of Trade!👇
2/. The “opt out” from having your NHS patient data shared with pharmaceutical companies was 30 Sept 2020

It didn’t apply "when there is an overridinng public interest...for example, to help manage contagious diseases like #COVID19

So there was NO opt out & NO media coverage.
3/. Last Wednesday #MattHancock claimed that GP’s having exclusive control of patient data is “undemocratic”

Instead he says he wants every citizen to “control their own data” (!?)

That may sound great, but how would that work in practice?

I trust my GP

I don’t trust Hancock
Read 6 tweets
22 Jun
1/. Starting today, the most important courtroom drama the UK has ever seen

The PM challenged on grounds of national security following the findings of the #RussiaReport by
@BenPBradshaw @RhonddaBryant @CarolineLucas @LordStras @AlynSmith & @PJWheatcroft
2/. Last July - after much delay - the #RussiaReport was finally published

It’s findings were truly terrifying

It revealed the govt & intelligence agencies had actively avoided looking for evidence that Russia interfered in the Brexit vote

Self-sabotage
3/. The implications of the #RussiaReport fed into my ongoing investigation into what appears to be a global #DataGrab for population-wide genomic data

I’d already traced the plan back to 2015

Russian interference in the 2016 #Trump election & #Brexit vote made perfect sense!
Read 12 tweets
20 Jun
1/. On Wednesday, @MattHancock claimed that GPs having exclusive access patient data was "undemocratic"(!)

This is bonkers

There are 7.5k trusted data controllers in the NHS at the moment

How will it work with 60m?!

He ALSO broke #COVID rules & lost his voice👇
#BreakingNews
#MattHancock often seems to have problems when asked simple questions

When FINALLY asked who issued the instruction to send people from hospitals to care homes without testing & if it was approved by a Minister &, if so, which one? - he lost his hearing!
When asked about the failure of the App & @didoharding’s “cherry on the cake” (the £37b Test & Trace fiasco) @MattHancock faked hysteria

“I think many of my viewers will think this isn’t a laughing matter,” said @KayBurley

The death toll had hit 65,000
Read 4 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!

:(