We shouldnât be using the army because they are not there as a backstop against domestic policy failure. Weâve invested in training a soldier to have them delivering fucking letters?
The way to respond to the strikes is to acknowledge that essential public workers have been chronically underpaid for years, the cost of living crisis has broken the camels back and the government need to get round the table with a pay offer that isnât insulting.
Calling in the Army is not really a means of ensuring supply of services. Itâs a way of framing the narrative that paints the strikers as the enemy.
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It is not just the cost. It isnât what the Army is for, isnât what the soldiers signed up for, and puts them in an awkward position with the public that they should never be in. It is banana republic stuff. Emergency use is one thing, but this is a constructed emergency.
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Agreed.
But itâs happened before and no doubt will again.
Is it???..dont set me offâŠbring me , fetch me, carry meâŠ
For this kind of thing I agree entirely. There are circumstances such as natural disasters where the army will have specific skills that are vital, such as building temporary bridges or rescue operations. However, the government seems to treat them as their personal plaything. The only time they lose interest is when they need something to do their actual job. Rifles that donât jam or appropriate armoured vehicles, for example.
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The food and accomodation may be âcheapâ but since the âPay as you dineâ was introduced and private catering firms took up contracts the âdining experienceâ has/had (while I was still in) fallen of a cliff. As for the accommodation? The quarters/accommodation that Iâve had the pleasure to visit were something that Iâd not be pleased to pay full rent on. One example is the quarters my lad âenjoyedâ in Cyprus from 2011-13. Although only a junior rank, he and his family were accommodated in Senior NCOâs housing. The thing was that they were only put in the previously condemned housing because there wasnât enough housing for the junior ranks on the base. It was still being used a couple of years ago.
As for using (people keep saying âThe Armyâ but all or any of the forces could be used) to strike break could be the straw that breaks the camelâs back. Iâve just recently watched a series about the First World War. There was an episode that concentrated on the revolution in Russia. The Tsarâs forces were sent out to break up the protests but ended up joining the protesters.
Could history repeat itself? 
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So they are going to talk among themselves instead of talking to the unions / workers.
I donât know what it is with this government. This consistent policy of refusing to talk with the other side and then weaponising it, achieves nothing. And they seem happy with that.
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As far as I can see , theyâre trying to scapegoat the unions for the absolute fucking mess theyâve landed the country in.
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They are but they did the same with Brexit, doing it with dinghy crossings, Northern Ireland protocol etc etc.
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Itâs interesting that the Scottish government has settled their dispute with the NHS unions and seemingly quite cheaply as well. Iâm assuming that they are taking other issues on board outside of the pay agreement.
What always amazes me about this government is that they donât take executive charge of anything and set workable policy but they then try to micromanage everything. The latter, I think, is because they are grifters. The former is because they are inherently incompetent.
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https://twitter.com/Haggis_UK/status/1602568425557065728?s=20&t=TJfBvTIzwfbZtgGs7aWoHg
There is an independent pay body the government has created for recommendations on nurses/ public sector pay which uses a framework set out by the government and takes into account wage levels in the private sector - the government chooses to ignore those recommendations when it suits them yet hide behind the pay body when defending their own pay rises.
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Thread
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ML: âRichard, why donât you just interview yourselfâ 
Classic Mick LynchâŠ
âŠand another gem
ML: âYou canât interrupt me if you donât let me talkâ :0)
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It would be interesting to see the figures compared with NHS Scotland and Wales and also international comparisons.
Right at the start of the Covid pandemic my mother-in-law made comparisons to the polio outbreak of the 1950s. She was a nurse at that time, mainly working with the US forces in Heidelberg, and treated a lot of the polio patients including those who were in iron lungs. What she said at that point is that it wasnât the initial outbreak that put the health services under strain but the number of those already infected. Even after the vaccine was introduced those that had been previously disabled by polio required ongoing treatment.
I suppose the question is what are the requirements of those with long Covid and Covid induced infirmity. This could include those of working age but also those who are retired or otherwise economically inactive who would otherwise still have been able to care for themselves.
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