I guess a near death experience can change someone.
Dylan's famous bike crash, for example. July 1966. After it he withdrew from the spotlight for months, eventually coming back with "John Wesley Harding" - an album that was strikingly simple and contemplative.
So a quieter, deeper, more reflective "Boris" post Covid?
I personally would like to see that - but I suspect it would cost him most of his fan base. Quiet and reflective is not what floats their boat.
Oh sure, but I'd prefer the whole downbeat meditation in vinyl from the man himself over some anonymous session maracas player saying 'teh accident really fucked Bobby up, man'.
'Infect us with the coronavirus. It could speed up a vaccine.' Some (Most) ethicists balk at the idea of ‘human challenge’ trials. But thousands of people want to volunteer. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/27/vaccine-infection-volunteer-coronavirus/ ...If it could lead to a speedier creation of a vaccine for the disease covid-19, we are willing — without reservation — to have doctors infect us with the novel coronavirus. Researchers might then see whether a vaccine candidate made any difference. Such tests are known as “human challenge trials,” and while they are ethically controversial in cases where there is no treatment for an illness, they could be warranted in this emergency, if conducted carefully. Through an organization called 1DaySooner, we’ve gathered signatures from nearly 4,000 people in 52 countries who are willing to make the same commitment we are.
Human challenge trials differ from standard vaccine-testing protocols in several important ways. In traditional clinical trials, participants in the crucial “Phase 3” stage, which follows initial testing for safety, proper dosing and other issues, receive either a candidate vaccine or a placebo and then are observed for evidence of infection. But such infections must occur in the course of participants’ daily lives; unfortunately, this takes time — and most participants are unlikely to become infected during the trial. As a result, these trials often have thousands or even tens of thousands of participants and can last many months, on reason the target date for vaccine approval is a year to a year-and-a-half away.
In a human challenge trial, in contrast, researchers deliberately expose trial participants to infection after administering a vaccine. The dose is carefully calibrated to minimize the risk of serious illness, and participants are kept in isolation and monitored closely. Because exposure is guaranteed, these trials can involve about a hundred people per vaccine candidate and results can come weeks after the exposure. The advantage of speed during a pandemic is obvious....
There's part of me that would suggest passing legislation such that anyone who's convicted of running a scam around covid-19 (eg to try to defraud people who are scared) would be deemed to automatically volunteer for such testing.
The Left in particular are screaming we should have locked down weeks before we did. They just refuse to accept that the science guys knew we wouldn't stick it more than a month or six weeks or so.
That's simply not true, sorry. The polls show support for the lockdown as strong as ever, with more people wanting stricter measures than relaxation.The late lockdown has undoubtedly cost lives.
I know you've been a sceptic about acceptance from the start just as I've felt there would be few problems, and we're probably both extrapolaring from how we and our friends feel (personally I'd be willing to stay indoors in my two-room cottage for a year, say), and I expect the average is somewhere in between. But most people are OK with it for now, and IMO they'd still be OK if it had started a month earlier and our death rate was now down to say 200/day instead of 600.
Polls always show support for virtuous things. Polls don't mean squat. Supporting the lockdown in a poll is about as meaningful as supporting other people paying a tax in a poll.
In the real world the lockdown is already starting to fray as people support the lockdown but view more of their own personal actions as essential. Transport usage is already starting to go back up - that is empirically measurable and meaningful in more of a way than a poll is.
The government will be factoring a gradual de facto loosening of lockdown (as people relax their behaviour) into the planning.
Probably, but they can't admit it, otherwise no-one will take the lockdown seriously any more. There is a massive amout of individual and group psychology at play here as well as epidemiology
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Not really. Prof Cox's point is that the job of politicians is to weigh up scientific advice when determining policy rather than simply going with the first thing they hear and saying "but that's what the science says". In the case of global warming, many politicians are simply ignoring scientific advise rather then weighing it up.
'Infect us with the coronavirus. It could speed up a vaccine.' Some (Most) ethicists balk at the idea of ‘human challenge’ trials. But thousands of people want to volunteer. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/27/vaccine-infection-volunteer-coronavirus/ ...If it could lead to a speedier creation of a vaccine for the disease covid-19, we are willing — without reservation — to have doctors infect us with the novel coronavirus. Researchers might then see whether a vaccine candidate made any difference. Such tests are known as “human challenge trials,” and while they are ethically controversial in cases where there is no treatment for an illness, they could be warranted in this emergency, if conducted carefully. Through an organization called 1DaySooner, we’ve gathered signatures from nearly 4,000 people in 52 countries who are willing to make the same commitment we are.
Human challenge trials differ from standard vaccine-testing protocols in several important ways. In traditional clinical trials, participants in the crucial “Phase 3” stage, which follows initial testing for safety, proper dosing and other issues, receive either a candidate vaccine or a placebo and then are observed for evidence of infection. But such infections must occur in the course of participants’ daily lives; unfortunately, this takes time — and most participants are unlikely to become infected during the trial. As a result, these trials often have thousands or even tens of thousands of participants and can last many months, on reason the target date for vaccine approval is a year to a year-and-a-half away.
In a human challenge trial, in contrast, researchers deliberately expose trial participants to infection after administering a vaccine. The dose is carefully calibrated to minimize the risk of serious illness, and participants are kept in isolation and monitored closely. Because exposure is guaranteed, these trials can involve about a hundred people per vaccine candidate and results can come weeks after the exposure. The advantage of speed during a pandemic is obvious....
I thought that deliberatly giving a health person a disease is against the Hypocratic Oath, which was why Nobel Prize winner Barry Marshall gave himself Helicobacter Pylori to show that it causes stomach ulcers and not a study subject.
The exposure doesn't necessarily have to be done by a clinician, could be non-medically qualified research team members. Ethical issues remain, of course.
I still don't know the answer to this question: when it first became apparent there was an coronavirus epidemic in China, why didn't the government shut the external borders of the country, in conjunction with a strict quarantine for British people seeking to return home?
I guess a near death experience can change someone.
Dylan's famous bike crash, for example. July 1966. After it he withdrew from the spotlight for months, eventually coming back with "John Wesley Harding" - an album that was strikingly simple and contemplative.
So a quieter, deeper, more reflective "Boris" post Covid?
I personally would like to see that - but I suspect it would cost him most of his fan base. Quiet and reflective is not what floats their boat.
Keep it up with the Dylan references! I am probably his #1 fan on here.
He remembers all the words but seems to have forgotten all the tunes.
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Not really. Prof Cox's point is that the job of politicians is to weigh up scientific advice when determining policy rather than simply going with the first thing they hear and saying "but that's what the science says". In the case of global warming, many politicians are simply ignoring scientific advise rather then weighing it up.
I agree, and that is the point, but I think Prof Cox has fallen into a little trap of language there, because people 'do' use the term 'following the science' with regards climate change.
What he should have said was the above thing which you stated. What he meant, rather than what he said.
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Marks & Spencers is the place to go if you want to avoid crowds. I know it is a bit more expensive, but there is never a queue in the one local to me.
B&Q has been attempting to cast itself as a supplier to the professionals for years. What they have achieved is that they are used by low level outfits - one-man-bands - and they are often used to get the-missing-saw-blade-that-is-holding-up-the site.
With construction re-opening, you are gong to see a massive uptick in usage.
Disaster. Down to only 1 in 2 of the population is a Conservative.....
No doubting that the Tories are buoyant right now.
Boris won the last election against a woeful opponent with a fact-light campaign full of breezy optimism about how great the new Brexit Britain was going to be.
Things are going to look very different indeed by the time the 2024 GE draws near,
Of course Sunak is going to be wildly popular when he's handing out money right left and centre ( I am not criticising him by the way, I broadly approve of the actions he has taken). I am not sure how popular the measures to get the nation's finances back in shape are going to be.
