I don't understand any of this. To me it just looks screamingly corrupt. Day after day this stuff gets murkier and murkier.
And yet they get away with it. Or am I, as a non Scottish stone sex-toy craftsman, missing some crucial aspect which makes it all OK?
No you're not. It is more and more like something from the eastern bloc before the wall came down.
Complaints made under a procedure for Former Ministers which did not even exist when the complaint was made Politicians and party hacks asking the police what evidence they needed so it can be "provided" Pressure being applied to the police to charge Discussions between the Scottish government and Crown Office on the most efficacious way to get a conviction Meetings "forgotten" and off the record discussions The resistance of the judicial review in the hope that criminal proceedings would "supersede" it to the point that responsible counsel threatened to withdraw at a cost to the Scottish government of over £500k.
Don't get me wrong, I am still of the view that Salmond was seriously fortunate to get the result that he did but if we go on like this we will have Putin taking notes.
My viewpoint is that Salmond is as dodgy as f*** with incredibly wandering hands but sadly not blatant enough for a court to be able to deal with it.
I confess that I was bewildered by the Jury decision at the time and called it wrong. The noises off in the Faculty pointed towards a conviction too. But it does appear that the Jury got the impression that this was some sort of conspiracy and more than a bit contrived. Wonderful things juries, an essential protection from tyranny.
My view was that Salmond was a randy, handsy old lech, and this, whilst not criminal, became enough to be a crime when combined with the fact that the victims were subordinates, working for Salmond with so much to lose (as they felt) for Scottish independence. I thought an unfavourable jury could have convicted.
Given that for some of the allegations, the person concerned was not even present, I now have more sympathy for the jury's decision. What seems abundantly clear is that, deserved or undeserved, Salmond was the victim of a campaign to destroy his reputation and put him in jail, by his former colleagues.
Don't forget the original matter came to a head at the peak of the MeToo stuff.
I think this is the R you get with the current lockdown + current versions of the virus.
And it's enough. Remember back when Supercovid emerged, and there were genuine fears that British-style lockdowns wouldn't be enough to get cases down?
Nowhere's out of the woods yet, but it looks like we've picked a good time to be alive.
The point about R is this, it reflects the level of restrictions, NOT the level of infection. As the level of restrictions hasn't changed since Jan 4th, you should expect the R to stay the same too. This is NOT understood well enough by the public, the press, the TV or indeed most of the politicians. The number who have been waiting for R to fall further, when no change has been made to restrictions, is just ridiculous.
And don't forget, not long ago there was a fear that the Kent variant had added 0.7 to the R across the board. Clearly that is NOT how R works, it must be a proportioned increase.
I don't understand any of this. To me it just looks screamingly corrupt. Day after day this stuff gets murkier and murkier.
And yet they get away with it. Or am I, as a non Scottish stone sex-toy craftsman, missing some crucial aspect which makes it all OK?
No you're not. It is more and more like something from the eastern bloc before the wall came down.
Complaints made under a procedure for Former Ministers which did not even exist when the complaint was made Politicians and party hacks asking the police what evidence they needed so it can be "provided" Pressure being applied to the police to charge Discussions between the Scottish government and Crown Office on the most efficacious way to get a conviction Meetings "forgotten" and off the record discussions The resistance of the judicial review in the hope that criminal proceedings would "supersede" it to the point that responsible counsel threatened to withdraw at a cost to the Scottish government of over £500k.
Don't get me wrong, I am still of the view that Salmond was seriously fortunate to get the result that he did but if we go on like this we will have Putin taking notes.
My viewpoint is that Salmond is as dodgy as f*** with incredibly wandering hands but sadly not blatant enough for a court to be able to deal with it.
I confess that I was bewildered by the Jury decision at the time and called it wrong. The noises off in the Faculty pointed towards a conviction too. But it does appear that the Jury got the impression that this was some sort of conspiracy and more than a bit contrived. Wonderful things juries, an essential protection from tyranny.
My view was that Salmond was a randy, handsy old lech, and this, whilst not criminal, became enough to be a crime when combined with the fact that the victims were subordinates, working for Salmond with so much to lose (as they felt) for Scottish independence. I thought an unfavourable jury could have convicted.
Given that for some of the allegations, the person concerned was not even present, I now have more sympathy for the jury's decision. What seems abundantly clear is that, deserved or undeserved, Salmond was the victim of a campaign to destroy his reputation and put him in jail, by his former colleagues.
Even criminals deserve the protection of due process, and it begins to seem, just from a cursory look, that if he had been convicted then the conviction would have to be quashed as unsafe due to the procedural abuses.
I think there's a misunderstanding of how R works in general. Any R value below 1 is a good thing, sustaining the R below 1 at a constant 0.8 that we have done is a minor miracle. The R value in a population should always trend towards one whether it's above or below that there is always pressure on that number to push it towards 1 either by the virus running out of viable hosts when it is above 1 or by people disregarding NPIs when it is below 1, it's exactly what we have seen across all of Europe. Holding the R value below 1 in any "freedom loving" country is extremely difficult. So the country should be applauded for managing to do that for as long as we have which has allowed at least two full halving cycles and near completion of a third.
The other factor in this is that we probably have a constant downwards pressure on the R value by virtue of the vaccination programme which is balancing out reduced adherence to lockdown over time. It's something we didn't have last time which is why the R value dropped to 0.5-0.6 but then slowly regressed to 1 as people decided lockdown was shit and they wanted to see their friends.
We're also contending with a mutation that has made the virus more transmissive. An R of 0.8 for this long is actually a huge achievement for us as a country.
Best news is the admissions - 2,375. That's dropping like a stone now (good old lockdown, plus a bit of vaccine).
20k new cases a bit weird though - thought that was going to be on more of a downward trajectory, but if anything it is bouncing up.
If people have come forward for mass-testing in the postcodes people were worried about South Africa Covid in, then you would expect an increase in cases due to asymptomatic carriers being detected that were otherwise missed.
Ireland is expecting a similar bump in cases because they've restarted testing contacts again.
What's our 'case industry' for, if not to dredge up cases for SAGE to keep up imprisoned?
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I don't understand any of this. To me it just looks screamingly corrupt. Day after day this stuff gets murkier and murkier.
And yet they get away with it. Or am I, as a non Scottish stone sex-toy craftsman, missing some crucial aspect which makes it all OK?
No you're not. It is more and more like something from the eastern bloc before the wall came down.
Complaints made under a procedure for Former Ministers which did not even exist when the complaint was made Politicians and party hacks asking the police what evidence they needed so it can be "provided" Pressure being applied to the police to charge Discussions between the Scottish government and Crown Office on the most efficacious way to get a conviction Meetings "forgotten" and off the record discussions The resistance of the judicial review in the hope that criminal proceedings would "supersede" it to the point that responsible counsel threatened to withdraw at a cost to the Scottish government of over £500k.
Don't get me wrong, I am still of the view that Salmond was seriously fortunate to get the result that he did but if we go on like this we will have Putin taking notes.
My viewpoint is that Salmond is as dodgy as f*** with incredibly wandering hands but sadly not blatant enough for a court to be able to deal with it.
Whether Salmond is a sex pest or not (seems very likely he is, but perhaps not criminally so) is now a second order issue.
The primary point is that the Scottish government apparently and illegally conspired to get him arrested, tried to make sure he was convicted, got rumbled when Salmond was acquitted. And yet now the same government is perverting the course of the inquiry set up to see if the government did anything wrong.
As David says, it is the kind of thing you see in one party states.
Add that to the primary school literature with the SNP logo?
Scotland is in a very unhealthy place.
Their national dish is deep fried mars bars - how more unhealthy could it be?
It's not. It's the national dish of English tyourists in Sxcotland. Not quite the same thing.
