When will this shit end?

[steviewevie]

1 minute ago, Ozanne said:

Another factor I think that makes this even more of a joke is that the Government can waste millions on contracts that give large payout to consultants or their friends yet can’t find the money to give public sector workers pay rises. They have found another £21.5b for defence funding and This is also whilst MPs will be getting a pay rise as well.

This.

[steviewevie]

Covid couldn't give a fuck about people worried about their christmas lunch, it will just do what it needs to do....but it might be getting a bit worried about all these vaccines about to be rolled out.

[parsonjack]

41 minutes ago, st dan said:

My wife, mum, brother all work in the public sector and whilst the pay freeze is far from ideal, the one positive they have had this year is job security - which as we’ve seen can never be taken for granted. Basically they are in their jobs as long as they want them. A lot of people in the private sector are not so fortunate and are scrambling around for any work they can find. 
Not saying the pay freeze is correct or just, but given the tough economic climate we will all be facing in the coming years, the job security the majority of the public sector have is a crumb of comfort. 

With benefit of relatives working in Public Sector you have some insight to the element of job security this provides, although I'd urge caution to anyone without such insight perpetuating the hackneyed and outdated 'job for life' myth of such careers.

Absolutely correct that public sector workers have been very fortunate to have their jobs relatively unaffected by the pandemic (as one myself I can vouch for this) but outside this our job tenancy is far more precarious than viewed by the masses.  Over the past 10 years my department has been through numerous cost saving exercises, with significant manpower savings made via redundancy exercises, both voluntary and compulsory, and with a further large reorganisation about to commence we are now threatened by a post-mapping exercise that is likely to see staff needing to apply for their own jobs, and the reduction in numbers that will bring as a result.  We also now have far more robust performance management processes, with prescribed limits to absence or under-performance, and line managers themselves monitored for progress towards resolving such failings against clear unambiguous policies and procedures. There may be more bureaucracy to it within public sector, but 'hiring and firing' is not now an activity limited to private sector or industry.

Fortunate in the current climate we are, but the days of drinking tea, shuffling a few files and bunking off to the pub at 3.00 any day of the week are certainly long behind us.

Edited November 20, 2020 by parsonjack

[DeanoL]

Current thinking is that it will exclude front-line workers. It's not unreasonable as most private companies will have seen a downturn and have pay-freezes for the next few years. The issue will be making sure it's reverted when things pick up again (which did not happen last time).

[steviewevie]

Some of you might be interested in watching this...was on last night.

Lockdown 1.0 - Following the Science?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000pjr1/lockdown-10-following-the-science

[northernringo]

So NI were originally supposed to have a 4 week lockdown of sorts (shops allowed open though).

That was extended for a week and then this coming week hairdressers, cafes, etc are allowed to open. Bars still closed.

However, after this week, we then go into a harder lockdown, with all non-essential retail closed, hospitality closed and we aren't supposed to leave our homes. Essentially, the March/April lockdown but schools are open. This is for two weeks apparently.

Just seems to be more mismanagement by those in charge. Why bother with a soft 5 week lockdown, then relax for a week and then have a hard two week lockdown.

[Fuzzy Afro]

1 minute ago, northernringo said:

So NI were originally supposed to have a 4 week lockdown of sorts (shops allowed open though).

That was extended for a week and then this coming week hairdressers, cafes, etc are allowed to open. Bars still closed.

However, after this week, we then go into a harder lockdown, with all non-essential retail closed, hospitality closed and we aren't supposed to leave our homes. Essentially, the March/April lockdown but schools are open. This is for two weeks apparently.

Just seems to be more mismanagement by those in charge. Why bother with a soft 5 week lockdown, then relax for a week and then have a hard two week lockdown.

It’s to do with infighting in the government I think. It’s clear there will be big parties during the week off. 

[northernringo]

2 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

It’s to do with infighting in the government I think. It’s clear there will be big parties during the week off. 

Last week's extension was but not the idea of a soft lockdown at the beginning. In hindsight a tougher 4 week lockdown should have been the way forward, with shops closed.

I find when shops are open, people don't feel like they are in lockdown at all.

[zahidf]

 

[Fuzzy Afro]

9 minutes ago, zahidf said:

 

Frankly, if we didn’t have immunity lasting six months then we don’t deserve to survive as a species. Our immune systems are better than that.

 

I’d be surprised if more than a rare handful of people get genuinely reinfected by the same strain of covid during the pandemic. Even with Swine Flu in 2009, it didn’t hit many of the oldest members of the society because they were immune due to Spanish Flu. 

[zahidf]

 

[Ryan1984]

18 minutes ago, zahidf said:

 

Anyone else find it unbelievable this lot has an advisor on standards?

[Ozanne]

28 minutes ago, zahidf said:

 

What will it take Boris to fire a Minister?

[parsonjack]

10 minutes ago, Ryan1984 said:

Anyone else find it unbelievable this lot has an advisor on standards?

Not sure why it would be beyond belief to have someone providing governance over standards?

[JoeyT]

 

[parsonjack]

3 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

What will it take Boris to fire a Minister?

Bigger balls?

 

[Punksnotdead]

1 hour ago, parsonjack said:

With benefit of relatives working in Public Sector you have some insight to the element of job security this provides, although I'd urge caution to anyone without such insight perpetuating the hackneyed and outdated 'job for life' myth of such careers.

