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May 6th – the return of real elections and lots of data for political nerds to get stuck into – poli

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  • Need to be a bit careful, a lot of the criticism from medical professions was limited to specifically the dosing regime for Pfizer, not AZN.
  • AlistairMAlistairM Posts: 2,005

    Tests levelling off....


    As they should - with far fewer people getting ill, you'd hope the tests for those who think they might have it will drop too.
    I noticed that some days recently the tests completed was more than the PCR testing capacity. Clearly there are other forms of testing involved.

    My wife is a part-time teacher and up until last week she hadn't been into school physically this year. Last week she did go in and she needed to do a lateral flow test the night before she went in and then again a couple of days after she was last in. She had to submit the results online. I suspect a large amount of the testing numbers could be coming from this - testing to ensure safety rather than because of symptoms.
  • TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Floater said:
    Where I am, ice cream vans often do drug dealing as a side line, with the cold stuff just for show.
    Weren't they always just a front for something else? The ice-cream wars, etc?

    And "where you are"? What, quaint Leicestershire villages?
    The crime rate in Sandford is epic.
    Not another chicken gone missing?
    I thought it was a Swan?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koU01Ah_MrY
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,126

    Need to be a bit careful, a lot of the criticism from medical professions was limited to specifically the dosing regime for Pfizer, not AZN.

    Fair point - and distinction needs to be made around the nature of the criticism, as not all was the same.
  • Stocky said:

    Foxy said:

    Floater said:
    Where I am, ice cream vans often do drug dealing as a side line, with the cold stuff just for show.
    In Rutland??
    A cesspit of vice and degeneracy, as the suggestive name suggests.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992
    FF43 said:

    TOPPING said:

    Leon said:
    I am not 100% sure it has surged, while there are well-documented cases of firms (and liquidity) exiting the market to the EU.

    But I don't think the City is going to go anywhere soon as there is plenty of creativity there which will come to the fore.
    The decision has been made for financial services in the UK. The previous business model that included London as the financial centre for Europe no longer applies, so no point in flogging a dead horse. London will continue as a domestically significant financial centre, which also offers certain products at the global level, so we should focus on those. I doubt the City benefits from Brexit, but it is all moot now.
    Yep. There has been literally liquidity flight, along with the dependent firms and that is gone. Until we negotiate something different. But London is always good at innovation so we shall see I'm sure some interesting products.
  • AlistairM said:

    Tests levelling off....


    As they should - with far fewer people getting ill, you'd hope the tests for those who think they might have it will drop too.
    I noticed that some days recently the tests completed was more than the PCR testing capacity. Clearly there are other forms of testing involved.

    My wife is a part-time teacher and up until last week she hadn't been into school physically this year. Last week she did go in and she needed to do a lateral flow test the night before she went in and then again a couple of days after she was last in. She had to submit the results online. I suspect a large amount of the testing numbers could be coming from this - testing to ensure safety rather than because of symptoms.
    The same is true at my school, for those who are working there rather than from home. Tested twice a week I think.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,933

    Need to be a bit careful, a lot of the criticism from medical professions was limited to specifically the dosing regime for Pfizer, not AZN.

    But the study trailed in the Times suggested the one-dose strategy for Pfizer was paying off.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992

    AlistairM said:

    Tests levelling off....


    As they should - with far fewer people getting ill, you'd hope the tests for those who think they might have it will drop too.
    I noticed that some days recently the tests completed was more than the PCR testing capacity. Clearly there are other forms of testing involved.

    My wife is a part-time teacher and up until last week she hadn't been into school physically this year. Last week she did go in and she needed to do a lateral flow test the night before she went in and then again a couple of days after she was last in. She had to submit the results online. I suspect a large amount of the testing numbers could be coming from this - testing to ensure safety rather than because of symptoms.
    The same is true at my school, for those who are working there rather than from home. Tested twice a week I think.
    Just out of interest did you get the vaccine because you were a teacher as in a policy decision or (don't tell me if it's no one's business) because you qualify as one of the priority groups?
  • Foxy said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Floater said:
    Where I am, ice cream vans often do drug dealing as a side line, with the cold stuff just for show.
    Weren't they always just a front for something else? The ice-cream wars, etc?

    And "where you are"? What, quaint Leicestershire villages?
    So told to me by a patient in CID. Ice cream van businesses are also good for money laundering too apparently.

    I am not sure if you are aware of "County Lines" but drug dealing is quite a thing in market towns.
    So you're suggesting that ice cream vans are used to working with snow?
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,462

    RobD said:

    May 6th. My birthday. Can I hope for a nice present in the evening of a collapse in the Tory vote, I wonder.

    Doesn't look likely, unfortunately.
    According to Twitter, national polling is basically the same now as in 2016, but 2017 was a bumper crop for the Tories. So likely to be a mixed bag.
    Greens & Independent Coalition working g as hard as it can do...... Facebook etc..... round here.
  • TOPPING said:

    AlistairM said:

    Tests levelling off....


    As they should - with far fewer people getting ill, you'd hope the tests for those who think they might have it will drop too.
    I noticed that some days recently the tests completed was more than the PCR testing capacity. Clearly there are other forms of testing involved.

