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  • Floater said:

    "And today the UK has "unloaded 140,000 gowns from Myanmar"

    I think we are going to need a long hard look at crucial supplies if we are now having to resort to buying from Burma and Turkey. They make China look good when it comes to things like human rights.

    I think they are all of a kind TBH - and right now isn't the time to be picky about where supplies come from
    I meant going forward. I agree at the moment, you take what you can get.
    I hope PPE will now be manufactured here in the UK
    I agree wholeheartedly, but don't forget the PPE will be many several times the unit cost of items that are produced in a Dhaka sweat shop.
    To be honest the economies of scale must come into it and we should not be using any far east sweat shops
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164

    the ‘if Labour had a more moderate leader we’d be 20 points ahead’ people are very quiet at the moment.

    Kinda makes you wonder if it's just a dud brand :smiley:
  • TheWhiteRabbitTheWhiteRabbit Posts: 12,454
    just spiked back up again, but I don't know the first thing about oil trading, so make of that what you will
  • MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,708
    Surely Sunak shouldn't make these schemes more generous.

    Many people with a mortgage holiday + no commuting costs and getting 80% of normal salary are actually going to be significantly better off.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676
    The Trump has stabilized the oil price all hail President Trump poster is very quiet today
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Best question so far from Daily Record (Scotland) Torcuil Crichton - now a corker coming up from Liverpool. It's the same with Sturgeon's Press conference - the regional journalists put their "gotcha" London compatriots in the shade.
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905

    Was chatting to a colleague working as doctor at Exeter. They have no more than 30 COVID patients in ICU and almost no one else in the hospital. The SW area has been mostly free of COVID cases. At some point soon the patients dying from not being treated on other ailments will overtake those dying from COVID. The lock down does not just have an economic cost but a health cost as all resources are focussed on a very few patients. I would suggest even another 3 weeks is unsustainable.

    We will test the Sweden solution shortly as we come out of lockdown. Sweden has tested about 50% more people than the UK so we are a little way behind them. The country is also more rural than most of the UK.

    On schools there is data to show that healthy kids can kill the virus with their normal killer cells and do not need antibodies. This may result in them not being infectious ever.

    It is ridiculous than almost no one else is in hospital.
    Everything else has been cancelled and people are too scared to go to A & E. I know I keep saying this but huge numbers of doctors & nurses are doing far less work in a once in a 100 year pandemic, than they normally would on a sunny Monday in April.
    Some are I agree.

    How do you think we should get routine patients to attend?
    Once the total number of cases is down to manageable levels then all the new ones should go straight to designated treatments centres - most likely the Nightingales. Segregate the Covid patients and keep them away from the hospitals where everybody else is treated.

    Do that and perhaps some patients who are currently terrified of hospitals might have the confidence to come back?
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164
    ukpaul said:

    Mr. Borough, another reading of that is that when the lockdown is gradually relaxed it'll be severely and swiftly re-imposed to prevent any rise becoming a full-blown second spike.

    Do a New Zealand - 'Go early. Go hard'. We should have done it this time but that's a harsh lesson learned.
    Simply would not have been practical for the UK to close up in the way NZ did. Even with the benefit of hindsight there'd have been the mother of all outcries.
  • Andy_CookeAndy_Cooke Posts: 5,005
    Andy_JS said:

    The government needs to work out what would be most likely to happen with a second wave if the lockdown was no longer applying to healthy people under the age of 50. That's the key calculation I think.

    They would need to apply it to households rather than people, otherwise anyone in the household of the "healthy under 50s" who wasn't in the same category is going to have a bad time of it.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    Floater said:

    "And today the UK has "unloaded 140,000 gowns from Myanmar"

    I think we are going to need a long hard look at crucial supplies if we are now having to resort to buying from Burma and Turkey. They make China look good when it comes to things like human rights.

    I think they are all of a kind TBH - and right now isn't the time to be picky about where supplies come from
    I meant going forward. I agree at the moment, you take what you can get.
    I hope PPE will now be manufactured here in the UK
    Seems like a no brainer to me. Get those factories set up in the North, where there is high unemployment. Win win.
    Leicester garment factories specialise in fast fashion. That is the way to compete with delivery times from the Far East.

    Health and Safety and immigration screening can be a bit dodgy though.
  • Andy_CookeAndy_Cooke Posts: 5,005

    the ‘if Labour had a more moderate leader we’d be 20 points ahead’ people are very quiet at the moment.

    Maybe because we're in the middle of a pandemic crisis situation where all domestic political rules are off?
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,567

    "And today the UK has "unloaded 140,000 gowns from Myanmar"

    I think we are going to need a long hard look at crucial supplies if we are now having to resort to buying from Burma and Turkey. They make China look good when it comes to things like human rights.

    I would not surprise me to find that is where we have been buying then from all along, well before there was any crisis.
  • ukpaulukpaul Posts: 649
    felix said:

    ukpaul said:

    Mr. Borough, another reading of that is that when the lockdown is gradually relaxed it'll be severely and swiftly re-imposed to prevent any rise becoming a full-blown second spike.

    Do a New Zealand - 'Go early. Go hard'. We should have done it this time but that's a harsh lesson learned.
    Simply would not have been practical for the UK to close up in the way NZ did. Even with the benefit of hindsight there'd have been the mother of all outcries.
    We're an island state as well (well, us and the ROI), so why couldn't we stop non-nationals from coming in? All those 'people wouldn't stand for it' claims have also been shown to be completely wrong.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676

    Was chatting to a colleague working as doctor at Exeter. They have no more than 30 COVID patients in ICU and almost no one else in the hospital. The SW area has been mostly free of COVID cases. At some point soon the patients dying from not being treated on other ailments will overtake those dying from COVID. The lock down does not just have an economic cost but a health cost as all resources are focussed on a very few patients. I would suggest even another 3 weeks is unsustainable.

