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  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676

    Can anyone suggest a link to the data slides for today's briefing? I thought it was a right mess today. No slides full screen, only one bigwig with Sharma. Incomplete data onscreen. We can't blame it all on Zoom, surely?

    Does anyone actually care ?
    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/slides-and-datasets-to-accompany-coronavirus-press-conferences

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/slides-and-datasets-to-accompany-coronavirus-press-conference-17-may-2020
    Getting close to the time where these should be twice weekly IMO
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,898
    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601
    stodge said:

    Andy_JS said:

    FPT:

    The total 6 days ago was 152, a drop of 31 on the previous day. This means we could be below 100 a day at the moment.

    https://twitter.com/cricketwyvern/status/1262019094842413057/photo/1

    I suspect the next stage of lockdown will be initiated if we go sub 100 deaths a day and sub 1000 new cases per day.
    Yes, hopefully that'll happen within the next week or so.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,370
    stodge said:


    I've noticed that, despite all the caterwauling about a spike in public transport use in London after the Boris broadcast last weekend (and OMFG the virus will spread like wildfire and we're all going to die,) the trend line for the Tube appears to show no increase in passengers at all.

    The TfL bus numbers are no longer available, presumably because they have stopped charging passengers, so I suppose that it is theoretically possible that some huge increase in demand for them isn't being picked up - but the national railway and bus graphs are also completely flat.

    There was some video shot at North Acton which was used by the anti-lock down media as evidence said lock down was collapsing and should be eased.

    North Acton is where Central Line trains from Ealing Broadway meet those coming from West Ruislip so it's not surprising you see people getting off one Central Line onto another (the same happens at Leytonstone). What the video doesn't show is how full or empty the trains were but that wasn't the point - the image was aimed to illustrate the lock down in London was collapsing and people in their hordes were returning to work.

    As you say, passenger number and other anecdotal evidence suggests tubes and trains are and remain very quiet. Buses will be charging again from tomorrow as part of the "deal" Sadiq Khan was forced to make with the Government to keep any kind of service going.

    The Government take over of Transport for London (akin to what happened in Northamptonshire) hasn't yet been mirrored among the rail operators but they too are running almost empty trains and must be suffering financially.
    I likes the forces perspective shots across the length of a train.

    The important thing is the statistics on usage - In God we trust. All others bring data.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676
    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,381
    kyf_100 said:

    MattW said:

    Labour is drawing up ambitious proposals to rescue the post-coronavirus economy with a radical green recovery plan focused on helping young people who lose their jobs by retraining them in green industries.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/17/labour-to-plan-green-economic-rescue-from-coronavirus-crisis

    Has anybody told them they lost the GE?

    Recovery plan, yes. Good ideas are welcome. Unfortunately radical and green are likely to be synonyms for total BS that would finish off the economy given the ideologies dominant in the LP at present.
    Isn't much of this just the gibberish from Richard Murphy warmed-over a little?
    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    Imagine that someone wrote an article in the Daily Mail, using the comic possibilities of the name of (say) a Muslim advisor to Lord Keith Starmer?

    I always find it a reasonable measure to rotate such things through a sequence of alternates (replace religions, political allegiance etc etc) - if it causes offence in one case, it should cause offence in all.
    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    It is worth noting that Sir Keir sounds a lot like a bell end when he speaks English too.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,751
    I see Brazil has moved into second place behind the USA in terms of both new cases and deaths per day, with quite a large lead over other countries.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676

    kyf_100 said:

    MattW said:

    Labour is drawing up ambitious proposals to rescue the post-coronavirus economy with a radical green recovery plan focused on helping young people who lose their jobs by retraining them in green industries.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/17/labour-to-plan-green-economic-rescue-from-coronavirus-crisis

    Has anybody told them they lost the GE?

    Recovery plan, yes. Good ideas are welcome. Unfortunately radical and green are likely to be synonyms for total BS that would finish off the economy given the ideologies dominant in the LP at present.
    Isn't much of this just the gibberish from Richard Murphy warmed-over a little?
    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    Imagine that someone wrote an article in the Daily Mail, using the comic possibilities of the name of (say) a Muslim advisor to Lord Keith Starmer?

    I always find it a reasonable measure to rotate such things through a sequence of alternates (replace religions, political allegiance etc etc) - if it causes offence in one case, it should cause offence in all.
    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    It is worth noting that Sir Keir sounds a lot like a bell end when he speaks English too.
    Or that Mexican Pete makes himself look a lot like a bell end when he posts such pathetic drivel
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,898


    I likes the forces perspective shots across the length of a train.

    The important thing is the statistics on usage - In God we trust. All others bring data.

    Tomorrow will be interesting - TfL intend to run a 70% tube service including re-opening the Circle Line and a number of stations.

    As it remains our "civic duty" not to use public transport, that will mean the taxpayer will be paying for empty trains to travel round and up and down the network that we aren't supposed to be using.

    This is grade A lunacy and part of a silly political point Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps are trying to make at Khan's expense. Forcing him to run empty trains and wasting taxpayers' money so doing is part of the reason I could never support the current bunch of nunbskulls running the country.

    I presume this is part of London's "punishment" for having the temerity to back Khan rather than Zac Goldsmith in 2016.
  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,914
    Why are loony right wingers (and Piers Corbyn) so anti-science?
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,751

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    The houses of the rising Sunak?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,370
    stodge said:


    I likes the forces perspective shots across the length of a train.

    The important thing is the statistics on usage - In God we trust. All others bring data.

    Tomorrow will be interesting - TfL intend to run a 70% tube service including re-opening the Circle Line and a number of stations.

    As it remains our "civic duty" not to use public transport, that will mean the taxpayer will be paying for empty trains to travel round and up and down the network that we aren't supposed to be using.

    This is grade A lunacy and part of a silly political point Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps are trying to make at Khan's expense. Forcing him to run empty trains and wasting taxpayers' money so doing is part of the reason I could never support the current bunch of nunbskulls running the country.

    I presume this is part of London's "punishment" for having the temerity to back Khan rather than Zac Goldsmith in 2016.
    It is to increase the carrying capacity of the Tube systems while allowing for social distancing. The suggested numbers are that the services can run at 10-15% of capacity while preserving the distancing.

    Capacity increase has to lead any increase in usage.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,370

    Why are loony right wingers (and Piers Corbyn) so anti-science?
    If you Know The Truth, then reality must be wrong, when it disagrees with you.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601
    edited May 2020
    Piers Corbyn describes himself as "a long-term weather forecaster".
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468
    stodge said:

    I don't know about anyone else, but I veer between three different attitudes to the Plague:

    1. Optimism - either it turns out that this disease has a lower than expected threshold for herd immunity, or a vaccination or drug treatment trial tames it at some point in the next few months
    2. Pessimism - we're going to be stuck with the misery of social distancing for years, it's going to destroy the economy and make everyone's lives unbearable. Mass cliff-jumping and wrist-slitting will commence by Christmas at the latest
    3. Fatalism - the disease will take off again but attempts to reimpose lockdown will fail because people will have lost all faith in it. Best efforts will be made to protect the vulnerable and will hopefully do some good; much of the rest of the population will get it, and it'll burn itself out by the end of the year

    I've the personal aspect and the societal aspect. Personally, I'm scared of this virus and have adapted how I live and interact with people to avoid catching it until a vaccine becomes available.

