Having another look at European vaccine stats, I think Denmark have hit the supply wall and Italy are about to hit it. One of the most striking things is that the rate in most countries is constant, there doesn't seem to be any urgency to ramp up quickly as there very obviously is in the UK. I don't know what kind of pressure the German or other European governments are being put under to speed up the process but it is considerable over here with almost every other question for ministers, scientists and the PM being a reformulated version of "why is this happening so slowly?".
As someone suggested yesterday or the day before, not being able to blame the EU in this matter has made Westminster politicians accountable to the people. Were we in the EU scheme it would be a simple case of "not our fault guv" which I think is happening all across Europe right now.
Yes - there is just resignation here in Spain - no urgency and little chance of anyone under 70 seeing a jabe befores May/June at best. Meanwhile the 3rd wave is gathering pace. frankly it's a co mplete clusterfucK!
May/June? That's just unbelievable.
It is absolutely pathetic. I mean, if that is anywhere near true it's an international disgrace on a grand scale.
There is only so much manufacturing capacity to go around - so some countries were always going to lose out.
Given the cost to the world economy of not vaccinating everyone rapidly, this ought already to have been done. The cost benefit analysis makes it a no brainier for wealthier nations to have funded. With someone else other than Trump as president, perhaps it would have been. https://twitter.com/MaxCRoser/status/1349473388448854016
I don't think you can blame this on Trump, to my mind it's the EU scheme that's at fault here. Their scheme precluded subsidising manufacturing capacity as it would have opened up a huge can of worms over to who and where the subsidies are directed. If Germany had been in charge of German procurement I'm certain they would have bought 200m doses of the Pfizer vaccine and made domestic manufacturing part of the contract as we did with AZ. They invested over €100m in BioNTech early in 2020, lots of people expected that to result in an investment in manufacturing for 2021 delivery, unfortunately the EU scheme really buggered everything up.
I’m not blaming it on Trump per se, just saying that it’s possible that a US which hadn’t abandoned the WHO and dismantled its international pandemic response plans might have provided some of the leadership necessary to make a worldwide scheme happen. To this government’s credit, they have been relatively generous in international funding for vaccines for poorer countries, but the world could have done a great deal better. And the stupid thing is that it makes economic sense for the richer countries, purely from a POV of naked self interest.
And it’s something that should still be done.
(And no argument with you that the EU could have done a great deal better, but again that isn’t the main issue.)
I would the word "soon" is doing a lot of work in Steve Baker's thoughts.
To me this reads more as - unlock when the vulnerable have been done by early to mid Spring, do not for a moment consider thinking about what Whitty and Valance are going to tell you about keeping lockdown until summer or even autumn i.e. waiting until everyone over 40 has been done.
The latter strategy will not get the votes without embarrassing and possibly fatal (for boris) reliance on Starmer.
Absolutely right.
I'm pretty sure the votes (from the Tory benches at least) disappear at the end of March. Easter is pushing it.
Starmer of course will keep bravely abstaining or voting with the Govt, which is why only threats of a leadership challenge work. Baker of course knows this. A smart cookie. His positions are only made stronger by people who underestimate him.
Lockdown should be managed with the central aim of avoiding the NHS being overloaded. Whether that is March, May, July or gradual easing all year, no-one knows yet. Those with a strong view on a date now, are wrong already.
Exactly, it's impossible to form a view on this until we know how well the vaccine will protect people against being hospitalised and how many people will be immunised by a given date. All we can do is keep jabbing and keep our fingers crossed right now.
And pray that the new variants are either 1. susceptible to the vaccine, or 2. successfully excluded from the UK, or both. And, oh, 3. that there are no more hideous mutations
Reading your obituary whilst still alive is the best way to experience it.
I'll tell you something from personal experience, with a colleague and with family members - writing that obituary when the subject is still alive and can be asked is the best way to do it. Not Tactful, though ...
