Is he for real? Covid Inquiry

[Brigadier]

(KC?) on currently, questioning Whitty about the early situation in ROI and NI.

Whitty points out that he was dealing with the epidemiology, and it was for the politicians to decide how to implement it ("Sinn Fein would tend to follow ROI, while other parties would follow UK").

KC - "can we leave the politics out of it?"

Really?

 

[blup]

Witty is pretty impartial and has a brain the size of Saturn, I would be surprised if he got his facts wrong. It is as dangerous to assume that SF following RoI was wrong as it is to assume the rest following UK was right. With no border restrictions despite the best endeavours of brexxers, probably more logical for a single approach for the whole of the island if Ireland. But I may have missed the possibility that covid was politically sensitive

Blup

 

[Brigadier]

But I may have missed the possibility that covid was politically sensitive

Everything on the Ireland of Ireland is politically sensitive

 

[Brigadier]

I would be surprised if he got his facts wrong. It is as dangerous to assume that SF following RoI was wrong as it is to assume the rest following UK was right.

I don't think I was implying that.

Whitty was pointing out that he was the scientist, and had made no comment on what was the most logical approach.

 

[motorbiking]

Looking back - devolved healthcare in the mainland, made no sense with different rules, along with the tiering of risk areas.

Different rules for people living in different parts of the country. You can see the logic, but people just gamed the system.

Tier 1s can snog, Tier 4s have to stay in bed. It lasted a few weeks if I recall. I hope they do learn some lessons here, rather than just point the finger at each other. The problem any lessons we learn on this one might be completely wrong for the next one.

 

[Brigadier]

From the BBC feed:


Pete Wilcock KC is now asking questions on behalf of the Northern Ireland Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice.

Was Whitty aware of the "unique problems" when it comes to tackling a pandemic on the island of Ireland?

Whitty, who advised the UK government and therefore had remit over Northern Ireland, says that he was indeed aware.

He says the response was complex, as the impact of Covid in Northern Ireland would naturally be affected by the impact of Covid in the Republic of Ireland. The two nations share a border but the Republic of Ireland is not part of the United Kingdom.

Whitty also acknowleges the "complexity of politics" - some political factions in Northern Ireland would want the nation's Covid policy to align with the Republic of Ireland, others would want to move in step with England, Scotland and Wales.



Like I said: is this KC berk for real?

 

[motorbiking]

Spain and france etc shared borders and had different rules.

 

[Roy Bloom]

Looking back - devolved healthcare in the mainland, made no sense with different rules, along with the tiering of risk areas.

Different rules for people living in different parts of the country. You can see the logic, but people just gamed the system.

The problem with tiering for different parts of the country was that the lead, especially on TV, was always the PM, from London.
For tiering to be comprehendable, and easily assimilated is to have leaders form those devolved areas to head up those TV appearances.

 

[motorbiking]

I would go the other way, with a pandemic.

While healthcare is devolved so that the politicians can set their own agenda, when there is a pandemic it should be one strategy.

SNP and Welsh Labour wanted to have different rules than England, not because they had better/worse science, but because they wanted to try to out lockdown each other.

They have to fix the politics, if we are to do better next time. There was constant political point scoring but that was the case everywhere. Every politician trying to point the finger at a neighbour and say look at them.

At least we should try to align at a U.K. level.

 

[Brigadier]

Wilcock - who asked Whitty to leave politics out of it - was representing the NI Bereaved Families.

If it was apolitical, wouldn't it have been All Ireland Bereaved Families, as an example?

This morning, we've heard questions from KCs representing specific groups for:

Wales
Scotland
BAME
Disabled
Long Covid,

and how their particular group could have been better heard and served.

The whole basis of this morning is political.

 

[Brigadier]

Now, the trade union KC.......

 

[blup]

Wilcock - who asked Whitty to leave politics out of it - was representing the NI Bereaved Families.

If it was apolitical, wouldn't it have been All Ireland Bereaved Families, as an example?

This morning, we've heard questions from KCs representing specific groups for:

Wales
Scotland
BAME
Disabled
Long Covid,

and how their particular group could have been better heard and served.

The whole basis of this morning is political.

From the BBC feed:


Pete Wilcock KC is now asking questions on behalf of the Northern Ireland Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice.

Was Whitty aware of the "unique problems" when it comes to tackling a pandemic on the island of Ireland?

Whitty, who advised the UK government and therefore had remit over Northern Ireland, says that he was indeed aware.

He says the response was complex, as the impact of Covid in Northern Ireland would naturally be affected by the impact of Covid in the Republic of Ireland. The two nations share a border but the Republic of Ireland is not part of the United Kingdom.

Whitty also acknowleges the "complexity of politics" - some political factions in Northern Ireland would want the nation's Covid policy to align with the Republic of Ireland, others would want to move in step with England, Scotland and Wales.



Like I said: is this KC berk for real?

I suspect the objection to whittys comments were because he identified individual political groups not the policy of the executive overall

Blup

 

[blup]

Spain and france etc shared borders and had different rules.

That is true but apart from some common basque heritage, there is no comparison with the shared history and heritage of the island of Ireland

Blup

 

[motorbiking]

I’m not sure a virus cares much about your shared history.

 

[Brigadier]

I suspect the objection to whittys comments were because he identified individual political groups not the policy of the executive overall

Blup

What did he expect though, when asking about the "unique problems"?

A commentary on the quality of golf courses, or the fishing, over there?


Like a representative of the Honourable Guild of Restaurateurs taking the hump, when the witness starts to comment on the food........