The government sacrificed considerable political capital and risked its public health strategy. Question remains- for what? A year later not only is Mr Cummings gone but seems intent in repaying the favour by causing as much damage as possible. Reminder of some tweets at the time
Somewhat boringly, I am with the clear majority on this. The number of deaths with (not necessarily of) Covid in the UK in the last 7 days is 40 according to Worldometer, down from 75 the week before. It is, bluntly, a trivial number in a population of 68m and almost certainly largely composed of those who were going to die anyway who were vulnerable to infection and it continues to fall. It is no reason at all to impose restrictions on us about where we go, who we visit, where we socialise, or anything else at all.
Enough. Crack on with vaccination as fast as we can (370k yesterday was disappointing) but let's take advantage of the freedom that vaccines have given to us. The vulnerable have now had both. More than 70% of us have had at least 1 and that number is going up amongst the non vulnerable by almost a per cent a day on average. 21st June frankly seems a long way away, too far really. I think we should start the repeals of the absurd legislation that we have brought in about this now. If people because of their own personal circumstances want to be cautious that is a matter for them. Its not a matter for the rest of us.
The vaccinations yesterday followed the pattern of reporting since the beginning of the vaccination program. Monday is always low.
Ursula von der Leyen's claim that "problems do not come from the Protocol, they result from Brexit" is disingenuous. It was the decision by the UK and the EU to prioritise N/S relations in Ireland over GB/NI relations which has caused the resentment and the disruption.
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Because the difference between what is the law and what is merely guidance and advice has been deliberately obscured by the government and misunderstood by officialdom, from the police down. That's why we should give a toss.
A good example is in the new guidance where it says "this guidance is underpinned by law". Despite no change in the law.
It's deliberately deceitful. Confusing law and guidance in this way is very dangerous - - it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter - it undermines the rule of law - it means that people are deceived about their rights - it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
I'm having my second AZ jab on 3rd June. I'll be ditching my face mask/social distancing etc etc on 3rd July whatever the "official" government policy is by then. That's it! Done!
I think people are generally unlocking based on the vaccination status of themselves and their friends tbh.
Most unwise to dump the face mask. Keep them and use as and when you feel the need to...
The government seems to have lost the plot these last couple of days, whois advising Boris?
Some serious bedwetting going on.
Johnson is imitating one of Orwell's sheep - he is persuaded by the last person he talked to.
Time to channel Angus Deayton from the glory days of Have I Got News For You:
So no change there, then.
Agreeing with the last person he spoke to is part of the "how to make people like you" toolkit. John Major had a similar talent. Do it with enough brio and you sound like a brilliant leader. It works as long as the little people don't compare notes.
Of course it’s two way traffic. There are a shitload of people who agree with the last think BJ tells them, and a large number of them who don’t seem to mind if it contradicts the next to last thing BJ told them.
Somewhat boringly, I am with the clear majority on this. The number of deaths with (not necessarily of) Covid in the UK in the last 7 days is 40 according to Worldometer, down from 75 the week before. It is, bluntly, a trivial number in a population of 68m and almost certainly largely composed of those who were going to die anyway who were vulnerable to infection and it continues to fall. It is no reason at all to impose restrictions on us about where we go, who we visit, where we socialise, or anything else at all.
Enough. Crack on with vaccination as fast as we can (370k yesterday was disappointing) but let's take advantage of the freedom that vaccines have given to us. The vulnerable have now had both. More than 70% of us have had at least 1 and that number is going up amongst the non vulnerable by almost a per cent a day on average. 21st June frankly seems a long way away, too far really. I think we should start the repeals of the absurd legislation that we have brought in about this now. If people because of their own personal circumstances want to be cautious that is a matter for them. Its not a matter for the rest of us.
The vaccinations yesterday followed the pattern of reporting since the beginning of the vaccination program. Monday is always low.
Daily deaths are ~5
Sure, because Monday reports Sunday and Sunday is, well Sunday. Even now, months after the vaccination roll out was set up Sunday tends to be a lower vaccination day. To describe this as disappointing is quite moderate. Keen though I am to see the restrictions removed vaccination is urgent.
The problem for Dom is that he was an integral part of the of the government he's now trashing. He can't shit on the government without a significant proportion falling on himself.
Maybe if he'd quit in protest in March 2020 it'd be different but the fact he was still a key member of the government all the way up to November 2020 blunts his attack a lot IMO.
I'm having my second AZ jab on 3rd June. I'll be ditching my face mask/social distancing etc etc on 3rd July whatever the "official" government policy is by then. That's it! Done!
I had mine Sunday, felt tired and ropey Monday, had a night of feeling unusually cold last night, but think I am through the worst of it now. I had antibodies froom the first jab, as tested last week by the NHS/Imperial random testing programme.
As you say, for me the war is over...
Not quite yet - you (and I, in a similar position) need to let thje antibodies build up for at least a couple of weeks. But we are over the Rhine and the Elbe, with any luck.
As I said, I already have the antibodies, proven by testing, from the first jab.
How did you manage to get hold of the antibody test - are you part of a study ?
While the "risk stratification" notion last year was codswallop, it was achieved months ago in this country already. "Deaths within 28 days of an infection" not all of which will be deaths from Covid as opposed to with Covid now are below typical road traffic accident deaths in a normal year.
Time to unlock everything. No ifs, no buts. If people want to isolate then let them. If people wish to be antivaxx and end up in hospital then that's their own choice, just as if people choose to smoke and end up in hospital.
We won't actually know the current state of affairs until 10 or so days from now when we see the impact of the May 17th changes and what that has done to case numbers.
And my concern with any statement that it's like the common cold is that we've had the common cold for 2000+ years and we all know what the consequences of it are.
We've had Covid for just over a year and we really don't know what the long term consequences of Covid or nor whether you can catch Long Covid from a mild case.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't be opening things up but it does mean we shouldn't be rushing eagerly to do so. June 21st isn't that far away and a months wait now is better than another lockdown come October.
All of that is absolutely true. And also depressing that you should write it. You are saying that on account of a disease that is certainly deadly, and might have other long term effects, but which has largely been controlled, and which as it stands poses no threat to our health service, the government should continue to determine when we are allowed out of our own homes.
But we can leave our homes and we can do a while set of things that weren't open before.
The current position isn't the lockdown of March last year, it's the position we were in back in July last year.
were we back to the 1 hour of exercise outside and don't go to work position we were in back in January I would agree with you but we are currently in a reasonable half way house that allows business to be done.
To be honest, business is the least of my concerns. My youngest daughter has lived 20% of her life in a situation in which playdates have been banned, in which she cannot, by law, hug her grandparents. My oldest daughter is having her end of primary school residential trip away because - well, I'm not sure why, but apparently Wales isn't fully opening up on June 21st, so they can have the residential but have to come home to England each night. It's looking increasingly like we'll have to cancel the trip away at half-term. They're missing out on big elements of their childhood. I'm missing out on big elements of their childhood. And moving on to me, a pub isn't a pub if you have to sit obediently at a table, it's a bar. Indoor leisure activities are open now but the pleasure of them is taken away by having to wear facemasks. I'm sick of having to wear facemasks. I'm sick of having to look at other people wearing facemasks. I'm sick of being bullied and hectored and patronised at my own expense. I'm sick of banners on lamposts telling me to keep my distance, wear a mask. I'm sick of the uncertainty, the inability to plan, in case a capricious government change their minds again, in case a bubble pops, in case I get pinged by track and trace. I'm sick of QR codes. I'm sick of not being allowed in to places unless I give my identity. Fuck. That. Shit. This is not a reasonable halfway house. This is a totalitarian nightmare sweetened only by being less of a totalitarian nightmare than it was 13 months ago. It is a nightmare I am willing to endure three weeks longer until all adults have been offered a jab, but a nightmare nonetheless, and if it's going to continue past June 21st - which looks increasingly to be the case - then we may as well give up trying now. None of this prevents business being done. I can still procure. I can buy things, if I need them. I can work. The economy will not crash. But there's more to life than the economy.
@Cookie that's a very good post which encapsulates the nightmare that those who care about civil liberties have felt over the past truly dreadful 14 months. The dissenters only focus on deaths. They make no allowance for overall loss of utility and economic damage to the country. And don't seem to understand that liberal democracy involves categorical imperatives around our freedoms. Presumably they'd do the same thing again when the next pandemic hits.
Previously, as this data from Nov 2019 demonstrates, accusations of Conservative's Islamophobia have not resonated with the public to anything like the same degree as accusations of Labour's anti-Semitism. Will today's Singh report change the view of the British public?