Polls always show support for virtuous things. Polls don't mean squat. Supporting the lockdown in a poll is about as meaningful as supporting other people paying a tax in a poll.
In the real world the lockdown is already starting to fray as people support the lockdown but view more of their own personal actions as essential. Transport usage is already starting to go back up - that is empirically measurable and meaningful in more of a way than a poll is.
There's a minority who aren't happy with it, clearly, but transport usage is still at extraordinarily low levels. I was disagreeing with the view that "we" wouldn't tolerate a lockdown over 4-6 weeks. Clearly none of us can speak for everyone and almost nobody really likes the lockdown, but IMO most people want the virus driven down as the priority over being able to get around.
What is also true is that most people can't really gauge the long-term economic impact. I certainly can't, and I'm reasonably well-informed and trained. It would be helpful to see further serious analysis of different scenarios including that aspect.
I do wish Johnson would lay off the war metaphors. They aren't helpful. We're not going to defeat this virus - unless someone somewhere invents a workable vaccine and that's not a national battle thing.
Living with the virus above all requires discipline. People's behaviours need to be conditioned to minimise infection. It's all about that.
I agree, I was thinking just this yesterday. I think it’s quite an insult to those who lived during the war
Polls always show support for virtuous things. Polls don't mean squat. Supporting the lockdown in a poll is about as meaningful as supporting other people paying a tax in a poll.
In the real world the lockdown is already starting to fray as people support the lockdown but view more of their own personal actions as essential. Transport usage is already starting to go back up - that is empirically measurable and meaningful in more of a way than a poll is.
There's a minority who aren't happy with it, clearly, but transport usage is still at extraordinarily low levels. I was disagreeing with the view that "we" wouldn't tolerate a lockdown over 4-6 weeks. Clearly none of us can speak for everyone and almost nobody really likes the lockdown, but IMO most people want the virus driven down as the priority over being able to get around.
What is also true is that most people can't really gauge the long-term economic impact. I certainly can't, and I'm reasonably well-informed and trained. It would be helpful to see further serious analysis of different scenarios including that aspect.
It'll have a massive impact of accelerating trends which were already happening. Mostly home working, and the 'death' of the high street, in terms of shops and especially restaurants and pubs. It might permanently damage tourism as well, or at least make it much more expensive.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Following the science is a necessary requirement for formulating policy, but it is not a substitute for policy. Trump falls at the first hurdle with regard to both global warming and Covid-19. Boris has struggled with the second hurdle with regard to Covid-19 in that he, unlike Trump, accepts scientific advice, but has failed to utilise it well when formulating policy.
Contrary to the Header my vibes are not that lockdown is set to be eased. I am fortunate enough to have a Sir Cliff Richard calendar on the kitchen wall and I have marked the end of UK lockdown on there. 28th May. The balance of political risk steers to keeping it until then.
In his May picture, Cliff is in concert and is wearing head to toe denim. Shirt is well open, hair rather long, big sideburns. Quite raunchy. It catches him in what many feel to be his best period, the mid seventies. Very possible, therefore, that the song he is singing is Devil Woman (1976) - I like to think so anyway.
Is he pointing at 28 May or something?
- No, he's pointing up at the ceiling.
Only described the calendar in order to prove that I have actually marked the end of lockdown on there. Didn't want people thinking I was making it up.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
People using this argument for a "business as usual model" for C02 emissions are also misunderstanding "science" . Think of science more as a cloud of understanding than one fixed thing which is right or wrong. This was the point that Brian Cox was making. You can't hold a cloud, but it is clearly there. You can't say where the edge of the cloud is, but you know if something is well within or well outside. Things that are well accepted such as the double helix model for DNA are well inside the "cloud of science", other more contensious issues like quantum linkage at a distance are on the edge of the cloud.
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Marks & Spencers is the place to go if you want to avoid crowds. I know it is a bit more expensive, but there is never a queue in the one local to me.
B&Q has been attempting to cast itself as a supplier to the professionals for years. What they have achieved is that they are used by low level outfits - one-man-bands - and they are often used to get the-missing-saw-blade-that-is-holding-up-the site.
With construction re-opening, you are gong to see a massive uptick in usage.
Why would you go to B&Q when Screwfix is the same chain, cheaper and usually less hassle (order online and it's sat waiting for pickup as you arrive at the collection point).
'People with obesity also seem to spread the virus for a much longer period of time and also clearly get sicker." - Dr Malhotra, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Marks & Spencers is the place to go if you want to avoid crowds. I know it is a bit more expensive, but there is never a queue in the one local to me.
B&Q has been attempting to cast itself as a supplier to the professionals for years. What they have achieved is that they are used by low level outfits - one-man-bands - and they are often used to get the-missing-saw-blade-that-is-holding-up-the site.
With construction re-opening, you are gong to see a massive uptick in usage.
Why would you go to B&Q when Screwfix is the same chain, cheaper and usually less hassle (order online and it's sat waiting for pickup as you arrive at the collection point).
If the B&Q store is nearer and you can physically look and touch the products.
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Marks & Spencers is the place to go if you want to avoid crowds. I know it is a bit more expensive, but there is never a queue in the one local to me.
B&Q has been attempting to cast itself as a supplier to the professionals for years. What they have achieved is that they are used by low level outfits - one-man-bands - and they are often used to get the-missing-saw-blade-that-is-holding-up-the site.
With construction re-opening, you are gong to see a massive uptick in usage.
Why would you go to B&Q when Screwfix is the same chain, cheaper and usually less hassle (order online and it's sat waiting for pickup as you arrive at the collection point).
Can't really browse in Screwfix. Plus isn't it trade counter only at the moment?
Austria opening hotels on the 29th May with no heed whatsoever to a common EU position must be causing alarm in Italy, Spain and France who have indicated they will stay closed this year
It cannot be denied, even by the most ardent supporter of the EU, that the EU has been found wanting and exposed to every likelihood that individual nations will continue to take decisions in their own self interest as they work their way through this crisis and beyond
Give it a rest.
Everything’s about “EU failure” to you, it’s quite dull.
You should engage with the argument about how poor the EU has been rather than trying to close down any criticism of the legitimate concerns that it is not fit for purpose
You don’t have an argument. You must keep whining that the EU has failed.
Meanwhile, Britain looks to have the most excess deaths per capita in Europe (bar tiny San Marino).
So when different German Bundesländer impose different rules at different times does that prove that Germany is a failed state?
Contrary to the Header my vibes are not that lockdown is set to be eased. I am fortunate enough to have a Sir Cliff Richard calendar on the kitchen wall and I have marked the end of UK lockdown on there. 28th May. The balance of political risk steers to keeping it until then.
In his May picture, Cliff is in concert and is wearing head to toe denim. Shirt is well open, hair long, big sideburns. Quite raunchy. It catches him in what many feel to be his best period, the mid seventies. Very possible, therefore, that the song he is singing is Devil Woman (1976) - I like to think so anyway.
Miss You Nights, surely?
That is a song of considerably higher quality than Devil Woman, Alastair, no question.
But, as I say, he is 100% 'denim' in the photo, so it doesn't fit as well.
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Marks & Spencers is the place to go if you want to avoid crowds. I know it is a bit more expensive, but there is never a queue in the one local to me.
B&Q has been attempting to cast itself as a supplier to the professionals for years. What they have achieved is that they are used by low level outfits - one-man-bands - and they are often used to get the-missing-saw-blade-that-is-holding-up-the site.
With construction re-opening, you are gong to see a massive uptick in usage.
Do one man bands go to B&Q? I thought they all went to ScrewFix and ToolStation. Every time I have been in those places it is packed with white van man coming to pick up a few items.
I guess a near death experience can change someone.
Dylan's famous bike crash, for example. July 1966. After it he withdrew from the spotlight for months, eventually coming back with "John Wesley Harding" - an album that was strikingly simple and contemplative.
