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So there is. Why did I think Chester-Le-Street is south of Durham? I stayed there about five years ago and must have muddled it with another stay I made at Shincliffe.SandyRentool said:
Geography fail there I'm afraid.ydoethur said:
Barnard Castle incidentally is a lot more than half an hour from Durham. However, I don’t know which side of Durham he was starting from. If it was the south near Chester-Le-Street, than half an hour sounds about right. If it was from the northern side, it would be much more like an hour.rcs1000 said:
If I wanted to take a drive to test my eyesight* I would probably prefer not to stray too far from home, in case I decided it wasn't up to a long drive. It's a bit risky going 25 miles away, IMHO, because what do you do in this CV-19 world if you get to Castle Bernard and decide your eyesight is not good enough.Philip_Thompson said:
I think it's logical before you go for a long cross country drive if you've just recovered from illness to take a half hour drive to see that you're up to the pressures of driving.rcs1000 said:
In all your comments, you seem to pretend there was only one beach of regulations, not three or more.Philip_Thompson said:
Indeed and having a young infant with no childcare is harmful. QED it is reasonable to leave the home to get childcare.Freggles said:
The regulations specifically allow you to leave home in order to prevent injury.Philip_Thompson said:I'm wondering how many people speaking about the instruction to stay at home would have done so if their fire alarm was going off and the building was being engulfed in flames.
Using your own personal judgement is what any sentient intelligent person should do. People banging on as if there's one rule for every situation don't just insult our intelligence they're insulting their own.
Very specific aren't they?
Forget the trips (plural) between London and Durham, and tell me how the Castle Bernard sojourn was in the rules.
I believe that's what Cummings meant but not what he said. The way it was phrased was awful but the logic I understood.
* Which, I would assume, the DVLA does not recommend
Honestly, my eyes need testing. Time for a drive to Barnard Castle?1 -
What does Boris keep looking at, up and down, left and right? It's as though he has been self-medicating with Michael Gove.0
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More a tummy tickling than a 'grilling'1
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And they can do it without getting into a car.Foxy said:
The numberplate eyesight test is still the standard, and is changed only in minor ways for nearly a century.Chris said:
It's strange, isn't it that opticians tend to sit people down in a chair and ask them to read letters, rather than putting them in a car and doing it that way.rcs1000 said:
If I wanted to take a drive to test my eyesight* I would probably prefer not to stray too far from home, in case I decided it wasn't up to a long drive. It's a bit risky going 25 miles away, IMHO, because what do you do in this CV-19 world if you get to Castle Bernard and decide your eyesight is not good enough.Philip_Thompson said:
I think it's logical before you go for a long cross country drive if you've just recovered from illness to take a half hour drive to see that you're up to the pressures of driving.rcs1000 said:
In all your comments, you seem to pretend there was only one beach of regulations, not three or more.Philip_Thompson said:
Indeed and having a young infant with no childcare is harmful. QED it is reasonable to leave the home to get childcare.Freggles said:
The regulations specifically allow you to leave home in order to prevent injury.Philip_Thompson said:I'm wondering how many people speaking about the instruction to stay at home would have done so if their fire alarm was going off and the building was being engulfed in flames.
Using your own personal judgement is what any sentient intelligent person should do. People banging on as if there's one rule for every situation don't just insult our intelligence they're insulting their own.
Very specific aren't they?
Forget the trips (plural) between London and Durham, and tell me how the Castle Bernard sojourn was in the rules.
I believe that's what Cummings meant but not what he said. The way it was phrased was awful but the logic I understood.
* Which, I would assume, the DVLA does not recommend
Perhaps Cummings plans to set up his own chain of opticians based around that concept. Perhaps he could call it JobSavers?
The reason is so that anyone can measure out the distance and test themselves.0 -
We would go off on a tangent.ydoethur said:
We’d keep dodging round the issue.Carnyx said:
Especially with so many PBers diametrically opposed to each other.ydoethur said:
I don’t think that contest would do anything other than lead us in circles.IshmaelZ said:
@ydoethur I challenge you to better this today.IshmaelZ said:
A pious aspiration.noneoftheabove said:
We were on 3.5 and will shortly be on 3 so Im going for 3.14159AlastairMeeks said:
The government has said none of that. You're hypothesising.Richard_Nabavi said:
To answer that:AlastairMeeks said:I appreciate that it's more fun talking about Dominic Cummings but I'm disappointed I haven't been able to move debate on, just as the government wishes. What metrics is the government using for lifting lockdown? It hasn't articulated them at all yet and it does seem rather important.
We must protect our NHS - Yes.
We must see sustained falls in the death rate - Yes.
We must see sustained and considerable falls in the rate of infection - Yes.
We must sort out our challenges in getting enough PPE to the people who need it, and yes, it is a global problem but we must fix it. - Yes, according to the latest announcements.
