June 18, 2020
You’re reading The Waugh Zone, our daily politics briefing. Sign up now to get it by email in the evening.Let em eat cakeAnother day, another U-turn. Matt Hancock was characteristically, irrepressibly ebullient, despite having to confirm his long-cherished NHS England test and trace smartphone app was nowhere near ready. His favoured centralised version had proved incompatible with Apple’s iPhone security and a hybrid model would now have to be devised.
Will NHS Test And Trace By Ready In Time For A Second Wave?
Having already had to water down the status of this tech, from crucial baked-in ingredient to just the glace fruit on top, Hancock still promised Baroness Dido Harding all was not lost. “We will put that cherry on Dido’s cake,” he said, managing to combine his usual Accidental Partridge with a dash of Carry On Nurse.
Apple’s role in all this may be subject to some serious questions. I’m told that a global digital health roundtable, chaired by Australia and attended by 12 different health ministers, today saw several countries share their huge frustration with the tech giant’s stance. They wondered: does it want to help or hinder the fight against Covid?
But Hancock didn’t betray any sign of that. He was more focused on accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative. Adopting a TV gameshow host smile, he even at one point appeared to say “Appsolutely”, and jokingly referred to “Zoom...other products are available!” For him, the new focus was on getting the non-app version of NHS Test and Trace improved every week.
It’s true that many experts had warned for weeks that more traditional human-based test-and-trace techniques would be easier to set up and had a long track record. But as Channel 5 News’ Andy Bell rightly pointed out, the whole point of the app idea was that it could identify close contact with strangers on a train, not just Friends and colleagues. That would be a hugely invaluable asset in the fight against the virus. “We are working on it, we are not going to put a date on it I’m afraid,” Hancock could only say.
Perhaps more worrying was the fact that the new tracing system is still not reaching more than a quarter of people who test positive for coronavirus. The good news is that once people are found, then 90% of them offer up all their close contacts, who then self-isolate. But we still don’t know how many are being identified within 48 hours, and one in four of those testing positive are not being reached in the first place, there is plenty more work to do.
Given how important this all is to preventing a second spike, if that 25% figure isn’t reduced soon, it may be that Hancock switches to making this a mandatory system. But a carrot rather than a stick may be needed, in the form of cash payments to those worried about losing wages from self-isolation.‌
Sage itself warned on May 1: “Risks include individuals becoming less willing to comply… if they are impacted financially from being asked to isolate. An accessible offer of financial support to those in need could reduce the risk of non-adherence.” Yet there is still no special rate of sick pay for quarantined individuals, many of whom may be put off by the paltry £95 a week.‌
The other big worry about today’s stats is that they show that the number of average contacts of infected people had risen from 5.88 to 10.28, a near doubling in just a week. The easing of lockdown is certainly having an impact and ministers will be hoping that the number of cases of infection falls a bit quicker to ensure all this new social contact won’t spark fresh spikes.
One area where test and trace is at least more manageable is in schools. And ahead of Gavin Williamson’s big catch-up plan tomorrow, there were several glimmers of hope today that schools could accept all children from September. First, Tory backbencher Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said he was “quite certain” the 2m rule would have changed by then, linking the shift specifically to schools.
Second, Northern Ireland actually declared today it was indeed cutting the 2m distance to 1m in its schools when they reopen after the summer break. Arlene Foster said that would allow class sizes to return to near normal levels. Handwashing, staggered arrivals, one-way systems and other measures will still be needed but the idea of full classrooms will cheer many parents.
Hancock himself hinted England could follow, saying “I get the interaction between the 2m rule and getting back to school”. If schools operate ‘bubbles’ of 30 children rather than 15, there will be some real issues of fairness for comprehensives. If you have to stay with the same group of pupils for all subjects, that will lead to rigid grammar school-style streaming. How would that work for a child who is in top set for English but third set for maths, for example?