What can I sneer at then? (Its the only reason I go anywhere)
The pasty white (then red) burned Glaswegian flesh in the parks on the one hot day of the year?
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
Every house is a new house at some point, but it's become a synonym for a Persimmon shitbox
Yes, and that's yet another unintended consequence of the planning regulations.
Big builders are the only ones with the money and time to negotiate the planning system and lobby politicians to release land, so the public have to put up with whatever they are given. While in continental Europe, most new houses (60% in France and Germany, 80% in Austria) are self-built, so people can build high-quality properties for themselves. Really, the difference in quality if you look around when you can travel there is absolutely striking.
The one part of the UK with European levels of self-build - Northern Ireland - is the one part without a huge housing crisis.
There is what is essentially a new suburb of Newcastle currently being built called "Great Park" in which a certain number of plots were reserved for self build projects. I was involved in designing and installing renewable energy provision for some of them. They seemed to be popular but they were very much a "premium" product.
On topic (well, someone has to be..) - Yes, this is a really serious problem for the government, entirely of its own making, of course. It's not just that interview, it has been many months of outright lying about the border in the Irish sea. Even without that lying they'd still be in a pickle; the practical effects of that border are not going to go away. As some wag on Twitter put it, "The UK has achieved a world first by being in a free trade area smaller than its own borders".
Of course, some of the problems are temporary, although no more excusable for that reason - after it's hardly a surprise that unwritten computer systems don't work, or that you can't magic up customs agents and vets overnight, or that businesses given a few days' notice of the biggest one-day disruption of trading rules in peacetime haven't been able to figure out how to work the new rules. But most of the problems are structural. What's more, we are still in the grace periods for implementing the full rules. Those grace periods are currently set to fall away by July, when things will get even worse. Perhaps if we're nice to the EU, we might persuade them to extend those deadlines a bit, although if we're going to go begging for favours it might not be a bad idea to accord full diplomatic status to their ambassador - a gesture which, though completely cost-free, seems to be too expensive for this government of obstinate ideologues.
However, Mike is wrong to say that 'an obvious solution is to create a united Ireland'. That's not a solution at all; it would actually make the present problem worse. In the current setup, the island doesn't have much of a problem with the north-south border (although there are some issues, for example on services). The friction is mainly at the NI-GB interface, thanks to the rejection of Theresa May's backstop in favour of the Boris carve-up.
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Anything hotter than 17 degrees celsius for me is unbearable....just get sleepy all the time.
Sir Keir Starmer has denied reports he had a heated confrontation with Boris Johnson after the pair clashed during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.
The Labour leader told broadcasters on a visit to an NHS vaccination centre in Watford that the reports - which claimed he was led away from Johnson - were untrue and that he and the PM merely continued their discussion of issues raised during the weekly exchange.
The Labour leader used his visit to the Watford centre - which is set up in the corner of a large Asda supermarket - to suggest the government was in "chaos" over what to do about people arriving from abroad.
"I'm really worried about the chaos and confusion on the government's borders policy," Starmer said, adding: "We're in a race now - virus against vaccination. Let's secure our borders."
----
I remember when the tw@tterati were outraged that Boris went to some vaccination centres....Starmer seems to go to even more than him.
One thing not being picked up on, yesterday Team Red were complaining that the mass testing for Saffers COVID wasn't covering a wide enough area. Today, Team Red in Wales, have side oh no we aren't going to mass test for it, although we have some community transmission cases.
The NHS has coped better than I feared it might when I was looking ahead in December.
Does it matter? the powers that be have moved the goalposts, as Sunak has pointed out. We're on to cases now, even though those are not threatening for young people, and are meant to be much less threatening for older folk.
I think with London it's the nature of the beast. Much more transient. Large proportion of those for a variety of reason more sceptical. Probaly records less accurate , etc, etc.
Also the priority groups currently being targeted make up a smaller percentage of the population, I guess ?
Hmm. That's actually going to be slightly underwhelming I think.
Will end up being pretty much bang on the required rate – I was hoping for a bumper couple of days, given the widespread snowy weather forecast for next week.
Friday through to Sunday are the days where we will hopefully smash the run-rate. If the other 4 days of the week average around the 400k daily mark then we should make the Feb 15th target with 2 or 3 days to spare.
Also, does it REALLY matter if we miss the target by a day or two? No. The govt has - in this case - done a fantastic job.
When the target was announced I remember many on here (and many amongst my friends) scoffing with derision at the mere idea they'd achieve this. Now it looks certain they will do it, or get as near as dammit, so it doesn't matter.
The main thing is to KEEP IT UP so we can vax all priority groups - ie ME - by mid March. Then we are really set to have sex again, sorry, open up the country.
More than KEEP IT UP, need to go to infinity and beyond. 1 million a day capacity should be the aim.
As we did with testing.
Also, as with testing, I doubt we will reach 1m a day, but - like testing - 600-700,000 should be doable. 1% of the country every day, for day after day.
We've already had a 600k day, so I would really hope that we'll hit 1m some days.
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Anything hotter than 17 degrees celsius for me is unbearable....just get sleepy all the time.
I don't mind it if it's natural heat, but there's something about artificial heat, like fierce air-conditioning, that's pretty unbearable. I only turn my heating on for a couple of weeks a year when it gets really cold.
Just had AZ jab (70-74) at large vaccination centre in Telford. 2 GP surgery’s also touting for business via text messages, 1 being a walk in center. Booked online, second appointment for 11 weeks later booked at the same time.
I don't understand any of this. To me it just looks screamingly corrupt. Day after day this stuff gets murkier and murkier.
And yet they get away with it. Or am I, as a non Scottish stone sex-toy craftsman, missing some crucial aspect which makes it all OK?
No you're not. It is more and more like something from the eastern bloc before the wall came down.
Complaints made under a procedure for Former Ministers which did not even exist when the complaint was made Politicians and party hacks asking the police what evidence they needed so it can be "provided" Pressure being applied to the police to charge Discussions between the Scottish government and Crown Office on the most efficacious way to get a conviction Meetings "forgotten" and off the record discussions The resistance of the judicial review in the hope that criminal proceedings would "supersede" it to the point that responsible counsel threatened to withdraw at a cost to the Scottish government of over £500k.
Don't get me wrong, I am still of the view that Salmond was seriously fortunate to get the result that he did but if we go on like this we will have Putin taking notes.
My viewpoint is that Salmond is as dodgy as f*** with incredibly wandering hands but sadly not blatant enough for a court to be able to deal with it.
I confess that I was bewildered by the Jury decision at the time and called it wrong. The noises off in the Faculty pointed towards a conviction too. But it does appear that the Jury got the impression that this was some sort of conspiracy and more than a bit contrived. Wonderful things juries, an essential protection from tyranny.
My view was that Salmond was a randy, handsy old lech, and this, whilst not criminal, became enough to be a crime when combined with the fact that the victims were subordinates, working for Salmond with so much to lose (as they felt) for Scottish independence. I thought an unfavourable jury could have convicted.
Given that for some of the allegations, the person concerned was not even present, I now have more sympathy for the jury's decision. What seems abundantly clear is that, deserved or undeserved, Salmond was the victim of a campaign to destroy his reputation and put him in jail, by his former colleagues.
Don't forget the original matter came to a head at the peak of the MeToo stuff.
And that in the wake of the action against Mark McDonald MSP they had the perfect opportunity to target former First Ministers....
On topic (well, someone has to be..) - Yes, this is a really serious problem for the government, entirely of its own making, of course. It's not just that interview, it has been many months of outright lying about the border in the Irish sea. Even without that lying they'd still be in a pickle; the practical effects of that border are not going to go away. As some wag on Twitter put it, "The UK has achieved a world first by being in a free trade area smaller than its own borders".