I knew a chap, super organised and a locally known figure, who not only put together all the detail for his funeral 10 years prior without telling anyone, but when he knew things were approaching their end provided a short biographical summary of his career involvement in things, seemingly as he wanted to be helpful as it can be difficult to find people who know all the details of when someone worked at x, represented y and so on.
Good for him. That's as good as having an interview with X (the point being I was never so lucky, though my colleague had a decent CV I could begin with). It can be very difficult to come up with a decent funeral discourse, and above all a written obit, in a hurry. It's worst of all if everyone who lived and worked with the subject has already died or you have no idea where they are now.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
All the Cabinet are behind Boris on lockdown so this will not go anywhere, the main opposition comes from outside the Tories via Reform UK
Who
Reform UK. New Brexit Party. New New Ukip. You know, the ones who decide what Tory policy is going to be in 2 years' time.
All 12 of them- In your dreams
I dream of the day the Conservative Party stops being led around on a leash by Nigel Farage. However, it does sort of need the centrist Conservatives to stop being jellyfish and take the party back.
That metaphor rather unfortunate - recalls the discussion the oither day of the wife arrested for leading hubby around on a leash (or, in Glasgow, the other way round).
Must have missed that story. Are we talking about domestic abuse, or so some mild kink in public? Either way, the metaphor is too much of a cliche to be really be worth getting worried about. It's been said a thousand times before and will be said again.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
If there's on average one of these centres in each of the 650 constituencies it would give 325,000 vaccinations. But the government ought to be able to organise more than 6 nurses working at the same.
The idea that Tory MPs who backed the greatest removal of freedoms from UK citizens ever seen are interested in individual freedom is an interesting one.
Well you can't have one. Or shouldn't anyway. What you should get is a plan saying what the criteria are for each reopening step and how we avoid yet another wave that threatens to overwhelm the health system. The spread of the virus is just too unpredictable for any fixed timetable.
What you said is exactly what I meant. Milestones, if you like. Written down. Focus on keeping health service within capacities.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
Give her a virtual cup of tea from everyone on PB. Good work
I would suggest a biscuit too, but getting PB to agree on what exactly that biscuit should be - the pandemic would be over first....
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
"There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon."
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
Give her a virtual cup of tea from everyone on PB. Good work
I would suggest a biscuit too, but getting PB to agree on what exactly that biscuit should be - the pandemic would be over first....
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
Boris surely has sympathies with Baker's opinion, so it's a tug-o-war between Baker's lot and the JvT + Neil Ferguson tendency. Boris will need some deft footwork to keep both onboard.
Gordon Brown next leader of SLAB, you read it here first, and probably only here.
Ian Murray, anyone? If having a Westminster MP as Scottish Leader is good enough for the Tories...
They'd be better off selecting Andy Murray..... He's on the look-out for a new career.
Andy's Pro-Indy...
Provocative thought: would Labour do worse with a pro-indy leader? Seems like a good chuck of their base has migrated to the SNP in the last 10-15 years.
Boris surely has sympathies with Baker's opinion, so it's a tug-o-war between Baker's lot and the JvT + Neil Ferguson tendency. Boris will need some deft footwork to keep both onboard.
He`s been treading this slippery path since the start.
You can take or leave the assumptions behind this analysis - they are debatable - but the general thrust is plausible. The death rate will be cut rapidly as the most vulnerable are vaccinated; the hospitalisation rate will be cut roughly in half and will only come down further as the general population is vaccinated over a longer timeframe.
As hospitals are beyond capacity right now this suggests to me that significant social distancing measures will still be required months after the vulnerable group are vaccinated. There will be an argument about this.
Ian Murray appears to be very good from what I've seen of him, but not sure that SLAB would wish to follow the Tories in picking an MP. Their best option would be Jackie Baillie who has been formidable at the Salmond Inquiry and would be 100 times more effective than Leonard in jousts with Nicola. I think she could well appeal to traditional Central Belt Labour voters - right sort of profile.
Ian Murray would be an excellent choice. By a distance the most talented politician in Scotland. Unfortunately I don't think there's any chance he'd want it. He's MP for the nicest seat in the UK and about as safe as any Labour MP could be
Gordon Brown next leader of SLAB, you read it here first, and probably only here.