    My wife is a part-time teacher and up until last week she hadn't been into school physically this year. Last week she did go in and she needed to do a lateral flow test the night before she went in and then again a couple of days after she was last in. She had to submit the results online. I suspect a large amount of the testing numbers could be coming from this - testing to ensure safety rather than because of symptoms.
    The same is true at my school, for those who are working there rather than from home. Tested twice a week I think.
    Just out of interest did you get the vaccine because you were a teacher as in a policy decision or (don't tell me if it's no one's business) because you qualify as one of the priority groups?
    Priority group: I've been on a three year course of immunotherapy for cancer that only finished in the summer, so I count as "clinically extremely vulnerable".
  • This looks a bit needy.

    That's really, really embarrassing for them.

    Why would you do that?
  • Stocky said:

    Alistair said:

    deeply disappointing Scotland vaccine numbers. May have to redo my projection of 1.2million vaccinations per day in Scotland by mid April.

    Why are they disappointing? Inefficiencies or because a high percentage of Scots are declining?
    That's what we call in North Britain a wee bit o' pawky humour.
    I actually heard that phrase used for the first time ever outside of PB yesterday.

    Well, used is the wrong word. I was listening to a reading of Very Good Jeeves and the Gentleman's Gentleman referred to the poet Burns as writing 'in the North British dialect'. Quite took me by surprise.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486

    Tests levelling off....


    All key metrics dropping like a stone.
  • Maybe he doesn't want to interrupt criminal proceedings?
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486
    AlistairM said:

    1st dose vaccinations now more than 13M. 411K across the UK yesterday, it was 375K last week. Most of that increase has come from Scotland.


    Absolutely brilliant shift north of the Tweed yesterday.

    Kudos.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,410

    Foxy said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Floater said:
    Where I am, ice cream vans often do drug dealing as a side line, with the cold stuff just for show.
    Weren't they always just a front for something else? The ice-cream wars, etc?

    And "where you are"? What, quaint Leicestershire villages?
    So told to me by a patient in CID. Ice cream van businesses are also good for money laundering too apparently.

    I am not sure if you are aware of "County Lines" but drug dealing is quite a thing in market towns.
    There is certainly a suspicion round this way that ice cream vans aren't all they seem (or, rather, are doing exactly what you might expect). The story isn't restricted to Leicestershire.

    I was going to post a similar response but was a bit slow.
    There was a Peter Kay show about that. Mr. Softy and his XXX van.
    The sex shop in Bolton was named "Softy's Hard Stuff" in honour. Better than any statue.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992

    TOPPING said:

    AlistairM said:

    Tests levelling off....


    As they should - with far fewer people getting ill, you'd hope the tests for those who think they might have it will drop too.
    I noticed that some days recently the tests completed was more than the PCR testing capacity. Clearly there are other forms of testing involved.

    My wife is a part-time teacher and up until last week she hadn't been into school physically this year. Last week she did go in and she needed to do a lateral flow test the night before she went in and then again a couple of days after she was last in. She had to submit the results online. I suspect a large amount of the testing numbers could be coming from this - testing to ensure safety rather than because of symptoms.
    The same is true at my school, for those who are working there rather than from home. Tested twice a week I think.
    Just out of interest did you get the vaccine because you were a teacher as in a policy decision or (don't tell me if it's no one's business) because you qualify as one of the priority groups?
    Priority group: I've been on a three year course of immunotherapy for cancer that only finished in the summer, so I count as "clinically extremely vulnerable".
    gotit thanks - hope the treatment went and is going well.
  • Allow me, a strange stranger from a strange(r) land, to rise in defense of the Great British Ice Cream Van!

    In particular, like how they stick a stick of chocolate into your soft ice cream cone!!
  • This looks a bit needy.

    That's really, really embarrassing for them.

    Why would you do that?
    I think it is the consequence of Netanyahu cosying up to the Trump and the GOP for decades.

    Also I think the Israelis are bricking it over this.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/icc-war-crimes-israel-gaza-palestinian-b1798833.html
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992

    Allow me, a strange stranger from a strange(r) land, to rise in defense of the Great British Ice Cream Van!

    In particular, like how they stick a stick of chocolate into your soft ice cream cone!!

    And by the same token can I mark my appreciation, in one fine restaurant not a million miles from Lexington, KY, of a first course of "potato skins" which, it turned out when they arrived, were halved potatoes with all the stuff piled on top. Nine potatoes = 18 "potato skins". As a first course.

    Fantastic!
  • TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    AlistairM said:

    Tests levelling off....


    As they should - with far fewer people getting ill, you'd hope the tests for those who think they might have it will drop too.
    I noticed that some days recently the tests completed was more than the PCR testing capacity. Clearly there are other forms of testing involved.