Of course, some of the problems are temporary, although no more excusable for that reason - after it's hardly a surprise that unwritten computer systems don't work, or that you can't magic up customs agents and vets overnight, or that businesses given a few days' notice of the biggest one-day disruption of trading rules in peacetime haven't been able to figure out how to work the new rules. But most of the problems are structural. What's more, we are still in the grace periods for implementing the full rules. Those grace periods are currently set to fall away by July, when things will get even worse. Perhaps if we're nice to the EU, we might persuade them to extend those deadlines a bit, although if we're going to go begging for favours it might not be a bad idea to accord full diplomatic status to their ambassador - a gesture which, though completely cost-free, seems to be too expensive for this government of obstinate ideologues.
However, Mike is wrong to say that 'an obvious solution is to create a united Ireland'. That's not a solution at all; it would actually make the present problem worse. In the current setup, the island doesn't have much of a problem with the north-south border (although there are some issues, for example on services). The friction is mainly at the NI-GB interface, thanks to the rejection of Theresa May's backstop in favour of the Boris carve-up.
Hmm. That's actually going to be slightly underwhelming I think.
Will end up being pretty much bang on the required rate – I was hoping for a bumper couple of days, given the widespread snowy weather forecast for next week.
Friday through to Sunday are the days where we will hopefully smash the run-rate. If the other 4 days of the week average around the 400k daily mark then we should make the Feb 15th target with 2 or 3 days to spare.
Also, does it REALLY matter if we miss the target by a day or two? No. The govt has - in this case - done a fantastic job.
When the target was announced I remember many on here (and many amongst my friends) scoffing with derision at the mere idea they'd achieve this. Now it looks certain they will do it, or get as near as dammit, so it doesn't matter.
The main thing is to KEEP IT UP so we can vax all priority groups - ie ME - by mid March. Then we are really set to have sex again, sorry, open up the country.
More than KEEP IT UP, need to go to infinity and beyond. 1 million a day capacity should be the aim.
As we did with testing.
Also, as with testing, I doubt we will reach 1m a day, but - like testing - 600-700,000 should be doable. 1% of the country every day, for day after day.
We've already had a 600k day, so I would really hope that we'll hit 1m some days.
Have we got to the bottom of why the final day each week is always the highest, yet?
I could understand Sat/Sun being lower. But why are some weekdays so much lower than others, consistently?
After yesterday’s PMQs theatre, Labour reluctantly admitted Starmer had called for UK membership of the European Medicines Agency post-Brexit. Guido can reveal Starmer went further than merely talking the talk – he voted for an amendment in 2018 that would have seen the UK bound into EMA membership. The amendment in question was New Clause 17 to the 2018 Trade Bill, which read:
“It shall be the objective of an appropriate authority to take all necessary steps to implement an international trade agreement, which enables the UK to fully participate after exit day in the European medicines regulatory network partnership between the European Union, European Economic Area and the European Medicines Agency.”
During the epic May-era parliamentary battle, Starmer, along with 240 Labour MPs, two sitting Tories and others – voted for this, trying to ensure the UK made it a negotiating objective “to participate in the European medicines regulatory network partnership between the EU, EEA and the European Medicines Agency”. At the time proclaiming this would ensure patients continue “to have access to high-quality, effective and safe pharmaceutical and medical products, fully aligned with the member states of the EU and EEA.” Keir might be be hoping we have forgotten, Guido is not convinced his famously forensic legal brain would have really forgotten...
This story feels very much like a #10 sting and something they were extremely bad at all of last year.
They have dug out a specific and topical example of where old Remainer Starmer was consistently doing everything possible to keep the UK in the EU....and then helpfully pointed a friendly gossip monger to where to go looking.
There'll be plenty more examples I have no doubt. SKS would no doubt love us to forget that the was one of the very senior movers and shakers in trying to get Brexit overturned by any means possible.
Expect any election campaign to have a few more ready to drop on SKS's toe.
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Anything hotter than 17 degrees celsius for me is unbearable....just get sleepy all the time.
I don't mind it if it's natural heat, but there's something about artificial heat, like fierce air-conditioning, that's pretty unbearable. I only turn my heating on for a couple of weeks a year when it gets really cold.
I never quite understand the turn on/off the heating thing - it's seems archaic in the age of thermostats. In the age of thermostats per room doubly so. Just set a minimum temperature and leave it alone?
The NHS has coped better than I feared it might when I was looking ahead in December.
Thanks a large number of intelligent people who looked at what happened in March and thought about how they could stretch the system next time.
Lessons learned and all that.
The problem is that because it worked, they (NHS management/medical staff) won't get any credit for this success.
To my mind, someone should be writing people up for gongs.
Either that or the truth was stretched by monopoly service that, now openly and manifestly, puts itself above anything and everything (protect the NHS!!) and refuses to countenance or even hinders surge expansion, mothballing nightingale hopsitals etc.
Its one of the two...or a mixture of both.
Anyway now the NHS been saved after all, the goalposts have moved and we're now obsessed with cases, which are the best way to keep us locked down at the moment, pending something else.
Hmm. That's actually going to be slightly underwhelming I think.
Will end up being pretty much bang on the required rate – I was hoping for a bumper couple of days, given the widespread snowy weather forecast for next week.
Friday through to Sunday are the days where we will hopefully smash the run-rate. If the other 4 days of the week average around the 400k daily mark then we should make the Feb 15th target with 2 or 3 days to spare.
Also, does it REALLY matter if we miss the target by a day or two? No. The govt has - in this case - done a fantastic job.
When the target was announced I remember many on here (and many amongst my friends) scoffing with derision at the mere idea they'd achieve this. Now it looks certain they will do it, or get as near as dammit, so it doesn't matter.
The main thing is to KEEP IT UP so we can vax all priority groups - ie ME - by mid March. Then we are really set to have sex again, sorry, open up the country.
More than KEEP IT UP, need to go to infinity and beyond. 1 million a day capacity should be the aim.
As we did with testing.
Also, as with testing, I doubt we will reach 1m a day, but - like testing - 600-700,000 should be doable. 1% of the country every day, for day after day.
We've already had a 600k day, so I would really hope that we'll hit 1m some days.
Have we got to the bottom of why the final day each week is always the highest, yet?
I could understand Sat/Sun being lower. But why are some weekdays so much lower than others, consistently?
Deliveries perhaps a bit uncertain. You don't know until some point on Monday what have been delivered into the system. So you don't take delivery until some point Tuesday - and then can't start getting people through the doors and jabbing at warp speed until Wedneday?
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Anything hotter than 17 degrees celsius for me is unbearable....just get sleepy all the time.
I don't mind it if it's natural heat, but there's something about artificial heat, like fierce air-conditioning, that's pretty unbearable. I only turn my heating on for a couple of weeks a year when it gets really cold.
The benefit of having good insulation and modern radiators is that you can run the flow temperature rather low. The boiler is then much more efficient and the heat is much less harsh.
The NHS has coped better than I feared it might when I was looking ahead in December.
Thanks a large number of intelligent people who looked at what happened in March and thought about how they could stretch the system next time.
Lessons learned and all that.
The problem is that because it worked, they (NHS management/medical staff) won't get any credit for this success.
To my mind, someone should be writing people up for gongs.
Everyone needs to be writing people up for gongs, because those that hand them out can only go with people who have been nominated.
The upper echelons of the Civil Service are good at doing this with each other, so nominations of those further down the food chain really need to come from members of the public.
We need to find the ward sister who's managed people around the place for months without a day off, the food bank volunteer making sure people don't slip through the net, the person responsible for an innovation that led to better outcomes for patients...