Gary Busey was in Predator 2 right after his massive bike accident.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Arguing that tiny trace volumes of CO2 are the only controlling factor and what the sun is up to is a disctraction seems thousands of miles away.
People are frightened, whatever anonymous Cabinet ministers briefing the Telegraph might want us to believe.
There is no doubt that this crisis poses a particular challenge to the UK. Here there is a culture of health and safety and risk avoidance that is much less the way of thinking in other countries such as Russia. People in the UK may need to change some of their attitudes to risk in this crisis, as the money will not last forever and other countries will go back to work. For years UK politicians have told people to avoid risks. Now they may have to tell them to go out fearlessly and work while taking a small but actual chance of death. People in the UK used to be able to cope with taking risks, e.g. in World War II and in previous epidemics. Now the wheel turns full circle and we have to take our chances again. It is not going to be popular, but in time we will adapt.
China has criticised as “unfair and irresponsible” India’s decision to stop using Chinese testing kits for Covid-19 because of quality issues, in the latest strain in ties between the countries.
The Indian Council of Medical Research, the top agency dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, said on Monday it planned to return kits for antibody tests procured from two Chinese firms because of poor accuracy.
I keep talking about low hanging fruit. Here's one that's screamingly obvious:
How about we don't send people who've contracted covid-19 into care homes. An enclosed environment full of the most vulnerable people to the disease.
Might be a little more expensive, but we've got scads of empty hotels and even the emergency facilities in the Nightingale hospitals are (thank God) not yet being used. Any care home resident who has shown any symptoms or been exposed to covid-19 gets direct personal care in one of those and only returns to a care home when they are tested and confirmed completely free of any virus residue.
No it does not seem on the face of it to be a massively difficult issue to resolve. I suppose we must be missing something.
Institutional tardiness. This is still one of the operative documents... but now in the process of being updated. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-admission-and-care-of-people-in-care-homes ...As part of the national effort, the care sector also plays a vital role in accepting patients as they are discharged from hospital – both because recuperation is better in non-acute settings, and because hospitals need to have enough beds to treat acutely sick patients. Residents may also be admitted to a care home from a home setting. Some of these patients may have COVID-19, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic. All of these patients can be safely cared for in a care home if this guidance is followed....
The blindness and/or stupidity behind that claim is evident.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Science is a way of answering questions. At first your answers to questions will be very tentative - we're in that stage with many of the questions we have about Covid-19.
Over time the answers are tested from more angles and are refined, modified, perhaps even turned upside-down, but generally they become less tentative and more confident.
So, for example, there are things we know with more confidence about Covid-19 - the virus that causes it, the major symptoms - and then there are things that we know with less confidence - the primary mode of transmission, the number of asymptomatic cases.
This is the same for global warming. We know many things with sufficient confidence that for practical purposes they are "settled" - that GHG emissions from human activity will warm the climate, that this will have negative effects such as increasing sea levels - but there are other things that we know with much less confidence - about how rainfall patterns might change and damage agriculture, or what level of cumulative emissions would cause the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
People are frightened, whatever anonymous Cabinet ministers briefing the Telegraph might want us to believe.
There is no doubt that this crisis poses a particular challenge to the UK. Here there is a culture of health and safety and risk avoidance that is much less the way of thinking in other countries such as Russia. People in the UK may need to change some of their attitudes to risk in this crisis, as the money will not last forever and other countries will go back to work. For years UK politicians have told people to avoid risks. Now they may have to tell them to go out fearlessly and work while taking a small but actual chance of death. People in the UK used to be able to cope with taking risks, e.g. in World War II and in previous epidemics. Now the wheel turns full circle and we have to take our chances again. It is not going to be popular, but in time we will adapt.
It would be interesting to watch the below trends as against the sentiments in the IpsosMORI poll. Presumably as "scared" starts to fall the 23% in the IposMORI survey will rise? We will see.
Austria opening hotels on the 29th May with no heed whatsoever to a common EU position must be causing alarm in Italy, Spain and France who have indicated they will stay closed this year
It cannot be denied, even by the most ardent supporter of the EU, that the EU has been found wanting and exposed to every likelihood that individual nations will continue to take decisions in their own self interest as they work their way through this crisis and beyond
Give it a rest.
Everything’s about “EU failure” to you, it’s quite dull.
You should engage with the argument about how poor the EU has been rather than trying to close down any criticism of the legitimate concerns that it is not fit for purpose
You don’t have an argument. You must keep whining that the EU has failed.
Meanwhile, Britain looks to have the most excess deaths per capita in Europe (bar tiny San Marino).
So when different German Bundesländer impose different rules at different times does that prove that Germany is a failed state?
sorry meant to reply to Big G
As well as San Marino, Belgium, Spain, Italy and France also have more deaths per head than the UK
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course. But do you think that (for example) behavioural scientists or pandemic modellers form a cozy consensus ?
No but during emergencies like this the government has a scientific advisory group and a chief scientist whose job it is to distill the best consensus possible and go with that.
There is no such thing as a chief economist who is gone with for very good reason.
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Marks & Spencers is the place to go if you want to avoid crowds. I know it is a bit more expensive, but there is never a queue in the one local to me.
B&Q has been attempting to cast itself as a supplier to the professionals for years. What they have achieved is that they are used by low level outfits - one-man-bands - and they are often used to get the-missing-saw-blade-that-is-holding-up-the site.
With construction re-opening, you are gong to see a massive uptick in usage.
Why would you go to B&Q when Screwfix is the same chain, cheaper and usually less hassle (order online and it's sat waiting for pickup as you arrive at the collection point).
Can't really browse in Screwfix. Plus isn't it trade counter only at the moment?
It always was. And if I'm going there it's because I need something for the job I need to do - a DIY shop is not a place I'm likely to browser in even before this crisis.
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Marks & Spencers is the place to go if you want to avoid crowds. I know it is a bit more expensive, but there is never a queue in the one local to me.
B&Q has been attempting to cast itself as a supplier to the professionals for years. What they have achieved is that they are used by low level outfits - one-man-bands - and they are often used to get the-missing-saw-blade-that-is-holding-up-the site.
With construction re-opening, you are gong to see a massive uptick in usage.
Why would you go to B&Q when Screwfix is the same chain, cheaper and usually less hassle (order online and it's sat waiting for pickup as you arrive at the collection point).
Can't really browse in Screwfix. Plus isn't it trade counter only at the moment?
Punters can order online an pick it up (or I did last week in Glasgow anyway).
I still don't know the answer to this question: when it first became apparent there was an coronavirus epidemic in China, why didn't the government shut the external borders of the country, in conjunction with a strict quarantine for British people seeking to return home?
Did any Western nation do that back then?
Italy stopped flights from China but it did not help much
Doctors in northern Italy, one of the world’s hardest-hit areas during the pandemic, have reported extraordinarily large numbers of children under nine-years-old with severe cases of what appears to be Kawasaki disease.
Hancock's response...
"There are some children who have died who didn’t have underlying health conditions. It’s a new disease that we think may be caused by coronavirus and the Covid-19 virus.
We’re not 100% sure because some of the people who got it hadn’t tested positive, so we’re doing a lot of research now but it is something that we’re worried about."
Contrary to the Header my vibes are not that lockdown is set to be eased. I am fortunate enough to have a Sir Cliff Richard calendar on the kitchen wall and I have marked the end of UK lockdown on there. 28th May. The balance of political risk steers to keeping it until then.
In his May picture, Cliff is in concert and is wearing head to toe denim. Shirt is well open, hair long, big sideburns. Quite raunchy. It catches him in what many feel to be his best period, the mid seventies. Very possible, therefore, that the song he is singing is Devil Woman (1976) - I like to think so anyway.
Double-denim Cliff is niche even for pb.com - the home of the niche!!