I suspect not, as unlike Labour/Jews/Israel/Palestine there are less frequent newsworthy stories to bring the loonier fringes out from under their rocks....
While the "risk stratification" notion last year was codswallop, it was achieved months ago in this country already. "Deaths within 28 days of an infection" not all of which will be deaths from Covid as opposed to with Covid now are below typical road traffic accident deaths in a normal year.
Time to unlock everything. No ifs, no buts. If people want to isolate then let them. If people wish to be antivaxx and end up in hospital then that's their own choice, just as if people choose to smoke and end up in hospital.
We won't actually know the current state of affairs until 10 or so days from now when we see the impact of the May 17th changes and what that has done to case numbers.
And my concern with any statement that it's like the common cold is that we've had the common cold for 2000+ years and we all know what the consequences of it are.
We've had Covid for just over a year and we really don't know what the long term consequences of Covid are nor whether you can catch Long Covid from a mild case and the chances of doing so.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't be opening things up but it does mean we shouldn't be rushing eagerly to do so. June 21st isn't that far away and a months wait now is better than another lockdown come October.
We have vaccines, we have booster shots. There is no scenario where we keep any measures because people refused the vaccine. If the government proposes a winter lockdown to protect the chumps then that 18 point lead disappears overnight.
Putting any restrictions on the lives of double jabbed people beyond June 21st is a step too far. We should already be completely open as a nation with late night bars/clubs open and social distancing already axed. It's time to accept that 10-20k old people per year will die from COVID because they're too stupid to take the freely available vaccine.
Putting any restrictions on the lives of double jabbed people beyond June 21st is a step too far.
FTFY. The only reason the young haven't been vaccinated yet is they were not at real risk in the first place. Why should people who've put their lives on hold remain on hold just because the vaccine isn't ready to them yet? Or because they've only had one jab because that's all they've been offered?
Double vaccinated or not shouldn't be relevant. We've double vaccinated those who needed double vaccinating, let everyone else determine their own risk profile.
The hospitals haven't been full of 18-30yr olds at any time so why they should be now with millions of people vaccinated and hence apparently less likely to spread the virus goodness only knows.
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Yes, Yes, local officials, businesses and the more anxious citizens.
A government giving guidance because they believe the situation to be so urgent but are too embarrassed to tell local officials and businesses what the latest guidance is, is at the least kind of weird and notable and realistically just terrible government.*
* For the fanboys that does not mean I expect "Boris" to immediately become unpopular, I am on the Tories for a majority and biggest party for the next election. I just think it is ridiculous behaviour from the govt.
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Because the difference between what is the law and what is merely guidance and advice has been deliberately obscured by the government and misunderstood by officialdom, from the police down. That's why we should give a toss.
A good example is in the new guidance where it says "this guidance is underpinned by law". Despite no change in the law.
It's deliberately deceitful. Confusing law and guidance in this way is very dangerous - - it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter - it undermines the rule of law - it means that people are deceived about their rights - it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
No-one cares. They should.
They absolutely should. And bringing completely absurd laws into force which make a criminal offence for Scots to go certain places in England brings our law into disrepute and undermines our inclination to comply with the law generally. This is a bad thing which means that these are very bad laws. Our compliance was sorely tested by the protests against the Poll tax. In some ways, more than 20 years on, we have not fully recovered from that debacle. We are risking another one.
Re. the previous thread, my own view is that choosing Jo Cox's sister as Labour's candidate for Batley and Spen may work against them.
Don't get me wrong I'm sure everyone there thinks what happened to Jo Cox was terrible and dreadful but I can't really see how that automatically translates to people voting for her sister?
Certainly when Labour tried something similar with Gwynith Dunwoody's daughter in the Crewe and Nantwich by election it didn't work out (albeit that was in very different circumstances)
To me it has a sniff of Labour once again taking their voters for granted but I could be wrong...
Andrew Gimson found Leadbetter would get a big personal vote on a visit to Batley and Spen
Somewhat boringly, I am with the clear majority on this. The number of deaths with (not necessarily of) Covid in the UK in the last 7 days is 40 according to Worldometer, down from 75 the week before. It is, bluntly, a trivial number in a population of 68m and almost certainly largely composed of those who were going to die anyway who were vulnerable to infection and it continues to fall. It is no reason at all to impose restrictions on us about where we go, who we visit, where we socialise, or anything else at all.
Enough. Crack on with vaccination as fast as we can (370k yesterday was disappointing) but let's take advantage of the freedom that vaccines have given to us. The vulnerable have now had both. More than 70% of us have had at least 1 and that number is going up amongst the non vulnerable by almost a per cent a day on average. 21st June frankly seems a long way away, too far really. I think we should start the repeals of the absurd legislation that we have brought in about this now. If people because of their own personal circumstances want to be cautious that is a matter for them. Its not a matter for the rest of us.
The vaccinations yesterday followed the pattern of reporting since the beginning of the vaccination program. Monday is always low.
Daily deaths are ~5
Sure, because Monday reports Sunday and Sunday is, well Sunday. Even now, months after the vaccination roll out was set up Sunday tends to be a lower vaccination day. To describe this as disappointing is quite moderate. Keen though I am to see the restrictions removed vaccination is urgent.
It may well be the Saturday numbers actually.
The vaccination program is constrained by supply. Working 24-7 at the same rate would require convincing people to take slots at times they don't want to and wear the staff down.
In addition, the vaccination program from many sites is not a steady state operation - they line up a set of appointments and do a bunch quite rapidly. For example, my GP seems to arrange block of mass vaccination at each age cohort - shuts the surgery for other stuff for 3 days or so and does everyone in the current band. Then back to normal.
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Because the difference between what is the law and what is merely guidance and advice has been deliberately obscured by the government and misunderstood by officialdom, from the police down. That's why we should give a toss.
A good example is in the new guidance where it says "this guidance is underpinned by law". Despite no change in the law.
It's deliberately deceitful. Confusing law and guidance in this way is very dangerous - - it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter - it undermines the rule of law - it means that people are deceived about their rights - it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
No-one cares. They should.
It also gives individuals and organisations sufficient cover to bully and hector others, thus prolonging this nightmare.
I'm having my second AZ jab on 3rd June. I'll be ditching my face mask/social distancing etc etc on 3rd July whatever the "official" government policy is by then. That's it! Done!
I had mine Sunday, felt tired and ropey Monday, had a night of feeling unusually cold last night, but think I am through the worst of it now. I had antibodies froom the first jab, as tested last week by the NHS/Imperial random testing programme.
As you say, for me the war is over...
Not quite yet - you (and I, in a similar position) need to let thje antibodies build up for at least a couple of weeks. But we are over the Rhine and the Elbe, with any luck.
As I said, I already have the antibodies, proven by testing, from the first jab.
How did you manage to get hold of the antibody test - are you part of a study ?
As I said, I was picked out as part of the NHS/Imperial random testing programme. I had long term antibodies, but not short term, indicating that it was almost certainly a result of my March vaccination, as I am pretty sure I never caught the virus.
While I agree with other poster's exasperation at the government for ignoring its own success with the vaccines I remain confident that the success with the vaccines will render this argument largely moot.
Before too long we will have a substantial majority of the population double-dosed with vaccines that are highly effective against all known variants. Even with the population engaging in a wild cavorting orgy, this will ensure that the virus does not spread.
No virus, no cases, no self-isolation. Next winter we will have more flu than Covid.
If the government starts to try to enforce self-isolation on vaccinated people who come into contact with a small number of vaccine refuseniks, who pick up the virus abroad, then I think they will have a poll-tax style revolt.
The experience of lockdown in this country is that people largely went into lockdown earlier than the government told them too, and came out of it earlier than they were told they were allowed to - because they were responding to largely rational fear. They will not play along with impositions when the fear has gone.
It does seem absurd that if you have been double vaccinated and have no symptoms that you still need 10 days isolation and three tests to return home from an amber list country. If you go and have had one or no jabs then maybe. But if you are vaccinated? Crackers. Or would be from any other government. Crackers is what you expect from the Cult
Guernsey, which has had a much more robust, enforced, policed and prosecuted Border policy than the UK is proposing this from July - with clear differentiation between those fully vaccinated and those not:
That looks very sensible indeed.
Absolutely Blue (Tory) for go, have fun, enjoy and red (Labour) for stop, restrictions and regulation. What's not to like?