    We will test the Sweden solution shortly as we come out of lockdown. Sweden has tested about 50% more people than the UK so we are a little way behind them. The country is also more rural than most of the UK.

    On schools there is data to show that healthy kids can kill the virus with their normal killer cells and do not need antibodies. This may result in them not being infectious ever.

    It is ridiculous than almost no one else is in hospital.
    Everything else has been cancelled and people are too scared to go to A & E. I know I keep saying this but huge numbers of doctors & nurses are doing far less work in a once in a 100 year pandemic, than they normally would on a sunny Monday in April.
    Some are I agree.

    How do you think we should get routine patients to attend?
    Once the total number of cases is down to manageable levels then all the new ones should go straight to designated treatments centres - most likely the Nightingales. Segregate the Covid patients and keep them away from the hospitals where everybody else is treated.

    Do that and perhaps some patients who are currently terrified of hospitals might have the confidence to come back?
    Maybe, but I guess a lot of patients are in the high risk groups and the mindset of those (if me and Mrs BJ are anything to go by) are in a very risk averse mood at the moment.
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    MikeL said:

    Surely Sunak shouldn't make these schemes more generous.

    Many people with a mortgage holiday + no commuting costs and getting 80% of normal salary are actually going to be significantly better off.

    This crisis ought theoretically to make an awful lot of commuters and businesses permanently better off in the long run, through expediting the abandonment both of commuting and the maintenance of floors and floors of hideously expensive office space in the centres of London and other cities.

    Except that the Government will need to relieve them of some or all of those savings in heavier taxes.
  • ukpaulukpaul Posts: 649

    Andy_JS said:

    The government needs to work out what would be most likely to happen with a second wave if the lockdown was no longer applying to healthy people under the age of 50. That's the key calculation I think.

    They would need to apply it to households rather than people, otherwise anyone in the household of the "healthy under 50s" who wasn't in the same category is going to have a bad time of it.
    There could be a rejigging of households. Groups of twenty/thirtysomethings band together in one dwelling whilst the parents join up with others elsewhere. A bit of creativity in this would work wonders. As long as someone in the house is a usual resident why should it matter?
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    edited April 2020

    Was chatting to a colleague working as doctor at Exeter. They have no more than 30 COVID patients in ICU and almost no one else in the hospital. The SW area has been mostly free of COVID cases. At some point soon the patients dying from not being treated on other ailments will overtake those dying from COVID. The lock down does not just have an economic cost but a health cost as all resources are focussed on a very few patients. I would suggest even another 3 weeks is unsustainable.

    We will test the Sweden solution shortly as we come out of lockdown. Sweden has tested about 50% more people than the UK so we are a little way behind them. The country is also more rural than most of the UK.

    On schools there is data to show that healthy kids can kill the virus with their normal killer cells and do not need antibodies. This may result in them not being infectious ever.

    It is ridiculous than almost no one else is in hospital.
    Everything else has been cancelled and people are too scared to go to A & E. I know I keep saying this but huge numbers of doctors & nurses are doing far less work in a once in a 100 year pandemic, than they normally would on a sunny Monday in April.
    Some are I agree.

    How do you think we should get routine patients to attend?
    Once the total number of cases is down to manageable levels then all the new ones should go straight to designated treatments centres - most likely the Nightingales. Segregate the Covid patients and keep them away from the hospitals where everybody else is treated.

    Do that and perhaps some patients who are currently terrified of hospitals might have the confidence to come back?
    Maybe, but I guess a lot of patients are in the high risk groups and the mindset of those (if me and Mrs BJ are anything to go by) are in a very risk averse mood at the moment.
    I think that's inevitable, sadly. The more frightened sections of the population may only go back to the hospitals once there have been a sufficient number of news reports revealing how a lot more people are dying of otherwise treatable conditions, due to their avoidance of the healthcare system, than are dying of Covid-19. And by then, of course, it will be too late for those who have succumbed unnecessarily.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Yes - because he asked better questions than you do, you dipsh*t

    https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1252274950867730437?s=20
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676
    9.5/10 for Sunak today from me.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885
    ukpaul said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The government needs to work out what would be most likely to happen with a second wave if the lockdown was no longer applying to healthy people under the age of 50. That's the key calculation I think.

    They would need to apply it to households rather than people, otherwise anyone in the household of the "healthy under 50s" who wasn't in the same category is going to have a bad time of it.
    There could be a rejigging of households. Groups of twenty/thirtysomethings band together in one dwelling whilst the parents join up with others elsewhere. A bit of creativity in this would work wonders. As long as someone in the house is a usual resident why should it matter?
    Hmm, students might have to remain in their accommodation during the vac. Which would play hell with university profits from conferences etc. - but are the latter likely anyway? So the unis and colleges might as well get some rent ...
  • ukpaulukpaul Posts: 649
    edited April 2020

    Was chatting to a colleague working as doctor at Exeter. They have no more than 30 COVID patients in ICU and almost no one else in the hospital. The SW area has been mostly free of COVID cases. At some point soon the patients dying from not being treated on other ailments will overtake those dying from COVID. The lock down does not just have an economic cost but a health cost as all resources are focussed on a very few patients. I would suggest even another 3 weeks is unsustainable.

    We will test the Sweden solution shortly as we come out of lockdown. Sweden has tested about 50% more people than the UK so we are a little way behind them. The country is also more rural than most of the UK.

    On schools there is data to show that healthy kids can kill the virus with their normal killer cells and do not need antibodies. This may result in them not being infectious ever.

