UK Politics - Not a Special Relationship

[ants]

6 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

My 8th grade son (age 14 for the non-Americans) is writing an in-depth research paper on Brexit (the topic is his choice).  His opening paragraph uses the metaphor of a vampire story, with a fearful, vengeful populist mob tearing down the political elite who figuratively feasted on their blood.  But there is a darkness and danger lurking in that populism: intolerance and discrimination toward minorities and those outside the core majority. 

It’s a great paper.  He is so my son.

Um, who are the vampires meant to be representing? 

[The Anti-Targ]

21 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

Matt Hancock shut down by regulator after trying to credit quick vaccine approval on UK leaving EU (thelondoneconomic.com)

 

Matt Hancock: “Because we’ve left the EU, we’ve been able to move faster yet it still be done with all of the safety checks which would have been done anyway.  

So, we’ve got a faster approval because of Brexit, which is obviously good news for everyone.”

Dr June Raine, head of the MHRA: “We’ve been able to authorise supply of this vaccine under provisions under European law which exist until January 1st.”

 

It doesn't matter what the truth is, he and others was able to get it out there and a lot of people simply believe the first thing they hear from someone in authority, esp if it makes them feel good about things. Though I would guess Brexit is responsible for the early December approval of the vaccine for the UK. They (the govt and the health ministry people) are worried about the logistical disruptions that are probable after 1 January with getting vaccine across the water/through the chunnel and into the UK medical distribution system. So, they want to bring as much on shore as possible while they remain as part of the single market before 1 January.

[IheartIheartTesla]

19 hours ago, Raja said:

Imo, the biggest way we can encourage vaccine uptake is communication. Public health, like we have seen in the last 6-8 months, relies on a high level of trust between the govt and the public, and adequate communication between said parties. We are not in a situation where anyone trusts the govt's handling of the pandemic, we should be focusing on openly communicating with the public regarding the vaccine and specifically to address fears ( weather legitimate or illegitimate) related to taking the vaccine.

On that note, Fauci has criticized the UK govt's rapid approval of the Pfizer vaccine, citing (paraphrasing) public mistrust of superficial and quick processes.

It would be interesting to see if the uptake of the virus reaches the magic 75% number (about what you'd need to prevent community spread). Based on some polling and anecdata I think it may fall short in countries where it is rolled out on a voluntary basis.

[Iskaral Pust]

6 hours ago, ants said:

Um, who are the vampires meant to be representing? 

In the eyes of the mob, the political elites are the vampires — both the domestic political parties who all recommended remain, and the EU sucking money out of the NHS. Just as vampires were originally written as metaphors for the aristocracy.  

His paper is very clearly anti-Brexit, but shows how fears were stoked to produce a populist backlash against an aloof political elite.  I think he does a good job of capturing the moral self-righteousness of the mob that has a huge blind spot to its own darker side.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

29 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

In the eyes of the mob, the political elites are the vampires — both the domestic political parties who all recommended remain, and the EU sucking money out of the NHS. Just as vampires were originally written as metaphors for the aristocracy.  

His paper is very clearly anti-Brexit, but shows how fears were stoked to produce a populist backlash against an aloof political elite.  I think he does a good job of capturing the moral self-righteousness of the mob that has a huge blind spot to its own darker side.

That's team Edward then?

It was merely intended as a throw away line, but I just realized that it actually works with not being on team Jacob (Rees Twat).

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

Not quite following Gavin Williamson’s logic that the UK is the best country because it is the first to approve a vaccine that was made in other countries.

[Heartofice]

10 minutes ago, Stannis Eats No Peaches said:

Not quite following Gavin Williamson’s logic that the UK is the best country because it is the first to approve a vaccine that was made in other countries.

It was a pretty tongue in cheek comment made with a smile on his face. 

[Fragile Bird]

1 minute ago, Heartofice said:

It was a pretty tongue in cheek comment made with a smile on his face. 

You mean like so many of Trump’s comments?

[Werthead]

15 minutes ago, Stannis Eats No Peaches said:

Not quite following Gavin Williamson’s logic that the UK is the best country because it is the first to approve a vaccine that was made in other countries.

I'm wondering if he got confused with the AstraZeneca (based in Cambridge) vaccine made in concert with Oxford University, which is also likely to be approved in the coming weeks but not quite there yet.

[Heartofice]

8 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

You mean like so many of Trump’s comments?

Not really.

[DaveSumm]

1 hour ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

On that note, Fauci has criticized the UK govt's rapid approval of the Pfizer vaccine, citing (paraphrasing) public mistrust of superficial and quick processes.

I can’t find any comment from him that backs this up with anything. What exactly is less safe about our process, what hasn’t been done that the FDA would do? Should we complete the review, then sit on it for a week so everyone feels reassured? Either the process is sound or it isn’t.

[Spockydog]

Was watching The Crown the other night and it struck me that now, like the 80s, we are governed by a horrible bunch of cunts. But at least Thatcher's lot were vaguely competent, and had something akin to principles. 

 

 

[IheartIheartTesla]

3 hours ago, DaveSumm said:

I can’t find any comment from him that backs this up with anything. What exactly is less safe about our process, what hasn’t been done that the FDA would do? Should we complete the review, then sit on it for a week so everyone feels reassured? Either the process is sound or it isn’t.

Here are his comments: https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-vaccine-approved-uk-too-fast-fauci-fda-covid-coronavirus-2020-12?r=US&IR=T

I can't find anything specific in there either, except using the FDA approach as the gold standard.

[Impmk2]

My understanding is the FDA requires and reanalyses the raw data from trials. The other agencies largely trust the stats and numbers provided by the pharma companies.

[Hereward]

So, he’s just doing a Williamson and saying that the US way of doing things is better because it’s the US way of doing things. Colour me a) unsurprised and b) unimpressed.

[williamjm]

5 hours ago, Stannis Eats No Peaches said:

Not quite following Gavin Williamson’s logic that the UK is the best country because it is the first to approve a vaccine that was made in other countries.

I read that the Russians are planning to start vaccinating this weekend with their own vaccine so presumably this means Russia is an even better country than the UK in the Williamson rankings?

[Fragile Bird]

Pfizer just announced that it can only ship half the doses of vaccine it promised for December because of “supply issues”.

I wonder if that means the UK only gets 400,000 now instead of 800,000 doses.

eta: so 10 M instead of 20 M. And what about the next months?

eta: CNBC has just reported that todays’s WSJ story was misleading, they were talking about the fact Pfizer did this back in September. The 40 M doses in December still stands.

The story slowed down the markets and dropped the price of Pfizer stock. I expect there will be lawsuits against the WSJ.

[williamjm]

7 hours ago, DaveSumm said:

I can’t find any comment from him that backs this up with anything. What exactly is less safe about our process, what hasn’t been done that the FDA would do? Should we complete the review, then sit on it for a week so everyone feels reassured? Either the process is sound or it isn’t.

He has now retracted the comment (from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-55177948):

On Thursday, he walked back the comments, and said there was "no judgement on the way the UK did it".

"Our process is one that takes more time than it takes in the UK. And that's just the reality," Dr Fauci told the BBC. "I did not mean to imply any sloppiness even though it came out that way."

 

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

13 hours ago, williamjm said:

I read that the Russians are planning to start vaccinating this weekend with their own vaccine so presumably this means Russia is an even better country than the UK in the Williamson rankings?

Well the Russian vaccine is their own. I assume he’s given us extra points for taking advantage of other countries’ work.

[VarysTheSpider]

4 hours ago, Stannis Eats No Peaches said:

Well the Russian vaccine is their own. 

I'm sure.