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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » It’s time to ban Americans

SystemSystem Posts: 11,017
edited July 2020 in General
imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » It’s time to ban Americans

President Trump likes to congratulate himself on having closed the border to China in early February as an effective preventative measure against Covid-19. That he should do so isn’t too surprising: congratulating himself is his default setting and his administration has routinely adopted an anti-China stance, as part of Trump’s efforts to rebalance the trade deficit between the two countries.

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  • Options
    Can the Corbynites just fuck off to the SWP and Labour can get back to trying to win elections please. They do not have a majority of opinion over what the left should do.

    I am a leftie, I am not interested in their boring, petty arguments. Let's solve the big problems that actually matter, can't do that if we keep losing.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,725
    Provocative headline!
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,725


    I am a leftie, I am not interested in their boring, petty arguments.

    I think the Corbynite crowd think arguing over petty arguments is a true indication of being a leftie, that's why there are so many left splinter groups out there (my favourite being Left Unity).
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,725
    MattW said:

    This is fun:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080/why-i-fell-in-love-with-irish-dancing

    Completely bonkers, but entirely consistent with the arguments of those who go around accusing other people of cultural appropriation.

    Good for her for finding joy in an element of another culture and going for it. Can you imagine if people followed appopriation arguments through to their conclusion, everyone stuck only enjoying or seeking to emulate things of their own upbringing? Ghastly. You'd have people thinking they have to like irish dancing if they were irish, for example. It's a truly weird concept. She at least seems to make a reasonable distinction about appreciatiating the heritage of something versus borrowing elements with acknowledgement.
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    Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 60,280

    Can the Corbynites just fuck off to the SWP and Labour can get back to trying to win elections please. They do not have a majority of opinion over what the left should do.

    I am a leftie, I am not interested in their boring, petty arguments. Let's solve the big problems that actually matter, can't do that if we keep losing.

    I doubt you can wish them away but they are virtually over now
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,725
    It's a powerful conclusion. I really hesitate to venture opinions on practical measures as I do not trust my own ability to determine what would be effective ones, but the mammoth costs in lives, jobs and finances already spent, and ongoing, mean extreme measures, even ones with diplomatic costs, must surely be on the table.
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    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189
    Surely almost anything is preferable to going through that again?

    Sadly, I think this is a QTWTAIN.

    Nevertheless, great thread header.
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    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,413
    I don't really see it. It feels more like a wish to see poetic justice done on Trump. Which isn't a great basis for policy. Measures in place should be enough, and if they aren't, there must be more that we can do short of banning travel.
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    Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 60,280
    edited July 2020
    Just watched a piece on Sky about London's lost workers and to be honest it is deeply disturbing, not just for London but Cities across the globe

    And goodness only knows the damage it is doing to the pensions industry and the devastating effect for future pension payments

    And I have no idea how anyone or any political party resolves this

    And I agree with David's piece
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,917

    I don't really see it. It feels more like a wish to see poetic justice done on Trump. Which isn't a great basis for policy. Measures in place should be enough, and if they aren't, there must be more that we can do short of banning travel.

    Nah, it really isn't. Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Peru should be subject to the same restrictions.
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    kle4 said:

    Provocative headline!

    BA has just cancelled my wife and daughters return flight for the 3rd time...
  • Options
    Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 60,280
    Charles said:

    kle4 said:

    Provocative headline!

    BA has just cancelled my wife and daughters return flight for the 3rd time...
    And as well as A380 aircraft retired now all 747's gone

    It is like a bad dream but it is actually happening
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,917
    Charles said:

    kle4 said:

    Provocative headline!

    BA has just cancelled my wife and daughters return flight for the 3rd time...
    When did they head out to the States ?
  • Options
    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189

    I don't really see it. It feels more like a wish to see poetic justice done on Trump. Which isn't a great basis for policy. Measures in place should be enough, and if they aren't, there must be more that we can do short of banning travel.

    To be fair to David, I can see why he's focussed on the USA. It's probably the reason why this policy won't come in.

    Of course, the other difficulty is reliability of stats. For example, how much do we trust the stats of India (25 per million per day) and Pakistan (9 per million per day)?
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,105
    I don't trust Starmer's hair. It is way too ambitious....
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    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735
    kle4 said:

    MattW said:

    This is fun:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080/why-i-fell-in-love-with-irish-dancing

    Completely bonkers, but entirely consistent with the arguments of those who go around accusing other people of cultural appropriation.

    Good for her for finding joy in an element of another culture and going for it. Can you imagine if people followed appopriation arguments through to their conclusion, everyone stuck only enjoying or seeking to emulate things of their own upbringing? Ghastly. You'd have people thinking they have to like irish dancing if they were irish, for example. It's a truly weird concept. She at least seems to make a reasonable distinction about appreciatiating the heritage of something versus borrowing elements with acknowledgement.
    I dont think you even have to understand and follow the heritage. It should be fine to borrow what you like from something "foreign" and adapt it. That is literally how human progess has happened.

    For me it is just about respect. If you copy something to belittle and demean it, blackface in 20th century being an obvious example, you should be criticised for it. Otherwise enjoy the wide variety there is in the world and find what suits you.
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    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,974
    kle4 said:


    I am a leftie, I am not interested in their boring, petty arguments.

    I think the Corbynite crowd think arguing over petty arguments is a true indication of being a leftie, that's why there are so many left splinter groups out there (my favourite being Left Unity).
    Peoples Front for the Liberation of Judea, anyone.
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    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,603
    I agree with Mr Herdson, with the qualification that I would go full-fat New Zealand and aim for eradication.

  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,725

    kle4 said:

    MattW said:

    This is fun:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080/why-i-fell-in-love-with-irish-dancing

    Completely bonkers, but entirely consistent with the arguments of those who go around accusing other people of cultural appropriation.

    Good for her for finding joy in an element of another culture and going for it. Can you imagine if people followed appopriation arguments through to their conclusion, everyone stuck only enjoying or seeking to emulate things of their own upbringing? Ghastly. You'd have people thinking they have to like irish dancing if they were irish, for example. It's a truly weird concept. She at least seems to make a reasonable distinction about appreciatiating the heritage of something versus borrowing elements with acknowledgement.
    I dont think you even have to understand and follow the heritage. It should be fine to borrow what you like from something "foreign" and adapt it. That is literally how human progess has happened.

    For me it is just about respect. If you copy something to belittle and demean it, blackface in 20th century being an obvious example, you should be criticised for it. Otherwise enjoy the wide variety there is in the world and find what suits you.
    Oh I agree you don't have to understand the heritage, but I felt that she at least in making that distinction showed a level of reasonableness I would hope the purist 'appropriators' would accept, and thus curtail the stupider elements of calling out appropriation, like yelling at people for wearing a particular hairstyle, that kind of thing.
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    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735
    We shouldnt ban Americans. A travel ban on anyone or non UK citizens who have recently been in the USA - the disparity in infection rates is close to justifying it, but would prefer mandatory airport hotel quarantines which achieve the same thing but are less egregious for those who really do need to travel.
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    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,974
    edited July 2020
    Pulpstar said:

    Charles said:

    kle4 said:

    Provocative headline!