And last, we must make sure that any measures we take do not force the reproduction rate of the disease – the R – back up over one, so that we have the kind of exponential growth we were facing a few weeks ago. - To be seen as things develop, but the talk over the past couple of days about the possibility of reimposing lockdowns locally shows that the government is on the case.
So I don't really see what the criticism in big-picture terms is here. The government is doing what it said it would do. Other countries are doing similar things, which will no doubt provide useful pre-warning of any issues.
We can scrutinise the specific decisions and priorities as the regulations are relaxed, but overall the direction and pace seem to be appropriate.
As of today, what Covid alert level are we at?
I said this would lead us in circles...0 -
Smug? Moi? As if.kinabalu said:
You must be feeling well smug as the poster who more than anyone has been telling anybody who would listen - which was precious few - that the sum of Dominic Cummings was considerably less than his parts.ydoethur said:
Yes.ozymandias said:
You do know the next GE is fours years from now?OllyT said:
Four years of Dominic Cummings doing this level of damage and it won’t be a new Thatcher the Tories need but a new Clement Davies.
But I will confess I find it mildly gratifying that so many people are now noticing what has been apparent to me all along...2 -
That’s probably a sin this idea of yours has gone too far.IshmaelZ said:
We would go off on a tangent.ydoethur said:
We’d keep dodging round the issue.Carnyx said:
Especially with so many PBers diametrically opposed to each other.ydoethur said:
I don’t think that contest would do anything other than lead us in circles.IshmaelZ said:
@ydoethur I challenge you to better this today.IshmaelZ said:
A pious aspiration.noneoftheabove said:
We were on 3.5 and will shortly be on 3 so Im going for 3.14159AlastairMeeks said:
The government has said none of that. You're hypothesising.Richard_Nabavi said:
To answer that:AlastairMeeks said:I appreciate that it's more fun talking about Dominic Cummings but I'm disappointed I haven't been able to move debate on, just as the government wishes. What metrics is the government using for lifting lockdown? It hasn't articulated them at all yet and it does seem rather important.
We must protect our NHS - Yes.
We must see sustained falls in the death rate - Yes.
We must see sustained and considerable falls in the rate of infection - Yes.
We must sort out our challenges in getting enough PPE to the people who need it, and yes, it is a global problem but we must fix it. - Yes, according to the latest announcements.
And last, we must make sure that any measures we take do not force the reproduction rate of the disease – the R – back up over one, so that we have the kind of exponential growth we were facing a few weeks ago. - To be seen as things develop, but the talk over the past couple of days about the possibility of reimposing lockdowns locally shows that the government is on the case.
So I don't really see what the criticism in big-picture terms is here. The government is doing what it said it would do. Other countries are doing similar things, which will no doubt provide useful pre-warning of any issues.
We can scrutinise the specific decisions and priorities as the regulations are relaxed, but overall the direction and pace seem to be appropriate.
As of today, what Covid alert level are we at?
I said this would lead us in circles...0 -
At the cue cards Dom is holding up for himMexicanpete said:What does Boris keep looking at, up and down, left and right? It's as though he has been self-medicating with Michael Gove.
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I previously regularly referred to him as Johnson, I have been criticised when using his surname as being agressively partisan being as everyone knows him as Boris.Nigel_Foremain said:
"Boris" as you affectionately refer to him does not just come over as a fool, he is a fool. Not necessarily educationally (though an Eton education always helps), but from every aspect of leadership that one would expect from a PM he is an idiot. Cummings is clever, in that he is riding a donkey for as long as said donkey thinks it needs him and not the other way around.Mexicanpete said:
Cummings is clever but arrogant, he needs to stay, Boris comes over as a fool, he needs to take a rest until the end of the pandemic.Nigel_Foremain said:This is a lose-lose for Bozo now. If he fires him he will look weak. if he keeps him he looks weak. POBWAS
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So winning the EU referendum and an 80 seat majority is an example of someone who is not any good?kinabalu said:
You must be feeling well smug as the poster who more than anyone has been telling anybody who would listen - which was precious few - that the sum of Dominic Cummings was considerably less than his parts.ydoethur said:
Yes.ozymandias said:
You do know the next GE is fours years from now?OllyT said:
Four years of Dominic Cummings doing this level of damage and it won’t be a new Thatcher the Tories need but a new Clement Davies.2 -
In recent years Western governments, and probably all governments, have been allowed to oversell what a government can do for its population.
When Corona struck therefore people naturally turned to their governments to 'sort out' the problem quickly and efficiently.
They failed, because sometimes nature is powerful. The government could no more stop some people dying from Corona than they could some people dying from a Tsunami, a meteor strike, a volcanic eruption, an earthquake.