Autumn will be a very nervous time for the government. As well as the end of its furlough schemes and possible unemployment rises, it looks ready to take the gamble on a new 1m rule in schools and other settings. If Hancock can somehow get his test and trace contact rate numbers up, and if Apple helps get that elusive app in place, he and Boris Johnson will be able to sleep a bit more easily. If not, we may all need to worry about the winter wave of Covid-19.Quote Of The Day“I’m from Newmarket, we backed both horses.”
Matt Hancock, who’s from Cheshire, explains his App philosophyThursday Cheat SheetBoris Johnson met French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street to mark the 80th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle’s famous wartime broadcast. They both watched a flypast of French jets and British Red Arrows.
The Bank of England announced it will pump an extra £100bn into the UK economy to help fight the “unprecedented” coronavirus-induced downturn.
Matt Hancock revealed that the over-50s, people with heart or kidney disease, and possibly BAME Britons, could all get priority for a vaccine for Covid-19 when one is ready.
Dominic Raab had to rapidly educate himself after suggesting that the Black Lives Matter gesture of taking the knee felt like “a symbol of subjugation or subordination” derived from Game of Thrones.
Two separate post-mortems on Labour’s shattering 2019 election defeat appeared. Labour Together found that ‘toxic’ infighting, poor digital campaigns and Corbyn’s leadership were all to blame. Labour for a European Future found that the Tory pledge of 50,000 more nurses was more important to Labour Leave switchers than Brexit itself.What I’m ReadingLessons From South Korea: Return To Normal Is A ‘Fantasy’ - FT (free)Got A Tip?Send tips, stories, quotes, pics, plugs or gossip to waugh.zone@huffpost.com. Subscribe To Commons PeopleEach week, the HuffPost UK Politics team unpack the biggest stories from Westminster and beyond.
Education select committee chair Rob Halfon is our podcast guest this week. Hear him chinwag with us about school reopening, fears for the economy and the parliamentary party’s current mood. There’s a lovely bit where he says the No.10 policy unit and Dominic Cummings’ Vote Leave crew see Tory MPs as ‘hobbits’ that can be ignored.
Listen to the full podcast HERE on Audioboom. Search for Commons People wherever you listen to podcasts and subscribe.Related... Black, Asian And Minority Ethnic Groups Could Be Among First To Get Coronavirus Vaccine U-Turn As Government Ditches NHS Covid Contact Tracing App For Apple-Google Model NHS Test And Trace Fails To Contact A Quarter Of People Who Tested Positive For Coronavirus
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'Trump tax': MSNBC host Chris Hayes shows how Trump winning would increase costs
Mar 28, 2024
How much would former President Donald Trump's proposed 10 percent tariff plan actually cost the average American household?The wave of tariffs Trump enacted when he was last president caused chaos, but there are many complexities that muddy this somewhat. However, MSNBC's Chris Hayes took an educated and simple guess at just how badly the country would be hit in the pocketbook under Trump's second-term plans."We don't know exactly how much everything would cost," said Hayes, but "just add 10 percent on the back of the napkin. Here's the cost of living under the Trump Tax."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal bills"Start with groceries," he said. "A dozen eggs cost about $3. Once you apply the Trump Tax, that is up to $3.30, with the U.S. importing over 4 million eggs a year, but cost consumers over $1.2 million. If you like oranges, they currently go for about $1.53 per pound. With the Trump Tax, that would be $1.68 per pound, which would cost American consumers almost $71 million for the nearly half a billion pounds of the import. Bananas. We don't really grow them in the U.S., do we? They average about $.63 per pound and going up to $.69 per pound with the Trump Tax, thanks to the U.S. importing more than 10 million pounds per year, that could cost Americans at $609 million and that's a $609 million tax on American consumers. Then there's tomatoes. They go for about $2.13 per pound. Apply the 10 percent Trump Tax. They would be $2.34 per pound, potentially costing Americans $3.5 million thanks to the 6.8 million pounds we import per year. If you are spending $1,200 on groceries, add another $120 to the bill. That's more than the peak of inflation in 2022, which topped off at 9 percent. This is 10 percent."Groceries are just the start, he continued."How about the refrigerator?" said Hayes. "You need to keep the groceries fresh. The average cost of a new fridge is about $1,300. With the Trump Tax, that could go up to $1,430, costing Americans $1.95 billion for the 15 million refrigerators that we import. Again, $1.95 billion of new taxes. What about the car that you need to drive to the grocery store? On average, a new car costs about $48,808 today. With Trump