An additional beneficiary has been Topham Guerin – the controversial communications firm that worked with the Conservative Party during the 2019 UK General Election. The company, now run by the sister of a Conservative lord, has been granted an initial £3 million deal to help to deliver online COVID-19 communications.
These contracts have been enabled by a loophole in EU law that allows governments to rapidly grant public sector contracts to private firms without going through the usual process of competition, during an emergency. The Government has made full use of this slipstream – shelling out billions to the private sector in just a few months.
Topham Guerin, founded in 2016 by two young New Zealanders, Sean Topham and Ben Guerin, specialises in producing images and videos for social media and has worked for a number of rightwing political parties. It was behind two Tory election campaign stunts that attracted widespread criticism: renaming the official Conservative party Twitter account “factcheckUK” during the leaders’ debate, and setting up a website presented as Labour’s manifesto
...
The Guardian has previously reported that Topham and Guerin, who are in their 20s, worked on huge propaganda campaigns for CTF Partners, run by the Tories’ long-term strategist Sir Lynton Crosby, on behalf of clients including major polluters, the Saudi Arabian government and anti-cycling groups.
After its work on the Tory election campaign last year, Topham Guerin took on more staff at its Mayfair office in January and February. Among these appointments was Deborah Feldman, a former Conservative staffer who previously worked for CTF as managing director.
After getting a right hammering yesterday over their use of 'activist lawyers', the government responds in the only way it knows how...
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This is really not good.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 9:14 am
by RogerOThornhill
IDS showing what a nasty, spiteful little man he is - re Sally Collier.
He told The Sun: “It is astonishing by anyone’s standards.
“As a mandarin she is not very accountable – but she has left with a fat account book.
“Parents and A Level students whose summers were wrecked by the scandal will be up in arms.
“She will get this fat cheque and just walk straight into another well paying job in the civil service. It is a reward for failure.”
Yeah, never mind that she was acting under instructions from the DfE who then failed to look closely at what came out from the results but just have a pop at the civil servant.
And that "fat cheque" was her pension pot accrued over many years service. Presumably he thinks they ought to be able to just rip it and send her on her way with nothing.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 9:50 am
by gilsey
a government campaign to encourage workers to return to the office expected to be launched next week.
The television and newspaper messages will promote the government’s aim to reduce the number of employees working from home amid fears that town and city centres are becoming ghost areas as workers stay away.
Has anyone ever seen any govt messages about mask-wearing?
Along the lines of the WHO info here, or even referring people to it.
Alexander Clarkson
@APHClarkson
UK government that rose to power claiming it wanted to accelerate economic change now petrified of the consequences of accelerated economic change
The White Heat of Technological Revolution is a lot less fun when it's a flamethrower torching the foundations of your power
When the Cummings-Johnson government promoted levelling up the UK economy to lessen London's power and make smaller regional cities more attractive places to work and live I'm not sure they really meant it
If the Cummings-Johnson government whose entire instinct is to centralise power struggle to comprehend the success of Scottish nationalism, you have to wonder how they'll cope with more assertive and self-confident regional elites in England
That's how we know they never meant it in the first place. Just a slogan.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 10:48 am
by Willow904
gilsey wrote:
a government campaign to encourage workers to return to the office expected to be launched next week.
The television and newspaper messages will promote the government’s aim to reduce the number of employees working from home amid fears that town and city centres are becoming ghost areas as workers stay away.
Has anyone ever seen any govt messages about mask-wearing?
Along the lines of the WHO info here, or even referring people to it.
No. The NHS have adverts on Youtube and if you go to their website latest information and guidance around symptoms, shielding etc is really easy to find but I've found general government guidance about current rules and advice really hard to find generally and if they're advertising on social media I haven't spotted them. As for masks, Amazon appear to be selling a lot of fakes and cheap Chinese rubbish. I wanted a 100% cotton jersey one so ended up at Halfords in the end. They sell Garcotex ones which are designed for machine shop use so really good for protection from dust, don't know about viruses, though and only double layered. I haven't seen any government guidance about types of masks, or where to buy them, at all.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 11:04 am
by gilsey
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includes a serious point
The Secret Barrister
@BarristerSecret
And the reason we are often on social media rather than in court is because the government is refusing to pay to open the courts. So my clients and the complainants and witnesses in the cases I prosecute are having to wait until 2021/2022 for their trials.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 11:48 am
by citizenJA
Good morning, everyone.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 12:06 pm
by AnatolyKasparov
gilsey wrote:
a government campaign to encourage workers to return to the office expected to be launched next week.
The television and newspaper messages will promote the government’s aim to reduce the number of employees working from home amid fears that town and city centres are becoming ghost areas as workers stay away.
Has anyone ever seen any govt messages about mask-wearing?
Along the lines of the WHO info here, or even referring people to it.
The point is that a lot of businesses have found home working suits them quite well, and there is no *need* for everyone to commute into the office every day.