Indeed, you could argue governments have made things worse. It was humans as much as nature, for example, that got Corona into care homes.
We now know that Corona is much less harmful outdoors, and yet our instructions were to 'stay home' on top of each other in enclosed units.
Corona has cruelly exposed the limits of government, any government, to guarantee a life for its citizens and so its not wonder the PM is floundering. Any PM would.2 -
A tummy like his needs to be tickled before grilling to keep it tender and tasty.Brom said:More a tummy tickling than a 'grilling'
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It’s funny, but I think I’m the only poster who refers to him consistently as ‘Johnson.’ Never called him ‘Boris’ since he became FS.Mexicanpete said:
I previously regularly referred to him as Johnson, I have been criticised for using his surname for being agressively partisan as everyone knows him as Boris.Nigel_Foremain said:
"Boris" as you affectionately refer to him does not just come over as a fool, he is a fool. Not necessarily educationally (though an Eton education always helps), but from every aspect of leadership that one would expect from a PM he is an idiot. Cummings is clever, in that he is riding a donkey for as long as said donkey thinks it needs him and not the other way around.Mexicanpete said:
Cummings is clever but arrogant, he needs to stay, Boris comes over as a fool, he needs to take a rest until the end of the pandemic.Nigel_Foremain said:This is a lose-lose for Bozo now. If he fires him he will look weak. if he keeps him he looks weak. POBWAS
Just doesn’t feel right to me to call the PM by their first name.0 -
It's a problem that no matter how careful you are, there's always the other guy.Wulfrun_Phil said:
Quite right too.kinabalu said:
I was at Morrisons today and can report that there is still a level of anxiety in there. One woman lost her temper with somebody who came too close. Some quite bad language.AlastairMeeks said:
My mother today has for the first time since lockdown gone into a shop. She has been steeling herself for this moment for at least two weeks. She had the moral support at a social distance of my sister. I know she feels extremely proud of herself now.OldKingCole said:
I and many of my friends did. And organisations such as the U3a confirmed us in our view.AlastairMeeks said:
It's not just specially shielded individuals. There's a cohort of over 70s who took the initial statements that they needed to take extra care very seriously indeed.FrancisUrquhart said:
I haven't seen any official mention of when the specially shielded individuals can come out of hiding. I think TSE said the latest advice is end of June, but the government really haven't talked about this.AlastairMeeks said:
The government needs to say that if it's true.noneoftheabove said:
Of the five original tests, the first 3 are done. The fourth is in progress and seems on track. The fifth could never be guaranteed so has been loosened/changed/dropped.AlastairMeeks said:I appreciate that it's more fun talking about Dominic Cummings but I'm disappointed I haven't been able to move debate on, just as the government wishes. What metrics is the government using for lifting lockdown? It hasn't articulated them at all yet and it does seem rather important.
We are learning more from other countries unlockdowns than we can learn from looking at our own R during lockdown.
The problem group are not those itching to go to the pub, the beach or to Nando's. It's the pensioners who have all the money and who don't feel safe out of the house.
She lives on a close of bungalows with a lot of other oldies (she'd be affronted if she saw I used that word about her - I got into trouble last night for pointing out that Joe Biden was the same age as her). They're quite sociable between themselves but each only has a handful of links outside the close. They're all really spooked still.
I don't think some younger people have really grasped just how much fear there still is out there.
Shopping indoors is by far the most risky permitted activity out there. If I go to a supermarket indoors there will probably be someone coming within 2 metres every minute or less. They're the ones who are most likely to be infected because they don't give a damn. It's potentially worse in some retailers who quite clearly are content to go through the motions to cover themselves while still letting far too many into their stores. Based on experience to date I go to a near deserted supermarket about 8.45pm. And use your trolley to block the idiots from getting close.
By contrast If I play golf for three hours in the outdoors there will generally be only one person within 100 yards of me the whole time. It's ridiculous that we still have to tee off at intervals of 10 minutes no less.
For example, I did see someone dutifully standing in a queue 6 feet behind the person in front, but with two people literally about 6 inches behind him.0 -
e's got no chance.Foxy said:
A circumfrential answer in my opinion. And an irrational one...IshmaelZ said:
@ydoethur I challenge you to better this today.IshmaelZ said:
A pious aspiration.noneoftheabove said:
We were on 3.5 and will shortly be on 3 so Im going for 3.14159AlastairMeeks said:
The government has said none of that. You're hypothesising.Richard_Nabavi said:
To answer that:AlastairMeeks said:I appreciate that it's more fun talking about Dominic Cummings but I'm disappointed I haven't been able to move debate on, just as the government wishes. What metrics is the government using for lifting lockdown? It hasn't articulated them at all yet and it does seem rather important.
We must protect our NHS - Yes.
We must see sustained falls in the death rate - Yes.
We must see sustained and considerable falls in the rate of infection - Yes.