    It is ridiculous than almost no one else is in hospital.
    Everything else has been cancelled and people are too scared to go to A & E. I know I keep saying this but huge numbers of doctors & nurses are doing far less work in a once in a 100 year pandemic, than they normally would on a sunny Monday in April.
    Some are I agree.

    How do you think we should get routine patients to attend?
    Once the total number of cases is down to manageable levels then all the new ones should go straight to designated treatments centres - most likely the Nightingales. Segregate the Covid patients and keep them away from the hospitals where everybody else is treated.

    Do that and perhaps some patients who are currently terrified of hospitals might have the confidence to come back?
    Maybe, but I guess a lot of patients are in the high risk groups and the mindset of those (if me and Mrs BJ are anything to go by) are in a very risk averse mood at the moment.
    I'd never needed a hospital until the last couple of years. Since then I've needed various tests, an operation, been back regularly for a condition which followed on from that and yet wild horses couldn't drag me there at the moment.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676

    Was chatting to a colleague working as doctor at Exeter. They have no more than 30 COVID patients in ICU and almost no one else in the hospital. The SW area has been mostly free of COVID cases. At some point soon the patients dying from not being treated on other ailments will overtake those dying from COVID. The lock down does not just have an economic cost but a health cost as all resources are focussed on a very few patients. I would suggest even another 3 weeks is unsustainable.

    We will test the Sweden solution shortly as we come out of lockdown. Sweden has tested about 50% more people than the UK so we are a little way behind them. The country is also more rural than most of the UK.

    On schools there is data to show that healthy kids can kill the virus with their normal killer cells and do not need antibodies. This may result in them not being infectious ever.

    It is ridiculous than almost no one else is in hospital.
    Everything else has been cancelled and people are too scared to go to A & E. I know I keep saying this but huge numbers of doctors & nurses are doing far less work in a once in a 100 year pandemic, than they normally would on a sunny Monday in April.
    Some are I agree.

    How do you think we should get routine patients to attend?
    Once the total number of cases is down to manageable levels then all the new ones should go straight to designated treatments centres - most likely the Nightingales. Segregate the Covid patients and keep them away from the hospitals where everybody else is treated.

    Do that and perhaps some patients who are currently terrified of hospitals might have the confidence to come back?
    Maybe, but I guess a lot of patients are in the high risk groups and the mindset of those (if me and Mrs BJ are anything to go by) are in a very risk averse mood at the moment.
    I think that's inevitable, sadly. The more frightened sections of the population may only go back to the hospitals once there have been a sufficient number of news reports revealing how a lot more people are dying of otherwise treatable conditions, due to their avoidance of the healthcare system, than are dying of Covid-19. And by then, of course, it will be too late for those who have succumbed unnecessarily.
    I agree spot on.
  • Was chatting to a colleague working as doctor at Exeter. They have no more than 30 COVID patients in ICU and almost no one else in the hospital. The SW area has been mostly free of COVID cases. At some point soon the patients dying from not being treated on other ailments will overtake those dying from COVID. The lock down does not just have an economic cost but a health cost as all resources are focussed on a very few patients. I would suggest even another 3 weeks is unsustainable.

    We will test the Sweden solution shortly as we come out of lockdown. Sweden has tested about 50% more people than the UK so we are a little way behind them. The country is also more rural than most of the UK.

    On schools there is data to show that healthy kids can kill the virus with their normal killer cells and do not need antibodies. This may result in them not being infectious ever.

    It is ridiculous than almost no one else is in hospital.
    Everything else has been cancelled and people are too scared to go to A & E. I know I keep saying this but huge numbers of doctors & nurses are doing far less work in a once in a 100 year pandemic, than they normally would on a sunny Monday in April.
    Some are I agree.

    How do you think we should get routine patients to attend?
    Once the total number of cases is down to manageable levels then all the new ones should go straight to designated treatments centres - most likely the Nightingales. Segregate the Covid patients and keep them away from the hospitals where everybody else is treated.

    Do that and perhaps some patients who are currently terrified of hospitals might have the confidence to come back?
    Maybe, but I guess a lot of patients are in the high risk groups and the mindset of those (if me and Mrs BJ are anything to go by) are in a very risk averse mood at the moment.
    My wife and I would concur with you BJO.

    I am waiting for a scan and maybe an operation but I have no urgency to go into hospital, nor my dear lady wife who at 80 feels very vulnerable if she had to face hospital
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676
    Rohingya made gowns better than no gowns IMO.

    As BigG and others have said we really do need manufacturing capacity back in our country
  • ukpaul said:

    felix said:

    ukpaul said:

    Mr. Borough, another reading of that is that when the lockdown is gradually relaxed it'll be severely and swiftly re-imposed to prevent any rise becoming a full-blown second spike.

    Do a New Zealand - 'Go early. Go hard'. We should have done it this time but that's a harsh lesson learned.
    Simply would not have been practical for the UK to close up in the way NZ did. Even with the benefit of hindsight there'd have been the mother of all outcries.
    We're an island state as well (well, us and the ROI), so why couldn't we stop non-nationals from coming in? All those 'people wouldn't stand for it' claims have also been shown to be completely wrong.
    You cannot compare UK to NZ

    The country comprises 2 islands, very remote locations with small towns and apart from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch few cities
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720
    edited April 2020

    What are peoples views on why much of Africa has been spared a major outbreak?

    I don't think it has. I was asking our Nigerian Registrar how it is.

    They did a population survey of 10 000 last week and found 1070 positive for the virus.

    Africa has a younger population and a more rural one, but in the cities it will be devastating. Lots of poorly controlled diabetes and cardiovascular disease too.

    I think like India they are just earlier in the curve.