The problem for Dom is that he was an integral part of the of the government he's now trashing. He can't shit on the government without a significant proportion falling on himself.
Maybe if he'd quit in protest in March 2020 it'd be different but the fact he was still a key member of the government all the way up to November 2020 blunts his attack a lot IMO.
He was surely the second most powerful in the govt for covid policy. And part of his responsibility as the link between SAGE and the cabinet was to persuade and influence. Whatever revelations he brings out it is implausible that he was not part of the problem.
66% say they will still wear a facemask on public transport and crowded indoor areas and 66% will still practice public social distancing and 78% will still use hand sanitiser even after restrictions are lifted in June https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1397143059360534531?s=20
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Because the difference between what is the law and what is merely guidance and advice has been deliberately obscured by the government and misunderstood by officialdom, from the police down. That's why we should give a toss.
A good example is in the new guidance where it says "this guidance is underpinned by law". Despite no change in the law.
It's deliberately deceitful. Confusing law and guidance in this way is very dangerous - - it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter - it undermines the rule of law - it means that people are deceived about their rights - it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
No-one cares. They should.
No one cares?!
There have been posters on here who for many, many months have been pointing out the principles, and danger, involved in what the government has been doing. For much of that time to great ridicule by the majority.
People have consistently confused a dislike of draconian laws with a dislike of what those laws have been introduced to address. They may have been introduced to stem the spread of the virus, but the issue has always been broader than that - we are now in a society which, for whatever good intentioned reasons, has a set of fiercely illiberal laws with which it appears the government continues to control the population.
It's only when people's personal "red lines" have been breached (which in totality lie on a spectrum) that there has been outrage. The principle has never changed right from for example @contrarian's first post.
While I agree with other poster's exasperation at the government for ignoring its own success with the vaccines I remain confident that the success with the vaccines will render this argument largely moot.
Before too long we will have a substantial majority of the population double-dosed with vaccines that are highly effective against all known variants. Even with the population engaging in a wild cavorting orgy, this will ensure that the virus does not spread.
No virus, no cases, no self-isolation. Next winter we will have more flu than Covid.
If the government starts to try to enforce self-isolation on vaccinated people who come into contact with a small number of vaccine refuseniks, who pick up the virus abroad, then I think they will have a poll-tax style revolt.
The experience of lockdown in this country is that people largely went into lockdown earlier than the government told them too, and came out of it earlier than they were told they were allowed to - because they were responding to largely rational fear. They will not play along with impositions when the fear has gone.
It does seem absurd that if you have been double vaccinated and have no symptoms that you still need 10 days isolation and three tests to return home from an amber list country. If you go and have had one or no jabs then maybe. But if you are vaccinated? Crackers. Or would be from any other government. Crackers is what you expect from the Cult
Guernsey, which has had a much more robust, enforced, policed and prosecuted Border policy than the UK is proposing this from July - with clear differentiation between those fully vaccinated and those not:
That looks very sensible indeed.
Absolutely Blue (Tory) for go, have fun, enjoy and red (Labour) for stop, restrictions and regulation. What's not to like?
It's still too restrictive. I wouldn't make vaccinated people who've come back from yellow countries take tests or self-isolate.
While I agree with other poster's exasperation at the government for ignoring its own success with the vaccines I remain confident that the success with the vaccines will render this argument largely moot.
Before too long we will have a substantial majority of the population double-dosed with vaccines that are highly effective against all known variants. Even with the population engaging in a wild cavorting orgy, this will ensure that the virus does not spread.
No virus, no cases, no self-isolation. Next winter we will have more flu than Covid.
If the government starts to try to enforce self-isolation on vaccinated people who come into contact with a small number of vaccine refuseniks, who pick up the virus abroad, then I think they will have a poll-tax style revolt.
The experience of lockdown in this country is that people largely went into lockdown earlier than the government told them too, and came out of it earlier than they were told they were allowed to - because they were responding to largely rational fear. They will not play along with impositions when the fear has gone.
It does seem absurd that if you have been double vaccinated and have no symptoms that you still need 10 days isolation and three tests to return home from an amber list country. If you go and have had one or no jabs then maybe. But if you are vaccinated? Crackers. Or would be from any other government. Crackers is what you expect from the Cult
Guernsey, which has had a much more robust, enforced, policed and prosecuted Border policy than the UK is proposing this from July - with clear differentiation between those fully vaccinated and those not:
That looks very sensible indeed.
Absolutely Blue (Tory) for go, have fun, enjoy and red (Labour) for stop, restrictions and regulation. What's not to like?
It's still too restrictive. I wouldn't make vaccinated people who've come back from yellow countries take tests or self-isolate.
True, but the message that the Lib Dems are also spoil sports is important.
And? Covid is still a menace to all the 35 yr olds who haven't been jabbed. Two jabs? Do what you want. Less than 2? Need to have some restrictions still to stop pox ripping through the young again. Cases are low now. Thats what happens at the bottom of the curve, if we want to avoid yet another spike we need to not be as complacent as we were last summer.
COVID isn't a menace to anyone in groups 11 and 12. It's a mild cough for two or three days.
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Because the difference between what is the law and what is merely guidance and advice has been deliberately obscured by the government and misunderstood by officialdom, from the police down. That's why we should give a toss.
A good example is in the new guidance where it says "this guidance is underpinned by law". Despite no change in the law.
It's deliberately deceitful. Confusing law and guidance in this way is very dangerous - - it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter - it undermines the rule of law - it means that people are deceived about their rights - it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
No-one cares. They should.
No one cares?!
There have been posters on here who for many, many months have been pointing out the principles, and danger, involved in what the government has been doing. For much of that time to great ridicule by the majority.
People have consistently confused a dislike of draconian laws with a dislike of what those laws have been introduced to address. They may have been introduced to stem the spread of the virus, but the issue has always been broader than that - we are now in a society which, for whatever good intentioned reasons, has a set of fiercely illiberal laws with which it appears it continues to control the population.
It's only when people's personal "red lines" have been breached (which in totality lie on a spectrum) that there has been outrage. The principle has never changed right from for example @contrarian's first post.
Now everyone agrees with him.
By No one - I think the point is that No one in a position to do anything about it cares.
Heck in my field you only have to look at yesterday's Parliamentary debate to see that even if MPs did care - excuses would be found to ensure nothing was done.
So if you want to fix things you have little choice but to do it yourself.
While I agree with other poster's exasperation at the government for ignoring its own success with the vaccines I remain confident that the success with the vaccines will render this argument largely moot.
Before too long we will have a substantial majority of the population double-dosed with vaccines that are highly effective against all known variants. Even with the population engaging in a wild cavorting orgy, this will ensure that the virus does not spread.
No virus, no cases, no self-isolation. Next winter we will have more flu than Covid.
If the government starts to try to enforce self-isolation on vaccinated people who come into contact with a small number of vaccine refuseniks, who pick up the virus abroad, then I think they will have a poll-tax style revolt.
The experience of lockdown in this country is that people largely went into lockdown earlier than the government told them too, and came out of it earlier than they were told they were allowed to - because they were responding to largely rational fear. They will not play along with impositions when the fear has gone.
It does seem absurd that if you have been double vaccinated and have no symptoms that you still need 10 days isolation and three tests to return home from an amber list country. If you go and have had one or no jabs then maybe. But if you are vaccinated? Crackers. Or would be from any other government. Crackers is what you expect from the Cult
Guernsey, which has had a much more robust, enforced, policed and prosecuted Border policy than the UK is proposing this from July - with clear differentiation between those fully vaccinated and those not:
That looks very sensible indeed.
Absolutely Blue (Tory) for go, have fun, enjoy and red (Labour) for stop, restrictions and regulation. What's not to like?
It's still too restrictive. I wouldn't make vaccinated people who've come back from yellow countries take tests or self-isolate.
Having most holiday destinations in the Amber category isn’t going to be sustainable for more than another few weeks
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Because the difference between what is the law and what is merely guidance and advice has been deliberately obscured by the government and misunderstood by officialdom, from the police down. That's why we should give a toss.
A good example is in the new guidance where it says "this guidance is underpinned by law". Despite no change in the law.
It's deliberately deceitful. Confusing law and guidance in this way is very dangerous - - it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter - it undermines the rule of law - it means that people are deceived about their rights - it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
No-one cares. They should.
No one cares?!
There have been posters on here who for many, many months have been pointing out the principles, and danger, involved in what the government has been doing. For much of that time to great ridicule by the majority.
