We're only having another argument about whether it is reasonable to increase restrictions on liberty to protect public health because the government has failed in their stated mission to create a test and trace system that can isolate the infectious and thereby control the spread of the virus with fewer restrictions on liberty.
We're certainly doing better than in March. There is enough testing to count the number of cases much more accurately. Better information is always helpful. But the testing isn't fast enough, or proactively following the tracing, to control the virus.
The government set out what was necessary in their plan in early May and have failed to achieve it. The result of this failure will be more deaths and less liberty than would otherwise have been the case.
UPDATE: Guido now hears Sadiq Khan will announce within weeks that there’ll be no spectators at this year’s New Years Eve display, though the capitals firework display will go ahead.
So that's Christmas and New Year cancelled. People, rightly or wrongly, are going to be really pissed off.
Brexit schmexit. The MSM are wrong again.
This is going to be a huge, huge story.
As Margaret Thatcher observed, when people have freedom to choose, they choose freedom.
People generally choose not to be dead. I don't know if Margaret Thatcher mentioned that...
If the New Year celebrations do go ahead as normal, it will likely be in the context of an epidemic that has gone out of all control and no-one is bothering to prevent infection any more. That may happen. It would be grim and I think there would be a reaction.
I choose not to be dead and I ponder that very often as I approach the Black Cat roundabout. Or go skiing. Or jump on a Boris bike to cycle through Central London.
The second part of your post contained too many "if"s for me.
Let me explain my "ifs":
It is clear the epidemic in the UK is back on an exponential growth. If we want to limit that growth our only tool at the moment is social distancing. By next year there may be an effective vaccine; it won't be ready for the New Year parties. Stopping one mass event may or may not have an effect on virus spread. Point is, allowing the event to go ahead is indicative of having given up trying to control the virus, given we are also allowing a raft of other interactions. We may through choice or by default (I would prefer a conscious choice) give up control. The essentially certain outcome is a rampant epidemic with elevated death rates (although maybe a bit lower than in the Spring if we have better treatments). The vaccine will also be somewhat academic as the bulk of people will either have had the virus or will be dead.
"Essentially certain outcome".
It is a risk with absolutely no question whatsoever. But there is plenty we do in society that is a risk that we are not literally being marshalled to avoid.
Elevated death rates are about a 100% probability on current knowledge, which is the only knowledge that counts. How elevated absent public interventions is a reasonable question.
I am not particularly risk averse but I do believe in assessing risks and minimising unnecessary ones, particularly for public policy. This virus is a brute.
Yes I agree they would likely be elevated. What was the number this week?
The death rates are heading upwards again in France and Spain. Don't forget we are on an exponential curve here.
We're only having another argument about whether it is reasonable to increase restrictions on liberty to protect public health because the government has failed in their stated mission to create a test and trace system that can isolate the infectious and thereby control the spread of the virus with fewer restrictions on liberty.
We're certainly doing better than in March. There is enough testing to count the number of cases much more accurately. Better information is always helpful. But the testing isn't fast enough, or proactively following the tracing, to control the virus.
The government set out what was necessary in their plan in early May and have failed to achieve it. The result of this failure will be more deaths and less liberty than would otherwise have been the case.
In March the government said it would be doing a hundred thousand tests per day and they were laughed at.
They're doing a quarter million tests per day and people are saying its not enough.
When there's no cost to it to the end user then demand is almost infinite, but they've long since cleared their target.
UPDATE: Guido now hears Sadiq Khan will announce within weeks that there’ll be no spectators at this year’s New Years Eve display, though the capitals firework display will go ahead.
So that's Christmas and New Year cancelled. People, rightly or wrongly, are going to be really pissed off.
Brexit schmexit. The MSM are wrong again.
This is going to be a huge, huge story.
As Margaret Thatcher observed, when people have freedom to choose, they choose freedom.
If my WhatsApp groups are anything to go by, the rule of 6 is going down like a bucket of cold sick with those with have kids. Brexit game playing doesn't feature.
I cant believe anyone would comply with it - it wouldn't cross my mind to not meet up with a couple of my mates, their wives and kids
I said at the time there will be mass disobedience, and I stand by that view.
People will take their chances with a £100 fine – many will be happy to risk a ton to discover beyond any reasonable doubt which of their neighbours are absolute twats.
This is what I was saying to you this morning. The "Rule of Six" and "Hands Face Space" is essentially just the government messaging a clear and simple recommended "MO" for people for the next few months. They've done this because they know the virus will remain a threat until vaccine - having prioritized schools - and they do not want to keep chopping and changing and setting, and then resetting, different rules for various people in a multitude of different situations. Folk get confused. We've seen that.