We must sort out our challenges in getting enough PPE to the people who need it, and yes, it is a global problem but we must fix it. - Yes, according to the latest announcements.
And last, we must make sure that any measures we take do not force the reproduction rate of the disease – the R – back up over one, so that we have the kind of exponential growth we were facing a few weeks ago. - To be seen as things develop, but the talk over the past couple of days about the possibility of reimposing lockdowns locally shows that the government is on the case.
So I don't really see what the criticism in big-picture terms is here. The government is doing what it said it would do. Other countries are doing similar things, which will no doubt provide useful pre-warning of any issues.
We can scrutinise the specific decisions and priorities as the regulations are relaxed, but overall the direction and pace seem to be appropriate.
As of today, what Covid alert level are we at?1 -
It's pointless arguing. Many on here seem to think a GE is just around the corner, that the government has a wafer thin majority, and that in four years, any of this will make any difference.NerysHughes said:
So winning the EU referendum and an 80 seat majority is an example of someone who is not any good?kinabalu said:
You must be feeling well smug as the poster who more than anyone has been telling anybody who would listen - which was precious few - that the sum of Dominic Cummings was considerably less than his parts.ydoethur said:
Yes.ozymandias said:
You do know the next GE is fours years from now?OllyT said:
Four years of Dominic Cummings doing this level of damage and it won’t be a new Thatcher the Tories need but a new Clement Davies.
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This moment does remind me of when some Labour supporters who had so long wished Brown to take over from Blair started the slow realisation that their man was a crock of shit. I had the advantage of a little inside knowledge on Boris Johnson. He is even more unsuited to the job of PM than Gordy. People thought that TMay was poor. She is a colossus compared to her hopeless successor.0
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This seems to be a growing consensus. That he will not make the next election. I think he will myself. It is rare for power to be given up voluntarily and I can't see the party booting him out unless he starts to poll as a clear electoral liability. And that will not happen unless the public demonstrates a greater level of interest and perceptiveness about politics than I for one give them credit for.Big_G_NorthWales said:Boris is just not well and his bumbling along is not impressive
He is polite to his interrogators but I cannot see him leading into GE 2024, indeed I do not see him in place this time next year0 -
I usually call him Johnson, but no doubt I have slipped at times.ydoethur said:
It’s funny, but I think I’m the only poster who refers to him consistently as ‘Johnson.’ Never called him ‘Boris’ since he became FS.Mexicanpete said:
I previously regularly referred to him as Johnson, I have been criticised for using his surname for being agressively partisan as everyone knows him as Boris.Nigel_Foremain said:
"Boris" as you affectionately refer to him does not just come over as a fool, he is a fool. Not necessarily educationally (though an Eton education always helps), but from every aspect of leadership that one would expect from a PM he is an idiot. Cummings is clever, in that he is riding a donkey for as long as said donkey thinks it needs him and not the other way around.Mexicanpete said:
Cummings is clever but arrogant, he needs to stay, Boris comes over as a fool, he needs to take a rest until the end of the pandemic.Nigel_Foremain said:This is a lose-lose for Bozo now. If he fires him he will look weak. if he keeps him he looks weak. POBWAS
Just doesn’t feel right to me to call the PM by their first name.
You are correct I think.
What is even more is that Boris is effectively a stage name. His family and numerous girlfriends all call him Alexander or Alex.
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The few remaining Cummings fans are desperately flailing around trying to find a straw to clutch. After failing dismally to smear Tony Lloyd this morning they are now trying to turn into a Brexit issue. Sadly anyone with a functioning brain cell can see that the attacks are also coming from leave politicians.Peter_the_Punter said:
So why are Baker, Robertson and many other strongly pro-Brexit people lining up on the wrong side? I think it is because they think Cummings was wrong. So do I. So do most people, if the polls are anything to go by.Brom said:
Definitely a Brexit issue. Look at Alastair Campbell disobeying the rules today but getting angry at Cummings.Peter_the_Punter said:
It is not a Brexit issue, it is a right or wrong issue.eek said:
The Cummings saga is not a Brexit issue but Brexit is an available excuse for why people are being mean to Dominic and that excuse seems to be being used (in part) to justify his retention.FrancisUrquhart said:
Well, for some the hatred towards him / Cummings is 100% Brexit, but yes, Tory Bear pointing out all the Remainers on the panel ahead of time, is as I say just "getting excuses in early".Big_G_NorthWales said:
The Cummings saga is not a brexit issueFrancisUrquhart said:
Getting the excuses in early.....TGOHF666 said:
Two extreme ERG members, Stephen Baker and Laurence Robertson, have both expressed their dissatisfaction over Cummings. There are probably other of a Brexit persuasion who also ain't happy.