People have consistently confused a dislike of draconian laws with a dislike of what those laws have been introduced to address. They may have been introduced to stem the spread of the virus, but the issue has always been broader than that - we are now in a society which, for whatever good intentioned reasons, has a set of fiercely illiberal laws with which it appears it continues to control the population.
It's only when people's personal "red lines" have been breached (which in totality lie on a spectrum) that there has been outrage. The principle has never changed right from for example @contrarian's first post.
Now everyone agrees with him.
By No one - I think the point is that No one in a position to do anything about it cares.
Ursula von der Leyen's claim that "problems do not come from the Protocol, they result from Brexit" is disingenuous. It was the decision by the UK and the EU to prioritise N/S relations in Ireland over GB/NI relations which has caused the resentment and the disruption.
Re. the previous thread, my own view is that choosing Jo Cox's sister as Labour's candidate for Batley and Spen may work against them.
Don't get me wrong I'm sure everyone there thinks what happened to Jo Cox was terrible and dreadful but I can't really see how that automatically translates to people voting for her sister?
Certainly when Labour tried something similar with Gwynith Dunwoody's daughter in the Crewe and Nantwich by election it didn't work out (albeit that was in very different circumstances)
To me it has a sniff of Labour once again taking their voters for granted but I could be wrong...
One of the big problems with the Labour Party, in my opinion, is that they think people ought to vote for them. They're see themselves as morally superior.
The key thing is, Labour basically need to campaign in Batley and Spen like it was any other seat with any other candidate. If people bring up Jo Cox, then talk to them about it. But they must not make that a key part of their pitch.
For a decent time there was a moral argument for not voting Tory. A nasty party who got off on punitive measures against the poor, sick, foreign. Most of which has been swept away when May was removed from office.
While I agree with other poster's exasperation at the government for ignoring its own success with the vaccines I remain confident that the success with the vaccines will render this argument largely moot.
Before too long we will have a substantial majority of the population double-dosed with vaccines that are highly effective against all known variants. Even with the population engaging in a wild cavorting orgy, this will ensure that the virus does not spread.
No virus, no cases, no self-isolation. Next winter we will have more flu than Covid.
If the government starts to try to enforce self-isolation on vaccinated people who come into contact with a small number of vaccine refuseniks, who pick up the virus abroad, then I think they will have a poll-tax style revolt.
The experience of lockdown in this country is that people largely went into lockdown earlier than the government told them too, and came out of it earlier than they were told they were allowed to - because they were responding to largely rational fear. They will not play along with impositions when the fear has gone.
It does seem absurd that if you have been double vaccinated and have no symptoms that you still need 10 days isolation and three tests to return home from an amber list country. If you go and have had one or no jabs then maybe. But if you are vaccinated? Crackers. Or would be from any other government. Crackers is what you expect from the Cult
Guernsey, which has had a much more robust, enforced, policed and prosecuted Border policy than the UK is proposing this from July - with clear differentiation between those fully vaccinated and those not:
That looks very sensible indeed.
Absolutely Blue (Tory) for go, have fun, enjoy and red (Labour) for stop, restrictions and regulation. What's not to like?
If there’s anything that blue and Tories are associated with in Scotland, it’s go, have fun, enjoy.
66% say they will still wear a facemask on public transport and crowded indoor areas and 66% will still practice public social distancing and 78% will still use hand sanitiser even after restrictions are lifted in June https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1397143059360534531?s=20
Interesting. I used to get quite irritated when I saw people without facemasks. I was on the tube the other day and I would say there was 90% compliance. I also found myself perfectly comfortable with those without facemasks. In a matter of weeks we are supposed to have no restrictions and hence people's mindsets need to start changing now.
At the point to point I went to on Saturday I saw about a dozen facemasks, all being worn by jockeys or stable staff. No one in the (typical p2p) crowd *at all* was wearing one.
Indian Covid will be the predominant strain and everywhere in the UK in 3-4 weeks time so these "local restrictions" are buying days at most. They might even encourage out of area travel to escape them.
The Government just need to keep vaccinating and accept it. More to the point, next time there's a new variant "of concern" overseas announce that the travel ban or red restrictions come in with immediate effect except for planes already in the air. Refunds can be applied for etc.
What will you do when it turns into another damp squib.. Remember, voters loathe Cummings after his lockdown breakout.
Depends what evidence he pulls out of his bag. I don't believe the word of Cummings. I do believe the word of whatever official documents he wants to whistleblow.
Re. the previous thread, my own view is that choosing Jo Cox's sister as Labour's candidate for Batley and Spen may work against them.
Don't get me wrong I'm sure everyone there thinks what happened to Jo Cox was terrible and dreadful but I can't really see how that automatically translates to people voting for her sister?
Certainly when Labour tried something similar with Gwynith Dunwoody's daughter in the Crewe and Nantwich by election it didn't work out (albeit that was in very different circumstances)
To me it has a sniff of Labour once again taking their voters for granted but I could be wrong...
One of the big problems with the Labour Party, in my opinion, is that they think people ought to vote for them. They're see themselves as morally superior.
The key thing is, Labour basically need to campaign in Batley and Spen like it was any other seat with any other candidate. If people bring up Jo Cox, then talk to them about it. But they must not make that a key part of their pitch.
For a decent time there was a moral argument for not voting Tory. A nasty party who got off on punitive measures against the poor, sick, foreign. Most of which has been swept away when May was removed from office.
For sure, Labour can have plans for tackling things such as child poverty. But first and foremost they need to appeal to the middle 70-80% for their own needs rather than anyone else.
While the "risk stratification" notion last year was codswallop, it was achieved months ago in this country already. "Deaths within 28 days of an infection" not all of which will be deaths from Covid as opposed to with Covid now are below typical road traffic accident deaths in a normal year.
Time to unlock everything. No ifs, no buts. If people want to isolate then let them. If people wish to be antivaxx and end up in hospital then that's their own choice, just as if people choose to smoke and end up in hospital.
We won't actually know the current state of affairs until 10 or so days from now when we see the impact of the May 17th changes and what that has done to case numbers.
And my concern with any statement that it's like the common cold is that we've had the common cold for 2000+ years and we all know what the consequences of it are.
We've had Covid for just over a year and we really don't know what the long term consequences of Covid are nor whether you can catch Long Covid from a mild case and the chances of doing so.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't be opening things up but it does mean we shouldn't be rushing eagerly to do so. June 21st isn't that far away and a months wait now is better than another lockdown come October.
We have vaccines, we have booster shots. There is no scenario where we keep any measures because people refused the vaccine. If the government proposes a winter lockdown to protect the chumps then that 18 point lead disappears overnight.
Putting any restrictions on the lives of double jabbed people beyond June 21st is a step too far. We should already be completely open as a nation with late night bars/clubs open and social distancing already axed. It's time to accept that 10-20k old people per year will die from COVID because they're too stupid to take the freely available vaccine.
Putting any restrictions on the lives of double jabbed people beyond June 21st is a step too far.
FTFY. The only reason the young haven't been vaccinated yet is they were not at real risk in the first place. Why should people who've put their lives on hold remain on hold just because the vaccine isn't ready to them yet? Or because they've only had one jab because that's all they've been offered?
Double vaccinated or not shouldn't be relevant. We've double vaccinated those who needed double vaccinating, let everyone else determine their own risk profile.
Important missing word:
"...is they were not at real risk of death in the first place" Hospitalisation and/or Long Covid are real things and real issues. Much though we might want to gloss over them. On a purely selfish note, when my daughters are both jabbed, I'll relax. Eldest daughter should be getting her first jab in the first week of June; hoping that my teenage younger one gets hers shortly after. But I'd not be happy for either of them to have a potential lifetime of options reduced just to shave off a few days right now for those of us now at lower risk of any of that.
While I agree with other poster's exasperation at the government for ignoring its own success with the vaccines I remain confident that the success with the vaccines will render this argument largely moot.
Before too long we will have a substantial majority of the population double-dosed with vaccines that are highly effective against all known variants. Even with the population engaging in a wild cavorting orgy, this will ensure that the virus does not spread.
No virus, no cases, no self-isolation. Next winter we will have more flu than Covid.
If the government starts to try to enforce self-isolation on vaccinated people who come into contact with a small number of vaccine refuseniks, who pick up the virus abroad, then I think they will have a poll-tax style revolt.
The experience of lockdown in this country is that people largely went into lockdown earlier than the government told them too, and came out of it earlier than they were told they were allowed to - because they were responding to largely rational fear. They will not play along with impositions when the fear has gone.