Ian Murray, anyone? If having a Westminster MP as Scottish Leader is good enough for the Tories...
They'd be better off selecting Andy Murray..... He's on the look-out for a new career.
Andy's Pro-Indy...
Provocative thought: would Labour do worse with a pro-indy leader? Seems like a good chuck of their base has migrated to the SNP in the last 10-15 years.
I don't think they would, but they will never, ever do it. Their only real chance of relevance is as a centre left part post Indy, their gradual decline as a Unionist party will carry on no matter who is leader next.
You can take or leave the assumptions behind this analysis - they are debatable - but the general thrust is plausible. The death rate will be cut rapidly as the most vulnerable are vaccinated; the hospitalisation rate will be cut roughly in half and will only come down further as the general population is vaccinated over a longer timeframe.
As hospitals are beyond capacity right now this suggests to me that significant social distancing measures will still be required months after the vulnerable group are vaccinated. There will be an argument about this.
Do they get paid a fortune and then say "Hoof it up to the big man up front"?
That is pretty much the conclusion Charlie Hughes came to when he found out most goals were scored from 3 passes or less, so the data showed you need to get it up front as quickly as possible. Thankfully data science has progressed from the sixties, but English football took to the 90s to realise this was nonsensical.
You can take or leave the assumptions behind this analysis - they are debatable - but the general thrust is plausible. The death rate will be cut rapidly as the most vulnerable are vaccinated; the hospitalisation rate will be cut roughly in half and will only come down further as the general population is vaccinated over a longer timeframe.
As hospitals are beyond capacity right now this suggests to me that significant social distancing measures will still be required months after the vulnerable group are vaccinated. There will be an argument about this.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
Does 'the wife' not mind being called 'the wife'?
She is from New Zealand so she minds everything
I bet she wishes she was back there!
(Not to escape you - just to be clear.)
I know a couple where the guy is white British and she is Taiwanese. At the beginning of 2020 they nearly broke up as she wanted to go home to Taiwan and she was bored of him. He persuaded her - just about - to give him a second chance, so she did. He did it again in the summer. So she stayed on again.
Now they have finally split up as result, but she can't get back to Taiwan.... and they are locked down together in the same poky London flat.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
Does 'the wife' not mind being called 'the wife'?
She is from New Zealand so she minds everything
I bet she wishes she was back there!
(Not to escape you - just to be clear.)
I know a couple where the guy is white British and she is Taiwanese. At the beginning of 2020 they nearly broke up as she wanted to go home to Taiwan and she was bored of him. He persuaded her - just about - to give him a second chance, so she did. He did it again in the summer. So she stayed on again.
Now they have finally split up as result, but she can't get back to Taiwan.... and they are locked down together in the same poky London flat.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
Does 'the wife' not mind being called 'the wife'?
She is from New Zealand so she minds everything
I bet she wishes she was back there!
(Not to escape you - just to be clear.)
I know a couple where the guy is white British and she is Taiwanese. At the beginning of 2020 they nearly broke up as she wanted to go home to Taiwan and she was bored of him. He persuaded her - just about - to give him a second chance, so she did. He did it again in the summer. So she stayed on again.
Now they have finally split up as result, but she can't get back to Taiwan.... and they are locked down together in the same poky London flat.
There's no way he said that, right? Can someone be disbarred on grounds of mental incapacity?
Edit: And it's not really setting up as a patsy is it? Trump will get away with it not because he'll make Rudy a patsy, but because Mitch McConnell talked him down, so will now play ball.
Gordon Brown next leader of SLAB, you read it here first, and probably only here.
Ian Murray, anyone? If having a Westminster MP as Scottish Leader is good enough for the Tories...
They'd be better off selecting Andy Murray..... He's on the look-out for a new career.
Andy's Pro-Indy...
Provocative thought: would Labour do worse with a pro-indy leader? Seems like a good chuck of their base has migrated to the SNP in the last 10-15 years.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
Does 'the wife' not mind being called 'the wife'?