That suggests it's being seen as a right v wrong issue, and I'm sure that's healthy. Viewing it through the prism of Brexit is unhealthy because it trivialises it.0 -
Calling Johnson 'Boris' is buying into the character he has created, and it is bullshit. Perhaps I have inadverterntly been bought.ydoethur said:
It’s funny, but I think I’m the only poster who refers to him consistently as ‘Johnson.’ Never called him ‘Boris’ since he became FS.Mexicanpete said:
I previously regularly referred to him as Johnson, I have been criticised for using his surname for being agressively partisan as everyone knows him as Boris.Nigel_Foremain said:
"Boris" as you affectionately refer to him does not just come over as a fool, he is a fool. Not necessarily educationally (though an Eton education always helps), but from every aspect of leadership that one would expect from a PM he is an idiot. Cummings is clever, in that he is riding a donkey for as long as said donkey thinks it needs him and not the other way around.Mexicanpete said:
Cummings is clever but arrogant, he needs to stay, Boris comes over as a fool, he needs to take a rest until the end of the pandemic.Nigel_Foremain said:This is a lose-lose for Bozo now. If he fires him he will look weak. if he keeps him he looks weak. POBWAS
Just doesn’t feel right to me to call the PM by their first name.0 -
....who won a huge majority. Brown didn't. Nor did May. Or Cameron for that matter.Nigel_Foremain said:This moment does remind me of when some Labour supporters who had so long wished Brown to take over from Blair started the slow realisation that their man was a crock of shit. I had the advantage of a little inside knowledge on Boris Johnson. He is even more unsuited to the job of PM than Gordy. People thought that TMay was poor. She is a colossus compared to her hopeless successor.
I applaud your theoretical musings but unfortunately reality is somewhat different.1 -
Quite so. It's actually more partisan to call him a cuddly name like Boris. Much more sensible to be correct and call him Mr Johnson.ydoethur said:
It’s funny, but I think I’m the only poster who refers to him consistently as ‘Johnson.’ Never called him ‘Boris’ since he became FS.Mexicanpete said:
I previously regularly referred to him as Johnson, I have been criticised for using his surname for being agressively partisan as everyone knows him as Boris.Nigel_Foremain said:
"Boris" as you affectionately refer to him does not just come over as a fool, he is a fool. Not necessarily educationally (though an Eton education always helps), but from every aspect of leadership that one would expect from a PM he is an idiot. Cummings is clever, in that he is riding a donkey for as long as said donkey thinks it needs him and not the other way around.Mexicanpete said:
Cummings is clever but arrogant, he needs to stay, Boris comes over as a fool, he needs to take a rest until the end of the pandemic.Nigel_Foremain said:This is a lose-lose for Bozo now. If he fires him he will look weak. if he keeps him he looks weak. POBWAS
Just doesn’t feel right to me to call the PM by their first name.1 -
I think you are too kind. Johnson is the correct term, or if you prefer to be less aggressively partisan "Mr Johnson". The formal address is so little used now it seems so much more condescending to the ejitMexicanpete said:
I previously regularly referred to him as Johnson, I have been criticised when using his surname as being agressively partisan being as everyone knows him as Boris.Nigel_Foremain said:
"Boris" as you affectionately refer to him does not just come over as a fool, he is a fool. Not necessarily educationally (though an Eton education always helps), but from every aspect of leadership that one would expect from a PM he is an idiot. Cummings is clever, in that he is riding a donkey for as long as said donkey thinks it needs him and not the other way around.Mexicanpete said:
Cummings is clever but arrogant, he needs to stay, Boris comes over as a fool, he needs to take a rest until the end of the pandemic.Nigel_Foremain said:This is a lose-lose for Bozo now. If he fires him he will look weak. if he keeps him he looks weak. POBWAS
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I will only call him Johnson although in the past Alexandra on occasions.rottenborough said:
I usually call him Johnson, but no doubt I have slipped at times.ydoethur said:
It’s funny, but I think I’m the only poster who refers to him consistently as ‘Johnson.’ Never called him ‘Boris’ since he became FS.Mexicanpete said:
I previously regularly referred to him as Johnson, I have been criticised for using his surname for being agressively partisan as everyone knows him as Boris.Nigel_Foremain said:
"Boris" as you affectionately refer to him does not just come over as a fool, he is a fool. Not necessarily educationally (though an Eton education always helps), but from every aspect of leadership that one would expect from a PM he is an idiot. Cummings is clever, in that he is riding a donkey for as long as said donkey thinks it needs him and not the other way around.Mexicanpete said:
Cummings is clever but arrogant, he needs to stay, Boris comes over as a fool, he needs to take a rest until the end of the pandemic.Nigel_Foremain said:This is a lose-lose for Bozo now. If he fires him he will look weak. if he keeps him he looks weak. POBWAS
Just doesn’t feel right to me to call the PM by their first name.