It does seem absurd that if you have been double vaccinated and have no symptoms that you still need 10 days isolation and three tests to return home from an amber list country. If you go and have had one or no jabs then maybe. But if you are vaccinated? Crackers. Or would be from any other government. Crackers is what you expect from the Cult
Guernsey, which has had a much more robust, enforced, policed and prosecuted Border policy than the UK is proposing this from July - with clear differentiation between those fully vaccinated and those not:
That looks very sensible indeed.
Absolutely Blue (Tory) for go, have fun, enjoy and red (Labour) for stop, restrictions and regulation. What's not to like?
It's still too restrictive. I wouldn't make vaccinated people who've come back from yellow countries take tests or self-isolate.
Having most holiday destinations in the Amber category isn’t going to be sustainable for more than another few weeks
Granddaughter Three, aged 15, is off to Spain with her best friend (female) late in June. Father of best friend has a house in somewhere good to be and best friend is an only child, so wants a friend with her when they go for three weeks.
Ursula von der Leyen's claim that "problems do not come from the Protocol, they result from Brexit" is disingenuous. It was the decision by the UK and the EU to prioritise N/S relations in Ireland over GB/NI relations which has caused the resentment and the disruption.
"That was first and foremost Johnson’s decision with the NI-only backstop."
as May's position created a problem that the EU would need to fix, and Boris's solution created the current mess
It is truly outrageous for (a) the EU to have a red line before the UK acted, (b) maintain that red line and (c) continue to maintain that red line. What they should have done was ditch it because we said so. WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE???
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
While I agree with other poster's exasperation at the government for ignoring its own success with the vaccines I remain confident that the success with the vaccines will render this argument largely moot.
Before too long we will have a substantial majority of the population double-dosed with vaccines that are highly effective against all known variants. Even with the population engaging in a wild cavorting orgy, this will ensure that the virus does not spread.
No virus, no cases, no self-isolation. Next winter we will have more flu than Covid.
If the government starts to try to enforce self-isolation on vaccinated people who come into contact with a small number of vaccine refuseniks, who pick up the virus abroad, then I think they will have a poll-tax style revolt.
The experience of lockdown in this country is that people largely went into lockdown earlier than the government told them too, and came out of it earlier than they were told they were allowed to - because they were responding to largely rational fear. They will not play along with impositions when the fear has gone.
It does seem absurd that if you have been double vaccinated and have no symptoms that you still need 10 days isolation and three tests to return home from an amber list country. If you go and have had one or no jabs then maybe. But if you are vaccinated? Crackers. Or would be from any other government. Crackers is what you expect from the Cult
Guernsey, which has had a much more robust, enforced, policed and prosecuted Border policy than the UK is proposing this from July - with clear differentiation between those fully vaccinated and those not:
That looks very sensible indeed.
Absolutely Blue (Tory) for go, have fun, enjoy and red (Labour) for stop, restrictions and regulation. What's not to like?
If there’s anything that blue and Tories are associated with in Scotland, it’s go, have fun, enjoy.
Glad you are coming around to my way of thinking at last @Theuniondivvie , didn't think I would see it so soon. 😉
Previously, as this data from Nov 2019 demonstrates, accusations of Conservative's Islamophobia have not resonated with the public to anything like the same degree as accusations of Labour's anti-Semitism. Will today's Singh report change the view of the British public?
I suspect not, as unlike Labour/Jews/Israel/Palestine there are less frequent newsworthy stories to bring the loonier fringes out from under their rocks....
To be very blunt, I also suspect that the public as a whole don't think that being suspicious of some parts of the islamic community in the UK is wrong.
Every major town has a story where people labelled Islamaphobes and ignored by the authorities turned out to be horrifyingly correct, and a lot of people have a friend of a friend who almost got caught up in a (often homegrown) fundamental islamic terrorist attack (be it 7/7, Westminster (I, II, & III), Reading, Borough Market, Arndale Shopping Centre, Manchester Arena, Bataclan, and Nice etc).
While at times some people can be annoyed by the Orthodox Jewish community in the UK, it's not quite the same number and magnitude of bad personal experiences.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
I never thought our descent into fascism would be so cringe-worthy.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Glimpsed that on Twitter and thought it was a pisstake, but apparently not. The Alternative für Vereignite Königreich party will be jealous that someone else had the idea first.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
What an excellent idea in reinforcing British patriotism and winds up all the right people too
For info: there is an @scotgov Covid update at 12.15pm. As well as today’s figures, we will give a general overview of the current situation. Please tune in if you can.
Ursula von der Leyen's claim that "problems do not come from the Protocol, they result from Brexit" is disingenuous. It was the decision by the UK and the EU to prioritise N/S relations in Ireland over GB/NI relations which has caused the resentment and the disruption.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
What an excellent idea in reinforcing British patriotism and winds up all the right people too
Lol, love it when proof pops up in the next post.
‘The Alternative für Vereignite Königreich party will be jealous that someone else had the idea first.’
For info: there is an @scotgov Covid update at 12.15pm. As well as today’s figures, we will give a general overview of the current situation. Please tune in if you can.
Previously, as this data from Nov 2019 demonstrates, accusations of Conservative's Islamophobia have not resonated with the public to anything like the same degree as accusations of Labour's anti-Semitism. Will today's Singh report change the view of the British public?
I suspect not, as unlike Labour/Jews/Israel/Palestine there are less frequent newsworthy stories to bring the loonier fringes out from under their rocks....
While the "risk stratification" notion last year was codswallop, it was achieved months ago in this country already. "Deaths within 28 days of an infection" not all of which will be deaths from Covid as opposed to with Covid now are below typical road traffic accident deaths in a normal year.
Time to unlock everything. No ifs, no buts. If people want to isolate then let them. If people wish to be antivaxx and end up in hospital then that's their own choice, just as if people choose to smoke and end up in hospital.
We won't actually know the current state of affairs until 10 or so days from now when we see the impact of the May 17th changes and what that has done to case numbers.
And my concern with any statement that it's like the common cold is that we've had the common cold for 2000+ years and we all know what the consequences of it are.
We've had Covid for just over a year and we really don't know what the long term consequences of Covid or nor whether you can catch Long Covid from a mild case.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't be opening things up but it does mean we shouldn't be rushing eagerly to do so. June 21st isn't that far away and a months wait now is better than another lockdown come October.
All of that is absolutely true. And also depressing that you should write it. You are saying that on account of a disease that is certainly deadly, and might have other long term effects, but which has largely been controlled, and which as it stands poses no threat to our health service, the government should continue to determine when we are allowed out of our own homes.
But we can leave our homes and we can do a while set of things that weren't open before.
The current position isn't the lockdown of March last year, it's the position we were in back in July last year.
were we back to the 1 hour of exercise outside and don't go to work position we were in back in January I would agree with you but we are currently in a reasonable half way house that allows business to be done.
To be honest, business is the least of my concerns. My youngest daughter has lived 20% of her life in a situation in which playdates have been banned, in which she cannot, by law, hug her grandparents. My oldest daughter is having her end of primary school residential trip away because - well, I'm not sure why, but apparently Wales isn't fully opening up on June 21st, so they can have the residential but have to come home to England each night. It's looking increasingly like we'll have to cancel the trip away at half-term. They're missing out on big elements of their childhood. I'm missing out on big elements of their childhood. And moving on to me, a pub isn't a pub if you have to sit obediently at a table, it's a bar. Indoor leisure activities are open now but the pleasure of them is taken away by having to wear facemasks. I'm sick of having to wear facemasks. I'm sick of having to look at other people wearing facemasks. I'm sick of being bullied and hectored and patronised at my own expense. I'm sick of banners on lamposts telling me to keep my distance, wear a mask. I'm sick of the uncertainty, the inability to plan, in case a capricious government change their minds again, in case a bubble pops, in case I get pinged by track and trace. I'm sick of QR codes. I'm sick of not being allowed in to places unless I give my identity. Fuck. That. Shit. This is not a reasonable halfway house. This is a totalitarian nightmare sweetened only by being less of a totalitarian nightmare than it was 13 months ago. It is a nightmare I am willing to endure three weeks longer until all adults have been offered a jab, but a nightmare nonetheless, and if it's going to continue past June 21st - which looks increasingly to be the case - then we may as well give up trying now. None of this prevents business being done. I can still procure. I can buy things, if I need them. I can work. The economy will not crash. But there's more to life than the economy.
This is my favourite post of the year. Thank you.