She is from New Zealand so she minds everything
I bet she wishes she was back there!
(Not to escape you - just to be clear.)
I know a couple where the guy is white British and she is Taiwanese. At the beginning of 2020 they nearly broke up as she wanted to go home to Taiwan and she was bored of him. He persuaded her - just about - to give him a second chance, so she did. He did it again in the summer. So she stayed on again.
Now they have finally split up as result, but she can't get back to Taiwan.... and they are locked down together in the same poky London flat.
My word.
Is he still getting benefits?
Absolutely not
Won`t she come to you as a sort of footy free-transfer sort of thing?
Yes, I'm pretty much the opposite of a Baker Fan Boy, but he's a useful outrider in keeping government under pressure on exit strategy. We have seen on here that many seek to reduce covid risk to near zero, rather than balance it with other risks.
Baker asking for a timetable is probably a bit previous given we haven't yet got the data we need, but I'd rather have that pressure on than not.
This is exactly the position of the rebels on the right. In the absence of any opposition from Labour to endless lockdowns, the fiscal hawks want to ensure enough pressure is kept on the Govt.
It is from the right that the pressure for 24/7 vaccinations have come. It was from the right that the pressure for parliamentary scrutiny of new regs has come.
The right are driving better decision making. Starmer might learn something from that....if he wasn't dominated by the union position.
Regrettable as I find it, I think you have a point.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
Does 'the wife' not mind being called 'the wife'?
She is from New Zealand so she minds everything
I bet she wishes she was back there!
(Not to escape you - just to be clear.)
I know a couple where the guy is white British and she is Taiwanese. At the beginning of 2020 they nearly broke up as she wanted to go home to Taiwan and she was bored of him. He persuaded her - just about - to give him a second chance, so she did. He did it again in the summer. So she stayed on again.
Now they have finally split up as result, but she can't get back to Taiwan.... and they are locked down together in the same poky London flat.
My word.
Is he still getting benefits?
Absolutely not
Won`t she come to you as a sort of footy free-transfer sort of thing?
What a splendid idea. She has a lovely figure. I shall make the suggestion
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
Does 'the wife' not mind being called 'the wife'?
She is from New Zealand so she minds everything
I bet she wishes she was back there!
(Not to escape you - just to be clear.)
I know a couple where the guy is white British and she is Taiwanese. At the beginning of 2020 they nearly broke up as she wanted to go home to Taiwan and she was bored of him. He persuaded her - just about - to give him a second chance, so she did. He did it again in the summer. So she stayed on again.
Now they have finally split up as result, but she can't get back to Taiwan.... and they are locked down together in the same poky London flat.
My word.
Is he still getting benefits?
Absolutely not
Won`t she come to you as a sort of footy free-transfer sort of thing?
(The above may be sexist.)
That's probably more like relegation than a free transfer.
You can take or leave the assumptions behind this analysis - they are debatable - but the general thrust is plausible. The death rate will be cut rapidly as the most vulnerable are vaccinated; the hospitalisation rate will be cut roughly in half and will only come down further as the general population is vaccinated over a longer timeframe.
As hospitals are beyond capacity right now this suggests to me that significant social distancing measures will still be required months after the vulnerable group are vaccinated. There will be an argument about this.
Yes, I'm pretty much the opposite of a Baker Fan Boy, but he's a useful outrider in keeping government under pressure on exit strategy. We have seen on here that many seek to reduce covid risk to near zero, rather than balance it with other risks.
Baker asking for a timetable is probably a bit previous given we haven't yet got the data we need, but I'd rather have that pressure on than not.
This is exactly the position of the rebels on the right. In the absence of any opposition from Labour to endless lockdowns, the fiscal hawks want to ensure enough pressure is kept on the Govt.
It is from the right that the pressure for 24/7 vaccinations have come. It was from the right that the pressure for parliamentary scrutiny of new regs has come.
The right are driving better decision making. Starmer might learn something from that....if he wasn't dominated by the union position.
