The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
The alternative is that you and the anti-woke warriors are paranoid and like the boy in The Sixth Sense see woke people. They're everywhere!
"Woke". A blanket term imposed by twats on people who aren't twats. Its "political correctness" for the 2020s. If you aren't desperately angry and worried by the fungus that is Woke, that means that you are woke.
Unless I missed something, wasn't the point at the end of the Sixth Sense that the boy wasn't paranoid and he actually could see them? Which played into its famous ending of course.
Indeed! But the "I see x everywhere" line that he uses is the same one used by (as an example) David Icke followers with reference to lizard people. Sometimes the reason why the rest of the world doesn't see and get incensed by the woke fungus is because it isn't there. Whenever "ITS ALL WOKE!!!" gets ranted I have flashbacks to the "its political correctness gone mad!" Spitting Image skits complete with their flapping heads.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
The alternative is that you and the anti-woke warriors are paranoid and like the boy in The Sixth Sense see woke people. They're everywhere!
"Woke". A blanket term imposed by twats on people who aren't twats. Its "political correctness" for the 2020s. If you aren't desperately angry and worried by the fungus that is Woke, that means that you are woke.
Unless I missed something, wasn't the point at the end of the Sixth Sense that the boy wasn't paranoid and he actually could see them? Which played into its famous ending of course.
"I see woke people " (the talented boy in the film was indeed woke himself as he did not say I see dead men and women which would exclude expired non - binary people )
I'm not sure what's worse: the lucky February coincidence or that they've not even had to wait six months before copping the big'un.
Isn't there a conspiracy theory that bonds purchased more recently do better? I haven't bothered buying any, but if interest rates don't go back to something like pre-COVID by Christmas then I might. But then I guess there has to be a real chance that the government slashes NS&I rates.
I really couldn't say. Just looking at the holdings in that link, many are at the maximum so it is probably seen as an alternative investment by the well-off: interest rates are low but the money is safe and there is always the chance of a big win. (Probably, like the National Lottery, Premium Bonds depend on people not realising how astronomical are the odds against them.) Like many working class babies in decades gone by, I was given a handful at birth: is that still a thing now?
Not sure, but that is the con. Basically, only buy them if you can buy a substantial amount (ideally at least 75% of the max allowance).
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
The only issue I have with wearing masks is that, as a user of (NHS) hearing aids and glasses, the mask straps get tangled up with the rest of the support bits around my ears.
Yes, youd think wed have gotten better at avoiding it after 15 months, but no.
Any idea when Boris is meant to speak today about what's going on with lifting lockdown? If it is today?
Will it be to Parliament or a press conference? After Hoyle got upset last time I'm guessing Parliament?
Seemingly they are doing it simultaneously at 5pm. Not sure that is what Holye requires...
Thank you.
It is what was agreed with Hoyle actually. Which I think was a mistake by Hoyle - the media will go full on with the Prime Minister and the questions the media asks him, while the Health Secretary and the Opposition and MPs scrutiny of him will get much less attention.
Better I would think for Parliament to be done at a separate time, even if it was later rather than first.
Id agree, though bickering about it between speakers and gov is a tradition, but in any case it should be less about attention anyway. The idea would be MPs should have different questions and more time for them, than the media, so less news attention of it shouldn't affect their function being performed.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
The alternative is that you and the anti-woke warriors are paranoid and like the boy in The Sixth Sense see woke people. They're everywhere!
"Woke". A blanket term imposed by twats on people who aren't twats. Its "political correctness" for the 2020s. If you aren't desperately angry and worried by the fungus that is Woke, that means that you are woke.
You are clearly the stupidest person on this site. No offence. Which is why I generally never respond to you - but I thought you deserved an explanation as to my silence, this one time
Sean love I wouldn't have it any other way.
Yes, badge of honour that. He once called me stupid - ME! - somebody who's basically a brain with a few odds and ends attached.
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
Or there’s no story.
Them splitting IS the story. It shouldn't be but that is absolutely how the press works.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
The alternative is that you and the anti-woke warriors are paranoid and like the boy in The Sixth Sense see woke people. They're everywhere!
"Woke". A blanket term imposed by twats on people who aren't twats. Its "political correctness" for the 2020s. If you aren't desperately angry and worried by the fungus that is Woke, that means that you are woke.
You are clearly the stupidest person on this site. No offence. Which is why I generally never respond to you - but I thought you deserved an explanation as to my silence, this one time
Or just completely unable to respond to Rochdale's analysis so you just resort to being offensive.
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
I don't see it.
If there were a story here, why hasn't it been reported in the Scottish or Irish or other press that aren't under the jurisdiction of English courts?
If there were a story here, and it involved anything which could be about breaking lockdown rules, why hasn't a Labour or SNP or other MP or Lord brought it up in Parliament using Parliamentary Privilege?
Quite simply, if there were something to be said then Gove is hated enough by enough people that somebody would find a way to say it.
My anecdotal is that a couple of times in the past week I’ve heard people repeatedly coughing indoors with no-one in the vicinity being phased by it. The fear of covid seems to have largely gone.
Any idea when Boris is meant to speak today about what's going on with lifting lockdown? If it is today?
Will it be to Parliament or a press conference? After Hoyle got upset last time I'm guessing Parliament?
Seemingly they are doing it simultaneously at 5pm. Not sure that is what Holye requires...
Thank you.
It is what was agreed with Hoyle actually. Which I think was a mistake by Hoyle - the media will go full on with the Prime Minister and the questions the media asks him, while the Health Secretary and the Opposition and MPs scrutiny of him will get much less attention.
Better I would think for Parliament to be done at a separate time, even if it was later rather than first.
Call me old-fashioned, but major government announcements really should always be made to Parliament in the first instance.
Oh, and after the performance of the media in the past 18 months, putting them to the back of the queue would be a nice bonus!
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
Or there’s no story.
Them splitting IS the story. It shouldn't be but that is absolutely how the press works.
I'm not sure what's worse: the lucky February coincidence or that they've not even had to wait six months before copping the big'un.
Isn't there a conspiracy theory that bonds purchased more recently do better? I haven't bothered buying any, but if interest rates don't go back to something like pre-COVID by Christmas then I might. But then I guess there has to be a real chance that the government slashes NS&I rates.
had a £1000 worth for seven years and did not win a thing. The odds on that were about 2% . Whilst I get that ERNIE does not select tickets as such but numbers that are then matched to current bonds list , with that apparent luck I had doubts in my mid my numbers were active so sold out. Probably irrational as maybe I was just very unlucky but no point in playing something if you are not convinced yourself you are in the game!
I was given £5 worth when I was born, 43 years ago. Still got £5 worth. Haven't won a dickie bird. Might as well just let it sit there and continue to depreciate. I think I've got more chance of being struck by lightning than winning anything.
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
Or there’s no story.
There is, at least, a story. Silly to pretend not. The question is whether it’s any of our business.
Also, News Int. and the Mail have no incentive to publish anything salacious, and The Guardian, FT, and Telegraph are not going to for other reasons.
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
Or there’s no story.
There is, at least, a story. Silly to pretend not. The question is whether it’s any of our business.
Also, News Int. and the Mail have no incentive to publish anything salacious, and The Guardian, FT, and Telegraph are not going to for other reasons.
Any idea when Boris is meant to speak today about what's going on with lifting lockdown? If it is today?
Will it be to Parliament or a press conference? After Hoyle got upset last time I'm guessing Parliament?
Seemingly they are doing it simultaneously at 5pm. Not sure that is what Holye requires...
Thank you.
It is what was agreed with Hoyle actually. Which I think was a mistake by Hoyle - the media will go full on with the Prime Minister and the questions the media asks him, while the Health Secretary and the Opposition and MPs scrutiny of him will get much less attention.
Better I would think for Parliament to be done at a separate time, even if it was later rather than first.
Call me old-fashioned, but major government announcements really should always be made to Parliament in the first instance.
Oh, and after the performance of the media in the past 18 months, putting them to the back of the queue would be a nice bonus!
IIRC under Cameron that was tried for a few things. Which caused the press to say that they were being bypassed - in their view they need to be told what is going to be announced in advance so that it can be analysed. So the press retaliated by hammering said announcements, until they went back to briefing the press first.
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
Or there’s no story.
There is, at least, a story. Silly to pretend not. The question is whether it’s any of our business.
