Unusually, I actually watched some news yesterday. Even more oddly, it was of the press conference the PM held. Didn't watch much but the questions from Vicki Young (BBC, why not wait until the whole adult population is vaccinated before opening) and Beth Rigby (Sky, I forget the wording precisely but it left me quite angry and surprised she was being so accusatory and doom-mongering) were a helpful reminder that I'm missing almost nothing by not watching the news regularly any more.
On Rigby this article confirms her and Sky's pro zero covid anti HMG stance
Or is it merely pointing out a few things that show the government is taking a big gamble?
Saying things government loyalists do not want to hear is not the same as being anti-government.
SKY has loved 18 months of Covid, rehashing Government pressers and having a long list of gobby inumerates to easily fill their time. They seem to be concerned that the next 18 months might not be so easy...
And now for something completely different. Some may agree with this. Many may not. But here goes.
I think the way Wimbledon handled Emma Raducanu is disgraceful. And I write this as someone who was there last week and who had the opportunity to buy a pair of tickets to watch her match yesterday (which I turned down).
I've worked with children all my life and however mature many sixth form girls seem, they're really not at that age. She's 18. She is not a big tournament player. This is her first. She was not groomed for big time tennis. She was taking her A levels two weeks ago and she's still a schoolgirl.
Even if you disagree with those comments, it's appalling that they made her sit around all day to put her match on last of all, playing as late as 9pm. Why? TV ratings. They wanted her on during the prime time evening slot. Who cared about her wellbeing and her state of mind? Who cared that she might be waiting all day sitting on a mountain of expectation and a massive degree of hype? All the newspapers yesterday had her on the front pages. She was extensively interviewed for the weekend papers. They even had one picture of England one one side, Emma on the other with an 'England Expects' banner. The poor girl was obviously overwhelmed.
She should have been given an early afternoon low key spot, especially as the winner of that match had to play first thing today.
She wasn't ready for this and it was atrociously badly handled.
Like watching an episode of Black Mirror.
Very good point the nerves would have been unbelievable.
Not sure about Black Mirror. In a Black Mirror episode she would have had to play because she was trapped in a snow globe sitting on the desk of her prosecuting judge which had just been shaken and hence the breathing problems.
And now for something completely different. Some may agree with this. Many may not. But here goes.
I think the way Wimbledon handled Emma Raducanu is disgraceful. And I write this as someone who was there last week and who had the opportunity to buy a pair of tickets to watch her match yesterday (which I turned down).
I've worked with children all my life and however mature many sixth form girls seem, they're really not at that age. She's 18. She is not a big tournament player. This is her first. She was not groomed for big time tennis. She was taking her A levels two weeks ago and she's still a schoolgirl.
Even if you disagree with those comments, it's appalling that they made her sit around all day to put her match on last of all, playing as late as 9pm. Why? TV ratings. They wanted her on during the prime time evening slot. Who cared about her wellbeing and her state of mind? Who cared that she might be waiting all day sitting on a mountain of expectation and a massive degree of hype? All the newspapers yesterday had her on the front pages. She was extensively interviewed for the weekend papers. They even had one picture of England one one side, Emma on the other with an 'England Expects' banner. The poor girl was obviously overwhelmed.
She should have been given an early afternoon low key spot, especially as the winner of that match had to play first thing today.
She wasn't ready for this and it was atrociously badly handled.
Like watching an episode of Black Mirror.
Very good point the nerves would have been unbelievable.
Not sure about Black Mirror. In a Black Mirror episode she would have had to play because she was trapped in a snow globe sitting on the desk of her prosecuting judge which had just been shaken and hence the breathing problems.
"it was hard to help wondering whether we were merely being given the summer off: a few months’ break, and then back to the rule of six by Hallowe’en."
I think the biggest danger for Boris / government is if they end up re-implementing restrictions in the autumn / winter.
I think there's a fat chance of that.
The vaccinations are pretty much done and now for those who haven't had it (hello contrarian) the virus is going to burn out over summer. Which is precisely when it should.
What's going to be left by the autumn? Virtually everyone will have had the virus or the vaccine so how would a new surge happen again to overwhelm the NHS?
The concept is fairly simple even for you. Pox keeps mutating, so it mutates into a version that laughs at our vaccine. We already have double-jabbed people getting Delta, albeit only in an ill for a week form. If the next mutation, or the one after that cuts through the vaccine like it isn't their and proves effective again, that's how we end up reimposing restrictions.
Yes, this is hypothetical and none of us want it. But it is based on both facts and the science. Saying "never again" is buffoonish even for the clown. The media have rightly personalised this as Bozzas big gamble - it'll all be on him if there isthe slightest retrenchment.
The Armed Forces' 'mental health champion' is being investigated over claims of an affair with the wife of a junior soldier who approached him for help.
I can assure you that Emma Raducanu's match was scheduled to be last on court 1 purely for the tv ratings. They do this with British players to catch the 6pm - 8pm (and now that they have the two roofs, later) slots. As you know, under local regs they can play under the lights until 11pm sharp.
Many of the ladies singles were scheduled first on courts e.g. Elena Rybakina (21) was played at 11 am. Three other ladies matches went through first thing on Centre and No.1.
The BBC's eyes lit up and they shunted all the BBC1 programmes off to BBC2 and brought Emma's match onto BBC1.
It was a god-awful decision to schedule a young inexperienced girl like that.
She is a competitor in a professional tennis major . Allowances for being young and inexperienced are not given. You sink or swim its sport ,its well paid, its hard. she will learn
Unusually, I actually watched some news yesterday. Even more oddly, it was of the press conference the PM held. Didn't watch much but the questions from Vicki Young (BBC, why not wait until the whole adult population is vaccinated before opening) and Beth Rigby (Sky, I forget the wording precisely but it left me quite angry and surprised she was being so accusatory and doom-mongering) were a helpful reminder that I'm missing almost nothing by not watching the news regularly any more.
On Rigby this article confirms her and Sky's pro zero covid anti HMG stance
Or is it merely pointing out a few things that show the government is taking a big gamble?
Saying things government loyalists do not want to hear is not the same as being anti-government.