    BA has just cancelled my wife and daughters return flight for the 3rd time...
    When did they head out to the States ?
    My wife's cousin and his wife had great trouble getting back in mid March. Had to go to about East Coast airports, IIRC.
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    MattWMattW Posts: 18,501
    edited July 2020

    I agree with Mr Herdson, with the qualification that I would go full-fat New Zealand and aim for eradication.

    I think our position as an international junction box, both for travel and movement-of-population, compared to New Zealand's middle-of-the-back-of-beyond, makes that difficult.

    But I think David is talking sense on the general principle.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,986
    Ardern's policy may have worked for now but it has also hammered the New Zealand tourist industry and the full effect of that may not be felt for months, an outright ban on tourists from America or elsewhere coming here rather than just quarantine for those with the highest cases would likely have the same effect
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    geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,150
    There is a slight problem in the logic of only allowing travellers (incl returnees) from countries with fewer cases per 100,000 than us. If all countries take that line we have an impasse.
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    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,263
    This is what the quarantine policy was supposed to achieve by the roundabout route of restricting everyone and then letting everyone bar Americans (north and south) back in. I agree with David that his approach would be more straightforward. Clearly the one advantage of having a childish spiteful PM is that he can understand what a childish spiteful president might do.
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    MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,607

    I agree with Mr Herdson, with the qualification that I would go full-fat New Zealand and aim for eradication.

    Would you also like to eradicate the economy?
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    Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 60,280
    HYUFD said:

    Ardern's policy may have worked for now but it has also hammered the New Zealand tourist industry and the full effect of that may not be felt for months, an outright ban on tourists from America or elsewhere coming here rather than just quarantine for those with the highest cases would likely have the same effect

    My nephew has returned home to Scotland permanently having lost his job as a sky diving professional in NZ for many years
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    kjhkjh Posts: 10,620
    MattW said:

    I agree with Mr Herdson, with the qualification that I would go full-fat New Zealand and aim for eradication.

    I think our position as an international junction box, both for travel and movement-of-population, compared to New Zealand's middle-of-the-back-of-beyond, makes that difficult.

    But I think David is talking sense on the general principle.
    Matt I replied to you on the last thread, but in summary - yes I did just make the number up :)

    South Africa is interesting having gone from really good control to a basket case. C4 news (I think) the other night did a programme on their hospitals. It was horrifying and far too graphic (Rats drinking from pools of blood, etc)
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    Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    tlg86 said:

    I don't really see it. It feels more like a wish to see poetic justice done on Trump. Which isn't a great basis for policy. Measures in place should be enough, and if they aren't, there must be more that we can do short of banning travel.

    To be fair to David, I can see why he's focussed on the USA. It's probably the reason why this policy won't come in.

    Of course, the other difficulty is reliability of stats. For example, how much do we trust the stats of India (25 per million per day) and Pakistan (9 per million per day)?
    You can't. Even the numbers in countries that have a supposedly sophisticated infrastructure for gathering them (Exhibit A: Public Health England, with its people run over by buses added to the Covid deaths) aren't always reliable. There is no way on God's Earth that the Covid infection rate in Pakistan is as low as it currently is in the UK.

    Indeed, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the failure to shut down air traffic early on in this pandemic is eventually identified as one of the most important failings in the UK response: the tourist trade may have imploded very rapidly but family visit traffic back and forth between Britain and the Indian sub-continent continued unimpeded for months. This might even help to provide part of the explanation for why most of the local authority areas in which the virus remains stubbornly sticky are those with substantial populations of South Asian descent.

    Just watched a piece on Sky about London's lost workers and to be honest it is deeply disturbing, not just for London but Cities across the globe

    Within this country, one would expect that all the big urban cores would suffer just like London, and indeed the Guardian contains a report this morning of similar ghost town scenes in the city centres of Leeds, Newcastle and Bristol. Meanwhile, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic that (barring a really serious second flare-up of Covid) most or all of the local businesses in the centre of our little market town are going to pull through this episode.

    You'd expect the locations where hospitality businesses are most likely to pull through are going to be those reliant on local people, many of whom will be regulars and most of whom will get to them on foot or via short private car journeys. Big cities that are very reliant on commuters, tourists and people travelling into them on "dirty" public transport are in awful trouble.
  • Options
    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.
  • Options
    dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,955
    It is easy to forget that yesterday was a record for infection worldwide. The pandemic is raging.
    At some stage it must take off here again if we do nothing and aĺlow anyone and everyone in.
    But what?
    Every option is unpalatable.
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    geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,150

    tlg86 said:

    I don't really see it. It feels more like a wish to see poetic justice done on Trump. Which isn't a great basis for policy. Measures in place should be enough, and if they aren't, there must be more that we can do short of banning travel.

    To be fair to David, I can see why he's focussed on the USA. It's probably the reason why this policy won't come in.

    Of course, the other difficulty is reliability of stats. For example, how much do we trust the stats of India (25 per million per day) and Pakistan (9 per million per day)?
    You can't. Even the numbers in countries that have a supposedly sophisticated infrastructure for gathering them (Exhibit A: Public Health England, with its people run over by buses added to the Covid deaths) aren't always reliable. There is no way on God's Earth that the Covid infection rate in Pakistan is as low as it currently is in the UK.

    Indeed, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the failure to shut down air traffic early on in this pandemic is eventually identified as one of the most important failings in the UK response: the tourist trade may have imploded very rapidly but family visit traffic back and forth between Britain and the Indian sub-continent continued unimpeded for months. This might even help to provide part of the explanation for why most of the local authority areas in which the virus remains stubbornly sticky are those with substantial populations of South Asian descent.

    Just watched a piece on Sky about London's lost workers and to be honest it is deeply disturbing, not just for London but Cities across the globe

    Within this country, one would expect that all the big urban cores would suffer just like London, and indeed the Guardian contains a report this morning of similar ghost town scenes in the city centres of Leeds, Newcastle and Bristol. Meanwhile, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic that (barring a really serious second flare-up of Covid) most or all of the local businesses in the centre of our little market town are going to pull through this episode.

    You'd expect the locations where hospitality businesses are most likely to pull through are going to be those reliant on local people, many of whom will be regulars and most of whom will get to them on foot or via short private car journeys. Big cities that are very reliant on commuters, tourists and people travelling into them on "dirty" public transport are in awful trouble.
    Better to be a business serving Somewheres than Anywheres.
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    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189
    edited July 2020
    dixiedean said:

    It is easy to forget that yesterday was a record for infection worldwide. The pandemic is raging.
    At some stage it must take off here again if we do nothing and aĺlow anyone and everyone in.
    But what?
    Every option is unpalatable.

    The one thing missing from David's piece is an assessment of how many people are actually coming into the country. I can't find any stats on it. I occasionally look at flight radar to see what's about and I've noticed a few more flights to places like Alicante. There are more contrails in the skies, but I'm not sure there are actually many more passenger flights coming in at the moment.