Also, News Int. and the Mail have no incentive to publish anything salacious, and The Guardian, FT, and Telegraph are not going to for other reasons.
So we just don’t know what’s going on really.
How can you so confidently say that?
Quite honestly, a former PM confirmed it to me a week ago. I posted about it on here at the time.
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
Or there’s no story.
There is, at least, a story. Silly to pretend not. The question is whether it’s any of our business.
Also, News Int. and the Mail have no incentive to publish anything salacious, and The Guardian, FT, and Telegraph are not going to for other reasons.
So we just don’t know what’s going on really.
The media do have something of an unwritten rule, not to go after their own with salacious gossip, as opposed to a genuine story that’s in the public interest.
“There’s a difference between what’s in the public interest, and what the public might find interesting.”
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
Or there’s no story.
There is, at least, a story. Silly to pretend not. The question is whether it’s any of our business.
Also, News Int. and the Mail have no incentive to publish anything salacious, and The Guardian, FT, and Telegraph are not going to for other reasons.
So we just don’t know what’s going on really.
There is at the very least the story of La Vine’s stinking hypocrisy.
Any idea when Boris is meant to speak today about what's going on with lifting lockdown? If it is today?
Will it be to Parliament or a press conference? After Hoyle got upset last time I'm guessing Parliament?
Seemingly they are doing it simultaneously at 5pm. Not sure that is what Holye requires...
Thank you.
It is what was agreed with Hoyle actually. Which I think was a mistake by Hoyle - the media will go full on with the Prime Minister and the questions the media asks him, while the Health Secretary and the Opposition and MPs scrutiny of him will get much less attention.
Better I would think for Parliament to be done at a separate time, even if it was later rather than first.
Call me old-fashioned, but major government announcements really should always be made to Parliament in the first instance.
Oh, and after the performance of the media in the past 18 months, putting them to the back of the queue would be a nice bonus!
IIRC under Cameron that was tried for a few things. Which caused the press to say that they were being bypassed - in their view they need to be told what is going to be announced in advance so that it can be analysed. So the press retaliated by hammering said announcements, until they went back to briefing the press first.
That annoyed me, too. I want to see the morning news analysing what was actually announced yesterday, not what’s going to be announced today!
I think it started with Campbell and Mandleson, briefing out exactly what was going to be announced, rather than the general nature of forthcoming statements by ministers.
In some ways I think the NHS GC is well deserved: it has been fantastic for this country.
However: I don't want the NHS to turn into a religion that can do no wrong. My own youth was blighted by a mistake made by the NHS, which took years to correct. The Stafford scandal also shows what happens when the NHS becomes above criticism.
I fear we're heading that way, and whilst it will be good for staff, it won't be good for patients.
The NHS is staffed by human beings, not deities, and some will make mistakes. When those mistakes occur, the correct response is openness, not the circling of the wagons.
This has already happened. There are endless scandals in the NHS - see the latest in a long line of maternity scandals, for instance. And the NHS has a very poor record in how it treats whistleblowers.
Undoubtedly many of the doctors and others working in the front line this last year and a half have behaved exceptionally and deserve our thanks. But to venerate every aspect of the NHS is absurd and does not accord with reality.
To give an example, Daughter has injured her lower leg in some way - possibly a hairline fracture from her running - which has been causing her some pain for weeks now. As you can imagine, this is not ideal in her job. Telephones surgery to get an appointment and is told to go to A&E. Does so. A&E furious and ring up surgery to give them a bollocking and so she gets the appointment. Sees doc who says that she needs an X-ray. Books her in. Then rings back to say that has talked to another doc and better to wait another 3 weeks for x-ray. By which time it will have been at least 6 weeks since pain started before she even gets a diagnosis let alone treatment. Absurd.
Meanwhile the doc said "I can give you a sick note for your employer and you can stay off work for a few weeks". The withering contempt with which Daughter explained the reality to the doctor will, I hope, make him feel shame for some time to come.
So Daughter now using crutch to get around, sits behind bar and does what she can to avoid running around too much and orders everyone else around to do the fetching and carrying. Meanwhile let's hope that leg injury does not get worse.
The GP receptionist does have a reputation of doing everything possible to avoid making any appointments for anyone. She certainly does not deserve any sort of medal.
There does seem to be a lack of understanding in certain public institutions (and not just the NHS) on what it means to be self-employed or a business owner. My wife is self-employed but doesn't earn a great deal and has definitely encountered this at the GPs (foot problem, job entails a lot of walking).
There does seem to be an assumption that everyone is on the payroll (like them), or rolling in money and avoiding tax.
He's waiting to see what time Emma R is playing. With tennis we wont know until we know how many sets the men's match before goes into. She is third on court I think.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
The problem is, the minuscule amount of idiots on the left wield a disproportionate amount of power, particularly in education and the charity sector. I don't want my daughters growing up being taught that white people have less moral worth than other people.
If the media only discussed the views of normal people there wouldn't be much to say.
For example "Dull centrists triumph in general election" is the true headline for every election in living memory. Not only do they come first, but they come second and third as well.
If it was competent dull centrists, then it would be worth a headline.
Agree. One of the understated issues in politics is the question of who will govern competently, without making our lives more ridiculously complex and without being in the pocket of extremists of some sort.
Jobs for the boys, sub currents of self interest, a degree of Machiavellianism with truth and facts, and a certain level of corruption are not as big a set of vote losers as commentators like to think. Lack of vision, incompetence, not knowing what you stand for are much more important. Human nature.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
I have just finished “Hard Choices” by Peter Ricketts, former NSA, FCO Perm Sec etc.
He makes the uncontroversial point that if we want maximise our power* post-Brexit, we are going to have to act a little more democratically and rule-of-law observing ourselves.
To me, restoring Parliament’s power vis a vis the executive is an essential pillar of that.
*Soft power, which is along with intelligence gathering, our key strength.
On topic, whether or not driven by complacency, there are a few things the Tory campaigns got wrong:
1. They forgot that, for a Government with a large majority, by-elections are tough as it's a free hit for opposition parties, and turnout is problem as your own supporters know it won't affect who is in power nationally tomorrow. Postal vote sign up and GOTV are really key, and they did neither well.
2. Candidate selection, particularly in C&A, was poor. Neither candidate had a compelling story, and both were somewhat identikit. Fleet was an actively off-putting presence. They should have worked on the "independent local voice" point and allowed the candidate to disagree with the party, within some clear limits, on a couple of key local issues (they criticised Green for differing from her party's national position on HS2, often in the same breath as praising Gillan for having done so).
3. The expectations game was a disaster. They should not have allowed either result (particularly B&S) to be seen as big shocks (harder with C&A as it's very difficult with the size of the swing to spin that otherwise but it was seen as a bigger shock than it should have been).
4. In B&S, they simply didn't exploit the Galloway intervention anywhere near enough. It was a gift from the heavens but somehow they didn't take advantage.
Any idea when Boris is meant to speak today about what's going on with lifting lockdown? If it is today?
Will it be to Parliament or a press conference? After Hoyle got upset last time I'm guessing Parliament?
Seemingly they are doing it simultaneously at 5pm. Not sure that is what Holye requires...
Thank you.
It is what was agreed with Hoyle actually. Which I think was a mistake by Hoyle - the media will go full on with the Prime Minister and the questions the media asks him, while the Health Secretary and the Opposition and MPs scrutiny of him will get much less attention.
Better I would think for Parliament to be done at a separate time, even if it was later rather than first.
Call me old-fashioned, but major government announcements really should always be made to Parliament in the first instance.
Oh, and after the performance of the media in the past 18 months, putting them to the back of the queue would be a nice bonus!
IIRC under Cameron that was tried for a few things. Which caused the press to say that they were being bypassed - in their view they need to be told what is going to be announced in advance so that it can be analysed. So the press retaliated by hammering said announcements, until they went back to briefing the press first.
That annoyed me, too. I want to see the morning news analysing what was actually announced yesterday, not what’s going to be announced today!
Because the Telegraph went hard core Brown Tory (remember that?), they weren't, for quite a while they weren't on the "inside" with the Coalition government.
A friend at the Telegraph told me the editor at the time was incredulous - "Do they think they can run the country without us?"
My anecdotal is that a couple of times in the past week I’ve heard people repeatedly coughing indoors with no-one in the vicinity being phased by it. The fear of covid seems to have largely gone.