SKY has loved 18 months of Covid, rehashing Government pressers and having a long list of gobby inumerates to easily fill their time. They seem to be concerned that the next 18 months might not be so easy...
And now for something completely different. Some may agree with this. Many may not. But here goes.
I think the way Wimbledon handled Emma Raducanu is disgraceful. And I write this as someone who was there last week and who had the opportunity to buy a pair of tickets to watch her match yesterday (which I turned down).
I've worked with children all my life and however mature many sixth form girls seem, they're really not at that age. She's 18. She is not a big tournament player. This is her first. She was not groomed for big time tennis. She was taking her A levels two weeks ago and she's still a schoolgirl.
Even if you disagree with those comments, it's appalling that they made her sit around all day to put her match on last of all, playing as late as 9pm. Why? TV ratings. They wanted her on during the prime time evening slot. Who cared about her wellbeing and her state of mind? Who cared that she might be waiting all day sitting on a mountain of expectation and a massive degree of hype? All the newspapers yesterday had her on the front pages. She was extensively interviewed for the weekend papers. They even had one picture of England one one side, Emma on the other with an 'England Expects' banner. The poor girl was obviously overwhelmed.
She should have been given an early afternoon low key spot, especially as the winner of that match had to play first thing today.
She wasn't ready for this and it was atrociously badly handled.
Like watching an episode of Black Mirror.
I watched too, and it was obvious fairly early on that something was wrong. I don't think it's entirely fair, though to say that TV ratings were the object. AIUI the plan for the tournament meant that the winners of whatever numbers her & her opponents second round tie were would play third on Court 1. That was the plan, that was the structure and it had to be kept to. No-one in the tournament management could, or was prepared to, change it. They can cope with rain, but not something like this.
And she was, until last night at least, living in the players hotel, without her mum or a close friend. Very tough.
I'd be inclined to withhold judgment until we know what is wrong. There may well have been a physical component, rather than the stress of playing before a large crowd for only the second time. It may also be that Wimbledon should enhance its medical services, and its care for young players (Alcaraz is also 18 and there might be others).
The Armed Forces' 'mental health champion' is being investigated over claims of an affair with the wife of a junior soldier who approached him for help.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
Previous governments and governments around the world must be kicking themselves today. How foolish they have been. Government is so much more easier and you are so much popular when you spend without counting or publishing the cost. Make that someone else’s problem. Boris is a genius.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
It's politics - and the thing a lot of people here have been asking SKS to do for months.
The aspect of the government’s approach I find troubling is the assertion that mask wearing is a matter of personal choice. Since we know the purpose of masks is mainly to protect other people, not the wearer, how does that work?
It means that fully vaxxed people, perhaps those who have recently taken tests will have to endure opprobrium if they judge themselves to be a very low risk to others.
I can assure you that Emma Raducanu's match was scheduled to be last on court 1 purely for the tv ratings. They do this with British players to catch the 6pm - 8pm (and now that they have the two roofs, later) slots. As you know, under local regs they can play under the lights until 11pm sharp.
Many of the ladies singles were scheduled first on courts e.g. Elena Rybakina (21) was played at 11 am. Three other ladies matches went through first thing on Centre and No.1.
The BBC's eyes lit up and they shunted all the BBC1 programmes off to BBC2 and brought Emma's match onto BBC1.
It was a god-awful decision to schedule a young inexperienced girl like that.
If you are right, and I must admit I thought the schedules were planned a long while ago, then I agree. It was putting a dreadful load on her.
And the crowd's support was probably a mixed blessing too!
The Armed Forces' 'mental health champion' is being investigated over claims of an affair with the wife of a junior soldier who approached him for help.
I can assure you that Emma Raducanu's match was scheduled to be last on court 1 purely for the tv ratings. They do this with British players to catch the 6pm - 8pm (and now that they have the two roofs, later) slots. As you know, under local regs they can play under the lights until 11pm sharp.
Many of the ladies singles were scheduled first on courts e.g. Elena Rybakina (21) was played at 11 am. Three other ladies matches went through first thing on Centre and No.1.
The BBC's eyes lit up and they shunted all the BBC1 programmes off to BBC2 and brought Emma's match onto BBC1.
It was a god-awful decision to schedule a young inexperienced girl like that.
If you are right, and I must admit I thought the schedules were planned a long while ago, then I agree. It was putting a dreadful load on her.
And the crowd's support was probably a mixed blessing too!
She was playing in the second week of Wimbledon, attention was unavoidable. Would they have played the semi or the final on court 12 at 11am?
Labour support restrictions to freedom of association. Labour support restrictions to freedom of movement. Labour support restrictions to children's education. Labour support hobbling of the economy. Labour support the surveillance state.
If we were in the situation now back in March 2020, there is no way we'd be proposing any of these measures.
The Armed Forces' 'mental health champion' is being investigated over claims of an affair with the wife of a junior soldier who approached him for help.
Does the Mail know the difference between a Major and a RSM?
He's neither, he's a WO1 but was commissioned as OF-2 (Captain) when was ASM.
Have you seen (or edited) his Wikipedia page?
Warrant Officer Class One Glenn John Haughton, OBE (born May 1972) is a senior British Army soldier. Since November 2018, he has served as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chiefs of Staff Committee. From March 2015 to 2018, he was the Army Sergeant Major, the most senior warrant officer and member of the other ranks in the British Army. He is a filthy, backstabbing rat and not to be trusted. He was previously Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards and Academy Sergeant Major at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Haughton
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
God forbid a politician thinking politically. Boris Johnson would never, ever do that.
I can assure you that Emma Raducanu's match was scheduled to be last on court 1 purely for the tv ratings. They do this with British players to catch the 6pm - 8pm (and now that they have the two roofs, later) slots. As you know, under local regs they can play under the lights until 11pm sharp.
Many of the ladies singles were scheduled first on courts e.g. Elena Rybakina (21) was played at 11 am. Three other ladies matches went through first thing on Centre and No.1.
The BBC's eyes lit up and they shunted all the BBC1 programmes off to BBC2 and brought Emma's match onto BBC1.
It was a god-awful decision to schedule a young inexperienced girl like that.