It's not how most people visualize him - if they do - but I can assure you he pulls it off in this May calendar photo I'm referring to. The current one (April), not a patch. So roll on Friday for the big flip!
China has criticised as “unfair and irresponsible” India’s decision to stop using Chinese testing kits for Covid-19 because of quality issues, in the latest strain in ties between the countries.
The Indian Council of Medical Research, the top agency dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, said on Monday it planned to return kits for antibody tests procured from two Chinese firms because of poor accuracy.
It depends on which ones, I guess. Some of the China tests came our very well on the comparative analyses done over recent weeks; others very, very poorly indeed.
Not entirely unlike those produced in (for example) the US - though the latter is of course considerably better regulated and more transparent.
I guess a near death experience can change someone.
Dylan's famous bike crash, for example. July 1966. After it he withdrew from the spotlight for months, eventually coming back with "John Wesley Harding" - an album that was strikingly simple and contemplative.
So a quieter, deeper, more reflective "Boris" post Covid?
I personally would like to see that - but I suspect it would cost him most of his fan base. Quiet and reflective is not what floats their boat.
Keep it up with the Dylan references! I am probably his #1 fan on here.
He remembers all the words but seems to have forgotten all the tunes.
There are a lot of great covers of his songs though.
China has criticised as “unfair and irresponsible” India’s decision to stop using Chinese testing kits for Covid-19 because of quality issues, in the latest strain in ties between the countries.
The Indian Council of Medical Research, the top agency dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, said on Monday it planned to return kits for antibody tests procured from two Chinese firms because of poor accuracy.
It depends on which ones, I guess. Some of the China tests came our very well on the comparative analyses done over recent weeks; others very, very poorly indeed.
Not entirely unlike those produced in (for example) the US - though the latter is of course considerably better regulated and more transparent.
My understanding is none of the antibody tests were anywhere near the claimed accuracy levels. What's the betting they are still flogging them though.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Arguing that tiny trace volumes of CO2 are the only controlling factor and what the sun is up to is a disctraction seems thousands of miles away.
Please! This shows how **** ignorant you are on the subject. Go and read a book on the subject.
A small hint is that a tiny increase in the proportion of CO2 in the atmosphere is a huge absolute amount of CO2 and A GCSE student can easily show that air+ a small amount of extra CO2 retains radiant heat significantly more than just air.
Looking at the numbers on worldometer, the UK has 135k active cases vs. 97k in France, 85k in Spain and 105k in Italy. Our number of active cases is still rising, while it is close to peaking or falling in the other countries.
I guess a near death experience can change someone.
Dylan's famous bike crash, for example. July 1966. After it he withdrew from the spotlight for months, eventually coming back with "John Wesley Harding" - an album that was strikingly simple and contemplative.
Gary Busey was in Predator 2 right after his massive bike accident.
Mark Hamill had an accident before Empire Strikes Back came out. His scars were "explained" by the Wampa beast attacking him on the ice planet Hoth.
Kay Burley is so rude and ignorant. Victoria Atkins MP on to discuss the Domestic Violance Abuse Bill, Kay Burley demands to know what the Government is going to do about the Airline industry. Atkins says that the Business Secretary was looking into that but she was here to discuss the Domestic Violence Abuse Bill - Burley says "you represent the Government so need to answer my questions".
WTF? You think every Government MP has a hive mind and knows what the Business Secretary is working on or will decide?
Kay Burley is another victim of the corona virus - it has found her weakness and exploited it.
The effect it has had on the regard of journalists is one of its more devastating features. Relentless, working 24/7, it has scythed through the reputations of broadcasters.
Any idea that she was ever anything other than biassed, rude and ignorant has never crossed my mind. No-one watches Sky News.
Except the hundreds on PB each day complaining about it!
The displacement activity of docile PB-ers' daily rants against journalists is one of the more unedifying phenomena of the Coronavirus.
As unedifying as us also ranting about politicians daily? Get a grip, people moan on here it happens.
Perfectly ok to moan at anyone you want. Politicians are the ones implementing the policies by which we live. Journalists are the ones trying to hold those politicians to account. People on here, and I get it, they are scared and want to be told what to do, seem not to like the journalists rocking the boat.
I think the frustration that many on here feel is that there are real, serious questions to ask the government and the journalists seem to come up with simplistic variations on the story du jour.
Appreciate that the set up is not conducive to challenging questions, but I wish they were more thoughtful rather than looking for soundbites
I think people want broad brush, primary colour questions and answer atm. I don't think the national psyche is up to too much nuance.
Everyone (certainly on here) might like a knockout question but knockout blows are only delivered after your opponent has been opened up by a series of jabs.
People on here are criticising the jabs saying well it didn't knock them out.
( @kle4 might need your help here if you remember you are PB's analogy assessment chief)
Far too coherent an analogy for my tastes. It's even internally consistent.
Slight worry about the painting/boxing mashup surely?
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Arguing that tiny trace volumes of CO2 are the only controlling factor and what the sun is up to is a disctraction seems thousands of miles away.
Increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere 285 ppm to 410 ppm since 1850. That's a 44% increase. Saying the words "tiny trace" just makes you sound like an idiot.
"How can a tiny trace amount of botulinum toxin kill someone?"
I guess a near death experience can change someone.
Dylan's famous bike crash, for example. July 1966. After it he withdrew from the spotlight for months, eventually coming back with "John Wesley Harding" - an album that was strikingly simple and contemplative.
So a quieter, deeper, more reflective "Boris" post Covid?
I personally would like to see that - but I suspect it would cost him most of his fan base. Quiet and reflective is not what floats their boat.
Keep it up with the Dylan references! I am probably his #1 fan on here.
Take gravity as another example. The NASA mission planners for the Apollo program did not have to worry about outstanding questions in gravitational theory to do with gravity waves, or whether general relativity had been proved, to make their calculations to send people to the Moon.
The "settled science" on gravity was sufficient for them to make decisions so that the Saturn V would have enough thrust, etc.
On global warming we know enough, with enough certainty, to make decisions about taking appropriate action.
Looking at the numbers on worldometer, the UK has 135k active cases vs. 97k in France, 85k in Spain and 105k in Italy. Our number of active cases is still rising, while it is close to peaking or falling in the other countries.
I think that has just as much to tripling the amount of daily tests...
Gah. BBC Breakfast berating the Minister about the existential national scandal that each surgical glove is an "item of PPE", and not a *pair* of gloves.
Somebody explain to the divots that they don't come in pairs ... please.
54% of the 1 billion items of PPE are single gloves
A further 19% are flimsy plastic aprons
Then we have paper towels, bins, detergent
Gowns not so much
Visors nah
"flimsy plastic aprons" are the approved design of item to wear in many cases.
It's a little unfair to criticise the government for ordering pre-approved products.
They are fine for serving food not so much intubation.
The point is we didnt order a single gown in 2019 for our stockpile or indeed in January despite Government advisors warning we were critically low.
Nor in 2009. I wonder why you didn't mention that?
Looking at the numbers on worldometer, the UK has 135k active cases vs. 97k in France, 85k in Spain and 105k in Italy. Our number of active cases is still rising, while it is close to peaking or falling in the other countries.
The UK has not been very "active" in reporting the "acive cases" :-). They are not following up and reporting how many people have recovered
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
It is an attempt to shirk responsibilty by suggesting there were any choices, however it at least shows an intention to pay very close attention to the scientific advice they get and so us more encouraging than if they did not say it.
Doctors in northern Italy, one of the world’s hardest-hit areas during the pandemic, have reported extraordinarily large numbers of children under nine-years-old with severe cases of what appears to be Kawasaki disease.
Hancock's response...
"There are some children who have died who didn’t have underlying health conditions. It’s a new disease that we think may be caused by coronavirus and the Covid-19 virus.
