Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1345077579162804226 Incidentally we still don’t know what the hell we’re supposed to do. In fact, the situation is so confused my school has extended the Christmas holidays while we try and work out what’s happening.
It's quite an achievement to be the most incompetent minister in this government - by a mile.
Putting Gavin Williamson in charge of education tells you all you need to know about how important Johnson believes it is.
I agree - however, I'm unconvinced that closing schools across the board will act to suppress Covid - especially from the secondary sector - unless they and their families are to be confined to their homes. That is unlikely to be enforced so they will simply be congregating with friends inside and out in a much less controlled way and without being educated. I understand that there was little evidence of students passing the virus onto teachers when the schools were open.
But they would be congregating outside with their friends - groups of three or four outside, not thirty in unventilated rooms.
Do you honestly think that would be comparable in terms of viral transmission?
If you can post the evidence I might be convinced. Who enforces the 3/4 rule outside or is that simply a product of your imagination? In Spain they regularly post information on school amd class closures caused by Covid. The figures have been very low.
It’s a product of my knowledge of teenagers. They do not hang out with groups of thirty, particularly not with all inside venues closed. And in any case, outside meeting is much safer than inside.
The other issue is of course that (1) classrooms are in no way ‘safe’ despite the lies of those drunken crooks at the DfE, and (2) government isolation schools are not generally enforced in schools - only people within 2 metres, not whole classes, are isolated, nor are teachers.
As for your claim about teachers, the fact that at times we had 10% of staff off with Covid (not just isolating) does not exactly suggest staff are safe from infection.
Unless it is always the same 3/4 people your knowledge is unhelpful. The point about staff seems to assume they all caught it in the classroom from students. Again I would like to see the evidence. I'd also love to see your evidence that the DfE has a high proportion of 'drunken crooks' - otherwise it could be you're simply peddling an agenda.
You have made a series of unsubstantiated assertions that small groups in the open air are just as dangerous in terms of viral transmission as packed classrooms, because mythically they must always be different people all the time.
And you are accusing me of not providing evidence and pushing an agenda?
Edit - and I’m assuming the DfE are drunk because the alternative - that they Deliberately sent three sets of contradictory instructions within 24 hours out of malice - is too awful to contemplate.
I said I was unconvinced. I am. Your manic comments about DfE officials are ridiculous. However, enjoy your day. We are not going to agree and life is way too short.
We’re not going to agree because you are clearly wrong. Every time this is pointed out to you you try to shift position based on sweeping statements. That is your privilege, but does mean your views on policy are not relevant.
As for the DfE. They have behaved throughout this crisis with criminal irresponsibility. They have blood on their hands. They will be held to account.
R4 meteorologist suggesting another Best from the East might be forming due mid to late Jan
There's a Sudden Stratospheric Warming event in progress.
All other things being equal you would expect that to make easterly winds a lot more likely.
One thing to note is that this event is relatively early in the winter, so coincides with the annual minimum in temperature which is normally at the end of January.
Happy New Year folks (even Brexiteers and Tories!)
A SSW does *not* guarantee cold weather, it just increases the chances of cold conditions. I think the rule of thumb is 2 out of 3 SSWs lead to cold winter weather.
It looks like things are very finely balanced with this SSW as this MetOffice blog suggests.
Anyway, the SSW is due to happen on 5th January so if we have a quick tropospheric response (a lead time of two weeks from the SSW date) we should see the NWP give an indication of how things pan out towards the end of this week.
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
I think that they mean that they are requiring exporters to the UK to pay tariffs. Which would not be unique at all of course. And which have disappeared in any event as a result of Boris's deal which you are no doubt still celebrating.
More than 2,500 people have attended an illegal rave in France, as the country continues to grapple with coronavirus.
The event, held in a warehouse at Lieuron near Rennes in Brittany, began on Thursday and is still going on.
A number of ravers are from the UK and Spain, police said.
Attendees have clashed with police, setting fire to a car and throwing objects at officers attempting to shut the event down. At least three officers have been injured.
A statement from local authorities said police had tried to "prevent this event but faced fierce hostility from many partygoers".
One of the party-goers, who gave his name as Jo, told the AFP news agency that "very few had respected social distancing" at the event.
I hope that wazzock Williamson has been locked in the DfE stationery cupboard whilst officials try and work out what the plan is for schools on Monday. That the pox is on a post-Christmas national rampage isn't unexpected, so they must have plans and alternative plans and alternative contingency plans to pull out and implement.
But its ok. People will put up with - and defend - any deadly shambles because Brexit.
With Williamson locked in a cupboard and out of the picture, it'll be a caped Nick Gibb to the rescue...oh wait...
https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1345077579162804226 Incidentally we still don’t know what the hell we’re supposed to do. In fact, the situation is so confused my school has extended the Christmas holidays while we try and work out what’s happening.
It's quite an achievement to be the most incompetent minister in this government - by a mile.
Putting Gavin Williamson in charge of education tells you all you need to know about how important Johnson believes it is.
I agree - however, I'm unconvinced that closing schools across the board will act to suppress Covid - especially from the secondary sector - unless they and their families are to be confined to their homes. That is unlikely to be enforced so they will simply be congregating with friends inside and out in a much less controlled way and without being educated. I understand that there was little evidence of students passing the virus onto teachers when the schools were open.
But they would be congregating outside with their friends - groups of three or four outside, not thirty in unventilated rooms.
Do you honestly think that would be comparable in terms of viral transmission?
If you can post the evidence I might be convinced. Who enforces the 3/4 rule outside or is that simply a product of your imagination? In Spain they regularly post information on school amd class closures caused by Covid. The figures have been very low.
It’s a product of my knowledge of teenagers. They do not hang out with groups of thirty, particularly not with all inside venues closed. And in any case, outside meeting is much safer than inside.
The other issue is of course that (1) classrooms are in no way ‘safe’ despite the lies of those drunken crooks at the DfE, and (2) government isolation schools are not generally enforced in schools - only people within 2 metres, not whole classes, are isolated, nor are teachers.
As for your claim about teachers, the fact that at times we had 10% of staff off with Covid (not just isolating) does not exactly suggest staff are safe from infection.
Unless it is always the same 3/4 people your knowledge is unhelpful. The point about staff seems to assume they all caught it in the classroom from students. Again I would like to see the evidence. I'd also love to see your evidence that the DfE has a high proportion of 'drunken crooks' - otherwise it could be you're simply peddling an agenda.
You have made a series of unsubstantiated assertions that small groups in the open air are just as dangerous in terms of viral transmission as packed classrooms, because mythically they must always be different people all the time.
And you are accusing me of not providing evidence and pushing an agenda?
Edit - and I’m assuming the DfE are drunk because the alternative - that they Deliberately sent three sets of contradictory instructions within 24 hours out of malice - is too awful to contemplate.
I said I was unconvinced. I am. Your manic comments about DfE officials are ridiculous. However, enjoy your day. We are not going to agree and life is way too short.
We’re not going to agree because you are clearly wrong. Every time this is pointed out to you you try to shift position based on sweeping statements. That is your privilege, but does mean your views on policy are not relevant.
As for the DfE. They have behaved throughout this crisis with criminal irresponsibility. They have blood on their hands. They will be held to account.
Rofl. Keep taking the tablets.
This is no laughing matter!
Felix’s inability to deal with facts and refusal to accept reality when pointed out is mildly amusing. The DfE are not. They have already forced delays in the start of remote teaching by their sheer incompetence. They have put lives at risk by their stubbornness and they have failed, completely, in every task they have had, from exam reform to school inspections to budget control.
Good morning everyone. And thanks Mr H for your forecast. However, I'm inclined to agree with Mr Clipp; the Government looks as though it may well be in serious chaos by the end of the year. The question has to arise; who is to replace anyone who leaves the Government. There doesn't seem to be a wealth of talent on the Conservative benches.
I’m afraid that’s what happens when candidates are selected for ‘outside’ bets to win, you don’t get the cream of aspiring politicians and end up with a lot of dead wood or even worse unpredictable self motivated individuals. When you’ve already sacked the A team and appointed theB team based on loyalty to brexit leaves you little room for maneuver and any quality left will be seen as a threat to the incumbent.
Indeed; and there's little chance of a by election bringing anyone else in. It has to be said, tough, that Labour doesn't appear to have a group of whizz-kids ready to challenge either. Although maybe the opportunity hasn't 't yet arisen, but, for example, I can't recall who leads for Labour on Education. Maybe, of course, I haven't been paying attention.
Kate Green - notable fior 'wokeness' I'm afraid and anti-monarchism.
Thanks; should I try to remember?