But there WILL be mass disobedience, as you say. Of course there will. And that is factored in. It's expected and will be totally tolerated. The key point is that the restrictions will not be seriously policed. People will not be dobbing in their neighbours for having 7 round for tea. The hope - which I think is perfectly reasonable - is that most people will behave in a way that is appropriate to their risk and their circumstances. It's all a big nudge, not some sort of police state.
And I agree with you it's not a left v right issue. Plus I will change my mind and agree with you that it's an assault on liberty if it turns out I'm wrong and it IS seriously policed, with lots of informing and lots of fines handed out.
If it's simply a nudge why the need to make it illegal? Why the legal minutiae on the exemptions and the prohibition on mingling out of your approved group when participating in those exemptions?
There were a lot of fines issued for breaching earlier corona-laws. There will similarly be the same this time. That does not look like a nudge to me.
Well it's a balance. You need people taking it seriously, so there is some law there, but you don't police it rigorously. If you policed it rigorously you'd be issuing way more fines than we saw under the lockdown. Breaching these latest restrictions will as common as speeding imo and there are 6,000 speeding tickets every day even though most speeding is missed. I bet you there will be no more than 100 a day of corona tickets. It's just nothing to get so worked about as I see it. But, as I say, let's see. If I'm wrong and we get a gestapo type situation developing, people getting relentlessly stamped on by the authorities for doing little that is objectively reckless or wrong, then I will change my view.
What is also been missed in the messaging is really you need to limiting how wide your social network is. It really isn't a good idea to keep meeting 10s / 100s of different people every week, even if you keep it to less than 6 each time.
And of course think about granny.
Take a set of siblings. In different school years. Give them some after school activities with children from both their own and other schools.
Bring to boil.
I can't believe this isn't happening right now. And hence I can see why the govt has clamped down on other activities, as they said they would. But the problem is people get it into their heads that it is illogical and are unwilling to obey illogical rules.
We're only having another argument about whether it is reasonable to increase restrictions on liberty to protect public health because the government has failed in their stated mission to create a test and trace system that can isolate the infectious and thereby control the spread of the virus with fewer restrictions on liberty.
We're certainly doing better than in March. There is enough testing to count the number of cases much more accurately. Better information is always helpful. But the testing isn't fast enough, or proactively following the tracing, to control the virus.
The government set out what was necessary in their plan in early May and have failed to achieve it. The result of this failure will be more deaths and less liberty than would otherwise have been the case.
The exponential growth rate in cases is about half that of March I believe (doubling every 8 days rather than every 4)
UPDATE: Guido now hears Sadiq Khan will announce within weeks that there’ll be no spectators at this year’s New Years Eve display, though the capitals firework display will go ahead.
So that's Christmas and New Year cancelled. People, rightly or wrongly, are going to be really pissed off.
Brexit schmexit. The MSM are wrong again.
This is going to be a huge, huge story.
As Margaret Thatcher observed, when people have freedom to choose, they choose freedom.
If my WhatsApp groups are anything to go by, the rule of 6 is going down like a bucket of cold sick with those with have kids. Brexit game playing doesn't feature.
I cant believe anyone would comply with it - it wouldn't cross my mind to not meet up with a couple of my mates, their wives and kids
I said at the time there will be mass disobedience, and I stand by that view.
People will take their chances with a £100 fine – many will be happy to risk a ton to discover beyond any reasonable doubt which of their neighbours are absolute twats.
This is what I was saying to you this morning. The "Rule of Six" and "Hands Face Space" is essentially just the government messaging a clear and simple recommended "MO" for people for the next few months. They've done this because they know the virus will remain a threat until vaccine - having prioritized schools - and they do not want to keep chopping and changing and setting, and then resetting, different rules for various people in a multitude of different situations. Folk get confused. We've seen that.
But there WILL be mass disobedience, as you say. Of course there will. And that is factored in. It's expected and will be totally tolerated. The key point is that the restrictions will not be seriously policed. People will not be dobbing in their neighbours for having 7 round for tea. The hope - which I think is perfectly reasonable - is that most people will behave in a way that is appropriate to their risk and their circumstances. It's all a big nudge, not some sort of police state.
And I agree with you it's not a left v right issue. Plus I will change my mind and agree with you that it's an assault on liberty if it turns out I'm wrong and it IS seriously policed, with lots of informing and lots of fines handed out.
Your Conservative Party membership card is in the post. You are supporting the current government. As we have rehearsed on here many times, it is a legitimate charge to make that had Lab supported TMay's deal we would not be where we are now. Which I appreciate is, according to me and you, no no deal but still.
I realize I am and it's not a comfortable position for me to take. But, you know, my objectivity is legendary. And yes, that May deal. Fabulous piece of work in the circs. On the No Deal "WTO" Brexit I have moved it's probability up from 1% to 2%.