    EDIT: Just to add, Farnborough airport is as busy as ever.
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    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Central London as in Zone 1? Not really will be fine once the tourists come back regardless, property prices will come down but thats no bad thing. Zone 2-3 probably worst hit, with people retreating to Zone 5-6 or commuter towns and villages for more space.

    £500k for a 1 bed in Elephant & Castle with high service charges? Those are the properties that are really in trouble.
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    The failure to close our air borders will go down as a huge negative against both the scientific advice and the politicians who credulously accepted it.
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    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735
    edited July 2020
    tlg86 said:

    dixiedean said:

    It is easy to forget that yesterday was a record for infection worldwide. The pandemic is raging.
    At some stage it must take off here again if we do nothing and aĺlow anyone and everyone in.
    But what?
    Every option is unpalatable.

    The one thing missing from David's piece is an assessment of how many people are actually coming into the country. I can't find any stats on it. I occasionally look at flight radar to see what's about and I've noticed a few more flights to places like Alicante. There are more contrails in the skies, but I'm not sure there are actually many more passenger flights coming in at the moment.

    EDIT: Just to add, Farnborough airport is as busy as ever.
    50k per day was widely used in the press last week. Guess it is increasing week by week though so could be out of date.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8525647/Priti-Patel-says-50-000-people-day-coming-UK-abroad.html
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,917

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Central London as in Zone 1? Not really will be fine once the tourists come back regardless, property prices will come down but thats no bad thing. Zone 2-3 probably worst hit, with people retreating to Zone 5-6 or commuter towns and villages for more space.

    £500k for a 1 bed in Elephant & Castle with high service charges? Those are the properties that are really in trouble.
    Remember stopping at a friends of a friends in Elephant and Castle once - near the big nuclear graffiti.
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    The famous Influenza Pandemic plan would probably have been better off not existing.
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    TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 40,045
    kle4 said:

    Provocative headline!

    Initially thought it was a TSE special, but no..
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735
    Pulpstar said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Central London as in Zone 1? Not really will be fine once the tourists come back regardless, property prices will come down but thats no bad thing. Zone 2-3 probably worst hit, with people retreating to Zone 5-6 or commuter towns and villages for more space.

    £500k for a 1 bed in Elephant & Castle with high service charges? Those are the properties that are really in trouble.
    Remember stopping at a friends of a friends in Elephant and Castle once - near the big nuclear graffiti.
    Its being done up and will be very different and much more liveable but its main asset is a brilliant location for commuting to Londons office jobs.
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,150

    We shouldnt ban Americans. A travel ban on anyone or non UK citizens who have recently been in the USA - the disparity in infection rates is close to justifying it, but would prefer mandatory airport hotel quarantines which achieve the same thing but are less egregious for those who really do need to travel.

    That sounds good in theory but are the British government capable of implementing it?
  • Options
    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189

    tlg86 said:

    dixiedean said:

    It is easy to forget that yesterday was a record for infection worldwide. The pandemic is raging.
    At some stage it must take off here again if we do nothing and aĺlow anyone and everyone in.
    But what?
    Every option is unpalatable.

    The one thing missing from David's piece is an assessment of how many people are actually coming into the country. I can't find any stats on it. I occasionally look at flight radar to see what's about and I've noticed a few more flights to places like Alicante. There are more contrails in the skies, but I'm not sure there are actually many more passenger flights coming in at the moment.

    EDIT: Just to add, Farnborough airport is as busy as ever.
    50k per day was widely used in the press last week. Guess it is increasing week by week though so could be out of date.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8525647/Priti-Patel-says-50-000-people-day-coming-UK-abroad.html
    I guess that includes RoI and france through the tunnel and on ferries.
  • Options
    Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Makes sense. Without wishing to go too League of Gentlemen on everyone, local shops for local people are bound to do better than those relying on large influxes of incomers. People are quite simply travelling less, particularly in cases where it is a pain to get somewhere without resorting to public transport.

    That trend will reverse (and has, indeed, already begun to do so,) but the process is bound to be slow and we'll never go back to where we were before March. As I've said before, it's a form of rebalancing - just not what anyone intended or expected - and it's here to stay.
  • Options
    dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,955
    edited July 2020
    tlg86 said:

    dixiedean said:

    It is easy to forget that yesterday was a record for infection worldwide. The pandemic is raging.
    At some stage it must take off here again if we do nothing and aĺlow anyone and everyone in.
    But what?
    Every option is unpalatable.

    The one thing missing from David's piece is an assessment of how many people are actually coming into the country. I can't find any stats on it. I occasionally look at flight radar to see what's about and I've noticed a few more flights to places like Alicante. There are more contrails in the skies, but I'm not sure there are actually many more passenger flights coming in at the moment.

    EDIT: Just to add, Farnborough airport is as busy as ever.
    As an anecdote. I live under the flight path for Newcastle Airport. Usually we have a plane an hour or so directly overhead, and quite low in Summer heading for or from Spain or France. Few in Winter.
    From about 3 to 4 weeks ago it has been about one a day.
    The first one freaked me entirely. I had no idea what the heck was happening. Strange how quickly we forget. I barely noticed them before.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,186
    Johnson won’t do it.

    Look at all the trouble he had last time he banged an American.
  • Options
    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Makes sense. Without wishing to go too League of Gentlemen on everyone, local shops for local people are bound to do better than those relying on large influxes of incomers. People are quite simply travelling less, particularly in cases where it is a pain to get somewhere without resorting to public transport.

    That trend will reverse (and has, indeed, already begun to do so,) but the process is bound to be slow and we'll never go back to where we were before March. As I've said before, it's a form of rebalancing - just not what anyone intended or expected - and it's here to stay.
    It will interesting to see how this varies around the world. As bad as things are in the USA, could they end up having less of an urban revolution because they haven't changed as much and the fear might be less if more of them have had it?
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735

    We shouldnt ban Americans. A travel ban on anyone or non UK citizens who have recently been in the USA - the disparity in infection rates is close to justifying it, but would prefer mandatory airport hotel quarantines which achieve the same thing but are less egregious for those who really do need to travel.

    That sounds good in theory but are the British government capable of implementing it?
    Whats tricky about it? Im sure they may delegate it to Grayling or something but it isnt complicated. Get people from plane thru immigration in separate queues, bus them to hotel making sure they dont sneak off. Monitor hotel exits to check they dont leave before they should.

    Dont try and use geo-location on phones, electronic tags etc - as that will go wrong, just do it manually and throw whatever manpower is needed at it, we have 750k volunteers on top of border teams available.
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    nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    tlg86 said:

    dixiedean said:

    It is easy to forget that yesterday was a record for infection worldwide. The pandemic is raging.
    At some stage it must take off here again if we do nothing and aĺlow anyone and everyone in.
    But what?
    Every option is unpalatable.