On Dr F's point, AIUI the 'Family Doctor' system that we have in the UK is, I understand, unusual. While it has it's disadvantages...... no-one can be expert in everything ....... it does mean that there's are local reference points where everyones records are held.
I thought that’s what computers were for everything in one place accessible from multiple points including by the patient, doesn’t every modern health service have this facility?
No. I do a lot of work with diabetes, and because of the GP system, get updates on numbers of people with the diagnosis, including personal demographic data. This is updated daily, so I can track and plan services for the 76 000 with diabetes in Leics and Rutland.
When I go to conferences, apart from the Scandinavians none of my international peers has anything like the quality of data. Apart from occasional epidemiological surveys they don't generally even know how many they have, nor what their current issues are. It is a different style of practice. While care can be excellent, it can also be very patchy, and diabetes care amongst the poor in America is truly appalling.
GP registers are a major strength of the UK public health system. Fragmented privatised care has some utility, over centralised systems, but when it comes to systematic planning of a vaccine programme, it is no contest.
I can see almost all of my medical records, as to whether this results in any analysis is a different matter. It does save carrying around large quantities of paper.
Yes - the Spanish centralised prescription reords are also very handy right now. Simple phonecall and instant 3 months renewal.
Same here in Scotland, one phone call and it is delivered to my house in 2 working days, superb service.
Morning Malc
Our prescriptions are automatically prescribed every month for six months then a review with the doctor
It is one of the few things working well under labour's Wales NHS
Some more data wrangling. Tests per case found, averaged over 7 days:
If I have read your charts successfully this morning Scotland has by far the lowest level of testing within the UK and the highest percentage of +ve results of those tested. Overall Scotland has the lowest level of infections recorded but does the second of those factors not suggest that the first is the main cause of the third?
I am bemused that our testing is so far behind the rest of the UK. I very much hope that this is not reflected in the immunisation rates over the next few weeks.
I hope that wazzock Williamson has been locked in the DfE stationery cupboard whilst officials try and work out what the plan is for schools on Monday. That the pox is on a post-Christmas national rampage isn't unexpected, so they must have plans and alternative plans and alternative contingency plans to pull out and implement.
But its ok. People will put up with - and defend - any deadly shambles because Brexit.
With Williamson locked in a cupboard and out of the picture, it'll be a caped Nick Gibb to the rescue...oh wait...
Good morning everyone. And thanks Mr H for your forecast. However, I'm inclined to agree with Mr Clipp; the Government looks as though it may well be in serious chaos by the end of the year. The question has to arise; who is to replace anyone who leaves the Government. There doesn't seem to be a wealth of talent on the Conservative benches.
I’m afraid that’s what happens when candidates are selected for ‘outside’ bets to win, you don’t get the cream of aspiring politicians and end up with a lot of dead wood or even worse unpredictable self motivated individuals. When you’ve already sacked the A team and appointed theB team based on loyalty to brexit leaves you little room for maneuver and any quality left will be seen as a threat to the incumbent.
Indeed; and there's little chance of a by election bringing anyone else in. It has to be said, tough, that Labour doesn't appear to have a group of whizz-kids ready to challenge either. Although maybe the opportunity hasn't 't yet arisen, but, for example, I can't recall who leads for Labour on Education. Maybe, of course, I haven't been paying attention.
Kate Green - notable fior 'wokeness' I'm afraid and anti-monarchism.
Thanks; should I try to remember?
On Dr F's point, AIUI the 'Family Doctor' system that we have in the UK is, I understand, unusual. While it has it's disadvantages...... no-one can be expert in everything ....... it does mean that there's are local reference points where everyones records are held.
I thought that’s what computers were for everything in one place accessible from multiple points including by the patient, doesn’t every modern health service have this facility?
No. I do a lot of work with diabetes, and because of the GP system, get updates on numbers of people with the diagnosis, including personal demographic data. This is updated daily, so I can track and plan services for the 76 000 with diabetes in Leics and Rutland.
When I go to conferences, apart from the Scandinavians none of my international peers has anything like the quality of data. Apart from occasional epidemiological surveys they don't generally even know how many they have, nor what their current issues are. It is a different style of practice. While care can be excellent, it can also be very patchy, and diabetes care amongst the poor in America is truly appalling.
GP registers are a major strength of the UK public health system. Fragmented privatised care has some utility, over centralised systems, but when it comes to systematic planning of a vaccine programme, it is no contest.
I can see almost all of my medical records, as to whether this results in any analysis is a different matter. It does save carrying around large quantities of paper.
Yes - the Spanish centralised prescription reords are also very handy right now. Simple phonecall and instant 3 months renewal.
The Spanish must feel lucky having you there felix. You use their prescription service to extinction and carry on your one man war against woke. Presumably so you can call a dago a dago. No wonder they're so sorry to see us go.
https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1345077579162804226 Incidentally we still don’t know what the hell we’re supposed to do. In fact, the situation is so confused my school has extended the Christmas holidays while we try and work out what’s happening.
It's quite an achievement to be the most incompetent minister in this government - by a mile.
Putting Gavin Williamson in charge of education tells you all you need to know about how important Johnson believes it is.
I agree - however, I'm unconvinced that closing schools across the board will act to suppress Covid - especially from the secondary sector - unless they and their families are to be confined to their homes. That is unlikely to be enforced so they will simply be congregating with friends inside and out in a much less controlled way and without being educated. I understand that there was little evidence of students passing the virus onto teachers when the schools were open.
But they would be congregating outside with their friends - groups of three or four outside, not thirty in unventilated rooms.
Do you honestly think that would be comparable in terms of viral transmission?
If you can post the evidence I might be convinced. Who enforces the 3/4 rule outside or is that simply a product of your imagination? In Spain they regularly post information on school amd class closures caused by Covid. The figures have been very low.
It’s a product of my knowledge of teenagers. They do not hang out with groups of thirty, particularly not with all inside venues closed. And in any case, outside meeting is much safer than inside.
The other issue is of course that (1) classrooms are in no way ‘safe’ despite the lies of those drunken crooks at the DfE, and (2) government isolation schools are not generally enforced in schools - only people within 2 metres, not whole classes, are isolated, nor are teachers.
As for your claim about teachers, the fact that at times we had 10% of staff off with Covid (not just isolating) does not exactly suggest staff are safe from infection.
Unless it is always the same 3/4 people your knowledge is unhelpful. The point about staff seems to assume they all caught it in the classroom from students. Again I would like to see the evidence. I'd also love to see your evidence that the DfE has a high proportion of 'drunken crooks' - otherwise it could be you're simply peddling an agenda.
You have made a series of unsubstantiated assertions that small groups in the open air are just as dangerous in terms of viral transmission as packed classrooms, because mythically they must always be different people all the time.
And you are accusing me of not providing evidence and pushing an agenda?
Edit - and I’m assuming the DfE are drunk because the alternative - that they Deliberately sent three sets of contradictory instructions within 24 hours out of malice - is too awful to contemplate.
I said I was unconvinced. I am. Your manic comments about DfE officials are ridiculous. However, enjoy your day. We are not going to agree and life is way too short.
We’re not going to agree because you are clearly wrong. Every time this is pointed out to you you try to shift position based on sweeping statements. That is your privilege, but does mean your views on policy are not relevant.
As for the DfE. They have behaved throughout this crisis with criminal irresponsibility. They have blood on their hands. They will be held to account.
Rofl. Keep taking the tablets.
This is no laughing matter!
Felix’s inability to deal with facts and refusal to accept reality when pointed out is mildly amusing. The DfE are not. They have already forced delays in the start of remote teaching by their sheer incompetence. They have put lives at risk by their stubbornness and they have failed, completely, in every task they have had, from exam reform to school inspections to budget control.
What is the point of them?
Jobs for the boys, Tories need lots of nice juicy sinecures to curry favour for their mendacious policies and nasty doings.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
I have said several times that I suspect Boris will leave office probably this year and I hope Rishi Sunak will replace him. Probably my only prediction. My current frustration lies mainly with the slow vaccine rollout in the EU combined with surprise at the high levels of scepticism I hear about having the jab here in Spain. We continue to be badly hit but one of the wealthiest blocs in the world seems to be dithering. I don't get it.
This is where EU red tape irritates me. They also delayed too long after the MHRA approved Pfizer's vaccine in the UK.
The UK did brilliantly to pre-order from several sources but we're now hitting some obstacles on the rollout. I guess that's to be expected but this needs a mobilisation the like of which has never been seen. The whole of the EU and UK (argh first time I've had to write that) should be vaccinating en masse 24/7. Otherwise for the next few months the virus is going to be in the lead.
Some people on this site ask how many people have the EU killed by taking too long behind us to start jabbing.