    At a wider level, once it became clear this wasn't an extinction-level pandemic, it was inevitable human ingenuity would rapidly seek to understand and find solutions to the problem. Changes have and will continue to be made but we are in a better place than we were two months ago.

    This is why I'm absolutely confident climate change can and will be addressed - human ingenuity and adaptability are infinite - we will change how we live and adapt while technology is harnessed to save the planet.

    Short of a global nuclear war or an artificial pandemic of extinction-level proportions and assuming astronomical events don't intervene, I view the future with cautious optimism.
    Stodge, the biggest difference between a pandemic and climate change are that a pandemic is rapid onset with visible effects which potentially affect everyone living now; climate change is slow onset, with mainly invisible effects at this point, and which are much more likely to affect those currently young and their kids than the majority of the current population.

    What this means is that we over-estimate the risks of a pandemic and underestimate those of global warming; and we over-react in our responses to the former, and under-react in our responses to the latter.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556

    kyf_100 said:

    MattW said:

    Labour is drawing up ambitious proposals to rescue the post-coronavirus economy with a radical green recovery plan focused on helping young people who lose their jobs by retraining them in green industries.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/17/labour-to-plan-green-economic-rescue-from-coronavirus-crisis

    Has anybody told them they lost the GE?

    Recovery plan, yes. Good ideas are welcome. Unfortunately radical and green are likely to be synonyms for total BS that would finish off the economy given the ideologies dominant in the LP at present.
    Isn't much of this just the gibberish from Richard Murphy warmed-over a little?
    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    Imagine that someone wrote an article in the Daily Mail, using the comic possibilities of the name of (say) a Muslim advisor to Lord Keith Starmer?

    I always find it a reasonable measure to rotate such things through a sequence of alternates (replace religions, political allegiance etc etc) - if it causes offence in one case, it should cause offence in all.
    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    It is worth noting that Sir Keir sounds a lot like a bell end when he speaks English too.
    The Iranian Daily News, 6th May 2024:

    'Bell-End in Massive Election Cock-Up'

    :wink:
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    nichomar said:

    All being well I’m going home tomorrow 24 days is a long time in hospital. Spanish health service excellent despite how it was three weeks ago. Very relaxed now with visiting now allowed although there are still some covid patients left I believe.

    @nichomar
    Great news, hope you are back to 100% soon.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,798

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    First they went after Michael Foot for his donkey jacket, now they're crucifying Sir Keir Starmer over his donkey sanctuary. It should be obvious by now that the right wing establishment have some weird donkey hatred thing going on. Probably some sexual hangup from their boarding school days. Or are they simply in the pocket of the dog food industry, and hate the thought of another Benjamin saved from the knacker's yard?
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    edited May 2020

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    Link?

    I'm sure you're not counting his wife's property as his.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    kyf_100 said:

    MattW said:

    Labour is drawing up ambitious proposals to rescue the post-coronavirus economy with a radical green recovery plan focused on helping young people who lose their jobs by retraining them in green industries.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/17/labour-to-plan-green-economic-rescue-from-coronavirus-crisis

    Has anybody told them they lost the GE?

    Recovery plan, yes. Good ideas are welcome. Unfortunately radical and green are likely to be synonyms for total BS that would finish off the economy given the ideologies dominant in the LP at present.
    Isn't much of this just the gibberish from Richard Murphy warmed-over a little?
    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    Imagine that someone wrote an article in the Daily Mail, using the comic possibilities of the name of (say) a Muslim advisor to Lord Keith Starmer?

    I always find it a reasonable measure to rotate such things through a sequence of alternates (replace religions, political allegiance etc etc) - if it causes offence in one case, it should cause offence in all.
    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    It is worth noting that Sir Keir sounds a lot like a bell end when he speaks English too.
    The Iranian Daily News, 6th May 2024:

    'Bell-End in Massive Election Cock-Up'

    :wink:
    And how would that be pronounced in the Far East?
  • stodge said:


    I likes the forces perspective shots across the length of a train.

    The important thing is the statistics on usage - In God we trust. All others bring data.

    Tomorrow will be interesting - TfL intend to run a 70% tube service including re-opening the Circle Line and a number of stations.

    As it remains our "civic duty" not to use public transport, that will mean the taxpayer will be paying for empty trains to travel round and up and down the network that we aren't supposed to be using.

    This is grade A lunacy and part of a silly political point Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps are trying to make at Khan's expense. Forcing him to run empty trains and wasting taxpayers' money so doing is part of the reason I could never support the current bunch of nunbskulls running the country.

    I presume this is part of London's "punishment" for having the temerity to back Khan rather than Zac Goldsmith in 2016.
    It is to increase the carrying capacity of the Tube systems while allowing for social distancing. The suggested numbers are that the services can run at 10-15% of capacity while preserving the distancing.

    Capacity increase has to lead any increase in usage.
    I take the Piccadily line in from Heathrow around six-thirty during the week. Starting in Hounslow, the trains certainly weren't empty. And as has been reported, social distancing went out the window.

    I don't know. If you're reintroducing the congestion charge - while keeping capacity down to 15 percent - it seems like an unplanned or planned cash grab.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,798

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    I forgot about Labour's manifesto promise to abolish all private property and crush the donkey sanctuary owning kulaks, but thanks for reminding us. With this kind of attention to detail in the Tory ranks, no wonder we have one of the lowest Coronavirus death rates in Europe!
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    But the likes of Stewart Lee show that however tolerant the vast majority of us may be, there will always be a subset of bigots for whom the Jew remains an outsider - an object of scorn and derision for their otherness.

    And, it seems, they will always have a home in the Guardian.


    https://twitter.com/JewishChron/status/1262034634617094145
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,798

    kyf_100 said:

    MattW said:

    Labour is drawing up ambitious proposals to rescue the post-coronavirus economy with a radical green recovery plan focused on helping young people who lose their jobs by retraining them in green industries.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/17/labour-to-plan-green-economic-rescue-from-coronavirus-crisis

    Has anybody told them they lost the GE?

    Recovery plan, yes. Good ideas are welcome. Unfortunately radical and green are likely to be synonyms for total BS that would finish off the economy given the ideologies dominant in the LP at present.
    Isn't much of this just the gibberish from Richard Murphy warmed-over a little?
    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    Imagine that someone wrote an article in the Daily Mail, using the comic possibilities of the name of (say) a Muslim advisor to Lord Keith Starmer?

    I always find it a reasonable measure to rotate such things through a sequence of alternates (replace religions, political allegiance etc etc) - if it causes offence in one case, it should cause offence in all.
    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    It is worth noting that Sir Keir sounds a lot like a bell end when he speaks English too.
    The Iranian Daily News, 6th May 2024:

    'Bell-End in Massive Election Cock-Up'

    :wink:
    "Johnson" means cock in English of course.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    TimT said:

    stodge said:

    I don't know about anyone else, but I veer between three different attitudes to the Plague:

    1. Optimism - either it turns out that this disease has a lower than expected threshold for herd immunity, or a vaccination or drug treatment trial tames it at some point in the next few months
    2. Pessimism - we're going to be stuck with the misery of social distancing for years, it's going to destroy the economy and make everyone's lives unbearable. Mass cliff-jumping and wrist-slitting will commence by Christmas at the latest
    3. Fatalism - the disease will take off again but attempts to reimpose lockdown will fail because people will have lost all faith in it. Best efforts will be made to protect the vulnerable and will hopefully do some good; much of the rest of the population will get it, and it'll burn itself out by the end of the year

    I've the personal aspect and the societal aspect. Personally, I'm scared of this virus and have adapted how I live and interact with people to avoid catching it until a vaccine becomes available.