    The one thing missing from David's piece is an assessment of how many people are actually coming into the country. I can't find any stats on it. I occasionally look at flight radar to see what's about and I've noticed a few more flights to places like Alicante. There are more contrails in the skies, but I'm not sure there are actually many more passenger flights coming in at the moment.

    EDIT: Just to add, Farnborough airport is as busy as ever.
    That will be rich people either flying their own jets or chartering them to avoid the great unwashed as they jet off to their third or fourth home somewhere safe.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,186
    kle4 said:

    MattW said:

    This is fun:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080/why-i-fell-in-love-with-irish-dancing

    Completely bonkers, but entirely consistent with the arguments of those who go around accusing other people of cultural appropriation.

    Good for her for finding joy in an element of another culture and going for it. Can you imagine if people followed appopriation arguments through to their conclusion, everyone stuck only enjoying or seeking to emulate things of their own upbringing? Ghastly. You'd have people thinking they have to like irish dancing if they were irish, for example. It's a truly weird concept. She at least seems to make a reasonable distinction about appreciatiating the heritage of something versus borrowing elements with acknowledgement.
    Taken to its logical extreme, this idea of cultural appropriation would mean nobody could eat Chinese food unless they have Chinese ancestry. Which would be OK for me (Chinese grandmother) but would be an embuggerance for many on this board.

    And it would also mean I couldn’t have an Indian, which would be rather a shame as I am rather partial to a good Indian. Admittedly, I like it with chips as well as rice which I know is heresy.

    I am starting to think that the world has gone completely mad.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,186
    dixiedean said:

    tlg86 said:

    dixiedean said:

    It is easy to forget that yesterday was a record for infection worldwide. The pandemic is raging.
    At some stage it must take off here again if we do nothing and aĺlow anyone and everyone in.
    But what?
    Every option is unpalatable.

    The one thing missing from David's piece is an assessment of how many people are actually coming into the country. I can't find any stats on it. I occasionally look at flight radar to see what's about and I've noticed a few more flights to places like Alicante. There are more contrails in the skies, but I'm not sure there are actually many more passenger flights coming in at the moment.

    EDIT: Just to add, Farnborough airport is as busy as ever.
    As an anecdote. I live under the flight path for Newcastle Airport. Usually we have a plane an hour or so directly overhead, and quite low in Summer heading for or from Spain or France. Few in Winter.
    From about 3 to 4 weeks ago it has been about one a day.
    The first one freaked me entirely. I had no idea what the heck was happening. Strange how quickly we forget. I barely noticed them before.
    Anecdotally, I am staying in Wales and have an excellent view of trains on the line from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli.

    I think in four days I’ve seen five passengers on the trains.
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    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    MattW said:

    This is fun:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080/why-i-fell-in-love-with-irish-dancing

    Completely bonkers, but entirely consistent with the arguments of those who go around accusing other people of cultural appropriation.

    Good for her for finding joy in an element of another culture and going for it. Can you imagine if people followed appopriation arguments through to their conclusion, everyone stuck only enjoying or seeking to emulate things of their own upbringing? Ghastly. You'd have people thinking they have to like irish dancing if they were irish, for example. It's a truly weird concept. She at least seems to make a reasonable distinction about appreciatiating the heritage of something versus borrowing elements with acknowledgement.
    Taken to its logical extreme, this idea of cultural appropriation would mean nobody could eat Chinese food unless they have Chinese ancestry. Which would be OK for me (Chinese grandmother) but would be an embuggerance for many on this board.

    And it would also mean I couldn’t have an Indian, which would be rather a shame as I am rather partial to a good Indian. Admittedly, I like it with chips as well as rice which I know is heresy.

    I am starting to think that the world has gone completely mad.
    Technically I think all your meals should be 12.5% Chinese, possibly an alternative of 1 in 8 meals being Chinese might suffice.
  • Options
    BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 7,989
    edited July 2020

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
  • Options
    JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,010
    Alistair said:

    The failure to close our air borders will go down as a huge negative against both the scientific advice and the politicians who credulously accepted it.

    Patrick Vallance was on Civil Service Live this week. he reckoned, with the benefit of hindsight, that completely closing the borders would have been effective, if done in *early February*. In fact he sort of indicated that SAGE had given that advice. However he also asked if it would have been seen as being in any way reasonable at the time.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,186

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    MattW said:

    This is fun:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080/why-i-fell-in-love-with-irish-dancing

    Completely bonkers, but entirely consistent with the arguments of those who go around accusing other people of cultural appropriation.

    Good for her for finding joy in an element of another culture and going for it. Can you imagine if people followed appopriation arguments through to their conclusion, everyone stuck only enjoying or seeking to emulate things of their own upbringing? Ghastly. You'd have people thinking they have to like irish dancing if they were irish, for example. It's a truly weird concept. She at least seems to make a reasonable distinction about appreciatiating the heritage of something versus borrowing elements with acknowledgement.
    Taken to its logical extreme, this idea of cultural appropriation would mean nobody could eat Chinese food unless they have Chinese ancestry. Which would be OK for me (Chinese grandmother) but would be an embuggerance for many on this board.

    And it would also mean I couldn’t have an Indian, which would be rather a shame as I am rather partial to a good Indian. Admittedly, I like it with chips as well as rice which I know is heresy.

    I am starting to think that the world has gone completely mad.
    Technically I think all your meals should be 12.5% Chinese, possibly an alternative of 1 in 8 meals being Chinese might suffice.
    😀

    (Although for a grandmother, shouldn’t it be one in four?)
  • Options
    MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,607
    Alistair said:

    The failure to close our air borders will go down as a huge negative against both the scientific advice and the politicians who credulously accepted it.

    Yes, the telegraph had a good article on this a few weeks ago. The stats on how many cases we were importing was horrific. We need to cut off air travel to a lot of countries and then selectively reopen them once they have got the virus under control or there is a vaccine. We can't have a repeat of February and March of this year.
  • Options
    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189
    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,594

    I agree with Mr Herdson, with the qualification that I would go full-fat New Zealand and aim for eradication.

    Looking at the upticks in France and Dpain, certainly we should discourage all non essential foreign travel. It would be a useful boost to the domestic tourist industry too.
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    MattW said:

    This is fun:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080/why-i-fell-in-love-with-irish-dancing

    Completely bonkers, but entirely consistent with the arguments of those who go around accusing other people of cultural appropriation.

    Good for her for finding joy in an element of another culture and going for it. Can you imagine if people followed appopriation arguments through to their conclusion, everyone stuck only enjoying or seeking to emulate things of their own upbringing? Ghastly. You'd have people thinking they have to like irish dancing if they were irish, for example. It's a truly weird concept. She at least seems to make a reasonable distinction about appreciatiating the heritage of something versus borrowing elements with acknowledgement.
    Taken to its logical extreme, this idea of cultural appropriation would mean nobody could eat Chinese food unless they have Chinese ancestry. Which would be OK for me (Chinese grandmother) but would be an embuggerance for many on this board.

    And it would also mean I couldn’t have an Indian, which would be rather a shame as I am rather partial to a good Indian. Admittedly, I like it with chips as well as rice which I know is heresy.