We may have started a couple of weeks earlier, but was the EU block sat on their hands those two weeks, or putting in place logistics that will take them passed us in the jaboff? If that were to happen, head start, twice as expensive and finishing second, the ask would be how many have the U.K. government killed with the slower roll out. 😦. That really would be a difficult place to be particularly after “greatest country” boasting.
Dear Hanky Hancock - have you thought about automating the process using robots?
The evidence from France (I don't think it is right to talk about the EU in rollout terms as that is, as far as I know, a national issue) is that they are doing very badly. Hopefully other countries are doing much better. There are no 'winners' and 'losers' in this race. If countries delay due to poor management that means more people die and everyone else remains at risk longer so we are all losers.
This is also why we should be spending money and time trying to get the vaccines pumped out to third world countries which lack the infrastructure to do this effectively. Even if you ignore the purely humanitarian reasons, it helps us in Britain and Europe in the end.
Some more data wrangling. Tests per case found, averaged over 7 days:
If I have read your charts successfully this morning Scotland has by far the lowest level of testing within the UK and the highest percentage of +ve results of those tested. Overall Scotland has the lowest level of infections recorded but does the second of those factors not suggest that the first is the main cause of the third?
I am bemused that our testing is so far behind the rest of the UK. I very much hope that this is not reflected in the immunisation rates over the next few weeks.
No, Scotland has the highest number of tests per case (and hence the lowest test posititivity.)
The Johnson Government is the epitome of omnishambles. How BJ can leave someone like Gavin Williamson in office is beyond me. Except of course that he was instrumental in the leadership election and chumocracy trumps competence.
I have come to the view that Gav remains in post because BoZo believes him to be doing an exceptional job.
Not at educating, obviously, but at deflecting or absorbing blame.
It's not remotely possible that Gav is stupid enough to believe we would not need to close schools, and still function as an adult in the Real World.
We are left therefore with the hypothesis that BoZo made the decision and told him to go out and sell it.
Which he did. And now we blame him. Job done from BoZo's perspective. Give that man a medal...
Williamson has undoubtedly survived simply because they'll need a rag-doll to repeatedly throw in front of buses. I imagine he even has been told such a thing. He's better off being in government than out and the government is far happier having a repeatedly rubbished education secretary than it would be if the blame fell on the health secretary.
No doubt he's desperately trying to find some positives in his tenure too - hence the rather bizarre radio appearances. He does seem to be increasingly throwing the stopped clock meme into touch though.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
It's not a Sky issue, it is something that is impacting Netflix, Amazon Prime, and others.
The government has decided not to keep us in the EU portability regulations.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
It's not a Sky issue, it is something that is impacting Netflix, Amazon Prime, and others.
The government has decided not to keep us in the EU portability regulations.
I see, well politicians can campaign at the next election to take us back into those (whatever they are). I assume there was a cost associated with it. Not sure it will shift too many votes, mind.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1345077579162804226 Incidentally we still don’t know what the hell we’re supposed to do. In fact, the situation is so confused my school has extended the Christmas holidays while we try and work out what’s happening.
It's quite an achievement to be the most incompetent minister in this government - by a mile.
Putting Gavin Williamson in charge of education tells you all you need to know about how important Johnson believes it is.
I agree - however, I'm unconvinced that closing schools across the board will act to suppress Covid - especially from the secondary sector - unless they and their families are to be confined to their homes. That is unlikely to be enforced so they will simply be congregating with friends inside and out in a much less controlled way and without being educated. I understand that there was little evidence of students passing the virus onto teachers when the schools were open.
But they would be congregating outside with their friends - groups of three or four outside, not thirty in unventilated rooms.
Do you honestly think that would be comparable in terms of viral transmission?
If you can post the evidence I might be convinced. Who enforces the 3/4 rule outside or is that simply a product of your imagination? In Spain they regularly post information on school amd class closures caused by Covid. The figures have been very low.
It’s a product of my knowledge of teenagers. They do not hang out with groups of thirty, particularly not with all inside venues closed. And in any case, outside meeting is much safer than inside.
The other issue is of course that (1) classrooms are in no way ‘safe’ despite the lies of those drunken crooks at the DfE, and (2) government isolation schools are not generally enforced in schools - only people within 2 metres, not whole classes, are isolated, nor are teachers.
As for your claim about teachers, the fact that at times we had 10% of staff off with Covid (not just isolating) does not exactly suggest staff are safe from infection.
Unless it is always the same 3/4 people your knowledge is unhelpful. The point about staff seems to assume they all caught it in the classroom from students. Again I would like to see the evidence. I'd also love to see your evidence that the DfE has a high proportion of 'drunken crooks' - otherwise it could be you're simply peddling an agenda.
You have made a series of unsubstantiated assertions that small groups in the open air are just as dangerous in terms of viral transmission as packed classrooms, because mythically they must always be different people all the time.
And you are accusing me of not providing evidence and pushing an agenda?
Edit - and I’m assuming the DfE are drunk because the alternative - that they Deliberately sent three sets of contradictory instructions within 24 hours out of malice - is too awful to contemplate.
I said I was unconvinced. I am. Your manic comments about DfE officials are ridiculous. However, enjoy your day. We are not going to agree and life is way too short.
We’re not going to agree because you are clearly wrong. Every time this is pointed out to you you try to shift position based on sweeping statements. That is your privilege, but does mean your views on policy are not relevant.
As for the DfE. They have behaved throughout this crisis with criminal irresponsibility. They have blood on their hands. They will be held to account.
Rofl. Keep taking the tablets.
This is no laughing matter!
Felix’s inability to deal with facts and refusal to accept reality when pointed out is mildly amusing. The DfE are not. They have already forced delays in the start of remote teaching by their sheer incompetence. They have put lives at risk by their stubbornness and they have failed, completely, in every task they have had, from exam reform to school inspections to budget control.
What is the point of them?
Wasn’t there an education minister and his sidekick advisor a few years ago, who tried to overturn the DfE ‘blob’? I wonder what happened to them...
I suspect the vaccination process will be a success overall, but it isn't going to be pretty, or tidy. Even on PB we're seeing calls to pull out every stop, but at the same time criticism of 'mix n match', and the NHS cancelling 2nd appointments - both of which are a stop which is currently being pulled out to stretch vaccine supply.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
Some more data wrangling. Tests per case found, averaged over 7 days:
If I have read your charts successfully this morning Scotland has by far the lowest level of testing within the UK and the highest percentage of +ve results of those tested. Overall Scotland has the lowest level of infections recorded but does the second of those factors not suggest that the first is the main cause of the third?
I am bemused that our testing is so far behind the rest of the UK. I very much hope that this is not reflected in the immunisation rates over the next few weeks.
No, Scotland has the highest number of tests per case (and hence the lowest test posititivity.)
Right, I had misread the last chart. Thanks. So we are doing less testing and finding fewer cases when we do. That is good news, I think.
Could the Elections be postponed due to the Covid crisis? A possibility to be considered.
Oh and first.
A good question, especially given that many of the elections scheduled for this year were originally postponed from 2020. I think it more likely they’ll run as all-postal votes, with a socially-distanced count, at least in most of England. London, Scotland and Wales may be more challenging to arrange, as their elections will have a higher turnout.
The political parties (Labour anyway) are expecting some movement on this, but frankly the pattern of Ministers always making decisions a few weeks after the last reasonable date seems likely to recur, and I rather expect us to all to be scrambling to fit into whatever arrangements are decided somewhere around late March. I hope I'm wrong. I appreciate that it's not the most urgent problem for Boris Johnson, but that's why we have Departmental Ministers, and it probably IS one of the most urgent problems for the DCLG.
To my mind, all-postal elections with one freepost per party in each authority seems the best way forward, avoiding the hideous choice of forcing parties to do mass delivery at personal risk to the leafleters (and spreading the pandemic as they do). That would enable everyone to hear something from each party, without the enoromus cost of giving every single candidate a separate freepost. But I think we would all accept any reasonable arragnement, and merely wish they'd decide something.
Postponing the election to some date in the future when they hypothesise that the pandemic will have vanished seems not a sensible option, since honestly nobody knows when that might be. Democracies should not postpone elections indefinitely because of practical inconvenience when the remedy of an all-postal ballot is available.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
It's not a Sky issue, it is something that is impacting Netflix, Amazon Prime, and others.
The government has decided not to keep us in the EU portability regulations.
I see, well politicians can campaign at the next election to take us back into those (whatever they are). I assume there was a cost associated with it. Not sure it will shift too many votes, mind.
Cross-border portability from 1 January 2021
The EU Portability Regulation will cease to apply to UK-EEA travel from 1 January 2021. In the UK, the regulation will be revoked.