Tax, it costs $53,684, with Americans potentially taking a $66.3 billion hit across the board on the 13 million cars we import. That's not including the 50 percent tariff which would make it another $25,000. Even the smartphone in your pocket cost on average about $940 right now. With Trump Tax, it can go up to $1,034, with Americans potentially paying an extra $13.2 billion for the nearly 141 million smartphones that we import per year.""Everyone hates when you have to pay more for things," he added. "Inflation is one of the biggest liabilities for a sitting president. Yet here is Donald Trump, in the Year of our Lord 2024, running against President Biden, promising to make things more expensive for every American."Watch the video below or click here. Chris Hayes breaks down "Trump Tax" www.youtube.com
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Trump-endorsed candidate says Beyoncé is teaching women 'how to be hyper-sexual'
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North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson had yet another group of extremist comments unveiled — this time about legendary singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.According to The Root, "During a series of rants spanning multiple years, Robinson —who is Black —insulted Beyoncé’s singing abilities, called her a 'skank,' and said she was teaching 'young women how to be hyper-sexual w----s.'"For example, in 2017, Robinson posted to Facebook, “Person; Beyoncé is a role model!” Me; “The only person that butt shakin’, devil worshipping, skank is a role model to is people who want a fast track to Hell.” This is on top of previous reporting that he referred to her music as sounding like "Satanic chants."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal billsThese revelations come at a moment when Beyoncé herself has found herself at the center of some national controversy, having written a country music inspired album known as Cowboy Carter, and some country radio stations refusing to play singles off of it because of her race.Robinson, who is challenging Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein for the governorship of North Carolina, has been put under the spotlight for a number of bizarre and offensive comments throughout the years.Among other things, he has referred to school shooting survivors as "prosti-tots," pushed QAnon and "lizard people" conspiracy theories, questioned the Holocaust, and suggested American politics was better in the era when women couldn't vote.
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'Some prosecutor should be looking into' Trump's latest legal defense scam: expert
Mar 28, 2024
Former President Donald Trump's sprawling network of ostensibly independent political groups raising money for him, much of it in service of paying legal expenses, seems to walk right up to the line of breaking the law, former prosecutor Kristy Greenberg told MSNBC's Alex Wagner — and may in fact cross it."Kristy, how is this legal?" asked Wagner. "How can he keep saying this one thing and doing another?""Well, I think the big question here will be looking behind all of this as to who is coordinating it," said Greenberg. "If Donald Trump is coordinating between his campaign and these PACs that are supposed to be third parties and independent — the Save America PAC is independent, even though he directs it, independent third-party — if there is sufficient coordination, you could prove that, then maybe you would have something to say these expenditures are not purely personal, these are really campaign contributions. And therefore they should be subject to the limits of $5,000 that campaign contributions are subject to."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal billsWhat it looks like, Greenberg went on, is that Trump and his allies are "just trying to do an end-run around these various regulations, and it seems so transparent.""[Special counsel] Jack Smith ... had served some subpoenas in connection with that nonexistent, as it turns out, election defense fund," Greenberg said. "He served some subpoenas and then he withdrew them and it was unclear why, because that seemed like such a clear-cut fraud. I questioned why that happened. Perhaps it was optics. Perhaps he thought like he had such strong cases, the January 6 case and the national security case, that he didn't want to seem as though he was trying to drain Trump of the ability to legally defend against those cases. Hard to say. But I questioned it at that time because that seemed like such a clear wire fraud case that it seemed like it should be looked into, but maybe they just had limited resources and didn't like the optics of it.""But I agree with you, this raises a lot of questions," she added. "Someone, somewhere, even if not the special counsel's office, because they are pretty busy — some prosecutors should be looking into this."Watch the video below or at the link. Kristy Greenberg on the legality of Trump's PACs www.youtube.com
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