    My wife is a part-time teacher and up until last week she hadn't been into school physically this year. Last week she did go in and she needed to do a lateral flow test the night before she went in and then again a couple of days after she was last in. She had to submit the results online. I suspect a large amount of the testing numbers could be coming from this - testing to ensure safety rather than because of symptoms.
    The same is true at my school, for those who are working there rather than from home. Tested twice a week I think.
    Just out of interest did you get the vaccine because you were a teacher as in a policy decision or (don't tell me if it's no one's business) because you qualify as one of the priority groups?
    Priority group: I've been on a three year course of immunotherapy for cancer that only finished in the summer, so I count as "clinically extremely vulnerable".
    gotit thanks - hope the treatment went and is going well.
    Thanks. The last lot of treatment was back in the summer, and I had a test last week that was still clear, so I mostly had a good week (apart from an infection picked up during the test - you do NOT want to know what the test involved...)
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Scottish case fall seems to be decelerating.

    Less than optimal.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,600
    "The UK leaving says nothing about the success or failure of the European project."

    However, vaccines do.....
  • Its absolutely absurd to offer equivalence to Aus and NZ but not the UK.

    Of course equivalence should be the sane, rational solution but if they don't desire to be sane and rational we can't make them be.

    We can however invoke Article 16.
    But you have to admit that refusing to talk about SPS alignment looks bloody stupid from the UK side. This really is a classic case of two wrongs not making a right.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,462

    Foxy said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Floater said:
    Where I am, ice cream vans often do drug dealing as a side line, with the cold stuff just for show.
    Weren't they always just a front for something else? The ice-cream wars, etc?

    And "where you are"? What, quaint Leicestershire villages?
    So told to me by a patient in CID. Ice cream van businesses are also good for money laundering too apparently.

    I am not sure if you are aware of "County Lines" but drug dealing is quite a thing in market towns.
    So you're suggesting that ice cream vans are used to working with snow?
    One of my early vacation jobs was selling candy floss. Now, I wonder......
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    AlistairM said:

    Tests levelling off....


    As they should - with far fewer people getting ill, you'd hope the tests for those who think they might have it will drop too.
    I noticed that some days recently the tests completed was more than the PCR testing capacity. Clearly there are other forms of testing involved.

    My wife is a part-time teacher and up until last week she hadn't been into school physically this year. Last week she did go in and she needed to do a lateral flow test the night before she went in and then again a couple of days after she was last in. She had to submit the results online. I suspect a large amount of the testing numbers could be coming from this - testing to ensure safety rather than because of symptoms.
    The same is true at my school, for those who are working there rather than from home. Tested twice a week I think.
    Just out of interest did you get the vaccine because you were a teacher as in a policy decision or (don't tell me if it's no one's business) because you qualify as one of the priority groups?
    Priority group: I've been on a three year course of immunotherapy for cancer that only finished in the summer, so I count as "clinically extremely vulnerable".
    gotit thanks - hope the treatment went and is going well.
    Thanks. The last lot of treatment was back in the summer, and I had a test last week that was still clear, so I mostly had a good week (apart from an infection picked up during the test - you do NOT want to know what the test involved...)
    Yurgh no I probably don't!

    May you continue to be clear.
  • Allow me, a strange stranger from a strange(r) land, to rise in defense of the Great British Ice Cream Van!

    In particular, like how they stick a stick of chocolate into your soft ice cream cone!!

    The 99 is indeed one of the wonders of these isles.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,933
    Hm, last time I checked E comes before W.

    ;)
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,126

    Stocky said:

    Foxy said:

    Floater said:
    Where I am, ice cream vans often do drug dealing as a side line, with the cold stuff just for show.
    In Rutland??
    A cesspit of vice and degeneracy, as the suggestive name suggests.
    They really went downhill after splitting off from the old county of Fornicationshire.
  • JonathanDJonathanD Posts: 2,400
    Brom said:

    Kudos to the JCVI, Hancock and even Blair for pushing the 8-12 week policy.

    It's not only the EU who got this wrong but also the BMA and a few twitter celeb doctors like Rachel Clarke who are clearly not experts in the field of vaccinations. I'm glad for all our sakes our approach has been vindicated.

    What will be most intriguing is if we go for a mixed dose regime of say AZ and then Pfizer/. Moderna / Novavax. Completely against manufacturer guidelines but scientifically thought to give better immunity.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,879
    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Floater said:
    Where I am, ice cream vans often do drug dealing as a side line, with the cold stuff just for show.
    Weren't they always just a front for something else? The ice-cream wars, etc?

    And "where you are"? What, quaint Leicestershire villages?
    So told to me by a patient in CID. Ice cream van businesses are also good for money laundering too apparently.

    I am not sure if you are aware of "County Lines" but drug dealing is quite a thing in market towns.
    There is certainly a suspicion round this way that ice cream vans aren't all they seem (or, rather, are doing exactly what you might expect). The story isn't restricted to Leicestershire.

    I was going to post a similar response but was a bit slow.
    There was a Peter Kay show about that. Mr. Softy and his XXX van.
    The sex shop in Bolton was named "Softy's Hard Stuff" in honour. Better than any statue.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyObSLLgMck

    11:24 on refers.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,879

    AlistairM said:

    1st dose vaccinations now more than 13M. 411K across the UK yesterday, it was 375K last week. Most of that increase has come from Scotland.