This just shows that the government has no ideas beyond "everything should go back to how it was". So much for all the Cummings "radical" pretensions.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 12:42 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Sam Grinsell
@samgrinsell
2019: millenials are wasting all their money on buying sandwiches
2020: THE ECONOMY WILL COLLAPSE IF YOU DON'T BUY MORE SANDWICHES
11:09 AM · Aug 28, 2020·Twitter for Android
Quite.
Apparently the free market works so well it needs a fairly large push from government to help it.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 12:45 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Presumably anyone going back into the office but taking their own lunch with them will be regarded as having committed a cardinal sin.
Edit - and the least said about Littlejohn's piece of hypocrisy in telling everyone to stop working from home...and then admitting that he has, in fact, worked from home for the past 30 years the better...
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 12:46 pm
by citizenJA
AnatolyKasparov wrote:---
The point is that a lot of businesses have found home working suits them quite well, and there is no *need* for everyone to commute into the office every day.
This just shows that the government has no ideas beyond "everything should go back to how it was". So much for all the Cummings "radical" pretensions.
(cJA edit)
Government acts in the interests of commercial property owners
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 12:47 pm
by AnatolyKasparov
Who often just happen to be amongst their foremost donors. A mere coincidence, no doubt.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 12:54 pm
by Willow904
I thought the entrepreneurial spirit was all about spotting consumer demand and fulfilling it? Co-op has just teamed up with Deliveroo - lunch delivered to your door!
Of course, in reality, the government's message isn't about getting workers to return to the office, that decision isn't up to workers, it's up to employers. The message is about deflecting blame for the economic consequences, it's YOUR fault people are losing their jobs, not OURS for shaping a rentier economy disproportionately reliant on extractive rents and for handling the crisis badly.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 1:20 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Another "man clearly working from home tells everyone else to go back to the office..."
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The DT was saying that Hancock went off-message the other day by saying that he didn't care where civil servants in his department were so long as they were doing the work effectively.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 1:37 pm
by AnatolyKasparov
Of course, most national newspaper staff are still not going into the office regularly. Strangely enough.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 2:24 pm
by Willow904
Does anyone else think it strange the government isn't keen for those who can do so to carry on working from home until after schools have started back and we've had a chance to assess the impact of that? Especially as if parents are working from home it will cause far less disruption if their child's school bubble has to isolate for 14 days. I imagine for a lot of firms wfh required some degree of setting up, moving of computers and equipment etc. With local lockdowns ongoing it makes zero sense to relocate back to work at this point as the situation hasn't significantly changed.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 2:28 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Man who is married to a Swede claims that her country is in the Euro...oh dear.
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As someone noted, Neil's point about having to join the Euro really isn't true at all.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 2:56 pm
by citizenJA
Willow904 wrote:Does anyone else think it strange the government isn't keen for those who can do so to carry on working from home until after schools have started back and we've had a chance to assess the impact of that? Especially as if parents are working from home it will cause far less disruption if their child's school bubble has to isolate for 14 days. I imagine for a lot of firms wfh required some degree of setting up, moving of computers and equipment etc. With local lockdowns ongoing it makes zero sense to relocate back to work at this point as the situation hasn't significantly changed.
Yes, this is likely what concerns me most
Utterly bad, impractical, reckless policy from government
Individuals can't do without functional leadership right now and I don't think this government really understands that at all
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 3:06 pm
by AnatolyKasparov
Its no longer about "governing" in the traditionally understood sense.
Its about non-stop *campaigning*, and fitting literally the entire business of government around it.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 3:46 pm
by citizenJA
Thousands of people are daily testing positive with COVID-19. Where'd they get tested? Under what circumstances? What's their current health status? Are they being treated effectively at home? Or the hospital? Or in care homes? Are they very ill? Are they mildly ill? That information isn't available. I've been on the government CV19 website. The numbers below aren't very meaningful for reasons I'll try explaining.
Last updated on Thursday 27 August 2020 at 4:00pm
Daily number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital, reported on Wednesday, 19 August 2020 = 109
Number of COVID-19 patients currently in hospital, reported on Tuesday, 25 August 2020 = 767
Patients on ventilation = 64
Different countries within the UK are reporting differently, the data above isn't accurate because it's not updated and there's other provisos, different dates, CV19 infected people having to die within 28 days for inclusion in government's fatality count and confusing formatting making the government's information above inadequate. Government either don't know or aren't appropriately informed about the healthcare status of all the people,
Recent communications with our GPs are alarming. They're not getting essential information regarding CV19 in our local area.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 3:48 pm
by citizenJA
AnatolyKasparov wrote:Its no longer about "governing" in the traditionally understood sense.
Its about non-stop *campaigning*, and fitting literally the entire business of government around it.
Yes, you're right. That's a great big problem for a country's people during a pandemic.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 3:54 pm
by citizenJA
I've read something somewhere recently comparing this government's performance during the pandemic with the coalition government's during WW2.
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 5:43 pm
by howsillyofme1
citizenJA wrote:Thousands of people are daily testing positive with COVID-19. Where'd they get tested? Under what circumstances? What's their current health status? Are they being treated effectively at home? Or the hospital? Or in care homes? Are they very ill? Are they mildly ill? That information isn't available. I've been on the government CV19 website. The numbers below aren't very meaningful for reasons I'll try explaining.