    Incidentally the index cases are mostly expat Nigerians fleeing Europe, particularly Britain.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609

    9.5/10 for Sunak today from me.

    He is a class act.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676

    9.5/10 for Sunak today from me.

    Starting with PPE (the most difficult current issue) was the right thing to do.

    Sharp contrast with Prittis effort 10 days ago
  • MikeL said:

    Surely Sunak shouldn't make these schemes more generous.

    Many people with a mortgage holiday + no commuting costs and getting 80% of normal salary are actually going to be significantly better off.

    This crisis ought theoretically to make an awful lot of commuters and businesses permanently better off in the long run, through expediting the abandonment both of commuting and the maintenance of floors and floors of hideously expensive office space in the centres of London and other cities.

    Except that the Government will need to relieve them of some or all of those savings in heavier taxes.
    Likely to raise house prices outside the cities as they fall
  • johnoundlejohnoundle Posts: 120
    edited April 2020

    The Trump has stabilized the oil price all hail President Trump poster is very quiet today

    That must be the end of north sea oil, at least for the foreseeable future with average operating costs of $15.00 per barrel.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    ukpaul said:

    felix said:

    ukpaul said:

    Mr. Borough, another reading of that is that when the lockdown is gradually relaxed it'll be severely and swiftly re-imposed to prevent any rise becoming a full-blown second spike.

    Do a New Zealand - 'Go early. Go hard'. We should have done it this time but that's a harsh lesson learned.
    Simply would not have been practical for the UK to close up in the way NZ did. Even with the benefit of hindsight there'd have been the mother of all outcries.
    We're an island state as well (well, us and the ROI), so why couldn't we stop non-nationals from coming in? All those 'people wouldn't stand for it' claims have also been shown to be completely wrong.
    You cannot compare UK to NZ

    The country comprises 2 islands, very remote locations with small towns and apart from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch few cities
    Yes, but like Australia it is a very urbanised population. Metropolitan Auckland is nearly a third of the total population.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609
    alex_ said:

    Notwithstanding the general point about the negotiations and transition extension, it wouldn’t be surprising if negotiations might actually be going easier (at this stage) because nobody has any interest in public grandstanding.
    Nobody has to win. They just not have to lose.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,604
    edited April 2020
    Cookie said:

    Crude Oil is now hovering around $10 a barrel. I am no expert in this field, but this feels as if it could have some significant implications. Anyone want to advance any informed opinions on what?

    Great news for anyone who consumes the stuff, including motorists, aviation and heating oil.
    Bad news for anyone who produces oil (except for the Saudis), specifically Russia and the USA for whom the new price is way below their marginal cost of production.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676

    9.5/10 for Sunak today from me.

    He is a class act.
    He is a good communicator definitely.

    History will possibly be quite unkind if he becomes the "Chancellor that crashed the economy" when this is all over

    I wont be so harsh i think he has generally taken the right short term measures.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,878
    Foxy said:


    I think like India they are just earlier in the curve.

    India had its first case on 30th January.
  • ukpaulukpaul Posts: 649

    ukpaul said:

    felix said:

    ukpaul said:

    Mr. Borough, another reading of that is that when the lockdown is gradually relaxed it'll be severely and swiftly re-imposed to prevent any rise becoming a full-blown second spike.

    Do a New Zealand - 'Go early. Go hard'. We should have done it this time but that's a harsh lesson learned.
    Simply would not have been practical for the UK to close up in the way NZ did. Even with the benefit of hindsight there'd have been the mother of all outcries.
    We're an island state as well (well, us and the ROI), so why couldn't we stop non-nationals from coming in? All those 'people wouldn't stand for it' claims have also been shown to be completely wrong.
    You cannot compare UK to NZ

    The country comprises 2 islands, very remote locations with small towns and apart from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch few cities
    It would have produced less incredibly good results, but those measures would still have left us in a much better place than we are now.
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207
    Bloody hell - no wonder the Italians are pissed

    Brussels red-faced after Hungary gets more EU coronavirus cash than Italy
    EU rules for regional aid meant that Hungary got far more emergency cash than stricken Italy, where the need is far greater.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    Foxy said:


    I think like India they are just earlier in the curve.

    India had its first case on 30th January.
    We had our first one Early Feb. It takes a while to get established.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,878

    The Germany is now up to 300 deaths a day posters are very quiet.

    What a blinder of a virus Merkel has had.

    Do you think it is all over now then for Germany or maybe time for that is when the virus is defeated
    "Maybe we got 'em demoralized!"
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,951

    MikeL said:

    Surely Sunak shouldn't make these schemes more generous.

    Many people with a mortgage holiday + no commuting costs and getting 80% of normal salary are actually going to be significantly better off.

    This crisis ought theoretically to make an awful lot of commuters and businesses permanently better off in the long run, through expediting the abandonment both of commuting and the maintenance of floors and floors of hideously expensive office space in the centres of London and other cities.

    Except that the Government will need to relieve them of some or all of those savings in heavier taxes.
    As I pointed out in a thread last week, if there is a shift to working from home after this crisis, what businesses are essentially doing is outsourcing office costs to their own workers. So I expect it to be extremely popular with them.

    I expect it to be less popular with anyone who finds themselves obligated to upsize to a property with a spare bedroom they can turn into an office, or who finds the balance between their home/work life unacceptably blurring, or who simply isn't paid enough to WFH effectively, e.g. junior members of staff who may live in a house share or be unable to afford anywhere large enough with space to work.