    At a wider level, once it became clear this wasn't an extinction-level pandemic, it was inevitable human ingenuity would rapidly seek to understand and find solutions to the problem. Changes have and will continue to be made but we are in a better place than we were two months ago.

    This is why I'm absolutely confident climate change can and will be addressed - human ingenuity and adaptability are infinite - we will change how we live and adapt while technology is harnessed to save the planet.

    Short of a global nuclear war or an artificial pandemic of extinction-level proportions and assuming astronomical events don't intervene, I view the future with cautious optimism.
    Stodge, the biggest difference between a pandemic and climate change are that a pandemic is rapid onset with visible effects which potentially affect everyone living now; climate change is slow onset, with mainly invisible effects at this point, and which are much more likely to affect those currently young and their kids than the majority of the current population.

    What this means is that we over-estimate the risks of a pandemic and underestimate those of global warming; and we over-react in our responses to the former, and under-react in our responses to the latter.
    True, except that we have just had the warmest winter ever which was 1.4°C warmer than the previous warmest winter ever which was in 2015-16. And I heard on the radio the other day that the highest French ski resorts are only guaranteed snow until 2050. It is all looking a bit here and nowish.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556

    kyf_100 said:

    MattW said:

    Labour is drawing up ambitious proposals to rescue the post-coronavirus economy with a radical green recovery plan focused on helping young people who lose their jobs by retraining them in green industries.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/17/labour-to-plan-green-economic-rescue-from-coronavirus-crisis

    Has anybody told them they lost the GE?

    Recovery plan, yes. Good ideas are welcome. Unfortunately radical and green are likely to be synonyms for total BS that would finish off the economy given the ideologies dominant in the LP at present.
    Isn't much of this just the gibberish from Richard Murphy warmed-over a little?
    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    Imagine that someone wrote an article in the Daily Mail, using the comic possibilities of the name of (say) a Muslim advisor to Lord Keith Starmer?

    I always find it a reasonable measure to rotate such things through a sequence of alternates (replace religions, political allegiance etc etc) - if it causes offence in one case, it should cause offence in all.
    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    It is worth noting that Sir Keir sounds a lot like a bell end when he speaks English too.
    The Iranian Daily News, 6th May 2024:

    'Bell-End in Massive Election Cock-Up'

    :wink:
    "Johnson" means cock in English of course.
    OK - 'UK Finds Out Who The Bigger Cock Is'
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    I forgot about Labour's manifesto promise to abolish all private property and crush the donkey sanctuary owning kulaks, but thanks for reminding us. With this kind of attention to detail in the Tory ranks, no wonder we have one of the lowest Coronavirus death rates in Europe!
    The expropriation of private wealth was explicitly included in the Labour manifesto, and all their 'I'm a communist, you idiot' outriders were absolutely salivating over it. No point trying to re-write history now.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,370
    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,139

    isam said:

    Interesting divergence in the favourability ratings:

    Net Favourable : ABC1 / C2DE
    Johnson: +1 / +16
    Starmer: +16 / -1
    Patel: -41 / -26

    On the other hand:
    Sunak: +37 / +29

    How that fares when he starts asking for it back is another matter.....

    Brexit splits for the leaders
    The Brexit splits are much more pronounced

    Net Favourable : Remain / Leave
    Johnson: -33 / +56
    Starmer: +40 / -18
    Patel: -62 / -11

    On the other hand:
    Sunak: +23 / +55
    So Starmer is now the clear preferred leader for Remainers but Boris is only fractionally the preferred leader for Leavers over Sunak.

    However the best Sunak could likely do is be a glossy frontman for WTO terms Brexit
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720
    edited May 2020

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,837
    Andy_JS said:

    Piers Corbyn describes himself as "a long-term weather forecaster".

    I can do that too, I reckon it will get much colder around November time.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,798

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    I forgot about Labour's manifesto promise to abolish all private property and crush the donkey sanctuary owning kulaks, but thanks for reminding us. With this kind of attention to detail in the Tory ranks, no wonder we have one of the lowest Coronavirus death rates in Europe!
    The expropriation of private wealth was explicitly included in the Labour manifesto, and all their 'I'm a communist, you idiot' outriders were absolutely salivating over it. No point trying to re-write history now.
    Can I come round to yours? You clearly have some exceptional drugs.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,999
    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,999
    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    Where can these goons go after their 'greedy lefty hypocrite' ploy was such a massive fail? Gratuitous virtue signalling perhaps, showing off with his orphan donkeys and disabled mum schtick?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,217

    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
    Shhh...
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,370
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    I recall a farmer of my aquitance - dirt poor, but owned his small farm outright. Made dole money from it, pretty much

    He accidentally acquired planning permission for a field. Some said it had something to do with a friend from nursery who became a planning inspector...

    Turned up in the pub one night buying drinks... I can still feel the headache. He was so happy to have money to be generous with.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,217

    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
    So, a quick google will tell you that:

    1. He had a long interview on Radio 4 a week ago that can be listened to here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86P7EEJeNKM

    2. He also had another long-ish piece on Mar 30 that can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHE3OerDKEY

    There were also a couple of pieces on the the Parliament channel.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    Where can these goons go after their 'greedy lefty hypocrite' ploy was such a massive fail? Gratuitous virtue signalling perhaps, showing off with his orphan donkeys and disabled mum schtick?
    I would have though many MoS readers would very much like a paddock next to their house for donkeys and the like. It is a very middle England sort of dream. Looks like a backfire to me.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    isam said:
    He’s a judge and historian. He is of the highest quality in both, but neither are conspicuous qualifications for his views about Covid-19 to get airtime. And since they got airtime anyway, this does seem to be a manufactured grievance.
  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,264
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Love the ridge and furrow. Never been ploughed. A relic of the middle ages.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,370

    isam said:
    He’s a judge and historian. He is of the highest quality in both, but neither are conspicuous qualifications for his views about Covid-19 to get airtime. And since they got airtime anyway, this does seem to be a manufactured grievance.
    Malmesbury's 15th Law - When an expert in one field pronounces on another, the probability that he is talking bollocks is a function of the distance from one discipline to another and his/her personal level of insanity. The said level of insanity is suppressed in the case of his/her expertise.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,751

    But the likes of Stewart Lee show that however tolerant the vast majority of us may be, there will always be a subset of bigots for whom the Jew remains an outsider - an object of scorn and derision for their otherness.

    And, it seems, they will always have a home in the Guardian.


    https://twitter.com/JewishChron/status/1262034634617094145

    Did Stewart Lee actually say anything antisemitic, or is this purely based on the hat/Tugendhat pun?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Love the ridge and furrow. Never been ploughed. A relic of the middle ages.
    Ridge and furrow is quite common in Leics still. The heavy clay benefits from a bit of drainage. Rich soil but slow to warm up in Spring.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,999

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Love the ridge and furrow. Never been ploughed. A relic of the middle ages.
    Assume ridge and furrow is similar to lazybeds? Sometimes they're the only evidence of what must have been very old settlements in the Hebrides and Highlands.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176

    isam said:
    He’s a judge and historian. He is of the highest quality in both, but neither are conspicuous qualifications for his views about Covid-19 to get airtime. And since they got airtime anyway, this does seem to be a manufactured grievance.
    Ultimately it is unqualified politicians who have to make the decisions so I think he has as much right to comment on the political decisions being taken.