Last updated on Thursday 27 August 2020 at 4:00pm
Daily number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital, reported on Wednesday, 19 August 2020 = 109
Number of COVID-19 patients currently in hospital, reported on Tuesday, 25 August 2020 = 767
Patients on ventilation = 64
Different countries within the UK are reporting differently, the data above isn't accurate because it's not updated and there's other provisos, different dates, CV19 infected people having to die within 28 days for inclusion in government's fatality count and confusing formatting making the government's information above inadequate. Government either don't know or aren't appropriately informed about the healthcare status of all the people,
Recent communications with our GPs are alarming. They're not getting essential information regarding CV19 in our local area.
Hi
Use this website to get the information you need on the numbers
Also, this 28 days is clearly explained as to why it was changed and why it needed to be
The reality is that cases, hospitalisations, ICU and deaths are massively reduced from March/April - that is the truth. Also, using cases (and we are not talking really about cases we are talking about detected RNA fragments of COVID-SARS-2 virus - a case definition in normal times requires a diagnosis based on symptoms) as a predictor makes no sense if we have no idea what the levels of cases were prior to the wave of mortality in March/April
The idea that the reduction in fatality rate is down to 'the young are getting it now' is absolute nonsense if you think about it. Do you really think that the spread of the virus during the peak carnival season in mainland Europe completely passed by the young? Of course not, they had it but weren't diagnosed as there were no tests. It is likely that the superspreaders etc had it then. The predictive models would need to take into account a heterogenous population but many didn't - once heterogeneity is built in then you find that the actual data fits much better than the homogeneous ones and HIT drops significantly.
The reason so many people unfortunately died was due to the virus being everywhere (possibly 100000+ cases in the UK per day at the peak according to the models) and the elderly and ill in hospital not being protected adequately.
We are over that horrible period now but are trying to use it to predict the future which seems illogical to me as we don't really know what happened - and won't do for a long time, if ever. No-one ever really explained Spanish flu either and why there were two distinct waves which is being used to predict CV-19 - again illogical
Once you sit down, look at the data and look at the information available things start to look less frightening. Yes, there will be more cases as it is endemic, yes it will come back in winter to an extent and we need to prepare ourselves both materially in terms of NHS load and psychologically for that - the truth is unappetising though to accept but the people who died in March/April were also the most likely to be vulnerable to the seasonal respiratory viruses too this winter
The 'long-term' Covid question and its magnitude needs to be backed up with data - it is horribly similar to the anti-vaxxer arguments and seems to ignore the fact that severe viral illness, especially in adults, is a horrible thing anyway and we have to move away from anecdote and move towards facts if we want to use it to justify very strict societal measures such as lockdown
Remember, the 'flatten the curve' argument we were sold and bought into does not talk about reducing infections or deaths from the virus but rather protect us from the health service overload leading to significant consequential deaths - we seem to have flattened the curve on Covid (why is this not a cause for celebration?) but seem to be reticent to ensure we protect the others as well
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 7:46 pm
by RogerOThornhill
If you cast your mind back to the kerfuffle over the chairmanship of this Committee...
Latika M Bourke
@latikambourke
Just in: "The Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP has, in accordance with the Justice and Security Act, written to the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament tendering his resignation from the Committee. The Chairman has sent a reply.”
6:36 PM · Aug 28, 2020·TweetDeck
All pupils, in all year groups, will return to school full time from the beginning of the autumn term. Returning to school is vital for children’s education and for their wellbeing. Time out of school is detrimental for children’s cognitive and academic development, particularly for disadvantaged children. This impact can affect both current levels of education and children’s future ability to learn, and therefore we need to ensure all pupils can return to school for the autumn term.
We have, however, asked that every school plans for the possibility of local restrictions and how they will ensure continuity of education in exceptional circumstances where there is some level of restriction applied to education or childcare in a local area.
How schools can plan for tier 2 local restrictions
Published 28 August 2020
citizenJA wrote:How thoughtful of government sending this out tonight.
EduTwitter is really not happy...
Geoff Barton
@RealGeoffBarton
·
5m
For weeks & weeks
@ASCL_UK
and others have been asking 'What's plan B in case of further lockdowns?' Finally we have it - on the Friday night before a bank holiday ahead of the full re-opening of schools and colleges. It's not the government's finest hour. https://buff.ly/3ltlULa" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 11:12 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Sam Freedman
@Samfr
If we get a serious second wave and this all descends into chaos and then they *dare* to try to blame schools I will personally lead a socially distanced march on the DfE.
7:58 PM · Aug 28, 2020·Twitter for Android
But sack the civil servants eh - not the man who heads the department...
Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 11:22 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Teachers are pretty bloody cross...
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Re: Friday 28th August 2020
Posted: Fri 28 Aug, 2020 11:40 pm
by citizenJA
RogerOThornhill wrote:Teachers are pretty bloody cross...