It was my least favourite. It sounds like the ranting of an inpatient and petulant toddler who can't understand why they can't go out and play naked in a thunderstorm. It's hardly a totalitarian distopia, as presented.
The counter view: This is a potentially fatal novel disease. It is merely controlled at present by reasonable isolation and containment measures. Those measures were frustrating for and still resulted in the deaths of 130k people. WIthout those measures, the death toll would have been many fold higher. Until we are a little more certain how the virus will respond to vaccine uptake or the medium term impacts of long-covid, then the predictabilty of the cold virus analogy is spot on. We just need to be careful and a little patient for a few more weeks.
We could of course go silly and it will be fine. Equally we could go silly and find the virus escapes the vaccine or develops increased lethality in other age groups, and we are back in a stricter protective lockdown.
Sensible people will wait and not go silly.
Declaration of interest - I help lead the vaccination programe for two counties in the N West, I run a hospital vaccine centre, I work in a hospital, I have been front and centre of the covid response throughout. I follow the science closely.
I suppose the counter example is the Seychelles, which is one of the most vaccinated countries (60% fully vaccinated), but which has had to reintroduce lockdown measures following a surge in cases. We probably do need people to be a bit sensible for a bit longer.
Ursula von der Leyen's claim that "problems do not come from the Protocol, they result from Brexit" is disingenuous. It was the decision by the UK and the EU to prioritise N/S relations in Ireland over GB/NI relations which has caused the resentment and the disruption.
"That was first and foremost Johnson’s decision with the NI-only backstop."
as May's position created a problem that the EU would need to fix, and Boris's solution created the current mess
May's position would have left the entire UK subjugated to EU rules, that is why the EU were laughing all the way wanting it.
Boris's solution created the mess. Which is a mammoth improvement!
May's position would still have left the EU and single market and ended EU free movement to the UK and ultimately left the customs union, just Boris wanted to go even further for GB and remove alignment to most single market and customs union regulation but that meant some form of border in the Irish Sea
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
What an excellent idea in reinforcing British patriotism and winds up all the right people too
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
While the "risk stratification" notion last year was codswallop, it was achieved months ago in this country already. "Deaths within 28 days of an infection" not all of which will be deaths from Covid as opposed to with Covid now are below typical road traffic accident deaths in a normal year.
Time to unlock everything. No ifs, no buts. If people want to isolate then let them. If people wish to be antivaxx and end up in hospital then that's their own choice, just as if people choose to smoke and end up in hospital.
We won't actually know the current state of affairs until 10 or so days from now when we see the impact of the May 17th changes and what that has done to case numbers.
And my concern with any statement that it's like the common cold is that we've had the common cold for 2000+ years and we all know what the consequences of it are.
We've had Covid for just over a year and we really don't know what the long term consequences of Covid are nor whether you can catch Long Covid from a mild case and the chances of doing so.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't be opening things up but it does mean we shouldn't be rushing eagerly to do so. June 21st isn't that far away and a months wait now is better than another lockdown come October.
We have vaccines, we have booster shots. There is no scenario where we keep any measures because people refused the vaccine. If the government proposes a winter lockdown to protect the chumps then that 18 point lead disappears overnight.
Putting any restrictions on the lives of double jabbed people beyond June 21st is a step too far. We should already be completely open as a nation with late night bars/clubs open and social distancing already axed. It's time to accept that 10-20k old people per year will die from COVID because they're too stupid to take the freely available vaccine.
Putting any restrictions on the lives of double jabbed people beyond June 21st is a step too far.
FTFY. The only reason the young haven't been vaccinated yet is they were not at real risk in the first place. Why should people who've put their lives on hold remain on hold just because the vaccine isn't ready to them yet? Or because they've only had one jab because that's all they've been offered?
Double vaccinated or not shouldn't be relevant. We've double vaccinated those who needed double vaccinating, let everyone else determine their own risk profile.
Important missing word:
"...is they were not at real risk of death in the first place" Hospitalisation and/or Long Covid are real things and real issues. Much though we might want to gloss over them. On a purely selfish note, when my daughters are both jabbed, I'll relax. Eldest daughter should be getting her first jab in the first week of June; hoping that my teenage younger one gets hers shortly after. But I'd not be happy for either of them to have a potential lifetime of options reduced just to shave off a few days right now for those of us now at lower risk of any of that.
There's risks in everything in life. There's risks driving, there's risks learning to drive - young drivers are at high risk for that. Just because there's a relatively teeny bit of risk is not a reason to restrict their liberties.
Let them choose whether they want to take their chances or not. If they don't want to risk hospitalisation and long covid let them choose to stay at home. If they want to take their chances, let them. Its a choice.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
I never thought our descent into fascism would be so cringe-worthy.
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Because the difference between what is the law and what is merely guidance and advice has been deliberately obscured by the government and misunderstood by officialdom, from the police down. That's why we should give a toss.
A good example is in the new guidance where it says "this guidance is underpinned by law". Despite no change in the law.
It's deliberately deceitful. Confusing law and guidance in this way is very dangerous - - it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter - it undermines the rule of law - it means that people are deceived about their rights - it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
No-one cares. They should.
It also gives individuals and organisations sufficient cover to bully and hector others, thus prolonging this nightmare.
Not just bullying. When officials are given this sort of power corruption inevitably follows. See Italy.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
For info: there is an @scotgov Covid update at 12.15pm. As well as today’s figures, we will give a general overview of the current situation. Please tune in if you can.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
And? Civus Britannicus sum. We don't do that sort of thing.
And 5x Flower of Scotland would require some serious anti-depressants.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
I honestly have no problem with patriotic songs - Jerusalem. Flower of Scotland. Land of My Fathers. Songs that have meaning. Not "One Nation One Britain" which is yet another faux-patriotic Tory agency ramming flags and twatty songs down primary school throats.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
And? Civus Britannicus sum. We don't do that sort of thing.
It does seem a distinctly un-British way of carrying on.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
I never thought our descent into fascism would be so cringe-worthy.
These folk. Interestingly, not quite what some might expect. But also very royalist. Special features include national celebrations of Prince George's birth.
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Because the difference between what is the law and what is merely guidance and advice has been deliberately obscured by the government and misunderstood by officialdom, from the police down. That's why we should give a toss.
A good example is in the new guidance where it says "this guidance is underpinned by law". Despite no change in the law.
It's deliberately deceitful. Confusing law and guidance in this way is very dangerous - - it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter - it undermines the rule of law - it means that people are deceived about their rights - it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
No-one cares. They should.
No one cares?!
There have been posters on here who for many, many months have been pointing out the principles, and danger, involved in what the government has been doing. For much of that time to great ridicule by the majority.
People have consistently confused a dislike of draconian laws with a dislike of what those laws have been introduced to address. They may have been introduced to stem the spread of the virus, but the issue has always been broader than that - we are now in a society which, for whatever good intentioned reasons, has a set of fiercely illiberal laws with which it appears the government continues to control the population.
It's only when people's personal "red lines" have been breached (which in totality lie on a spectrum) that there has been outrage. The principle has never changed right from for example @contrarian's first post.
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Because the difference between what is the law and what is merely guidance and advice has been deliberately obscured by the government and misunderstood by officialdom, from the police down. That's why we should give a toss.
A good example is in the new guidance where it says "this guidance is underpinned by law". Despite no change in the law.
It's deliberately deceitful. Confusing law and guidance in this way is very dangerous - - it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter - it undermines the rule of law - it means that people are deceived about their rights - it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
No-one cares. They should.
It also gives individuals and organisations sufficient cover to bully and hector others, thus prolonging this nightmare.
Not just bullying. When officials are given this sort of power corruption inevitably follows. See Italy.
What does your daughter (in hospitality) plan to do post 21 June? If legal mandates are removed from that date the insistence on masks, 2m stickers on floors etc etc will be rendered voluntary. My fear is that it will be businesses and other organisations that drag their heels in getting us out of all this.
I've already had this chat with my gym. About the significance of the 21 June date the gym manager clearly didn't know what I was talking about. And when I explained he said that people may not feel comfortable if we remove signage (masks must be worn, sanitise each piece of equipment before and after use, stickers on floor, half lockers taped up etc etc).
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
And? Civus Britannicus sum. We don't do that sort of thing.
And 5x Flower of Scotland would require some serious anti-depressants.
