[Tubby Isaacs]

Oliver Dowden's junior minister is apparently making a statement on Sue Gray on Monday- something about "prima facie" evidence. Maybe The Spectator will get Steven Barrett in for a column on it.

In other news, ouch.

[Andy McDandy]

"But it looks dodgy...", is that it?

If this were going through the courts, it'd be slung out as a vexatious complaint.

[Tubby Isaacs]

"Prime facie" is exactly that.

[satnav]

What is Fraser Nelson getting so upset about? All 'The Sun' had to do was print a minute apology. There was no fine for the newspaper and Clarkson received no punishment at all.

[davidjay]

What is Fraser Nelson getting so upset about? All 'The Sun' had to do was print a minute apology. There was no fine for the newspaper and Clarkson received no punishment at all.

Because they shouldn't have had to apologise. They should be able to say what they like without fear of the consequences.

[Tubby Isaacs]

As I predicted (for once). Except it's Steerpike, not Steven Barrett. Yet.

Perhaps Barrett will be along to make out that "prima facie" isn't "we've got fuck all".

[Tubby Isaacs]

What a disgrace Fraser Nelson is.

As it happens, the FT had covered the issue (Credit to OP). But it doesn't matter if it had, obviously. Point is you don't do risky shit and shut out people who might have pointed out the risk.

https://www.ft.com/content/83927688-e0d ... 79da6d6b6c

Interesting to see this attempt to rehabilitate Liz Truss. Lots of wingnut welfare at stake, I reckon.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Fearless free press trying to take the heat off Bozo here.

I can't believe they're still punting "if you do nothing, then..." as a prediction of what would happen if you did something.

Someone BTL says that lots of ventilators weren't used because they weren't any good for Covid.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Worth checking out this exchange for what Andrews is doing. The number she insists on was quickly revised down and by 29 March they were predicting what turned out to be correct.

Absolute nonsense that lockdown couldn't have been changed if the Government wanted to.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Even worse than Andrews, which says something.

[Yug]

Wasn't there some minor detail about cancelling all scheduled non-urgent operations or something? Might have had something to do with it.

[Oboogie]

This is the reason the Tories were so quick to chuck up those Nightingale hospitals, loads of empty beds. Nothing wrong with the NHS after ten years of Tory cuts, if anything they've got too many beds!

What this overlooks is that beds don't treat people and the Nightingales were mostly useless as a) they weren't ICUs and b) even as wards, there was no-one to staff them anyway.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Wasn't there some minor detail about cancelling all scheduled non-urgent operations or something? Might have had something to do with it.

Yeah but they could have just put the Covid people in the freed up beds. If you can look after someone who's had a hip replacement, you can look after someone dying of a respiratory disease. How hard can medicine be?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Ha ha. Well said.

[Tubby Isaacs]

This is quite the thing. I'll take a £1,000 bet with Freddy Gray that Tucker doesn't turn in a Brian Walden performance with Putin.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The text is worse than you think.

"Far less hawkish on Russia" is one way of putting it.

[Philip Marlow]

However sleazy you thought things were at the Spectator, I urge you to click through and discover that they are, in fact, worse than you could possibly have imagined.

[Andy McDandy]

Have they seriously run an article about one of their writers getting serviced in a rub and tug shop?

Sexism around the professor aside, that's the sort of thing Loaded or Nuts used to churn out. Which might explain a few things.

[Philip Marlow]

This would indeed appear to be a thing they have done. I’d also put money on it not even being the most repugnant bit of writing to appear in that particular issue of the mag, never mind making a top ten list for the year so far.

[Philip Marlow]

Matthew Paris may base his support for euthanasia on the fact that we can’t afford to support all these useless eaters who’ll never be productive economic units, but he’s so gracious about it.