Online content service providers will not be required under the regulation to provide content ordinarily available in the UK to a UK customer who is temporarily present in any other EEA Member State.
This will not prevent service providers offering cross-border portability to their customers on a voluntary basis, but to do so they will need the permission of the owners of the content they provide.
I suspect the vaccination process will be a success overall, but it isn't going to be pretty, or tidy. Even on PB we're seeing calls to pull out every stop, but at the same time criticism of 'mix n match', and the NHS cancelling 2nd appointments - both of which are a stop which is currently being pulled out to stretch vaccine supply.
Agreed. If there is greater utility overall in giving second jabs to those who have not had their first jabs that is what we must do. What is not clear is what the consequence of a delay in getting the second jab is in terms of long term protection but that seems to me to be less important than seeking to eliminate the virus by herd immunity in the short term.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
A private UK VPN should solve that problem.
Not always, things like Sky Go and other apps require location services to be enabled on mobile devices, so a VPN will be able to bypass the wifi check it cannot get around the regular SIM check.
Mr. Away, aye. The price of having a cult around a healthcare provider.
If the red tape around getting retired doctors in to give jabs is true, that's an epic level of bullshit.
There’s lots of anecdotal evidence (social media, letters to newspapers) that applicants are being asked to work through training courses on equality, diversity, discrimination and terrorism before even getting to the medical questions.
Many doctors who retired a decade ago aren’t woke enough to know the ‘right’ answers to some of the questions in 2021, and are being rejected.
50,000 retired or lapsed medical professionals have applied, and the latest figure I saw was 8,000 have been accepted.
If all that’s true, the next question is what to do about it? The HR department will claim that everything is required by section 3 subsection 29 of the Bollocks Act 2009.
It could end up being easier to train sqaddies on administering injections, and have one nurse support half a dozen of them.
It is this government that made terrorism prevention training compulsory, and instituted the Revalidation and licence to practice requirements. Prior to 2012, retired doctors retained GMC registration and could prescribe, though few did. Nurses have a similar system.
It is the Tory government that introduced all this bollocks. Nothing to do with hospital HR departments etc, other than they need to follow the law.
Similar with pharmacists; I think they used us as a test case, although to be fair, it wasn't only the Tories who did it. although they finished off thew process. Been DoH policy for years. I don't know about doctors or nurses but strictly legally I cannot call myself a retired pharmacist, as it suggests, apparently, that I'm still registered. There was a lot of ill-feeling about it at the time, but we now have a Retired Pharmacists Group in the professional body. Of which I'm still a member, although it's voluntary now.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1345077579162804226 Incidentally we still don’t know what the hell we’re supposed to do. In fact, the situation is so confused my school has extended the Christmas holidays while we try and work out what’s happening.
It's quite an achievement to be the most incompetent minister in this government - by a mile.
Putting Gavin Williamson in charge of education tells you all you need to know about how important Johnson believes it is.
I agree - however, I'm unconvinced that closing schools across the board will act to suppress Covid - especially from the secondary sector - unless they and their families are to be confined to their homes. That is unlikely to be enforced so they will simply be congregating with friends inside and out in a much less controlled way and without being educated. I understand that there was little evidence of students passing the virus onto teachers when the schools were open.
But they would be congregating outside with their friends - groups of three or four outside, not thirty in unventilated rooms.
Do you honestly think that would be comparable in terms of viral transmission?
If you can post the evidence I might be convinced. Who enforces the 3/4 rule outside or is that simply a product of your imagination? In Spain they regularly post information on school amd class closures caused by Covid. The figures have been very low.
It’s a product of my knowledge of teenagers. They do not hang out with groups of thirty, particularly not with all inside venues closed. And in any case, outside meeting is much safer than inside.
The other issue is of course that (1) classrooms are in no way ‘safe’ despite the lies of those drunken crooks at the DfE, and (2) government isolation schools are not generally enforced in schools - only people within 2 metres, not whole classes, are isolated, nor are teachers.
As for your claim about teachers, the fact that at times we had 10% of staff off with Covid (not just isolating) does not exactly suggest staff are safe from infection.
Unless it is always the same 3/4 people your knowledge is unhelpful. The point about staff seems to assume they all caught it in the classroom from students. Again I would like to see the evidence. I'd also love to see your evidence that the DfE has a high proportion of 'drunken crooks' - otherwise it could be you're simply peddling an agenda.
You have made a series of unsubstantiated assertions that small groups in the open air are just as dangerous in terms of viral transmission as packed classrooms, because mythically they must always be different people all the time.
And you are accusing me of not providing evidence and pushing an agenda?
Edit - and I’m assuming the DfE are drunk because the alternative - that they Deliberately sent three sets of contradictory instructions within 24 hours out of malice - is too awful to contemplate.
I said I was unconvinced. I am. Your manic comments about DfE officials are ridiculous. However, enjoy your day. We are not going to agree and life is way too short.
We’re not going to agree because you are clearly wrong. Every time this is pointed out to you you try to shift position based on sweeping statements. That is your privilege, but does mean your views on policy are not relevant.
As for the DfE. They have behaved throughout this crisis with criminal irresponsibility. They have blood on their hands. They will be held to account.
Rofl. Keep taking the tablets.
This is no laughing matter!
Felix’s inability to deal with facts and refusal to accept reality when pointed out is mildly amusing. The DfE are not. They have already forced delays in the start of remote teaching by their sheer incompetence. They have put lives at risk by their stubbornness and they have failed, completely, in every task they have had, from exam reform to school inspections to budget control.
What is the point of them?
Wasn’t there an education minister and his sidekick advisor a few years ago, who tried to overturn the DfE ‘blob’? I wonder what happened to them...
It was the teachers they referred to as ‘the Blob.’ Not the DfE. They sold out completely to them.
One of the things that alerted me to the fact Cummings was possibly not the intellectual giant he believed himself to be was that he boasted of victory over the DfE while actually implementing all the disasters they had been trying to wish on schools for years.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
A private UK VPN should solve that problem.
VPNs aren't really a solution any more - the digital broadcasters largely block them. SkyGo is notoriously difficult to keep working on a VPN.
Before people complain this is not another pointless moan about Brexit. Far from it, this a celebration of the Brexit wins. British Telly only for the British and only for the patriots who haven't betrayed their ancestors and moved abroad to frogville or dagoland.
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
I think that they mean that they are requiring exporters to the UK to pay tariffs. Which would not be unique at all of course. And which have disappeared in any event as a result of Boris's deal which you are no doubt still celebrating.
No, it is VAT not tariffs. The Dutch firm is now required to collect and remit UK VAT, requiring it to register with HMRC. They have decided that it's not worth the administrative cost. Just another example of how Brexit red tape is hurting UK consumers.
Some more data wrangling. Tests per case found, averaged over 7 days:
If I have read your charts successfully this morning Scotland has by far the lowest level of testing within the UK and the highest percentage of +ve results of those tested. Overall Scotland has the lowest level of infections recorded but does the second of those factors not suggest that the first is the main cause of the third?
I am bemused that our testing is so far behind the rest of the UK. I very much hope that this is not reflected in the immunisation rates over the next few weeks.
No, Scotland has the highest number of tests per case (and hence the lowest test posititivity.)
Some more data wrangling. Tests per case found, averaged over 7 days:
If I have read your charts successfully this morning Scotland has by far the lowest level of testing within the UK and the highest percentage of +ve results of those tested. Overall Scotland has the lowest level of infections recorded but does the second of those factors not suggest that the first is the main cause of the third?
I am bemused that our testing is so far behind the rest of the UK. I very much hope that this is not reflected in the immunisation rates over the next few weeks.
No, Scotland has the highest number of tests per case (and hence the lowest test posititivity.)
Right, I had misread the last chart. Thanks. So we are doing less testing and finding fewer cases when we do. That is good news, I think.
Correct. And I think the lower test numbers are to a large part due to the lower case levels, as of course people don't usually go for tests without symptoms.
Sorry, the previous version had an incorrect offset between cases and tests that made the curves more jaggy then necessary:
Thanks for doing all this work at my request.
I did some calculations myself last night (though I did not use a 7 day window), and also noted the fact that Scotland has the highest positivity rate (for reasons that are not very clear to me).
For Wales, there are days with very high positivity rates, so I am surprised by your Welsh graph which is rather low.
How are you calculating it? By averaging Pillar 1/ All Pillars over the last 7 days?
I suspect the vaccination process will be a success overall, but it isn't going to be pretty, or tidy. Even on PB we're seeing calls to pull out every stop, but at the same time criticism of 'mix n match', and the NHS cancelling 2nd appointments - both of which are a stop which is currently being pulled out to stretch vaccine supply.