We’re not 100% sure because some of the people who got it hadn’t tested positive, so we’re doing a lot of research now but it is something that we’re worried about."
He really doesn't have a filter at the moment - 'it is something we're worried about'?? Tit.
It's not comparing like with like - those headline figures are wildly different in terms of total deaths covered. For us, the Italians and the Dutch the total excess death count is around double those figures. For Spain +50%, for France +16%, Belgium +7%.
That takes a correct chart to:
Italy 892 Spain 754 Belgium 680 UK 622 France 535 NL 528
People are frightened, whatever anonymous Cabinet ministers briefing the Telegraph might want us to believe.
There is no doubt that this crisis poses a particular challenge to the UK. Here there is a culture of health and safety and risk avoidance that is much less the way of thinking in other countries such as Russia. People in the UK may need to change some of their attitudes to risk in this crisis, as the money will not last forever and other countries will go back to work. For years UK politicians have told people to avoid risks. Now they may have to tell them to go out fearlessly and work while taking a small but actual chance of death. People in the UK used to be able to cope with taking risks, e.g. in World War II and in previous epidemics. Now the wheel turns full circle and we have to take our chances again. It is not going to be popular, but in time we will adapt.
The trouble is for many many years the public have been a fed a view by the newspapers that a 1p on fuel duty is the end of days.
China has criticised as “unfair and irresponsible” India’s decision to stop using Chinese testing kits for Covid-19 because of quality issues, in the latest strain in ties between the countries.
The Indian Council of Medical Research, the top agency dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, said on Monday it planned to return kits for antibody tests procured from two Chinese firms because of poor accuracy.
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Not really. Prof Cox's point is that the job of politicians is to weigh up scientific advice when determining policy rather than simply going with the first thing they hear and saying "but that's what the science says". In the case of global warming, many politicians are simply ignoring scientific advise rather then weighing it up.
There is some of that, but the more extreme campaigners certainly prefer to paint certain solutions as settle questions to a degree which may be over strong, particularly when tied in with other political issues, rather than merely presenting the problem as largely settled.
Looking at the numbers on worldometer, the UK has 135k active cases vs. 97k in France, 85k in Spain and 105k in Italy. Our number of active cases is still rising, while it is close to peaking or falling in the other countries.
We don't actively measure recovered patient numbers. Stupid, yes, but it means the active cases aren't a useful number.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Arguing that tiny trace volumes of CO2 are the only controlling factor and what the sun is up to is a disctraction seems thousands of miles away.
Increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere 285 ppm to 410 ppm since 1850. That's a 44% increase. Saying the words "tiny trace" just makes you sound like an idiot.
"How can a tiny trace amount of botulinum toxin kill someone?"
Kay Burley is so rude and ignorant. Victoria Atkins MP on to discuss the Domestic Violance Abuse Bill, Kay Burley demands to know what the Government is going to do about the Airline industry. Atkins says that the Business Secretary was looking into that but she was here to discuss the Domestic Violence Abuse Bill - Burley says "you represent the Government so need to answer my questions".
WTF? You think every Government MP has a hive mind and knows what the Business Secretary is working on or will decide?
Kay Burley is another victim of the corona virus - it has found her weakness and exploited it.
The effect it has had on the regard of journalists is one of its more devastating features. Relentless, working 24/7, it has scythed through the reputations of broadcasters.
Any idea that she was ever anything other than biassed, rude and ignorant has never crossed my mind. No-one watches Sky News.
Except the hundreds on PB each day complaining about it!
The displacement activity of docile PB-ers' daily rants against journalists is one of the more unedifying phenomena of the Coronavirus.
As unedifying as us also ranting about politicians daily? Get a grip, people moan on here it happens.
Perfectly ok to moan at anyone you want. Politicians are the ones implementing the policies by which we live. Journalists are the ones trying to hold those politicians to account. People on here, and I get it, they are scared and want to be told what to do, seem not to like the journalists rocking the boat.
I think the frustration that many on here feel is that there are real, serious questions to ask the government and the journalists seem to come up with simplistic variations on the story du jour.
Appreciate that the set up is not conducive to challenging questions, but I wish they were more thoughtful rather than looking for soundbites
I think people want broad brush, primary colour questions and answer atm. I don't think the national psyche is up to too much nuance.
Everyone (certainly on here) might like a knockout question but knockout blows are only delivered after your opponent has been opened up by a series of jabs.
People on here are criticising the jabs saying well it didn't knock them out.
( @kle4 might need your help here if you remember you are PB's analogy assessment chief)
Far too coherent an analogy for my tastes. It's even internally consistent.
Slight worry about the painting/boxing mashup surely?
You dont paint while you box?
Some unkind souls have suggested that about my oeuvre.
Take gravity as another example. The NASA mission planners for the Apollo program did not have to worry about outstanding questions in gravitational theory to do with gravity waves, or whether general relativity had been proved, to make their calculations to send people to the Moon.
The "settled science" on gravity was sufficient for them to make decisions so that the Saturn V would have enough thrust, etc.
On global warming we know enough, with enough certainty, to make decisions about taking appropriate action.
We do. Presenting certainty on appropriate actions can be taken too far however and covered by the claim of science. Attend a meeting with the wilder XR folk angry at a council for being required to spend most of its money on vulnerable adults and children rather than carbon reduction.
"The Telegraph has learnt that garden centres could reopen within a fortnight and local rubbish tips and recycling centres as early as this weekend under draft guidance submitted to Downing Street in recent days."
There has been little political will to pool taxes, borrowing and spending to support states worst hit. But it is the only way out - Shahin Vallée is a French economist, and was an adviser to Emmanuel Macron when he was economy minister
Mr. JohnL, might just be that B&Q hasn't been open for as long and a lot of people want something to do. Meanwhile, the food situation has had time to calm down.
Mr. Enjineeya, ha. Reminds me of 'the science is settled' on global warming.
Marks & Spencers is the place to go if you want to avoid crowds. I know it is a bit more expensive, but there is never a queue in the one local to me.
B&Q has been attempting to cast itself as a supplier to the professionals for years. What they have achieved is that they are used by low level outfits - one-man-bands - and they are often used to get the-missing-saw-blade-that-is-holding-up-the site.
With construction re-opening, you are gong to see a massive uptick in usage.
Why would you go to B&Q when Screwfix is the same chain, cheaper and usually less hassle (order online and it's sat waiting for pickup as you arrive at the collection point).
Can't really browse in Screwfix. Plus isn't it trade counter only at the moment?
It always was. And if I'm going there it's because I need something for the job I need to do - a DIY shop is not a place I'm likely to browser in even before this crisis.
Kay Burley is so rude and ignorant. Victoria Atkins MP on to discuss the Domestic Violance Abuse Bill, Kay Burley demands to know what the Government is going to do about the Airline industry. Atkins says that the Business Secretary was looking into that but she was here to discuss the Domestic Violence Abuse Bill - Burley says "you represent the Government so need to answer my questions".
WTF? You think every Government MP has a hive mind and knows what the Business Secretary is working on or will decide?
Kay Burley is another victim of the corona virus - it has found her weakness and exploited it.
The effect it has had on the regard of journalists is one of its more devastating features. Relentless, working 24/7, it has scythed through the reputations of broadcasters.
Any idea that she was ever anything other than biassed, rude and ignorant has never crossed my mind. No-one watches Sky News.
Except the hundreds on PB each day complaining about it!
The displacement activity of docile PB-ers' daily rants against journalists is one of the more unedifying phenomena of the Coronavirus.
As unedifying as us also ranting about politicians daily? Get a grip, people moan on here it happens.
Perfectly ok to moan at anyone you want. Politicians are the ones implementing the policies by which we live. Journalists are the ones trying to hold those politicians to account. People on here, and I get it, they are scared and want to be told what to do, seem not to like the journalists rocking the boat.
