politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » The NHS “army of volunteers” could be a Cummings masterstroke

RochdalePioneers said:

LBC reporting the likes of HSBC and Lloyds charging <12% interest and personal guarantees on government backed business interruption loans.

Another triumph for HYUFD!</p>

James_M said:

On topic, my understanding from a skim read of the volunteer scheme documents is that recipients who will pay for food will potentially be called from the supermarket to pay via telephone using a code word to reassure individuals there is no fraud going on. There was also reference to cash payments, keeping distance, and sanitising cash also.

Anabobazina said:

RochdalePioneers said:

LBC reporting the likes of HSBC and Lloyds charging <12% interest and personal guarantees on government backed business interruption loans.

Another triumph for HYUFD!</p>

He is not having a good war.

The banks thing is odd, as it is left up to the banks themselves. RBS for example are not asking for personal guarantees. The government needs to clamp down the charlatans ASAP or companies will go to the wall through lack of cash.

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Sky reporting figures from Indonesia seem to be underplaying the outbreak and it has been suggested it is suffering worse than Iran !!!

TGOHF666 said:

MarqueeMark said:

Nigelb said:

CrispyRendang said:

MikeL said:

If the last 24 hours are repeated then the US will go top of the table (for cases) above China and Italy in 24 hours from now.

Re Trump approval - I do get the sense that most people in the US currently have no idea of the scale of the virus. It is surely going to be a very big moment and a shock to most Americans when they hear the US is top of the table.

Obviously deaths trail cases, but USA is still at 3 deaths/1M, which is the same as South Korea, half the UK rate, and 1/40 of the Italian figure.

Daily deaths are around 0.75/1M. Italy has had more than 10 deaths/1M for the last six days, also 10+ in Spain since 3 days.

Countries closer to Spain/Italian levels than the US include the Netherlands (5/1M daily) and France (4/1M).

Some parts of the US are at similar levels, notably Louisana (4/1M/day), and I believe New York City (where the cases are concentrated, not the rural regions) is close to 10/1M/day, although clearly still short of Lombardy levels.

So at the moment the US is far from top of the table, and attention still focused on blue New York. Time will come, but the virus is a way behind Europe in the US.

I don’t think it will be all that long until they are reporting more new cases than the rest of the world.

The WHO will confirm the epicentre of the virus has moved from Europe to the USA. When much of the rest of the world is seeing the light, America will still be descending into isolation.

And then, perhaps, America will ask "How did this happen?"

And Trump will blame the WHO - perhaps with some merit.

OllyT said:

TGOHF666 said:

MarqueeMark said:

Nigelb said:

CrispyRendang said:

MikeL said:

If the last 24 hours are repeated then the US will go top of the table (for cases) above China and Italy in 24 hours from now.

Re Trump approval - I do get the sense that most people in the US currently have no idea of the scale of the virus. It is surely going to be a very big moment and a shock to most Americans when they hear the US is top of the table.

Obviously deaths trail cases, but USA is still at 3 deaths/1M, which is the same as South Korea, half the UK rate, and 1/40 of the Italian figure.

Daily deaths are around 0.75/1M. Italy has had more than 10 deaths/1M for the last six days, also 10+ in Spain since 3 days.

Countries closer to Spain/Italian levels than the US include the Netherlands (5/1M daily) and France (4/1M).

Some parts of the US are at similar levels, notably Louisana (4/1M/day), and I believe New York City (where the cases are concentrated, not the rural regions) is close to 10/1M/day, although clearly still short of Lombardy levels.

So at the moment the US is far from top of the table, and attention still focused on blue New York. Time will come, but the virus is a way behind Europe in the US.

I don’t think it will be all that long until they are reporting more new cases than the rest of the world.

The WHO will confirm the epicentre of the virus has moved from Europe to the USA. When much of the rest of the world is seeing the light, America will still be descending into isolation.

And then, perhaps, America will ask "How did this happen?"

And Trump will blame the WHO - perhaps with some merit.

Criticism of the WHO pales into insignificance compared to Trump's actions and comments over the last month. Look at the tweets he was making a few weeks ago which were being widely circulated again yesterday. In any other country he would be politically dead by now. Sadly his supporters are mainly low-information (aka thick) and have no real idea of the severity of the problems they are facing. They will shortly.