    Absolutely brilliant shift north of the Tweed yesterday.

    Kudos.
    I'm actually surprised given the snow which clogged up a fair bit of the SE quarter of the country.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,933
    JonathanD said:

    Brom said:

    Kudos to the JCVI, Hancock and even Blair for pushing the 8-12 week policy.

    It's not only the EU who got this wrong but also the BMA and a few twitter celeb doctors like Rachel Clarke who are clearly not experts in the field of vaccinations. I'm glad for all our sakes our approach has been vindicated.

    What will be most intriguing is if we go for a mixed dose regime of say AZ and then Pfizer/. Moderna / Novavax. Completely against manufacturer guidelines but scientifically thought to give better immunity.
    Given that the guidelines were written based on a single trial that isn't surprising. It doesn't automatically make it a bad choice.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,126

    Allow me, a strange stranger from a strange(r) land, to rise in defense of the Great British Ice Cream Van!

    In particular, like how they stick a stick of chocolate into your soft ice cream cone!!

    They don't do that in the USA?! I always suspected you were barbarians.
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821
    edited February 2021
    TOPPING said:

    Yep. There has been literally liquidity flight, along with the dependent firms and that is gone. Until we negotiate something different. But London is always good at innovation so we shall see I'm sure some interesting products.

    On the previous thread I mentioned Lord Mandelson's webinar organised by DLA Piper yesterday. He covered the point about regulation of financial services, and was quite nuanced about it. He said that on balance he agreed with the government that a financial centre as important as ours should not be a 'rule-taker' from the EU, and that this would inevitably lead to some loss of EU-sourced business, but he was moderately positive on the possibility of this being compensated for by new opportunities (in Fintech etc). However, this would depend on us getting the regulatory regime right; we needed to be flexible and fast-moving, but should be very careful not to trash the UK's reputation by slapdash regulation. He was also concerned about other things the government is doing which might discourage financial organisations and small, entrepreneurial companies from setting up here.

    In other words, there are opportunities in our new non-EU status, but he was concerned that the government wasn't taking a sufficiently joined-up approach to make the most of them.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,600
    I said we would be doing well if we got down to averaging 700 deaths a day by the end of this week. Currently we are on 788. In with a chance.....
  • Its absolutely absurd to offer equivalence to Aus and NZ but not the UK.

    Of course equivalence should be the sane, rational solution but if they don't desire to be sane and rational we can't make them be.

    We can however invoke Article 16.
    But you have to admit that refusing to talk about SPS alignment looks bloody stupid from the UK side. This really is a classic case of two wrongs not making a right.
    No I don't admit that unless SPS alignment is required for equivalence?

    Do Aus and NZ have SPS alignment? If not and they still have equivalence then why is it necessary for the UK to be aligned?

    Equivalence should be an alternative to alignment.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,879
    edited February 2021
    Alistair said:

    Scottish case fall seems to be decelerating.

    Less than optimal.

    Is that because of negative exponent? Could still be linear if plotted log-linear.

    Edit: sorry, I mean exponent less than unity.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486
    It will be quite close, but I think the government should beat the target by approx 300k, assuming no more acceleration. It might reach 15 million by Sunday without requiring the final counting day on Monday.

    If it has a bumper weekend, it could smash the target.
  • kle4 said:

    Allow me, a strange stranger from a strange(r) land, to rise in defense of the Great British Ice Cream Van!

    In particular, like how they stick a stick of chocolate into your soft ice cream cone!!

    They don't do that in the USA?! I always suspected you were barbarians.
    I'm not sure the Cadbury's Flake has made it across the Atlantic.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208
    @CarlottaVance et al: Who is this David Keating you keep retweeting and why do you do it?
  • TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    fpt

    TOPPING said:

    Boris Johnson will lead a Downing Street press conference on coronavirus on Wednesday afternoon.

    FFS what for? what's the point?
    He can wibble on about holibobs.

    That seems to be today's media fixation.
    It is perfectly valid to ask about holidays at home and abroad.

    Most people are not like the PB Home Bodies and have families who are desperate to get away, whether that be within the UK or abroad.

    Nor do I accept the idea that the government is unable to model the situation in July – they will be doing exactly that.

    So the press will ask questions. As they should.
    PB older, (white?), male, well-off, large house-living, big garden or grounds-owning, non-tower block-living, best vintage of Ch. l'Evangile-discussing contributors say:

    Why does everyone keep banging on about holidays? Being at home is perfectly agreeable.
    And yet for many of those tower block living, non-wine swilling folks you talk of, holiday means swapping living in a set of small rooms on the 17th floor of a tower block in Birmingham for a few hours crammed into a plane and then 2 weeks living in a small room in a tower block in Spain.

    If you are really concerned about their well being then stop making cheap points about holidays and start making serious points about their access to parks and the countryside without being hassled by the authorities.
    Wow. The disdain you have for those tower block living folk really oozes out of you.

    So you prescribe long, bracing walks in the countryside instead? I'm sure they are all ears.
    No my disdain is reserved for you and your faux concern for those living in tower blocks when you really don't give a sh*t about them except to score political points.
    Richard you seem angry (plus ça change - that's french btw).

