Comments on: Anyone for the Global War on Flu?

Anyone for the Global War on Flu?

athenian — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:41:29 -0800

The UK's national risk register is made public. It is kept updated by the secret squirrels in the Cabinet Office, and was previously kept under wraps. Pandemic flu and flooding beat out terrorism as the major risks facing the UK at the moment. Both are seen as less likely than a terrorist attack, but more devastating. The full pdf has a chart on page 7 showing the main risks on a grid.

By: rhymer

rhymer — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:46:14 -0800

Hmmm...makes no mention of flesh eating zombies or winged armies of trained monkeys.

By: A189Nut

A189Nut — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:49:40 -0800

coughs and sneezes spread diseases

By: burnmp3s

burnmp3s — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:54:57 -0800

Pandemic flu and flooding beat out terrorism as the major risks facing the UK I think they should follow Madagascar's lead on this one and just close the ports at the first sign of trouble.

By: DU

DU — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:59:44 -0800

Risk #1: Cabinet office taken over by secret squirrels.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:03:33 -0800

Surely the death of Steve Jobs should be on there somewhere. I mean, think of the SHAREHOLDER VALUE!

By: SaintCynr

SaintCynr — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:08:34 -0800

They don't seem to mention the threat of a surveillance state. Or beer supply interruptions. Must be some other "UK".

By: quin

quin — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:38:42 -0800

Pandemic flu and flooding beat out terrorism as the major risks facing the UK Which is actually pretty smart as flu and flooding have killed far more people throughout history than terrorism ever will. Though, as an American who gets most of his information about the UK through television shows, I have to wonder why Daleks didn't make the list. I mean, those fuckers seem to be causing trouble every couple of weeks over there.

By: shetterly

shetterly — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:49:18 -0800

No! Whenever we declare war on something, we tend to lose: war on drugs, war on poverty... Americans are too damn fond of war as a metaphor.

By: not sure this is a good idea

not sure this is a good idea — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:53:41 -0800

interesting, but given recent history isn't the animal pandemic likelihood too low? daleks haven't been so much of a problem since we started using staircases.

By: greytape

greytape — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:11:28 -0800

This is brilliant, thanks.

By: TheWhiteSkull

TheWhiteSkull — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:34:26 -0800

The stairs may have stopped the Daleks, but what about Cybermen? Mr. Speaker, why has Mr. Brown's government repeatedly failed to maintain our strategic reserves of gold dust? Along with the banking crisis and climate change, this is simply another example of the Labor Party failing to address the real threats to our country while distracting us with talk of Olympics and such. Bread and circuses I tell you!

By: XMLicious

XMLicious — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:05:57 -0800

Damn, the UK has secret squirrels too?

By: WPW

WPW — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:20:13 -0800

Hmmm...makes no mention of flesh eating zombies or winged armies of trained monkeys. (Fingertips together) Eeeexcellent, eeeexcellent. Actually, when I readthis I was reasonably reassured that the government is keeping a relative sense of perspective about things and isn't completely OMFG TERRORIZM. But the Daily Mail will no doubt see this as a pinko distortion of the real List: 1. Falling house prices 2. Immigrant gypsy paedos 3. Terrorism 4. Celebrities having cellulite/old hands 5. Harriet Harman

By: athenian

athenian — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:23:35 -0800

WPW: If you saw their headline this morning the main threat appears to be that Members of Parliament are no longer going to swear oaths of allegiance to the Queen.

By: three blind mice

three blind mice — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:19:34 -0800

and flooding beat out terrorism And London is calling an I.... live by the river.

By: mr. strange

mr. strange — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:11:25 -0800

To me, this document looks like a blatant piece of "after the fact" policy justification. It couldn't be more political if it had a little circle for "Conservative General Election Victory". Conventionally, risk charts (like one on page 7 of the PDF) are read diagonally - from the most significant risks in the top-right corner, to the most trivial in the bottom-left. Read that way, I'd say that Pandemic Flu is judged the most significant risk, followed by Attacks on Transport and Attacks on Crowded places. To me, it looks like both the likelihood and impact of conventional terrorist attacks have been plumped-up to push them up to the forefront. You'll note that an "Attack on Crowded Place" (a bomb) is estimated to have a greater impact than a chemical-weapons attack, AND be more likely than "Severe Weather"!!

By: athenian

athenian — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 03:04:07 -0800

"To me, this document looks like a blatant piece of "after the fact" policy justification. It couldn't be more political if it had a little circle for "Conservative General Election Victory"." You're entitled to your opinion, but I really don't agree. It's a civil service document produced by civil servants - no photos of Ministers, no big media splash. Unless you are of the Daily Mail/Morning Star school that attributes any action of government to the sinister machinations of the Blair/Brown dictatorship machine, I can't understand where you see the politics in it. Or do you think terrorism isn't a threat?

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 08:46:18 -0800

Was really hoping that secret squirrel link led to something secret squirrelish. Also: athenian: compared to anything serious, no, terrorism isn't a threat. Run the numbers.