What's wrong with this country?

[bluebell]

chinease must be laughing their heads off? not only have they caused the problem but our people . those that govern ? according to this morning news are importing plane loads of protective clothing, facemasks for the NHS? So we have got thousands of people in factories idle while we pay the chinease proberly at inflated prices? i dont care if it costs us more but buy it from our country put the money in our peoples pockets, or is that to easy? ill tell you what the americans wouldnt stand for it or would they? Any americans reading care to comment?

 

[Dave6170]

You hear on the news there are british companies who can produce ppe trying to get in touch with the government but cant get anywhere with them! They probably have a list of suppliers and thats it!

 

[mo!]

This simply doesn't add up. The care sector is essentially private and short of PPE. Private companies say they can manufacture PPE. Why does the government have to get involved?

If we as an industry see a market for a crop we will grow it, we don't need Whitehall to tell us to, we just get on and do it.

Complete non story.

 

[ollie989898]

You reckon the Chinese government or populace are pleased with themselves? I beg to differ. Just for starters, they have damaged their own prestige abroad. This is more damaging to them than Chernobyl was to the USSR- even the parts that aren't even backed by facts; the media has validated them as 'truth'- all the spiel about wet markets, eating bats and portraying the average Chinese person as eating Rhino horn or whatever. Secondly, the economic impact on their economy will be very grave- they rely heavily on manufacturing and exports to trade partners across the world. The tiny margins on bits of PPE is hardly going to prop up their entire economy and there are countries out there doing textiles a lot cheaper already.

Also there is talk of lawsuits and legal action and you bet sanctions and tariffs will be next on the cards by you know who.

 

[Goweresque]

What you are seeing is the hidden cost of regulations. In good times the government imposes more and more rules about everything, and because the economy is growing, you don't see the full stifling effect they have. You don't see the businesses that don't start, or don't expand because of it, so it looks as if the regulations have no costs attached.

Then when the SHTF suddenly the cost of such regulation is exposed. No-one can do anything because of 'the rules'. It doesn't help that the NHS is a Stalinist organisation that is subject to monolithic State control - if it were a large collection of private businesses then each one would make its own decisions, and just get on with sourcing its PPE from wherever. But as its all controlled from one central point no-one in it can do anything that isn't covered by 'the rules'. Hence why it has no PPE but you and I can buy face masks off Amazon or Ebay. Private sector has a 'can do' attitude (because they want to make money, and the only way to do that is provide something the customer wants) the public sector attitude is 'you can't do that'.

 

[Goweresque]

You reckon the Chinese government or populace are pleased with themselves? I beg to differ. Just for starters, they have damaged their own prestige abroad. This is more damaging to them than Chernobyl was to the USSR- even the parts that aren't even backed by facts; the media has validated them as 'truth'- all the spiel about wet markets, eating bats and portraying the average Chinese person as eating Rhino horn or whatever. Secondly, the economic impact on their economy will be very grave- they rely heavily on manufacturing and exports to trade partners across the world. The tiny margins on bits of PPE is hardly going to prop up their entire economy and there are countries out there doing textiles a lot cheaper already.

Also there is talk of lawsuits and legal action and you bet sanctions and tariffs will be next on the cards by you know who.

There's a big difference between the Chinese people, and the Chinese government , ie the Chinese Communist Party. The former are the captives of the latter, and one should not attach any criticism to the Chinese people themselves, that should all be reserved for the CCP. It is responsible for this entire mess. If it had been more open and honest about what was happening from the word go then this could have been contained far more easily.

One has to wonder whether the CCP made a conscious decision to infect the rest of the world with CV-19 - once they realised what was happening in Wuhan they closed down domestic flights out of Wuhan, but not international ones. That to me smacks of 'We know what this thing will do to us and our economy, so we'll make damn sure we don't bear the full brunt of it alone.' The CCP is a brutal organisation, you only have to look at how they treat their own population. They would have no qualms at all about infecting the rest of the world with a virus if they thought it would give them a geo-political advantage.

 

[ollie989898]

What you are seeing is the hidden cost of regulations. In good times the government imposes more and more rules about everything, and because the economy is growing, you don't see the full stifling effect they have. You don't see the businesses that don't start, or don't expand because of it, so it looks as if the regulations have no costs attached.

Then when the SHTF suddenly the cost of such regulation is exposed. No-one can do anything because of 'the rules'. It doesn't help that the NHS is a Stalinist organisation that is subject to monolithic State control - if it were a large collection of private businesses then each one would make its own decisions, and just get on with sourcing its PPE from wherever. But as its all controlled from one central point no-one in it can do anything that isn't covered by 'the rules'. Hence why it has no PPE but you and I can buy face masks off Amazon or Ebay. Private sector has a 'can do' attitude (because they want to make money, and the only way to do that is provide something the customer wants) the public sector attitude is 'you can't do that'.