I think that's true of the people happy to go out and sit indoors in public places. Sadly the politicians and media have scared a substantial number of people into just never going outdoors for fear of something that they probably won't catch and now that they're vaccinated won't die from and likely won't end up in hospital for.
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
Or there’s no story.
There is, at least, a story. Silly to pretend not. The question is whether it’s any of our business.
Also, News Int. and the Mail have no incentive to publish anything salacious, and The Guardian, FT, and Telegraph are not going to for other reasons.
So we just don’t know what’s going on really.
I believe I know the story from a close friend of one of the parties involved. It is embarrassing/enlightening rather than mortifyingly outrageous or bizarre. But of course I may be misinformed and there is much more to it
My anecdotal is that a couple of times in the past week I’ve heard people repeatedly coughing indoors with no-one in the vicinity being phased by it. The fear of covid seems to have largely gone.
Phased?
You mean like in Star Trek and their phasers?
Or do you mean fazed?
FYI - I've decided to blame all my typos etc on my social media team, works every time.
The care minister Helen Whately has said she would probably carry on wearing a facemask in crowded places and on public transport once restrictions are lifted.
In the first sign of a difference of emphasis within government about how to interpret Boris Johnson’s shift towards personal responsibility in dealing with the virus, Whately said she would not be “ditching” her mask after July 19 although she would be wearing it less.
But senior NHS leaders insisted this morning that people should carry on wearing masks “as much as possible”, saying it was “keeping us safe and well”.
The care minister Helen Whately has said she would probably carry on wearing a facemask in crowded places and on public transport once restrictions are lifted.
In the first sign of a difference of emphasis within government about how to interpret Boris Johnson’s shift towards personal responsibility in dealing with the virus, Whately said she would not be “ditching” her mask after July 19 although she would be wearing it less.
But senior NHS leaders insisted this morning that people should carry on wearing masks “as much as possible”, saying it was “keeping us safe and well”.
Ugh, I hope she and her husband didn't come in any contact with England players last week at Wembley.
The Duchess of Cambridge is having to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who later tested positive for coronavirus, Kensington Palace has said.
Kate was due to spend the day with William celebrating the 73rd anniversary of the NHS at two events but will now spend a period of self-isolation at home.
My anecdotal is that a couple of times in the past week I’ve heard people repeatedly coughing indoors with no-one in the vicinity being phased by it. The fear of covid seems to have largely gone.
Phased?
You mean like in Star Trek and their phasers?
Or do you mean fazed?
FYI - I've decided to blame all my typos etc on my social media team, works every time.
Yes.
Autocorrect is getting annoyingly aggressive. The other day I typed "30 years war" and it was corrected to "30 years earlier".
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
Ugh, I hope she and her husband didn't come in any contact with England players last week at Wembley.
The Duchess of Cambridge is having to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who later tested positive for coronavirus, Kensington Palace has said.
Kate was due to spend the day with William celebrating the 73rd anniversary of the NHS at two events but will now spend a period of self-isolation at home.
This is happening far too often and mucking about with people's lives far more than even under lockdown as it just takes a random ping to stop your schedule dead. the government really need to sort this out as it is making education ,work and normal life impossible
The care minister Helen Whately has said she would probably carry on wearing a facemask in crowded places and on public transport once restrictions are lifted.
In the first sign of a difference of emphasis within government about how to interpret Boris Johnson’s shift towards personal responsibility in dealing with the virus, Whately said she would not be “ditching” her mask after July 19 although she would be wearing it less.
But senior NHS leaders insisted this morning that people should carry on wearing masks “as much as possible”, saying it was “keeping us safe and well”.
The care minister Helen Whately has said she would probably carry on wearing a facemask in crowded places and on public transport once restrictions are lifted.
In the first sign of a difference of emphasis within government about how to interpret Boris Johnson’s shift towards personal responsibility in dealing with the virus, Whately said she would not be “ditching” her mask after July 19 although she would be wearing it less.
But senior NHS leaders insisted this morning that people should carry on wearing masks “as much as possible”, saying it was “keeping us safe and well”.
So personal choice should actually be an enforced set of rules via ministerial collective responsibility? Perhaps by the Whips Office?
In that case, I am volunteering you to have pineapple pizza for diner. To share with Piers Corbyn.
EDIT: On a serious note, people should be careful in making comments around about continued mask wearing. Some people are medically vulnerable or have partners/close family who are. So continuing to wear a mask is, for them, a serious decision.
The care minister Helen Whately has said she would probably carry on wearing a facemask in crowded places and on public transport once restrictions are lifted.
In the first sign of a difference of emphasis within government about how to interpret Boris Johnson’s shift towards personal responsibility in dealing with the virus, Whately said she would not be “ditching” her mask after July 19 although she would be wearing it less.
But senior NHS leaders insisted this morning that people should carry on wearing masks “as much as possible”, saying it was “keeping us safe and well”.
I think it is consistent. Some people want to continue wearing them, others won't. That's entirely the point of it being a personal choice.
It isn't consistent. The NHS are saying wear "as much as possible", while the minister is saying "she would be wearing it less" (i.e. not as much as possible).
If they are not going to mandate - and I can see the logic on that - there does need to be a clear steer on what best practice and behaving as a responsible citizen looks like.
The minister (think it was Whately) was incredibly wishy-washy on this in terms of wearing a mask as a care home visitor. People know they won't be prevented from hugging granny sans mask from 19th, but the interview left me no clearer as to what the advice was to someone who wants to do the right thing.
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
NHS getting the George Cross - what a load of crap. Give them a 4% bonus for the year up to £2k and the previously agreed 2.1% pay rise. This is just bullshit virtue signalling and an attempt to buy the staff off with a free gesture.
When the SNP government wanted to do somethijng like what you want, it was bitterly criticised on PB as virtue signalling ...
No, the virtue signalling was the SNP trying to make it tax free income. No issue with a bonus, if you want to make it post tax than you lot can pay for that up there and not ask Westminster to fund it.
The problem was the two-layer way in which the income tax system works in Scotland, such that much of the rise would have gone straight to Westminster once again. It's one thing for a budget to claw back something in income tax, but for a separate national budget to get the benefit ...
NHS getting the George Cross - what a load of crap. Give them a 4% bonus for the year up to £2k and the previously agreed 2.1% pay rise. This is just bullshit virtue signalling and an attempt to buy the staff off with a free gesture.
When the SNP government wanted to do somethijng like what you want, it was bitterly criticised on PB as virtue signalling ...
No, the virtue signalling was the SNP trying to make it tax free income. No issue with a bonus, if you want to make it post tax than you lot can pay for that up there and not ask Westminster to fund it.
The problem was the two-layer way in which the income tax system works in Scotland, such that much of the rise would have gone straight to Westminster once again. It's one thing for a budget to claw back something in income tax, but for a separate national budget to get the benefit ...
So the issue was completely self inflicted due to Scotland's self invented income tax system.
The care minister Helen Whately has said she would probably carry on wearing a facemask in crowded places and on public transport once restrictions are lifted.
In the first sign of a difference of emphasis within government about how to interpret Boris Johnson’s shift towards personal responsibility in dealing with the virus, Whately said she would not be “ditching” her mask after July 19 although she would be wearing it less.
But senior NHS leaders insisted this morning that people should carry on wearing masks “as much as possible”, saying it was “keeping us safe and well”.
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
Quite so. I don't understand it either.
I queried that implication of Brexit many moons ago (about 2013) and was told by at least one PBTory not to be so silly as no Tory government in its right mind bothered to control its border.
My anecdotal is that a couple of times in the past week I’ve heard people repeatedly coughing indoors with no-one in the vicinity being phased by it. The fear of covid seems to have largely gone.
Phased?
You mean like in Star Trek and their phasers?
Or do you mean fazed?
FYI - I've decided to blame all my typos etc on my social media team, works every time.
Yes.
Autocorrect is getting annoyingly aggressive. The other day I typed "30 years war" and it was corrected to "30 years earlier".
Which would have been the year of the Spanish Armada. Even your autocorrect now prefers ‘us’ v Europe.
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
NHS getting the George Cross - what a load of crap. Give them a 4% bonus for the year up to £2k and the previously agreed 2.1% pay rise. This is just bullshit virtue signalling and an attempt to buy the staff off with a free gesture.
When the SNP government wanted to do somethijng like what you want, it was bitterly criticised on PB as virtue signalling ...
No, the virtue signalling was the SNP trying to make it tax free income. No issue with a bonus, if you want to make it post tax than you lot can pay for that up there and not ask Westminster to fund it.