    The interviewer overstepped the mark by suggesting how long she thinks COVID-19 is knocking off people's lives. Undoubtedly it's knocking off a lot of years in some cases, but I think it remains to be seen what the mean/median impact is.
  • OllyTOllyT Posts: 5,006
    nichomar said:

    All being well I’m going home tomorrow 24 days is a long time in hospital. Spanish health service excellent despite how it was three weeks ago. Very relaxed now with visiting now allowed although there are still some covid patients left I believe.

    Sorry you are still in hospital but very pleased you are on the mend and about to go home. To have had another type of medical problem in the middle of all this must have been very scary, particularly with your wife's problems on top. Sincerely hope things pick up for you from here on.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,798
    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
    So, a quick google will tell you that:

    1. He had a long interview on Radio 4 a week ago that can be listened to here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86P7EEJeNKM

    2. He also had another long-ish piece on Mar 30 that can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHE3OerDKEY

    There were also a couple of pieces on the the Parliament channel.
    As a young man he helped Keith Joseph write his infamous Edgbaston speech (the one where he said the lower orders shouldn't breed). Since that is now government policy it's not surprising he's getting so much airtime these days.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,751
    Chris said:

    But the likes of Stewart Lee show that however tolerant the vast majority of us may be, there will always be a subset of bigots for whom the Jew remains an outsider - an object of scorn and derision for their otherness.

    And, it seems, they will always have a home in the Guardian.


    https://twitter.com/JewishChron/status/1262034634617094145

    Did Stewart Lee actually say anything antisemitic, or is this purely based on the hat/Tugendhat pun?
    I must admit I wouldn't have guessed from the reaction that Tugendhat's family are devout Roman Catholics, though his paternal grandfather was Jewish.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Love the ridge and furrow. Never been ploughed. A relic of the middle ages.
    Assume ridge and furrow is similar to lazybeds? Sometimes they're the only evidence of what must have been very old settlements in the Hebrides and Highlands.
    The R & f strips are much wider than feannagan - the latter were hand-dug to scrape up othe soilt into something that would grow potatoes. IIRC from what I have seen/read the R & F is more like 10 yards wide - Wikiepedia says 5-22 yards. Individual strips to be allocated to different people but also to allow drainage, the ox and plough going alternately along the length to mound up in the middle.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Love the ridge and furrow. Never been ploughed. A relic of the middle ages.
    It was ploughed to create the r & f - you mean, no modern tractor ploughing I assume. But I agree, it;'s lovely.
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
    So, a quick google will tell you that:

    1. He had a long interview on Radio 4 a week ago that can be listened to here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86P7EEJeNKM

    2. He also had another long-ish piece on Mar 30 that can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHE3OerDKEY

    There were also a couple of pieces on the the Parliament channel.
    As a young man he helped Keith Joseph write his infamous Edgbaston speech (the one where he said the lower orders shouldn't breed). Since that is now government policy it's not surprising he's getting so much airtime these days.
    Technically, given the terms of social distancing, it's the policy of Government that nobody not already cohabiting should be breeding until this is all over. However many years that takes.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    OllyT said:

    nichomar said:

    All being well I’m going home tomorrow 24 days is a long time in hospital. Spanish health service excellent despite how it was three weeks ago. Very relaxed now with visiting now allowed although there are still some covid patients left I believe.

    Sorry you are still in hospital but very pleased you are on the mend and about to go home. To have had another type of medical problem in the middle of all this must have been very scary, particularly with your wife's problems on top. Sincerely hope things pick up for you from here on.
    It’s been an experience just need to find out how I handle future cycles of chemo. Was lucky to have some one who could put in place 24*7 care for Denise. Whilst not wanting to linger on it I was never tested for covid that I know although they did a. Chest x ray within two hours of admission. Thanks for the best wishes
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,205
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    Where can these goons go after their 'greedy lefty hypocrite' ploy was such a massive fail? Gratuitous virtue signalling perhaps, showing off with his orphan donkeys and disabled mum schtick?
    I would have though many MoS readers would very much like a paddock next to their house for donkeys and the like. It is a very middle England sort of dream. Looks like a backfire to me.
    I've looked for land, seems almost impossible to find a straight up field for sale.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,999
    Carnyx said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Love the ridge and furrow. Never been ploughed. A relic of the middle ages.
    Assume ridge and furrow is similar to lazybeds? Sometimes they're the only evidence of what must have been very old settlements in the Hebrides and Highlands.
    The R & f strips are much wider than feannagan - the latter were hand-dug to scrape up othe soilt into something that would grow potatoes. IIRC from what I have seen/read the R & F is more like 10 yards wide - Wikiepedia says 5-22 yards. Individual strips to be allocated to different people but also to allow drainage, the ox and plough going alternately along the length to mound up in the middle.
    Ah, an ox, beyond the wildest dreams of a humble bodach!
    Were the lazybeds introduced with the potato or did they predate them?
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    South America looks like it is going to be badly hit, where could it result in regime change?
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,036
    isam said:
    And it transpired that Sumption also means Bell End
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,036
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Lovely. Are they Leicester Blueface?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720
    edited May 2020

    Carnyx said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Love the ridge and furrow. Never been ploughed. A relic of the middle ages.
    Assume ridge and furrow is similar to lazybeds? Sometimes they're the only evidence of what must have been very old settlements in the Hebrides and Highlands.
    The R & f strips are much wider than feannagan - the latter were hand-dug to scrape up othe soilt into something that would grow potatoes. IIRC from what I have seen/read the R & F is more like 10 yards wide - Wikiepedia says 5-22 yards. Individual strips to be allocated to different people but also to allow drainage, the ox and plough going alternately along the length to mound up in the middle.
    Ah, an ox, beyond the wildest dreams of a humble bodach!
    Were the lazybeds introduced with the potato or did they predate them?
    I think the ridge and furrow dates from pre enclosure strip farming on the 3 field system, our village was enclosed quite late. The ridges are too wide for potato farming, mostly sheep pasture since.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885

    Carnyx said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Love the ridge and furrow. Never been ploughed. A relic of the middle ages.
    Assume ridge and furrow is similar to lazybeds? Sometimes they're the only evidence of what must have been very old settlements in the Hebrides and Highlands.
    The R & f strips are much wider than feannagan - the latter were hand-dug to scrape up othe soilt into something that would grow potatoes. IIRC from what I have seen/read the R & F is more like 10 yards wide - Wikiepedia says 5-22 yards. Individual strips to be allocated to different people but also to allow drainage, the ox and plough going alternately along the length to mound up in the middle.
    Ah, an ox, beyond the wildest dreams of a humble bodach!
    Were the lazybeds introduced with the potato or did they predate them?
    IIRC they were also used for oats, soi presumably that might have predated the introduction of the tattie. Difficult to see how otherwise people could have existed there.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766
    'I watched Biden yesterday – could barely speak,' Trump criticized of his presumed 2020 Democratic opponent

    Daily Mail Online


    This is going to be the most brutal campaign in American history.

    I hope Biden wants to get in the gutter and fight.
  • Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,780
    https://www.indy100.com/article/keir-starmer-field-land-donkeys-worth-criticism-popularity-9518751

    "Keir Starmer critics ridiculed for trying to make him look bad for owning a 'donkey sanctuary'"

    Including some who spend their spare time resident on PB.