    You were sneering at those people who want to swap "a set of small rooms in Birmingham for a small room in Spain when they should really be going out for long walks in the country." I paraphase.

    I hope it makes you feel better to be so dismissive of such people.
    No I was sneering at you and your attitude. You really do need to learn the difference. Otherwise all my digs at you become pointless.

    And why should I be angry? I have 3 acres of the most glorious snow filled land to wander in. I am loving lockdown.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,933
    FF43 said:

    @CarlottaVance et al: Who is this David Keating you keep retweeting and why do you do it?

    The EU's chief apologist on twitter it seems.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,600

    TOPPING said:

    Yep. There has been literally liquidity flight, along with the dependent firms and that is gone. Until we negotiate something different. But London is always good at innovation so we shall see I'm sure some interesting products.

    On the previous thread I mentioned Lord Mandelson's webinar organised by DLA Piper yesterday. He covered the point about regulation of financial services, and was quite nuanced about it. He said that on balance he agreed with the government that a financial centre as important as ours should not be a 'rule-taker' from the EU, and that this would inevitably lead to some loss of EU-sourced business, but he was moderately positive on the possibility of this being compensated for by new opportunities (in Fintech etc). However, this would depend on us getting the regulatory regime right; we needed to be flexible and fast-moving, but should be very careful not to trash the UK's reputation by slapdash regulation. He was also concerned about other things the government is doing which might discourage financial organisations and small, entrepreneurial companies from setting up here.

    In other words, there are opportunities in our new non-EU status, but he was concerned that the government wasn't taking a sufficiently joined-up approach to make the most of them.
    Mandelson saying we should be, er, nimble? Surely not.....
  • Hurrah for Mark Drakeford.

    Labour should consider replacing Starmer with Drakeford.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992

    On the previous thread I mentioned Lord Mandelson's webinar organised by DLA Piper yesterday. He covered the point about regulation of financial services, and was quite nuanced about it. He said that on balance he agreed with the government that a financial centre as important as ours should not be a 'rule-taker' from the EU, and that this would inevitably lead to some loss of EU-sourced business, but he was moderately positive on the possibility of this being compensated for by new opportunities (in Fintech etc). However, this would depend on us getting the regulatory regime right; we needed to be flexible and fast-moving, but should be very careful not to trash the UK's reputation by slapdash regulation. He was also concerned about other things the government is doing which might discourage financial organisations and small, entrepreneurial companies from setting up here.

    In other words, there are opportunities in our new non-EU status, but he was concerned that the government wasn't taking a sufficiently joined-up approach to make the most of them.

    The City is good at innovation left to its own devices. I'm sure the FCA will take some time out to determine its position post Brexit and "free" from eg. MiFID etc.

    Or this could just a false dawn and the FCA will end up being that rule taker. But looking at what's happened in EU and then Swiss stocks perhaps not.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486
    RobD said:

    Hm, last time I checked E comes before W.

    ;)
    They use rate of increase as the tiebreaker in these scenarios (it's the equivalent of goal difference). :)
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,222

    I said we would be doing well if we got down to averaging 700 deaths a day by the end of this week. Currently we are on 788. In with a chance.....

    Below (data: NHS England only) is a good illustration of how deaths are falling and that the April peak was never reached:

    https://twitter.com/cricketwyvern/status/1358778749576183808/photo/1
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,879

    Hurrah for Mark Drakeford.

    Labour should consider replacing Starmer with Drakeford.
    Don't you mean replacing Mr Johnson with Mr Drakeford? But jolly good show anyway.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486
    Carnyx said:

    AlistairM said:

    1st dose vaccinations now more than 13M. 411K across the UK yesterday, it was 375K last week. Most of that increase has come from Scotland.


    Absolutely brilliant shift north of the Tweed yesterday.

    Kudos.
    I'm actually surprised given the snow which clogged up a fair bit of the SE quarter of the country.
    Yes, it is doubly impressive given the weather.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,462

    Stocky said:

    Alistair said:

    deeply disappointing Scotland vaccine numbers. May have to redo my projection of 1.2million vaccinations per day in Scotland by mid April.

    Why are they disappointing? Inefficiencies or because a high percentage of Scots are declining?
    That's what we call in North Britain a wee bit o' pawky humour.
    I actually heard that phrase used for the first time ever outside of PB yesterday.

    Well, used is the wrong word. I was listening to a reading of Very Good Jeeves and the Gentleman's Gentleman referred to the poet Burns as writing 'in the North British dialect'. Quite took me by surprise.
    Until 1948 the Pharmaceutical Society had a 'North British' office, in Edinburgh. In then became the Scottish department. It was one of the sites for the Society's Qualifying Examination practical exams.
  • Scott_xP said:
    Did Paddy Ashdown ever eat his hat?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,126
    RobD said:

    Hm, last time I checked E comes before W.

    ;)
    Actually when E and W are together they are simply counted as one under E. See the ECB.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    fpt

    TOPPING said:

    Boris Johnson will lead a Downing Street press conference on coronavirus on Wednesday afternoon.