About 15 per cent of Britons are refusing the coronavirus jab and uptake rates are lowest among ethnic minorities, Britain's vaccine tsar revealed today.
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
One effect will be me crying like a disgraced televangelist.
Savers are a persecuted minority.
Not really - half the purpose of this monetary policy is to keep stock markets rolling, so savers just have to be in the asset classes they're being directed towards and they're still doing fine.
Yes and never mind this discriminates against poorer, unsophisticated savers and favours rich equity investors like, erm, PBers and anyone else who has heard of half the firms George Osborne worked for.
Sir Keir Starmer has denied reports he had a heated confrontation with Boris Johnson after the pair clashed during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.
The Labour leader told broadcasters on a visit to an NHS vaccination centre in Watford that the reports - which claimed he was led away from Johnson - were untrue and that he and the PM merely continued their discussion of issues raised during the weekly exchange.
The Labour leader used his visit to the Watford centre - which is set up in the corner of a large Asda supermarket - to suggest the government was in "chaos" over what to do about people arriving from abroad.
"I'm really worried about the chaos and confusion on the government's borders policy," Starmer said, adding: "We're in a race now - virus against vaccination. Let's secure our borders."
----
I remember when the tw@tterati were outraged that Boris went to some vaccination centres....Starmer seems to go to even more than him.
One thing not being picked up on, yesterday Team Red were complaining that the mass testing for Saffers COVID wasn't covering a wide enough area. Today, Team Red in Wales, have side oh no we aren't going to mass test for it, although we have some community transmission cases.
Was Starmer wearing a Union flag at the vaccine centre? A poor effort if he wasn't.
More than 100 Public Health England workers have been given a Covid jab despite not falling into any of the priority categories, the Guardian can reveal.
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Anything hotter than 17 degrees celsius for me is unbearable....just get sleepy all the time.
I don't mind it if it's natural heat, but there's something about artificial heat, like fierce air-conditioning, that's pretty unbearable. I only turn my heating on for a couple of weeks a year when it gets really cold.
The benefit of having good insulation and modern radiators is that you can run the flow temperature rather low. The boiler is then much more efficient and the heat is much less harsh.
Mr GG - I think you said below that you were 21? I'm totally hat's off to you if you can afford to worry about the harshness of your heating environment.
Would you class soreness where you have just been jabbed with a needle a side-effect of the vaccine?
Even if that is the correct way to record it it seems tailor made for reporting misunderstands.
The old anti-vaxxers like Macron will love to tell everybody how 1 in 3 people get side-effects.
Not to support Manu - who I've gone right off for now - but just to report on my experience of the jab. It's well known that I haven't had it but my parents have (age) and so has my brother and partner (health workers). Oxford and Pfizer respectively. All 4 of them felt rough for 48 hours afterwards. Like a quick flu. I don't know how common that is but it's 100% for my sample.
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Anything hotter than 17 degrees celsius for me is unbearable....just get sleepy all the time.
I don't mind it if it's natural heat, but there's something about artificial heat, like fierce air-conditioning, that's pretty unbearable. I only turn my heating on for a couple of weeks a year when it gets really cold.
The benefit of having good insulation and modern radiators is that you can run the flow temperature rather low. The boiler is then much more efficient and the heat is much less harsh.
Mr GG - I think you said below that you were 21? I'm totally hat's off to you if you can afford to worry about the harshness of your heating environment.
Hmm. That's actually going to be slightly underwhelming I think.
Will end up being pretty much bang on the required rate – I was hoping for a bumper couple of days, given the widespread snowy weather forecast for next week.
Friday through to Sunday are the days where we will hopefully smash the run-rate. If the other 4 days of the week average around the 400k daily mark then we should make the Feb 15th target with 2 or 3 days to spare.
Also, does it REALLY matter if we miss the target by a day or two? No. The govt has - in this case - done a fantastic job.
When the target was announced I remember many on here (and many amongst my friends) scoffing with derision at the mere idea they'd achieve this. Now it looks certain they will do it, or get as near as dammit, so it doesn't matter.
The main thing is to KEEP IT UP so we can vax all priority groups - ie ME - by mid March. Then we are really set to have sex again, sorry, open up the country.
More than KEEP IT UP, need to go to infinity and beyond. 1 million a day capacity should be the aim.
As we did with testing.
Also, as with testing, I doubt we will reach 1m a day, but - like testing - 600-700,000 should be doable. 1% of the country every day, for day after day.
We've already had a 600k day, so I would really hope that we'll hit 1m some days.
Have we got to the bottom of why the final day each week is always the highest, yet?
I could understand Sat/Sun being lower. But why are some weekdays so much lower than others, consistently?
Deliveries perhaps a bit uncertain. You don't know until some point on Monday what have been delivered into the system. So you don't take delivery until some point Tuesday - and then can't start getting people through the doors and jabbing at warp speed until Wedneday?
I was wondering the other day whether we are seeing end-of-week reporting of vaccination drives. My GPO just did a 4 day push - nothing but vaccinations for 4 days.
You get a bunch of people lined up with appointments, and the vaccine ordered in. Do the drive and report the numbers at the end?
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Anything hotter than 17 degrees celsius for me is unbearable....just get sleepy all the time.
I don't mind it if it's natural heat, but there's something about artificial heat, like fierce air-conditioning, that's pretty unbearable. I only turn my heating on for a couple of weeks a year when it gets really cold.
The benefit of having good insulation and modern radiators is that you can run the flow temperature rather low. The boiler is then much more efficient and the heat is much less harsh.
Mr GG - I think you said below that you were 21? I'm totally hat's off to you if you can afford to worry about the harshness of your heating environment.
Would you class soreness where you have just been jabbed with a needle a side-effect of the vaccine?
Even if that is the correct way to record it it seems tailor made for reporting misunderstands.
The old anti-vaxxers like Macron will love to tell everybody how 1 in 3 people get side-effects.
Not to support Manu - who I've gone right off for now - but just to report on my experience of the jab. It's well known that I haven't had it but my parents have (age) and so has my brother and partner (health workers). Oxford and Pfizer respectively. All 4 of them felt rough for 48 hours afterwards. Like a quick flu. I don't know how common that is but it's 100% for my sample.
My wife is a health worker. She and all her colleagues got jabbed in the last 2 weeks. All have good medical knowledge, no hypochondriacs.
2 of them had Pfizer - no adverse effects. About 8 had AZ - all reported at least mild adverse effects: headaches, mild flu-ey symptoms. One ill enough to be off work for 3 days.
After yesterday’s PMQs theatre, Labour reluctantly admitted Starmer had called for UK membership of the European Medicines Agency post-Brexit. Guido can reveal Starmer went further than merely talking the talk – he voted for an amendment in 2018 that would have seen the UK bound into EMA membership. The amendment in question was New Clause 17 to the 2018 Trade Bill, which read:
“It shall be the objective of an appropriate authority to take all necessary steps to implement an international trade agreement, which enables the UK to fully participate after exit day in the European medicines regulatory network partnership between the European Union, European Economic Area and the European Medicines Agency.”
During the epic May-era parliamentary battle, Starmer, along with 240 Labour MPs, two sitting Tories and others – voted for this, trying to ensure the UK made it a negotiating objective “to participate in the European medicines regulatory network partnership between the EU, EEA and the European Medicines Agency”. At the time proclaiming this would ensure patients continue “to have access to high-quality, effective and safe pharmaceutical and medical products, fully aligned with the member states of the EU and EEA.” Keir might be be hoping we have forgotten, Guido is not convinced his famously forensic legal brain would have really forgotten...
This story feels very much like a #10 sting and something they were extremely bad at all of last year.