Although I can see why they would be reluctant to do so, Labour need to confront this head on: We don't believe in scorching earth like the Conservatives. We believe the UK's destiny is in doing deals in mutual interest with the rest of the world incudling our neighbours in Europe.
Otherwise they give up the battlefield to the charlatans.
Brandon Lewis had vanished. A morning came, and he was missing from work: a few thoughtless people commented on his absence. On the next day nobody mentioned him. On the third day Winston went into the vestibule of the Records Department to look at the notice-board. One of the notices carried a printed list of the members of the Brexit Legality Committee, of whom Brandon Lewis had been one. It looked almost exactly as it had looked before—nothing had been crossed out—but it was one name shorter. It was enough. Brandon Lewis had ceased to exist: he had never existed.
Extraordinary. BoZo is now saying his own oven ready deal involved buckling to the EU*, and that Labour and SNP wrong to back it. What a topsy turvy year.
Exactly. This is what indicated to me that the row - with their preferred oppo of the EU and the domestic liberal remainer elite - is confected and is the primary objective of the "move". It's not about leverage on the EU to get a better deal. It's not about insurance in the event of that not happening unicorn we call "WTO" No Deal Brexit. It's about shoring up support in their GE winning coalition of voters, the core of which is non-cerebral, nationalistic leavers.
We're only having another argument about whether it is reasonable to increase restrictions on liberty to protect public health because the government has failed in their stated mission to create a test and trace system that can isolate the infectious and thereby control the spread of the virus with fewer restrictions on liberty.
We're certainly doing better than in March. There is enough testing to count the number of cases much more accurately. Better information is always helpful. But the testing isn't fast enough, or proactively following the tracing, to control the virus.
The government set out what was necessary in their plan in early May and have failed to achieve it. The result of this failure will be more deaths and less liberty than would otherwise have been the case.
The exponential growth rate in cases is about half that of March I believe (doubling every 8 days rather than every 4)
Some of that will be due to continued home-working, relative lack of use of public transport, but the testing and tracing we are doing is doubtless having a marginal impact, even if it isn't sufficient, or as effective as the government intended in May.
Exactly. This is what indicated to me that the row - with their preferred oppo of the EU and the domestic liberal remainer elite - is confected and is the primary objective of the "move". It's not about leverage on the EU to get a better deal. It's not about insurance in the event of that not happening unicorn we call "WTO" No Deal Brexit. It's about shoring up support in their GE winning coalition of voters, the core of which is non-cerebral, nationalistic leavers.
The interesting thing is that they were planning this in February. It's not clear whether it got postponed because of coronavirus, or whether it was always intended to be part of the cliff-edge choreography. Under the cover of accusing Labour of buckling to the EU, they will buckle even harder and hope everyone will be too distracted to notice again.
From my experience mask wearing in shops round here is around 98%
I completely accept the view of this from rural Hampshire will be different from inner London though as we view the case numbers there is a clearer pattern emerging of rising infection numbers in cities and principal towns and almost no cases in rural England and Wales.
This evident divergence creates an equal divergence of experience and aspect between those for whom the virus is present and prevalent and those for whom it is past and absent.
The latter see the re-imposition of restrictions as unnecessary and some rail against them while from the urban perspective the very real fear of a renewed burst of cases legitimises and justifies said restrictions.
Given the density of people in inner urban areas, it just seems irresponsible and personally selfish and individualist to ignore some pretty basic public health and hygiene regulations. To place your own individual convenience above the collective responsibility we should have to all in society illuminates a serious cultural issue as much as a medical one.
Exactly. This is what indicated to me that the row - with their preferred oppo of the EU and the domestic liberal remainer elite - is confected and is the primary objective of the "move". It's not about leverage on the EU to get a better deal. It's not about insurance in the event of that not happening unicorn we call "WTO" No Deal Brexit. It's about shoring up support in their GE winning coalition of voters, the core of which is non-cerebral, nationalistic leavers.
The interesting thing is that they were planning this in February. It's not clear whether it got postponed because of coronavirus, or whether it was always intended to be part of the cliff-edge choreography. Under the cover of accusing Labour of buckling to the EU, they will buckle even harder and hope everyone will be too distracted to notice again.
Sadly, the Boris admirers will either deny it outright or, from the more sophisticated ones, we'll get, 'Ha ha! The Remoaner Lords fell into our trap. Time to abolish it / stuff it with Boris's cronies'. Pretty grim all round.
The opposition in the Lords should release a statement saying they can’t pass the Bill as it breaks the Tory manifesto and that would be breaking the Salisbury Convention.
That would be as wilfully deluded as Number 10, though, and I don't see that helps.