Floater said:

OllyT said:

TGOHF666 said:

MarqueeMark said:

Nigelb said:

CrispyRendang said:

MikeL said:

If the last 24 hours are repeated then the US will go top of the table (for cases) above China and Italy in 24 hours from now.

Re Trump approval - I do get the sense that most people in the US currently have no idea of the scale of the virus. It is surely going to be a very big moment and a shock to most Americans when they hear the US is top of the table.

Obviously deaths trail cases, but USA is still at 3 deaths/1M, which is the same as South Korea, half the UK rate, and 1/40 of the Italian figure.

Daily deaths are around 0.75/1M. Italy has had more than 10 deaths/1M for the last six days, also 10+ in Spain since 3 days.

Countries closer to Spain/Italian levels than the US include the Netherlands (5/1M daily) and France (4/1M).

Some parts of the US are at similar levels, notably Louisana (4/1M/day), and I believe New York City (where the cases are concentrated, not the rural regions) is close to 10/1M/day, although clearly still short of Lombardy levels.

So at the moment the US is far from top of the table, and attention still focused on blue New York. Time will come, but the virus is a way behind Europe in the US.

I don’t think it will be all that long until they are reporting more new cases than the rest of the world.

The WHO will confirm the epicentre of the virus has moved from Europe to the USA. When much of the rest of the world is seeing the light, America will still be descending into isolation.

And then, perhaps, America will ask "How did this happen?"

And Trump will blame the WHO - perhaps with some merit.

Criticism of the WHO pales into insignificance compared to Trump's actions and comments over the last month. Look at the tweets he was making a few weeks ago which were being widely circulated again yesterday. In any other country he would be politically dead by now. Sadly his supporters are mainly low-information (aka thick) and have no real idea of the severity of the problems they are facing. They will shortly.

i was watching an on line US news program last night

Commenting on the situation in New York, which is bad and getting worse by any objective view the host referred to an article about life in a NYC hospital in a mainstream paper

"fake news" screamed Trump supporter............

Trump has made the situation in USA worse, there can be no doubt on that.

Morris_Dancer said:

Good morning, everyone.

Mr. Burgessian, on the distraction front, I'm enjoying Time of Contempt, the fourth Witcher book.

Benpointer said:

Re New York, Cunard have yet to cancel our May 6th westbound transatlantic crossing.

I guess they are just trying to guess how many months' sailings to can.

SouthamObserver said:

Mother-in-law’s funeral yesterday. What an amazing thing it was. Just us and our kids, and my wife’s brother’s immediate family, in attendance. We met the hearse outside the cottage she had lived in for 70 years - the one where my wife was born and in which she grew up - and because there was no traffic of any kind we were able to walk to the graveyard. Brother’s family in front of the hearse, us behind. Not a cloud in the sky. You could hear the birds singing, the baaing of the lambs. It’s a tiny graveyard and when we got there, four of us donned gloves and carried the coffin to the graveside. Two at the back, two at the front. The coffin itself a barrier to our mouths. Then we joined our respective family groups. One at the top of the cemetery, the other at the bottom. The priest formed the third part of the triangle and delivered a short, but entirely on point, service for a woman he had known for 20 years. And all the time the sun, the birdsong and the lambs. At the end she was lowered into the grave where her husband of 58 years already lay. Each family took a turn to drop flowers and earth onto the coffin, then we waved to each other and headed home. And the sun shone and the birds sang and the lambs had their fun. I cannot imagine anything more special or more peaceful or good. What a way to bring down the curtain on a 92 year life, so very well lived. We’ll do a memorial service once this is all done and it will be a party, not a wake. What a blessing.

IanB2 said:

Yorkcity said:

James_M said:

On topic, my understanding from a skim read of the volunteer scheme documents is that recipients who will pay for food will potentially be called from the supermarket to pay via telephone using a code word to reassure individuals there is no fraud going on. There was also reference to cash payments, keeping distance, and sanitising cash also.

Are they all going to be CRB checked ?
Seems a huge task if so.
However you have to protect vulnerable people.

It's DBS

Those who volunteer to transport patients will be checked. Others essentially running errands wont be.

Foxy said:

Foxy said:

rcs1000 said:

CrispyRendang said:

MikeL said:

If the last 24 hours are repeated then the US will go top of the table (for cases) above China and Italy in 24 hours from now.