If you are right, and I must admit I thought the schedules were planned a long while ago, then I agree. It was putting a dreadful load on her.
And the crowd's support was probably a mixed blessing too!
She was playing in the second week of Wimbledon, attention was unavoidable. Would they have played the semi or the final on court 12 at 11am?
I posted earlier that ' I thought the schedules were planned a long while ago'. And of course she'd have got the crowd's support, whatever time she'd played. If anyone actually knows about whether the schedules are shifted for tv purposes, I'd be interested.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
God forbid a politician thinking politically. Boris Johnson would never, ever do that.
Retaining masks on the tube and public transport might have been a good idea if the goal was getting things moving, but after Hancock and two by election loses Boris wanted a headline.
Unusually, I actually watched some news yesterday. Even more oddly, it was of the press conference the PM held. Didn't watch much but the questions from Vicki Young (BBC, why not wait until the whole adult population is vaccinated before opening) and Beth Rigby (Sky, I forget the wording precisely but it left me quite angry and surprised she was being so accusatory and doom-mongering) were a helpful reminder that I'm missing almost nothing by not watching the news regularly any more.
On Rigby this article confirms her and Sky's pro zero covid anti HMG stance
Or is it merely pointing out a few things that show the government is taking a big gamble?
Saying things government loyalists do not want to hear is not the same as being anti-government.
I'm not pro Government but Sky News are a shitshow on the pandemic. They spew Breaking News every day from this or that doom-mongerer that they can drag out of a laboratory or a fourth-rate former polytechnic. They love to parade statistics without any context or comparison. It's knee-jerk rubbish.
This article, which I've read, is entirely one-sided. Take this throwaway remark for instance:
'Even if the virus is still going strong.'
I expect Beth didn't even think twice before writing that. But we know that in fact the virus is not still going strong. For all the case rate increase (boosted by more testing) the link between cases and hospitalisations and deaths is not increasing. Most scientists accept that is because of vaccination and (alongside or because of it) immunity in the population.
So, er, no the virus is not still going strong. In fact it is getting weaker. Its propensity to kill is vastly diminished, by a factor of around 100 from the second wave peak depending on how you measure it.
Spew News.
Cases are increasing, not diminishing. Ergo, the virus is still going strong. That is not the same as saying the virus's effects are as strong as they were. You are applying your own biases to a perfectly reasonable statement.
The Armed Forces' 'mental health champion' is being investigated over claims of an affair with the wife of a junior soldier who approached him for help.
Does the Mail know the difference between a Major and a RSM?
He's neither, he's a WO1 but was commissioned as OF-2 (Captain) when was ASM.
Have you seen (or edited) his Wikipedia page?
Warrant Officer Class One Glenn John Haughton, OBE (born May 1972) is a senior British Army soldier. Since November 2018, he has served as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chiefs of Staff Committee. From March 2015 to 2018, he was the Army Sergeant Major, the most senior warrant officer and member of the other ranks in the British Army. He is a filthy, backstabbing rat and not to be trusted. He was previously Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards and Academy Sergeant Major at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Haughton
Fantastic story in the Daily DianaMaddie Express. "Take that EU! British haulier to exploit Brexit loophole after EU rejects UK demands"
Yep, a plucky Brit has foiled the evil EU plans. He has spent £3.5m on a new EU depot, and now he's found a "loophole" where he trains his drivers in the EU for a further £130k to keep their EU registration. Best part of 4 mil spent in the EU instead of the UK to stand still, a whole depot of drivers now EU based paying taxes in the EU instead of in the UK and thats us beating the EU?
Even the comments section skewer the headline and the spin
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Unusually, I actually watched some news yesterday. Even more oddly, it was of the press conference the PM held. Didn't watch much but the questions from Vicki Young (BBC, why not wait until the whole adult population is vaccinated before opening) and Beth Rigby (Sky, I forget the wording precisely but it left me quite angry and surprised she was being so accusatory and doom-mongering) were a helpful reminder that I'm missing almost nothing by not watching the news regularly any more.
On Rigby this article confirms her and Sky's pro zero covid anti HMG stance
Or is it merely pointing out a few things that show the government is taking a big gamble?
Saying things government loyalists do not want to hear is not the same as being anti-government.
Her article relies on iSage zero covid anti HMG opinions and does not use any counter sources to provide any balance
Mind you I took the advice of some on here and no longer have Sky streaming in our lounge preferring to have the BBC which to be fair is more balanced
I only came across this article whilst browsing the news media this am
The balance is what the PM said and the piece is written in reference to that. As I say, it is not anti-government to write things that a government loyalist would prefer not to read.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
It's suggesting a different course of action, aka opposition. If you think that's vile, perhaps you'd be more comfortable in a one party state.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Johnson takes the credit where it is due on the vaccine, he also gets the blame when things go wrong. Welcome to politics, leadership and responsibility, Charles.
Fantastic story in the Daily DianaMaddie Express. "Take that EU! British haulier to exploit Brexit loophole after EU rejects UK demands"
Yep, a plucky Brit has foiled the evil EU plans. He has spent £3.5m on a new EU depot, and now he's found a "loophole" where he trains his drivers in the EU for a further £130k to keep their EU registration. Best part of 4 mil spent in the EU instead of the UK to stand still, a whole depot of drivers now EU based paying taxes in the EU instead of in the UK and thats us beating the EU?
Even the comments section skewer the headline and the spin
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
God forbid a politician thinking politically. Boris Johnson would never, ever do that.
Retaining masks on the tube and public transport might have been a good idea if the goal was getting things moving, but after Hancock and two by election loses Boris wanted a headline.
I think it's more a case of appeasing his backbenches.
I think it is one particular claim, but I'll need a legal opinion as to the breadth of impact on the overall PPE stuff.
How can you “correctly serve” something a day late. If it’s late you’re not correct
Oh it happens all the time - someone pointed me at a case last year where it went very high up to determine whether the paper work had been done on time or not due to delays due to a weekend and a bank holiday.
I remember it because the first thing I went backed and asked was why had they left it to the last second to issue the court case when they had had 6 years to do so...
The Armed Forces' 'mental health champion' is being investigated over claims of an affair with the wife of a junior soldier who approached him for help.