You are correct I think.
What is even more is that Boris is effectively a stage name. His family and numerous girlfriends all call him Alexander or Alex.0 -
Somebody who has failed as a businessman, failed as a think tank director, failed as a special adviser and failed as an academic, but through the use of over-simplistic slogans and sometimes dishonest slogans to summarise matters he didn’t fully comprehend has become a successful campaigner, is no good?NerysHughes said:
So winning the EU referendum and an 80 seat majority is an example of someone who is not any good?kinabalu said:
You must be feeling well smug as the poster who more than anyone has been telling anybody who would listen - which was precious few - that the sum of Dominic Cummings was considerably less than his parts.ydoethur said:
Yes.ozymandias said:
You do know the next GE is fours years from now?OllyT said:
Four years of Dominic Cummings doing this level of damage and it won’t be a new Thatcher the Tories need but a new Clement Davies.
Hmmm.
*Thinks hard*
I’m sticking to ‘yes,’ actually. But then, it depends on what you are talking about. His work on the NE Assembly referendum was pretty basic. Contrary to his later claims, he only spent about two days on it. But in those two days, he came up with the slogan that shaped the campaign around ‘no more politicians.’ And that was definitely very important in the outcome. Cf Brexit and the GE.
However, campaigners with simplistic solutions are pretty shite at actually governing. He amply proved that at education. He blames ‘vested interests’ for his failure, but really it was a heady mixture of incompetence, ignorance, arrogance and laziness. We’ve seen all those on display again this week.
If he had been an advertising copy writer, he would have been magnificent, albeit probably also frequently in deep shit with the ASA. But as an executive, he’s hopeless.2 -
Anyone at Newsnight been sacked ?
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Hmmmm.
Saturday. Man on bike goes to A&E for stitches to mouth because of wire and wood trap stretched across cycle / walking trail at head height.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/cyclist-ripped-bike-wire-trap-18307147
Sunday. Sunday Times columnist inserts aside in column on different subject that “it’s tempting” to “tie piano wire at neck height across the road” with a view to catch families of cyclists legally riding in his neighbourhood.
Wednesday. After complaints, Sunday Times asserts that their columnist was only joking.
https://twitter.com/ShipBrief/status/1265541683715940352
Some way still to go to create a civilised country in lalaland.0 -
SouthamObserver said:
Johnson is desperately unimpressive. He genuinely has no idea about the policy of the government he is supposed to lead.
Seriously, how on earth are we going to get though this crisis and end the Brexit transition with Johnson at the helm?0 -
I always call him Johnson. As a friend put it on Facebook once, he couldn't call him "Boris" because he wasn't his mate, and he was a dick.ydoethur said:
It’s funny, but I think I’m the only poster who refers to him consistently as ‘Johnson.’ Never called him ‘Boris’ since he became FS.Mexicanpete said:
I previously regularly referred to him as Johnson, I have been criticised for using his surname for being agressively partisan as everyone knows him as Boris.Nigel_Foremain said:
"Boris" as you affectionately refer to him does not just come over as a fool, he is a fool. Not necessarily educationally (though an Eton education always helps), but from every aspect of leadership that one would expect from a PM he is an idiot. Cummings is clever, in that he is riding a donkey for as long as said donkey thinks it needs him and not the other way around.Mexicanpete said:
Cummings is clever but arrogant, he needs to stay, Boris comes over as a fool, he needs to take a rest until the end of the pandemic.Nigel_Foremain said:This is a lose-lose for Bozo now. If he fires him he will look weak. if he keeps him he looks weak. POBWAS
Just doesn’t feel right to me to call the PM by their first name.
Also as others have noted, the whole "Boris" thing is part of his PR operation, and isn't even his actual name.0 -
Off topic.
The video of that Police man in the USA with his knee on the black man's neck for minutes.Whilst he tells him he can not breathe , then later dies is horrific.0 -
People remember Pyrrhus for his great victories too.NerysHughes said:
So winning the EU referendum and an 80 seat majority is an example of someone who is not any good?kinabalu said:
You must be feeling well smug as the poster who more than anyone has been telling anybody who would listen - which was precious few - that the sum of Dominic Cummings was considerably less than his parts.ydoethur said:
Yes.ozymandias said:
You do know the next GE is fours years from now?OllyT said:
Four years of Dominic Cummings doing this level of damage and it won’t be a new Thatcher the Tories need but a new Clement Davies.0 -
If you wish to go with his general penile characteristics, you could always call him A Johnson.OnlyLivingBoy said:
I always call him Johnson. As a friend put it on Facebook once, he couldn't call him "Boris" because he wasn't his mate, and he was a dick.ydoethur said:
It’s funny, but I think I’m the only poster who refers to him consistently as ‘Johnson.’ Never called him ‘Boris’ since he became FS.Mexicanpete said:
I previously regularly referred to him as Johnson, I have been criticised for using his surname for being agressively partisan as everyone knows him as Boris.Nigel_Foremain said:
"Boris" as you affectionately refer to him does not just come over as a fool, he is a fool. Not necessarily educationally (though an Eton education always helps), but from every aspect of leadership that one would expect from a PM he is an idiot. Cummings is clever, in that he is riding a donkey for as long as said donkey thinks it needs him and not the other way around.Mexicanpete said:
Cummings is clever but arrogant, he needs to stay, Boris comes over as a fool, he needs to take a rest until the end of the pandemic.Nigel_Foremain said:This is a lose-lose for Bozo now. If he fires him he will look weak. if he keeps him he looks weak. POBWAS
Just doesn’t feel right to me to call the PM by their first name.
