[Crabcakes]

Apparently she didn’t charge him.

Which should have sounded alarm bells but that’s Matt Hancock the guy is incredibly thick.

I dunno. I think she’s just presented him with a bill no amount of appearances on telly eating kangaroo anus will meet.

[MisterMuncher]

For all that, though, what has she *really* done? Slid the blame onto Hancock who was, charitably speaking, fucked anyway and off the various ballbegs who have some vague appeal left. It's the detective drama staple of framing the dead guy.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Hancock was a relative grown up. He’ll doubtless cop it as Mr Lockdown too, along with Whitty and Valance.

Sunak was the one pushing fringe stuff. See if he gets a pass.

[Crabcakes]

For all that, though, what has she *really* done? Slid the blame onto Hancock who was, charitably speaking, fucked anyway and off the various ballbegs who have some vague appeal left. It's the detective drama staple of framing the dead guy.

The thing she absolutely has done - which seems to have sailed way above her and her employer’s heads - is guaranteed that no source is ever going to pass info to the Telegraph ever again.

As for the leaked material, we all knew Hancock was a twat. But he’s now a twat with absolutely no way back. Same with Williams, and it’s also shown Johnson is so thick he doesn’t understand percentages.

Tice (because let’s face it, he’s behind this) is clearly trying to capitalise on the Tory decline and probably hopes to siphon off some votes and influence. What good that will do him given all it’s adding to is a Labour landslide is questionable. But then again he is a fucking idiot, so assuming anything has been planned above and beyond “let’s cause some people I don’t like some grief” is equally questionable.

[Youngian]

Oakeshott does a Peter Baxendale* walkout. Your silence speaks volumes.

* NFU rep in Alan Partridge interview

[Bones McCoy]

I've only heard one Oakeshott interview on the matter, it's been repeated regularly on news outlets.

She talks all over the interviewer, insists she acted in the public interest, didn't do it for money, didn't do it for money..

A superb example of "doth protest too much" in broadcasting; when one issues the denials before being asked the questions.

[Youngian]

To be fair, Oakeshott doesn’t owe Harry Cole or Rupert Murdoch a living.

[Watchman]

I think the latter may have a view on that

[The Weeping Angel]

Good article here on how the telegraph are using this to further their own anti-lockdown agenda.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... SApp_Other

A war of words played out over the first two years of the pandemic. On one side were commentators and scientists opposed to any form of social restriction as a way of keeping infection rates down. On the other, those who argued the government should be pursuing a “zero Covid” policy to eliminate the disease at all costs. Caught between this tug of war were the majority of scientists and the British public.

Sometime last summer, those debates melted into the background with the promise of a “to be continued…” when the statutory inquiry into Covid eventually starts to publish its findings. But the second season of Lockdown Wars has been thrust on us sooner than expected after the Telegraph obtained more than 100,000 pandemic WhatsApp messages. They were passed on by the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who was granted access to them by Matt Hancock while she was co-authoring the former health secretary’s pandemic diaries. She has argued that the public interest in releasing the messages justified breaking her non-disclosure agreement.

Oakeshott has described pandemic social restrictions as a “reckless overreaction” and “monumental disaster” and universal vaccine rollout as “one of the most extraordinary cases of mission creep in political history” and has been clear that she chose the Telegraph because of its anti-lockdown editorial stance. So it’s perhaps little surprise the paper is combining news reports of these messages with columns from prominent lockdown sceptics – Nigel Farage and Rachel Johnson among others – claiming they prove they were right all along.

[Watchman]

What’s the point; lockdowns been and gone, the only “factual” outcome which we can use as a measure is excessive deaths, “told you so” just doesn’t work

[MisterMuncher]

Three years ago, nearly to the day

[Bones McCoy]

All I can say is Fuck the Telegraph.

They've always been Tories, but recently they've descended into 8chan conspiracy nonsense.

[Crabcakes]

What’s the point; lockdowns been and gone, the only “factual” outcome which we can use as a measure is excessive deaths, “told you so” just doesn’t work

What will follow this is a narrative that as lockdown wasn’t needed, none of its outcomes were needed either - so another push for stopping home/hybrid working, favouring newspaper purchase and city landlords. And of course trying to capitalise on Tory deserters - with another deal for influence done to pull candidates when crunch time comes.

The one thing that isn’t here is any sort of actual concern about the public.

[mattomac]

End of the day without vaccines, life wasn't getting back to normal, the lockdowns on the scale that happened, happened because of failures at the beginning.

The alternative was to basically say to anyone over 65, take a chance and all to save the "economy", an economy that over 39 years still hasn't benefited me in any tangible way.

My parents who are in their 70's matter far more to me than any bollocks "economy" and if we had to do it again I would comply.

As for mental health, I've noticed the bad old practices creeping back in, seems it only was important during lockdown.