    The next step of this Tory disinformation campaign of genius will be a revelation on Monday that Starmer tried to dodge his taxes, substantiated only by a claim that he made a substantial donation to the Dogs Trust when adopting a three legged elderly golden retriever from a rescue centre, accompanied by photos of said dog wagging its tail and specifically targeted for the attention of the over 60s female demographic still distraught from the death of Monty Don's Nigel.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,036
    So I had the clippers out to trim my facial hair and decided to go for it and give myself a buzz cut. I think it is OK but Wor Lass not so impressed.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885
    Pulpstar said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    Where can these goons go after their 'greedy lefty hypocrite' ploy was such a massive fail? Gratuitous virtue signalling perhaps, showing off with his orphan donkeys and disabled mum schtick?
    I would have though many MoS readers would very much like a paddock next to their house for donkeys and the like. It is a very middle England sort of dream. Looks like a backfire to me.
    I've looked for land, seems almost impossible to find a straight up field for sale.
    I agree. By chance I inherited a small field in a historically sensitive landscape - a pain to get it valued for probate as the surveyors fee was out of proportion - but I get an annual rate of return from the tenant farmer on the nominal value of about 5%. I'd buy more like a shot if I oculd ...
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,036

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
    So, a quick google will tell you that:

    1. He had a long interview on Radio 4 a week ago that can be listened to here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86P7EEJeNKM

    2. He also had another long-ish piece on Mar 30 that can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHE3OerDKEY

    There were also a couple of pieces on the the Parliament channel.
    As a young man he helped Keith Joseph write his infamous Edgbaston speech (the one where he said the lower orders shouldn't breed). Since that is now government policy it's not surprising he's getting so much airtime these days.
    Technically, given the terms of social distancing, it's the policy of Government that nobody not already cohabiting should be breeding until this is all over. However many years that takes.
    Conception from 2m distance would be a good party trick.
  • tysontyson Posts: 6,117

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    Where can these goons go after their 'greedy lefty hypocrite' ploy was such a massive fail? Gratuitous virtue signalling perhaps, showing off with his orphan donkeys and disabled mum schtick?
    These kind of posts let me remember why I loathe Tories....just when I let my guard down a bit....
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
    So, a quick google will tell you that:

    1. He had a long interview on Radio 4 a week ago that can be listened to here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86P7EEJeNKM

    2. He also had another long-ish piece on Mar 30 that can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHE3OerDKEY

    There were also a couple of pieces on the the Parliament channel.
    As a young man he helped Keith Joseph write his infamous Edgbaston speech (the one where he said the lower orders shouldn't breed). Since that is now government policy it's not surprising he's getting so much airtime these days.
    Technically, given the terms of social distancing, it's the policy of Government that nobody not already cohabiting should be breeding until this is all over. However many years that takes.
    Conception from 2m distance would be a good party trick.
    Pro rata, a doddle for acorn barnacles ...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znlU8nR5hI8
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,675

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
    So, a quick google will tell you that:

    1. He had a long interview on Radio 4 a week ago that can be listened to here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86P7EEJeNKM

    2. He also had another long-ish piece on Mar 30 that can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHE3OerDKEY

    There were also a couple of pieces on the the Parliament channel.
    As a young man he helped Keith Joseph write his infamous Edgbaston speech (the one where he said the lower orders shouldn't breed). Since that is now government policy it's not surprising he's getting so much airtime these days.
    Technically, given the terms of social distancing, it's the policy of Government that nobody not already cohabiting should be breeding until this is all over. However many years that takes.
    Conception from 2m distance would be a good party trick.
    The footballer Nayim could lob Seaman from 50 yards.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885
    Foxy said:

    Carnyx said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Love the ridge and furrow. Never been ploughed. A relic of the middle ages.
    Assume ridge and furrow is similar to lazybeds? Sometimes they're the only evidence of what must have been very old settlements in the Hebrides and Highlands.
    The R & f strips are much wider than feannagan - the latter were hand-dug to scrape up othe soilt into something that would grow potatoes. IIRC from what I have seen/read the R & F is more like 10 yards wide - Wikiepedia says 5-22 yards. Individual strips to be allocated to different people but also to allow drainage, the ox and plough going alternately along the length to mound up in the middle.
    Ah, an ox, beyond the wildest dreams of a humble bodach!
    Were the lazybeds introduced with the potato or did they predate them?
    I think the ridge and furrow dates from pre enclosure strip farming on the 3 field system, our village was enclosed quite late. The ridges are too wide for potato farming, mostly sheep pasture since.
    And it's great to see rare breeds sheep too.
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
    So, a quick google will tell you that:

    1. He had a long interview on Radio 4 a week ago that can be listened to here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86P7EEJeNKM

    2. He also had another long-ish piece on Mar 30 that can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHE3OerDKEY

    There were also a couple of pieces on the the Parliament channel.
    As a young man he helped Keith Joseph write his infamous Edgbaston speech (the one where he said the lower orders shouldn't breed). Since that is now government policy it's not surprising he's getting so much airtime these days.
    Technically, given the terms of social distancing, it's the policy of Government that nobody not already cohabiting should be breeding until this is all over. However many years that takes.
    Conception from 2m distance would be a good party trick.
    Whilst achieving that kind of distance and accuracy would indeed be a remarkable feat, any exchange of bodily fluids would strike one as being, at the very least, outside the spirit of the rules.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,413
    edited May 2020
    isam said:
    That's strange cos I've heard him at least 3 times recently spouting bollocks on the BBC.
    Edit: I see OnlyLivingBoy has been on the case.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,036

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
    So, a quick google will tell you that:

    1. He had a long interview on Radio 4 a week ago that can be listened to here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86P7EEJeNKM

    2. He also had another long-ish piece on Mar 30 that can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHE3OerDKEY

    There were also a couple of pieces on the the Parliament channel.
    As a young man he helped Keith Joseph write his infamous Edgbaston speech (the one where he said the lower orders shouldn't breed). Since that is now government policy it's not surprising he's getting so much airtime these days.
    Technically, given the terms of social distancing, it's the policy of Government that nobody not already cohabiting should be breeding until this is all over. However many years that takes.
    Conception from 2m distance would be a good party trick.
    Whilst achieving that kind of distance and accuracy would indeed be a remarkable feat, any exchange of bodily fluids would strike one as being, at the very least, outside the spirit of the rules.
    And would probably be frowned upon in a public park too.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,002

    So I had the clippers out to trim my facial hair and decided to go for it and give myself a buzz cut. I think it is OK but Wor Lass not so impressed.

    Is it as good as this?

    https://twitter.com/SarahDawkins23/status/1262106177384648706
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766
    eadric said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    The point is that if it were in a right wing paper and the butt of the joke were a left winger's foreign sounding name, I think O'Brien would be up in arms.

    We frequently see such double standards on here.