Also as others have noted, the whole "Boris" thing is part of his PR operation, and isn't even his actual name.
I think that covers many bases.0 -
Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".
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Meg Hillier's showboating didn't get her far.
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But you did vote for her. You marked a ballot paper in support of her party, in the constituency where she was top of the list. She was duly elected as your representative. Job done.Philip_Thompson said:
I didn't vote for her. I voted a protest vote and I voted for there to be no MEPs.Mango said:
Except, you know, when you voted for her.Philip_Thompson said:
I dislike Claire Fox. I don't support her, never have.
I'm not sure you understand this democracy business at all...
My protest was acknowledged and there are no MEPs. Job done.
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Two months old, but I liked this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HS4O0mxl3A0 -
deleted
0 -
There has been an arrest in the Barnard Castle case.
The Guardian writer...
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I'm going to say I'm glad I just write and sell software that people either want or don't.kyf_100 said:Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".
As you say the economy is going to be completely screwed.
I take it your figures don't change significantly depending on Brexit outcomes?0 -
Paul Mason to return soon?TGOHF666 said:Anyone at Newsnight been sacked ?
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Bit like Nicola Sturgeon. Won the victory but utterly powerless.squareroot2 said:williamglenn said:
People remember Pyrrhus for his great victories too.NerysHughes said:
So winning the EU referendum and an 80 seat majority is an example of someone who is not any good?kinabalu said:
You must be feeling well smug as the poster who more than anyone has been telling anybody who would listen - which was precious few - that the sum of Dominic Cummings was considerably less than his parts.ydoethur said:
Yes.ozymandias said:
You do know the next GE is fours years from now?OllyT said:
Four years of Dominic Cummings doing this level of damage and it won’t be a new Thatcher the Tories need but a new Clement Davies.williamglenn said:
eople remember Pyrrhus for his great victories too.NerysHughes said:
So winning the EU referendum and an 80 seat majority is an example of someone who is not any good?kinabalu said:
You must be feeling well smug as the poster who more than anyone has been telling anybody who would listen - which was precious few - that the sum of Dominic Cummings was considerably less than his parts.ydoethur said:
Yes.ozymandias said:
You do know the next GE is fours years from now?OllyT said:
Four years of Dominic Cummings doing this level of damage and it won’t be a new Thatcher the Tories need but a new Clement Davies.0 -
At the moment comparing the Scottish and UK Government strategies is fascinating me.
The Scottish Government message is extremely clear and simple and well-delivered, but arguably their aim is far too narrow. They are putting suppression of the virus to effectively zero as the sole aim of everything they do to the complete neglect of pretty much every other potential consideration. It is an understandable but entirely unnuanced position. I'm sure they would deny that, but it seems clear to me, as someone who has read all the SG papers and listened to the SG daily briefings - that they are relying on the fact that they don't really need to worry about paying for everything to allow them to focus solely on the covid health issue. This allows them effectively to now have drifted to a full "step" behind the UK government position in terms of easing the lockdown, despite what would appear to be the natural advantages of having locked down at the same timepoint but effectively earlier in the infection curve than England, plus a naturally much more separated population on average across the country anyway.
The UK Government appear to have more of a nuanced understanding that life does need to go on despite the virus and an acuter knowledge of the fact that the economy cannot simply be ignored indefinitely till this is all over, but their message and communications are so hilariously incompetently vague and blustered and confused and off-the-cuff (and now distracted at best and utterly compromised at worst by Cummings) - a veritable smorgasbord of suggestions and ideas and guidance and advice all pinging and ricocheting off every surface - that no one really appears to know what it is that they're actually intending to DO. Boris cannot explain anything concisely or coherently at the best of times and at the moment he is just a blubbering wreck. Everyone else who regularly stands in for him seems to have their own take on what is happening. An absolute bona fide mess.