Not least because it's the song favoured by Edinburgh rugger buggers. Which HYUFD misses. They're his allies, for heaven's sake.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
I honestly have no problem with patriotic songs - Jerusalem. Flower of Scotland. Land of My Fathers. Songs that have meaning. Not "One Nation One Britain" which is yet another faux-patriotic Tory agency ramming flags and twatty songs down primary school throats.
It is a song to celebrate Britain as a whole, something all too rarely done
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
I honestly have no problem with patriotic songs - Jerusalem. Flower of Scotland. Land of My Fathers. Songs that have meaning. Not "One Nation One Britain" which is yet another faux-patriotic Tory agency ramming flags and twatty songs down primary school throats.
Who's behind it? It sounded anti-racist to me, not Tory or anything else.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
And? Civus Britannicus sum. We don't do that sort of thing.
And 5x Flower of Scotland would require some serious anti-depressants.
Not least because it's the song favoured by Edinburgh rugger buggers. Which HYUFD misses. They're his allies, for heaven's sake.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
And? Civus Britannicus sum. We don't do that sort of thing.
And 5x Flower of Scotland would require some serious anti-depressants.
We should do it more, we have far too many Scottish, Welsh and English national songs and not enough British national songs bar GSTQ which is more about the monarch than the nation and Rule Britannia which was more suitable for the age of Empire
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
No, not the US, unless you’re conflating reciting the Pledge of Allegiance which is done at the start of the school day pretty much everywhere, with singing patriotic songs. In fact here it’s pretty unusual to sing the national anthem (as opposed to standing while someone sings it), probably because it’s so difficult for people who aren’t trained singers to sing.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
I honestly have no problem with patriotic songs - Jerusalem. Flower of Scotland. Land of My Fathers. Songs that have meaning. Not "One Nation One Britain" which is yet another faux-patriotic Tory agency ramming flags and twatty songs down primary school throats.
Who's behind it? It sounded anti-racist to me, not Tory or anything else.
Also sounded tacky and shit. Sorry kids.
Interesting you should say that. (not being sarcastic)
Am I missing something? Aren't the new 'restrictions' entirely advisory? If they are, then who really gives a toss?
Because the difference between what is the law and what is merely guidance and advice has been deliberately obscured by the government and misunderstood by officialdom, from the police down. That's why we should give a toss.
A good example is in the new guidance where it says "this guidance is underpinned by law". Despite no change in the law.
It's deliberately deceitful. Confusing law and guidance in this way is very dangerous - - it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter - it undermines the rule of law - it means that people are deceived about their rights - it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
No-one cares. They should.
It also gives individuals and organisations sufficient cover to bully and hector others, thus prolonging this nightmare.
Not just bullying. When officials are given this sort of power corruption inevitably follows. See Italy.
What does your daughter (in hospitality) plan to do post 21 June? If legal mandates are removed from that date the insistence on masks, 2m stickers on floors etc etc will be rendered voluntary. My fear is that it will be businesses and other organisations that drag their heels in getting us out of all this.
I've already had this chat with my gym. About the significance of the 21 June date the gym manager clearly didn't know what I was talking about. And when I explained he said that people may not feel comfortable if we remove signage (masks must be worn, sanitise each piece of equipment before and after use, stickers on floor, half lockers taped up etc etc).
Its not businesses job to "get us out of all this", its their job to cater to their customers.
If the customers feel more comfortable with sanitising equipment before and after each use, then so be it at first if the business wants to cater to its customers. Heck some customers might prefer that sort of etiquette becomes permanent.
Previously, as this data from Nov 2019 demonstrates, accusations of Conservative's Islamophobia have not resonated with the public to anything like the same degree as accusations of Labour's anti-Semitism. Will today's Singh report change the view of the British public?
I suspect not, as unlike Labour/Jews/Israel/Palestine there are less frequent newsworthy stories to bring the loonier fringes out from under their rocks....
To be very blunt, I also suspect that the public as a whole don't think that being suspicious of some parts of the islamic community in the UK is wrong.
Every major town has a story where people labelled Islamaphobes and ignored by the authorities turned out to be horrifyingly correct, and a lot of people have a friend of a friend who almost got caught up in a (often homegrown) fundamental islamic terrorist attack (be it 7/7, Westminster (I, II, & III), Reading, Borough Market, Arndale Shopping Centre, Manchester Arena, Bataclan, and Nice etc).
While at times some people can be annoyed by the Orthodox Jewish community in the UK, it's not quite the same number and magnitude of bad personal experiences.
The problem is the turning of a blind eye to often serious accusations, by authorities more concerned with ‘community relations’ than investigating and prosecuting serious offences including rape of children.
It became more difficult to ignore when it was published in the Times, rather than shouted by Nick Griffin.
We all still need to take care not to demonise groups, because of the actions of a few bad people.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
No, not the US, unless you’re conflating reciting the Pledge of Allegiance which is done at the start of the school day pretty much everywhere, with singing patriotic songs. In fact here it’s pretty unusual to sing the national anthem (as opposed to standing while someone sings it), probably because it’s so difficult for people who aren’t trained singers to sing.
That is precisely the point, it is an anthem to celebrate the whole United States, not individual states of it, sung regularly and reinforced by a Pledge of Allegiance to the nation said by each child at the start of each school day.
A Pledge of Allegiance said to the UK and its monarch by every child from Shetland to the Isle of Wight would be a good idea too
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
I honestly have no problem with patriotic songs - Jerusalem. Flower of Scotland. Land of My Fathers. Songs that have meaning. Not "One Nation One Britain" which is yet another faux-patriotic Tory agency ramming flags and twatty songs down primary school throats.
Who's behind it? It sounded anti-racist to me, not Tory or anything else.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
I honestly have no problem with patriotic songs - Jerusalem. Flower of Scotland. Land of My Fathers. Songs that have meaning. Not "One Nation One Britain" which is yet another faux-patriotic Tory agency ramming flags and twatty songs down primary school throats.
It is a song to celebrate Britain as a whole, something all too rarely done
It's interesting that the OBON people seem to conflate "Great Britain" with the UK. But I don't have time to drill down and find where the discrepancy lies.
Quieter skies, of course. We're under the flight path into Stansted and Heathrow.... the one that starts off Clacton.
Are the Ukrainian skies considered safe now?
Doesn't look like it! Russian airliners at the very least appear to be avoiding it - look at this route between Moscow and Chisinau, avoiding Ukraine: https://www.flightradar24.com/SBI3211/27d2323c
EDIT: Ooh, interestingly, there is an RAF plane from Norwich over the Ukraine currently. Has flown from Norwich out over the Black Sea, turned around and now appears to be retracing its steps:
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
I honestly have no problem with patriotic songs - Jerusalem. Flower of Scotland. Land of My Fathers. Songs that have meaning. Not "One Nation One Britain" which is yet another faux-patriotic Tory agency ramming flags and twatty songs down primary school throats.
Who's behind it? It sounded anti-racist to me, not Tory or anything else.
Also sounded tacky and shit. Sorry kids.
Interesting you should say that. (not being sarcastic)
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
And? Civus Britannicus sum. We don't do that sort of thing.
And 5x Flower of Scotland would require some serious anti-depressants.
We should do it more, we have far too many Scottish, Welsh and English national songs and not enough British national songs bar GSTQ which is more about the monarch than the nation and Rule Britannia which was more suitable for the age of Empire
When @Dura_Ace and I have the same instinctive view of things selling this is going to make Sisyphus's labours look like a gentle workout.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
I honestly have no problem with patriotic songs - Jerusalem. Flower of Scotland. Land of My Fathers. Songs that have meaning. Not "One Nation One Britain" which is yet another faux-patriotic Tory agency ramming flags and twatty songs down primary school throats.
It is a song to celebrate Britain as a whole, something all too rarely done
It's interesting that the OBON people seem to conflate "Great Britain" with the UK. But I don't have time to drill down and find where the discrepancy lies.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
I honestly have no problem with patriotic songs - Jerusalem. Flower of Scotland. Land of My Fathers. Songs that have meaning. Not "One Nation One Britain" which is yet another faux-patriotic Tory agency ramming flags and twatty songs down primary school throats.
Who's behind it? It sounded anti-racist to me, not Tory or anything else.
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
No, not the US, unless you’re conflating reciting the Pledge of Allegiance which is done at the start of the school day pretty much everywhere, with singing patriotic songs. In fact here it’s pretty unusual to sing the national anthem (as opposed to standing while someone sings it), probably because it’s so difficult for people who aren’t trained singers to sing.