Re Trump approval - I do get the sense that most people in the US currently have no idea of the scale of the virus. It is surely going to be a very big moment and a shock to most Americans when they hear the US is top of the table.

Obviously deaths trail cases, but USA is still at 3 deaths/1M, which is the same as South Korea, half the UK rate, and 1/40 of the Italian figure.

Daily deaths are around 0.75/1M. Italy has had more than 10 deaths/1M for the last six days, also 10+ in Spain since 3 days.

Countries closer to Spain/Italian levels than the US include the Netherlands (5/1M daily) and France (4/1M).

Some parts of the US are at similar levels, notably Louisana (4/1M/day), and I believe New York City (where the cases are concentrated, not the rural regions) is close to 10/1M/day, although clearly still short of Lombardy levels.

So at the moment the US is far from top of the table, and attention still focused on blue New York. Time will come, but the virus is a way behind Europe in the US.

The fact that much of the US is low population density works massively in their favour. If you drive from Denver to Salt Lake City you'll go 500 miles without passing anywhere bigger than... well, Beford.

It'd be like going from London to Edinburgh and passing... almost nothing of note...

But the counter to that is that the US has done bugger all social distancing (outside New York, Washington and California). They have a massive number of people who will go to work whatever, because there's no social system. And there's no public healthcare.

Put those together with a government that is largely in denial, and I think CV-19 could be the first crisis ever that European countries handle better than the US.

Hmm. Doesn't that just mean that even in the wide open spaces of the American West and Mountains, that the population is highly urbanised, and at risk?

To illustrate:
https://twitter.com/ByMikeBaker/status/1242700623704817664?s=19

From this map we see that Wyoming has 29 cases in a population of 577,000, and California 2,500 in 40 million. Per Capita, that is pretty similar.

squareroot2 said:

IanB2 said:

Yorkcity said:

James_M said:

On topic, my understanding from a skim read of the volunteer scheme documents is that recipients who will pay for food will potentially be called from the supermarket to pay via telephone using a code word to reassure individuals there is no fraud going on. There was also reference to cash payments, keeping distance, and sanitising cash also.

Are they all going to be CRB checked ?
Seems a huge task if so.
However you have to protect vulnerable people.

It's DBS

Those who volunteer to transport patients will be checked. Others essentially running errands wont be.

How the hell are they going to check everyone. Strikes me as impossible in the timeframe

OllyT said:

Floater said:

OllyT said:

TGOHF666 said:

MarqueeMark said:

Nigelb said:

CrispyRendang said:

MikeL said:

If the last 24 hours are repeated then the US will go top of the table (for cases) above China and Italy in 24 hours from now.

Re Trump approval - I do get the sense that most people in the US currently have no idea of the scale of the virus. It is surely going to be a very big moment and a shock to most Americans when they hear the US is top of the table.

Obviously deaths trail cases, but USA is still at 3 deaths/1M, which is the same as South Korea, half the UK rate, and 1/40 of the Italian figure.

Daily deaths are around 0.75/1M. Italy has had more than 10 deaths/1M for the last six days, also 10+ in Spain since 3 days.

Countries closer to Spain/Italian levels than the US include the Netherlands (5/1M daily) and France (4/1M).

Some parts of the US are at similar levels, notably Louisana (4/1M/day), and I believe New York City (where the cases are concentrated, not the rural regions) is close to 10/1M/day, although clearly still short of Lombardy levels.

So at the moment the US is far from top of the table, and attention still focused on blue New York. Time will come, but the virus is a way behind Europe in the US.

I don’t think it will be all that long until they are reporting more new cases than the rest of the world.

The WHO will confirm the epicentre of the virus has moved from Europe to the USA. When much of the rest of the world is seeing the light, America will still be descending into isolation.

And then, perhaps, America will ask "How did this happen?"

And Trump will blame the WHO - perhaps with some merit.

Criticism of the WHO pales into insignificance compared to Trump's actions and comments over the last month. Look at the tweets he was making a few weeks ago which were being widely circulated again yesterday. In any other country he would be politically dead by now. Sadly his supporters are mainly low-information (aka thick) and have no real idea of the severity of the problems they are facing. They will shortly.

i was watching an on line US news program last night

Commenting on the situation in New York, which is bad and getting worse by any objective view the host referred to an article about life in a NYC hospital in a mainstream paper

"fake news" screamed Trump supporter............