They have dug out a specific and topical example of where old Remainer Starmer was consistently doing everything possible to keep the UK in the EU....and then helpfully pointed a friendly gossip monger to where to go looking.
Doh. It's hardly a revelation that Starmer wanted to stay in, or as close as possible to, the EU back in 2018, is it? I suspect that's well known, and he can't change that. What's important now is that he has accepted that Brexit has happened and any prospect of rejoining is very distant.
It smacks a bit of desperation to land a killer blow on Starmer, and will fail. Maybe the Tories, and Guido, should focus on what he's said/done since he became leader.
While true can you name a single politician that you believe tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I have long suspected that the PPE course contains a large module on "How to lie and not give way to grinning inanely because I can't believe people are buying my bullshit"
I am sure that won't be its name though. I will ask my son periodically if he has covered lying to the media in a convincing way yet.
It will probably get some fancy name like "Dissemination of non binary information"
That sounds rather woke
Well there is a pb first , I am being accused of being woke....my mind is boggled
There are plenty less woke than you.
blinks I genuinely have no idea whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. I just tend to say what I think rather than try and be part of some club
Compliment. I use don't use "woke" as an insult. The word was stolen and besmirched by the Right. I intend to wrestle it back.
Would you class soreness where you have just been jabbed with a needle a side-effect of the vaccine?
Even if that is the correct way to record it it seems tailor made for reporting misunderstands.
The old anti-vaxxers like Macron will love to tell everybody how 1 in 3 people get side-effects.
Not to support Manu - who I've gone right off for now - but just to report on my experience of the jab. It's well known that I haven't had it but my parents have (age) and so has my brother and partner (health workers). Oxford and Pfizer respectively. All 4 of them felt rough for 48 hours afterwards. Like a quick flu. I don't know how common that is but it's 100% for my sample.
Yeah my parents both had mild side effects. My mum has the Pfizer jab and she had a dead arm, headache and mild temperature for the next few days. My mum said my dad had a full blown case of man flu after his AZ jab.
About 15 per cent of Britons are refusing the coronavirus jab and uptake rates are lowest among ethnic minorities, Britain's vaccine tsar revealed today.
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Days to target 11 Yesterday's rate 469,016 Required rate 409,955
RR heading down. Would be helpful if you could add yesterday's numbers in brackets, at least for the RR. If it's too much hassle then don't worry about it.
Would you class soreness where you have just been jabbed with a needle a side-effect of the vaccine?
Even if that is the correct way to record it it seems tailor made for reporting misunderstands.
The old anti-vaxxers like Macron will love to tell everybody how 1 in 3 people get side-effects.
Not to support Manu - who I've gone right off for now - but just to report on my experience of the jab. It's well known that I haven't had it but my parents have (age) and so has my brother and partner (health workers). Oxford and Pfizer respectively. All 4 of them felt rough for 48 hours afterwards. Like a quick flu. I don't know how common that is but it's 100% for my sample.
My wife is a health worker. She and all her colleagues got jabbed in the last 2 weeks. All have good medical knowledge, no hypochondriacs.
2 of them had Pfizer - no adverse effects. About 8 had AZ - all reported at least mild adverse effects: headaches, mild flu-ey symptoms. One ill enough to be off work for 3 days.
Interesting. I have no side effects at all from AZ yet - but it is only 48 hours.
It is a big problem for Labour, as it was for Dems in the US for most of the last 4 years. And that worked out OK in the end without Biden wrapping himself in the Stars n' Bars.
Hmm. That's actually going to be slightly underwhelming I think.
Will end up being pretty much bang on the required rate – I was hoping for a bumper couple of days, given the widespread snowy weather forecast for next week.
Friday through to Sunday are the days where we will hopefully smash the run-rate. If the other 4 days of the week average around the 400k daily mark then we should make the Feb 15th target with 2 or 3 days to spare.
Also, does it REALLY matter if we miss the target by a day or two? No. The govt has - in this case - done a fantastic job.
When the target was announced I remember many on here (and many amongst my friends) scoffing with derision at the mere idea they'd achieve this. Now it looks certain they will do it, or get as near as dammit, so it doesn't matter.
The main thing is to KEEP IT UP so we can vax all priority groups - ie ME - by mid March. Then we are really set to have sex again, sorry, open up the country.
More than KEEP IT UP, need to go to infinity and beyond. 1 million a day capacity should be the aim.
As we did with testing.
Also, as with testing, I doubt we will reach 1m a day, but - like testing - 600-700,000 should be doable. 1% of the country every day, for day after day.
We've already had a 600k day, so I would really hope that we'll hit 1m some days.
Have we got to the bottom of why the final day each week is always the highest, yet?
I could understand Sat/Sun being lower. But why are some weekdays so much lower than others, consistently?
Deliveries perhaps a bit uncertain. You don't know until some point on Monday what have been delivered into the system. So you don't take delivery until some point Tuesday - and then can't start getting people through the doors and jabbing at warp speed until Wedneday?
I was wondering the other day whether we are seeing end-of-week reporting of vaccination drives. My GPO just did a 4 day push - nothing but vaccinations for 4 days.
You get a bunch of people lined up with appointments, and the vaccine ordered in. Do the drive and report the numbers at the end?
Unlikely imo.
All the checks were done online in my centre, so the stats collection is probably just a module on the server side.
Unless maybe household checks and care homes etc are on a batch system.
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Yep that sounds about right.
Also, we will need to factor in infection-conferred immunity too.
I think by Easter things could be looking rather positive.
What is the problem that negative rates is trying to solve?
It has the whiff of economic collapse around it. If the intention is to get me to spend my savings by taking a cut of them away from me every month then I think it's misguided. My natural inclination would be to conclude that the economy is in so much trouble that I should save more, but keep it in cash in a safe, or abroad, or somewhere other than a bank deposit anyway.
Agreed - what is the bext option here if not withdrawing the money?
Would you class soreness where you have just been jabbed with a needle a side-effect of the vaccine?
Even if that is the correct way to record it it seems tailor made for reporting misunderstands.
The old anti-vaxxers like Macron will love to tell everybody how 1 in 3 people get side-effects.
Not to support Manu - who I've gone right off for now - but just to report on my experience of the jab. It's well known that I haven't had it but my parents have (age) and so has my brother and partner (health workers). Oxford and Pfizer respectively. All 4 of them felt rough for 48 hours afterwards. Like a quick flu. I don't know how common that is but it's 100% for my sample.
My wife is a health worker. She and all her colleagues got jabbed in the last 2 weeks. All have good medical knowledge, no hypochondriacs.
2 of them had Pfizer - no adverse effects. About 8 had AZ - all reported at least mild adverse effects: headaches, mild flu-ey symptoms. One ill enough to be off work for 3 days.
Interesting. I have no side effects at all from AZ yet - but it is only 48 hours.
My Mum is due to be done in the next week. I haven't relayed this anecdotal info to her, as she is very nervous about anything medical, and of course it is still clearly better to be jabbed than not.
After yesterday’s PMQs theatre, Labour reluctantly admitted Starmer had called for UK membership of the European Medicines Agency post-Brexit. Guido can reveal Starmer went further than merely talking the talk – he voted for an amendment in 2018 that would have seen the UK bound into EMA membership. The amendment in question was New Clause 17 to the 2018 Trade Bill, which read:
“It shall be the objective of an appropriate authority to take all necessary steps to implement an international trade agreement, which enables the UK to fully participate after exit day in the European medicines regulatory network partnership between the European Union, European Economic Area and the European Medicines Agency.”