The problem was the two-layer way in which the income tax system works in Scotland, such that much of the rise would have gone straight to Westminster once again. It's one thing for a budget to claw back something in income tax, but for a separate national budget to get the benefit ...
So the issue was completely self inflicted due to Scotland's self invented income tax system.
The care minister Helen Whately has said she would probably carry on wearing a facemask in crowded places and on public transport once restrictions are lifted.
In the first sign of a difference of emphasis within government about how to interpret Boris Johnson’s shift towards personal responsibility in dealing with the virus, Whately said she would not be “ditching” her mask after July 19 although she would be wearing it less.
But senior NHS leaders insisted this morning that people should carry on wearing masks “as much as possible”, saying it was “keeping us safe and well”.
I think it is consistent. Some people want to continue wearing them, others won't. That's entirely the point of it being a personal choice.
Well quite. I imagine that passengers on the Tube are going to wearing them for a while yet, especially as the trains start to fill up in rush hour.
I’d have the FFP3 on, even with no pandemic that probably extends your life by quite a bit!
The air on the London Underground has been described as equivalent to smoking x cigarettes a day in terms of crap in your lungs. Apparently much of it is down to the fact the tunnels have not been really cleaned out, ever.
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
Quite so. I don't understand it either.
I queried that implication of Brexit many moons ago (about 2013) and was told by at least one PBTory not to be so silly as no Tory government in its right mind bothered to control its border.
There’s a huge UK demand for young EU workers in hospitality, for a start
Are UK immigration police going to raid every gastropub in Britain that has a Polish waitress or a Portuguese chef?
Likely not. I can see a sizeable black economy developing, right there. How do you stop it with an open border with Ireland? You can’t
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. The 3 most important lessons for Tories in by-elections must be: 1. Select good local candidate if possible. 2. Do not be complacent but put every effort in 3. Significantly improve your GOTV operation
I expect more LD gains in any by-election in places where they were second to Con in GE2019
Marginal Lab/Con by-elections in North and Midlands should be most interesting if we have any over the next 30 months.
The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has bestowed a new soubriquet on Dominic Cummings. Apparently Cummings is a "backroom supremo". So the Woodcock tells us. (I believe "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" used to have an employee who was similarly known, first name "Bertie".) Curiously nothing much about Michael Gove appeared in any of the Sunday papers yesterday.
Super injunction? Or actually nothing to tell on Gove?
Have heard all kinds of fabulously salty things since the split. That there is a super-injunction sized hole in the media black enough to be seen by the light not escaping from it perhaps explains why there is literally nothing being said about him.
As always I have no interest in his private life so long as it is private and doesn't impact onto his public life.
Or there's nothing being said because there's nothing to say.
Super injunctions seemed to have died a death, unless I'm much mistaken, because anything subject to a superinjunction would simply end up on a non-English news source . . . even Scottish ones or sites like Guido Fawkes . . . or mentioned in Parliament at which point everyone could report it freely as Parliament trumps even superinjunctions.
Its the media, he is a senior cabinet minister well in with the Dom and the Clown. She is a well known gobby journalist. The nature of their split is (providing that it is entirely private) none of our fucking business.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
Or there’s no story.
There is, at least, a story. Silly to pretend not. The question is whether it’s any of our business.
Also, News Int. and the Mail have no incentive to publish anything salacious, and The Guardian, FT, and Telegraph are not going to for other reasons.
So we just don’t know what’s going on really.
Oh really?
News and Mail may be partial to this but that just gives even more incentive (not that they need any more) for the Mirror to get the scoop if there was a story. Or the Guardian. Or the i. Or the Nat Onal. Or the Canary. Or many other left leaning papers here or abroad.
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
Quite so. I don't understand it either.
I queried that implication of Brexit many moons ago (about 2013) and was told by at least one PBTory not to be so silly as no Tory government in its right mind bothered to control its border.
There’s a huge UK demand for young EU workers in hospitality, for a start
Are UK immigration police going to raid every gastropub in Britain that has a Polish waitress or a Portuguese chef?
Likely not. I can see a sizeable black economy developing, right there. How do you stop it with an open border with Ireland? You can’t
The implication is that the likes of Mr Tim Martin and Mr Kitchin will be acting as unpaid immigration control officers in view of the penalties they incur in such situations - ditto banks, landlords, and (I am not sure?) schools?
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
How does that give EU citizens right to work in the UK? Or right to rent in the UK?
Migration has never been controlled by at the border realistically. Anyone you describe can just fly to direct to the UK and walk straight through the border saying they're coming for tourism - and then simply not fly back.
The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
Genuinely interested - who?
Also note that it doesn't necessarily mean bad advice. One of my colleagues is a fanatic Corbyn supporter and thinks Starmer is somewhere to the right of Franco. However, she's still the person I'd go to if I wanted to know how to detect anxiety and depression from routine health data (as she has done some really excellent research on that). I wouldn't consult her on economic policy.
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. The 3 most important lessons for Tories in by-elections must be: 1. Select good local candidate if possible. 2. Do not be complacent but put every effort in 3. Significantly improve your GOTV operation
I expect more LD gains in any by-election in places where they were second to Con in GE2019
Marginal Lab/Con by-elections in North and Midlands should be most interesting if we have any over the next 30 months.
I know its a bit crazy leftfield but also have some policies that are small state and fiscally balanced rather than nannying government and huge spending of money the government actually hasn't got.
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
Quite so. I don't understand it either.
I queried that implication of Brexit many moons ago (about 2013) and was told by at least one PBTory not to be so silly as no Tory government in its right mind bothered to control its border.
There’s a huge UK demand for young EU workers in hospitality, for a start
Are UK immigration police going to raid every gastropub in Britain that has a Polish waitress or a Portuguese chef?
Likely not. I can see a sizeable black economy developing, right there. How do you stop it with an open border with Ireland? You can’t
The implication is that the likes of Mr Tim Martin and Mr Kitchin will be acting as unpaid immigration control officers in view of the penalties they incur in such situations - ditto banks, landlords, and (I am not sure?) schools?
Yep that's been the case for a while.
A cynic would say it's a reason why the Government wants to go back to in person (right to work, right to stay) ID checks as the current online ones are very good at identifying fake documents.
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
Quite so. I don't understand it either.
I queried that implication of Brexit many moons ago (about 2013) and was told by at least one PBTory not to be so silly as no Tory government in its right mind bothered to control its border.
There’s a huge UK demand for young EU workers in hospitality, for a start
Are UK immigration police going to raid every gastropub in Britain that has a Polish waitress or a Portuguese chef?
Likely not. I can see a sizeable black economy developing, right there. How do you stop it with an open border with Ireland? You can’t
The implication is that the likes of Mr Tim Martin and Mr Kitchin will be acting as unpaid immigration control officers in view of the penalties they incur in such situations - ditto banks, landlords, and (I am not sure?) schools?
Yes I can’t see a large chain like wetherspoons or a famously ruthless chef like Kitchin risking this, but a little pub in the Lakes, a hotel in Wales, a bistro in Brighton, and so on? Yes.
Read across for construction, tradesmen, cleaners, etc
In about 5-10 years there will be 1m new undocumented EU workers in the UK and we will probably tolerate them as they oil the wheels of the economy
The care minister Helen Whately has said she would probably carry on wearing a facemask in crowded places and on public transport once restrictions are lifted.
In the first sign of a difference of emphasis within government about how to interpret Boris Johnson’s shift towards personal responsibility in dealing with the virus, Whately said she would not be “ditching” her mask after July 19 although she would be wearing it less.
But senior NHS leaders insisted this morning that people should carry on wearing masks “as much as possible”, saying it was “keeping us safe and well”.
I think it is consistent. Some people want to continue wearing them, others won't. That's entirely the point of it being a personal choice.
It isn't consistent. The NHS are saying wear "as much as possible", while the minister is saying "she would be wearing it less" (i.e. not as much as possible).
If they are not going to mandate - and I can see the logic on that - there does need to be a clear steer on what best practice and behaving as a responsible citizen looks like.
The minister (think it was Whately) was incredibly wishy-washy on this in terms of wearing a mask as a care home visitor. People know they won't be prevented from hugging granny sans mask from 19th, but the interview left me no clearer as to what the advice was to someone who wants to do the right thing.