Regrettable as I find it, I think you have a point.
24/7 vaccinations are insane - opening enough sites so that all vaccines arriving are used within an 8/12 hour day is a far better plan.
The right isn't driving better decision making they are just throwing mud and seeing what makes the news.
You can take or leave the assumptions behind this analysis - they are debatable - but the general thrust is plausible. The death rate will be cut rapidly as the most vulnerable are vaccinated; the hospitalisation rate will be cut roughly in half and will only come down further as the general population is vaccinated over a longer timeframe.
As hospitals are beyond capacity right now this suggests to me that significant social distancing measures will still be required months after the vulnerable group are vaccinated. There will be an argument about this.
Gordon Brown next leader of SLAB, you read it here first, and probably only here.
Ian Murray, anyone? If having a Westminster MP as Scottish Leader is good enough for the Tories...
They'd be better off selecting Andy Murray..... He's on the look-out for a new career.
Andy's Pro-Indy...
Provocative thought: would Labour do worse with a pro-indy leader? Seems like a good chuck of their base has migrated to the SNP in the last 10-15 years.
Dunno, but the Scons would do better.
BTW, I don't know how everryone considers Mr Leonard to be a failure as leader ofd SLAB. By my rough mental reckoning he's lasted 3 years - about 2x the average for a SLAB leader at Holyrood in recent years.
You can take or leave the assumptions behind this analysis - they are debatable - but the general thrust is plausible. The death rate will be cut rapidly as the most vulnerable are vaccinated; the hospitalisation rate will be cut roughly in half and will only come down further as the general population is vaccinated over a longer timeframe.
As hospitals are beyond capacity right now this suggests to me that significant social distancing measures will still be required months after the vulnerable group are vaccinated. There will be an argument about this.
Gordon Brown next leader of SLAB, you read it here first, and probably only here.
Ian Murray, anyone? If having a Westminster MP as Scottish Leader is good enough for the Tories...
They'd be better off selecting Andy Murray..... He's on the look-out for a new career.
Andy's Pro-Indy...
Provocative thought: would Labour do worse with a pro-indy leader? Seems like a good chuck of their base has migrated to the SNP in the last 10-15 years.
Dunno, but the Scons would do better.
By how much? Who's still voting for Labour these days? Probably not those whose main concern is the union. And with people turning away from the Conservatives, would it do more than slightly reduce the flow back from the Conservatives? I don't know, these are just questions. Doesn't seem like an obviously bad idea from a purely electoral calculus.
VICE is actually moaning that docs and nurses are being super sensible and pragmatic, and giving surplus vax doses to anyone around, so they aren't wasted, and chucked in the bin.
This garbage is written by a "Senior Staff Writer"
You can take or leave the assumptions behind this analysis - they are debatable - but the general thrust is plausible. The death rate will be cut rapidly as the most vulnerable are vaccinated; the hospitalisation rate will be cut roughly in half and will only come down further as the general population is vaccinated over a longer timeframe.
As hospitals are beyond capacity right now this suggests to me that significant social distancing measures will still be required months after the vulnerable group are vaccinated. There will be an argument about this.
Gordon Brown next leader of SLAB, you read it here first, and probably only here.
Ian Murray, anyone? If having a Westminster MP as Scottish Leader is good enough for the Tories...
They'd be better off selecting Andy Murray..... He's on the look-out for a new career.
Andy's Pro-Indy...
Provocative thought: would Labour do worse with a pro-indy leader? Seems like a good chuck of their base has migrated to the SNP in the last 10-15 years.
Dunno, but the Scons would do better.
By how much? Who's still voting for Labour these days? Probably not those whose main concern is the union. And with people turning away from the Conservatives, would it do more than slightly reduce the flow back from the Conservatives? I don't know, these are just questions. Doesn't seem like an obviously bad idea from a purely electoral calculus.
Still quite a few unionists - IIRC the recednt poll said 38% of SLAB votyers would vote for independence but I can't remember how many were DK. Which means that the SLAB leader can't win except by promising to support a referendum and freedom of conscience, I suppose. Of course, SLAB MSPs will go ape as many are despoerate for the cursus honorum (as they see it) that ends in the HoL.