I think the frustration that many on here feel is that there are real, serious questions to ask the government and the journalists seem to come up with simplistic variations on the story du jour.
Appreciate that the set up is not conducive to challenging questions, but I wish they were more thoughtful rather than looking for soundbites
I think people want broad brush, primary colour questions and answer atm. I don't think the national psyche is up to too much nuance.
Everyone (certainly on here) might like a knockout question but knockout blows are only delivered after your opponent has been opened up by a series of jabs.
People on here are criticising the jabs saying well it didn't knock them out.
( @kle4 might need your help here if you remember you are PB's analogy assessment chief)
Far too coherent an analogy for my tastes. It's even internally consistent.
Slight worry about the painting/boxing mashup surely?
You dont paint while you box?
I used to chessbox. I was East Kent Light Heavyweight Champion.
The Left in particular are screaming we should have locked down weeks before we did. They just refuse to accept that the science guys knew we wouldn't stick it more than a month or six weeks or so.
That's simply not true, sorry. The polls show support for the lockdown as strong as ever, with more people wanting stricter measures than relaxation.The late lockdown has undoubtedly cost lives.
I know you've been a sceptic about acceptance from the start just as I've felt there would be few problems, and we're probably both extrapolaring from how we and our friends feel (personally I'd be willing to stay indoors in my two-room cottage for a year, say), and I expect the average is somewhere in between. But most people are OK with it for now, and IMO they'd still be OK if it had started a month earlier and our death rate was now down to say 200/day instead of 600.
Polls always show support for virtuous things. Polls don't mean squat. Supporting the lockdown in a poll is about as meaningful as supporting other people paying a tax in a poll.
In the real world the lockdown is already starting to fray as people support the lockdown but view more of their own personal actions as essential. Transport usage is already starting to go back up - that is empirically measurable and meaningful in more of a way than a poll is.
The government will be factoring a gradual de facto loosening of lockdown (as people relax their behaviour) into the planning.
Probably, but they can't admit it, otherwise no-one will take the lockdown seriously any more. There is a massive amout of individual and group psychology at play here as well as epidemiology
Very much so. The aim IMO will be to formally end lockdown when the virus is squashed - new hospital admissions just a trickle - and simultaneously at the point when many of the public are starting to flout it quite blatantly but short of mass civil disobedience. If they can pull this off it will quite an achievement. 28th May, I think. And Cliff does too.
Looking at the numbers on worldometer, the UK has 135k active cases vs. 97k in France, 85k in Spain and 105k in Italy. Our number of active cases is still rising, while it is close to peaking or falling in the other countries.
I think that has just as much to tripling the amount of daily tests...
Until we know that everyone records the figures in the same way, these stats should be read with great care.
'Infect us with the coronavirus. It could speed up a vaccine.' Some (Most) ethicists balk at the idea of ‘human challenge’ trials. But thousands of people want to volunteer. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/27/vaccine-infection-volunteer-coronavirus/ ...If it could lead to a speedier creation of a vaccine for the disease covid-19, we are willing — without reservation — to have doctors infect us with the novel coronavirus. Researchers might then see whether a vaccine candidate made any difference. Such tests are known as “human challenge trials,” and while they are ethically controversial in cases where there is no treatment for an illness, they could be warranted in this emergency, if conducted carefully. Through an organization called 1DaySooner, we’ve gathered signatures from nearly 4,000 people in 52 countries who are willing to make the same commitment we are.
Human challenge trials differ from standard vaccine-testing protocols in several important ways. In traditional clinical trials, participants in the crucial “Phase 3” stage, which follows initial testing for safety, proper dosing and other issues, receive either a candidate vaccine or a placebo and then are observed for evidence of infection. But such infections must occur in the course of participants’ daily lives; unfortunately, this takes time — and most participants are unlikely to become infected during the trial. As a result, these trials often have thousands or even tens of thousands of participants and can last many months, on reason the target date for vaccine approval is a year to a year-and-a-half away.
In a human challenge trial, in contrast, researchers deliberately expose trial participants to infection after administering a vaccine. The dose is carefully calibrated to minimize the risk of serious illness, and participants are kept in isolation and monitored closely. Because exposure is guaranteed, these trials can involve about a hundred people per vaccine candidate and results can come weeks after the exposure. The advantage of speed during a pandemic is obvious....
I thought that deliberatly giving a health person a disease is against the Hypocratic Oath, which was why Nobel Prize winner Barry Marshall gave himself Helicobacter Pylori to show that it causes stomach ulcers and not a study subject.
The exposure doesn't necessarily have to be done by a clinician, could be non-medically qualified research team members. Ethical issues remain, of course.
Do many doctors swear any oath, Hippocratic or otherwise? I know my wife hasn't.
Looking at the numbers on worldometer, the UK has 135k active cases vs. 97k in France, 85k in Spain and 105k in Italy. Our number of active cases is still rising, while it is close to peaking or falling in the other countries.
I think that has just as much to tripling the amount of daily tests...
Until we know that everyone records the figures in the same way, these stats should be read with great care.
Absolutely. Really all we can use the stats at the moment for is some indication of direction of travel in a particular country e.g. UK deaths are definitely falling.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Arguing that tiny trace volumes of CO2 are the only controlling factor and what the sun is up to is a disctraction seems thousands of miles away.
Increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere 285 ppm to 410 ppm since 1850. That's a 44% increase. Saying the words "tiny trace" just makes you sound like an idiot.
"How can a tiny trace amount of botulinum toxin kill someone?"
Globally over decades the world is certainly outputting a lot of CO2.
The global atmospheric difference in CO2 between the UK going to net zero at a timescale like the government are proposing and the UK going at a timescale XR propose is a tiny trace difference.
Needs to be over the year - is the grim reaper just plucking next winter's low hanging fruit ?
It starts in midwinter (well, before the coldest part of the year). The little spike in week 2 is the top of the winter death toll (and the dashed line shows the 5-year average).
"The Telegraph has learnt that garden centres could reopen within a fortnight and local rubbish tips and recycling centres as early as this weekend under draft guidance submitted to Downing Street in recent days."
Rubbish tips should never have closed. They are essential.
Our local Council has closed its tips and is whining about people increasing fly tipping. Hey geniuses, just what on Earth did you expect people to do with their stuff that needed to go to the tip if the tip is closed. Its not rocket science.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Arguing that tiny trace volumes of CO2 are the only controlling factor and what the sun is up to is a disctraction seems thousands of miles away.
Increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere 285 ppm to 410 ppm since 1850. That's a 44% increase. Saying the words "tiny trace" just makes you sound like an idiot.
"How can a tiny trace amount of botulinum toxin kill someone?"
It's not going to be 'fully contained' for years, if that.
The problem with these polls is that they are a snapshot of opinion at a given time in a rapidly evolving situation. They will change, as do all polls, as the circumstances change. The only topic upon which I can think public opinion has been reasonably stable in my lifetime is the monarchy but I am sure that will change when the incumbent does.
"The Telegraph has learnt that garden centres could reopen within a fortnight and local rubbish tips and recycling centres as early as this weekend under draft guidance submitted to Downing Street in recent days."
No Governent wants Alan Titchmarsh on the warpath.
If he set up in competition to them in this country, Prime Minister Alan Titchmarsh would have a landslide for his Garden Party....
Needs to be over the year - is the grim reaper just plucking next winter's low hanging fruit ?
It starts in midwinter (well, before the coldest part of the year). The little spike in week 2 is the top of the winter death toll (and the dashed line shows the 5-year average).
I guess what to look for is whether next winters deaths are lower than usual - did Covid accelerate deaths by a few months or many years. I don't know..
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Arguing that tiny trace volumes of CO2 are the only controlling factor and what the sun is up to is a disctraction seems thousands of miles away.
Increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere 285 ppm to 410 ppm since 1850. That's a 44% increase. Saying the words "tiny trace" just makes you sound like an idiot.
"How can a tiny trace amount of botulinum toxin kill someone?"
Globally over decades the world is certainly outputting a lot of CO2.
The global atmospheric difference in CO2 between the UK going to net zero at a timescale like the government are proposing and the UK going at a timescale XR propose is a tiny trace difference.
CO2 rises of ppm are DEATH CO2 cuts of ppm are NOT ENOUGH YOU CAPITALIST PIGS.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Arguing that tiny trace volumes of CO2 are the only controlling factor and what the sun is up to is a disctraction seems thousands of miles away.
Increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere 285 ppm to 410 ppm since 1850. That's a 44% increase. Saying the words "tiny trace" just makes you sound like an idiot.
"How can a tiny trace amount of botulinum toxin kill someone?"
Globally over decades the world is certainly outputting a lot of CO2.
The global atmospheric difference in CO2 between the UK going to net zero at a timescale like the government are proposing and the UK going at a timescale XR propose is a tiny trace difference.
CO2 rises of ppm are DEATH CO2 cuts of ppm are NOT ENOUGH YOU CAPITALIST PIGS.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Arguing that tiny trace volumes of CO2 are the only controlling factor and what the sun is up to is a disctraction seems thousands of miles away.
Increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere 285 ppm to 410 ppm since 1850. That's a 44% increase. Saying the words "tiny trace" just makes you sound like an idiot.
"How can a tiny trace amount of botulinum toxin kill someone?"
Checks post , checks if awake.
Yes he really did compare CO2 to botulinum.
OK let me spell it out for you, as you don't seem to be able to grasp even very simple things
"tiny trace" amounts of things can have big effects. if you cannot see that when it applies to CO2 maybe you can see it with other things, for example trace amounts of substances that can kill you.
using the words "tiny trace" to try and suggest CO2 cannot be the most important factor affecting current climate change makes you seem either totally stupid, or a troll.
I guess a near death experience can change someone.
Dylan's famous bike crash, for example. July 1966. After it he withdrew from the spotlight for months, eventually coming back with "John Wesley Harding" - an album that was strikingly simple and contemplative.
So a quieter, deeper, more reflective "Boris" post Covid?
I personally would like to see that - but I suspect it would cost him most of his fan base. Quiet and reflective is not what floats their boat.
Oh sure, but I'd prefer the whole downbeat meditation in vinyl from the man himself over some anonymous session maracas player saying 'teh accident really fucked Bobby up, man'.
Indeed. The tree is known by its fruit. So let's see.
Take gravity as another example. The NASA mission planners for the Apollo program did not have to worry about outstanding questions in gravitational theory to do with gravity waves, or whether general relativity had been proved, to make their calculations to send people to the Moon.
The "settled science" on gravity was sufficient for them to make decisions so that the Saturn V would have enough thrust, etc.
On global warming we know enough, with enough certainty, to make decisions about taking appropriate action.
We do. Presenting certainty on appropriate actions can be taken too far however and covered by the claim of science. Attend a meeting with the wilder XR folk angry at a council for being required to spend most of its money on vulnerable adults and children rather than carbon reduction.
Yes. We need to separate the scientific and political questions.
However, whenever people propose a policy response to address global warming that criticism they receive is on the science, not on the politics. In our politics in general there is an absence of political debate, which has been replaced by disputes between two different sets of "facts".
This is why in the early Trump days there was a certain amount of writing about the epistemological crisis facing democracy. You cannot debate politics if you are first unable to agree on the facts.
The modern politician prefers to frame a debate by selective choice of facts than to have an honest debate. It's a massive challenge.
Unsurprising figure but I'm surprised as many as 7% went for Gove too - as someone who likes Gove. Shows the unreliability of polling respondents to answer the question actually asked.
Gove and Patel simply haven't done that much that's obvious compared to the others during Boris's absence. Their departments are not as key frontline as the others.
Nation likes person who gives them free stuff shock.
Nation likes person who took the risk to react quickly in what was a constructive manner. Given the usual speed of the Treasury when it comes to handing back money, it was a bloody miracle.
Compare and contrast with everyone else in government.
Note he's never once said "we're following the advice of our economists"...
Because that would be an absurd and meaningless phrase that most especially anyone who knows anything about economics would laugh at.
Why would anyone say anything so silly? There are economists for and against almost any action.
Of course, the same goes for science. As Prof Brian Cox said to Andrew Marr on Sunday:
"There’s no such thing as ‘the science’, which is a key lesson. If you hear a politician say ‘we’re following the science’, then what that means is they don’t really understand what science is. There isn’t such a thing as ‘the science’. Science is a mindset."
I wonder if that applies to campaigners on Global Warming, where 'follow the science' is also a mantra.
Just a musing on that...
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Arguing that tiny trace volumes of CO2 are the only controlling factor and what the sun is up to is a disctraction seems thousands of miles away.
Increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere 285 ppm to 410 ppm since 1850. That's a 44% increase. Saying the words "tiny trace" just makes you sound like an idiot.
"How can a tiny trace amount of botulinum toxin kill someone?"
Checks post , checks if awake.
Yes he really did compare CO2 to botulinum.
OK let me spell it out for you, as you don't seem to be able to grasp even very simple things
"tiny trace" amounts of things can have big effects. if you cannot see that when it applies to CO2 maybe you can see it with other things, for example trace amounts of substances that can kill you.
using the words "tiny trace" to try and suggest CO2 cannot be the most important factor affecting current climate change makes you seem either totally stupid, or a troll.
"The Telegraph has learnt that garden centres could reopen within a fortnight and local rubbish tips and recycling centres as early as this weekend under draft guidance submitted to Downing Street in recent days."
Rubbish tips should never have closed. They are essential.
Our local Council has closed its tips and is whining about people increasing fly tipping. Hey geniuses, just what on Earth did you expect people to do with their stuff that needed to go to the tip if the tip is closed. Its not rocket science.
Suspect it's something to do with the staffing, but otherwise I agree. We're fortunate in that a chap who is trying to build a gardening business in the area has found...... and yes, we've been told where it is and shown pictures....... somewhere that will take compostable material. He can be booked to take green, i.e. garden waste for a very reasonable;le fee. Good advertising in that if we need any heavy gardening done in the future, we've got his contact details,
"The Telegraph has learnt that garden centres could reopen within a fortnight and local rubbish tips and recycling centres as early as this weekend under draft guidance submitted to Downing Street in recent days."
Rubbish tips should never have closed. They are essential.
Our local Council has closed its tips and is whining about people increasing fly tipping. Hey geniuses, just what on Earth did you expect people to do with their stuff that needed to go to the tip if the tip is closed. Its not rocket science.
Temporary closure of a facility should not automatically mean that you get an increase in antisocial or criminal behaviour. To suggest so is to excuse it. It is like saying increased unemployment excuses burglary. It doesn't. Fly tipping is for scumbags. they are beneath contempt and they should not be excused. Sounds like you have participated perhaps?
Needs to be over the year - is the grim reaper just plucking next winter's low hanging fruit ?
It starts in midwinter (well, before the coldest part of the year). The little spike in week 2 is the top of the winter death toll (and the dashed line shows the 5-year average).
I guess what to look for is whether next winters deaths are lower than usual - did Covid accelerate deaths by a few months or many years. I don't know..
Well, arguably, any virus can only "accelerate deaths" by a maximum of 70 or 80 years at the very worst.
It's way, way over the average spike. And there's no guarantee there would be a bad flu season next year, or the year afterwards.
It's killing a lot of people who would otherwise not have died. They might have been hit by a car tomorrow, or die from some other reason over the year, or decade, or two or three decades. But this is killing people who would not otherwise have died right now.