    It will also be extremely difficult to upskill junior members of staff, who learn by being part of and observing processes they are not directly involved in. This is much harder to do when working from home.
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207

    The Trump has stabilized the oil price all hail President Trump poster is very quiet today

    That must be the end of north sea oil, at least for the foreseeable future with average operating costs of $15.00 per barrel.
    Paging the SNP independence crowd......
  • alex_ said:

    Notwithstanding the general point about the negotiations and transition extension, it wouldn’t be surprising if negotiations might actually be going easier (at this stage) because nobody has any interest in public grandstanding.
    Nobody has to win. They just not have to lose.
    I hope they succeed

    Someone said a poll shows two thirds wanting an extension

    How would a poll look if the following questions were asked and are very relevant:


    Are you prepared to pay the EU billions to extend the transistion

    Are you prepared to become involved in bailing out EU countries post covid

    Are you prepared to allow the EU, backed by the ECJ, to inhibit how we deal with the financial repercussions of covid 19
  • The only positive from Covid-19.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164
    ukpaul said:

    felix said:

    ukpaul said:

    Mr. Borough, another reading of that is that when the lockdown is gradually relaxed it'll be severely and swiftly re-imposed to prevent any rise becoming a full-blown second spike.

    Do a New Zealand - 'Go early. Go hard'. We should have done it this time but that's a harsh lesson learned.
    Simply would not have been practical for the UK to close up in the way NZ did. Even with the benefit of hindsight there'd have been the mother of all outcries.
    We're an island state as well (well, us and the ROI), so why couldn't we stop non-nationals from coming in? All those 'people wouldn't stand for it' claims have also been shown to be completely wrong.
    There are huge differences in population, nature of trade, proximity to other countries.. and much much more. On a superficial level I'd agree but life is not that simple.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149
    alex_ said:

    Notwithstanding the general point about the negotiations and transition extension, it wouldn’t be surprising if negotiations might actually be going easier (at this stage) because nobody has any interest in public grandstanding.
    I think it reasonable to make an attempt to see if it canbe done on that basis, though insistence it must not be extended for any reason I would hope is just negotiating talk.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720
    Sandpit said:

    Cookie said:

    Crude Oil is now hovering around $10 a barrel. I am no expert in this field, but this feels as if it could have some significant implications. Anyone want to advance any informed opinions on what?

    Great news for anyone who consumes the stuff, including motorists, aviation and heating oil.
    Bad news for anyone who produces oil (except for the Saudis), specifically Russia and the USA for whom the new price is way below their marginal cost of production.
    I don't think aviators are going to be flying much for a while.

    The oil price is highly geared so a drop in demand really cuts the price massively. I done see it recovering this year at all.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676
    Italy had more new deaths than us today.

    I will be surprised if that is the case tomorrow but lets hope our downward trend continues faster than appears to be the case in Italy.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149
    Might as well, it would prevent needing to worry about who will inevitably leak the comrades' words.
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,065
    Carnyx said:

    ukpaul said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The government needs to work out what would be most likely to happen with a second wave if the lockdown was no longer applying to healthy people under the age of 50. That's the key calculation I think.

    They would need to apply it to households rather than people, otherwise anyone in the household of the "healthy under 50s" who wasn't in the same category is going to have a bad time of it.
    There could be a rejigging of households. Groups of twenty/thirtysomethings band together in one dwelling whilst the parents join up with others elsewhere. A bit of creativity in this would work wonders. As long as someone in the house is a usual resident why should it matter?
    Hmm, students might have to remain in their accommodation during the vac. Which would play hell with university profits from conferences etc. - but are the latter likely anyway? So the unis and colleges might as well get some rent ...
    Fram what I can see, most academic conferences this summer have already been cancelled.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149
    ukpaul said:

    felix said:

    ukpaul said:

    Mr. Borough, another reading of that is that when the lockdown is gradually relaxed it'll be severely and swiftly re-imposed to prevent any rise becoming a full-blown second spike.

    Do a New Zealand - 'Go early. Go hard'. We should have done it this time but that's a harsh lesson learned.
    Simply would not have been practical for the UK to close up in the way NZ did. Even with the benefit of hindsight there'd have been the mother of all outcries.
    We're an island state as well (well, us and the ROI), so why couldn't we stop non-nationals from coming in? All those 'people wouldn't stand for it' claims have also been shown to be completely wrong.
    I think there are other ways to compare nations beyond simply being island states.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,878
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:


    I think like India they are just earlier in the curve.

    India had its first case on 30th January.
    We had our first one Early Feb. It takes a while to get established.
    30th January was earlier than "early Feb".
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149

    9.5/10 for Sunak today from me.

    He is a class act.
    He is a good communicator definitely.

    History will possibly be quite unkind if he becomes the "Chancellor that crashed the economy" when this is all over

    I wont be so harsh i think he has generally taken the right short term measures.
    He will probably be in the category that he might have been a great regular Chancellor, but never got the chance to show it because he was dealing with an emergency and its aftermath.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164
    Floater said:

    The Trump has stabilized the oil price all hail President Trump poster is very quiet today

    That must be the end of north sea oil, at least for the foreseeable future with average operating costs of $15.00 per barrel.
    Paging the SNP independence crowd......
    Just seen WTI Crude under $6 !
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676
    Coronavirus: One of three RAF planes collecting PPE from Turkey takes off from UK

    Lets hope there are gowns on the shipment. Only 1 of 3 planes so still sounds worrying.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    @Richard_Tyndall @rcs1000

    7pm BBC4 every night during lockdown

    Bob Ross!
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    alex_ said:

    Notwithstanding the general point about the negotiations and transition extension, it wouldn’t be surprising if negotiations might actually be going easier (at this stage) because nobody has any interest in public grandstanding.
    Nobody has to win. They just not have to lose.
    I hope they succeed

    Someone said a poll shows two thirds wanting an extension

    How would a poll look if the following questions were asked and are very relevant:


    Are you prepared to pay the EU billions to extend the transistion

    Are you prepared to become involved in bailing out EU countries post covid

    Are you prepared to allow the EU, backed by the ECJ, to inhibit how we deal with the financial repercussions of covid 19
    The billions are committed by the "oven ready deal" whipped through Parliament without much scrutiny are they not?

