Friends & Family - The Government Gravy Train

That's what they'll tell you, that it was all too rushed to invite companies to bid for the contract.

In that situation you'd expect them to do a quick Google, find an expert, and talk to them. That's what you would do if your house was falling down.

What you wouldn't do is ask a mate from the fuckin jockeys club if they fancy fixing your roof even though they've never fixed a roof before, and you wouldn't tell them it's ok to charge 3 times the market rate.

Or maybe you would, if it wasn't your money....
The Good Law Project ? Lol
 
give me a clue - are you LOL-ing at their name, or the work they do?

giving your self confessed lack of knowledge on all subjects ("got any details? got a link?") i'm willing to bet you'd never heard of them.
You're arguing with someone who uses LOL as a reply after repeatedly asking for links and saying the ones you do provide aren't good enough.
 
Adumass you need to see an optician because you simply don’t see what you read. I’ve never mentioned cost or value in fact they were well down the priority list at the time of procurement, everyone was critical of the government for not anticipating the need for PPE and they were desperate to rectify that situation. The whole thing was a monumental cock up, the money wasted is a scandal but in the scale of things it’s small.
Just a small point but if the government are giving out contracts in secret how do you know about them?

I don’t know how to make clothes but I do know about production and the idea that it can be changed, increased or financed at a moment’s notice is just silly
 
Adumass you need to see an optician because you simply don’t see what you read. I’ve never mentioned cost or value in fact they were well down the priority list at the time of procurement, everyone was critical of the government for not anticipating the need for PPE and they were desperate to rectify that situation. The whole thing was a monumental cock up, the money wasted is a scandal but in the scale of things it’s small.
Just a small point but if the government are giving out contracts in secret how do you know about them?

I don’t know how to make clothes but I do know about production and the idea that it can be changed, increased or financed at a moment’s notice is just silly
I don't think anybody would argue with that, but that's not the actual argument. if you need to build 20000 new homes would you go to a builder who could fit it into their schedule given time, or would you hire a textile company that would have to create everything from scratch, materials, supply chain, skillsets. Which is quicker? Remember we're talking about a govt that handed a ferry contract to a company with no ferries.
It's the sheer incompetence that staggers the mind, not a silly mistake here and there caused by a panic.
 
You wouldn’t try to build 20000 house in a week though. Clearly the government got it wrong but there were extenuating circumstances no doubt it would be handled differently if it happened again. I hope the awarding of contracts to friends is just short sighted stupidity and not fraudulent
 
You wouldn’t try to build 20000 house in a week though. Clearly the government got it wrong but there were extenuating circumstances no doubt it would be handled differently if it happened again. I hope the awarding of contracts to friends is just short sighted stupidity and not fraudulent
They have form. And continue it.
 
Or maybe Tony Blair and his consultancy roles. Like advising eastern despots on not beating such nasty boys for £millions.

Eh?
 
I think this thread is proof we're not ignoring it but some are trying to understand that the unique threat to life meant that the normal decision making processes weren't implemented and that some people will take advantage of other peoples desperation
 
I think this thread is proof we're not ignoring it but some are trying to understand that the unique threat to life meant that the normal decision making processes weren't implemented and that some people will take advantage of other peoples desperation
That’s the point - it hasn’t happened once or twice out of sheer panic, it’s continuous. And no sign of stopping.

And it seems that some are now at the stage of underlying admiration/acceptance for the brazen attitude of the Tories.
 
Trying to find faults with the government because it's Tory doesn't forward your argument. If you want to prove that they are doing something wrong you have to put forward a viable alternative not some half arsed report from a newspaper with an agenda.
 
Trying to find faults with the government because it's Tory doesn't forward your argument.

i realise you'll have to take my word for it, but i'd be exactly the same if it was the other sorry side doing this. fact is, they haven't been close to power for 10+ years, and continue to look no closer to it. my anger isn't on party lines (which frankly don't exist any more...this is arguably the most social government in my lifetime).


If you want to prove that they are doing something wrong you have to put forward a viable alternative
i'm not sure that's how this works. you don't prove guilt by telling them what they should have done.

but anyway, a viable alternative exists. they already have written procedures (rules) defined and they are supposed to follow them. in exceptional circumstances i think every one could agree that they might have to go outside of the normal procedures, that's not the issue here (for me). its the how they chose to circumvent the rules, and continue to ignore them today.


just to address an earlier point you made, about the ability of local manufacturers to adapt their production lines to a different product at short notice. there was a story a month or so back of many many UK manufacturers who did exactly that, in order to meet the governments challenge to produce the PPE locally....and now they are not being awarded any contracts. so these guys are left with empty factories.
 
Just to throw something else into the pot. there's the mixed messages as well as the "do as I say, not as I do" attitude of the government:

When can I start booking a UK holiday?​

The rollout of the coronavirus vaccine combined with international travel restrictions mean many people have started thinking about booking holidays in the UK.

But there have been mixed messages from ministers:
  • On 26 January, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Breakfast it was "too early to begin to speculate on summer holidays"
  • On 31 January, Health Secretary Matt Hancock spoke of his hopes for "a happy and free Great British summer." He has booked a summer break in Cornwall
  • On the same day, International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said it was "very dangerous" for ministers to be making promises about summer holidays
  • On 1 February, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said he was "optimistic" people will be able to have summer holidays and would set out more details on 22 February
  • On 10 February, Grant Shapps said "people shouldn't be booking holidays right now - not domestically or internationally"
  • The same day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a press conference it was "too early for people to be certain about what we'll be able to do this summer"
  • On 11 February, when Mr Hancock was asked on BBC Breakfast whether the situation was that people should book a holiday or not book one, he said "it's neither".
 
Just to play Devils advocate, it's a dynamic situation and the government advisers are sending out mixed messages also. But if I was Boris I'd line them up against a wall and punch each one in turn
 
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