The Salisbury Convention prevents the Lords blocking implementation of an elected Government's manifesto commitment. It does not actively require the Lords to block things that would breach manifesto commitments (they can do so or not based on their view of the merits).
Best to stick with the real situation here, which is that the Salisbury Convention simply doesn't apply. This is reneging on aspects of the Johnson "oven ready" deal. Whatever the merits or otherwise of that as practical policy in light of events since December, it's blatantly obvious to the point of head-slapping stupidity that doing it wasn't a Tory manifesto commitment.
Sadly, the Boris admirers will either deny it outright or, from the more sophisticated ones, we'll get, 'Ha ha! The Remoaner Lords fell into our trap. Time to abolish it / stuff it with Boris's cronies'. Pretty grim all round.
I'm sure the government must be right on this. The Withdrawal Agreement is mentioned in the manifesto. That should be enough for the Salisbury Convention. Only meddlesome Remoaners could interpret the convention as not applying if the government now wants to do the opposite of what the manifesto said.
"No British Prime Minister, Government or Parliament has ever bowed to such a humiliating and offensive threat."
Yes they have. The one led by Boris Johnson that ratified the deal that concedes the principle of an Irish Sea customs border.
It reminds me of this example of chutzpah:
A man on trial for murdering his parents pleading for clemency on the grounds that he is an orphan.
Very good. That is precisely it. The opposition are cravenly caving in to Brussels for supporting the deal that Johnson "won" by refusing to cave into Brussels even as he was caving into Brussels. And now he will "win" an even better deal by refusing to cave into Brussels as he once again caves into Brussels. It's a thing of beauty in a sense.
Brandon Lewis had vanished. A morning came, and he was missing from work: a few thoughtless people commented on his absence. On the next day nobody mentioned him. On the third day Winston went into the vestibule of the Records Department to look at the notice-board. One of the notices carried a printed list of the members of the Brexit Legality Committee, of whom Brandon Lewis had been one. It looked almost exactly as it had looked before—nothing had been crossed out—but it was one name shorter. It was enough. Brandon Lewis had ceased to exist: he had never existed.
Exactly. This is what indicated to me that the row - with their preferred oppo of the EU and the domestic liberal remainer elite - is confected and is the primary objective of the "move". It's not about leverage on the EU to get a better deal. It's not about insurance in the event of that not happening unicorn we call "WTO" No Deal Brexit. It's about shoring up support in their GE winning coalition of voters, the core of which is non-cerebral, nationalistic leavers.
It does seem strange that BJ has fired the starting gun on the 2024 election so soon; could be rather premature, given that Labour's alleged love-in with the EU may be less of an issue by then.
And how the Daily Telegraph has sunk, with their political hack using back-peddle rather than back-pedal. Standards have clearly slipped since BJ stopped working for them.
Interestingly no one I speak to has even noticed this confected Brexit row. They have noticed the lack of available tests. It's like a comedian rolling out his old routines which everyone's heard before cos they don't like the new material.
Exactly. This is what indicated to me that the row - with their preferred oppo of the EU and the domestic liberal remainer elite - is confected and is the primary objective of the "move". It's not about leverage on the EU to get a better deal. It's not about insurance in the event of that not happening unicorn we call "WTO" No Deal Brexit. It's about shoring up support in their GE winning coalition of voters, the core of which is non-cerebral, nationalistic leavers.
The interesting thing is that they were planning this in February. It's not clear whether it got postponed because of coronavirus, or whether it was always intended to be part of the cliff-edge choreography. Under the cover of accusing Labour of buckling to the EU, they will buckle even harder and hope everyone will be too distracted to notice again.
Yep. But I won't be too distracted to notice, I can assure you. Oh no.
Any idea on the timescale of what dates we will see the votes on amendments (or if the Government will accept the amendments) . . . or when the Lords will vote?
Interestingly no one I speak to has even noticed this confected Brexit row. They have noticed the lack of available tests. It's like a comedian rolling out his old routines which everyone's heard before cos they don't like the new material.
That's the problem with having a big majority. People only noticed before because of the deadlock.
James Fallows remains one of the class acts in US journalism.
The Media Learned Nothing From 2016 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/media-mistakes/616222/ ...A recent illustration of the powerful draw toward the ever-tightening horse race: This past Sunday, September 12, The New York Times ran a poll showing Joe Biden up by nine points in Minnesota. The headline on its article from the state was “Minnesota: Some See an Edge for Trump.” Or just yesterday, as Matt Viser of The Washington Post noted in a tweet, Joe Biden gave a speech about climate policy, and then got three questions from the press: What would be his message in Florida the next day? Why are his numbers among Hispanics so low? and, Are the gloves off? As I spent much of Breaking the News arguing, questions like these are of enormous in-the-minute fascination to political reporters. But they have virtually nothing to do with most voters’ concerns at the moment, and even less to do with what historians will say was at stake in our times....