During the epic May-era parliamentary battle, Starmer, along with 240 Labour MPs, two sitting Tories and others – voted for this, trying to ensure the UK made it a negotiating objective “to participate in the European medicines regulatory network partnership between the EU, EEA and the European Medicines Agency”. At the time proclaiming this would ensure patients continue “to have access to high-quality, effective and safe pharmaceutical and medical products, fully aligned with the member states of the EU and EEA.” Keir might be be hoping we have forgotten, Guido is not convinced his famously forensic legal brain would have really forgotten...
This story feels very much like a #10 sting and something they were extremely bad at all of last year.
They have dug out a specific and topical example of where old Remainer Starmer was consistently doing everything possible to keep the UK in the EU....and then helpfully pointed a friendly gossip monger to where to go looking.
Doh. It's hardly a revelation that Starmer wanted to stay in, or as close as possible to, the EU back in 2018, is it? I suspect that's well known, and he can't change that. What's important now is that he has accepted that Brexit has happened and any prospect of rejoining is very distant.
It smacks a bit of desperation to land a killer blow on Starmer, and will fail. Maybe the Tories, and Guido, should focus on what he's said/done since he became leader.
Staying in the European Medicines Agency was the policy of the May government in 2018, of which Boris Johnson was a member.
After yesterday’s PMQs theatre, Labour reluctantly admitted Starmer had called for UK membership of the European Medicines Agency post-Brexit. Guido can reveal Starmer went further than merely talking the talk – he voted for an amendment in 2018 that would have seen the UK bound into EMA membership. The amendment in question was New Clause 17 to the 2018 Trade Bill, which read:
“It shall be the objective of an appropriate authority to take all necessary steps to implement an international trade agreement, which enables the UK to fully participate after exit day in the European medicines regulatory network partnership between the European Union, European Economic Area and the European Medicines Agency.”
During the epic May-era parliamentary battle, Starmer, along with 240 Labour MPs, two sitting Tories and others – voted for this, trying to ensure the UK made it a negotiating objective “to participate in the European medicines regulatory network partnership between the EU, EEA and the European Medicines Agency”. At the time proclaiming this would ensure patients continue “to have access to high-quality, effective and safe pharmaceutical and medical products, fully aligned with the member states of the EU and EEA.” Keir might be be hoping we have forgotten, Guido is not convinced his famously forensic legal brain would have really forgotten...
This story feels very much like a #10 sting and something they were extremely bad at all of last year.
They have dug out a specific and topical example of where old Remainer Starmer was consistently doing everything possible to keep the UK in the EU....and then helpfully pointed a friendly gossip monger to where to go looking.
Doh. It's hardly a revelation that Starmer wanted to stay in, or as close as possible to, the EU back in 2018, is it? I suspect that's well known, and he can't change that. What's important now is that he has accepted that Brexit has happened and any prospect of rejoining is very distant.
It smacks a bit of desperation to land a killer blow on Starmer, and will fail. Maybe the Tories, and Guido, should focus on what he's said/done since he became leader.
Because of course Labour would never mention anything Boris said or did before he became leader, would they? I think the fact that Starmer would have locked us into the EU's godawful vaccine non-roll-out might just be of some interest to the voters...
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Anything hotter than 17 degrees celsius for me is unbearable....just get sleepy all the time.
I don't mind it if it's natural heat, but there's something about artificial heat, like fierce air-conditioning, that's pretty unbearable. I only turn my heating on for a couple of weeks a year when it gets really cold.
The benefit of having good insulation and modern radiators is that you can run the flow temperature rather low. The boiler is then much more efficient and the heat is much less harsh.
If you have good insulation and decent airtightness, you usually won't need a boiler.
I know someone who has a newbuild (self-built) house which is fine for him and mrs, and has plumbed a 1.4kw electric water heater into his to now unneeded ufh piping system to run for a couple of hours to warm it up a little for when his adult kids come to stay.
BUT the challenge in modern houses is always the water heating not the space heating, as it is far higher demand.
There are interesting solutions - SUNAMP phase-change heat battery and PV solar is one - but it is now reasonably normal to split the two systems.
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Still not sure what happens to the 4.5m who say "Nope....". That's quite a sump for reinfection come the autumn.
Even the Tory Party needs to up their flag waving, Rule Britannia singing, game.
Gods forbid.
It may be one of those things where the image of the party's mean the actuality is pretty irrelevant, like how they say the Tories can get away with cutting defence and Labour can get away with messing with the NHS, but not vice versa? So people just feel like the Tories are more patriotic.
As long as Labour don't pick someone who aggravates the public's sense of their own patriotism, I think they are fine - I think people get a bit embarrased by overly effusive displays, but they also don't want to feel judged for their own feelings about their country.
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Anything hotter than 17 degrees celsius for me is unbearable....just get sleepy all the time.
I don't mind it if it's natural heat, but there's something about artificial heat, like fierce air-conditioning, that's pretty unbearable. I only turn my heating on for a couple of weeks a year when it gets really cold.
The benefit of having good insulation and modern radiators is that you can run the flow temperature rather low. The boiler is then much more efficient and the heat is much less harsh.
If you have good insulation and decent airtightness, you usually won't need a boiler.
I know someone who has a newbuild (self-built) house which is fine for him and mrs, and has plumbed a 1.4kw electric water heater into his to now unneeded ufh piping system to run for a couple of hours to warm it up a little for when his adult kids come to stay.
You will if its built by a large-scale commercial builder! My house will drop from around 20 deg C to 17 deg C overnight currently. However it will heat up quickly and solar gain is usually enough outside of the winter months.
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Yep that sounds about right.
Also, we will need to factor in infection-conferred immunity too.
I think by Easter things could be looking rather positive.
rest assured, a reason will be dreamed up why you have to stay in lockdown. Right now the favourites are
Mutant strains Poor take up of vaccines stubbornly high cases
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Still not sure what happens to the 4.5m who say "Nope....". That's quite a sump for reinfection come the autumn.
If we get to 85% vaccinated plus whomever had had COVID and not been vaccinated, we shall almost certainly be at herd immunity.
Days to target 11 Yesterday's rate 469,016 Required rate 409,955
RR heading down. Would be helpful if you could add yesterday's numbers in brackets, at least for the RR. If it's too much hassle then don't worry about it.
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Yep that sounds about right.
Also, we will need to factor in infection-conferred immunity too.
I think by Easter things could be looking rather positive.
rest assured, a reason will be dreamed up why you have to stay in lockdown. Right now the favourites are
Mutant strains Poor take up of vaccines stubbornly high cases
Something will come along.
Why? Why do you think the government wants us to be in lockdown? It's ruining the country's finances.
What possible benefit do you think they get out of this conspiracy?
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Still not sure what happens to the 4.5m who say "Nope....". That's quite a sump for reinfection come the autumn.
And of course the demographic of people most likely to suffer the worst with COVID are the ones refusing the vaccine.
I love the word 'problematic'. It's like 'inappropriate'
It's nicely understated.
It's silly, and you need strong language on occasion, but I sometimes enjoy the challenge of putting very strong opinions into diplomatic, 'proper' language.
I think the best I could come up with for noting something was 'insane', as put to me, was that it 'did not withstand reasonable analysis'.
I love the word 'problematic'. It's like 'inappropriate'
It's nicely understated.
Should it not be problematical? I always think people sound a bit stupid when they say it for that reason. Of course, if I'm wrong, the only stupid one is me.
What is the problem that negative rates is trying to solve?
It has the whiff of economic collapse around it. If the intention is to get me to spend my savings by taking a cut of them away from me every month then I think it's misguided. My natural inclination would be to conclude that the economy is in so much trouble that I should save more, but keep it in cash in a safe, or abroad, or somewhere other than a bank deposit anyway.
Agreed - what is the bext option here if not withdrawing the money?
Negative interest rates do some very wierd things, and cause unwanted behaviours such as runs on banks. People will start buying gold and just keeping cash at home, while borrowing every penny they can (it's almost free!) and investing in property, shares and other assets.