Does the Mail know the difference between a Major and a RSM?
He's neither, he's a WO1 but was commissioned as OF-2 (Captain) when was ASM.
Have you seen (or edited) his Wikipedia page?
Warrant Officer Class One Glenn John Haughton, OBE (born May 1972) is a senior British Army soldier. Since November 2018, he has served as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chiefs of Staff Committee. From March 2015 to 2018, he was the Army Sergeant Major, the most senior warrant officer and member of the other ranks in the British Army. He is a filthy, backstabbing rat and not to be trusted. He was previously Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards and Academy Sergeant Major at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Haughton
I am exceedingly liberal about people’s private lives but in this particular context, Warrant Office Haughton should be expelled from the Army.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
God forbid a politician thinking politically. Boris Johnson would never, ever do that.
Retaining masks on the tube and public transport might have been a good idea if the goal was getting things moving, but after Hancock and two by election loses Boris wanted a headline.
I think it's more a case of appeasing his backbenches.
Not mutually exclusive. Remember Boris governs through headlines.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
God forbid a politician thinking politically. Boris Johnson would never, ever do that.
Retaining masks on the tube and public transport might have been a good idea if the goal was getting things moving, but after Hancock and two by election loses Boris wanted a headline.
I think it's more a case of appeasing his backbenches.
In other words, people who would never take a bus, let alone drive one.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Last time I checked he was Prime Minister. If the buck doesn't stop with him then with whom?
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
The polling will be interesting. For months we have heard how the public are “pro-lockdown” and the Govt have been taking comfort and reassurance from this.
But it maybe much more simple than this. At times of national crisis a significant proportion of the population simply follow and trust (and to some extent anticipate) the Govt. And once the Govt makes a decision, even one where it seems the public is, at best, evenly divided, this part of the population will be quite happy being led in opposition to their previously held opinions.
There will obviously be continued nervousness about rising case numbers (and I suspect some of Johnson’s estimates of eg. 50k by July 15th were probably on the low side. So the government really needs to get the issue of relatively low hospitalisations into mainstream discourse.
But I wouldn’t be totally surprised to see a big shift in favour of full opening up as planned.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Last time I checked he was Prime Minister. If the buck doesn't stop with him then with whom?
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
Charles prefers it when the rich man is left to his castle and the poor man remains at the gate.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Not quite - the Government is subsidising car manufacturers at a time of total structural change in that industry.
When everything is up in the air you need to offer subsidies to keep both the existing companies and encourage new ones.
I suspect Tesla is regretting building their factory in Germany.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Last time I checked he was Prime Minister. If the buck doesn't stop with him then with whom?
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Let's save £350m a week and spend it on a bung to the people who made this bus!
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Last time I checked he was Prime Minister. If the buck doesn't stop with him then with whom?
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
Fantastic story in the Daily DianaMaddie Express. "Take that EU! British haulier to exploit Brexit loophole after EU rejects UK demands"
Yep, a plucky Brit has foiled the evil EU plans. He has spent £3.5m on a new EU depot, and now he's found a "loophole" where he trains his drivers in the EU for a further £130k to keep their EU registration. Best part of 4 mil spent in the EU instead of the UK to stand still, a whole depot of drivers now EU based paying taxes in the EU instead of in the UK and thats us beating the EU?
Even the comments section skewer the headline and the spin
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Last time I checked he was Prime Minister. If the buck doesn't stop with him then with whom?
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
The grim reaper?
The human condition?
Elton John (Circle of life)?
People die. That's not any politicians fault.
Apart from the extra deaths enabled by delayed lockdowns three times through 2020, and a failure to close the border to India for “reasons”.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Let's save £350m a week and spend it on a bung to the people who made this bus!
Still a better love story than Twilight more productive than sending it to Brussels.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Johnson takes the credit where it is due on the vaccine, he also gets the blame when things go wrong. Welcome to politics, leadership and responsibility, Charles.
Yes and no.
The vaccine program was fully within the government's command. It set up the relevant groups, chose a portfolio of vaccines, procured them, and greased the wheels of industry. There have been issues, but on the whole they've done a very good job. The vaccine messaging has also been generally good, with a few small wobbles IMO.
Similarly (and this gets much less coverage), the excellent genomics work at COG-UK. Literally a world-beater.
The spread of the virus is much less under the government's control: the virus does what it 'wants'. The government can tell the public what to do, but absent a police state, it depends on the public's behaviour in following those rules. They are not helpless against the virus, but they have to be reactive - whereas the vaccine rollout has been much more under their control.
Too many people also ignore the negatives of lockdown: not just fiscally, but also mentally and physically to the population.
I think it is one particular claim, but I'll need a legal opinion as to the breadth of impact on the overall PPE stuff.
How can you “correctly serve” something a day late. If it’s late you’re not correct
Oh it happens all the time - someone pointed me at a case last year where it went very high up to determine whether the paper work had been done on time or not due to delays due to a weekend and a bank holiday.
I remember it because the first thing I went backed and asked was why had they left it to the last second to issue the court case when they had had 6 years to do so...
Sometimes last minute is unavoidable of course, especially if timelines are tight, but it's very obvious when people do it as a tactic, especially on petty matters. Half the time it just delays matters for them.
I seem to recall a candidate in one of the many UKIP leader contests missing out by sending in their application a few minutes late, which is harsh but funny.
Interesting how personalised on Johnson this is. Johnson's gamble etc etc.
If this goes totally tits up in early September he's in a bit of trouble.
I wasn’t that impressed by Ashcroft’s response
“How many deaths are enough”
This is a judgement call. But life is not without risk.
Johnson, like Putin, "has a reduced sense of danger". His utter recklessness on multiple fronts, not just Brexit and Covid, is going to crash the economy. As the right wing used to say "Sooner or later governments run out of other people´s money".
He may well be out of ofice by the time the crash comes, but we are looking at many lost years ahead and quite possibly the distruction of the entire state. His ignorance as to the economic risks he is taking is staggering. I predict he will be regarded, like Trump, as a bad man and a lousy leader.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Not quite - the Government is subsidising car manufacturers at a time of total structural change in that industry.