A discussion that is bound to run and run - is Boris Johnson the worst PM this country has *ever* had?
Historians please help out as it’s going to be tough to beat the current incumbent who is nothing more than a disingenuous, lying, racist, fornicating piece of sh*t!
Interestingly no one I speak to has even noticed this confected Brexit row. They have noticed the lack of available tests. It's like a comedian rolling out his old routines which everyone's heard before cos they don't like the new material.
That's the problem with having a big majority. People only noticed before because of the deadlock.
Yes the Government needs to use its majority wisely not hash out battles constantly. This is still the first year of the Parliament time for making tough decisions.
If a No Deal Brexit is the right thing to do then making that decision now is better than dragging it out.
The issue is more important than Professor Peter Mathieson, the university’s principal and vice-chancellor, perhaps realises. The decision has been weaponised. Far-right news outlets in the US are reporting that the Hume tower is being renamed after George Floyd, the African American man who died after being restrained by US police.
And, of course, as we are so often told that no Parliament can bind its successor. This convention was agreed in the 1945-1950 Parliament. Twenty Parliaments ago.
UPDATE: Guido now hears Sadiq Khan will announce within weeks that there’ll be no spectators at this year’s New Years Eve display, though the capitals firework display will go ahead.
So that's Christmas and New Year cancelled. People, rightly or wrongly, are going to be really pissed off.
Brexit schmexit. The MSM are wrong again.
This is going to be a huge, huge story.
As Margaret Thatcher observed, when people have freedom to choose, they choose freedom.
People generally choose not to be dead. I don't know if Margaret Thatcher mentioned that...
If the New Year celebrations do go ahead as normal, it will likely be in the context of an epidemic that has gone out of all control and no-one is bothering to prevent infection any more. That may happen. It would be grim and I think there would be a reaction.
If people do not choose to be dead, then nobody will go to the fireworks anyway. So why cancel them? Can't people make a decision for themselves, having weighed up all the evidence? Of which there is now a great deal.... and if they don't make the right decision, take responsibility?
Maybe people will make their own decisions. However as people can't control who they infect, especially if they are choosing not to socially distance, they are literally incapable of taking responsibility for it.
Why do yo think 40% of your genome in incorporated virus DNA? was it because, down the centuries, people infected each other with viruses? yes.
And does your genomic and immune system make-up protect you and the vast majority of people from coronavirus? yes.
So people infecting each other with viruses and other bugs are not being selfish. They are doing each other the biggest service they possibly could by building up each others immune systems. They may indeed be costing a few lives. But they are saving a massive amount more.
Remember those are the genomes that survived - not the ones that were killed by the latest bug.
Interestingly no one I speak to has even noticed this confected Brexit row. They have noticed the lack of available tests. It's like a comedian rolling out his old routines which everyone's heard before cos they don't like the new material.
That's the problem with having a big majority. People only noticed before because of the deadlock.
Yes the Government needs to use its majority wisely not hash out battles constantly. This is still the first year of the Parliament time for making tough decisions.
If a No Deal Brexit is the right thing to do then making that decision now is better than dragging it out.
If Boris is using this as cover for a vassal state Brexit, will you denounce him?
And, of course, as we are so often told that no Parliament can bind its successor. This convention was agreed in the 1945-1950 Parliament. Twenty Parliaments ago.
It would be amusing if the real cunning plan is to abolish the Lords
Scotland seems to have a problem at the moment, despite the stringent rules they have in place there.
Scotland went back to school full bore a month earlier. This is entirely predictable.
That said be careful looking at both Hospital numbers (because Scotland massively overcoubts how many "covid" patients it has) and positive test numbers in the last 3 days (because Scotland tends to report them whilst England has the figures delayed.
New rules lack of sense. We have been holding seaside meditations recently. 25 people socially distanced outdoors on the seafront. We have had to cancel them due to not wanting the hassle of being grassed up (even though there is a religious exemption). Replaced it with 25 people socially distanced indoors in a yoga studio.
And, of course, as we are so often told that no Parliament can bind its successor. This convention was agreed in the 1945-1950 Parliament. Twenty Parliaments ago.
It would be amusing if the real cunning plan is to abolish the Lords
I'm afraid I have thought that is the real plan for several days now.
Brandon Lewis had vanished. A morning came, and he was missing from work: a few thoughtless people commented on his absence. On the next day nobody mentioned him. On the third day Winston went into the vestibule of the Records Department to look at the notice-board. One of the notices carried a printed list of the members of the Brexit Legality Committee, of whom Brandon Lewis had been one. It looked almost exactly as it had looked before—nothing had been crossed out—but it was one name shorter. It was enough. Brandon Lewis had ceased to exist: he had never existed.