    FFS what for? what's the point?
    He can wibble on about holibobs.

    That seems to be today's media fixation.
    It is perfectly valid to ask about holidays at home and abroad.

    Most people are not like the PB Home Bodies and have families who are desperate to get away, whether that be within the UK or abroad.

    Nor do I accept the idea that the government is unable to model the situation in July – they will be doing exactly that.

    So the press will ask questions. As they should.
    PB older, (white?), male, well-off, large house-living, big garden or grounds-owning, non-tower block-living, best vintage of Ch. l'Evangile-discussing contributors say:

    Why does everyone keep banging on about holidays? Being at home is perfectly agreeable.
    And yet for many of those tower block living, non-wine swilling folks you talk of, holiday means swapping living in a set of small rooms on the 17th floor of a tower block in Birmingham for a few hours crammed into a plane and then 2 weeks living in a small room in a tower block in Spain.

    If you are really concerned about their well being then stop making cheap points about holidays and start making serious points about their access to parks and the countryside without being hassled by the authorities.
    Wow. The disdain you have for those tower block living folk really oozes out of you.

    So you prescribe long, bracing walks in the countryside instead? I'm sure they are all ears.
    No my disdain is reserved for you and your faux concern for those living in tower blocks when you really don't give a sh*t about them except to score political points.
    Richard you seem angry (plus ça change - that's french btw).

    You were sneering at those people who want to swap "a set of small rooms in Birmingham for a small room in Spain when they should really be going out for long walks in the country." I paraphase.

    I hope it makes you feel better to be so dismissive of such people.
    No I was sneering at you and your attitude. You really do need to learn the difference. Otherwise all my digs at you become pointless.

    And why should I be angry? I have 3 acres of the most glorious snow filled land to wander in. I am loving lockdown.
    Well first of all I'm glad you are on the way to realising that your posts are pointless. Every journey of a thousand miles, etc.

    Which brings me back to my original point about lockdown. If only all those poor people in tower blocks in Birmingham also had three acres (chortle) they wouldn't have to worry about going to ghastly hotels in Spain. Is your position.

    Well I hope you enjoy your three acres as much as you are able.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,754
    Israel closest ally of the US? Surely some mistake, aren't we supposed to be special?
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164

    Foxy said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Floater said:
    Where I am, ice cream vans often do drug dealing as a side line, with the cold stuff just for show.
    Weren't they always just a front for something else? The ice-cream wars, etc?

    And "where you are"? What, quaint Leicestershire villages?
    So told to me by a patient in CID. Ice cream van businesses are also good for money laundering too apparently.

    I am not sure if you are aware of "County Lines" but drug dealing is quite a thing in market towns.
    So you are telling me that "Rum and Raisin" is not the most intoxicating thing on the menu?
    Apparently the snow cones give quite the head rush! :smiley:
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,879

    Stocky said:

    Alistair said:

    deeply disappointing Scotland vaccine numbers. May have to redo my projection of 1.2million vaccinations per day in Scotland by mid April.

    Why are they disappointing? Inefficiencies or because a high percentage of Scots are declining?
    That's what we call in North Britain a wee bit o' pawky humour.
    I actually heard that phrase used for the first time ever outside of PB yesterday.

    Well, used is the wrong word. I was listening to a reading of Very Good Jeeves and the Gentleman's Gentleman referred to the poet Burns as writing 'in the North British dialect'. Quite took me by surprise.
    Until 1948 the Pharmaceutical Society had a 'North British' office, in Edinburgh. In then became the Scottish department. It was one of the sites for the Society's Qualifying Examination practical exams.
    There was a fad in the early 19th century for using the expressions North and South Britain. Hence North British Railway, postal addresses such as Edinburegh N.B., and so on, and this is doubtless another example. I believe it dfied out when for some reason the Southern British didn't reciprocate.
  • Scott_xP said:
    Did Paddy Ashdown ever eat his hat?
    He ate a cake shaped like a hat.
  • Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has claimed it's 'perfectly possible' the UK will be giving coronavirus vaccines to children by the end of the year.

    Get those little plague spreaders jabbed....
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,754

    Scott_xP said:
    Did Paddy Ashdown ever eat his hat?
    I think he claimed not to own one, so he had an edible one commissioned.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208
    RobD said:

    FF43 said:

    @CarlottaVance et al: Who is this David Keating you keep retweeting and why do you do it?

    The EU's chief apologist on twitter it seems.
    But why? If Angela Merkel or Ursula Von Der Leyen is doing the tweeting, maybe fair enough. I don't keep retweeting one of the stupider apologists for Brexit...
  • Scott_xP said:
    How many £10k fines have been issued and upheld? Piers Corbyn appealed against his and I seemed to remember he got basically let off for "time served" in the back of a paddy wagon.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,117

    Hurrah for Mark Drakeford.

    Labour should consider replacing Starmer with Drakeford.
    Drakeford will likely lose seats in Wales in May even if Starmer gains them in the local elections, London and Scotland
  • Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has claimed it's 'perfectly possible' the UK will be giving coronavirus vaccines to children by the end of the year.