When everything is up in the air you need to offer subsidies to keep both the existing companies and encourage new ones.
I suspect Tesla is regretting building their factory in Germany.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Let's save £350m a week and spend it on a bung to the people who made this bus!
Still a better love story than Twilight more productive than sending it to Brussels.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Last time I checked he was Prime Minister. If the buck doesn't stop with him then with whom?
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
Charles prefers it when the rich man is left to his castle and the poor man remains at the gate.
Ridiculous - how is the poor man supposed to attend upon the rich man to serve if left at the gate?
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 10h Find me anyone - scientist, politician, pundit, anyone - who said in January that we should still have restrictions in August even if two-thirds of adults were double jabbed and 86% had had one jab.
Senior Tory MP: 'They are going for herd immunity via vaccination and infection ... everyone will either have had two jabs or have caught the Delta variant'
'The Great British Summer is going to mean getting pinged, failing a test and having to isolate'
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Last time I checked he was Prime Minister. If the buck doesn't stop with him then with whom?
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
The grim reaper?
The human condition?
Elton John (Circle of life)?
People die. That's not any politicians fault.
Decisions politicians make in these circumstances can affect the chances of it though. I support the latest moves but many decisions have affected how many might die.
Interesting how personalised on Johnson this is. Johnson's gamble etc etc.
If this goes totally tits up in early September he's in a bit of trouble.
I wasn’t that impressed by Ashcroft’s response
“How many deaths are enough”
This is a judgement call. But life is not without risk.
Johnson, like Putin, "has a reduced sense of danger". His utter recklessness on multiple fronts, not just Brexit and Covid, is going to crash the economy. As the right wing used to say "Sooner or later governments run out of other people´s money".
He may well be out of ofice by the time the crash comes, but we are looking at many lost years ahead and quite possibly the distruction of the entire state. His ignorance as to the economic risks he is taking is staggering. I predict he will be regarded, like Trump, as a bad man and a lousy leader.
Disagree with this.
Johnson doesn’t actually “care” enough to crash the economy. As in, not interested in the detail.
In the end he will largely follow Treasury guidance and try to hide austerity behind boondoggles like the trade ship and a Ireland to Scotland bridge.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Not quite - the Government is subsidising car manufacturers at a time of total structural change in that industry.
When everything is up in the air you need to offer subsidies to keep both the existing companies and encourage new ones.
I suspect Tesla is regretting building their factory in Germany.
Funny how there’s always non-Brexit reasons.
This is an industry where subsidies have always exists - no-one has built or modernised a car factory in decades without incentives to do so.
F1: odd. I'd thought the UK was next, checked and seemed to see it was Hungary, but upon checking again it's the UK.
Hmm. Mildly disconcerting.
Edited extra bit: last year two events were held at Silverstone, one win each for Verstappen and Hamilton. On recent form, that's looking to be two for Red Bull, one suspects.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Johnson takes the credit where it is due on the vaccine, he also gets the blame when things go wrong. Welcome to politics, leadership and responsibility, Charles.
Yes and no.
The vaccine program was fully within the government's command. It set up the relevant groups, chose a portfolio of vaccines, procured them, and greased the wheels of industry. There have been issues, but on the whole they've done a very good job. The vaccine messaging has also been generally good, with a few small wobbles IMO.
Similarly (and this gets much less coverage), the excellent genomics work at COG-UK. Literally a world-beater.
The spread of the virus is much less under the government's control: the virus does what it 'wants'. The government can tell the public what to do, but absent a police state, it depends on the public's behaviour in following those rules. They are not helpless against the virus, but they have to be reactive - whereas the vaccine rollout has been much more under their control.
Too many people also ignore the negatives of lockdown: not just fiscally, but also mentally and physically to the population.
Of course, all this is right. But the government has made a decision to end all legal restrictions at a time when the virus is spreading at a rapid rate. All or nothing were not the only two options. The PM, though, has decided that they were. He must take responsibility for that. There is no-one else to blame.
Senior Tory MP: 'They are going for herd immunity via vaccination and infection ... everyone will either have had two jabs or have caught the Delta variant'
'The Great British Summer is going to mean getting pinged, failing a test and having to isolate'
Except we are no longer going to have to scan in in pubs etc.
Although if we are to reach herd immunity the best thing to do would be to contact people who test positive and give them a voucher to send at the pub, which they have to collect by travelling on peak time public transport.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Last time I checked he was Prime Minister. If the buck doesn't stop with him then with whom?
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
The grim reaper?
The human condition?
Elton John (Circle of life)?
People die. That's not any politicians fault.
It is when it is down to decisions they have taken.
The maternity story is worrying. Hunt talking sense.
He’s way better than either Hancock or Javid. Silly Boris with his silly vendettas.
Yes, the choice between an obviously intelligent (whatever his other limitations) former Health Secretary who has kept up with the brief, and has clearly learned something from his previous mistakes, and a not obviously intelligent neophyte, is a pretty obvious one. Which is why Boris picked Javid.
That the Health Service is about to be subjected to a major restructuring makes it even better.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Not quite - the Government is subsidising car manufacturers at a time of total structural change in that industry.
When everything is up in the air you need to offer subsidies to keep both the existing companies and encourage new ones.
I suspect Tesla is regretting building their factory in Germany.
Funny how there’s always non-Brexit reasons.
This is an industry where subsidies have always exists - no-one has built or modernised a car factory in decades without incentives to do so.
And Brexit has made those “incentives” even pricier.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Last time I checked he was Prime Minister. If the buck doesn't stop with him then with whom?
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
The grim reaper?
The human condition?
Elton John (Circle of life)?
People die. That's not any politicians fault.
Decisions politicians make in these circumstances can affect the chances of it though. I support the latest moves but many decisions have affected how many might die.
We've been reporting "coronavirus deaths" for the last few months, but had negative excess deaths since March and fewer than 1% of all deaths have been from Covid. Actually fewer than 1% of all deaths have been within 28 days of a Covid test, at this floor actually being from rather than with Covid may be even lower.
It is neither possible nor desirable to "eliminate death".
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Johnson takes the credit where it is due on the vaccine, he also gets the blame when things go wrong. Welcome to politics, leadership and responsibility, Charles.