And, of course, as we are so often told that no Parliament can bind its successor. This convention was agreed in the 1945-1950 Parliament. Twenty Parliaments ago.
If the HoL doesn't protect the constitution from these wreckers and maniacs what is its purpose?
James Fallows remains one of the class acts in US journalism.
The Media Learned Nothing From 2016 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/media-mistakes/616222/ ...A recent illustration of the powerful draw toward the ever-tightening horse race: This past Sunday, September 12, The New York Times ran a poll showing Joe Biden up by nine points in Minnesota. The headline on its article from the state was “Minnesota: Some See an Edge for Trump.” Or just yesterday, as Matt Viser of The Washington Post noted in a tweet, Joe Biden gave a speech about climate policy, and then got three questions from the press: What would be his message in Florida the next day? Why are his numbers among Hispanics so low? and, Are the gloves off? As I spent much of Breaking the News arguing, questions like these are of enormous in-the-minute fascination to political reporters. But they have virtually nothing to do with most voters’ concerns at the moment, and even less to do with what historians will say was at stake in our times....
It's worth remembering something.
It's in the interests of everyone to portray this as a close run thing:
- the campaigns, who want to motivate their supporters to turn out - the journalists, who want to make it exciting - the pundits, who got 2016 so wrong. (And therefore by calling this as a close Biden win, they get to claim victory whatever happens)
And, of course, as we are so often told that no Parliament can bind its successor. This convention was agreed in the 1945-1950 Parliament. Twenty Parliaments ago.
It would be amusing if the real cunning plan is to abolish the Lords
I'm afraid I have thought that is the real plan for several days now.
They might aswell go out in a blaze of glory then and tell the government to go fxck themselves and stick their UK humiliation bill where the sun doesn’t shine !
New rules lack of sense. We have been holding seaside meditations recently. 25 people socially distanced outdoors on the seafront. We have had to cancel them due to not wanting the hassle of being grassed up (even though there is a religious exemption). Replaced it with 25 people socially distanced indoors in a yoga studio.
My organised outdoor gym has gone ahead - organiser phoned the council, explained and they said they were happy with it so long as social distancing maintained. And we're in a local lockdown place!
New rules lack of sense. We have been holding seaside meditations recently. 25 people socially distanced outdoors on the seafront. We have had to cancel them due to not wanting the hassle of being grassed up (even though there is a religious exemption). Replaced it with 25 people socially distanced indoors in a yoga studio.
My organised outdoor gym has gone ahead - organiser phoned the council, explained and they said they were happy with it so long as social distancing maintained. And we're in a local lockdown place!
Yes. The council here weren't overly keen. Even though we have a specific exemption and your gym probably doesn't. The NE weather would have put the kibosh on it anyways.
And, of course, as we are so often told that no Parliament can bind its successor. This convention was agreed in the 1945-1950 Parliament. Twenty Parliaments ago.
If the HoL doesn't protect the constitution from these wreckers and maniacs what is its purpose?
It's purpose is to give advice on changes to bills to the democratically elected house. Advice, the elected members get the final decision.
UPDATE: Guido now hears Sadiq Khan will announce within weeks that there’ll be no spectators at this year’s New Years Eve display, though the capitals firework display will go ahead.
So that's Christmas and New Year cancelled. People, rightly or wrongly, are going to be really pissed off.
Brexit schmexit. The MSM are wrong again.
This is going to be a huge, huge story.
As Margaret Thatcher observed, when people have freedom to choose, they choose freedom.
People generally choose not to be dead. I don't know if Margaret Thatcher mentioned that...
If the New Year celebrations do go ahead as normal, it will likely be in the context of an epidemic that has gone out of all control and no-one is bothering to prevent infection any more. That may happen. It would be grim and I think there would be a reaction.
If people do not choose to be dead, then nobody will go to the fireworks anyway. So why cancel them? Can't people make a decision for themselves, having weighed up all the evidence? Of which there is now a great deal.... and if they don't make the right decision, take responsibility?
Maybe people will make their own decisions. However as people can't control who they infect, especially if they are choosing not to socially distance, they are literally incapable of taking responsibility for it.
Why do yo think 40% of your genome in incorporated virus DNA? was it because, down the centuries, people infected each other with viruses? yes.
And does your genomic and immune system make-up protect you and the vast majority of people from coronavirus? yes.
So people infecting each other with viruses and other bugs are not being selfish. They are doing each other the biggest service they possibly could by building up each others immune systems. They may indeed be costing a few lives. But they are saving a massive amount more.