    I was told that Boris "literally just said" 'People of Colour', in a sentence that confirmed his White Supremacism, by someone who is now warning Tory MPs to expect to be done for libelling Keir Starmer because they fell for fake news the same as he did!
    Tom Tugendhat's father attended the same Private Boarding school as James O'Brien

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tugendhat
    Christ. They’re all posho c*nts, aren’t they? All of them
    Isn't this is Catholic thing? Ampleforth?
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    Eh? Hasn't R4 news done 2 longish interviews with him recently? Must admit hearing the 'political correctness' cliché made me switch off a bit during the last one.
    So, a quick google will tell you that:

    1. He had a long interview on Radio 4 a week ago that can be listened to here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86P7EEJeNKM

    2. He also had another long-ish piece on Mar 30 that can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHE3OerDKEY

    There were also a couple of pieces on the the Parliament channel.
    As a young man he helped Keith Joseph write his infamous Edgbaston speech (the one where he said the lower orders shouldn't breed). Since that is now government policy it's not surprising he's getting so much airtime these days.
    Technically, given the terms of social distancing, it's the policy of Government that nobody not already cohabiting should be breeding until this is all over. However many years that takes.
    Conception from 2m distance would be a good party trick.
    Whilst achieving that kind of distance and accuracy would indeed be a remarkable feat, any exchange of bodily fluids would strike one as being, at the very least, outside the spirit of the rules.
    And would probably be frowned upon in a public park too.
    Oh I don't know, the police would probably be thrilled. After weeks of pestering people for sunbathing, chastising people using park benches for not being in constant motion, and causing tiny girls on pink tricycles to burst into floods of tears after telling them off for only keeping 1.83m distance from pedestrians, at last: an opportunity to make a proper arrest!
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,036
    Scott_xP said:

    So I had the clippers out to trim my facial hair and decided to go for it and give myself a buzz cut. I think it is OK but Wor Lass not so impressed.

    Is it as good as this?

    https://twitter.com/SarahDawkins23/status/1262106177384648706
    Mine is a slightly more even length, although I did miss a bit at the back so had a bit of a rat's tail until I chopped it off.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,482

    Scott_xP said:

    So I had the clippers out to trim my facial hair and decided to go for it and give myself a buzz cut. I think it is OK but Wor Lass not so impressed.

    Is it as good as this?

    https://twitter.com/SarahDawkins23/status/1262106177384648706
    Mine is a slightly more even length, although I did miss a bit at the back so had a bit of a rat's tail until I chopped it off.
    I have cut my own hair for years. The style I'm sporting in my av is a self-topiary effort. I'm usually cutting extra bits I've missed for several days.

    *weeks
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    stodge said:

    kyf_100 said:


    It is worth noting that "Sir Keir" sounds a lot like "bell end" in Farsi.

    https://twitter.com/ali7adeh/status/1246753660933201925?lang=en

    If an Iranian newspaer made a joke about this, would it be racist towards the English?

    Why is it "worth noting" at all?
    Its at least as worth noting as the fact he bought a field for his mum for £15,000 which apparently is massively newsworthy.

    Sunak having 12 houses isn't worth noting though
    One of them is a Tory who unashamedly celebrates financial success, the other purports to lead a socialist party that rails against it and in recent years tried to crush it entirely.

    Both are rich, but only one is a hypocrite.

    £15k for a field that size shows astute financial acumen to me. Quite a bargain, and a kind gesture for his mum to keep donkeys in.
    The fun will start if someone accidentally builds houses on it.
    I bought a 4 acre field some years ago, as it backs onto my garden. £10 000 per acre is the going rate here, but 20-40 times that with planning permission. No one builds on it but me. I have a few sheep on it at present.



    At the moment planning permission is a windfall. If councils charged £100k an acre, everyone would be happy and a good source of revenue.
    Lovely. Are they Leicester Blueface?
    I think they are Hardwick sheep. I sub-let the field to keep it grazed. No charge, but the farmer maintains the hedges etc.

    I never particularly aspired to buy a field, but when it came up for sale, I wanted it to stay agricultural.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,139
    edited May 2020
    eadric said:



    eadric said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    The point is that if it were in a right wing paper and the butt of the joke were a left winger's foreign sounding name, I think O'Brien would be up in arms.

    We frequently see such double standards on here.

    I was told that Boris "literally just said" 'People of Colour', in a sentence that confirmed his White Supremacism, by someone who is now warning Tory MPs to expect to be done for libelling Keir Starmer because they fell for fake news the same as he did!
    Tom Tugendhat's father attended the same Private Boarding school as James O'Brien

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tugendhat
    Christ. They’re all posho c*nts, aren’t they? All of them
    Isn't this is Catholic thing? Ampleforth?
    I’m really REALLY bored of being governed by, or lectured by, or hectored by, anyone who has been to private school. I want a revolution, I want a culling of the Kulaks. They are, above all, useless fuckwits who lost the Empire, so they’re not even very good at what they are meant to do.
    It was Attlee, Haileybury and Eden and Macmillan, Eton who gave up most of the Empire in terms of India and Africa. Lord North, Eton also was PM when GB lost the War of Independence and the American colonies.

    Churchill, Harrow wanted to keep the Empire
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,482
    HYUFD said:

    eadric said:



    eadric said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    The point is that if it were in a right wing paper and the butt of the joke were a left winger's foreign sounding name, I think O'Brien would be up in arms.

    We frequently see such double standards on here.

    I was told that Boris "literally just said" 'People of Colour', in a sentence that confirmed his White Supremacism, by someone who is now warning Tory MPs to expect to be done for libelling Keir Starmer because they fell for fake news the same as he did!
    Tom Tugendhat's father attended the same Private Boarding school as James O'Brien

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tugendhat
    Christ. They’re all posho c*nts, aren’t they? All of them
    Isn't this is Catholic thing? Ampleforth?
    I’m really REALLY bored of being governed by, or lectured by, or hectored by, anyone who has been to private school. I want a revolution, I want a culling of the Kulaks. They are, above all, useless fuckwits who lost the Empire, so they’re not even very good at what they are meant to do.
    It was Attlee, Haileybury and Eden and Macmillan, Eton who gave up most of the Empire in terms of India and Africa.

    Churchill, Harrow wanted to keep the Empire
    The die was a bit cast by then. The decline of the Empire (if having an 'Empire' in itself is such a desirable thing) was due to WW1. Which schools did the architects of our WW1 participation attend?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,119
    I think getting peoples hopes up is really dangerous. It is really overselling the situation.

    https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/1262122252142874625?s=19
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,217
    eadric said:

    I don't know about anyone else, but I veer between three different attitudes to the Plague:

    1. Optimism - either it turns out that this disease has a lower than expected threshold for herd immunity, or a vaccination or drug treatment trial tames it at some point in the next few months
    2. Pessimism - we're going to be stuck with the misery of social distancing for years, it's going to destroy the economy and make everyone's lives unbearable. Mass cliff-jumping and wrist-slitting will commence by Christmas at the latest
    3. Fatalism - the disease will take off again but attempts to reimpose lockdown will fail because people will have lost all faith in it. Best efforts will be made to protect the vulnerable and will hopefully do some good; much of the rest of the population will get it, and it'll burn itself out by the end of the year

    Any evidence supporting (1) gets filed in the "too good to be true" folder, because I'm a glass half empty kind of a character. I spend most of the time pitching between (2) and (3). Whilst my personal circumstances are better than a lot of other people's, this still isn't very much fun.


    Top post. That’s pretty much me to a Tee

    I don’t think this virus will kill 1% of us. Right now I m terrified of the economic sequelae.

    eg 60% of Greek hotels are technically bankrupt, 50,000 Italian restaurants likewise, half of the UK’s pubs and so on. I fear a tsunami of bad debt around the world which will make the Great Depression look like the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 27th August, 1896.
    You know, a tsunami of bad debt sucks. People lose money.