    We are not in the EZ so exempt from Coronabonds.

    In what way is the ECJ currently interfering with the governments plans? Why would that be different next year?

    Not that it matters to me, as I am quite OK with No Deal Brexit, but it would be quite a whack to parts of the economy.
  • felix said:

    Floater said:

    The Trump has stabilized the oil price all hail President Trump poster is very quiet today

    That must be the end of north sea oil, at least for the foreseeable future with average operating costs of $15.00 per barrel.
    Paging the SNP independence crowd......
    Just seen WTI Crude under $6 !
    You could not make this up
  • isam said:

    @Richard_Tyndall @rcs1000

    7pm BBC4 every night during lockdown

    Bob Ross!

    Who
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149

    Yes - because he asked better questions than you do, you dipsh*t

    https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1252274950867730437?s=20

    I don't think he's quite there yet though, because he seem not to have grasped that 'not a denial' is not 'confirmation', though it was indeed interesting.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676

    The only positive from Covid-19.
    Chesterfield branch shut down at the weeknd.

    Presumably no demand now they have no Pineapple
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149

    the ‘if Labour had a more moderate leader we’d be 20 points ahead’ people are very quiet at the moment.

    That was always an exagerration. But it is very early days. In an unusual situation. And following COrbyn's leadership having been baked in to public perception for even longer than when people first said such a thing, which will take longer to address.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676

    isam said:

    @Richard_Tyndall @rcs1000

    7pm BBC4 every night during lockdown

    Bob Ross!

    Who
    5p Ross as his friends call him.
  • kle4 said:

    Yes - because he asked better questions than you do, you dipsh*t

    https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1252274950867730437?s=20

    I don't think he's quite there yet though, because he seem not to have grasped that 'not a denial' is not 'confirmation', though it was indeed interesting.
    I had tickets to Liverpool v Atletico Madrid but my father begged me not to go, I'm glad I didn't go, even considering the result.
  • Coronavirus: One of three RAF planes collecting PPE from Turkey takes off from UK

    Lets hope there are gowns on the shipment. Only 1 of 3 planes so still sounds worrying.

    It is an atlas cargo plane. It has huge capacity
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,065

    The Germany is now up to 300 deaths a day posters are very quiet.

    What a blinder of a virus Merkel has had.

    You mean what a blinder Merkel, Spahn and the health ministers from 16 different states have had.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,676
    edited April 2020
    Just rejoice at this news.

    Domino's fans 'outraged' as chain drops the Hawaiian pizza from its new simplified menu

    No more pineapple pizzas for a while…

    https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/lifestyle/dominos-fans-outraged-as-chain-drops-the-hawaiian-pizza-from-its-new-simplified-menu/
  • johnoundlejohnoundle Posts: 120
    edited April 2020
    humbugger said:

    Floater said:
    This is just as bad as that other case of the Labour Councillor. Assuming Guido's story is correct, she should be sacked by the NHS and thrown out of the Labour Party.

    I've no idea if any of the MSM ran with this story but if so they should run very prominent retractions.

    Can't say I'm too surprised by Labour activists in the NHS making it up,
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:


    I think like India they are just earlier in the curve.

    India had its first case on 30th January.
    We had our first one Early Feb. It takes a while to get established.
    30th January was earlier than "early Feb".
    By a week, as I recall.

    Social distancing will be quite a problem from what I recall of India. Lots of poorly controlled diabetes and heart disease too.

    India was hard hit by the Spanish Flu.

    https://theconversation.com/1918-flu-pandemic-killed-12-million-indians-and-british-overlords-indifference-strengthened-the-anti-colonial-movement-133605
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,604
    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    Cookie said:

    Crude Oil is now hovering around $10 a barrel. I am no expert in this field, but this feels as if it could have some significant implications. Anyone want to advance any informed opinions on what?

    Great news for anyone who consumes the stuff, including motorists, aviation and heating oil.
    Bad news for anyone who produces oil (except for the Saudis), specifically Russia and the USA for whom the new price is way below their marginal cost of production.
    I don't think aviators are going to be flying much for a while.

    The oil price is highly geared so a drop in demand really cuts the price massively. I done see it recovering this year at all.
    Yes, the demand is way off and suppliers are not cutting production, which obviously leads to price falls.

    The price isn’t going up until either demand rises or production volumes fall. The latter will probably happen over the summer, once the Saudis are happy that Putin got the message about who’s in charge of the industry.

    When we finally get to drive our cars again, petrol is going to be 75p a litre, which will also be a massive help to the haulage industry in a recession.
  • timmotimmo Posts: 1,469
    WTI oil May contract trading at $4 a barrell yes $4 a barrell.

    Let's hear what the Donald has to say about that
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601
    Floater said:

    Bloody hell - no wonder the Italians are pissed

    Brussels red-faced after Hungary gets more EU coronavirus cash than Italy
    EU rules for regional aid meant that Hungary got far more emergency cash than stricken Italy, where the need is far greater.

    Can't they changed the "rules" in an emergency situation?
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,868
    I count 19k tests yesterday which is lower than the day before. We're never going to make it to 100k in 10 days.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149
    MaxPB said:

    I count 19k tests yesterday which is lower than the day before. We're never going to make it to 100k in 10 days.