Trump has made the situation in USA worse, there can be no doubt on that.

Therein lies the problem, Trump has conditioned his core to believe that anything other than Fox News is Fake News. I think we are about to find out just how dangerous a man he really is.

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Floater said:

So I turn Sky on - they telling me that Labour has labelled the government "a disgrace"

Then they play an interview from Ashworth saying that certain employers are a disgrace......

I'm begining to hate our media

Kay Burley is a disgrace. Full of her own importance and crass questions

I honestly struggle to understand why you ever watch Sky @Big_G_NorthWales; it cannot be good for your blood pressure.

Other news outlets are available - switch from Sky and do your health a favour!

Just get the news from PB like the rest of us. It has a wide variety of intelligent, well-informed people, a constant link to the latest updates from Twitter frequently courtesy of ScottP, and comes with free awesome punning from me.

What more could anyone want?

SouthamObserver said:

Mother-in-law’s funeral yesterday. What an amazing thing it was. Just us and our kids, and my wife’s brother’s immediate family, in attendance. We met the hearse outside the cottage she had lived in for 70 years - the one where my wife was born and in which she grew up - and because there was no traffic of any kind we were able to walk to the graveyard. Brother’s family in front of the hearse, us behind. Not a cloud in the sky. You could hear the birds singing, the baaing of the lambs. It’s a tiny graveyard and when we got there, four of us donned gloves and carried the coffin to the graveside. Two at the back, two at the front. The coffin itself a barrier to our mouths. Then we joined our respective family groups. One at the top of the cemetery, the other at the bottom. The priest formed the third part of the triangle and delivered a short, but entirely on point, service for a woman he had known for 20 years. And all the time the sun, the birdsong and the lambs. At the end she was lowered into the grave where her husband of 58 years already lay. Each family took a turn to drop flowers and earth onto the coffin, then we waved to each other and headed home. And the sun shone and the birds sang and the lambs had their fun. I cannot imagine anything more special or more peaceful or good. What a way to bring down the curtain on a 92 year life, so very well lived. We’ll do a memorial service once this is all done and it will be a party, not a wake. What a blessing.

MarqueeMark said:

Benpointer said:

Burgessian said:

Morning PBers,

Those looking for an amusing diversion from Covid-19 could do worse than contemplate the brewing civil war in the SNP following the Salmond trial.
There is an extraordinary op-ed in the Aberdeen Press and Journal this morning by Alex Bell, former speechwriter and head of policy for Salmond, which explains the conspiracy theory behind Salmond's protestations and also amounts to a forensic character assassination of his former boss. Summary: "Alex Salmond won't stop, because he can't, his insecurity drives him to never stop."
See here for the gory details:
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/opinion/columnists/alex-bell/2101624/alex-bell-when-your-best-defence-is-im-sleazy-but-not-criminal-its-nothing-to-smile-about/

Meanwhile on the other side of the fence, this from Jim Sillars, former SNP Deputy Leader and a leading nat dinosaur:
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/politics/scottish-politics/2101171/former-snp-deputy-claims-compelling-evidence-of-political-set-up-against-alex-salmond/

It will be a bloodbath.

SNP split looming?

Will the Salmondistas amount to much?

On one side of the divide, a party for paranoid sex-pests. On the other.....

Nigelb said:

Nigelb said:

MarqueeMark said:

Nigelb said:

CrispyRendang said:

MikeL said:

If the last 24 hours are repeated then the US will go top of the table (for cases) above China and Italy in 24 hours from now.

Re Trump approval - I do get the sense that most people in the US currently have no idea of the scale of the virus. It is surely going to be a very big moment and a shock to most Americans when they hear the US is top of the table.

Obviously deaths trail cases, but USA is still at 3 deaths/1M, which is the same as South Korea, half the UK rate, and 1/40 of the Italian figure.

Daily deaths are around 0.75/1M. Italy has had more than 10 deaths/1M for the last six days, also 10+ in Spain since 3 days.

Countries closer to Spain/Italian levels than the US include the Netherlands (5/1M daily) and France (4/1M).