    But that's life.

    The owners of capital make out like bandits when things are going well, and should be first against the wall when things aren't. That's not a bug of capitalism, that's a feature. We allow people to make money, because they are accepting the risks.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,139
    edited May 2020

    HYUFD said:

    eadric said:



    eadric said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    The point is that if it were in a right wing paper and the butt of the joke were a left winger's foreign sounding name, I think O'Brien would be up in arms.

    We frequently see such double standards on here.

    I was told that Boris "literally just said" 'People of Colour', in a sentence that confirmed his White Supremacism, by someone who is now warning Tory MPs to expect to be done for libelling Keir Starmer because they fell for fake news the same as he did!
    Tom Tugendhat's father attended the same Private Boarding school as James O'Brien

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tugendhat
    Christ. They’re all posho c*nts, aren’t they? All of them
    Isn't this is Catholic thing? Ampleforth?
    I’m really REALLY bored of being governed by, or lectured by, or hectored by, anyone who has been to private school. I want a revolution, I want a culling of the Kulaks. They are, above all, useless fuckwits who lost the Empire, so they’re not even very good at what they are meant to do.
    It was Attlee, Haileybury and Eden and Macmillan, Eton who gave up most of the Empire in terms of India and Africa.

    Churchill, Harrow wanted to keep the Empire
    The die was a bit cast by then. The decline of the Empire (if having an 'Empire' in itself is such a desirable thing) was due to WW1. Which schools did the architects of our WW1 participation attend?
    Even in 1945 the British Empire still included India and most of Africa and most of the Middle East.

    Keeping it may have been morally wrong passed then and economically difficult post Suez but it was still going well passed WW1
  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    Cheer up folks. Hopefully HS2 and an extra Heath-row runway may be cancelled. And...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvUQcnfwUUM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601
    edited May 2020
    People who can't understand the simple arguments Lord Sumption is making in the video posted earlier really are idiots.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,482
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    eadric said:



    eadric said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    The point is that if it were in a right wing paper and the butt of the joke were a left winger's foreign sounding name, I think O'Brien would be up in arms.

    We frequently see such double standards on here.

    I was told that Boris "literally just said" 'People of Colour', in a sentence that confirmed his White Supremacism, by someone who is now warning Tory MPs to expect to be done for libelling Keir Starmer because they fell for fake news the same as he did!
    Tom Tugendhat's father attended the same Private Boarding school as James O'Brien

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tugendhat
    Christ. They’re all posho c*nts, aren’t they? All of them
    Isn't this is Catholic thing? Ampleforth?
    I’m really REALLY bored of being governed by, or lectured by, or hectored by, anyone who has been to private school. I want a revolution, I want a culling of the Kulaks. They are, above all, useless fuckwits who lost the Empire, so they’re not even very good at what they are meant to do.
    It was Attlee, Haileybury and Eden and Macmillan, Eton who gave up most of the Empire in terms of India and Africa.

    Churchill, Harrow wanted to keep the Empire
    The die was a bit cast by then. The decline of the Empire (if having an 'Empire' in itself is such a desirable thing) was due to WW1. Which schools did the architects of our WW1 participation attend?
    Even in 1945 the British Empire still includes India and most of Africa and most of the Middle East.

    Keeping it may have been morally wrong passed then and economically difficult post Suez but it was still going well passed WW1
    Yes, absolutely. It was actually at its largest ever geographical extent. But it was no longer (imo) economically viable or politically sustainable. And then WW2 finished it off totally.

  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,119
    edited May 2020
    Outraged of Oxford currently penning to the Guardian in regards to how they won't now be able to have their holiday in the South of France

    https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/1262125043527671808?s=19
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    eadric said:

    I don't know about anyone else, but I veer between three different attitudes to the Plague:

    1. Optimism - either it turns out that this disease has a lower than expected threshold for herd immunity, or a vaccination or drug treatment trial tames it at some point in the next few months
    2. Pessimism - we're going to be stuck with the misery of social distancing for years, it's going to destroy the economy and make everyone's lives unbearable. Mass cliff-jumping and wrist-slitting will commence by Christmas at the latest
    3. Fatalism - the disease will take off again but attempts to reimpose lockdown will fail because people will have lost all faith in it. Best efforts will be made to protect the vulnerable and will hopefully do some good; much of the rest of the population will get it, and it'll burn itself out by the end of the year

    Any evidence supporting (1) gets filed in the "too good to be true" folder, because I'm a glass half empty kind of a character. I spend most of the time pitching between (2) and (3). Whilst my personal circumstances are better than a lot of other people's, this still isn't very much fun.


    Top post. That’s pretty much me to a Tee

    I don’t think this virus will kill 1% of us. Right now I m terrified of the economic sequelae.

    eg 60% of Greek hotels are technically bankrupt, 50,000 Italian restaurants likewise, half of the UK’s pubs and so on. I fear a tsunami of bad debt around the world which will make the Great Depression look like the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 27th August, 1896.
    The failure to protect the aged in general and care homes in particular looks like turning into the most expensive public policy blunder in the whole of human history - here and in much of the rest of the world. I've been reviewing a recent ONS publication on the mortality stats for England and fully 83% of all deaths were in those aged over 70. The death rate for those under 70 contracting the disease peaks at 0.7% of all identified cases for the 65-69 cohort, declining to below 0.1% for all age groups under 50.

    Basically if we'd told all the nation's pensioners to self-isolate at the start of all this, arranged to have them supplied with free groceries for the entire course of the pandemic, and sealed off the care homes and done likewise, and also bunged every member of staff who works in them £100k each to stay put and not leave for the duration, then the pandemic really would've been no worse than a bad flu season for everybody else and we could've got to herd immunity and been over it by the Summer - all for a sum that, compared to the bill now confronting the Government, would be trivial.

    Still, hindsight's a wonderful thing, eh?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    eadric said:



    eadric said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    The point is that if it were in a right wing paper and the butt of the joke were a left winger's foreign sounding name, I think O'Brien would be up in arms.

    We frequently see such double standards on here.

    I was told that Boris "literally just said" 'People of Colour', in a sentence that confirmed his White Supremacism, by someone who is now warning Tory MPs to expect to be done for libelling Keir Starmer because they fell for fake news the same as he did!
    Tom Tugendhat's father attended the same Private Boarding school as James O'Brien

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tugendhat
    Christ. They’re all posho c*nts, aren’t they? All of them
    Isn't this is Catholic thing? Ampleforth?
    I’m really REALLY bored of being governed by, or lectured by, or hectored by, anyone who has been to private school. I want a revolution, I want a culling of the Kulaks. They are, above all, useless fuckwits who lost the Empire, so they’re not even very good at what they are meant to do.
    It was Attlee, Haileybury and Eden and Macmillan, Eton who gave up most of the Empire in terms of India and Africa.

    Churchill, Harrow wanted to keep the Empire
    The die was a bit cast by then. The decline of the Empire (if having an 'Empire' in itself is such a desirable thing) was due to WW1. Which schools did the architects of our WW1 participation attend?
    Even in 1945 the British Empire still included India and most of Africa and most of the Middle East.

    Keeping it may have been morally wrong passed then and economically difficult post Suez but it was still going well passed WW1
    The writing was on the wall after WW2.

    It became hard to justify having our own undemocratic racist empire, having spent 6 years mobilising those countries to defeat another undemocratic racist empire.

