The Met Office has announced another Yellow warning for rain here. We have missed most of the heavy stuff from Ciaran but have had a period of persistant wettish weather. The Met Office is correct that sodden ground may lead to flooding, but the public will be wary of the “crying wolf’ aspect. We had a wind warning for Ciaran but nothing of note happened. Could the met office please publish cumulative statistics to support warnings where the event itself is not notable, but is part of a chain of events.
SYSTEM FAULT
The Covid Inquiry is revealing the expected chaos and incompetence; individuals failing to see past their own egos and agendas. The Inquiry will document these in full. What is of greater concern is the failure of the system.
Westminster is being shown as a misogynist unrepresentative cohort of egos. This is true of both the politicians and the cicil servants. It seems that advice was sought and dismissed in an ad hoc manner. Meetings were too large and populated with more concern for status that effectiveness, Johnson was riven by delusions of grandeur and a desire to be a Churchillian figurehead. There appears to have been no real leadership. many have talked about the reactive nature of this government in many areas and for a long time. This continues to be true. The way in which key figures are moved around is reflective of this lack of leadership and competence. It now appears that the Civil Service is not capable of countering this merry-go-round. Diversity of politicans was culled by Brexit. Civil servants appear to be even more uniform in their white, male, middle aged, middle/upper class profile.
So Labour must learn from this if it is going to successfully navigate the crises that will inevitably occur in the future (assuming it wins the next GE!). Starmer is showing signs of falling for the subservient cabinet fallacy. A truly great leader would have a variety of views which creates a wide ranging discussion, but also reslults in Cabinet Responsibility. His retention of
GAZA
It is difficult to side with Israel despite the atrocities of 7 October. By their own admission tey have hit 11000 targets in Gaza, including some where they advised people to go for safety. On the West Bank a village has been deserted by its inhabitants due to the intimidation of Israelis, including members of armed forces. It really does seem that the Israelis are pursuing a policy of colonisation of the area from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. The river to the sea policy which is advocated by extremists on both sides.
There urgently needs to be an internationally acceptab;e exit strategy.
COVID INQUIRY
OMG – the evidence is piling up to prove that the government was in total chaos Dom Cummins has spilled the beans – he himself is not above criticism – but any criticism of him reflects badly on those who promoted him in the first place. Total incompetence at all times has been laid bare, and we have not got on to the corruption associated with PPE and Test & trace.