Yes and no.
The vaccine program was fully within the government's command. It set up the relevant groups, chose a portfolio of vaccines, procured them, and greased the wheels of industry. There have been issues, but on the whole they've done a very good job. The vaccine messaging has also been generally good, with a few small wobbles IMO.
Similarly (and this gets much less coverage), the excellent genomics work at COG-UK. Literally a world-beater.
The spread of the virus is much less under the government's control: the virus does what it 'wants'. The government can tell the public what to do, but absent a police state, it depends on the public's behaviour in following those rules. They are not helpless against the virus, but they have to be reactive - whereas the vaccine rollout has been much more under their control.
Too many people also ignore the negatives of lockdown: not just fiscally, but also mentally and physically to the population.
Of course, all this is right. But the government has made a decision to end all legal restrictions at a time when the virus is spreading at a rapid rate. All or nothing were not the only two options. The PM, though, has decided that they were. He must take responsibility for that. There is no-one else to blame.
I love the way your mindset about this is to immediately talk about 'blame', as if it has already gone wrong. Would you and Starmer accept responsibility for the harm caused by an indefinite lockdown until infection levels reduce to some arbitrary level? What levels of infection are fine?
I reckon Starmer may well be making pretty much the same decision if he was in power. After all, the scientists seem to agree with the government ...
Vauxhall supported by HMG will build all new ev vans at Ellesmere Port for domestic and export markets
Very good news - especially when you consider where the major export market will be and the consequences of that.
What consequences? EVs are not subject to tariffs and quotas.
They are subject to standards and to haulage and to customs check and various other things that could be problematic. I take the view that the government would not be investing money in such a project if it was expecting such problems.
I can assure you that Emma Raducanu's match was scheduled to be last on court 1 purely for the tv ratings. They do this with British players to catch the 6pm - 8pm (and now that they have the two roofs, later) slots. As you know, under local regs they can play under the lights until 11pm sharp.
Many of the ladies singles were scheduled first on courts e.g. Elena Rybakina (21) was played at 11 am. Three other ladies matches went through first thing on Centre and No.1.
The BBC's eyes lit up and they shunted all the BBC1 programmes off to BBC2 and brought Emma's match onto BBC1.
It was a god-awful decision to schedule a young inexperienced girl like that.
I've been listening to the debate on this. McEnroe made out with some reasonable-sounding comments. Gets excoriated by various personalities on The Opinion aka The Newspapers. This morning tennis experts seem to be saying the same as McEnroe.
Checking, Raducanu has been on the full LTA support system for a long time, has her own quite eminent support team (eg Nigel Spears for the last 3 years), and has been winning tournaments internationally since 2018.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Literally every country is doing it. Japan has set up a ¥1tn fund just for EV semi-conductors, our supposed £500m is a joke in comparison. The US fund is said to be over $100bn. Governments across the world are accelerating net zero day, this is the result of that decision.
I'm amazed that with such tiny numbers the government has now got two EV deals and two gigafactories. It bodes well for the country that we're able to get these done without the mega billions some industry people said would be necessary.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Not quite - the Government is subsidising car manufacturers at a time of total structural change in that industry.
When everything is up in the air you need to offer subsidies to keep both the existing companies and encourage new ones.
I suspect Tesla is regretting building their factory in Germany.
Funny how there’s always non-Brexit reasons.
This is an industry where subsidies have always exists - no-one has built or modernised a car factory in decades without incentives to do so.
And Brexit has made those “incentives” even pricier.
I'm afraid I don't think so. "Not-Brexit" EU countries are offering massively higher incentives.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Last time I checked he was Prime Minister. If the buck doesn't stop with him then with whom?
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
The grim reaper?
The human condition?
Elton John (Circle of life)?
People die. That's not any politicians fault.
Decisions politicians make in these circumstances can affect the chances of it though. I support the latest moves but many decisions have affected how many might die.
We've been reporting "coronavirus deaths" for the last few months, but had negative excess deaths since March and fewer than 1% of all deaths have been from Covid. Actually fewer than 1% of all deaths have been within 28 days of a Covid test, at this floor actually being from rather than with Covid may be even lower.
It is neither possible nor desirable to "eliminate death".
I don't disagree, but that's separate to your rather more general point that 'People die. that's not any politician's fault'.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Not quite - the Government is subsidising car manufacturers at a time of total structural change in that industry.
When everything is up in the air you need to offer subsidies to keep both the existing companies and encourage new ones.
I suspect Tesla is regretting building their factory in Germany.
Funny how there’s always non-Brexit reasons.
This is an industry where subsidies have always exists - no-one has built or modernised a car factory in decades without incentives to do so.
The govt has always subsidised car manufacturers. Yet, all of a sudden, it’s an issue to diehard remainers. Labour bailed out British Leyland in the seventies. Money was given to Nissan, Honda and Toyota to come here in the eighties. Money has been given to Ford, BMW, Vauxhall, Nissan, JLR and others As far back as I can remember to Help them build new models locally. Yet suddenly it’s an issue to some people as if it has never happened before.
That's an average of 35k per day. I mean we're already at 25k per day so if anything 500k in the next two weeks would represent a significant slowdown in the growth rate, the R might even be around 1 by the end.
I thought the only reason we delayed opening up completely was the worry over the variant formerly known as Indian being less resistant to the vaccines, so we bought a bit more time? Deaths haven’t gone up much, intensive cares are not overwhelmed, so why are people, including those who moaned when the re opening was delayed, calling it a gamble now?
Because the UK, almost uniquely in the developed world, seems to have Zerocovidians at the very highest level of public discourse.
It's a real shame. It's OK to have even 50,000 cases of Covid a day *if* they are not leading to particularly heightened levels of hospitalisations and deaths.