The whole point is that people will choose for themselves. People will take that responsibility. The right thing is whatever the person considers to be the right thing. After more than a year of being spoonfed it might be a shock to system but ultimately the onus is now on us. Anyone can walk in and get a vaccine, that shifts the burden of responsibility onto the individual, not the state.
The speaker said same time was ok, he just didn't want a press conference, then ministers coming to the house hours / days later. As with a lot the current speaker does, he comes up with a sensible comprise.
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
Quite so. I don't understand it either.
I queried that implication of Brexit many moons ago (about 2013) and was told by at least one PBTory not to be so silly as no Tory government in its right mind bothered to control its border.
There’s a huge UK demand for young EU workers in hospitality, for a start
Are UK immigration police going to raid every gastropub in Britain that has a Polish waitress or a Portuguese chef?
Likely not. I can see a sizeable black economy developing, right there. How do you stop it with an open border with Ireland? You can’t
The implication is that the likes of Mr Tim Martin and Mr Kitchin will be acting as unpaid immigration control officers in view of the penalties they incur in such situations - ditto banks, landlords, and (I am not sure?) schools?
There is, of course, a sizeable black economy already, in terms of employment of those without the right to employment in the UK.
People running companies are already liable for substantial fines for hiring such employees - IIRC a PBer had a friend who got hit by this, when he bought a business and didn't check the employees?
Surely people recall the anger when a burger chain dared to co-operate with the Home Office?
My anecdotal is that a couple of times in the past week I’ve heard people repeatedly coughing indoors with no-one in the vicinity being phased by it. The fear of covid seems to have largely gone.
I think that's true of the people happy to go out and sit indoors in public places. Sadly the politicians and media have scared a substantial number of people into just never going outdoors for fear of something that they probably won't catch and now that they're vaccinated won't die from and likely won't end up in hospital for.
Yep, unwinding this is going to be quite the challenge ... there does not seem to be any plan to deploy the "nudge" teams to reverse the damage they have done to the British psyche.
I think that's because, by their nature, the "nudge" teams are there to manipulate people into doing what they don't want to do not what they do want to do (assuming they do actually want their freedom).
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
Interesting. What’s the book?
A State of Fear: How the UK government weaponised fear during the Covid-19 pandemic by Laura Dodsworth | 17 May 2021
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
How does that give EU citizens right to work in the UK? Or right to rent in the UK?
Migration has never been controlled by at the border realistically. Anyone you describe can just fly to direct to the UK and walk straight through the border saying they're coming for tourism - and then simply not fly back.
Sure. But if you travel direct from the continent to the UK your passport is checked and you do at least have to declare that you are here for touristic reasons. And with an e-gate you are surely recorded as entering
Go via Ireland you avoid all that. Your presence in the UK is not even registered
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
Quite so. I don't understand it either.
I queried that implication of Brexit many moons ago (about 2013) and was told by at least one PBTory not to be so silly as no Tory government in its right mind bothered to control its border.
There’s a huge UK demand for young EU workers in hospitality, for a start
Are UK immigration police going to raid every gastropub in Britain that has a Polish waitress or a Portuguese chef?
Likely not. I can see a sizeable black economy developing, right there. How do you stop it with an open border with Ireland? You can’t
I think what happens is that under 35s from EU countries will get a similar deal to what we have with Australia. 2 year working holiday visa with a route to residency if work conditions are met and it will be reciprocal.
I suspect the Tories would have taken B & S but for moron Matt Hancock. How many years have I been saying the guy was an idiot and a liability on here?
GIN knew...
I can't see Starmer beating Boris in a general election and suspect the Conservatives will be returned at the next general election with a reduced majority. It'll be 1992/2005 all over again...
Boris goes a couple of years after the next election and Labour wins in 2028/2029.
2030's may well be a Labour decade! Hang in there PB lefties
Mancock was hardly the stand out moron in the cabinet. Several of them have lied and broken the ministerial code and not followed their own guidance and and and...
As for the PM his challenge is going to be coping with 2022 and 2023 not being the big party he hoped for. The economy has been ravaged by Covid and that means belt-tightening. At the very least he won't be spending the promised cash in the red wall, at the very worst we're back to austerity cuts.
Unlike his predecessors he is shit at spinning positives out of bad news, so if they aren't going to bin him off at the first sign of the polls softening it will be fun to watch.
Im not sure you are right on the economy, I think 2022/2023 will be boom years, people have a lot of money to spend.
I struggle to see how your optimism translates into reality. We've had to tip a bonfire of money away to stop a massive contraction becoming a permanent reduction. We need to generate economic growth to manage that away and we're in a more isolated position than we were before it started.
The way out of not just this mess but the significant structural imbalances in the economy built up over decades is to invest heavily in the new economy. Which means looking at our needs in the next decade - this lot seem fixated on tomorrow's headlines.
The optimism is based on the fact that people have repaid their debts at rates never seen before over the past 18 months. Also individual savings have increased markedly.
That includes all debts and not especially relevant to card and other pernicious high interest debts.
The bulk of that household debt is mortgage debts and since people have been buying houses at higher prices its unsurprising that there's more household debt in aggregate, but they're not necessarily in net debt because they've got the house to show for it.
Card debts, loan sharks, payday loans etc are a much more pernicious type of debt and really need to be looked at separate to mortgage debts.
I agree that we have had a real problem with short term debt and Ocean Finance style loans. But if the cash going out of your bank is long term rather than short term it is still cash going out of your bank. Which I assume is why the OBR uses the debt to income measure?
If you were previously paying a landlord rent every month and now you're paying your bank your mortgage every month, are you in more debt or less in real terms?
With a mortgage you are gradually acquiring an asset, the capital portion of your monthly payment. Not so with rent.
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
Interesting. What’s the book?
A State of Fear: How the UK government weaponised fear during the Covid-19 pandemic by Laura Dodsworth | 17 May 2021
The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
Genuinely interested - who?
Also note that it doesn't necessarily mean bad advice. One of my colleagues is a fanatic Corbyn supporter and thinks Starmer is somewhere to the right of Franco. However, she's still the person I'd go to if I wanted to know how to detect anxiety and depression from routine health data (as she has done some really excellent research on that). I wouldn't consult her on economic policy.
The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
Genuinely interested - who?
Also note that it doesn't necessarily mean bad advice. One of my colleagues is a fanatic Corbyn supporter and thinks Starmer is somewhere to the right of Franco. However, she's still the person I'd go to if I wanted to know how to detect anxiety and depression from routine health data (as she has done some really excellent research on that). I wouldn't consult her on economic policy.
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
Quite so. I don't understand it either.
I queried that implication of Brexit many moons ago (about 2013) and was told by at least one PBTory not to be so silly as no Tory government in its right mind bothered to control its border.
There’s a huge UK demand for young EU workers in hospitality, for a start
Are UK immigration police going to raid every gastropub in Britain that has a Polish waitress or a Portuguese chef?
Likely not. I can see a sizeable black economy developing, right there. How do you stop it with an open border with Ireland? You can’t
I think what happens is that under 35s from EU countries will get a similar deal to what we have with Australia. 2 year working holiday visa with a route to residency if work conditions are met and it will be reciprocal.
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
Good post. More to it that collectivism v individualism though. You have to throw in the conservative authoritarians, who like rules and ensuring that everyone complies with them even when they fly in the face of common sense.
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. The 3 most important lessons for Tories in by-elections must be: 1. Select good local candidate if possible. 2. Do not be complacent but put every effort in 3. Significantly improve your GOTV operation
I expect more LD gains in any by-election in places where they were second to Con in GE2019
Marginal Lab/Con by-elections in North and Midlands should be most interesting if we have any over the next 30 months.
I know its a bit crazy leftfield but also have some policies that are small state and fiscally balanced rather than nannying government and huge spending of money the government actually hasn't got.
Offer that policy and Labour will start recovering some of their Red Wall seats.
Roddy Dunlop QC @RoddyQC · Jul 4 Worrying sentiment. @sajidjavid didn’t say Covid was like flu. He said we’ll have to learn to live with Covid, pointing out that we have learned to live with flu. I do hope that a chief adviser to @scotgov agrees that we will have to learn to live with Covid?
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
Genuinely interested - who?
Also note that it doesn't necessarily mean bad advice. One of my colleagues is a fanatic Corbyn supporter and thinks Starmer is somewhere to the right of Franco. However, she's still the person I'd go to if I wanted to know how to detect anxiety and depression from routine health data (as she has done some really excellent research on that). I wouldn't consult her on economic policy.
