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Author: CycleFree

The Covid-19 Inquiry: A Primer

The Covid-19 Inquiry: A Primer

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The PM does not enjoy scrutiny. It has even taken him 10 months to attend Parliament’s Liaison Committee. Nonetheless, sometimes even the most reluctant must submit to inquiries, often led by those great favourites of politicians – judges. 68 of them between 1990 and 2017, most into tragedies so serious that an inquiry was inevitable (the Piper Alpha explosion, e-Coli outbreaks, rail crashes). Many into the NHS (murdering nurses/doctors – Allitt/Shipman, child cardiac surgery, hospital failings – Bristol, Morecambe Bay,…

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Saving lives and protecting the NHS

Saving lives and protecting the NHS

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In Lord Denning’s 1980 judgement preventing the Birmingham Six from suing the police for injuries while in custody, he stated:  “Just consider………if their action were to proceed to trial………If they won, it would mean that the police were guilty of perjury; that they were guilty of violence and threats; that the confessions were involuntary and improperly admitted in evidence; and that the convictions were erroneous…….That was such an appalling vista that every sensible person would say, ‘It cannot be right that…

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Thinking the Unthinkable – how’s this going to be paid for?

Thinking the Unthinkable – how’s this going to be paid for?

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We cannot go back to how we were This is the reaction of many to the pandemic, now stalking many lands. Globalisation – at least as enjoyed over the last few decades – is over, a reset of relations with China, a change to the state’s role to the chagrin of those wanting a small state, low taxes, free markets, borders will not be as open as before etc.,. Well, some or all of this is probably true. Big events…

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The lockdown continues to paralyse the country, LAB might have a new leader but the party’s battle over anti-semitism goes on

The lockdown continues to paralyse the country, LAB might have a new leader but the party’s battle over anti-semitism goes on

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What to make of the latest bout of Labour in-fighting? (Or, as it might just as easily have been described: Part 197 of the The People’s Front for Judaea vs The Popular Front of Judaea.) 1.  Corbyn’s allies have been saying for years that allegations of anti-Semitism against Labour Party members, even when true, have been weaponised by his opponents to do him down and derail the Corbynite project. There is an element of truth in this, though the Corbynites have rather…

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A party fit for purpose

A party fit for purpose

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The challenges ahead for the new leader Labour has a new leader. And soon a new Shadow Cabinet. Starmer will not be short of advice, most of it unasked for. Momentum have already started. Would that Starmer gives them the answer Attlee gave Harold Laski: “A period of silence from you would be most welcome.” If not, perhaps a link to this tongue lashing from Alan Johnson would do.  So let’s join in. Should he go for unity – healing a divided and demoralised party?  Magnanimity…

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Taking liberties

Taking liberties

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One of the most enjoyable aspects of investigations is listening to miscreants’ excuses for their bad behaviour. The same ones came up regularly, so much so that interviews would have been much quicker if we’d had a poster on the wall of the excuses so they could just have pointed and said: “6” with a bit of “9”. The two most common, usually presented with the passive-aggressive mulishness of schoolboys, were: “Where does it say I can’t do that?” and “Show…

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The Past is Not Another Country

The Past is Not Another Country

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When I was a child in Naples, the trams had signs on them telling people not to spit and also to offer up seats to the “mutilati di guerra” (the war wounded). The first sign always puzzled me. Spitting was terribly bad-mannered, of course, but why was this instruction so much more necessary than any other? It took one of my many elderly relatives to tell me that spitting and coughing into the space where others were could spread disease. And diseases could kill….

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The coronavirus crisis: A Misdiagnosis?

The coronavirus crisis: A Misdiagnosis?

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Looking at the the huge economic consequences So it begins. The emails announcing that this or that restaurant is to close its doors, temporarily they hope, and regretfully, as they let go treasured and valuable staff. A few offer takeaways, in the hope that a diminished service and reduced costs will keep the place alive until better times come. Other venues – museums, for instance – emphasise their digital offering. Yet others hope to keep alive online. But slowly Britain’s…

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