    Get those little plague spreaders jabbed....

    Kids get the flu vaccine annually anyway.

    Should be nice and simple to give an approved Covid vaccine to kids in a school-based rollout.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,357
    UK cases by specimen date

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  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,462
    edited February 2021

    Scott_xP said:
    Did Paddy Ashdown ever eat his hat?
    He got a marzipan or similar one from somewhere IIRC. And now I'm off for an evening's reading, TV and conversation with Mrs C. Plus I expect phone calls with family to ensure that we're well.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992

    Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has claimed it's 'perfectly possible' the UK will be giving coronavirus vaccines to children by the end of the year.

    Get those little plague spreaders jabbed....

    Not that you are a goer on holidays type but I wonder how vaccine passports will work for families with children. Because this summer the children presumably won't have been jabbed.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,357
    UK cases by specimen date and scaled to 100k population

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  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,600

    Allow me, a strange stranger from a strange(r) land, to rise in defense of the Great British Ice Cream Van!

    In particular, like how they stick a stick of chocolate into your soft ice cream cone!!

    The 99 is indeed one of the wonders of these isles.
    Although, the 98 things they stuck in it before getting it right with the chocolate flake is quite a list.

    #68 - a monkey wrench......

    (The real reason is apparently that there were 99 members of the elite Nepolitan guard around the king. So that is why "99" is the very best...)
  • Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has claimed it's 'perfectly possible' the UK will be giving coronavirus vaccines to children by the end of the year.

    Get those little plague spreaders jabbed....

    Vaccinations for children have carried on during lockdown. We had the Y9s in (one at a time) a few weeks ago to get which ever jab they were due under normal circumstances.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,357
    UK local R

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  • Its absolutely absurd to offer equivalence to Aus and NZ but not the UK.

    Of course equivalence should be the sane, rational solution but if they don't desire to be sane and rational we can't make them be.

    We can however invoke Article 16.
    But you have to admit that refusing to talk about SPS alignment looks bloody stupid from the UK side. This really is a classic case of two wrongs not making a right.
    No I don't admit that unless SPS alignment is required for equivalence?

    Do Aus and NZ have SPS alignment? If not and they still have equivalence then why is it necessary for the UK to be aligned?

    Equivalence should be an alternative to alignment.
    Because SPS alignment is far more than just veterinary equivalence. So no they don't have SPS alignment. You can find a list of all the countries the EU has such arrangements with here:

    https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/international_affairs/trade/agreements_en
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,357
    UK case summary

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  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,933
    FF43 said:

    RobD said:

    FF43 said:

    @CarlottaVance et al: Who is this David Keating you keep retweeting and why do you do it?

    The EU's chief apologist on twitter it seems.
    But why? If Angela Merkel or Ursula Von Der Leyen is doing the tweeting, maybe fair enough. I don't keep retweeting one of the stupider apologists for Brexit...
    Why not? It's quite amusing the lengths he goes to to claim the EU is doing just as well as the UK.
  • Allow me, a strange stranger from a strange(r) land, to rise in defense of the Great British Ice Cream Van!

    In particular, like how they stick a stick of chocolate into your soft ice cream cone!!

    The 99 is indeed one of the wonders of these isles.
    Although, the 98 things they stuck in it before getting it right with the chocolate flake is quite a list.

    #68 - a monkey wrench......

    (The real reason is apparently that there were 99 members of the elite Nepolitan guard around the king. So that is why "99" is the very best...)
    Makes sense.

    I used to think it was because it was 99p and when it went above 99p for a 99 was quite jarring.
  • TOPPING said:

    Yep. There has been literally liquidity flight, along with the dependent firms and that is gone. Until we negotiate something different. But London is always good at innovation so we shall see I'm sure some interesting products.

    On the previous thread I mentioned Lord Mandelson's webinar organised by DLA Piper yesterday. He covered the point about regulation of financial services, and was quite nuanced about it. He said that on balance he agreed with the government that a financial centre as important as ours should not be a 'rule-taker' from the EU, and that this would inevitably lead to some loss of EU-sourced business, but he was moderately positive on the possibility of this being compensated for by new opportunities (in Fintech etc). However, this would depend on us getting the regulatory regime right; we needed to be flexible and fast-moving, but should be very careful not to trash the UK's reputation by slapdash regulation. He was also concerned about other things the government is doing which might discourage financial organisations and small, entrepreneurial companies from setting up here.

    In other words, there are opportunities in our new non-EU status, but he was concerned that the government wasn't taking a sufficiently joined-up approach to make the most of them.
    Mandelson saying we should be, er, nimble? Surely not.....
    I don't know why you say that. He's always had a very good understanding of what business needs, and he's very clear-eyed on the problems of the EU.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,117
    edited February 2021
    Selebian said:

    Israel closest ally of the US? Surely some mistake, aren't we supposed to be special?
    Israel was probably Trump's closest ally, certainly under Netanyahu, under Biden it has fallen well down the list, Trudeau's Canada is probably Biden's closest ally (plus Ireland of course)
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,357
    UK hospitals

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  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,710

    Need to be a bit careful, a lot of the criticism from medical professions was limited to specifically the dosing regime for Pfizer, not AZN.