Gibberish. 8% is the usual figure, viruses getting into the genome is an unbelievably rare occurrence (it has happened down millions of years, not centuries, and largely before the owners of the genomes had evolved into people) and the presence of that viral material in the genome has no direct bearing on the immune system. Its main effect is probably to cause severe auto immune diseases like MS.
It really is just theatre, isn't it? Boris will allow the IM bill to be emasculated and then, when chaos ensues in January, he'll claim that it is all the fault of those who killed his IM bill (rather than the inevitable result of Brexit).
What a complete tosser. Labour must be sorely tempted to call his bluff and allow the bill to pass as it is, but the consequent no deal would obviously devastate the economy as well as the Conservative party.
Good. Said yesterday this was the right compromise, not surprised to see it happen.
Still gets the principle of the bill through, while ensuring the power to exercise it is rightly in the hands of the elected Commons and not Ministers alone.
What a complete tosser. Labour must be sorely tempted to call his bluff and allow the bill to pass as it is, but the consequent no deal would obviously devastate the economy as well as the Conservative party.
Labour should just call his bluff. If he actually does go for No Deal, it will all be on him.
Boris once again negotiating with himself and his lickspittle MPs, rather than with the EU. It's hilarious, or would be if we weren't all going to be hit by the consequences in a few weeks' time. Our EU ex-friends must be looking at all this with a mixture of amusement, horror, anger, impatience, and above all disbelief.
Comments
We're certainly doing better than in March. There is enough testing to count the number of cases much more accurately. Better information is always helpful. But the testing isn't fast enough, or proactively following the tracing, to control the virus.
The government set out what was necessary in their plan in early May and have failed to achieve it. The result of this failure will be more deaths and less liberty than would otherwise have been the case.
They're doing a quarter million tests per day and people are saying its not enough.
When there's no cost to it to the end user then demand is almost infinite, but they've long since cleared their target.
Bring to boil.
I can't believe this isn't happening right now. And hence I can see why the govt has clamped down on other activities, as they said they would. But the problem is people get it into their heads that it is illogical and are unwilling to obey illogical rules.
Otherwise they give up the battlefield to the charlatans.
Last night I voted to protect the United Kingdom, as any Prime Minister would do.
Unfortunately, I was not joined by a single Labour or SNP MP.
Instead Labour and the SNP chose to side with the EU and their outrageous threats to carve up our Union.
Making it clear we’re the only Party willing to stand up for the United Kingdom.
Which is why Barnesian I’m asking you to stand with us today by joining our Party
Become a Member.
Last year in good faith I signed the Withdrawal Agreement, believing the EU would stand by their word to be reasonable.
But regretfully, as Labour know, in recent months the EU have suggested they would go to extreme and unreasonable lengths.
Threatening to put up blockades across our own country, divide our own land and change the very economic geography of our own union.
No British Prime Minister, Government or Parliament has ever bowed to such a humiliating and offensive threat.
And I’m proud to say that legacy continued last night.
But appallingly when presented with another opportunity to stand up for the UK, Labour chose not to. Instead they buckled to the EU.
So now Barnesian, faced with this unprecedented situation we must all redouble our efforts to combat Labour.
Will you step up and side with the only Party willing to protect the United Kingdom? Become a member now
Stand with Us
With your support I’m certain we will succeed.
Yours sincerely,
Boris Johnson signature
Boris Johnson
Prime Minister
A dilemma - what should I do?
The Labour Party voting in favour of something in the Tories 2019 manifesto!
Have they no shame?
https://twitter.com/nick_gutteridge/status/1305880824299085824?s=20
Yes they have. The one led by Boris Johnson that ratified the deal that concedes the principle of an Irish Sea customs border.
* it did of course!
https://twitter.com/ProfMarkElliott/status/1305881593786044417?s=20
https://twitter.com/ProfMarkElliott/status/1305881599440019458?s=20
https://twitter.com/ProfMarkElliott/status/1305881606469677057?s=20
This evident divergence creates an equal divergence of experience and aspect between those for whom the virus is present and prevalent and those for whom it is past and absent.
The latter see the re-imposition of restrictions as unnecessary and some rail against them while from the urban perspective the very real fear of a renewed burst of cases legitimises and justifies said restrictions.
Given the density of people in inner urban areas, it just seems irresponsible and personally selfish and individualist to ignore some pretty basic public health and hygiene regulations. To place your own individual convenience above the collective responsibility we should have to all in society illuminates a serious cultural issue as much as a medical one.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
A man on trial for murdering his parents pleading for clemency on the grounds that he is an orphan.
The Salisbury Convention prevents the Lords blocking implementation of an elected Government's manifesto commitment. It does not actively require the Lords to block things that would breach manifesto commitments (they can do so or not based on their view of the merits).