Agreed. If there is greater utility overall in giving second jabs to those who have not had their first jabs that is what we must do. What is not clear is what the consequence of a delay in getting the second jab is in terms of long term protection but that seems to me to be less important than seeking to eliminate the virus by herd immunity in the short term.
Front line health service workers should (and presumably will?) get their second Pfizer injection. The elderly may have to wait.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
I hope that wazzock Williamson has been locked in the DfE stationery cupboard whilst officials try and work out what the plan is for schools on Monday. That the pox is on a post-Christmas national rampage isn't unexpected, so they must have plans and alternative plans and alternative contingency plans to pull out and implement.
But its ok. People will put up with - and defend - any deadly shambles because Brexit.
I do hope that the writers of "The Thick of It" have taken note and are planning a 2021 Christmas Special edition, in which the hapless incompetant minister at the Department of Social Affairs is promoted to Secretary of State for Education on account of having backed the winning candidate for PM and nothing else. It could carry a non-disclaimer at the end to the effect that it is entirely based on the events of Christmas 2020, because you could never make this sort of thing up.
Sometime on Sunday there'll finally be the now inevitable 11th hour announcement that all schools in the country will remain shut to all but key workers' children. Thank god. Yet for all the handwringing about protecting children's educaton, if the Government had wanted to stuff education whilst also keeping schools shut they couldn't have gone about it more effectively. Teachers will have been planning to teach in class, so there's been no time at all to substitute a well planned programme of home learning of the sort that could have been put together if this had been announced well before schools broke up. Any home support will initially be minimal with teachers basically winging it.
Could the Elections be postponed due to the Covid crisis? A possibility to be considered.
Oh and first.
A good question, especially given that many of the elections scheduled for this year were originally postponed from 2020. I think it more likely they’ll run as all-postal votes, with a socially-distanced count, at least in most of England. London, Scotland and Wales may be more challenging to arrange, as their elections will have a higher turnout.
The political parties (Labour anyway) are expecting some movement on this, but frankly the pattern of Ministers always making decisions a few weeks after the last reasonable date seems likely to recur, and I rather expect us to all to be scrambling to fit into whatever arrangements are decided somewhere around late March. I hope I'm wrong. I appreciate that it's not the most urgent problem for Boris Johnson, but that's why we have Departmental Ministers, and it probably IS one of the most urgent problems for the DCLG.
To my mind, all-postal elections with one freepost per party in each authority seems the best way forward, avoiding the hideous choice of forcing parties to do mass delivery at personal risk to the leafleters (and spreading the pandemic as they do). That would enable everyone to hear something from each party, without the enoromus cost of giving every single candidate a separate freepost. But I think we would all accept any reasonable arragnement, and merely wish they'd decide something.
Postponing the election to some date in the future when they hypothesise that the pandemic will have vanished seems not a sensible option, since honestly nobody knows when that might be. Democracies should not postpone elections indefinitely because of practical inconvenience when the remedy of an all-postal ballot is available.
In fairness the situation is changing fast as we have seen with education. The Cockney variant is a game changer but before Christmas there seemed to be a good prospect of nearly all of our population having been vaccinated by early May, certainly all the most vulnerable groups. If that slips then an all postal election looks inevitable but the picture remains unclear.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
EU butting in on EPL rights didn't help...demanding that rights are shared among different companies...so now rather than just Sky showing the EPL, we have to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
A private UK VPN should solve that problem.
Not always, things like Sky Go and other apps require location services to be enabled on mobile devices, so a VPN will be able to bypass the wifi check it cannot get around the regular SIM check.
I agree. In my experience this is not a consequence of Brexit but of the national viewing rights and has always been a problem. I have been involved in a few cases where pubs tried to take advantage of SM rules to access other EU countries' sports channels. The courts tended to come down on them very hard.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
I didn't feel sorry for them. Were they paying a subscription to Greek TV?
The networks have "no plans" to reintroduce roaming charges, but there is nothing to stop them doing it if they wanted to. How long before someone offers a discounted package that charges separately for roaming, in the name of "consumer choice"?
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
EU butting in on EPL rights didn't help...demanding that rights are shared among different companies...so now rather than just Sky showing the EPL, we have to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
Nah, they made more matches available than the PL wanted to sell.
One thing I had hoped was that the EU/CJEU would rule the Saturday 3pm blackout window as unlawful and we'd get all 380 matches live.
Obviously if I were a season ticket holder my views might be different.
More than 2,500 people have attended an illegal rave in France, as the country continues to grapple with coronavirus.
The event, held in a warehouse at Lieuron near Rennes in Brittany, began on Thursday and is still going on.
A number of ravers are from the UK and Spain, police said.
Attendees have clashed with police, setting fire to a car and throwing objects at officers attempting to shut the event down. At least three officers have been injured.
A statement from local authorities said police had tried to "prevent this event but faced fierce hostility from many partygoers".
One of the party-goers, who gave his name as Jo, told the AFP news agency that "very few had respected social distancing" at the event.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
I'm OK with that. I recommend Hesgoal, if you don't mind refreshing the page on your PC every few minutes.
Having taken out subscriptions to watch the Premier League on Sky and then BT Sport, I'll be buggered if I'm going to shell out more for an Amazon Prime subscription as well. Be warned - those who have report that the subscriptions are extremely difficult to cancel at the end of the "free" 30 days grace period.
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
I think that they mean that they are requiring exporters to the UK to pay tariffs. Which would not be unique at all of course. And which have disappeared in any event as a result of Boris's deal which you are no doubt still celebrating.
No, it is VAT not tariffs. The Dutch firm is now required to collect and remit UK VAT, requiring it to register with HMRC. They have decided that it's not worth the administrative cost. Just another example of how Brexit red tape is hurting UK consumers.
If that is their argument then they are in for a very nasty shock. This was not due to Brexit but due to the changing of rules by the EU to try and get rid of disparities and competitive advantage because of different VAT rates in different states. It was already due to be introduced in January across the EU but has been postponed to July because of the pandemic.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
EU butting in on EPL rights didn't help...demanding that rights are shared among different companies...so now rather than just Sky showing the EPL, we have to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
Sports right have always been a total mess.
What’s going to be very interesting in this field, is if Netflix moves into sports rights, as has been suggested they might over the past few months. They’d want to do it on a global scale.
Sport is the only thing that’s keeping millions of Americans from cutting the cable.
Morning all and thank you David H for interesting Header. Strikes me I haven’t posted any serious predictions myself for 21 and so to quickly put that right -
Dems do the double in Georgia and gain control of the senate. Joe Biden becomes a popular uniting figure. Donald Trump leaves the White House in a horizontal position and thereafter fades away. So does Brexit. It still features but without the heat. Near term Covid meets the worse case scenario. The NHS collapses in many places. Nevertheless by August it’s all over and we’re back to normal. Except we’re not because the public finances are utterly wrecked. This problem will not be faced up to by the Johnson government. Neither will the need for Sindy2. But in better news for Scotland, Andy Murray has a big Wimbledon.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
EU butting in on EPL rights didn't help...demanding that rights are shared among different companies...so now rather than just Sky showing the EPL, we have to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
I didn't feel sorry for them. Were they paying a subscription to Greek TV?
Yes. They were buying the hardware from an EU country, and paying an EU broadcaster for the service, which they were showing in an EU country.
Could the Elections be postponed due to the Covid crisis? A possibility to be considered.
Oh and first.
A good question, especially given that many of the elections scheduled for this year were originally postponed from 2020. I think it more likely they’ll run as all-postal votes, with a socially-distanced count, at least in most of England. London, Scotland and Wales may be more challenging to arrange, as their elections will have a higher turnout.
The political parties (Labour anyway) are expecting some movement on this, but frankly the pattern of Ministers always making decisions a few weeks after the last reasonable date seems likely to recur, and I rather expect us to all to be scrambling to fit into whatever arrangements are decided somewhere around late March. I hope I'm wrong. I appreciate that it's not the most urgent problem for Boris Johnson, but that's why we have Departmental Ministers, and it probably IS one of the most urgent problems for the DCLG.
To my mind, all-postal elections with one freepost per party in each authority seems the best way forward, avoiding the hideous choice of forcing parties to do mass delivery at personal risk to the leafleters (and spreading the pandemic as they do). That would enable everyone to hear something from each party, without the enoromus cost of giving every single candidate a separate freepost. But I think we would all accept any reasonable arragnement, and merely wish they'd decide something.