    It did seem wildly ambitious and a hostage to fortune.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,775

    Domino's fans 'outraged' as chain drops the Hawaiian pizza from its new simplified menu

    No more pineapple pizzas for a while…

    https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/lifestyle/dominos-fans-outraged-as-chain-drops-the-hawaiian-pizza-from-its-new-simplified-menu/

    Bust or pineapple.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,878
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:


    I think like India they are just earlier in the curve.

    India had its first case on 30th January.
    We had our first one Early Feb. It takes a while to get established.
    30th January was earlier than "early Feb".
    By a week, as I recall.

    Social distancing will be quite a problem from what I recall of India. Lots of poorly controlled diabetes and heart disease too.

    India was hard hit by the Spanish Flu.

    https://theconversation.com/1918-flu-pandemic-killed-12-million-indians-and-british-overlords-indifference-strengthened-the-anti-colonial-movement-133605
    My question is how come the UK, which had its first case a week after India did, has had far more fatalities?
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,878

    Just rejoice at this news.

    Domino's fans 'outraged' as chain drops the Hawaiian pizza from its new simplified menu

    No more pineapple pizzas for a while…

    https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/lifestyle/dominos-fans-outraged-as-chain-drops-the-hawaiian-pizza-from-its-new-simplified-menu/

    They ran out of pineapple because Hawaiian was insanely popular?
  • Foxy said:

    alex_ said:

    Notwithstanding the general point about the negotiations and transition extension, it wouldn’t be surprising if negotiations might actually be going easier (at this stage) because nobody has any interest in public grandstanding.
    Nobody has to win. They just not have to lose.
    I hope they succeed

    Someone said a poll shows two thirds wanting an extension

    How would a poll look if the following questions were asked and are very relevant:


    Are you prepared to pay the EU billions to extend the transistion

    Are you prepared to become involved in bailing out EU countries post covid

    Are you prepared to allow the EU, backed by the ECJ, to inhibit how we deal with the financial repercussions of covid 19
    The billions are committed by the "oven ready deal" whipped through Parliament without much scrutiny are they not?

    We are not in the EZ so exempt from Coronabonds.

    In what way is the ECJ currently interfering with the governments plans? Why would that be different next year?

    Not that it matters to me, as I am quite OK with No Deal Brexit, but it would be quite a whack to parts of the economy.
    Any transistion beyond January is not included in the previous deal unless the EU waives any fiurther charges

    The UK government has to be able to ignore EU regulations that may prejeudice our actions post covid, including state aid rules

    In transistion even extended we are part of the EU and exposed to all kinds of possible costs from covid

    We need an amicable deal this year and it should suit both parties to conclude this as soon as possible so they can turn their attention to larger issues
  • ukpaulukpaul Posts: 649
    edited April 2020
    felix said:

    ukpaul said:

    felix said:

    ukpaul said:

    Mr. Borough, another reading of that is that when the lockdown is gradually relaxed it'll be severely and swiftly re-imposed to prevent any rise becoming a full-blown second spike.

    Do a New Zealand - 'Go early. Go hard'. We should have done it this time but that's a harsh lesson learned.
    Simply would not have been practical for the UK to close up in the way NZ did. Even with the benefit of hindsight there'd have been the mother of all outcries.
    We're an island state as well (well, us and the ROI), so why couldn't we stop non-nationals from coming in? All those 'people wouldn't stand for it' claims have also been shown to be completely wrong.
    There are huge differences in population, nature of trade, proximity to other countries.. and much much more. On a superficial level I'd agree but life is not that simple.
    As I say, it wouldn't be the outstanding success as seen in NZ but it would certainly have been better than we we have now.
    kle4 said:

    ukpaul said:

    felix said:

    ukpaul said:

    Mr. Borough, another reading of that is that when the lockdown is gradually relaxed it'll be severely and swiftly re-imposed to prevent any rise becoming a full-blown second spike.

    Do a New Zealand - 'Go early. Go hard'. We should have done it this time but that's a harsh lesson learned.
    Simply would not have been practical for the UK to close up in the way NZ did. Even with the benefit of hindsight there'd have been the mother of all outcries.
    We're an island state as well (well, us and the ROI), so why couldn't we stop non-nationals from coming in? All those 'people wouldn't stand for it' claims have also been shown to be completely wrong.
    I think there are other ways to compare nations beyond simply being island states.
    The lengthier argument shouldn't need posting again, that's just an indicator. We were caught out, we refused to lock down when we could on March 12th, we haven't even bothered to close our borders at all! We did have these chances, we chose not to take them. I appreciate those who supported them at the time find that difficult but that's what time gives you. Look back at threads from the time and you will be shocked at the lackadaisical attitude expressed by many.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601
    Difficult to believe this took place just 10 days before the lockdown started.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51800660
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720
    MaxPB said:

    I count 19k tests yesterday which is lower than the day before. We're never going to make it to 100k in 10 days.

    It was a Sunday.

    Testing suspect cases at the underused drive in centres would be a good use of 111 bookings.

    Testing NHS staff returning to work too, as for some reason our government thinks 7 days after resolution of fever is fine. We know that recovering patients can test positive as much as three weeks later.
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,567

    isam said:

    @Richard_Tyndall @rcs1000

    7pm BBC4 every night during lockdown

    Bob Ross!

    Who
    A cultural icon for our times... for all times.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,833

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:


    I think like India they are just earlier in the curve.

    India had its first case on 30th January.
    We had our first one Early Feb. It takes a while to get established.
    30th January was earlier than "early Feb".
    By a week, as I recall.

    Social distancing will be quite a problem from what I recall of India. Lots of poorly controlled diabetes and heart disease too.