200k signatures to give Captain Tom a state funeral.
Isn't this all getting a bit much now?
Cashing in on Captain Tom: RedBubble website is slammed for 'shamelessly' selling 'tacky' pillows, duvet covers and even mini-skirts emblazoned with the late war hero's face
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Yep that sounds about right.
Also, we will need to factor in infection-conferred immunity too.
I think by Easter things could be looking rather positive.
rest assured, a reason will be dreamed up why you have to stay in lockdown. Right now the favourites are
Mutant strains Poor take up of vaccines stubbornly high cases
Something will come along.
I think you will be pleasantly surprised, and restrictions will begin to loosen from Easter.
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Yep that sounds about right.
Also, we will need to factor in infection-conferred immunity too.
I think by Easter things could be looking rather positive.
rest assured, a reason will be dreamed up why you have to stay in lockdown. Right now the favourites are
Mutant strains Poor take up of vaccines stubbornly high cases
Something will come along.
Why? Why do you think the government wants us to be in lockdown? It's ruining the country's finances.
What possible benefit do you think they get out of this conspiracy?
Why not ask Rishi Sunak? It was he who pointed out the scientists are moving the goalposts. It was he who pointed out the scientific bar seems to get higher and higher the closer we get to jumping it?
Just read the the BoE has kept interest rates at 0.1%.but as warned negative rates are coming. What effect will negative rates have ?
What SHOULD happen is that the economy should be restored to health through a construction boom, as their prices rise and people find it cheap to borrow to build them. That's what happened in the mid-1930s in the Midlands and southern England and it's why so much of our housing stock dates from those few years.
But that doesn't happen these days, because it is so difficult to build houses anywhere people might actually want to live.
So what happens instead is that people make money trading already existing houses and other assets (like cryptocurrencies and other shit) as their prices boom. Does nothing for bona fide economic activity, but makes speculators a fortune.
A lot of people don't trust new houses. Although I did buy a new house I would be wary of doing it again. I think my current view is that I'm supportive of less planning controls if its combined with better consumer protection in regards to buying said new homes.
The government has scrapped their proposed planning reforms haven't they?
I actually find them too well insulated.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
I'm the opposite. I wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't built to current building regulations. I'm spoilt by having the heating on pretty much all the time and yet still paying £45 a month for gas and electric.
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
Anything hotter than 17 degrees celsius for me is unbearable....just get sleepy all the time.
I don't mind it if it's natural heat, but there's something about artificial heat, like fierce air-conditioning, that's pretty unbearable. I only turn my heating on for a couple of weeks a year when it gets really cold.
The benefit of having good insulation and modern radiators is that you can run the flow temperature rather low. The boiler is then much more efficient and the heat is much less harsh.
If you have good insulation and decent airtightness, you usually won't need a boiler.
I know someone who has a newbuild (self-built) house which is fine for him and mrs, and has plumbed a 1.4kw electric water heater into his to now unneeded ufh piping system to run for a couple of hours to warm it up a little for when his adult kids come to stay.
You will if its built by a large-scale commercial builder! My house will drop from around 20 deg C to 17 deg C overnight currently. However it will heat up quickly and solar gain is usually enough outside of the winter months.
I live in a Victorian property, when I think 'cavity insulation' was considered to be a bowl of porridge in the morning. Those temperatures sound positively CARIBBEAN.
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Yep that sounds about right.
Also, we will need to factor in infection-conferred immunity too.
I think by Easter things could be looking rather positive.
rest assured, a reason will be dreamed up why you have to stay in lockdown. Right now the favourites are
Mutant strains Poor take up of vaccines stubbornly high cases
Something will come along.
Why? Why do you think the government wants us to be in lockdown? It's ruining the country's finances.
What possible benefit do you think they get out of this conspiracy?
I believe his answer in the past has been the general point about the corrupting influence of power, particularly as relates to SAGE.
I still say that even if SAGE want that, we're already seeing pushback from Sunak and definitely would others - the more things look 'ok' or the sort of thing you do get during flu season, the less politicians will take up such suggestions to keep us restricted even if they are made.
The goverment can do it because the public are in favour - that will not last.
Hmm. That's actually going to be slightly underwhelming I think.
Will end up being pretty much bang on the required rate – I was hoping for a bumper couple of days, given the widespread snowy weather forecast for next week.
Friday through to Sunday are the days where we will hopefully smash the run-rate. If the other 4 days of the week average around the 400k daily mark then we should make the Feb 15th target with 2 or 3 days to spare.
Also, does it REALLY matter if we miss the target by a day or two? No. The govt has - in this case - done a fantastic job.
When the target was announced I remember many on here (and many amongst my friends) scoffing with derision at the mere idea they'd achieve this. Now it looks certain they will do it, or get as near as dammit, so it doesn't matter.
The main thing is to KEEP IT UP so we can vax all priority groups - ie ME - by mid March. Then we are really set to have sex again, sorry, open up the country.
More than KEEP IT UP, need to go to infinity and beyond. 1 million a day capacity should be the aim.
As we did with testing.
Also, as with testing, I doubt we will reach 1m a day, but - like testing - 600-700,000 should be doable. 1% of the country every day, for day after day.
We did over 750k a couple of days last week. Frankly the way cases keep falling we're very close to the point where false positives becomes a very live discussion again.
We are a way off from that. Get to about 1000 cases per day and then yes, the false positive rate will be relevant. I'd like to think the numbers being tested will fall, but I wonder if some of it is workplace related, rather than symptomatic only?
Well, current positivity rate is already within the band of previous estimates for the false positive rate - clearly the current steep decline gives decent comfort that the real false positive number must be a bit lower, but we're on course for a positivity rate under 2% in the next 10 days or so, so it bears watching.
The false positive rate is a lot closer to 0.1% than to 2%.
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Yep that sounds about right.
Also, we will need to factor in infection-conferred immunity too.
I think by Easter things could be looking rather positive.
rest assured, a reason will be dreamed up why you have to stay in lockdown. Right now the favourites are
Mutant strains Poor take up of vaccines stubbornly high cases
Something will come along.
Why? Why do you think the government wants us to be in lockdown? It's ruining the country's finances.
What possible benefit do you think they get out of this conspiracy?
Why not ask Rishi Sunak? It was he who pointed out the scientists are moving the goalposts. It was he who pointed out the scientific bar seems to get higher and higher the closer we get to jumping it?
What possible reason could SAGE have for that?
That was the question you were asked. They are quibbling over whether to unlock this week or next week, not whether to throw away the key.
I really don't know what will happen on Northern Ireland. The Protocol arrangement doesn't look sustainable to me. I was surprised Johnson negotiated that arrangement. Will the UK try to soften Brexit and therefore reduce differences between UK/NI/EU? Possible in the medium to long term, but I doubt Northern Ireland will be the driver of that. United Ireland isn't a great option either. Return to a Pre-Troubles hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland even worse.
Apparently the current acceptance rate for vaccine offers is 85%, so 25.5m jabs to cover all in the 30m tiers 1-9 who want it.
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
Still not sure what happens to the 4.5m who say "Nope....". That's quite a sump for reinfection come the autumn.
For those who refuse to take a vaccine, they'll have to deal with that as the country opens up. They'll find it difficult to get on a plane, get a new job, or their kids enrolled in school.
How to deal with those who genuinely can't take one, that's more difficult. They'll need to be isolated until the virus has almost gone if they're in the high risk groups.
Would you class soreness where you have just been jabbed with a needle a side-effect of the vaccine?
Even if that is the correct way to record it it seems tailor made for reporting misunderstands.
The old anti-vaxxers like Macron will love to tell everybody how 1 in 3 people get side-effects.
