Drakeford’s handling of Omicron will show ‘indy curious’ that British ‘muddling through’ is best claims Telegraph
Mark Drakeford’s handling of the Omicron crisis will show the “indy curious” that the British way of “looking on the bright side and muddling through” is superior to that of the Welsh Government, a Telegraph columnist has said.
Columnist Jamie Blackett said that Mark Drakeford was “drunk on power” and that his imposing of restrictions and warnings about Omicron were primarily a means of being able to blame “wicked Westminster” for the problem.
In contrast to Wales and Scotland, he said, Prime Minister Boris Johnson “bravely holds his nerve, under sustained, and sometimes hysterical, pressure from the health lobby and its cheerleaders in the media”.
“And if, as seems likely, their restrictions are proved to be unnecessarily draconian, I hope the narrative will finally shift its focus from Boris bashing to scrutinising these shameless demagogues,” he said.
“It may be too much to hope for, but perhaps it might persuade the ‘indy curious’ to stare into the dystopian abyss of separation and conclude that the British way of looking on the bright side and muddling through is better after all.”
‘Ominous’
Mark Drakeford announced yesterday that a rule of six customers at a table, face masks and table service would be reintroduced in Wales from Boxing Day. That followed restrictions on sporting events on Monday which moved many rugby and football matches over the New Year behind closed doors.
In Scotland, all outdoor events will be limited to just 500 people from Boxing Day. Indoor events such as concerts will be limited to 200 people if they are seated, or 100 for standing. As in Wales, table service and 1m social distancing will return to the hospitality sector from 27 December.
Writing in the Telegraph, Jamie Blackett took aim at the restrictions and said that Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon have “assiduously talked up Omicron since it first emerged in South Africa”.
“They have trailed their media conferences in press releases laden with ominous threats before strutting onto their stages and inflicting economic pain on their peoples with faux gravitas and sonorous warnings of wholly hypothetical worst case scenarios,” he said.
“In both cases they have gambled on being able to blame the wicked Westminster Government for not finding the money to compensate entertainment and hospitality businesses pushed into difficulty by their actions.
“It may yet be that they are proved right and omicron does ravage England while the devolved nations are unscathed. But for the moment the evidence does not support their actions.”
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One good reason for never ever wasting good walking time reading trash like the telegraph – with pillocks like this being employed to tell them how it is.
Is this the standard of writing and political analysis in the Telegraph these days, once a great paper. Last night i watched Yes Minister, are those script writers now running the UK and London Media? It was the episode where Jim with the help of Sir Humphrey becomes PM by scheming and campaigning to save the British Sausage from the regulations of the European CM. Followed by a Hilarious series of speeches about sausages, yesterday’s fiction but TODAY IT IS REALITY!!!
Probably wrote his article from the safety of his holiday home !
Deluded.
Johnson “bravely holds his nerve” as his bus crashes from one side of the street to the other, desperately steering too late to avoid another car crash before he changes direction and repeats the error over and over again.
The time I start listening to some journalist who sits in their ignorant little London bubble while talking crap about a country they have never been to and know f-all about is the time you can officially shoot me in the head and put me down for good.
Imagine defending all the corruption, lies, criminality and deaths and using all the devolved governments as a deflection to protect the over privileged eton scum.
The Welsh people should stop bying that paper
Very few do. But like most broadsheets, it does line the cat’s tray a treat.
“Prime Minister Boris Johnson “bravely holds his nerve, under sustained, and sometimes hysterical, pressure from the health lobby and its cheerleaders in the media”.” Don’t make me laugh. Bojo the Clown is not now, never has been and never will be a leader. Michael Heseltine summed him up best: he said of Bojo the Clown that he doesn’t lead, he stands to one side of the crowd, waits to see which way it is moving and then runs to the front and shouts ‘follow me’. If Bojo the Clown was a leader he would do what he believed was right… Read more »
It least there won’t be another shortage of toilet paper in the UK as long as this disgusting rag continues in print.
I would never insult my a*** by going anywhere near it with that rag
This type of article is what is known as, “dead cat strategy” or “deadcatting”, where an article is written to deflect from, in this case, the latest party photo/resignation/bad news item for Boris. The article has no substance, and if this is the best he can do, he may as well give up. I feel for all the people that have lost a loved one to this pandemic, through the inaction of Boris and his team of fools, and the constant lies to cover up incompetence and indifference, to quote Boris,” let the bodies pile high” and ” f**k business”.
This type of deflection was used in the old Soviet Union and is still being used in Russia and China today……….and now Westminster with their media lackeys.