    I am starting to think that the world has gone completely mad.
    Technically I think all your meals should be 12.5% Chinese, possibly an alternative of 1 in 8 meals being Chinese might suffice.
    😀

    (Although for a grandmother, shouldn’t it be one in four?)
    My mistake but it does get tricky. If you allocate 25% to each grandparent, where do your parents and great grandparents allocation go, as they could all be different nationalities given global travel and migration. Anyone suggest a fair system?
  • Options
    eekeek Posts: 24,965
    edited July 2020
    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    Why Rutland, you could just as easily live anywhere within distance of an airport with hub access? Once you remove the need to work in the office all the time you could literally live anywhere...
  • Options
    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189

    Alistair said:

    The failure to close our air borders will go down as a huge negative against both the scientific advice and the politicians who credulously accepted it.

    Patrick Vallance was on Civil Service Live this week. he reckoned, with the benefit of hindsight, that completely closing the borders would have been effective, if done in *early February*. In fact he sort of indicated that SAGE had given that advice. However he also asked if it would have been seen as being in any way reasonable at the time.
    What do you mean by effective? I can believe that to stop an outbreak of any sort in the UK would have needed a very early intervention, but I struggle to believe that a ban on foreign travel at the end of February wouldn't have at least made some difference to the overall numbers.
  • Options
    BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 7,989
    edited July 2020
    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    It's the village community and facilities as well as the location that is attractive. I can't see anyone who already lives in Barnes selling up to move to Rutland because the houses are cheaper there. People tend to stay on in Barnes which is one reason why houses here are in short supply.
  • Options
    dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,955

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Makes sense. Without wishing to go too League of Gentlemen on everyone, local shops for local people are bound to do better than those relying on large influxes of incomers. People are quite simply travelling less, particularly in cases where it is a pain to get somewhere without resorting to public transport.

    That trend will reverse (and has, indeed, already begun to do so,) but the process is bound to be slow and we'll never go back to where we were before March. As I've said before, it's a form of rebalancing - just not what anyone intended or expected - and it's here to stay.
    We have a petrol station with a Spar attached. It is always busy. And a newsagent which has had numerous owners over the past few years each unable to make a living out of it.
    They have started doing veg and salad boxes for delivery or coĺlection. Now doing North of 300 a week. Turning a profit and providing a service. I can't see folk going back to driving miles away for the same thing.
    Which is an unexpected small scale boost to the village economy.
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735
    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    People are making a giant leap about working from home. It works for middle aged professionals now. But how is a twentysomething starting out supposed to build a professional network and career from a home office in somewhere rural and isolated? Not many will be able to do that.

    And middle aged professionals in Barnes etc will be happy there, not in any particular rush to move far.

    These trends will happen but they will be both more local and slower than people are currently imagining.
  • Options
    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189
    Barnesian said:

    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    It's the village community and facilities as well as the location that is attractive. I can't see anyone who already lives in Barnes selling up to move to Rutland because the houses are cheaper there. People tend to stay on in Barnes which is one reason why houses here are in short supply.
    Sure, if you're already there I see no reason to leave - other than to cash in if you're worried about house prices!

    What I was getting at is people not already living there might not be so keen to do so if they don't need to commute to the office most days.
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,594
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    MattW said:

    This is fun:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080/why-i-fell-in-love-with-irish-dancing

    Completely bonkers, but entirely consistent with the arguments of those who go around accusing other people of cultural appropriation.

    Good for her for finding joy in an element of another culture and going for it. Can you imagine if people followed appopriation arguments through to their conclusion, everyone stuck only enjoying or seeking to emulate things of their own upbringing? Ghastly. You'd have people thinking they have to like irish dancing if they were irish, for example. It's a truly weird concept. She at least seems to make a reasonable distinction about appreciatiating the heritage of something versus borrowing elements with acknowledgement.
    Taken to its logical extreme, this idea of cultural appropriation would mean nobody could eat Chinese food unless they have Chinese ancestry. Which would be OK for me (Chinese grandmother) but would be an embuggerance for many on this board.

    And it would also mean I couldn’t have an Indian, which would be rather a shame as I am rather partial to a good Indian. Admittedly, I like it with chips as well as rice which I know is heresy.

    I am starting to think that the world has gone completely mad.
    As she says in the video, demonstrating a wisdom beyond her years, there is a difference between appreciation and appropriation. That difference is being respectful and interested.

    Appropriation is more a matter of mocking or parodying the culture, so some forms of fancy dress stray too far. I have travelled widely, and live in an extremely multicultural city. People of other cultures pretty universally welcome sincere interest in their culture.
  • Options
    another_richardanother_richard Posts: 25,067
    MaxPB said:

    Alistair said:

    The failure to close our air borders will go down as a huge negative against both the scientific advice and the politicians who credulously accepted it.

    Yes, the telegraph had a good article on this a few weeks ago. The stats on how many cases we were importing was horrific. We need to cut off air travel to a lot of countries and then selectively reopen them once they have got the virus under control or there is a vaccine. We can't have a repeat of February and March of this year.
    The government is obsessed with letting people have foreign holidays and in looking 'open for business'.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,186
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    MattW said:

    This is fun:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080/why-i-fell-in-love-with-irish-dancing

    Completely bonkers, but entirely consistent with the arguments of those who go around accusing other people of cultural appropriation.

    Good for her for finding joy in an element of another culture and going for it. Can you imagine if people followed appopriation arguments through to their conclusion, everyone stuck only enjoying or seeking to emulate things of their own upbringing? Ghastly. You'd have people thinking they have to like irish dancing if they were irish, for example. It's a truly weird concept. She at least seems to make a reasonable distinction about appreciatiating the heritage of something versus borrowing elements with acknowledgement.
    Taken to its logical extreme, this idea of cultural appropriation would mean nobody could eat Chinese food unless they have Chinese ancestry. Which would be OK for me (Chinese grandmother) but would be an embuggerance for many on this board.

    And it would also mean I couldn’t have an Indian, which would be rather a shame as I am rather partial to a good Indian. Admittedly, I like it with chips as well as rice which I know is heresy.

    I am starting to think that the world has gone completely mad.
    As she says in the video, demonstrating a wisdom beyond her years, there is a difference between appreciation and appropriation. That difference is being respectful and interested.

    Appropriation is more a matter of mocking or parodying the culture, so some forms of fancy dress stray too far. I have travelled widely, and live in an extremely multicultural city. People of other cultures pretty universally welcome sincere interest in their culture.
    Yes, and she’s right.

    It’s deeply worrying though that there are nutters who don’t get this.
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,576
    edited July 2020
    "Public Health England's exaggerated death statistics are a scandal that has fed fear

    Woefully misleading figures have only made it harder to tackle the pandemic and to get the country moving again
    Matthew Lesh"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/17/public-health-englands-exaggerated-death-statistics-scandal/
  • Options
    Rexel56Rexel56 Posts: 807
    tlg86 said:

    Alistair said:

    The failure to close our air borders will go down as a huge negative against both the scientific advice and the politicians who credulously accepted it.