Postponing the election to some date in the future when they hypothesise that the pandemic will have vanished seems not a sensible option, since honestly nobody knows when that might be. Democracies should not postpone elections indefinitely because of practical inconvenience when the remedy of an all-postal ballot is available.
What evidence is there that delivering leaflets spreads the pandemic? If Royal Mail, or private delivery company deliverers were particularly susceptible to COVID, wouldn't we have heard about it by now? I have had taxi firm business cards and even a calendar from the local gospel church delivered recently.
Unlike his lockdown scepticism, I think Farage is likely onto a winner making opposition to China his next shtick.
He's taking his cue from Trump. He's just a bit behind time and he'll be talking about Iran in a couple of days.
Oh, and it's probably not coincidental that the EU are currently doing major deals on trade with China.
Not enough that he's screwed this country he's now trying to screw the EU. Why is anyone interested in anything he has to say. He's a one man wrecking ball.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
EU butting in on EPL rights didn't help...demanding that rights are shared among different companies...so now rather than just Sky showing the EPL, we have to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
Nah, they made more matches available than the PL wanted to sell.
One thing I had hoped was that the EU/CJEU would rule the Saturday 3pm blackout window as unlawful and we'd get all 380 matches live.
Obviously if I were a season ticket holder my views might be different.
Move to Dubai or Singapore. Every match shown live, with English commentators.
Could the Elections be postponed due to the Covid crisis? A possibility to be considered.
Oh and first.
A good question, especially given that many of the elections scheduled for this year were originally postponed from 2020. I think it more likely they’ll run as all-postal votes, with a socially-distanced count, at least in most of England. London, Scotland and Wales may be more challenging to arrange, as their elections will have a higher turnout.
The political parties (Labour anyway) are expecting some movement on this, but frankly the pattern of Ministers always making decisions a few weeks after the last reasonable date seems likely to recur, and I rather expect us to all to be scrambling to fit into whatever arrangements are decided somewhere around late March. I hope I'm wrong. I appreciate that it's not the most urgent problem for Boris Johnson, but that's why we have Departmental Ministers, and it probably IS one of the most urgent problems for the DCLG.
To my mind, all-postal elections with one freepost per party in each authority seems the best way forward, avoiding the hideous choice of forcing parties to do mass delivery at personal risk to the leafleters (and spreading the pandemic as they do). That would enable everyone to hear something from each party, without the enoromus cost of giving every single candidate a separate freepost. But I think we would all accept any reasonable arragnement, and merely wish they'd decide something.
Postponing the election to some date in the future when they hypothesise that the pandemic will have vanished seems not a sensible option, since honestly nobody knows when that might be. Democracies should not postpone elections indefinitely because of practical inconvenience when the remedy of an all-postal ballot is available.
Clever plan to neutralize the lib Dems eliminating the benefits of targeted campaigning, managing differential turnout, and the ability to demonstrate a greater interest in local issues.
Yeah, the EU have nothing better to do than police our number-plates, huh? Like, you know, France, you see this as a priority over, oh, I don't know, vaccinating your people?
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
I think that they mean that they are requiring exporters to the UK to pay tariffs. Which would not be unique at all of course. And which have disappeared in any event as a result of Boris's deal which you are no doubt still celebrating.
No, it is VAT not tariffs. The Dutch firm is now required to collect and remit UK VAT, requiring it to register with HMRC. They have decided that it's not worth the administrative cost. Just another example of how Brexit red tape is hurting UK consumers.
So presumably we will now be in the same position as every other country that is not in the customs union, such as Switzerland?
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
I think that they mean that they are requiring exporters to the UK to pay tariffs. Which would not be unique at all of course. And which have disappeared in any event as a result of Boris's deal which you are no doubt still celebrating.
No, it is VAT not tariffs. The Dutch firm is now required to collect and remit UK VAT, requiring it to register with HMRC. They have decided that it's not worth the administrative cost. Just another example of how Brexit red tape is hurting UK consumers.
If that is their argument then they are in for a very nasty shock. This was not due to Brexit but due to the changing of rules by the EU to try and get rid of disparities and competitive advantage because of different VAT rates in different states. It was already due to be introduced in January across the EU but has been postponed to July because of the pandemic.
The EU regime only requires firms to register once to pay Vat across the EU via a one stop shop (OSS), whereas the UK scheme is separate and hence imposes an additional cost on exporters into the EU as they will have to register separately with HMRC. This particular exporter has chosen to stop selling to UK consumers to avoid the cost. Others will choose to pass the cost on to UK consumers instead. From your link:
"The OSS will be available to pay the VAT owed to each member state, eliminating the need for multiple VAT registrations."
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
EU butting in on EPL rights didn't help...demanding that rights are shared among different companies...so now rather than just Sky showing the EPL, we have to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
Sports right have always been a total mess.
What’s going to be very interesting in this field, is if Netflix moves into sports rights, as has been suggested they might over the past few months. They’d want to do it on a global scale.
Sport is the only thing that’s keeping millions of Americans from cutting the cable.
I am not sure Netflix need to do that to get customers. Amazon on the other than, that makes way more sense. The big player is still ESPN, who are owned by Disney, massive brand but losing customers because people don't want to pay for a full cable package just for that channel. They have launched ESPN+, that they use for things like UFC, I can see them really expanding that to many sports.
Disney bought the tech company who ran the online MLB streaming service a couple of years ago
Some more data wrangling. Tests per case found, averaged over 7 days:
If I have read your charts successfully this morning Scotland has by far the lowest level of testing within the UK and the highest percentage of +ve results of those tested. Overall Scotland has the lowest level of infections recorded but does the second of those factors not suggest that the first is the main cause of the third?
I am bemused that our testing is so far behind the rest of the UK. I very much hope that this is not reflected in the immunisation rates over the next few weeks.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
EU butting in on EPL rights didn't help...demanding that rights are shared among different companies...so now rather than just Sky showing the EPL, we have to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
Sports right have always been a total mess.
What’s going to be very interesting in this field, is if Netflix moves into sports rights, as has been suggested they might over the past few months. They’d want to do it on a global scale.
Sport is the only thing that’s keeping millions of Americans from cutting the cable.
Live sport and news are pretty much the only reason for channels still to exist. Everything else can be streamed whenever we want it.
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
I think that they mean that they are requiring exporters to the UK to pay tariffs. Which would not be unique at all of course. And which have disappeared in any event as a result of Boris's deal which you are no doubt still celebrating.
No, it is VAT not tariffs. The Dutch firm is now required to collect and remit UK VAT, requiring it to register with HMRC. They have decided that it's not worth the administrative cost. Just another example of how Brexit red tape is hurting UK consumers.
So presumably we will now be in the same position as every other country that is not in the customs union, such as Switzerland?
But you agree that this is an example of how Brexit has harmed UK consumers?
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
EU butting in on EPL rights didn't help...demanding that rights are shared among different companies...so now rather than just Sky showing the EPL, we have to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
Sports right have always been a total mess.
What’s going to be very interesting in this field, is if Netflix moves into sports rights, as has been suggested they might over the past few months. They’d want to do it on a global scale.
Sport is the only thing that’s keeping millions of Americans from cutting the cable.
I am not sure Netflix need to do that to get customers. Amazon on the other than, that makes way more sense. The big player is still ESPN, who are owned by Disney, massive brand but losing customers because people don't want to pay for a full cable package just for that channel. They have launched ESPN+, that they use for things like UFC, I can see them really expanding that to many sports.
Disney bought the tech company who ran the online MLB streaming service a couple of years ago
Netflix don't want to go into sports right, given their financial position, and the fact that sports rights holder (especially the EPL) demand a fair chunk of the money well in advance, Netflix will avoid it.
The new player in this market might be Apple.
A few months ago they hired Amazon Prime Video's head of sport to work for Apple TV+.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
EU butting in on EPL rights didn't help...demanding that rights are shared among different companies...so now rather than just Sky showing the EPL, we have to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
Sports right have always been a total mess.
What’s going to be very interesting in this field, is if Netflix moves into sports rights, as has been suggested they might over the past few months. They’d want to do it on a global scale.
Sport is the only thing that’s keeping millions of Americans from cutting the cable.
I am not sure Netflix need to do that to get customers. Amazon on the other than, that makes way more sense. The big player is still ESPN, who are owned by Disney, massive brand but losing customers because people don't want to pay for a full cable package just for that channel. They have launched ESPN+, that they use for things like UFC, I can see them really expanding that to many sports.
Disney bought the tech company who ran the online MLB streaming service a couple of years ago
Netflix don't want to go into sports right, given their financial position, and the fact that sports rights holder (especially the EPL) demand a fair chunk of the money well in advance, Netflix will avoid it.
The new player in this market might be Apple.