It seems there is a growing cadre of people working in all sections of the public sector who have all the hallmarks of authority, titles, salaries and pensions but who don't take responsibility and are impotent when it comes to actually doing something. As you say, people who have experience of management in the private sector make decisions and know how to act. You or I would have been on the phone day and night getting PPE somehow and worry about the repercussions later but the public sector all expect the government of all things to sort it for them.

There ARE companies that make PPE in the UK, my mother works for one in quality assurance. They do not have billions of people sat at sewing machines but if you need stuff they can make it. It would mean having their staff work day and night and probably some simplification or alteration to their products but it can be done.

You would never imagine this is the same country that turned out the Mosquito bomber or invented radar today.

 

[ollie989898]

There's a big difference between the Chinese people, and the Chinese government , ie the Chinese Communist Party. The former are the captives of the latter, and one should not attach any criticism to the Chinese people themselves, that should all be reserved for the CCP. It is responsible for this entire mess. If it had been more open and honest about what was happening from the word go then this could have been contained far more easily.

One has to wonder whether the CCP made a conscious decision to infect the rest of the world with CV-19 - once they realised what was happening in Wuhan they closed down domestic flights out of Wuhan, but not international ones. That to me smacks of 'We know what this thing will do to us and our economy, so we'll make damn sure we don't bear the full brunt of it alone.' The CCP is a brutal organisation, you only have to look at how they treat their own population. They would have no qualms at all about infecting the rest of the world with a virus if they thought it would give them a geo-political advantage.

What you say is true but human nature being what it is, the state, the country and the population will be smeared all the same.

 

[Brisel]

So, what's the value of news footage of an aircraft with the NHS logo on landing back at an airport with a load of PPE on board? It's just self promoting showboating by the government with taxpayers' cash.

Fake news.

 

[ollie989898]

Why the fudge would you use a passenger aircraft to fly them?

 

[David.]

Aren't the individual hospital trusts responsible for their own procurement?
Why would they carry at all times sufficient PPE (which probably has a shelf life buried in its paperwork somewhere) to cover a major once in a century international catastrophic event.

 

[No wot]

Dunelm have stopped making curtains in their Leicester factory and now making gowns for NHS

 

[Al R]

Why the fudge would you use a passenger aircraft to fly them?

I thought the same, trying to keep the airlines going? You’d think a jumbo or Hercules would be more practical than hand loading/unloading a passenger plane!!

 

[ollie989898]

I thought the same, trying to keep the airlines going? You’d think a jumbo or Hercules would be more practical than hand loading/unloading a passenger plane!!

You have to unload it all by hand and then put it on pallets and into a truck, what kind of moron dreamt that up. You can't tell me there is no available cargo aircraft ffs.

 

[Brisel]

You have to unload it all by hand and then put it on pallets and into a truck, what kind of moron dreamt that up. You can't tell me there is no available cargo aircraft ffs.

The kind of moron who runs the country, snapped his/her fingers and said "do it right now."

 

[Gong Farmer]

Come on, you can get loads in those overhead lockers. And they empty themselves when opened.

 

[icanshootwell]

This is what you get when the Chinese buy up all the stocks months ago and sit on them, they then sell them 3x there original cost. Planned all not this was a very smart move way ahead of any of our leaders who act when the problem is smacking them in the face.

 

[ollie989898]

The kind of moron who runs the country, snapped his/her fingers and said "do it right now."

You would have got way more volume in a cargo jet so you could probably get away with a smaller aircraft.

 

[Exfarmer]

I thought the same, trying to keep the airlines going? You’d think a jumbo or Hercules would be more practical than hand loading/unloading a passenger plane!!

Actually huge amounts of cargo are handled by passenger aircraft. Transport rates have gone through the roof since the planes stopped flying.
When they load a plane and weigh all the luggage on any spare weight is given over to stillages of cargo. its not hand balled

 

[ollie989898]

Actually huge amounts of cargo are handled by passenger aircraft. Transport rates have gone through the roof since the planes stopped flying.
When they load a plane and weigh all the luggage on any spare weight is given over to stillages of cargo. its not hand balled

The article shows the stuff being placed in the actual seats. Not just in the hold. It was clearly put in there by hand.

I was just surprised to see a big 4 engined jet being used in this way to carry bulk but lightweight cargo. A military transport could surely have crammed the same stuff in.