    Patrick Vallance was on Civil Service Live this week. he reckoned, with the benefit of hindsight, that completely closing the borders would have been effective, if done in *early February*. In fact he sort of indicated that SAGE had given that advice. However he also asked if it would have been seen as being in any way reasonable at the time.
    What do you mean by effective? I can believe that to stop an outbreak of any sort in the UK would have needed a very early intervention, but I struggle to believe that a ban on foreign travel at the end of February wouldn't have at least made some difference to the overall numbers.
    A travel ban on U.K. residents going abroad during the February half term would have significantly reduced the number of cases (c. 1,300) of returning travellers that were the source for the majority of subsequent cases in the U.K. That, however, was never going to happen given the assessment of the threat at the time. As we know, full lockdown didn’t happen until after all Prime Ministerial baby shower parties had been held on March 21st...
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,594
    eek said:

    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    Why Rutland, you could just as easily live anywhere within distance of an airport with hub access? Once you remove the need to work in the office all the time you could literally live anywhere...
    Yes, if Rutland, why not Russia? If Bangor why not Bangalore? If Halifax, why not Hanoi?

    WFH is an existential threat to many white collar jobs.
  • Options
    bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 21,850
    Just booked a break on Anglesey 1.9.20 to 4.9.20 - £108 bargain

    Hope their not banning those from Nations with high Covid 19 Mortality
  • Options
    BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 7,989
    I am anxiously waiting for the Irish Government to decide, next Monday, whether England is on their green list. If it is I won't have to do 14 days isolation when I go there in 10 days time (by car and ferry).

    My car will be packed with provisions for 14 days and the house my wife built in Co Galway is isolated in 20 acres so I can cope and will be very busy with strimmers, mowers, chain saw etc. Currently I won't need to self isolate when I return in September.

    The criterion the Irish government will use is the average daily cases per million compared with Ireland. Ireland currently has 6 cases per million, England has 10 and London has 5. The US certainly won't be on the Irish green list!
  • Options
    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189
    Foxy said:

    eek said:

    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    Why Rutland, you could just as easily live anywhere within distance of an airport with hub access? Once you remove the need to work in the office all the time you could literally live anywhere...
    Yes, if Rutland, why not Russia? If Bangor why not Bangalore? If Halifax, why not Hanoi?

    WFH is an existential threat to many white collar jobs.
    Tax?
  • Options
    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,614
    Agree with Mr Herdson. Guernsey implemented mandatory 14 day stay at home quarantine from mid-March and along with robust test track and trace hasn't had any COVID in nearly 80 days. In looking at lockdown relaxation they tested "7 day at home quarantine followed by COVID test" which would have caught ±80% of those infected in transit - but there was no great demand for travel so it won't be expanded. To the future they're looking at "meeting bubbles" where someone comes for a day trip under strictly controlled circumstances, but the 14 day self quarantine on arrival is staying until at least September 1st. After that there may be "groups" of countries with different or no quarantine requirements.

    Meanwhile, Jersey has reopened its borders, expecting 1 case for every 7,000 arrivals. They got 5 in the first 1,100 and have nearly 1,000 awaiting test results (they send their tests to the UK...).
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735
    Foxy said:

    eek said:

    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    Why Rutland, you could just as easily live anywhere within distance of an airport with hub access? Once you remove the need to work in the office all the time you could literally live anywhere...
    Yes, if Rutland, why not Russia? If Bangor why not Bangalore? If Halifax, why not Hanoi?

    WFH is an existential threat to many white collar jobs.
    I wouldnt want to recruit someone more than 90 mins away even if we went office free. Being able to meet up regularly and easily is still going to be important. Trust and confidence builds up in person far quicker than it can online, for me at least. Once it is established more things are possible. So once theyd been working a couple of years, wouldnt object to them moving further out, but if it was abroad and more than 4 hours travel I still cant see us keeping them on.

    In summary not all places are going to be entirely equal just because there is no office, especially for small businesses.

  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,881
    Just a reminder of what’s actually happening in the world as a whole:

    It’s not too late to insist on forcing people to quarantine on your terms.

    Some countries have a system whereby you go from the airport to a government quarantine centre (hotel) at your own expense, and can buy yourself out with a negative test. Other countries have a system whereby you have to get tested two days before you travel, and can’t get on the plane (at the origin) without the negative result.

    Failure to impose either option now, makes a second wave pretty much inevitable in the U.K.
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735
    edited July 2020
    Sandpit said:

    Just a reminder of what’s actually happening in the world as a whole:

    It’s not too late to insist on forcing people to quarantine on your terms.

    Some countries have a system whereby you go from the airport to a government quarantine centre (hotel) at your own expense, and can buy yourself out with a negative test. Other countries have a system whereby you have to get tested two days before you travel, and can’t get on the plane (at the origin) without the negative result.

    Failure to impose either option now, makes a second wave pretty much inevitable in the U.K.

    I like those options with exemptions for countries with the same level of infection or less than the UK (and where we broadly believe their stats). Much better than a ban.
  • Options
    another_richardanother_richard Posts: 25,067
    Sandpit said:

    Just a reminder of what’s actually happening in the world as a whole:

    It’s not too late to insist on forcing people to quarantine on your terms.

    Some countries have a system whereby you go from the airport to a government quarantine centre (hotel) at your own expense, and can buy yourself out with a negative test. Other countries have a system whereby you have to get tested two days before you travel, and can’t get on the plane (at the origin) without the negative result.

    Failure to impose either option now, makes a second wave pretty much inevitable in the U.K.

    The government prefers to impose restrictions on people in the UK than on international travel.
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    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,881
    eek said:

    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    Why Rutland, you could just as easily live anywhere within distance of an airport with hub access? Once you remove the need to work in the office all the time you could literally live anywhere...
    Some of us do!

    What I can see happening, is a lot of companies that were formerly based in an office in London, having a deal whereby everyone works from home normally, and spends one week in three or four at an office somewhere - which could be well out of town, in a business park with an hotel next door. The central London office can be downsized 80% and used only for external meetings.

    Yes, some of those workers will end up in France or Ireland, but they won’t be ‘outsourced’ to Bangalore.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,976
    F1: waiting for markets to wake up. Perez looking good. Red Bull maybe twitchy.
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    Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 8,844

    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    People are making a giant leap about working from home. It works for middle aged professionals now. But how is a twentysomething starting out supposed to build a professional network and career from a home office in somewhere rural and isolated? Not many will be able to do that.

    And middle aged professionals in Barnes etc will be happy there, not in any particular rush to move far.

    These trends will happen but they will be both more local and slower than people are currently imagining.
    I think you are vastly over estimating the number of people who work in offices as develop professional networks currently. From what I have seen it is mainly confined to those in fairly senior roles maybe 10% to 15% of office workers.

    Secondly if working from home becomes the new normal then alternatives to the current way of networking will appear.