A few months ago they hired Amazon Prime Video's head of sport to work for Apple TV+.
Will it be as wank as their crap offering of tv "originals" ? I notice not one of their shows gets mentioned when we talk about best telly last week.
Or take the Trigger's Broom approach - buy an okish bike, upgrade it piece by piece as you learn. By the time you have replaced the wheels, the bottom bracket, the pedals, the seat, the handlebars, the front gears, the back gears, the frame...
I had tremendous fun as a kid learning mechanical engineering from slowly turning shop bought bikes into what I wanted. Spent hours carefully adjust bearings to "just so"....
This isn't really a viable approach for any other than the truly committed these days for a few reasons.
Bike parts are very expensive at retail now compared to what the OEMs pay. The rear derailleur I replaced following my recent accident was 400 quid!
Plethora of competing standards and technologies means that you need a critical mass of knowledge and tools. Off the top of my head I can think of the following Bottom Bracket standards: British and Italian threaded,BB90,BB95,PF86,PF92,BB30, OSBB (road and MTB), BB30A, PF30, BBRight, BB386 EVO, SRAM DUB and "Spanish" press fit for BMXs. There's probably more.
Bike frames are now vertically stratified in a way that they never used to be. A low end frame may not be upgradable to thru-axles from drop outs, hydraulic discs from calipers or electronic shifting from the previously prevalent Edwardian technology of Bowden cables.
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
What happened to the government's bike subsidies? When I had a job, this was augmented by my employer. Last I heard, there was a plan to extend subsidies to electric bikes though perhaps Rishi will have other priorities now. I do not think it was a requirement actually to cycle to work. (Tbh it just seemed like a plan to give expensive bikes to people who could easily afford to pay full price, but then the same criticism was made of Boris bikes.)
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
I think that they mean that they are requiring exporters to the UK to pay tariffs. Which would not be unique at all of course. And which have disappeared in any event as a result of Boris's deal which you are no doubt still celebrating.
AIUI it is UK VAT registration for overseas companies, rather than tariffs - we have a zero tariff agreement (I think) after all. The EU is due to adopt similar measures in due course.
Quite interesting - Dutch Bike Bits is the Garden Shed business run by David Hembrow, who is one of the most influential and sensible bike bloggers of all. He packs up his sales and takes them down to the post office once a day on his cargo bike. He is also given to passionate rants about Brexit.
Similar VAT models also exist in other countries - Australia perhaps(?) .
Several other bike business stopped shipping to the UK temporarily, but seem to be coming back on stream.
It is about catching VAT fraud by large scale Ebay and Amazon Marketplace Chinese sellers. And campaigning has been going on for years.
I think the sensible answer for small overseas businesses may be a VAT Registration threshold of say £10k a year, or if a smooth solution is possible once the EU catch up with us.
I know for a fact that sports broadcast rights were not being sold on an EU-wide basis. For example, I was in Cologne on the night of the first Ashes Test in 2017 and TalkSPORT cut out when the first ball was bowled as they did not hold the rights for Germany. Not sure how Brexit would have affected any arrangement Sky had, but I don't see why a deal can't be done (though, remember, Sky are utterly skint at the moment).
Like so many of these issues they will be resolved , just t like driving abroad on a UK licence has now been approved
No it won't, (Sports) Media Rights is something I know a lot about.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
I find it odd that sports rights didn't become EU-wide. I felt sorry for the publicans who were done for broadcasting Greek TV. We were in a single market, were we not?
For goods, not services.
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
EU butting in on EPL rights didn't help...demanding that rights are shared among different companies...so now rather than just Sky showing the EPL, we have to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
Sports right have always been a total mess.
What’s going to be very interesting in this field, is if Netflix moves into sports rights, as has been suggested they might over the past few months. They’d want to do it on a global scale.
Sport is the only thing that’s keeping millions of Americans from cutting the cable.
I am not sure Netflix need to do that to get customers. Amazon on the other than, that makes way more sense. The big player is still ESPN, who are owned by Disney, massive brand but losing customers because people don't want to pay for a full cable package just for that channel. They have launched ESPN+, that they use for things like UFC, I can see them really expanding that to many sports.
Disney bought the tech company who ran the online MLB streaming service a couple of years ago
Netflix don't want to go into sports right, given their financial position, and the fact that sports rights holder (especially the EPL) demand a fair chunk of the money well in advance, Netflix will avoid it.
The new player in this market might be Apple.
A few months ago they hired Amazon Prime Video's head of sport to work for Apple TV+.
Will it be as wank as their crap offering of tv "originals" ? I notice not one of their shows gets mentioned when we talk about best telly last week.
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
I think that they mean that they are requiring exporters to the UK to pay tariffs. Which would not be unique at all of course. And which have disappeared in any event as a result of Boris's deal which you are no doubt still celebrating.
Very, very thin gruel being provided by Brexit roll-out for poor Scott. Would have expected him now to be knee-deep in retweets and Kleenex.....
Yeah, the EU have nothing better to do than police our number-plates, huh? Like, you know, France, you see this as a priority over, oh, I don't know, vaccinating your people?
Yebbut what about...
A superb effort of the genre (apols for gratuitous use of an immigrant word).
Or take the Trigger's Broom approach - buy an okish bike, upgrade it piece by piece as you learn. By the time you have replaced the wheels, the bottom bracket, the pedals, the seat, the handlebars, the front gears, the back gears, the frame...
I had tremendous fun as a kid learning mechanical engineering from slowly turning shop bought bikes into what I wanted. Spent hours carefully adjust bearings to "just so"....
This isn't really a viable approach for any other than the truly committed these days for a few reasons.
Bike parts are very expensive at retail now compared to what the OEMs pay. The rear derailleur I replaced following my recent accident was 400 quid!
Plethora of competing standards and technologies means that you need a critical mass of knowledge and tools. Off the top of my head I can think of the following Bottom Bracket standards: British and Italian threaded,BB90,BB95,PF86,PF92,BB30, OSBB (road and MTB), BB30A, PF30, BBRight, BB386 EVO, SRAM DUB and "Spanish" press fit for BMXs. There's probably more.
Bike frames are now vertically stratified in a way that they never used to be. A low end frame may not be upgradable to thru-axles from drop outs, hydraulic discs from calipers or electronic shifting from the previously prevalent Edwardian technology of Bowden cables.
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
What happened to the government's bike subsidies? When I had a job, this was augmented by my employer. Last I heard, there was a plan to extend subsidies to electric bikes though perhaps Rishi will have other priorities now. I do not think it was a requirement actually to cycle to work. (Tbh it just seemed like a plan to give expensive bikes to people who could easily afford to pay full price, but then the same criticism was made of Boris bikes.)
Cycling to Work scheme is still in place, now covering E-Bikes as well. They have removed the £1000 value cap, which to me seems to be a mistake as it should imo be about as many as possible for the money.
Must say the way that we have cut ourselves off from imports is quite funny - a lot of examples being given on Twitter where either shipping costs / times have exploded or they aren't shipping at all. As an example: https://www.glisshop.co.uk/ "UK Ski & Snowboard Shop" // "We are not able to dispatch orders to the UK"
Don't forget your Local Bike Shop, and that most bikes these days in this country come without a lot of the everday kit you will need - lights, saddlebag, pump, puncture kit, mudguards, possibly decent tyres, and so on.
I bought a decent bike (Boardman Team level) and did various mods over a couple of years.
I think that they mean that they are requiring exporters to the UK to pay tariffs. Which would not be unique at all of course. And which have disappeared in any event as a result of Boris's deal which you are no doubt still celebrating.
No, it is VAT not tariffs. The Dutch firm is now required to collect and remit UK VAT, requiring it to register with HMRC. They have decided that it's not worth the administrative cost. Just another example of how Brexit red tape is hurting UK consumers.
So presumably we will now be in the same position as every other country that is not in the customs union, such as Switzerland?
Thanks though it sounds a bit like a 'probably not for now.'
I doubt we will see a widespread return to it, because technology and the industry has changed. Most contracts come with worldwide coverage and even if they don't, loads of companies offer a really cheap SIM with x GBs of data for a few quid, so you just pop that in your phone and use WhatsApp etc. Being tied to a specific number really isnt what it used to be, as most people use data driven services for communication.
Could the Elections be postponed due to the Covid crisis? A possibility to be considered.
Oh and first.
I had thought they would, given as others have noted it includes a bunch that should have happened last year as well and the count arrangements will be more difficult under social distancing, but they seem to be going ahead.
In my area at least the plan is for the count not to take place that night (boo!) but to do verifications the day after, count the local authority the next day, parishes the day after that, and the PCC the day after that, so a four day count.