Michie is a communist.
Whether she is an activist I don't know.
She personally donated to Corbyn. And her daughter magically got a job in his office. Jezza still probably not quite left wing enough for her though.
I suspect the Tories would have taken B & S but for moron Matt Hancock. How many years have I been saying the guy was an idiot and a liability on here?
GIN knew...
I can't see Starmer beating Boris in a general election and suspect the Conservatives will be returned at the next general election with a reduced majority. It'll be 1992/2005 all over again...
Boris goes a couple of years after the next election and Labour wins in 2028/2029.
2030's may well be a Labour decade! Hang in there PB lefties
Mancock was hardly the stand out moron in the cabinet. Several of them have lied and broken the ministerial code and not followed their own guidance and and and...
As for the PM his challenge is going to be coping with 2022 and 2023 not being the big party he hoped for. The economy has been ravaged by Covid and that means belt-tightening. At the very least he won't be spending the promised cash in the red wall, at the very worst we're back to austerity cuts.
Unlike his predecessors he is shit at spinning positives out of bad news, so if they aren't going to bin him off at the first sign of the polls softening it will be fun to watch.
Im not sure you are right on the economy, I think 2022/2023 will be boom years, people have a lot of money to spend.
I struggle to see how your optimism translates into reality. We've had to tip a bonfire of money away to stop a massive contraction becoming a permanent reduction. We need to generate economic growth to manage that away and we're in a more isolated position than we were before it started.
The way out of not just this mess but the significant structural imbalances in the economy built up over decades is to invest heavily in the new economy. Which means looking at our needs in the next decade - this lot seem fixated on tomorrow's headlines.
The optimism is based on the fact that people have repaid their debts at rates never seen before over the past 18 months. Also individual savings have increased markedly.
That includes all debts and not especially relevant to card and other pernicious high interest debts.
The bulk of that household debt is mortgage debts and since people have been buying houses at higher prices its unsurprising that there's more household debt in aggregate, but they're not necessarily in net debt because they've got the house to show for it.
Card debts, loan sharks, payday loans etc are a much more pernicious type of debt and really need to be looked at separate to mortgage debts.
I agree that we have had a real problem with short term debt and Ocean Finance style loans. But if the cash going out of your bank is long term rather than short term it is still cash going out of your bank. Which I assume is why the OBR uses the debt to income measure?
If you were previously paying a landlord rent every month and now you're paying your bank your mortgage every month, are you in more debt or less in real terms?
With a mortgage you are gradually acquiring an asset, the capital portion of your monthly payment. Not so with rent.
You are probably helping somebody else acquire an asset by renting, in fact
I'm not sure what's worse: the lucky February coincidence or that they've not even had to wait six months before copping the big'un.
Isn't there a conspiracy theory that bonds purchased more recently do better? I haven't bothered buying any, but if interest rates don't go back to something like pre-COVID by Christmas then I might. But then I guess there has to be a real chance that the government slashes NS&I rates.
had a £1000 worth for seven years and did not win a thing. The odds on that were about 2% . Whilst I get that ERNIE does not select tickets as such but numbers that are then matched to current bonds list , with that apparent luck I had doubts in my mid my numbers were active so sold out. Probably irrational as maybe I was just very unlucky but no point in playing something if you are not convinced yourself you are in the game!
I was given £5 worth when I was born, 43 years ago. Still got £5 worth. Haven't won a dickie bird. Might as well just let it sit there and continue to depreciate. I think I've got more chance of being struck by lightning than winning anything.
I have the max and get something every month, usually a 25 or 2 X 25. Spookily this year I've had a 1000 and a 100 despite payout rates having allegedly reduced. The system seems rigged in favour of those who can max out.
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
Quite so. I don't understand it either.
I queried that implication of Brexit many moons ago (about 2013) and was told by at least one PBTory not to be so silly as no Tory government in its right mind bothered to control its border.
There’s a huge UK demand for young EU workers in hospitality, for a start
Are UK immigration police going to raid every gastropub in Britain that has a Polish waitress or a Portuguese chef?
Likely not. I can see a sizeable black economy developing, right there. How do you stop it with an open border with Ireland? You can’t
The implication is that the likes of Mr Tim Martin and Mr Kitchin will be acting as unpaid immigration control officers in view of the penalties they incur in such situations - ditto banks, landlords, and (I am not sure?) schools?
Yes I can’t see a large chain like wetherspoons or a famously ruthless chef like Kitchin risking this, but a little pub in the Lakes, a hotel in Wales, a bistro in Brighton, and so on? Yes.
Read across for construction, tradesmen, cleaners, etc
In about 5-10 years there will be 1m new undocumented EU workers in the UK and we will probably tolerate them as they oil the wheels of the economy
Yes. My eldest has just taken up a contract deep cleaning halls of residence over the Summer. Aside from the onerous proofs of right to work, and DBS required to start, they now find what ought to be a team of 10 has been able to recruit only 3 people. So what was meant to be a 2 week job at each uni has now become 6. It was previously done by EU citizens. It's an anecdote of course.
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
Any idea when Boris is meant to speak today about what's going on with lifting lockdown? If it is today?
Will it be to Parliament or a press conference? After Hoyle got upset last time I'm guessing Parliament?
Seemingly they are doing it simultaneously at 5pm. Not sure that is what Holye requires...
Thank you.
It is what was agreed with Hoyle actually. Which I think was a mistake by Hoyle - the media will go full on with the Prime Minister and the questions the media asks him, while the Health Secretary and the Opposition and MPs scrutiny of him will get much less attention.
Better I would think for Parliament to be done at a separate time, even if it was later rather than first.
Call me old-fashioned, but major government announcements really should always be made to Parliament in the first instance.
Oh, and after the performance of the media in the past 18 months, putting them to the back of the queue would be a nice bonus!
Does it make a difference these days? Either be tells the House and we watch it on telly or he tells us and the MPs watch the telly.
I suspect the Tories would have taken B & S but for moron Matt Hancock. How many years have I been saying the guy was an idiot and a liability on here?
GIN knew...
I can't see Starmer beating Boris in a general election and suspect the Conservatives will be returned at the next general election with a reduced majority. It'll be 1992/2005 all over again...
Boris goes a couple of years after the next election and Labour wins in 2028/2029.
2030's may well be a Labour decade! Hang in there PB lefties
Mancock was hardly the stand out moron in the cabinet. Several of them have lied and broken the ministerial code and not followed their own guidance and and and...
As for the PM his challenge is going to be coping with 2022 and 2023 not being the big party he hoped for. The economy has been ravaged by Covid and that means belt-tightening. At the very least he won't be spending the promised cash in the red wall, at the very worst we're back to austerity cuts.
Unlike his predecessors he is shit at spinning positives out of bad news, so if they aren't going to bin him off at the first sign of the polls softening it will be fun to watch.
Im not sure you are right on the economy, I think 2022/2023 will be boom years, people have a lot of money to spend.
I struggle to see how your optimism translates into reality. We've had to tip a bonfire of money away to stop a massive contraction becoming a permanent reduction. We need to generate economic growth to manage that away and we're in a more isolated position than we were before it started.
The way out of not just this mess but the significant structural imbalances in the economy built up over decades is to invest heavily in the new economy. Which means looking at our needs in the next decade - this lot seem fixated on tomorrow's headlines.
The optimism is based on the fact that people have repaid their debts at rates never seen before over the past 18 months. Also individual savings have increased markedly.
That includes all debts and not especially relevant to card and other pernicious high interest debts.
The bulk of that household debt is mortgage debts and since people have been buying houses at higher prices its unsurprising that there's more household debt in aggregate, but they're not necessarily in net debt because they've got the house to show for it.
Card debts, loan sharks, payday loans etc are a much more pernicious type of debt and really need to be looked at separate to mortgage debts.
I agree that we have had a real problem with short term debt and Ocean Finance style loans. But if the cash going out of your bank is long term rather than short term it is still cash going out of your bank. Which I assume is why the OBR uses the debt to income measure?
If you were previously paying a landlord rent every month and now you're paying your bank your mortgage every month, are you in more debt or less in real terms?
With a mortgage you are gradually acquiring an asset, the capital portion of your monthly payment. Not so with rent.
You are probably helping somebody else acquire an asset by renting, in fact
That was what my mother always said - "Buy a house and you are paying for a house. Rent a house and you are paying for someone else's house."
