FlyTheNest

"Consider the fact that even though it is the approach its senior scientists believe would be most effective, the government believes that Keir Starmer’s having called for a two-week circuit-breaker now makes it “politically impossible”. Setting aside that events will overtake it anyway on that front, what grotesquely warped priorities that implies. As one cabinet minister told James Forsyth, writing in the Times: “If they do it after all this, they’ll be in the worst possible place.” To which the milder end of a response is: so effing what?!

Watching QT from Edinburgh last night it was striking how much of an irrelevance Seema Malhotra for Labour seemed

Paula Surridge
@p_surridge
Haven't had a chance to do much of this lately, but here is an initial look at how voters in Scotland are positioned in value space (compared with their English counterparts).

Shows clearly the 'Scottish' problem for Labour. The SNP sit in exactly the spot they occupy in England

Ardern demonstrating that you can do the right thing and get re-elected.

Ardern demonstrating that you can do the right thing and get re-elected.

cja's post last night, from Marina Hyde

UK universities accused of keeping students at all costs until after fee deadline

Claims some institutions persisting with face-to-face classes to delay drop-outs and retain tuition fees
(Guardian)

Coronavirus
NHS Covid-19 app users sent incorrect risk-level change alerts

People in England and Wales reported notifications that did not match government guidance for their areas (Guardian)

Last month, the UK published its national data strategy. Oliver Dowden, the digital secretary, wrote that under the UK’s strategy, “Data and data use are seen as opportunities to be embraced, rather than threats against which to be guarded.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... en-britain

Evening

Dr Gabriel Scally
@GabrielScally
SERCO announced an upgraded profits forecast. Apparently their performance on so-called 'NHS' Test & Trace is 'outstanding'.
The Government's official advisory committee recently received a paper that thought the T&T system was having marginal effect.
4:53 pm · 17 Oct 2020
https://twitter.com/GabrielScally/statu ... 3008450560

Serco Group plc ('Serco' or 'the Group'), the international provider of services to governments, today provides an unscheduled update on the outlook for trading in 2020.

Trading: we have achieved strong revenue growth in the third quarter and this, in conjunction with good cost control, means we are upgrading our full year revenue guidance to around £3.9bn and Underlying Trading Profit (UTP) to £160m-£165m; this would represent organic growth in revenues of around 15%, growth in UTP of over 30%, and a UTP margin of just above 4%.

The range of outcomes around these numbers, up or down, is wider than would normally be the case at this time of year as on some contracts customers are adjusting their requirements week-by-week in response to the challenges of Covid-19.
https://www.serco.com/media-and-news/20 ... e-for-2020

Where is Roger today? Hope all is well there.

Downing Street has delivered an extraordinary snub to Britain’s first black archbishop by failing to award him an automatic life peerage.

As Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, 71, should have been given a life peerage to enable him to continue sitting in the House of Lords in a personal capacity after his retirement on June 7, when he ceased to be one of the 26 Church of England bishops who sit as lords spiritual.

According to The Telegraph's chief political correspondent, Christopher Hope, a six-person team from Banks' Leave.EU has been "dispatched to Auckland" to work on New Zealand First's campaign. They've reportedly been instructed to double the party's count of MPs to 20.

Andy Wigmore, one of Banks' main lieutenants, told the newspaper: "I'm going to be on ground in New Zealand causing trouble - mischief, mayhem and guerrilla warfare in the New Zealand election - the bad boys are back."

It is uncertain on what basis Wigmore intends to be "on the ground" in New Zealand. There is no known exemption to the strict border controls for political strategists or self-styled "bad boys of Brexit".

I like the *idea* of having a garden, sure. Its just having to do the work with one that puts me off

---
Anyway, I actually came on to talk about GPs. I'm hearing stuff about them not being able to do blood tests at the moment because of some kind of supply issue. Has anyone seen anything about this? It sounds serious.

Greater Manchester GP practices issue 'urgent' update as patients face cancelled blood tests due to chemical shortage

Re blood tests, I've found this in the local press but I don't remember seeing anything in the national press. Maybe I missed it:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newsmanc ... r-BB19W8Ba


I'm not sure why it being a logistics problem rather than a supply problem makes it better. A supply problem is more serious but less controllable. "Logistics" sounds more like cock-up/ incompetence.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche (S:ROG) said any lingering affects of a logistics glitch in Britain should be "cleared out" by the weekend, after the Swiss drugmaker delivered 80 tonnes of diagnostics equipment to the National Health Service (NHS) to help solve the problem.

A robot broke down as Roche was moving to a new U.K. warehouse, blocking deliveries of diagnostic equipment for a range of tests including for magnesium levels. The problems did not impact the company's COVID-19 tests, Roche said.
https://uk.investing.com/news/economy/r ... nd-2233542

...like preparing a dinner party then realising all your guests are dead and nobody is going to show up.

I know in what a limited way we all know each other but would I be pushing it to suggest that that sounds like your kind of dinner party?

They all care about us so much, though, that they're providing their products for free. Aren't they?

The good thing about the bees mostly being gone by now, is that the same is true of the flies.