Absolutely correct that public sector workers have been very fortunate to have their jobs relatively unaffected by the pandemic (as one myself I can vouch for this) but outside this our job tenancy is far more precarious than viewed by the masses.  Over the past 10 years my department has been through numerous cost saving exercises, with significant manpower savings made via redundancy exercises, both voluntary and compulsory, and with a further large reorganisation about to commence we are now threatened by a post-mapping exercise that is likely to see staff needing to apply for their own jobs, and the reduction in numbers that will bring as a result.  We also now have far more robust performance management processes, with prescribed limits to absence or under-performance, and line managers themselves monitored for progress towards resolving such failings against clear unambiguous policies and procedures. There may be more bureaucracy to it within public sector, but 'hiring and firing' is not now an activity limited to private sector or industry.

Fortunate in the current climate we are, but the days of drinking tea, shuffling a few files and bunking off to the pub at 3.00 any day of the week are certainly long behind us.

Spot on. My department has halved in size in recent years, whilst covid has doubled our workload. Until my recent heart attack, I was working my arse off (work stress probably contributed towards said heart attack), with no reward at all.

If Sunak the twat carries through with this threat, I think it's likely that we'll be on strike at some point in 2021. I'll certainly be voting for it!

[Ryan1984]

5 minutes ago, parsonjack said:

Not sure why it would be beyond belief to have someone providing governance over standards?

Have you seen the way they behave?

[Toilet Duck]

In vaccine news, somebody asked previously how long between EUA submission and authorisation being granted...had a chat with a friend in the Biotherapeutics unit at Pfizer Dublin, they are doing the QA on the vaccine being made in Belgium to get it ready to ship widely. Expecting this to be middle of December she said. FDA and EMA jointly looking at the emergency use submission, so should be a coordinated approval in both jurisdictions (if it's before January 1st, this is sufficient for EUA in the UK, afterwards, the MHRA will have to either accept the EMA authorisation or conduct their own assessment). Interestingly, she said that while there are allocations for different countries, the company won't ship until they are assured that logistics are in place to distribute (I guess given the highly labile nature of it and the fact it's difficult to store). Explains why the NHS vaccination centres are being set up now. Anyway, they don't expect any hiccups with authorisation, so 2-3 weeks and we should be seeing people starting to get vaccinated. 

[Crazyfool01]

The problem with keeping shops shut that operate in a better manner than some is that the supermarkets become ridiculously busy and it completely defeats the overall purpose of it ... no ability to social distance whatsoever today ... myself and several other colleagues will be walking out if we get any more of the shit and busyness we had today ... please just stick to one person shopping ... and try to limit the number of trips . Thanks 

[eFestivals]

2 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

In vaccine news, somebody asked previously how long between EUA submission and authorisation being granted...had a chat with a friend in the Biotherapeutics unit at Pfizer Dublin, they are doing the QA on the vaccine being made in Belgium to get it ready to ship widely. Expecting this to be middle of December she said. FDA and EMA jointly looking at the emergency use submission, so should be a coordinated approval in both jurisdictions (if it's before January 1st, this is sufficient for EUA in the UK, afterwards, the MHRA will have to either accept the EMA authorisation or conduct their own assessment). Interestingly, she said that while there are allocations for different countries, the company won't ship until they are assured that logistics are in place to distribute (I guess given the highly labile nature of it and the fact it's difficult to store). Explains why the NHS vaccination centres are being set up now. Anyway, they don't expect any hiccups with authorisation, so 2-3 weeks and we should be seeing people starting to get vaccinated. 

fantastic  

[jparx]

Just spat my coffee out in laughter at our spineless leader backing Patel. 

[jparx]

6 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

In vaccine news, somebody asked previously how long between EUA submission and authorisation being granted...had a chat with a friend in the Biotherapeutics unit at Pfizer Dublin, they are doing the QA on the vaccine being made in Belgium to get it ready to ship widely. Expecting this to be middle of December she said. FDA and EMA jointly looking at the emergency use submission, so should be a coordinated approval in both jurisdictions (if it's before January 1st, this is sufficient for EUA in the UK, afterwards, the MHRA will have to either accept the EMA authorisation or conduct their own assessment). Interestingly, she said that while there are allocations for different countries, the company won't ship until they are assured that logistics are in place to distribute (I guess given the highly labile nature of it and the fact it's difficult to store). Explains why the NHS vaccination centres are being set up now. Anyway, they don't expect any hiccups with authorisation, so 2-3 weeks and we should be seeing people starting to get vaccinated. 

Fantastic news and insight 😃

[JoeyT]

6 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

In vaccine news, somebody asked previously how long between EUA submission and authorisation being granted...had a chat with a friend in the Biotherapeutics unit at Pfizer Dublin, they are doing the QA on the vaccine being made in Belgium to get it ready to ship widely. Expecting this to be middle of December she said. FDA and EMA jointly looking at the emergency use submission, so should be a coordinated approval in both jurisdictions (if it's before January 1st, this is sufficient for EUA in the UK, afterwards, the MHRA will have to either accept the EMA authorisation or conduct their own assessment). Interestingly, she said that while there are allocations for different countries, the company won't ship until they are assured that logistics are in place to distribute (I guess given the highly labile nature of it and the fact it's difficult to store). Explains why the NHS vaccination centres are being set up now. Anyway, they don't expect any hiccups with authorisation, so 2-3 weeks and we should be seeing people starting to get vaccinated. 

Does that leave any room for Oxford to swoop in and get there's out beforehand or is that completely off the table? 

[Kalopsia]

Just now, jparx said:

Just spat my coffee out in laughter at our spineless leader backing Patel. 

I'm spitting feathers, it's honestly ridiculous. The PMs adviser on ministerial standards has said she has broken ministerial code and has resigned, this cabinet has to be the worst in recent history.