    India was hard hit by the Spanish Flu.

    https://theconversation.com/1918-flu-pandemic-killed-12-million-indians-and-british-overlords-indifference-strengthened-the-anti-colonial-movement-133605
    My question is how come the UK, which had its first case a week after India did, has had far more fatalities?
    Our problem was that lots and lots of peiple coming back from skiing holidays in Italy picked it up - it wasn't a case of spreading from one person as in some xountries, which leads to a much slower rate of increase in deaths; we leapt straught from no cases to lots of cases.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,775

    isam said:

    @Richard_Tyndall @rcs1000

    7pm BBC4 every night during lockdown

    Bob Ross!

    Who
    A cultural icon for our times... for all times.
    Toad of Toad Hall?
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    It would appear my neighbours have decided to acquire a cockerel during this lockdown. Is sneaking over the fence and throttling it to keep quiet a violation of lockdown?

    Not necessarily, but be careful how you phrase it. 'I just hopped over the fence to squeeze my neighbour's cock' might be misunderstood.
    Surely the objective would be to knock off your neighbour's cock?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    Foxy said:

    alex_ said:

    Notwithstanding the general point about the negotiations and transition extension, it wouldn’t be surprising if negotiations might actually be going easier (at this stage) because nobody has any interest in public grandstanding.
    Nobody has to win. They just not have to lose.
    I hope they succeed

    Someone said a poll shows two thirds wanting an extension

    How would a poll look if the following questions were asked and are very relevant:


    Are you prepared to pay the EU billions to extend the transistion

    Are you prepared to become involved in bailing out EU countries post covid

    Are you prepared to allow the EU, backed by the ECJ, to inhibit how we deal with the financial repercussions of covid 19
    The billions are committed by the "oven ready deal" whipped through Parliament without much scrutiny are they not?

    We are not in the EZ so exempt from Coronabonds.

    In what way is the ECJ currently interfering with the governments plans? Why would that be different next year?

    Not that it matters to me, as I am quite OK with No Deal Brexit, but it would be quite a whack to parts of the economy.
    Any transistion beyond January is not included in the previous deal unless the EU waives any fiurther charges

    The UK government has to be able to ignore EU regulations that may prejeudice our actions post covid, including state aid rules

    In transistion even extended we are part of the EU and exposed to all kinds of possible costs from covid

    We need an amicable deal this year and it should suit both parties to conclude this as soon as possible so they can turn their attention to larger issues
    I think that the Nationalism and autarky rampant across the world is not going to produce open borders in any trade deal this year. Possibly in 2021 minds will be moving that way, but we will see.

    I am glad that it doesn't affect me much. Indeed I welcome the glut of shellfish that we cannot export.

  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676

    Coronavirus: One of three RAF planes collecting PPE from Turkey takes off from UK

    Lets hope there are gowns on the shipment. Only 1 of 3 planes so still sounds worrying.

    It is an atlas cargo plane. It has huge capacity
    Not sure why Sky News were reporting 3 were going then. The order is 84 tonnes no idea whether that is 1 or 3 planes full.
  • isam said:

    @Richard_Tyndall @rcs1000

    7pm BBC4 every night during lockdown

    Bob Ross!

    Who
    A cultural icon for our times... for all times.
    I am just an oldy - he is not on my radar I am afraid
  • Coronavirus: One of three RAF planes collecting PPE from Turkey takes off from UK

    Lets hope there are gowns on the shipment. Only 1 of 3 planes so still sounds worrying.

    It is an atlas cargo plane. It has huge capacity
    Not sure why Sky News were reporting 3 were going then. The order is 84 tonnes no idea whether that is 1 or 3 planes full.
    Sky are having a terrible covid 19

    It says something when I think the BBC is much better balanced
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,833
    Sandpit said:

    Cookie said:

    Crude Oil is now hovering around $10 a barrel. I am no expert in this field, but this feels as if it could have some significant implications. Anyone want to advance any informed opinions on what?

    Great news for anyone who consumes the stuff, including motorists, aviation and heating oil.
    Bad news for anyone who produces oil (except for the Saudis), specifically Russia and the USA for whom the new price is way below their marginal cost of production.
    Why not bad for the Saudis?
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Charles said:

    Charles said:

    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    isam said:

    Sandpit said:

    South African Airways and Virgin Australia are also in serious trouble, talk of administration today for both of these. Airline industry not surprisingly on its knees.
    https://twitter.com/bbcnews/status/1252187021990334464?s=21
    I’d say there’s precisely zero chance of the UK government bailing out Virgin Atlantic.
    They’re not a strategic UK asset, they’re 49% owned by Delta in the USA and 51% owned by Virgin Group based in the British Virgin Islands.
    As you say Delta owns 49% of Virgin, so maybe we should offer to match whatever the US offers Delta to prop up this joint venture?
    The Virgin Islands government should, not the British government. Why should the British government be bailing out companies based offshore?
    Virgin Atlantic is UK based.
    Let's give them a 5 year super senior loan, mid-teen coupon (1/2 cash payable, 1/2 PIK), plus a 20% equity stake in warrants as a kicker. Escalating coupon from year 3 onwards to encourage refinancing.
    In plain English please?
    * Super senior = security above everything else. If they don't repay we get the plans, the brand, everything down to the cabin crews uniform

    * mid-teen coupon = 15% interest rate

    * 1/2 cash, 1/2 PIK = only 7.5% p.a. in cash, with the balance of the interest rolled up with the loan

    * 20% equity stake as warrants = we get to take a 20% equity stake for a nominal value when we decide to do

    * Escalating coupon = 15% p.a. up to year 3, 17.5% in year 4, 20% in year 5... incentivise them to refinance the loan with someone else by making it very expensive
    Thank you - you think they'd accept it?
    Not if they had a better alternative! I'm probably being a little greedy on the equity, but that is roughly where loss making biotech companies can borrow
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,833
    Crude Oil at £4 a barrell!
This discussion has been closed.