Best to stick with the real situation here, which is that the Salisbury Convention simply doesn't apply. This is reneging on aspects of the Johnson "oven ready" deal. Whatever the merits or otherwise of that as practical policy in light of events since December, it's blatantly obvious to the point of head-slapping stupidity that doing it wasn't a Tory manifesto commitment.
Is this a record?
And how the Daily Telegraph has sunk, with their political hack using back-peddle rather than back-pedal. Standards have clearly slipped since BJ stopped working for them.
They have noticed the lack of available tests.
It's like a comedian rolling out his old routines which everyone's heard before cos they don't like the new material.
Though it’s amusing to come on here and see the deluded right wing loons who live on this blog defend both Trump and Johnson.
Special call out to @Philip_Thompson and @BluestBlue. Love your posts - pure comedy gold!
The Media Learned Nothing From 2016
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/media-mistakes/616222/
...A recent illustration of the powerful draw toward the ever-tightening horse race: This past Sunday, September 12, The New York Times ran a poll showing Joe Biden up by nine points in Minnesota. The headline on its article from the state was “Minnesota: Some See an Edge for Trump.” Or just yesterday, as Matt Viser of The Washington Post noted in a tweet, Joe Biden gave a speech about climate policy, and then got three questions from the press: What would be his message in Florida the next day? Why are his numbers among Hispanics so low? and, Are the gloves off? As I spent much of Breaking the News arguing, questions like these are of enormous in-the-minute fascination to political reporters. But they have virtually nothing to do with most voters’ concerns at the moment, and even less to do with what historians will say was at stake in our times....
https://twitter.com/CovidLeics/status/1305895504262332416?s=19
I cannot say that I am convinced that local measures in Leicester are working well either.
https://twitter.com/CovidLeics/status/1305895048702296064?s=19
Historians please help out as it’s going to be tough to beat the current incumbent who is nothing more than a disingenuous, lying, racist, fornicating piece of sh*t!
If a No Deal Brexit is the right thing to do then making that decision now is better than dragging it out.
The issue is more important than Professor Peter Mathieson, the university’s principal and vice-chancellor, perhaps realises. The decision has been weaponised. Far-right news outlets in the US are reporting that the Hume tower is being renamed after George Floyd, the African American man who died after being restrained by US police.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/david-hume-tower-edinburgh-university-has-undermined-itself-renaming-building-martyn-mclaughlin-2972007
That said be careful looking at both Hospital numbers (because Scotland massively overcoubts how many "covid" patients it has) and positive test numbers in the last 3 days (because Scotland tends to report them whilst England has the figures delayed.
We have been holding seaside meditations recently. 25 people socially distanced outdoors on the seafront. We have had to cancel them due to not wanting the hassle of being grassed up (even though there is a religious exemption).
Replaced it with 25 people socially distanced indoors in a yoga studio.
yesterday now they are using the new measure.
https://twitter.com/Politics_Polls/status/1305844229361590272?s=20
It's in the interests of everyone to portray this as a close run thing:
- the campaigns, who want to motivate their supporters to turn out
- the journalists, who want to make it exciting
- the pundits, who got 2016 so wrong. (And therefore by calling this as a close Biden win, they get to claim victory whatever happens)
Dems would take Texas and most of the South on that?
But obviously an outlier.
The NE weather would have put the kibosh on it anyways.
Also, as RCS says never, ever heard of them.
It just shows what kind of narrative you can build if you cherry pick which polls to post on PB.com
Louisville to Pay Millions to Breonna Taylor’s Family, Install Police Reforms as Part of Settlement
Police shooting of Taylor in her home sparked months of protests and calls for the officers to be charged in her death
https://www.wsj.com/articles/louisville-to-pay-millions-to-breonna-taylors-family-install-police-reforms-as-part-of-settlement-11600184888
Edit - Non paywalled version
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/breonna-taylor-shooting-case-settlement-louisville-ben-crump/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab8d&linkId=99670485
https://twitter.com/YouGovAmerica/status/1305598540782206977
The right approach
Am I doing it right?
The culture war barriers are drawn very tight in the USA, so I expect Trump to get more or less the same share he did last time.
https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1305829508960989186?s=21
What a complete tosser. Labour must be sorely tempted to call his bluff and allow the bill to pass as it is, but the consequent no deal would obviously devastate the economy as well as the Conservative party.
https://twitter.com/sciam/status/1305854127721910275?s=20
Still gets the principle of the bill through, while ensuring the power to exercise it is rightly in the hands of the elected Commons and not Ministers alone.
https://twitter.com/LozzaFox/status/1305888118755782657?s=20