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    LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 15,199

    We shouldnt ban Americans. A travel ban on anyone or non UK citizens who have recently been in the USA - the disparity in infection rates is close to justifying it, but would prefer mandatory airport hotel quarantines which achieve the same thing but are less egregious for those who really do need to travel.

    That sounds good in theory but are the British government capable of implementing it?
    Whats tricky about it? Im sure they may delegate it to Grayling or something but it isnt complicated. Get people from plane thru immigration in separate queues, bus them to hotel making sure they dont sneak off. Monitor hotel exits to check they dont leave before they should.

    Dont try and use geo-location on phones, electronic tags etc - as that will go wrong, just do it manually and throw whatever manpower is needed at it, we have 750k volunteers on top of border teams available.
    Having the State employ a bunch of people to police quarantine seems like a better use of money than another huge dose of furlough because we lost control of the virus by importing it again.
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    MattWMattW Posts: 18,501
    edited July 2020
    eek said:

    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    Why Rutland, you could just as easily live anywhere within distance of an airport with hub access? Once you remove the need to work in the office all the time you could literally live anywhere...
    You can't do London in 1h 45 minutes from Bangalore. Even though Rutland is a bit back-of-beyond.

    (Which is another reason why HS2 still needs to happen for places like Derby if we want to decentralise the economy for the long term).

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    Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 8,844
    Foxy said:

    eek said:

    tlg86 said:

    Barnesian said:

    My sense is Central London is in real trouble. I think further out, it's more ok.

    Barnes is a self-contained village with no tube link. It is even more isolated now that Hammersmith Bridge is closed. Yet for me it is a 30 minute journey to Piccadilly by walking over the bridge and catching the tube. (Not actually done it since February).

    Barnes is full of professionals working from home. The local shops, pubs, restaurants and cinema have now opened and are doing a reasonable trade. They are all within walking distance. I had a pub lunch with three friends yesterday in the garden at the Red Lion. It was quite busy, not hectic.

    The various local community organisations including churches, foodbank, CAB, and many others have pulled together to identify and serve the vulnerable people who live here.

    Barnes will be OK post virus. It is a resilient sustainable community and has the Wetland Centre, Barnes pond and Common and lots of great restaurants and pubs.
    https://www.barnes-ca.org/

    Edit: maybe that is why ex-Council houses cost £1.2m
    I think the impact will be long term. Why pay silly money to live in Barnes when you can work from home and live in a mansion in Rutland?
    Why Rutland, you could just as easily live anywhere within distance of an airport with hub access? Once you remove the need to work in the office all the time you could literally live anywhere...
    Yes, if Rutland, why not Russia? If Bangor why not Bangalore? If Halifax, why not Hanoi?

    WFH is an existential threat to many white collar jobs.
    It really isn't. Most firms have already tried outsourcing like that especially for IT functions. A lot have come to regret it and onshored again. There is a lot of difference between someone working in Rutland who could come into the office for a day or two here and there when required at more or less the drop of a hat and someone living in Hanoi who may not even have a passport
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,614
    Brazil Foreign passengers are currently prohibited from entering Brazil.

    USA Since 16 March, it is not possible for many British nationals to enter the USA if they have been in the UK, Ireland, Schengen zone, Iran, Brazil, or China within the previous 14 days.

    South Africa Lockdown restrictions restrict entry into South Africa, except for South African nationals and foreign nationals with valid residence permits.

    They're all stopping us going to their country - why on earth shouldn't we do the same to them?
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    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,881

    Sandpit said:

    Just a reminder of what’s actually happening in the world as a whole:

    It’s not too late to insist on forcing people to quarantine on your terms.

    Some countries have a system whereby you go from the airport to a government quarantine centre (hotel) at your own expense, and can buy yourself out with a negative test. Other countries have a system whereby you have to get tested two days before you travel, and can’t get on the plane (at the origin) without the negative result.

    Failure to impose either option now, makes a second wave pretty much inevitable in the U.K.

    I like those options with exemptions for countries with the same level of infection or less than the UK (and where we broadly believe their stats). Much better than a ban.
    The only way to do it is to base any and all exemptions on testing, not on country of origin or passport.

    People can and will move around to game the system (Bangalore > Amsterdam > Birmingham) and it only needs a few people to get through to cause trouble.

    We can, and should, choose which countries and companies we accept tests from.
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    CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,202
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    MattW said:

    This is fun:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080/why-i-fell-in-love-with-irish-dancing

    Completely bonkers, but entirely consistent with the arguments of those who go around accusing other people of cultural appropriation.

    Good for her for finding joy in an element of another culture and going for it. Can you imagine if people followed appopriation arguments through to their conclusion, everyone stuck only enjoying or seeking to emulate things of their own upbringing? Ghastly. You'd have people thinking they have to like irish dancing if they were irish, for example. It's a truly weird concept. She at least seems to make a reasonable distinction about appreciatiating the heritage of something versus borrowing elements with acknowledgement.
    Taken to its logical extreme, this idea of cultural appropriation would mean nobody could eat Chinese food unless they have Chinese ancestry. Which would be OK for me (Chinese grandmother) but would be an embuggerance for many on this board.

    And it would also mean I couldn’t have an Indian, which would be rather a shame as I am rather partial to a good Indian. Admittedly, I like it with chips as well as rice which I know is heresy.

    I am starting to think that the world has gone completely mad.
    Well, if it means that non-Italians stop buggering about with our coffee, maybe it isn’t so bad ....... :)
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    LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 15,199
    Barnesian said:

    I am anxiously waiting for the Irish Government to decide, next Monday, whether England is on their green list. If it is I won't have to do 14 days isolation when I go there in 10 days time (by car and ferry).

    My car will be packed with provisions for 14 days and the house my wife built in Co Galway is isolated in 20 acres so I can cope and will be very busy with strimmers, mowers, chain saw etc. Currently I won't need to self isolate when I return in September.

    The criterion the Irish government will use is the average daily cases per million compared with Ireland. Ireland currently has 6 cases per million, England has 10 and London has 5. The US certainly won't be on the Irish green list!

    Coveney as much as said that the UK won't be on the green list on RTÉ news last night. The Irish government have been pretty good at preparing people for disappointing news - e.g. with delaying the opening of pubs - so the chance of the UK being on the green list is very low.

    I think also the Irish figure is lower - they are quoting 4 per 100,000 (as a cumulative 14-day total), though a seven-day average will be higher as it's increasing recently in Ireland.
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    another_richardanother_richard Posts: 25,067

    Brazil Foreign passengers are currently prohibited from entering Brazil.

    USA Since 16 March, it is not possible for many British nationals to enter the USA if they have been in the UK, Ireland, Schengen zone, Iran, Brazil, or China within the previous 14 days.

    South Africa Lockdown restrictions restrict entry into South Africa, except for South African nationals and foreign nationals with valid residence permits.

    They're all stopping us going to their country - why on earth shouldn't we do the same to them?