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
That was just in a clincal setting. So unsurprising very high level of covid, you need a high quality mask.
But i honestly don't have any idea of supermarket (masked) vs pub / restaurant / gym (unmasked).
I know, but when a standard medical mask leaves you 47 times more likely to catch covid than someone not in that position, it does demonstrate how ineffective that mask is, especially when compared to a FFP3 mask.
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
That was just in a clincal setting. So unsurprising very high level of covid, you need a high quality mask.
But i honestly don't have any idea of supermarket (masked) vs pub / restaurant / gym (unmasked).
I know, but when a standard medical mask leaves you 47 times more likely to catch covid than someone not in that position, it does demonstrate how ineffective that mask is, especially when compared to a FFP3 mask.
Well its why I personally have had such a mask throughout. I got a respirator style one, Cost me £40. Reusage, secures properly on your face (so no constant dicking around having to adjust it), easy to clean and new filters are just a few pounds.
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
Anyway, its the psychology of masks that was the reason for their imposition not the medical evidence at the time, which was inconclusive.
Masks were imposed at the recommendation of the behavioural psychologist (not the medics) because they de-humanise and are a visible reminder to be frightened (i.e. that stranger is literally a walking threat so avoid them), and they put pressure on non-conformists to comply to the new societal norms (e.g. masks in shops).
The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
Genuinely interested - who?
Also note that it doesn't necessarily mean bad advice. One of my colleagues is a fanatic Corbyn supporter and thinks Starmer is somewhere to the right of Franco. However, she's still the person I'd go to if I wanted to know how to detect anxiety and depression from routine health data (as she has done some really excellent research on that). I wouldn't consult her on economic policy.
Susan Michie would be the most egregious example.
Ah, yes, I'd forgotten she was on SAGE in addition to Indie SAGE.
I guess the key thing is is are her qualifications sound and her advice good on the psychological aspects. Her pronouncements on behalf on Indie SAGE are, presumably, irrelevant to government thinking.* It wouldn't be the first time governments have sought input from people with unsavoury politics.
*I still wouldn't let someone be on SAGE and Indie SAGE - from both groups' perspectives it's a bit of a conflict.
Edit: I'd be much more worried if Michie was in a position to be making decisions. Advice is just advice and there are other people being consulted on that aspect too.
I suspect the Tories would have taken B & S but for moron Matt Hancock. How many years have I been saying the guy was an idiot and a liability on here?
GIN knew...
I can't see Starmer beating Boris in a general election and suspect the Conservatives will be returned at the next general election with a reduced majority. It'll be 1992/2005 all over again...
Boris goes a couple of years after the next election and Labour wins in 2028/2029.
2030's may well be a Labour decade! Hang in there PB lefties
Mancock was hardly the stand out moron in the cabinet. Several of them have lied and broken the ministerial code and not followed their own guidance and and and...
As for the PM his challenge is going to be coping with 2022 and 2023 not being the big party he hoped for. The economy has been ravaged by Covid and that means belt-tightening. At the very least he won't be spending the promised cash in the red wall, at the very worst we're back to austerity cuts.
Unlike his predecessors he is shit at spinning positives out of bad news, so if they aren't going to bin him off at the first sign of the polls softening it will be fun to watch.
Im not sure you are right on the economy, I think 2022/2023 will be boom years, people have a lot of money to spend.
I struggle to see how your optimism translates into reality. We've had to tip a bonfire of money away to stop a massive contraction becoming a permanent reduction. We need to generate economic growth to manage that away and we're in a more isolated position than we were before it started.
The way out of not just this mess but the significant structural imbalances in the economy built up over decades is to invest heavily in the new economy. Which means looking at our needs in the next decade - this lot seem fixated on tomorrow's headlines.
The optimism is based on the fact that people have repaid their debts at rates never seen before over the past 18 months. Also individual savings have increased markedly.
That includes all debts and not especially relevant to card and other pernicious high interest debts.
The bulk of that household debt is mortgage debts and since people have been buying houses at higher prices its unsurprising that there's more household debt in aggregate, but they're not necessarily in net debt because they've got the house to show for it.
Card debts, loan sharks, payday loans etc are a much more pernicious type of debt and really need to be looked at separate to mortgage debts.
I agree that we have had a real problem with short term debt and Ocean Finance style loans. But if the cash going out of your bank is long term rather than short term it is still cash going out of your bank. Which I assume is why the OBR uses the debt to income measure?
If you were previously paying a landlord rent every month and now you're paying your bank your mortgage every month, are you in more debt or less in real terms?
With a mortgage you are gradually acquiring an asset, the capital portion of your monthly payment. Not so with rent.
Precisely, that was my point.
If you've got no real assets but a maxed out Ocean Finance credit card and an Amigo payday loan etc then you're in real trouble. If you've got no real short term debts but have a mortgage you're up to date on repayments with then you're pretty well set.
Not all "debt" is created equal. Credit card/payday/short term loans versus mortgage loans should be viewed separately.
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. The 3 most important lessons for Tories in by-elections must be: 1. Select good local candidate if possible. 2. Do not be complacent but put every effort in 3. Significantly improve your GOTV operation
I expect more LD gains in any by-election in places where they were second to Con in GE2019
Marginal Lab/Con by-elections in North and Midlands should be most interesting if we have any over the next 30 months.
I know its a bit crazy leftfield but also have some policies that are small state and fiscally balanced rather than nannying government and huge spending of money the government actually hasn't got.
Offer that policy and Labour will start recovering some of their Red Wall seats.
and to that i would say " so what? " I mean it does not matter to me if a high spending high nannying politician calls himself a tory or Labour (actually its probably more honest of them to cal themselves Labour) they are still a high spending high nannying politician
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
That was just in a clincal setting. So unsurprising very high level of covid, you need a high quality mask.
But i honestly don't have any idea of supermarket (masked) vs pub / restaurant / gym (unmasked).
I know, but when a standard medical mask leaves you 47 times more likely to catch covid than someone not in that position, it does demonstrate how ineffective that mask is, especially when compared to a FFP3 mask.
Standard surgical masks - or gaiters - are only effective if almost EVERYONE wears one. They are no good at stopping infection from others but they are effective at stopping others being infected by YOU.
But if mask wearing drops significantly then you need ffp2 or even ffp3 to protect yourself.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
That was just in a clincal setting. So unsurprising very high level of covid, you need a high quality mask.
But i honestly don't have any idea of supermarket (masked) vs pub / restaurant / gym (unmasked).
I know, but when a standard medical mask leaves you 47 times more likely to catch covid than someone not in that position, it does demonstrate how ineffective that mask is, especially when compared to a FFP3 mask.
Standard surgical masks - or gaiters - are only effective if almost EVERYONE wears one. They are no good at stopping infection from others but they are effective at stopping others being infected by YOU.
But if mask wearing drops significantly then you need ffp2 or even ffp3 to protect yourself.
how about being vaccinated to protect yourself? The amount of paranoid people around is amazing on covid . The government needs to start publishing how many people die each day of other stuff . The obsession with covid is ridiculous both at government level and individual level
My anecdotal is that a couple of times in the past week I’ve heard people repeatedly coughing indoors with no-one in the vicinity being phased by it. The fear of covid seems to have largely gone.
Phased?
You mean like in Star Trek and their phasers?
Or do you mean fazed?
FYI - I've decided to blame all my typos etc on my social media team, works every time.
Yes.
Autocorrect is getting annoyingly aggressive. The other day I typed "30 years war" and it was corrected to "30 years earlier".
It's a matter of taste, but I find its proclivity for (randomly) interpolating unwanted apostrophes in a grammatically nonsensical manner the most irksome.
Comments
https://twitter.com/MichaelZucker1/status/1411735093614415875
Hope your daughter gets well soon, despite the best efforts of her GP and his secretary.
But - and its a big but - the press pack doesn't work like that. This would be a story if the media was operating normally. Even if it was just salacious rumour. That there is literally no commentary at all outside of the "they have split" statement reporting speaks volumes.
If there were a story here, why hasn't it been reported in the Scottish or Irish or other press that aren't under the jurisdiction of English courts?
If there were a story here, and it involved anything which could be about breaking lockdown rules, why hasn't a Labour or SNP or other MP or Lord brought it up in Parliament using Parliamentary Privilege?
Quite simply, if there were something to be said then Gove is hated enough by enough people that somebody would find a way to say it.