VICE is actually moaning that docs and nurses are being super sensible and pragmatic, and giving surplus vax doses to anyone around, so they aren't wasted, and chucked in the bin.
This garbage is written by a "Senior Staff Writer"
I'm not a fan, but he would overshadow Keir Starmer.
The article is unintentionally hilarious.
- "The pandemic has brutally exposed the dysfunctional British state" that HE basically ran for 13 years. - "Command and control takes you only so far" said maybe the most power-mad prime minister ever. - "my own nation, Scotland, already has one foot out the door of its 300-year-old Union with England." - Could this be at least partly because of New Labour's catastrophically botched devolution settlement? - "But there is no coherence in the devolution arrangements when the poorest regions in the Midlands and north have fewer powers, less autonomy and less fiscal freedom than our capital city" - beyond parody
I think the resignation of Richard Leonard signifies another tick on Starmer's 'to do' list in respect of internal party reforms. Leonard has clearly been a nonentity, and Starmer will have been pulling some levers over the last nine months; he's quite patient. It will be interesting to see who his successor is (Leonard's, not Starmer's....).
As for Labour not opposing the government on Coronavirus regulations, thus leaving the opposing to Baker et al. Well, that's preposterous. Obviously Starmer's not going to oppose something he's in favour of. Labour in parliament is actually more united on the Covid issues than the Tories are.
Gordon Brown next leader of SLAB, you read it here first, and probably only here.
Ian Murray, anyone? If having a Westminster MP as Scottish Leader is good enough for the Tories...
They'd be better off selecting Andy Murray..... He's on the look-out for a new career.
Andy's Pro-Indy...
Provocative thought: would Labour do worse with a pro-indy leader? Seems like a good chuck of their base has migrated to the SNP in the last 10-15 years.
Dunno, but the Scons would do better.
By how much? Who's still voting for Labour these days? Probably not those whose main concern is the union. And with people turning away from the Conservatives, would it do more than slightly reduce the flow back from the Conservatives? I don't know, these are just questions. Doesn't seem like an obviously bad idea from a purely electoral calculus.
Still quite a few unionists - IIRC the recednt poll said 38% of SLAB votyers would vote for independence but I can't remember how many were DK. Which means that the SLAB leader can't win except by promising to support a referendum and freedom of conscience, I suppose. Of course, SLAB MSPs will go ape as many are despoerate for the cursus honorum (as they see it) that ends in the HoL.
Interesting numbers. If 38% of Labour voters support independence, it proves my point that some people are happy to vote for a party with which they don't agree on a the independence issue. This silly idea may not be so silly after all. Not that I think it's likely to happen, of course.
VICE is actually moaning that docs and nurses are being super sensible and pragmatic, and giving surplus vax doses to anyone around, so they aren't wasted, and chucked in the bin.
This garbage is written by a "Senior Staff Writer"
Now he's had his second dose of the vaccine in the UK, Rupert Murdoch is preparing to make his way to NYC to oversee the difficult post-Trump positioning for Fox News. Should be fun.
I think that article is rather out of date. Note this important point:
The recent announcement that the second dose of the vaccine will not be administered until twelve weeks after the first, in order to prioritise as many first inoculations as possible, is not discussed in the bulletin.
So, with luck, and if the NHS can continue to roll out the jabs quickly, things might improve more quickly than that graph shows.
Gordon Brown next leader of SLAB, you read it here first, and probably only here.
Ian Murray, anyone? If having a Westminster MP as Scottish Leader is good enough for the Tories...
They'd be better off selecting Andy Murray..... He's on the look-out for a new career.
Andy's Pro-Indy...
Provocative thought: would Labour do worse with a pro-indy leader? Seems like a good chuck of their base has migrated to the SNP in the last 10-15 years.
Dunno, but the Scons would do better.
