Chance of total ATC radio fail isn't so remote though
Fully agree
"As an aside, the chances of two aircraft, that one is trying to separate, having a radio failure at the same time is so remote that it isn't even worth considering."
If we go to the numbers, a debateable issue that will end up with discussing the definition of the word failure and the quality of radio equipment at different places in the world.
In practice, which means two aircraft that it is impossible to reach, with enough clarity to deconflict, on the frequency during a short but critical time period - it is not even very rare (by my admittedly very subjective opinion/definition). Fact is that this happens and has led to accidents/incidents in the past, at least one quite famous by the way.
A lot of opinions, definitions & speculations you might say but the fact remains.
By the way I dont judge the controller at the time in any way. Anticipated clearences might not be one of the safest ways of operation in general but without the whole picture its valueless to speculate.
I must say I personally do find the statement of Bluesky slightly worrying.
But I also chose to not draw any parallells to attitude or imagination related skills from a forum entry and leave it at that - a slight feeling of worry.