Indeed, it would probably be more useful for the government to target hospitalisations and deaths rather than cases per se, because the reality is that people *aren't* getting really sick right now, because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
Yes
Sir Keir is saying it’s reckless, it should be done gradually etc, but that is what’s happening! We were meant to be fully open a month earlier, but the government were cautious. I don’t see why he is calling for even more caution on the back of the vaccines working as intended. It really is a case of being paralysed by fear. I live with an unvaccinated vulnerable person, we have to be careful, but that doesn’t mean the whole of society has to join us
He’s thinking about it politically
If it goes well Boris was “reckless but lucky”
If it doesn’t then he capitalises on all the downside
It’s vile
Calling for an incremental approach, which was government policy until the conservatives lost a couple of by-elections, is hardly vile.
Ashcroft was setting up to blame Boris personally for all future deaths
Johnson takes the credit where it is due on the vaccine, he also gets the blame when things go wrong. Welcome to politics, leadership and responsibility, Charles.
Yes and no.
The vaccine program was fully within the government's command. It set up the relevant groups, chose a portfolio of vaccines, procured them, and greased the wheels of industry. There have been issues, but on the whole they've done a very good job. The vaccine messaging has also been generally good, with a few small wobbles IMO.
Similarly (and this gets much less coverage), the excellent genomics work at COG-UK. Literally a world-beater.
The spread of the virus is much less under the government's control: the virus does what it 'wants'. The government can tell the public what to do, but absent a police state, it depends on the public's behaviour in following those rules. They are not helpless against the virus, but they have to be reactive - whereas the vaccine rollout has been much more under their control.
Too many people also ignore the negatives of lockdown: not just fiscally, but also mentally and physically to the population.
Of course, all this is right. But the government has made a decision to end all legal restrictions at a time when the virus is spreading at a rapid rate. All or nothing were not the only two options. The PM, though, has decided that they were. He must take responsibility for that. There is no-one else to blame.
I love the way your mindset about this is to immediately talk about 'blame', as if it has already gone wrong. Would you and Starmer accept responsibility for the harm caused by an indefinite lockdown until infection levels reduce to some arbitrary level? What levels of infection are fine?
I reckon Starmer may well be making pretty much the same decision if he was in power. After all, the scientists seem to agree with the government ...
I have no idea if it will go wrong. What I genuinely don't understand is why we are at a binary all or nothing point. I suspect that if Starmer were in charge we would be seeing further relaxations, but not a total end to all restrictions.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Literally every country is doing it. Japan has set up a ¥1tn fund just for EV semi-conductors, our supposed £500m is a joke in comparison. The US fund is said to be over $100bn. Governments across the world are accelerating net zero day, this is the result of that decision.
I'm amazed that with such tiny numbers the government has now got two EV deals and two gigafactories. It bodes well for the country that we're able to get these done without the mega billions some industry people said would be necessary.
There's a real Gotterdamerung of fury rising against Boris Johnson here this morning, over the Ellsemere Port news, and the move to Step 4 on 19th July.
One might almost think some people will be quite upset if economic catastrophe and widespread fatalities do not ensue.
Last night I watched the first episode of “1971:The Year That Music Changed Everything” on Apple+.
Bloody brilliant.
By the director of “Amy” and “Senna”.
These sorts of music documentaries can be quite cliched, but this is more ambitious and they’ve very cleverly interwoven the music and politics, with some great footage.
Based on a British book, and with a British director; sad in a way that it is for a US network and hence US-focused.
1971 was probably peak pop year (for albums; I’d put 1967 as peak for singles).
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Not quite - the Government is subsidising car manufacturers at a time of total structural change in that industry.
When everything is up in the air you need to offer subsidies to keep both the existing companies and encourage new ones.
I suspect Tesla is regretting building their factory in Germany.
Funny how there’s always non-Brexit reasons.
This is an industry where subsidies have always exists - no-one has built or modernised a car factory in decades without incentives to do so.
And Brexit has made those “incentives” even pricier.
What prices have been paid?
IIRC the Nissan one the other day was £100 million in tax breaks. Again, IIRC, the original incentives for Nissan to setup here when Maggie Thatcher was doing it, were of a similar size.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Not quite - the Government is subsidising car manufacturers at a time of total structural change in that industry.
When everything is up in the air you need to offer subsidies to keep both the existing companies and encourage new ones.
I suspect Tesla is regretting building their factory in Germany.
Funny how there’s always non-Brexit reasons.
This is an industry where subsidies have always exists - no-one has built or modernised a car factory in decades without incentives to do so.
And Brexit has made those “incentives” even pricier.
The government is being forced to subsidise car manufacturers to keep them open post-Brexit.
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
Not quite - the Government is subsidising car manufacturers at a time of total structural change in that industry.
When everything is up in the air you need to offer subsidies to keep both the existing companies and encourage new ones.
I suspect Tesla is regretting building their factory in Germany.
There is still talk of a Tesla factory here. Either in Somerset or Teeside.
Comments
I think the tories are taking the country with them.
Not sure about Black Mirror. In a Black Mirror episode she would have had to play because she was trapped in a snow globe sitting on the desk of her prosecuting judge which had just been shaken and hence the breathing problems.
Deacon in Telegraph on Johnson's presser
Yes, this is hypothetical and none of us want it. But it is based on both facts and the science. Saying "never again" is buffoonish even for the clown. The media have rightly personalised this as Bozzas big gamble - it'll all be on him if there isthe slightest retrenchment.
He’s way better than either Hancock or Javid. Silly Boris with his silly vendettas.
None of those in the Household Division Charles.
And the crowd's support was probably a mixed blessing too!
Italy - Fiat / Alfa Romeo
Germany - Opel
France - Peugeot
UK - Brexit and Vauxhall..
So Stellantis picked a neutral country that management could cope with living in
Labour support restrictions to freedom of movement.
Labour support restrictions to children's education.
Labour support hobbling of the economy.
Labour support the surveillance state.
If we were in the situation now back in March 2020, there is no way we'd be proposing any of these measures.
...
"How many deaths are acceptable to you then?"
"I don't want any deaths"
"So you are zero covid then?"
"No, not all. But we should avoid all avoidable deaths by for example vaccination, like we do for flu, we vaccinate all the children"
"No we don't"
and so on...