Had never heard of this charmer before, so being a modern man, went to Wikipedia, check it out – genuinely think it’s the first entry self penned = hilarious! To save you time, he’s as awful as you’d expect and, in fact, much worse. Scared aren’t they? Without the Celts, they have never had and continue to have no identity…
They are just exploiters always have been, pillage is their forte e.g welsh coal, Scottish oil etc. In the real world they will slump
As always when looking at opinion pieces (“for” or “against”), it’s useful to look at “the detail and the diction”. The final paragraph quoted here was ““It may yet be that they are proved right and omicron does ravage England while the devolved nations are unscathed. But for the moment the evidence does not support their actions.” “Unscathed” is both a word of exaggeration, and not supported by the present facts, the hard numbers of omicron hospital admissions already in the past week in Wales and in Scotland. (Leave aside, in that analysis of the words on the page, the… Read more »
I’ve heard there’s a special place in hell for falisifiers…
Dante certainly thought so.
D.T ? Did anyone expect anything different ? They gave up logic and analysis a long time ago.
Hasn’t Jamie Blackett got good English!!!. Just a shame there’s no comon sense.
Subtext to Blackett’s article: he is clearly very much aware of the perceived lack of focus and purpose in Boris’ approach. as compared with that in the celtic nations’. Being of English mindset, this is then spun around into something superior, pragmatically British, and common sensical. The whole angle Jamie Blackett takes is cringe-worthy, laughable. Message to Mr Blackett, to Boris, and other: the main difference between London’s approach to tackling covid19, and that of Cardiff/Edinburgh, is an ideological one. The British government is compromised by an ideological irrationality, hampering its effectiveness, and leading to the deaths of thousands upon… Read more »
My friend, start calling them by their true name. The English government. Because that’s what they are.
When use instruments from the extreme right wing demagogue’s toolbox they should not be surprised when people call them fascists
These clowns are an embarrassment to journalism, they will make up the biggest pile of lies, half truths and bull s*it just to defend the parasites that reside in Westminster and Whitehall, its well past the time that these jokes did their jobs and held the UK government to account, and stop bullying smaller countries and their democratically elected governments.
How many of you actually read this? Carefully, I mean. 1. He is quite happy to be guided by facts=evidence as they emerge, which they haven’t yet. 2. He doesn’t like Drakeford’s style. An opinion in which he is not alone. 3. Being on the DT he does not favour Indy, so we disagree with him. 4. A Drakeford style Indy might well be dystopian, but it not the only style available. Personally, I’d like to see a Wales that is economically dynamic and self-sufficient, my people free from neurosis. But we’re not exactly there yet, are we?
And lets not forget, he is Eton educated. I wonder where his loyalties lie
Let’s face it you’ll find more common sense in the Beano than the Telegraph. 90,000 cases and Johnson is content to just continue with his ‘cheese and wine’ parties instead of acting to save lives, boosted by deluded article writing. Quite the opposite to what the Torygraph spouts – we are far better off out.
We’re going to see so much outcome bias from this difference in approach. Did the evidence justify taking action when the decision was made and was the overall judgement correct to take action?
I guess I’m asking whether Boris would have taken action if not for 100 MP’s recently shouting “No” and “Don’t believe the scientists/health professionals” and I think the answer is that he would have.
And do those 100 have any to back up their views other than want to do a bit of science bashing? I haven’t seen it.
I have news for you Torygraph, if at the end of this it shows it didn’t work well, Drakeford will likely say so. Bojo would lie and call it a success. This will show the indy curious that our own indy government are more accountable than the elite in WM. Politics can be better in Wales
The English Press and Establishment obviously are concerned that the servile Welsh are getting a bit “Uppity” and need to be slapped down and put in their place. What puerile and shocking journalism not to realise that Mark cannot be drunk with something he has not got in the first place. The effective “power” that exists is unequivocally vested in the English Westminster. What power Mark has in comparative terms is fictional. Blackett attaches it to the wrong man. This offensive label clearly better describes and belongs to Boris. It is becoming clear that the English Political Establishment are becoming… Read more »
Save us from the Torygraph…
I think it’s time we started submitting articles to the Western Mail and the Abergavenny Chronicle opining about life Mayfair and Knightsbridge.
Based on the BS above, we are at least as well informed and qualified to do so.
Since when has Nation Cymru been a telegraph advert page? Can’t you find your own news items to print?
Mark Drakeford is drunk on power. 10 cases of deaths were reported yesterday. He has lied about the omicron virus and Wales now has one of the biggest waiting lists for operations whilst Cancer and other conditions go undiagnosed. He is a national disgrace.
‘…Wales now has one of the biggest waiting lists for operations…”
Not the biggest then. I wonder who that is.
As for ‘drunk on power’ you really need to look to number 10.
If this “opinion piece” is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, it’s infantile and unfunny. If it’s meant to be serious, it’s offensive and factually incorrect. Unadulterated c***u mochyn.
Lol. They are very worried aren’t they 😁
Could we possibly find anyone less like a demagogue than Mark Drakeford?
Wales has so much untapped potential. For years now have been hoodwinked by Unionists who talked Wales down whilst England up. See, If you are continually told you are useless , incapable, or too small will eventually believe the lie. Sad but true. But If any positives can come our if this Covid pandemic, besides the vaccines , is finally Wales has seen the light regarding the benefits of devolution and how independence is at touching distance. And by controlling our own destiny, can make Wales a prosperous more socially just country to live in, where you don’t have to… Read more »