Not to support Manu - who I've gone right off for now - but just to report on my experience of the jab. It's well known that I haven't had it but my parents have (age) and so has my brother and partner (health workers). Oxford and Pfizer respectively. All 4 of them felt rough for 48 hours afterwards. Like a quick flu. I don't know how common that is but it's 100% for my sample.
Yeah my parents both had mild side effects. My mum has the Pfizer jab and she had a dead arm, headache and mild temperature for the next few days. My mum said my dad had a full blown case of man flu after his AZ jab.
Not quite man flu in my case but limb-, back- and head-aches. No elevated temperature. Greatly relieved by woollie long-johns.
Comments
Nowhere's out of the woods yet, but it looks like we've picked a good time to be alive.
And don't forget, not long ago there was a fear that the Kent variant had added 0.7 to the R across the board. Clearly that is NOT how R works, it must be a proportioned increase.
The NHS has coped better than I feared it might when I was looking ahead in December.
The other factor in this is that we probably have a constant downwards pressure on the R value by virtue of the vaccination programme which is balancing out reduced adherence to lockdown over time. It's something we didn't have last time which is why the R value dropped to 0.5-0.6 but then slowly regressed to 1 as people decided lockdown was shit and they wanted to see their friends.
We're also contending with a mutation that has made the virus more transmissive. An R of 0.8 for this long is actually a huge achievement for us as a country.
Used to older houses and flats, which were designed to have air flows...
The sweet spot for me I think is buying somewhere around 5 years old. It has had time to settle and it's a physical property you can inspect, both the house and its surroundings.
The Labour leader told broadcasters on a visit to an NHS vaccination centre in Watford that the reports - which claimed he was led away from Johnson - were untrue and that he and the PM merely continued their discussion of issues raised during the weekly exchange.
The Labour leader used his visit to the Watford centre - which is set up in the corner of a large Asda supermarket - to suggest the government was in "chaos" over what to do about people arriving from abroad.
"I'm really worried about the chaos and confusion on the government's borders policy," Starmer said, adding: "We're in a race now - virus against vaccination. Let's secure our borders."
----
I remember when the tw@tterati were outraged that Boris went to some vaccination centres....Starmer seems to go to even more than him.
One thing not being picked up on, yesterday Team Red were complaining that the mass testing for Saffers COVID wasn't covering a wide enough area. Today, Team Red in Wales, have side oh no we aren't going to mass test for it, although we have some community transmission cases.
Does it matter? the powers that be have moved the goalposts, as Sunak has pointed out. We're on to cases now, even though those are not threatening for young people, and are meant to be much less threatening for older folk.
Yeah well, whatever keeps us locked down, I guess
Lessons learned and all that.
The problem is that because it worked, they (NHS management/medical staff) won't get any credit for this success.
To my mind, someone should be writing people up for gongs.
I could understand Sat/Sun being lower. But why are some weekdays so much lower than others, consistently?
Expect any election campaign to have a few more ready to drop on SKS's toe.
A CDC ensemble forecast predicts there could be more than 530,000 US Covid-19 deaths by Feb. 27 — about one fatality for every minute of the pandemic.
The CDC director said increasing data suggests the UK coronavirus variant may be deadlier than the original strand.
Its one of the two...or a mixture of both.
Anyway now the NHS been saved after all, the goalposts have moved and we're now obsessed with cases, which are the best way to keep us locked down at the moment, pending something else.
The upper echelons of the Civil Service are good at doing this with each other, so nominations of those further down the food chain really need to come from members of the public.
We need to find the ward sister who's managed people around the place for months without a day off, the food bank volunteer making sure people don't slip through the net, the person responsible for an innovation that led to better outcomes for patients...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9223723/Around-15-Britons-refusing-Covid-vaccine-uptake-lower-BAME-groups.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/04/concerns-raised-over-queue-jumping-as-phe-workers-given-covid-vaccine
You get a bunch of people lined up with appointments, and the vaccine ordered in. Do the drive and report the numbers at the end?
2 of them had Pfizer - no adverse effects. About 8 had AZ - all reported at least mild adverse effects: headaches, mild flu-ey symptoms. One ill enough to be off work for 3 days.
It smacks a bit of desperation to land a killer blow on Starmer, and will fail. Maybe the Tories, and Guido, should focus on what he's said/done since he became leader.
Now all over 50s have to be vaccinated for anything significant to happen!
April 07! hooray!
(First dose, all four nations)
Target 15,000,000
Thru 10,490,487
Remaining 4,509,513
Days to target 11
Yesterday's rate 469,016
Required rate 409,955
10.5m already done, and we're rapidly heading towards 3m a week, so decent shout of covering the at risks groups in 5 weeks time, c. March 10th 3 weeks ahead of Easter.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/health-55932884
How we are destroying young people's lives, as scientists and politicians obsess
It's nicely understated.
All the checks were done online in my centre, so the stats collection is probably just a module on the server side.
Unless maybe household checks and care homes etc are on a batch system.
Also, we will need to factor in infection-conferred immunity too.
I think by Easter things could be looking rather positive.
Isn't this all getting a bit much now?
I know someone who has a newbuild (self-built) house which is fine for him and mrs, and has plumbed a 1.4kw electric water heater into his to now unneeded ufh piping system to run for a couple of hours to warm it up a little for when his adult kids come to stay.
BUT the challenge in modern houses is always the water heating not the space heating, as it is far higher demand.
There are interesting solutions - SUNAMP phase-change heat battery and PV solar is one - but it is now reasonably normal to split the two systems.
There's only one person who would get a state funeral this year, and she's very much locked up in Windsor not seeing anyone.
"These atrocities shock the conscience and must be met with serious consequences," a spokesperson said.
A UK government minister, Nigel Adams, said in parliament on Thursday that the report showed "clearly evil acts".
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55930344
It may be one of those things where the image of the party's mean the actuality is pretty irrelevant, like how they say the Tories can get away with cutting defence and Labour can get away with messing with the NHS, but not vice versa? So people just feel like the Tories are more patriotic.
As long as Labour don't pick someone who aggravates the public's sense of their own patriotism, I think they are fine - I think people get a bit embarrased by overly effusive displays, but they also don't want to feel judged for their own feelings about their country.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55934656
Who buys anything from Wish...as if ebay doesn't have enough fake tat on it, why would you go near that site which is 99.9% tat or fake tat.
Mutant strains
Poor take up of vaccines
stubbornly high cases
Something will come along.
Why do you think the government wants us to be in lockdown? It's ruining the country's finances.
What possible benefit do you think they get out of this conspiracy?
I think the best I could come up with for noting something was 'insane', as put to me, was that it 'did not withstand reasonable analysis'.
(First dose, all four nations)
Target 15,000,000
Thru 10,490,487
Remaining 4,509,513
Days to target 11
Yesterday's rate 469,016
Required rate 409,955 ( ↓ from 414,877 yesterday)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9223541/Website-slammed-selling-tacky-Captain-Tom-merchandise.html
What possible reason could SAGE have for that?
I still say that even if SAGE want that, we're already seeing pushback from Sunak and definitely would others - the more things look 'ok' or the sort of thing you do get during flu season, the less politicians will take up such suggestions to keep us restricted even if they are made.
The goverment can do it because the public are in favour - that will not last.
https://twitter.com/CraigMurrayOrg/status/1356699711890145284?s=20
Almost as amusing is one of the replies from Ms. Adwoa Oni, Newark, CA, USA, via Olgino, St Petersburg.
https://twitter.com/adwoaoni/status/1356863828194070530?s=20
How to deal with those who genuinely can't take one, that's more difficult. They'll need to be isolated until the virus has almost gone if they're in the high risk groups.