Warrant Officer Class One Glenn John Haughton, OBE (born May 1972) is a senior British Army soldier. Since November 2018, he has served as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chiefs of Staff Committee. From March 2015 to 2018, he was the Army Sergeant Major, the most senior warrant officer and member of the other ranks in the British Army. He is a filthy, backstabbing rat and not to be trusted. He was previously Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards and Academy Sergeant Major at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Haughton
If anyone actually knows about whether the schedules are shifted for tv purposes, I'd be interested.
So this Canadian study indicates AZ does v well v Delta after just one dose, better than Pfizer one dose.
V pleasing for me, an AZ oncer til 2d shot late August.
I think there’s growing evidence that AZ efficacy builds & builds, a slow burner as @sailorrooscout has explained.
https://twitter.com/profsarahj/status/1412151638530281481?s=20
Eldest - managing the estate
Second - army
Third - church
The government is backing all the big players they can not trying to pick winners
DianaMaddieExpress. "Take that EU! British haulier to exploit Brexit loophole after EU rejects UK demands"Yep, a plucky Brit has foiled the evil EU plans. He has spent £3.5m on a new EU depot, and now he's found a "loophole" where he trains his drivers in the EU for a further £130k to keep their EU registration. Best part of 4 mil spent in the EU instead of the UK to stand still, a whole depot of drivers now EU based paying taxes in the EU instead of in the UK and thats us beating the EU?
Even the comments section skewer the headline and the spin
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1458566/brexit-news-european-union-demands-britain-hauliers-exports-latest-vn
We all know this.
Car manufacturing was always going to become less profitable post Brexit. Add them to the list along with fishers etc, who are also in receipt of various bungs.
Let’s save £350m a week and spend it on no-longer productive business instead!
I remember it because the first thing I went backed and asked was why had they left it to the last second to issue the court case when they had had 6 years to do so...
Vile? You really have come up with some snooty crap recently.
But it maybe much more simple than this. At times of national crisis a significant proportion of the population simply follow and trust (and to some extent anticipate) the Govt. And once the Govt makes a decision, even one where it seems the public is, at best, evenly divided, this part of the population will be quite happy being led in opposition to their previously held opinions.
There will obviously be continued nervousness about rising case numbers (and I suspect some of Johnson’s estimates of eg. 50k by July 15th were probably on the low side. So the government really needs to get the issue of relatively low hospitalisations into mainstream discourse.
But I wouldn’t be totally surprised to see a big shift in favour of full opening up as planned.
When everything is up in the air you need to offer subsidies to keep both the existing companies and encourage new ones.
I suspect Tesla is regretting building their factory in Germany.
No matter how clear, simple or justified a deadline might be people can get astonishingly angry if they miss it though.
The human condition?
Elton John (Circle of life)?
People die. That's not any politicians fault.
The vaccine program was fully within the government's command. It set up the relevant groups, chose a portfolio of vaccines, procured them, and greased the wheels of industry. There have been issues, but on the whole they've done a very good job. The vaccine messaging has also been generally good, with a few small wobbles IMO.
Similarly (and this gets much less coverage), the excellent genomics work at COG-UK. Literally a world-beater.
The spread of the virus is much less under the government's control: the virus does what it 'wants'. The government can tell the public what to do, but absent a police state, it depends on the public's behaviour in following those rules. They are not helpless against the virus, but they have to be reactive - whereas the vaccine rollout has been much more under their control.
Too many people also ignore the negatives of lockdown: not just fiscally, but also mentally and physically to the population.
I seem to recall a candidate in one of the many UKIP leader contests missing out by sending in their application a few minutes late, which is harsh but funny.
He may well be out of ofice by the time the crash comes, but we are looking at many lost years ahead and quite possibly the distruction of the entire state. His ignorance as to the economic risks he is taking is staggering. I predict he will be regarded, like Trump, as a bad man and a lousy leader.
He was supposed to use the servant's entrance.
Christopher Snowdon
@cjsnowdon
·
10h
Find me anyone - scientist, politician, pundit, anyone - who said in January that we should still have restrictions in August even if two-thirds of adults were double jabbed and 86% had had one jab.
'The Great British Summer is going to mean getting pinged, failing a test and having to isolate'
https://politi.co/3svJcDk https://twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1412305313856954370/photo/1
Johnson doesn’t actually “care” enough to crash the economy. As in, not interested in the detail.
In the end he will largely follow Treasury guidance and try to hide austerity behind boondoggles like the trade ship and a Ireland to Scotland bridge.
Hmm. Mildly disconcerting.
Edited extra bit: last year two events were held at Silverstone, one win each for Verstappen and Hamilton. On recent form, that's looking to be two for Red Bull, one suspects.
Although if we are to reach herd immunity the best thing to do would be to contact people who test positive and give them a voucher to send at the pub, which they have to collect by travelling on peak time public transport.
Which is why Boris picked Javid.
That the Health Service is about to be subjected to a major restructuring makes it even better.
Possibly the right thing to do... but raises huge questions about thousands of younger people getting long COVID
https://politi.co/3svJcDk https://twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1412309086423629824/photo/1
It is neither possible nor desirable to "eliminate death".
Asking for a friend.
I reckon Starmer may well be making pretty much the same decision if he was in power. After all, the scientists seem to agree with the government ...
Checking, Raducanu has been on the full LTA support system for a long time, has her own quite eminent support team (eg Nigel Spears for the last 3 years), and has been winning tournaments internationally since 2018.
Not really inexperienced.
I'm amazed that with such tiny numbers the government has now got two EV deals and two gigafactories. It bodes well for the country that we're able to get these done without the mega billions some industry people said would be necessary.
One might almost think some people will be quite upset if economic catastrophe and widespread fatalities do not ensue.
Bloody brilliant.
By the director of “Amy” and “Senna”.
These sorts of music documentaries can be quite cliched, but this is more ambitious and they’ve very cleverly interwoven the music and politics, with some great footage.
Based on a British book, and with a British director; sad in a way that it is for a US network and hence US-focused.
1971 was probably peak pop year (for albums; I’d put 1967 as peak for singles).
IIRC the Nissan one the other day was £100 million in tax breaks. Again, IIRC, the original incentives for Nissan to setup here when Maggie Thatcher was doing it, were of a similar size.
Where’s your evidence for that ? There is still talk of a Tesla factory here. Either in Somerset or Teeside.