Looking at the numbers on worldometer, the UK has 135k active cases vs. 97k in France, 85k in Spain and 105k in Italy. Our number of active cases is still rising, while it is close to peaking or falling in the other countries.
We don't actively measure recovered patient numbers. Stupid, yes, but it means the active cases aren't a useful number.
But nearly every other country does measure no. of recovered. I think the only other comparable country that doesn't is the Netherlands.
Needs to be over the year - is the grim reaper just plucking next winter's low hanging fruit ?
It starts in midwinter (well, before the coldest part of the year). The little spike in week 2 is the top of the winter death toll (and the dashed line shows the 5-year average).
I guess what to look for is whether next winters deaths are lower than usual - did Covid accelerate deaths by a few months or many years. I don't know..
It's going to be complicated by how COVID-19 progresses, but yes, this will be worth watching out for.
Looking at the numbers on worldometer, the UK has 135k active cases vs. 97k in France, 85k in Spain and 105k in Italy. Our number of active cases is still rising, while it is close to peaking or falling in the other countries.
We don't actively measure recovered patient numbers. Stupid, yes, but it means the active cases aren't a useful number.
Comments
What he should have said was the above thing which you stated. What he meant, rather than what he said.
With construction re-opening, you are gong to see a massive uptick in usage.
Boris won the last election against a woeful opponent with a fact-light campaign full of breezy optimism about how great the new Brexit Britain was going to be.
Things are going to look very different indeed by the time the 2024 GE draws near,
Of course Sunak is going to be wildly popular when he's handing out money right left and centre ( I am not criticising him by the way, I broadly approve of the actions he has taken). I am not sure how popular the measures to get the nation's finances back in shape are going to be.
What is also true is that most people can't really gauge the long-term economic impact. I certainly can't, and I'm reasonably well-informed and trained. It would be helpful to see further serious analysis of different scenarios including that aspect.
Mostly home working, and the 'death' of the high street, in terms of shops and especially restaurants and pubs. It might permanently damage tourism as well, or at least make it much more expensive.
Only described the calendar in order to prove that I have actually marked the end of lockdown on there. Didn't want people thinking I was making it up.
Not accepting that increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to the warmng of average global temperatures is not just outsider the "cloud of science" it is a hundred miles away.
Not boiled though.
'People with obesity also seem to spread the virus for a much longer period of time and also clearly get sicker." - Dr Malhotra, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8264273/Coronavirus-affected-Boris-significantly-overweight-says-NHS-doctor.html
sorry meant to reply to Big G
But, as I say, he is 100% 'denim' in the photo, so it doesn't fit as well.
The Indian Council of Medical Research, the top agency dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, said on Monday it planned to return kits for antibody tests procured from two Chinese firms because of poor accuracy.
This is still one of the operative documents... but now in the process of being updated.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-admission-and-care-of-people-in-care-homes
...As part of the national effort, the care sector also plays a vital role in accepting patients as they are discharged from hospital – both because recuperation is better in non-acute settings, and because hospitals need to have enough beds to treat acutely sick patients. Residents may also be admitted to a care home from a home setting. Some of these patients may have COVID-19, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic. All of these patients can be safely cared for in a care home if this guidance is followed....
The blindness and/or stupidity behind that claim is evident.
Over time the answers are tested from more angles and are refined, modified, perhaps even turned upside-down, but generally they become less tentative and more confident.
So, for example, there are things we know with more confidence about Covid-19 - the virus that causes it, the major symptoms - and then there are things that we know with less confidence - the primary mode of transmission, the number of asymptomatic cases.
This is the same for global warming. We know many things with sufficient confidence that for practical purposes they are "settled" - that GHG emissions from human activity will warm the climate, that this will have negative effects such as increasing sea levels - but there are other things that we know with much less confidence - about how rainfall patterns might change and damage agriculture, or what level of cumulative emissions would cause the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1254709862468124672
The number who die from Covid-19 will match the decrease in numbers who would otherwise die from flu/pneumonia
in late March to
The number who die from Covid-19 this year will match the decrease in numbers who die from flu/pneumonia in the next 12 months.
The second point can only be properly refuted by in April next year, in which time a lot of people will die, deaths that can be prevented.
John Simpson has launched a YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4P9pgopO7J-mZ-bpD1CSqQ/videos
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
There is no such thing as a chief economist who is gone with for very good reason.
Also home delivery available I believe.
Hancock's response...
"There are some children who have died who didn’t have underlying health conditions. It’s a new disease that we think may be caused by coronavirus and the Covid-19 virus.
We’re not 100% sure because some of the people who got it hadn’t tested positive, so we’re doing a lot of research now but it is something that we’re worried about."
Some of the China tests came our very well on the comparative analyses done over recent weeks; others very, very poorly indeed.
Not entirely unlike those produced in (for example) the US - though the latter is of course considerably better regulated and more transparent.
A small hint is that a tiny increase in the proportion of CO2 in the atmosphere is a huge absolute amount of CO2 and A GCSE student can easily show that air+ a small amount of extra CO2 retains radiant heat significantly more than just air.
Increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere 285 ppm to 410 ppm since 1850.
That's a 44% increase. Saying the words "tiny trace" just makes you sound like an idiot.
"How can a tiny trace amount of botulinum toxin kill someone?"
The "settled science" on gravity was sufficient for them to make decisions so that the Saturn V would have enough thrust, etc.
On global warming we know enough, with enough certainty, to make decisions about taking appropriate action.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/27/key-ppe-items-not-in-pandemic-forward-planning-stockpile-as-covid-19-struck-bbc-finds
They are not following up and reporting how many people have recovered
It's not comparing like with like - those headline figures are wildly different in terms of total deaths covered. For us, the Italians and the Dutch the total excess death count is around double those figures. For Spain +50%, for France +16%, Belgium +7%.
That takes a correct chart to:
Italy 892
Spain 754
Belgium 680
UK 622
France 535
NL 528
New York state would be 1200+ ..........
Yes he really did compare CO2 to botulinum.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/28/eu-coronavirus-fund-share-crisis-soul-european-parliament-fiscal
The solution to every problem with the EU, ever closer EU.
The global atmospheric difference in CO2 between the UK going to net zero at a timescale like the government are proposing and the UK going at a timescale XR propose is a tiny trace difference.
Our local Council has closed its tips and is whining about people increasing fly tipping. Hey geniuses, just what on Earth did you expect people to do with their stuff that needed to go to the tip if the tip is closed. Its not rocket science.
If he set up in competition to them in this country, Prime Minister Alan Titchmarsh would have a landslide for his Garden Party....
CO2 cuts of ppm are NOT ENOUGH YOU CAPITALIST PIGS.
"tiny trace" amounts of things can have big effects. if you cannot see that when it applies to CO2 maybe you can see it with other things, for example trace amounts of substances that can kill you.
using the words "tiny trace" to try and suggest CO2 cannot be the most important factor affecting current climate change makes you seem either totally stupid, or a troll.
However, whenever people propose a policy response to address global warming that criticism they receive is on the science, not on the politics. In our politics in general there is an absence of political debate, which has been replaced by disputes between two different sets of "facts".
This is why in the early Trump days there was a certain amount of writing about the epistemological crisis facing democracy. You cannot debate politics if you are first unable to agree on the facts.
The modern politician prefers to frame a debate by selective choice of facts than to have an honest debate. It's a massive challenge.
It's way, way over the average spike. And there's no guarantee there would be a bad flu season next year, or the year afterwards.
It's killing a lot of people who would otherwise not have died. They might have been hit by a car tomorrow, or die from some other reason over the year, or decade, or two or three decades. But this is killing people who would not otherwise have died right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31uj8_dEu3Q
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tax/inheritance/inheritance-tax-raised-80pc-wwii-could-happen-coronavirus/