BTW, I don't know how everryone considers Mr Leonard to be a failure as leader ofd SLAB. By my rough mental reckoning he's lasted 3 years - about 2x the average for a SLAB leader at Holyrood in recent years.
Well, he didn't fight a Holyrood election, and he lost all but one of his Westminster seats and both his European Parliament seats in the two elections he did fight. Anyway, "failure" is usually considered as an absolute term, whereas where Scottish Labour are concerned nowadays, a relative interpretation is probably more useful.
VICE is actually moaning that docs and nurses are being super sensible and pragmatic, and giving surplus vax doses to anyone around, so they aren't wasted, and chucked in the bin.
This garbage is written by a "Senior Staff Writer"
Gordon Brown next leader of SLAB, you read it here first, and probably only here.
Ian Murray, anyone? If having a Westminster MP as Scottish Leader is good enough for the Tories...
They'd be better off selecting Andy Murray..... He's on the look-out for a new career.
Andy's Pro-Indy...
Provocative thought: would Labour do worse with a pro-indy leader? Seems like a good chuck of their base has migrated to the SNP in the last 10-15 years.
Dunno, but the Scons would do better.
By how much? Who's still voting for Labour these days? Probably not those whose main concern is the union. And with people turning away from the Conservatives, would it do more than slightly reduce the flow back from the Conservatives? I don't know, these are just questions. Doesn't seem like an obviously bad idea from a purely electoral calculus.
Still quite a few unionists - IIRC the recednt poll said 38% of SLAB votyers would vote for independence but I can't remember how many were DK. Which means that the SLAB leader can't win except by promising to support a referendum and freedom of conscience, I suppose. Of course, SLAB MSPs will go ape as many are despoerate for the cursus honorum (as they see it) that ends in the HoL.
How about an upper chamber at Hoyrood -the Hoos o' Lairds.
The vaccination centre was very well organised, everything ran very smoothly. They were giving the Pfizer jab which is significantly slower than giving the AZ one. Despite that she did 82 people in just under 4 hours. There were 6 nurses and they got through around 500 people in one afternoon.
Does 'the wife' not mind being called 'the wife'?
She is from New Zealand so she minds everything
I bet she wishes she was back there!
(Not to escape you - just to be clear.)
With apologies to Winston:
New Zealand meets England in a corridor and says: "England you are under lockdown"
England says, "New Zealand, you are boring. But one day I'll be free."
VICE is actually moaning that docs and nurses are being super sensible and pragmatic, and giving surplus vax doses to anyone around, so they aren't wasted, and chucked in the bin.
This garbage is written by a "Senior Staff Writer"
Yes, I'm pretty much the opposite of a Baker Fan Boy, but he's a useful outrider in keeping government under pressure on exit strategy. We have seen on here that many seek to reduce covid risk to near zero, rather than balance it with other risks.
Baker asking for a timetable is probably a bit previous given we haven't yet got the data we need, but I'd rather have that pressure on than not.
This is exactly the position of the rebels on the right. In the absence of any opposition from Labour to endless lockdowns, the fiscal hawks want to ensure enough pressure is kept on the Govt.
It is from the right that the pressure for 24/7 vaccinations have come. It was from the right that the pressure for parliamentary scrutiny of new regs has come.
The right are driving better decision making. Starmer might learn something from that....if he wasn't dominated by the union position.
Regrettable as I find it, I think you have a point.
24/7 vaccinations are insane - opening enough sites so that all vaccines arriving are used within an 8/12 hour day is a far better plan.
The right isn't driving better decision making they are just throwing mud and seeing what makes the news.
No but they are keeping pressure on the government, which is key.
Comments
To this government’s credit, they have been relatively generous in international funding for vaccines for poorer countries, but the world could have done a great deal better. And the stupid thing is that it makes economic sense for the richer countries, purely from a POV of naked self interest.
And it’s something that should still be done.
(And no argument with you that the EU could have done a great deal better, but again that isn’t the main issue.)
We Yorkshire accented former public schoolboys aren't normally quitters because we're awesome, obviously he's too good for Scotland.