Manning the polling stations may be the bigger problem in terms of getting volunteers.
Comments
A SSW does *not* guarantee cold weather, it just increases the chances of cold conditions. I think the rule of thumb is 2 out of 3 SSWs lead to cold winter weather.
It looks like things are very finely balanced with this SSW as this MetOffice blog suggests.
https://blog.metoffice.gov.uk/2020/12/30/opposing-forces-battle-for-winter-supremacy/
Anyway, the SSW is due to happen on 5th January so if we have a quick tropospheric response (a lead time of two weeks from the SSW date) we should see the NWP give an indication of how things pan out towards the end of this week.
The event, held in a warehouse at Lieuron near Rennes in Brittany, began on Thursday and is still going on.
A number of ravers are from the UK and Spain, police said.
Attendees have clashed with police, setting fire to a car and throwing objects at officers attempting to shut the event down. At least three officers have been injured.
A statement from local authorities said police had tried to "prevent this event but faced fierce hostility from many partygoers".
One of the party-goers, who gave his name as Jo, told the AFP news agency that "very few had respected social distancing" at the event.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55513167
Meanwhile the French covid vaccination tracker hasn't been updated since Wednesday:
https://covidtracker.fr/vaccintracker
Macron really needs to sack someone. Or be sacked himself.
What is the point of them?
Our prescriptions are automatically prescribed every month for six months then a review with the doctor
It is one of the few things working well under labour's Wales NHS
I am bemused that our testing is so far behind the rest of the UK. I very much hope that this is not reflected in the immunisation rates over the next few weeks.
This is also why we should be spending money and time trying to get the vaccines pumped out to third world countries which lack the infrastructure to do this effectively. Even if you ignore the purely humanitarian reasons, it helps us in Britain and Europe in the end.
No doubt he's desperately trying to find some positives in his tenure too - hence the rather bizarre radio appearances. He does seem to be increasingly throwing the stopped clock meme into touch though.
The government has decided not to keep us in the EU portability regulations.
We had an effective system that protected Rights Holders, so now we don't, they won't allow it.
It was geared to stop someone signing up in say Germany at a cheaper rate then decamping to the UK and watching it there rather than paying the UK rate.
It was an effective bulwark against piracy, now the rights holder are insisting on integrity, big movie and tv companies are quite protective of their products.
To my mind, all-postal elections with one freepost per party in each authority seems the best way forward, avoiding the hideous choice of forcing parties to do mass delivery at personal risk to the leafleters (and spreading the pandemic as they do). That would enable everyone to hear something from each party, without the enoromus cost of giving every single candidate a separate freepost. But I think we would all accept any reasonable arragnement, and merely wish they'd decide something.
Postponing the election to some date in the future when they hypothesise that the pandemic will have vanished seems not a sensible option, since honestly nobody knows when that might be. Democracies should not postpone elections indefinitely because of practical inconvenience when the remedy of an all-postal ballot is available.
The EU Portability Regulation will cease to apply to UK-EEA travel from 1 January 2021. In the UK, the regulation will be revoked.
Online content service providers will not be required under the regulation to provide content ordinarily available in the UK to a UK customer who is temporarily present in any other EEA Member State.
This will not prevent service providers offering cross-border portability to their customers on a voluntary basis, but to do so they will need the permission of the owners of the content they provide.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cross-border-portability-of-online-content-services-after-the-transition-period
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2020/12/uk-mobile-operators-confirm-no-change-to-free-eu-roaming.html
The Malign Incompetence of the British Ruling Class
With Brexit, the chumocrats who drew borders from India to Ireland are getting a taste of their own medicine.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/sunday/brexit-ireland-empire.html?auth=login-email&login=email&smid=tw-share
I don't know about doctors or nurses but strictly legally I cannot call myself a retired pharmacist, as it suggests, apparently, that I'm still registered. There was a lot of ill-feeling about it at the time, but we now have a Retired Pharmacists Group in the professional body. Of which I'm still a member, although it's voluntary now.
One of the things that alerted me to the fact Cummings was possibly not the intellectual giant he believed himself to be was that he boasted of victory over the DfE while actually implementing all the disasters they had been trying to wish on schools for years.
Before people complain this is not another pointless moan about Brexit. Far from it, this a celebration of the Brexit wins. British Telly only for the British and only for the patriots who haven't betrayed their ancestors and moved abroad to frogville or dagoland.
I did some calculations myself last night (though I did not use a 7 day window), and also noted the fact that Scotland has the highest positivity rate (for reasons that are not very clear to me).
For Wales, there are days with very high positivity rates, so I am surprised by your Welsh graph which is rather low.
How are you calculating it? By averaging Pillar 1/ All Pillars over the last 7 days?
Sky were looking at a pan European approach to (sports) media rights via Sky UK, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, but Brexit and to a lesser extent the Comcast takeover have put the kibosh on that.
Sometime on Sunday there'll finally be the now inevitable 11th hour announcement that all schools in the country will remain shut to all but key workers' children. Thank god. Yet for all the handwringing about protecting children's educaton, if the Government had wanted to stuff education whilst also keeping schools shut they couldn't have gone about it more effectively. Teachers will have been planning to teach in class, so there's been no time at all to substitute a well planned programme of home learning of the sort that could have been put together if this had been announced well before schools broke up. Any home support will initially be minimal with teachers basically winging it.
https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1345301447135678464?s=19
Their interference has managed to make it more expensive for everybody.
One thing I had hoped was that the EU/CJEU would rule the Saturday 3pm blackout window as unlawful and we'd get all 380 matches live.
Obviously if I were a season ticket holder my views might be different.
Having taken out subscriptions to watch the Premier League on Sky and then BT Sport, I'll be buggered if I'm going to shell out more for an Amazon Prime subscription as well. Be warned - those who have report that the subscriptions are extremely difficult to cancel at the end of the "free" 30 days grace period.
https://www.internationaltaxreview.com/article/b1p07bqhzqcp1r/luxembourg-eu-vat-changes-postponed-until-july-2021
What’s going to be very interesting in this field, is if Netflix moves into sports rights, as has been suggested they might over the past few months. They’d want to do it on a global scale.
Sport is the only thing that’s keeping millions of Americans from cutting the cable.
Dems do the double in Georgia and gain control of the senate.
Joe Biden becomes a popular uniting figure.
Donald Trump leaves the White House in a horizontal position and thereafter fades away.
So does Brexit. It still features but without the heat.
Near term Covid meets the worse case scenario. The NHS collapses in many places.
Nevertheless by August it’s all over and we’re back to normal.
Except we’re not because the public finances are utterly wrecked.
This problem will not be faced up to by the Johnson government.
Neither will the need for Sindy2.
But in better news for Scotland, Andy Murray has a big Wimbledon.
If Royal Mail, or private delivery company deliverers were particularly susceptible to COVID, wouldn't we have heard about it by now?
I have had taxi firm business cards and even a calendar from the local gospel church delivered recently.
https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1344686127341596672?s=21
"The OSS will be available to pay the VAT owed to each member state, eliminating the need for multiple VAT registrations."
Disney bought the tech company who ran the online MLB streaming service a couple of years ago
The new player in this market might be Apple.
A few months ago they hired Amazon Prime Video's head of sport to work for Apple TV+.
Quite interesting - Dutch Bike Bits is the Garden Shed business run by David Hembrow, who is one of the most influential and sensible bike bloggers of all. He packs up his sales and takes them down to the post office once a day on his cargo bike. He is also given to passionate rants about Brexit.
Similar VAT models also exist in other countries - Australia perhaps(?) .
Several other bike business stopped shipping to the UK temporarily, but seem to be coming back on stream.
It is about catching VAT fraud by large scale Ebay and Amazon Marketplace Chinese sellers. And campaigning has been going on for years.
It was very unusually an issue on which Richard Murphy is more or less right:
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2018/06/28/the-scale-of-eu-tax-fraud/
I think the sensible answer for small overseas businesses may be a VAT Registration threshold of say £10k a year, or if a smooth solution is possible once the EU catch up with us.
Morning Show is pretty good.
Yebbut what about...
A superb effort of the genre (apols for gratuitous use of an immigrant word).
The 50k Fix your Bike vouchers were taken up.
https://fixyourbikevoucherscheme.est.org.uk/
No idea about future schemes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx3Zmkgt2no
https://www.glisshop.co.uk/
"UK Ski & Snowboard Shop" // "We are not able to dispatch orders to the UK"
In my area at least the plan is for the count not to take place that night (boo!) but to do verifications the day after, count the local authority the next day, parishes the day after that, and the PCC the day after that, so a four day count.
Manning the polling stations may be the bigger problem in terms of getting volunteers.