    Correct. A 3 month gap with Pfizer is not evidence based, with AZN it is (from the Cov002 trial).

    There are theoretical reasons for a longer gap to work fine for Pfizer, but not from trials. We should know the answer in a month or so.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,357
    UK deaths

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  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    edited February 2021

    UK case summary

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    Extremely worrying positivity numbers in Northern Ireland and Northern Britain.

    What's going on there?
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992

    UK local R

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    All those ice cream sellers in HMP Stocken gradually getting over the virus I see.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,357
    Age related data

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,357
    UK vaccinations

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  • Its absolutely absurd to offer equivalence to Aus and NZ but not the UK.

    Of course equivalence should be the sane, rational solution but if they don't desire to be sane and rational we can't make them be.

    We can however invoke Article 16.
    But you have to admit that refusing to talk about SPS alignment looks bloody stupid from the UK side. This really is a classic case of two wrongs not making a right.
    No I don't admit that unless SPS alignment is required for equivalence?

    Do Aus and NZ have SPS alignment? If not and they still have equivalence then why is it necessary for the UK to be aligned?

    Equivalence should be an alternative to alignment.
    Because SPS alignment is far more than just veterinary equivalence. So no they don't have SPS alignment. You can find a list of all the countries the EU has such arrangements with here:

    https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/international_affairs/trade/agreements_en
    Isn't that my point though?

    The UK doesn't want SPS alignment but does want equivalence which is what the EU has with many nations including New Zealand and Australia and it seems from that list Andorra and others.

    So why can't the EU deal with the UK on the basis of equivalence instead of alignment?
  • UK vaccinations

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    I know it's the teacher in me, but is there any chance you could change the title of your last graph to "Nation vaccinations fraction of population"? Thinking we have got only 0.2% done is a bit startling.
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,548
    edited February 2021

    Its absolutely absurd to offer equivalence to Aus and NZ but not the UK.

    Of course equivalence should be the sane, rational solution but if they don't desire to be sane and rational we can't make them be.

    We can however invoke Article 16.
    But you have to admit that refusing to talk about SPS alignment looks bloody stupid from the UK side. This really is a classic case of two wrongs not making a right.
    No I don't admit that unless SPS alignment is required for equivalence?

    Do Aus and NZ have SPS alignment? If not and they still have equivalence then why is it necessary for the UK to be aligned?

    Equivalence should be an alternative to alignment.
    Because SPS alignment is far more than just veterinary equivalence. So no they don't have SPS alignment. You can find a list of all the countries the EU has such arrangements with here:

    https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/international_affairs/trade/agreements_en
    Isn't that my point though?

    The UK doesn't want SPS alignment but does want equivalence which is what the EU has with many nations including New Zealand and Australia and it seems from that list Andorra and others.

    So why can't the EU deal with the UK on the basis of equivalence instead of alignment?
    I suspect because, given what has been said on both sides, we refused to discuss it. Face it, we did not handle the negotiations terribly well.

    Edit: oh and the main point here is we SHOULD have been talking about SPS alignment. Given how much we import and export agricultural goods. It was actually an opportunity to improve things from the situation that existed when we were in the EU as that limited our ability to deal with preventing the import of diseased plants. We could have made things better but we have chosen not to and so both sides lose.
  • EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,976

    This looks a bit needy.

    That's really, really embarrassing for them.

    Why would you do that?
    He's not actually begging for a call. He's just grandstanding that Biden hasn't called, and hammering the point home that the Democrat party isn't Israel's friend.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,357

    UK vaccinations

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    I know it's the teacher in me, but is there any chance you could change the title of your last graph to "Nation vaccinations fraction of population"? Thinking we have got only 0.2% done is a bit startling.
    I Must Use Proper Units On My Graphs
    I Must Use Proper Units On My Graphs
    I Must Use Proper Units On My Graphs
    I Must Use Proper Units On My Graphs
    etc
  • UK vaccinations

    image
    image
    image
    image

    I know it's the teacher in me, but is there any chance you could change the title of your last graph to "Nation vaccinations fraction of population"? Thinking we have got only 0.2% done is a bit startling.
    I Must Use Proper Units On My Graphs
    I Must Use Proper Units On My Graphs
    I Must Use Proper Units On My Graphs
    I Must Use Proper Units On My Graphs
    etc
    :)
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818
    edited February 2021
    Given the almost universally 'good' data, how much trouble are Johnson and Co. going to have sitting on pressures to ease here?

    That's what I meant about the cases almost dropping too much yesterday.


  • This looks like really good news:

    image
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,754
    HYUFD said:

    Selebian said:

    Israel closest ally of the US? Surely some mistake, aren't we supposed to be special?
    Israel was probably Trump's closest ally, certainly under Netanyahu, under Biden it has fallen well down the list, Trudeau's Canada is probably Biden's closest ally (plus Ireland of course)
    Hard to dispute Canada is the United States' closest ally. Could be more competition if Alaska wasn't part of the US. :wink:
This discussion has been closed.