Some parts of the US are at similar levels, notably Louisana (4/1M/day), and I believe New York City (where the cases are concentrated, not the rural regions) is close to 10/1M/day, although clearly still short of Lombardy levels.

So at the moment the US is far from top of the table, and attention still focused on blue New York. Time will come, but the virus is a way behind Europe in the US.

I don’t think it will be all that long until they are reporting more new cases than the rest of the world.

The WHO will confirm the epicentre of the virus has moved from Europe to the USA. When much of the rest of the world is seeing the light, America will still be descending into isolation.

And then, perhaps, America will ask "How did this happen?"

And then, perhaps, Donald Trump will be the lightning rod. It will ask itself "If this thing, or something similar, hits us again, who do we want in control?"

The role of the insurance companies is also going to be an issue in November.

https://twitter.com/wendellpotter/status/1242969838126911488

https://twitter.com/wendellpotter/status/1242969841528537088

Benpointer said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Floater said:

So I turn Sky on - they telling me that Labour has labelled the government "a disgrace"

Then they play an interview from Ashworth saying that certain employers are a disgrace......

I'm begining to hate our media

Kay Burley is a disgrace. Full of her own importance and crass questions

I honestly struggle to understand why you ever watch Sky @Big_G_NorthWales; it cannot be good for your blood pressure.

Other news outlets are available - switch from Sky and do your health a favour!

Just get the news from PB like the rest of us. It has a wide variety of intelligent, well-informed people, a constant link to the latest updates from Twitter frequently courtesy of ScottP, and comes with free awesome punning from me.

What more could anyone want?

Is there a premium subscription that comes without the puns?

IshmaelZ said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Sky reporting figures from Indonesia seem to be underplaying the outbreak and it has been suggested it is suffering worse than Iran !!!

Humid, tropical Indonesia, that would be.

Big_G_NorthWales said:

IshmaelZ said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Sky reporting figures from Indonesia seem to be underplaying the outbreak and it has been suggested it is suffering worse than Iran !!!

Humid, tropical Indonesia, that would be.

I believe they are not practising safe distance

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Floater said:

So I turn Sky on - they telling me that Labour has labelled the government "a disgrace"

Then they play an interview from Ashworth saying that certain employers are a disgrace......

I'm begining to hate our media

Kay Burley is a disgrace. Full of her own importance and crass questions

I honestly struggle to understand why you ever watch Sky @Big_G_NorthWales; it cannot be good for your blood pressure.

Other news outlets are available - switch from Sky and do your health a favour!

Just get the news from PB like the rest of us. It has a wide variety of intelligent, well-informed people, a constant link to the latest updates from Twitter frequently courtesy of ScottP, and comes with free awesome punning from me.

What more could anyone want?

Is there a premium subscription that comes without the puns?

Yes, but it comes instead with extra posts from @TSE on AV and pineapple pizza.

Benpointer said:

Burgessian said:

Morning PBers,

Those looking for an amusing diversion from Covid-19 could do worse than contemplate the brewing civil war in the SNP following the Salmond trial.
There is an extraordinary op-ed in the Aberdeen Press and Journal this morning by Alex Bell, former speechwriter and head of policy for Salmond, which explains the conspiracy theory behind Salmond's protestations and also amounts to a forensic character assassination of his former boss. Summary: "Alex Salmond won't stop, because he can't, his insecurity drives him to never stop."
See here for the gory details:
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/opinion/columnists/alex-bell/2101624/alex-bell-when-your-best-defence-is-im-sleazy-but-not-criminal-its-nothing-to-smile-about/

Meanwhile on the other side of the fence, this from Jim Sillars, former SNP Deputy Leader and a leading nat dinosaur:
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/politics/scottish-politics/2101171/former-snp-deputy-claims-compelling-evidence-of-political-set-up-against-alex-salmond/

It will be a bloodbath.

SNP split looming?

squareroot2 said:

ydoethur said:

squareroot2 said:

IanB2 said:

Yorkcity said:

James_M said:

On topic, my understanding from a skim read of the volunteer scheme documents is that recipients who will pay for food will potentially be called from the supermarket to pay via telephone using a code word to reassure individuals there is no fraud going on. There was also reference to cash payments, keeping distance, and sanitising cash also.