    Because the government is full of globalist sociopaths.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,976
    edited July 2020
    Betting Post

    F1: decided to back Bottas on Betfair for pole at 3.35, with a hedge set up at 1.5.

    https://enormo-haddock.blogspot.com/2020/07/hungary-pre-qualifying-2020.html

    Edited extra bit: going afk now, pre-race tosh should be up tomorrow morning.
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    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189

    Brazil Foreign passengers are currently prohibited from entering Brazil.

    USA Since 16 March, it is not possible for many British nationals to enter the USA if they have been in the UK, Ireland, Schengen zone, Iran, Brazil, or China within the previous 14 days.

    South Africa Lockdown restrictions restrict entry into South Africa, except for South African nationals and foreign nationals with valid residence permits.

    They're all stopping us going to their country - why on earth shouldn't we do the same to them?

    Those restrictions actually help us, of course. I wonder if the US lifted their restriction on us whether it might force the issue on our government?
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    nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    The Valencian Community establishes as of this Saturday the mandatory use of masks, regardless of whether the interpersonal safety distance of one and a half meters is kept, "at all times on public roads", in outdoor spaces, closed spaces for public use or open to the public. "It is not that there is an alternative, mask or distance, it is that there will have to be distancing and masks," said the Minister of Health, Ana Barceló. She has also stressed that its use "is also recommended" in private spaces, open or closed, "when there is a conflict with non-cohabitants or interpersonal distance cannot be guaranteed." The obligation, he has detailed, will not affect beaches, swimming pools or nature spaces, as it will also require people with diseases or respiratory problems that may be aggravated by the use of masks, as well as in other cases of dependency or disability.
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,735

    Brazil Foreign passengers are currently prohibited from entering Brazil.

    USA Since 16 March, it is not possible for many British nationals to enter the USA if they have been in the UK, Ireland, Schengen zone, Iran, Brazil, or China within the previous 14 days.

    South Africa Lockdown restrictions restrict entry into South Africa, except for South African nationals and foreign nationals with valid residence permits.

    They're all stopping us going to their country - why on earth shouldn't we do the same to them?

    We should but we are concerned/worried about the US response. As much as people will think Im being a remoaner by saying it, it is down to Brexit. There are 3 main power groups in the world, US, China and EU. We are pissing of China and EU heavily at the moment and the US is led by a maniac who will take UK putting restrictions on Americans as unfair and which requires a response against us, even though they have had restrictions the other way for months.

    We should still do it, especially as a UK-US trade deal is fantasy anyway, given that it needs approval on their side from both the President and the House.
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    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,881
    nichomar said:

    tlg86 said:

    dixiedean said:

    It is easy to forget that yesterday was a record for infection worldwide. The pandemic is raging.
    At some stage it must take off here again if we do nothing and aĺlow anyone and everyone in.
    But what?
    Every option is unpalatable.

    The one thing missing from David's piece is an assessment of how many people are actually coming into the country. I can't find any stats on it. I occasionally look at flight radar to see what's about and I've noticed a few more flights to places like Alicante. There are more contrails in the skies, but I'm not sure there are actually many more passenger flights coming in at the moment.

    EDIT: Just to add, Farnborough airport is as busy as ever.
    That will be rich people either flying their own jets or chartering them to avoid the great unwashed as they jet off to their third or fourth home somewhere safe.
    A lot of the F1 traffic went out of Farnborough, they have a system in place whereby all the planes they use have the pilots and crew quarantined for two weeks beforehand, along with hotel workers and even cleaners.

    There’s very much an increase in chartered planes by businesses, they don’t want execs (old, unhealthy men, to be stereotypical) going through airports and on planes with hundreds of others.
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    TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 40,045
    Can the PB hunters confirm if there is in fact a semi involved in this activity?

    https://twitter.com/Otto_English/status/1284424505541169153?s=20
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    another_richardanother_richard Posts: 25,067
    tlg86 said:

    Brazil Foreign passengers are currently prohibited from entering Brazil.

    USA Since 16 March, it is not possible for many British nationals to enter the USA if they have been in the UK, Ireland, Schengen zone, Iran, Brazil, or China within the previous 14 days.

    South Africa Lockdown restrictions restrict entry into South Africa, except for South African nationals and foreign nationals with valid residence permits.

    They're all stopping us going to their country - why on earth shouldn't we do the same to them?

    Those restrictions actually help us, of course. I wonder if the US lifted their restriction on us whether it might force the issue on our government?
    The government is not going to put restrictions on entry to this country.

    And that is the mindset across the political spectrum.

    Even when presented with this open goal Starmer wasn't interested.
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    Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 12,994

    Can the PB hunters confirm if there is in fact a semi involved in this activity?

    https://twitter.com/Otto_English/status/1284424505541169153?s=20

    The only surprising thing about this is that the fat fuck is capable of getting on and staying on a luckless horse.
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    MattWMattW Posts: 18,501
    nichomar said:

    The Valencian Community establishes as of this Saturday the mandatory use of masks, regardless of whether the interpersonal safety distance of one and a half meters is kept, "at all times on public roads", in outdoor spaces, closed spaces for public use or open to the public. "It is not that there is an alternative, mask or distance, it is that there will have to be distancing and masks," said the Minister of Health, Ana Barceló. She has also stressed that its use "is also recommended" in private spaces, open or closed, "when there is a conflict with non-cohabitants or interpersonal distance cannot be guaranteed." The obligation, he has detailed, will not affect beaches, swimming pools or nature spaces, as it will also require people with diseases or respiratory problems that may be aggravated by the use of masks, as well as in other cases of dependency or disability.

    Out of interest, is this "masks" or "face-coverings" in Valencia?

    Here we have all our media morons rabbiting on about "compulsory masks" when the govt are actually talking about face-coverings - which is met by my snoods.

    Just as the media morons have spent months gibbering confusingly about "The Rules", when such an entity does not even exist - we have The Regulations (Laws) and The Guidance (ie advice).
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    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,189

    tlg86 said:

    Brazil Foreign passengers are currently prohibited from entering Brazil.

    USA Since 16 March, it is not possible for many British nationals to enter the USA if they have been in the UK, Ireland, Schengen zone, Iran, Brazil, or China within the previous 14 days.

    South Africa Lockdown restrictions restrict entry into South Africa, except for South African nationals and foreign nationals with valid residence permits.

    They're all stopping us going to their country - why on earth shouldn't we do the same to them?

    Those restrictions actually help us, of course. I wonder if the US lifted their restriction on us whether it might force the issue on our government?
    The government is not going to put restrictions on entry to this country.

    And that is the mindset across the political spectrum.

    Even when presented with this open goal Starmer wasn't interested.
    I guess the government doesn't think we need to do all that much at the moment because people have not gone back to normal in the UK. Perhaps if the government are keen to get people going to pubs etc, then they should impose restrictions on people coming here as an incentive.
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    another_richardanother_richard Posts: 25,067

    Can the PB hunters confirm if there is in fact a semi involved in this activity?

    https://twitter.com/Otto_English/status/1284424505541169153?s=20

    Do you think that Boris is an accomplished horserider ?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv0HJm5UbPw
This discussion has been closed.