Oh, and after the performance of the media in the past 18 months, putting them to the back of the queue would be a nice bonus!
https://whatson.parliament.uk/
The question is whether it’s any of our business.
Also, News Int. and the Mail have no incentive to publish anything salacious, and The Guardian, FT, and Telegraph are not going to for other reasons.
So we just don’t know what’s going on really.
(This was before the split).
https://twitter.com/onthisdayshe/status/1411943957072912389?s=21
“There’s a difference between what’s in the public interest, and what the public might find interesting.”
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-set-out-plans-ahead-of-step-4
I think it started with Campbell and Mandleson, briefing out exactly what was going to be announced, rather than the general nature of forthcoming statements by ministers.
There does seem to be an assumption that everyone is on the payroll (like them), or rolling in money and avoiding tax.
I hope your daughter gets better soon.
Jobs for the boys, sub currents of self interest, a degree of Machiavellianism with truth and facts, and a certain level of corruption are not as big a set of vote losers as commentators like to think. Lack of vision, incompetence, not knowing what you stand for are much more important. Human nature.
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
He makes the uncontroversial point that if we want maximise our power* post-Brexit, we are going to have to act a little more democratically and rule-of-law observing ourselves.
To me, restoring Parliament’s power vis a vis the executive is an essential pillar of that.
*Soft power, which is along with intelligence gathering, our key strength.
1. They forgot that, for a Government with a large majority, by-elections are tough as it's a free hit for opposition parties, and turnout is problem as your own supporters know it won't affect who is in power nationally tomorrow. Postal vote sign up and GOTV are really key, and they did neither well.
2. Candidate selection, particularly in C&A, was poor. Neither candidate had a compelling story, and both were somewhat identikit. Fleet was an actively off-putting presence. They should have worked on the "independent local voice" point and allowed the candidate to disagree with the party, within some clear limits, on a couple of key local issues (they criticised Green for differing from her party's national position on HS2, often in the same breath as praising Gillan for having done so).
3. The expectations game was a disaster. They should not have allowed either result (particularly B&S) to be seen as big shocks (harder with C&A as it's very difficult with the size of the swing to spin that otherwise but it was seen as a bigger shock than it should have been).
4. In B&S, they simply didn't exploit the Galloway intervention anywhere near enough. It was a gift from the heavens but somehow they didn't take advantage.
A friend at the Telegraph told me the editor at the time was incredulous - "Do they think they can run the country without us?"
https://www.independent.ie/business/construction-companies-hit-by-uk-firms-poaching-skilled-builders-from-ireland-40347504.html
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-set-out-plans-ahead-of-step-4
You mean like in Star Trek and their phasers?
Or do you mean fazed?
FYI - I've decided to blame all my typos etc on my social media team, works every time.
The care minister Helen Whately has said she would probably carry on wearing a facemask in crowded places and on public transport once restrictions are lifted.
In the first sign of a difference of emphasis within government about how to interpret Boris Johnson’s shift towards personal responsibility in dealing with the virus, Whately said she would not be “ditching” her mask after July 19 although she would be wearing it less.
But senior NHS leaders insisted this morning that people should carry on wearing masks “as much as possible”, saying it was “keeping us safe and well”.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pm-to-call-for-common-sense-after-covid-rules-txwd25zfs
The Duchess of Cambridge is having to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who later tested positive for coronavirus, Kensington Palace has said.
Kate was due to spend the day with William celebrating the 73rd anniversary of the NHS at two events but will now spend a period of self-isolation at home.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/05/duchess-of-cambridge-self-isolating-at-home-after-covid-contact
Yes.
Autocorrect is getting annoyingly aggressive. The other day I typed "30 years war" and it was corrected to "30 years earlier".
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
I’d have the FFP3 on, even with no pandemic that probably extends your life by quite a bit!
In that case, I am volunteering you to have pineapple pizza for diner. To share with Piers Corbyn.
EDIT: On a serious note, people should be careful in making comments around about continued mask wearing. Some people are medically vulnerable or have partners/close family who are. So continuing to wear a mask is, for them, a serious decision.
If they are not going to mandate - and I can see the logic on that - there does need to be a clear steer on what best practice and behaving as a responsible citizen looks like.
The minister (think it was Whately) was incredibly wishy-washy on this in terms of wearing a mask as a care home visitor. People know they won't be prevented from hugging granny sans mask from 19th, but the interview left me no clearer as to what the advice was to someone who wants to do the right thing.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
I queried that implication of Brexit many moons ago (about 2013) and was told by at least one PBTory not to be so silly as no Tory government in its right mind bothered to control its border.
Are UK immigration police going to raid every gastropub in Britain that has a Polish waitress or a Portuguese chef?
Likely not. I can see a sizeable black economy developing, right there. How do you stop it with an open border with Ireland? You can’t
1. Select good local candidate if possible.
2. Do not be complacent but put every effort in
3. Significantly improve your GOTV operation
I expect more LD gains in any by-election in places where they were second to Con in GE2019
Marginal Lab/Con by-elections in North and Midlands should be most interesting if we have any over the next 30 months.
News and Mail may be partial to this but that just gives even more incentive (not that they need any more) for the Mirror to get the scoop if there was a story. Or the Guardian. Or the i. Or the Nat Onal. Or the Canary. Or many other left leaning papers here or abroad.
Or right to rent in the UK?
Migration has never been controlled by at the border realistically. Anyone you describe can just fly to direct to the UK and walk straight through the border saying they're coming for tourism - and then simply not fly back.
Also note that it doesn't necessarily mean bad advice. One of my colleagues is a fanatic Corbyn supporter and thinks Starmer is somewhere to the right of Franco. However, she's still the person I'd go to if I wanted to know how to detect anxiety and depression from routine health data (as she has done some really excellent research on that). I wouldn't consult her on economic policy.
A cynic would say it's a reason why the Government wants to go back to in person (right to work, right to stay) ID checks as the current online ones are very good at identifying fake documents.
Read across for construction, tradesmen, cleaners, etc
In about 5-10 years there will be 1m new undocumented EU workers in the UK and we will probably tolerate them as they oil the wheels of the economy
I read Boris was due at 5pm as well.
People running companies are already liable for substantial fines for hiring such employees - IIRC a PBer had a friend who got hit by this, when he bought a business and didn't check the employees?
Surely people recall the anger when a burger chain dared to co-operate with the Home Office?
I think that's because, by their nature, the "nudge" teams are there to manipulate people into doing what they don't want to do not what they do want to do (assuming they do actually want their freedom).
by Laura Dodsworth | 17 May 2021
Enjoy ...
Go via Ireland you avoid all that. Your presence in the UK is not even registered
Whether she is an activist I don't know.
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
@RoddyQC
·
Jul 4
Worrying sentiment. @sajidjavid
didn’t say Covid was like flu. He said we’ll have to learn to live with Covid, pointing out that we have learned to live with flu. I do hope that a chief adviser to
@scotgov
agrees that we will have to learn to live with Covid?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57636360
It was previously done by EU citizens.
It's an anecdote of course.
But i honestly don't have any idea of supermarket (masked) vs pub / restaurant / gym (unmasked).
Anyway, its the psychology of masks that was the reason for their imposition not the medical evidence at the time, which was inconclusive.
Masks were imposed at the recommendation of the behavioural psychologist (not the medics) because they de-humanise and are a visible reminder to be frightened (i.e. that stranger is literally a walking threat so avoid them), and they put pressure on non-conformists to comply to the new societal norms (e.g. masks in shops).
I guess the key thing is is are her qualifications sound and her advice good on the psychological aspects. Her pronouncements on behalf on Indie SAGE are, presumably, irrelevant to government thinking.* It wouldn't be the first time governments have sought input from people with unsavoury politics.
*I still wouldn't let someone be on SAGE and Indie SAGE - from both groups' perspectives it's a bit of a conflict.
Edit: I'd be much more worried if Michie was in a position to be making decisions. Advice is just advice and there are other people being consulted on that aspect too.
If you've got no real assets but a maxed out Ocean Finance credit card and an Amigo payday loan etc then you're in real trouble. If you've got no real short term debts but have a mortgage you're up to date on repayments with then you're pretty well set.
Not all "debt" is created equal. Credit card/payday/short term loans versus mortgage loans should be viewed separately.
But if mask wearing drops significantly then you need ffp2 or even ffp3 to protect yourself.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?