Are they all going to be CRB checked ?
Seems a huge task if so.
However you have to protect vulnerable people.

It's DBS

Those who volunteer to transport patients will be checked. Others essentially running errands wont be.

How the hell are they going to check everyone. Strikes me as impossible in the timeframe

Some (e.g. teachers, taxi drivers) may already have DBS clearance of course. You can make it portable.

The law says it cannot be portable afaik. Yiu need a separate check for each job.. ludicrous i know.
They should be time based.. I am volunteering in the tea shop at the local.hospital post retirement... but its been impossible to meet the guy who does the check paperwork and i am in limbo at the moment. I hope he diesnt have to check 5000 applicatoons...

Floater said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Floater said:

So I turn Sky on - they telling me that Labour has labelled the government "a disgrace"

Then they play an interview from Ashworth saying that certain employers are a disgrace......

I'm begining to hate our media

Kay Burley is a disgrace. Full of her own importance and crass questions

I honestly struggle to understand why you ever watch Sky @Big_G_NorthWales; it cannot be good for your blood pressure.

Other news outlets are available - switch from Sky and do your health a favour!

Just get the news from PB like the rest of us. It has a wide variety of intelligent, well-informed people, a constant link to the latest updates from Twitter frequently courtesy of ScottP, and comes with free awesome punning from me.

What more could anyone want?

Is there a premium subscription that comes without the puns?

Yes, but it comes instead with extra posts from @TSE on AV and pineapple pizza.

Dear god, now we know what hell looks like.

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Burley just now with a doctor

'Do you have plenty of protective equipment'

'Yes we do'

Burley silenced

IanB2 said:

<

The Great Depression? Hardly the US’s finest hour. Not only did it start in the Us, but it took a long time for the US to shake off, if because they were last to rearm.

MarqueeMark said:

Floater said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Floater said:

So I turn Sky on - they telling me that Labour has labelled the government "a disgrace"

Then they play an interview from Ashworth saying that certain employers are a disgrace......

I'm begining to hate our media

Kay Burley is a disgrace. Full of her own importance and crass questions

I honestly struggle to understand why you ever watch Sky @Big_G_NorthWales; it cannot be good for your blood pressure.

Other news outlets are available - switch from Sky and do your health a favour!

Just get the news from PB like the rest of us. It has a wide variety of intelligent, well-informed people, a constant link to the latest updates from Twitter frequently courtesy of ScottP, and comes with free awesome punning from me.

What more could anyone want?

Is there a premium subscription that comes without the puns?

Yes, but it comes instead with extra posts from @TSE on AV and pineapple pizza.

Dear god, now we know what hell looks like.

Indeed. A place with no puns.

MarqueeMark said:

Floater said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Floater said:

So I turn Sky on - they telling me that Labour has labelled the government "a disgrace"

Then they play an interview from Ashworth saying that certain employers are a disgrace......

I'm begining to hate our media

Kay Burley is a disgrace. Full of her own importance and crass questions

I honestly struggle to understand why you ever watch Sky @Big_G_NorthWales; it cannot be good for your blood pressure.

Other news outlets are available - switch from Sky and do your health a favour!

Just get the news from PB like the rest of us. It has a wide variety of intelligent, well-informed people, a constant link to the latest updates from Twitter frequently courtesy of ScottP, and comes with free awesome punning from me.

What more could anyone want?

Is there a premium subscription that comes without the puns?

Yes, but it comes instead with extra posts from @TSE on AV and pineapple pizza.

Dear god, now we know what hell looks like.

Indeed. A place with no puns.

MarqueeMark said:

Floater said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Floater said:

So I turn Sky on - they telling me that Labour has labelled the government "a disgrace"

Then they play an interview from Ashworth saying that certain employers are a disgrace......

I'm begining to hate our media

Kay Burley is a disgrace. Full of her own importance and crass questions

I honestly struggle to understand why you ever watch Sky @Big_G_NorthWales; it cannot be good for your blood pressure.

Other news outlets are available - switch from Sky and do your health a favour!

Just get the news from PB like the rest of us. It has a wide variety of intelligent, well-informed people, a constant link to the latest updates from Twitter frequently courtesy of ScottP, and comes with free awesome punning from me.

What more could anyone want?

Is there a premium subscription that comes without the puns?