That is precisely the point, it is an anthem to celebrate the whole United States, not individual states of it, sung regularly and reinforced by a Pledge of Allegiance to the nation said by each child at the start of each school day.
A Pledge of Allegiance said to the UK and its monarch by every child from Shetland to the Isle of Wight would be a good idea too
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
Please tell me this is satire.
This course of patriotic song is standard fare in the US, Russia, China, even France.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
I honestly have no problem with patriotic songs - Jerusalem. Flower of Scotland. Land of My Fathers. Songs that have meaning. Not "One Nation One Britain" which is yet another faux-patriotic Tory agency ramming flags and twatty songs down primary school throats.
It is a song to celebrate Britain as a whole, something all too rarely done
It's interesting that the OBON people seem to conflate "Great Britain" with the UK. But I don't have time to drill down and find where the discrepancy lies.
You mean "England" not "Great Britain".
I'm quoting them, literally, from their website. It's the first specific indication of what they mean by 'Britain'.
Comments
https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1397139420483031045?s=20
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-56757772
Daily deaths are ~5
"That was first and foremost Johnson’s decision with the NI-only backstop."
as May's position created a problem that the EU would need to fix, and Boris's solution created the current mess
- it is arbitrary because there can be no certainty about what it means or how it is applied, with so much depending on which official you speak to or encounter
- it undermines the rule of law
- it means that people are deceived about their rights
- it gives too much unaccountable power to politicians and officialdom.
No-one cares. They should.
Maybe if he'd quit in protest in March 2020 it'd be different but the fact he was still a key member of the government all the way up to November 2020 blunts his attack a lot IMO.
https://twitter.com/JoeTwyman/status/1397139591732285441?s=20
I suspect not, as unlike Labour/Jews/Israel/Palestine there are less frequent newsworthy stories to bring the loonier fringes out from under their rocks....
A government giving guidance because they believe the situation to be so urgent but are too embarrassed to tell local officials and businesses what the latest guidance is, is at the least kind of weird and notable and realistically just terrible government.*
* For the fanboys that does not mean I expect "Boris" to immediately become unpopular, I am on the Tories for a majority and biggest party for the next election. I just think it is ridiculous behaviour from the govt.
https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2021/05/labour-voters-make-kim-leadbeater-sister-of-jo-cox-early-favourite-in-the-batley-and-spen-by-election.html
The vaccination program is constrained by supply. Working 24-7 at the same rate would require convincing people to take slots at times they don't want to and wear the staff down.
In addition, the vaccination program from many sites is not a steady state operation - they line up a set of appointments and do a bunch quite rapidly. For example, my GP seems to arrange block of mass vaccination at each age cohort - shuts the surgery for other stuff for 3 days or so and does everyone in the current band. Then back to normal.
2 years is a long time in politics:
From @YouGov, this week in 2019:
Lib Dems lead the polls as they start to become “the party of the 48%”
Lib Dem: 24%
Brexit: 22%
Con: 19%
Lab: 19%
Grn: 8%
UKIP: 1%
Change UK: 1%
https://twitter.com/james_bowley/status/1397131423115616262?s=20
https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1397143059360534531?s=20
There have been posters on here who for many, many months have been pointing out the principles, and danger, involved in what the government has been doing. For much of that time to great ridicule by the majority.
People have consistently confused a dislike of draconian laws with a dislike of what those laws have been introduced to address. They may have been introduced to stem the spread of the virus, but the issue has always been broader than that - we are now in a society which, for whatever good intentioned reasons, has a set of fiercely illiberal laws with which it appears the government continues to control the population.
It's only when people's personal "red lines" have been breached (which in totality lie on a spectrum) that there has been outrage. The principle has never changed right from for example @contrarian's first post.
Now everyone agrees with him.
Heck in my field you only have to look at yesterday's Parliamentary debate to see that even if MPs did care - excuses would be found to ensure nothing was done.
So if you want to fix things you have little choice but to do it yourself.
Macron 54%
Le Pen 46%
https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1396931988653846531?s=20
Macron 51%
Bertrand 49%
https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1396932222784049160?s=20
Perhaps the most surprising thing is the Greens are the only party to really see little change, still on about 8%
At the point to point I went to on Saturday I saw about a dozen facemasks, all being worn by jockeys or stable staff. No one in the (typical p2p) crowd *at all* was wearing one.
The Government just need to keep vaccinating and accept it. More to the point, next time there's a new variant "of concern" overseas announce that the travel ban or red restrictions come in with immediate effect except for planes already in the air. Refunds can be applied for etc.
"...is they were not at real risk of death in the first place"
Hospitalisation and/or Long Covid are real things and real issues. Much though we might want to gloss over them.
On a purely selfish note, when my daughters are both jabbed, I'll relax. Eldest daughter should be getting her first jab in the first week of June; hoping that my teenage younger one gets hers shortly after. But I'd not be happy for either of them to have a potential lifetime of options reduced just to shave off a few days right now for those of us now at lower risk of any of that.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19325929.one-britain-one-nation-event-childs-school-sparks-scots-parents-anger/
The week involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, which ends with the repeating lines “Strong Britain Great Nation”.
Haha. What a load of shit.
(I appreciate I'm now about to get knocked over by a Dacia Duster on my bike ride...)
#COVID19 vaccine are taking place in Livingston Flag of Scotland.
The UK Government is securing and buying vaccines for all parts of the UK.
https://twitter.com/UKGovScotland/status/1397148729367478272?s=20
Every major town has a story where people labelled Islamaphobes and ignored by the authorities turned out to be horrifyingly correct, and a lot of people have a friend of a friend who almost got caught up in a (often homegrown) fundamental islamic terrorist attack (be it 7/7, Westminster (I, II, & III), Reading, Borough Market, Arndale Shopping Centre, Manchester Arena, Bataclan, and Nice etc).
While at times some people can be annoyed by the Orthodox Jewish community in the UK, it's not quite the same number and magnitude of bad personal experiences.
Boris's solution created the mess. Which is a mammoth improvement!
‘The Alternative für Vereignite Königreich party will be jealous that someone else had the idea first.’
Let them choose whether they want to take their chances or not. If they don't want to risk hospitalisation and long covid let them choose to stay at home. If they want to take their chances, let them. Its a choice.
If you tolerate this then your children will be next, as Richie Manic said.
Of course if it was belting out Flower of Scotland 5 times a day the SNP would have no complaints
She is ridiculous and of course how many people even know they are the same virus
Just posturing
And 5x Flower of Scotland would require some serious anti-depressants.
Then has a good chortle.
These folk. Interestingly, not quite what some might expect. But also very royalist. Special features include national celebrations of Prince George's birth.
And I see that any referendum with require all Scots living in RUK who qualify for a Scots passport to be given the vote
Therefore, in my family south of the border there are 5 no votes
1. I was referring to voters not PB'ers.
3. I have been one of the people from the start complaining about the way government has seized powers it did not need and about the police's abuse. See a number of thread headers on the topic: here - https://www7.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2020/04/01/taking-liberties/ and here - https://www7.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2020/05/24/social-distancing-how-far-how-long-for/ - and here - https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2020/10/10/hollow-men-the-sidelining-of-parliament-during-the-biggest-health-economic-crisis-in-modern-times/.
I've already had this chat with my gym. About the significance of the 21 June date the gym manager clearly didn't know what I was talking about. And when I explained he said that people may not feel comfortable if we remove signage (masks must be worn, sanitise each piece of equipment before and after use, stickers on floor, half lockers taped up etc etc).
Also sounded tacky and shit. Sorry kids.
https://www.onebritainonenation.com/
If the customers feel more comfortable with sanitising equipment before and after each use, then so be it at first if the business wants to cater to its customers. Heck some customers might prefer that sort of etiquette becomes permanent.
It became more difficult to ignore when it was published in the Times, rather than shouted by Nick Griffin.
We all still need to take care not to demonise groups, because of the actions of a few bad people.
A Pledge of Allegiance said to the UK and its monarch by every child from Shetland to the Isle of Wight would be a good idea too
https://www.flightradar24.com/SBI3211/27d2323c
EDIT: Ooh, interestingly, there is an RAF plane from Norwich over the Ukraine currently. Has flown from Norwich out over the Black Sea, turned around and now appears to be retracing its steps:
https://www.flightradar24.com/RRR7259/27d224ec
Sad that people want to laugh at that. Though it did sound really tacky, but kids who aren't yours singing tends to.
https://www.onebritainonenation.com/ceo-founder
Guaranteed not to do worse.
Lord.
Gentleman.
Deity.