    Attlee, Eden MacMillan etc were just recognising the reality that empire was no longer tenable.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601

    eadric said:

    I don't know about anyone else, but I veer between three different attitudes to the Plague:

    1. Optimism - either it turns out that this disease has a lower than expected threshold for herd immunity, or a vaccination or drug treatment trial tames it at some point in the next few months
    2. Pessimism - we're going to be stuck with the misery of social distancing for years, it's going to destroy the economy and make everyone's lives unbearable. Mass cliff-jumping and wrist-slitting will commence by Christmas at the latest
    3. Fatalism - the disease will take off again but attempts to reimpose lockdown will fail because people will have lost all faith in it. Best efforts will be made to protect the vulnerable and will hopefully do some good; much of the rest of the population will get it, and it'll burn itself out by the end of the year

    Any evidence supporting (1) gets filed in the "too good to be true" folder, because I'm a glass half empty kind of a character. I spend most of the time pitching between (2) and (3). Whilst my personal circumstances are better than a lot of other people's, this still isn't very much fun.


    Top post. That’s pretty much me to a Tee

    I don’t think this virus will kill 1% of us. Right now I m terrified of the economic sequelae.

    eg 60% of Greek hotels are technically bankrupt, 50,000 Italian restaurants likewise, half of the UK’s pubs and so on. I fear a tsunami of bad debt around the world which will make the Great Depression look like the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 27th August, 1896.
    The failure to protect the aged in general and care homes in particular looks like turning into the most expensive public policy blunder in the whole of human history - here and in much of the rest of the world. I've been reviewing a recent ONS publication on the mortality stats for England and fully 83% of all deaths were in those aged over 70. The death rate for those under 70 contracting the disease peaks at 0.7% of all identified cases for the 65-69 cohort, declining to below 0.1% for all age groups under 50.

    Basically if we'd told all the nation's pensioners to self-isolate at the start of all this, arranged to have them supplied with free groceries for the entire course of the pandemic, and sealed off the care homes and done likewise, and also bunged every member of staff who works in them £100k each to stay put and not leave for the duration, then the pandemic really would've been no worse than a bad flu season for everybody else and we could've got to herd immunity and been over it by the Summer - all for a sum that, compared to the bill now confronting the Government, would be trivial.

    Still, hindsight's a wonderful thing, eh?
    It was fairly obvious from the beginning that only elderly people and people with serious health conditions should have been subject to the lockdown.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,139
    Foxy said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    eadric said:



    eadric said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    isam said:

    Why did the Guardian think this was clever?

    https://twitter.com/MattSingh_/status/1262023800276881412?s=20

    James O'Brien says he doesn't think he meant it, but taking the mick out of foreign sounding names is fair game anyway, whats the fuss?

    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1262030864235393024?s=20
    https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1261986981438988293?s=20
    https://twitter.com/DanielKorski/status/1262021419225006080?s=20
    Golly. I am all for pointing at lefty anti-semites and laughing, but I haven't seen a weaker claim than this. It is a completely pathetic "Foreign names are hilarious, especially when they accidentally contain proper English words" gag, but who knew Tugendhat was a Jewish name, if it is?
    The point is that if it were in a right wing paper and the butt of the joke were a left winger's foreign sounding name, I think O'Brien would be up in arms.

    We frequently see such double standards on here.

    I was told that Boris "literally just said" 'People of Colour', in a sentence that confirmed his White Supremacism, by someone who is now warning Tory MPs to expect to be done for libelling Keir Starmer because they fell for fake news the same as he did!
    Tom Tugendhat's father attended the same Private Boarding school as James O'Brien

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tugendhat
    Christ. They’re all posho c*nts, aren’t they? All of them
    Isn't this is Catholic thing? Ampleforth?
    I’m really REALLY bored of being governed by, or lectured by, or hectored by, anyone who has been to private school. I want a revolution, I want a culling of the Kulaks. They are, above all, useless fuckwits who lost the Empire, so they’re not even very good at what they are meant to do.
    It was Attlee, Haileybury and Eden and Macmillan, Eton who gave up most of the Empire in terms of India and Africa.

    Churchill, Harrow wanted to keep the Empire
    The die was a bit cast by then. The decline of the Empire (if having an 'Empire' in itself is such a desirable thing) was due to WW1. Which schools did the architects of our WW1 participation attend?
    Even in 1945 the British Empire still included India and most of Africa and most of the Middle East.

    Keeping it may have been morally wrong passed then and economically difficult post Suez but it was still going well passed WW1
    The writing was on the wall after WW2.

    It became hard to justify having our own undemocratic racist empire, having spent 6 years mobilising those countries to defeat another undemocratic racist empire.

    Attlee, Eden MacMillan etc were just recognising the reality that empire was no longer tenable.
    Though Halifax of course at one time wanted to do a deal with Hitler to keep the Empire.

    Fortunately Churchill, despite his pro Empire beliefs, put defeating Hitler first even if it meant ultimately the loss of the British Empire and the end of the period during which Britain was a superpower, as it had been since the mid 18th century
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,720

    eadric said:

    I don't know about anyone else, but I veer between three different attitudes to the Plague:

    1. Optimism - either it turns out that this disease has a lower than expected threshold for herd immunity, or a vaccination or drug treatment trial tames it at some point in the next few months
    2. Pessimism - we're going to be stuck with the misery of social distancing for years, it's going to destroy the economy and make everyone's lives unbearable. Mass cliff-jumping and wrist-slitting will commence by Christmas at the latest
    3. Fatalism - the disease will take off again but attempts to reimpose lockdown will fail because people will have lost all faith in it. Best efforts will be made to protect the vulnerable and will hopefully do some good; much of the rest of the population will get it, and it'll burn itself out by the end of the year

    Any evidence supporting (1) gets filed in the "too good to be true" folder, because I'm a glass half empty kind of a character. I spend most of the time pitching between (2) and (3). Whilst my personal circumstances are better than a lot of other people's, this still isn't very much fun.


    Top post. That’s pretty much me to a Tee

    I don’t think this virus will kill 1% of us. Right now I m terrified of the economic sequelae.

    eg 60% of Greek hotels are technically bankrupt, 50,000 Italian restaurants likewise, half of the UK’s pubs and so on. I fear a tsunami of bad debt around the world which will make the Great Depression look like the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 27th August, 1896.
    The failure to protect the aged in general and care homes in particular looks like turning into the most expensive public policy blunder in the whole of human history - here and in much of the rest of the world. I've been reviewing a recent ONS publication on the mortality stats for England and fully 83% of all deaths were in those aged over 70. The death rate for those under 70 contracting the disease peaks at 0.7% of all identified cases for the 65-69 cohort, declining to below 0.1% for all age groups under 50.

    Basically if we'd told all the nation's pensioners to self-isolate at the start of all this, arranged to have them supplied with free groceries for the entire course of the pandemic, and sealed off the care homes and done likewise, and also bunged every member of staff who works in them £100k each to stay put and not leave for the duration, then the pandemic really would've been no worse than a bad flu season for everybody else and we could've got to herd immunity and been over it by the Summer - all for a sum that, compared to the bill now confronting the Government, would be trivial.

    Still, hindsight's a wonderful thing, eh?
    I don't think it possible to protect carehomes. Despite the varying competence and efforts of various countries, infections in care-homes have been pretty universal.

This discussion has been closed.