Yes, but it comes instead with extra posts from @TSE on AV and pineapple pizza.

Dear god, now we know what hell looks like.

Indeed. A place with no puns.

squareroot2 said:

IanB2 said:

Yorkcity said:

James_M said:

On topic, my understanding from a skim read of the volunteer scheme documents is that recipients who will pay for food will potentially be called from the supermarket to pay via telephone using a code word to reassure individuals there is no fraud going on. There was also reference to cash payments, keeping distance, and sanitising cash also.

Are they all going to be CRB checked ?
Seems a huge task if so.
However you have to protect vulnerable people.

It's DBS

Those who volunteer to transport patients will be checked. Others essentially running errands wont be.

How the hell are they going to check everyone. Strikes me as impossible in the timeframe

HYUFD said:

RochdalePioneers said:

LBC reporting the likes of HSBC and Lloyds charging <12% interest and personal guarantees on government backed business interruption loans.

Another triumph for HYUFD!</p>

What loans do not come with guarantees?

IanB2 said:

Benpointer said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Floater said:

So I turn Sky on - they telling me that Labour has labelled the government "a disgrace"

Then they play an interview from Ashworth saying that certain employers are a disgrace......

I'm begining to hate our media

Kay Burley is a disgrace. Full of her own importance and crass questions

I honestly struggle to understand why you ever watch Sky @Big_G_NorthWales; it cannot be good for your blood pressure.

Other news outlets are available - switch from Sky and do your health a favour!

Just get the news from PB like the rest of us. It has a wide variety of intelligent, well-informed people, a constant link to the latest updates from Twitter frequently courtesy of ScottP, and comes with free awesome punning from me.

What more could anyone want?

Is there a premium subscription that comes without the puns?

Not while the Cornyvirus Pundemic is still raging, no.

egg said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Floater said:

So I turn Sky on - they telling me that Labour has labelled the government "a disgrace"

Then they play an interview from Ashworth saying that certain employers are a disgrace......

I'm begining to hate our media

Kay Burley is a disgrace. Full of her own importance and crass questions

I honestly struggle to understand why you ever watch Sky @Big_G_NorthWales; it cannot be good for your blood pressure.

Other news outlets are available - switch from Sky and do your health a favour!

Just get the news from PB like the rest of us. It has a wide variety of intelligent, well-informed people, a constant link to the latest updates from Twitter frequently courtesy of ScottP, and comes with free awesome punning from me.

What more could anyone want?

Is there a premium subscription that comes without the puns?

Yes, but it comes instead with extra posts from @TSE on AV and pineapple pizza.

You are rarely shy to use the c word doctor, the most special c word, so what is your prognosis for the English cricket season?

Here’s my thoughts to set discussion rolling.
No cricket till end of May, eight rounds of the championship was meant to be complete then. Revenue will be an issue, so if any cricket it will emphasis on the tv contracts, very short games like T20 and 100.
Even 28 of May seems optimistic, surely the 4 day season will need to be rolled over till next year as there will be no time for that competition be anything realistic or fair? However there could be time, and some crowds, for local 4 day friendlies? York’s v lancs, Surrey v Kent, glos v som, wors v Warwick etc, to keep the 4 day hand in for a proper resumption next year.

Situation might not even allow cricket in June or July?

egg said:

Having talked up the great resumption, can Trump actually back track and flip flop on it now? Without paying huge in credibility?

kinabalu said:

ydoethur said:

If there was a split - which, I am honest, I do not expect there to be - the more dangerous scenario would be the two sides splitting the Nationalist vote (which let us not forget, is a minority of the overall electorate) and letting Unionist candidates through the middle.

But my suspicion is all that will happen is a lot of damaging mud slinging, which may topple Sturgeon and cost the SNP ten seats next year but would not be fatal to it. Ultimately, there are huge policy differences over just about everything in the SNP - Europe, Education, Health, Policing - but because they all want independence everything else is secondary. This will just be another sore.

It will be interesting what becomes of the SNP once the goal of independence is achieved. At the moment they are able to secure the votes of people with very different politics - e.g. our own @malcolmg and @Theuniondivvie who I sense from their posts are right and left (of centre) respectively - drawn together by a shared belief that Scotland does not belong in the UK. Such people, and there must be loads, will probably not be voting for the same party post indy.