I think TSE has seen that video.
(Not to escape you - just to be clear.)
Boris will need some deft footwork to keep both onboard.
He has not had a good pandemic.
As hospitals are beyond capacity right now this suggests to me that significant social distancing measures will still be required months after the vulnerable group are vaccinated. There will be an argument about this.
https://twitter.com/henryhtapper/status/1348903187324006401
We now wait to hear that 7,000 have died this morning
Now they have finally split up as result, but she can't get back to Taiwan.... and they are locked down together in the same poky London flat.
https://twitter.com/hzeffman/status/1349768565931593729
Is he still getting benefits?
Edit: And it's not really setting up as a patsy is it? Trump will get away with it not because he'll make Rudy a patsy, but because Mitch McConnell talked him down, so will now play ball.
(The above may be sexist.)
Andy Murray tests +.
George Foulkes, late Labour Educaiton Convener for Lothian Region, is one such possibility.
https://twitter.com/PoliticsForAlI/status/1349770003009175552?s=20
https://twitter.com/aljwhite/status/1349770744260153347?s=20
The right isn't driving better decision making they are just throwing mud and seeing what makes the news.
I don't know, these are just questions. Doesn't seem like an obviously bad idea from a purely electoral calculus.
A top German logistics company has become the latest firm to suspend deliveries to the UK because of increased paperwork following Brexit.
DB Schenker, owned by national rail firm Deutsche Bahn, said that for the time being, it was not accepting new UK-bound consignments.
"Enormous bureaucratic regulations" linked to post-Brexit trading arrangements were to blame, it said.
Only about 10% of goods came with accurate customs forms, it added.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55662544
VICE is actually moaning that docs and nurses are being super sensible and pragmatic, and giving surplus vax doses to anyone around, so they aren't wasted, and chucked in the bin.
This garbage is written by a "Senior Staff Writer"
I TOLD you IQ was dropping in the young
https://twitter.com/VICE/status/1349768244534587395?s=20
Understatement of the week.
Is this still xmas hangover?
https://twitter.com/ADMBriggs/status/1349756619123523590
- "The pandemic has brutally exposed the dysfunctional British state" that HE basically ran for 13 years.
- "Command and control takes you only so far" said maybe the most power-mad prime minister ever.
- "my own nation, Scotland, already has one foot out the door of its 300-year-old Union with England." - Could this be at least partly because of New Labour's catastrophically botched devolution settlement?
- "But there is no coherence in the devolution arrangements when the poorest regions in the Midlands and north have fewer powers, less autonomy and less fiscal freedom than our capital city" - beyond parody
I can't be bothered any more. It's too easy.
The cabinet minister says people in England should be "exercising on your own" as she tries to provide "clarity" on COVID rules."
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-number-10-contradicts-home-secretary-priti-patel-over-lockdown-rules-on-exercise-12187796
As for Labour not opposing the government on Coronavirus regulations, thus leaving the opposing to Baker et al. Well, that's preposterous. Obviously Starmer's not going to oppose something he's in favour of. Labour in parliament is actually more united on the Covid issues than the Tories are.
This silly idea may not be so silly after all. Not that I think it's likely to happen, of course.
Baker? Yeh, who is that?
Man: Chief Whip here. Just want a quick word about that Sun piece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia7fUQXskvA
Now he's had his second dose of the vaccine in the UK, Rupert Murdoch is preparing to make his way to NYC to oversee the difficult post-Trump positioning for Fox News. Should be fun.
Talk about mission impossible.
The recent announcement that the second dose of the vaccine will not be administered until twelve weeks after the first, in order to prioritise as many first inoculations as possible, is not discussed in the bulletin.
So, with luck, and if the NHS can continue to roll out the jabs quickly, things might improve more quickly than that graph shows.
New Zealand meets England in a corridor and says: "England you are under lockdown"
England says, "New Zealand, you are boring. But one day I'll be free."
Absolutely stupid story.
Although not much more stupid than those who express similar sentiments on PB!!
It does reveal great anxiety, however