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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » A British Gift – the ECHR

What is it about the European Convention on Human Rights which so riles some on the right (and, if reports are to be believed, the PM’s closest advisor)?
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UK's chief scientific adviser tells ITV News he hopes Government's approach to coronavirus will create 'herd immunity'
https://www.itv.com/news/2020-03-13/uk-s-chief-scientific-adviser-tells-itv-news-he-hopes-government-s-approach-to-coronavirus-will-create-herd-immunity/
However, I need a full night's sleep before I'm in a position to digest it.
People don't really want freedom, they want security, and they want a strong government to give it to them.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51892477
"Foreign Office AGREED to abide by international law"?
There should be daily press conferences, on the BBC.
Selectively briefing a few pet journalists who then 'debate' the news on Twitter is not helping, and the BBC boycott is beyond petty.
Others, not so much.
It would have been one heck of a career change.
Night.
This is the crux of your excellent article.
The overly expansive claim that the will of the people justifies anything is as old as democracy.
The trade off between liberty and security needn't necessarily lead to sinister outcomes, of course. Liberty was very heavily curtailed in favour of security in wartime Britain, but it was a necessary evil so that liberty could survive and be restored in the longer term.
FWIW, not all people by any means are begging for the Government to enact Draconian measures at this stage - it's just that those who do are scared stiff and panicking, happen to have very loud voices, or some combination of the two.
No other countries' authorities have chosen to do so.
What the UK does, might still turn out to be the optimal approach, too early to tell.
But there seem to be people who feel that it is just a cravenly cynical euphemism for "we're at the end of our tether", on par with "WTO Brexit" or "Australian Deal style trade relations".
The closure of thousands of Acute Beds since 2010 is going to cost thousands of lives and the UK taxpayer dear.
NHS smallest number of Acute beds per 10000 population and reduced by 1/3 since 2010
correction: are
I am unfortunately of the opinion that one outcome of this crisis will be that people will be much more accepting of government intrusion into all our lives.
I also worry that authoritarian governments around the world will prosper as people look to strongmen to "do something".
Legal protection for our human rights are more important today than ever.
People want prosperity and security.
The environment most likely to be bring prosperity is one with a lot of personal freedom - to start businesses, to export and to import.
But this also means there is less security.
If you don't bring prosperity to your people when there are no existential threats, you're out on your arse.
And if you don't bring security when there are, you're skewered on a stake.
If we're still meant to be keeping calm and carrying on (as best we can, anyway) they appearances by the head of Government morning, noon and night - preceded and followed by reams and reams of largely ill-informed "analysis," "debate" and "comment" in all forms of media, anti-social and otherwise - is surely the last thing on Earth than we need?
Better that Boris Johnson only appears to give an update when there is something significant to say, so that new messages - for example, when the order goes out to the elderly to self-isolate - attract appropriate attention. If he's droning on about bog roll supplies in Dorset or hospitalisations in Kettering every five bloody minutes then people will tune out, and his considerable value as a communicator of key information will be lost.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/14/coronavirus-live-updates-uk-us-australia-italy-europe-school-shutdown-sport-events-cancelled-latest-update-news
Pure oxygen by mask or nasal prongs may well be beneficial. Limited supply though.
They might learn something.
https://twitter.com/MollyNagle3/status/1238881953534918662?s=19
The big risk for me is we don't have best practice how to treat people and it is possible that some existing drugs are highly effective...we will have a better idea of that in a few months. And obviously crashing the system.
No, it really wont.
I will never get the time back from reading the opening sections of the Black Swan. Never.
Any reason why the 'Spanish' flu was different?
It does feel a bit like the Eurovisions whereby no matter what is done objectively there will be people telling us we are wrong and shit.
A full refund will be given in the form of a credit against a holiday next year.
(a stronger word is available, if you prefer).
I just feel helpless.
Twitter has created a new emoji to encourage handwashing during the coronavirus outbreak.
You can see why the optimists get such widespread public support, but I don't think there's any reason to assume at this stage that anybody knows the right thing to do.
I rate the chance of a wide spread epidemic worse than Ebola in my life time at over 50%....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AEMKudv5p0
Clouds, silver linings, and all that.