To me the UK government have the right position but no apparent competence to achieve it; the Scottish government have the competence (not perfect I accept but considerably better) but to achieve the wrong (in my eyes) strategy.2 -
the grilling never came.matthiasfromhamburg said:
A tummy like his needs to be tickled before grilling to keep it tender and tasty.Brom said:More a tummy tickling than a 'grilling'
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Many of us here are anticipating the economics are going to be horrendous. Better to go into some serious economic shit with the public onside I think though ?kyf_100 said:Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".0 -
Yes. Social distancing is like the tango, isn't it. If some are doing it and some are not, you get, er, people doing the tango but by no means everybody. The curse of the 'not quite right' analogy.DecrepiterJohnL said:
I fear there may be fisticuffs as we enter a phase of uncertainty around social distancing and other measures. We saw this before lockdown.kinabalu said:
I was at Morrisons today and can report that there is still a level of anxiety in there. One woman lost her temper with somebody who came too close. Some quite bad language.AlastairMeeks said:
My mother today has for the first time since lockdown gone into a shop. She has been steeling herself for this moment for at least two weeks. She had the moral support at a social distance of my sister. I know she feels extremely proud of herself now.OldKingCole said:
I and many of my friends did. And organisations such as the U3a confirmed us in our view.AlastairMeeks said:
It's not just specially shielded individuals. There's a cohort of over 70s who took the initial statements that they needed to take extra care very seriously indeed.FrancisUrquhart said:
I haven't seen any official mention of when the specially shielded individuals can come out of hiding. I think TSE said the latest advice is end of June, but the government really haven't talked about this.AlastairMeeks said:
The government needs to say that if it's true.noneoftheabove said:
Of the five original tests, the first 3 are done. The fourth is in progress and seems on track. The fifth could never be guaranteed so has been loosened/changed/dropped.AlastairMeeks said:I appreciate that it's more fun talking about Dominic Cummings but I'm disappointed I haven't been able to move debate on, just as the government wishes. What metrics is the government using for lifting lockdown? It hasn't articulated them at all yet and it does seem rather important.
We are learning more from other countries unlockdowns than we can learn from looking at our own R during lockdown.
The problem group are not those itching to go to the pub, the beach or to Nando's. It's the pensioners who have all the money and who don't feel safe out of the house.
She lives on a close of bungalows with a lot of other oldies (she'd be affronted if she saw I used that word about her - I got into trouble last night for pointing out that Joe Biden was the same age as her). They're quite sociable between themselves but each only has a handful of links outside the close. They're all really spooked still.
I don't think some younger people have really grasped just how much fear there still is out there.
But, yes, totally agree with your point. There will be blood.0 -
DavidL said:
Cummings is not even a deckchair on the Titanic which we are arguing about throwing overboard as the iceberg rips an ever bigger hole in the ship of state and the pathetic, irrational, disproportionate and frankly mad obsession with Cummings shows so much of what is wrong with this country today. People should grow up. There is plenty to be angry about, plenty to be genuinely worried about.1 job in Whitehall is not even close to making the list.
Re-read the Quote at the top of this page, "You must stay at home".
Boris' top advisor broke this order. That is why people are angry.
It does not matter if Cummings is not even a piece of rat shit on the Titanic, people feel betrayed by the government.
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On two of his tweets Twitter posted links to this: https://twitter.com/i/events/1265330601034256384Pulpstar said:Not sure why Trump his mad at Twitter, it's been an amazing platform for him.
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No he was swanning off breaking quarantine.Essexit said:
To be pedantic, it wasn't a second home per se, it was his parents' home. More to the point, he wasn't swanning off there for a jolly and a knees-up with his folks.Pulpstar said:
Paramedics are going to act the same way in London and Durham. Do you not understand the huge difference though. If noone with the virus within London travels to Durham, there is no possible way the virus reaches Durham.Essexit said:
If she declared that to the paramedics in Durham (and we don't know whether or not she did), surely the decision to take her was on them, and presumably the precautions were taken.Foxy said:
Yes, obviously declaring the suspect Covid nature of the illness to protect the paramedics and admissions staff.Essexit said:
So would it be alright with you if the boy had been taken ill in London and Mary Wakefield had gone to hospital with him there?Pulpstar said:
And here's the EnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnttttttttttttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeEssexit said:
The lad was assessed over the phone and 999 decided to send an ambulance out. He could have been sent on his own but that seems a cruel thing to do to a four year-old. I would however be interested to know if the paramedics were made aware of Mary Wakefield's illness (assuming she was still symptomatic at that point).AlastairMeeks said:
You mean, apart from the trip into the hospital.Essexit said:
Given that they didn't actually come into contact with anyone either on the way there or back (including Cummings' parents), they could not have infected County Durham with COVID-19. Even if what they did was a technical breach of the rules, surely the key question is did they risk speeding up transmission of the virus? And it doesn't look like they did.DougSeal said:
False equivalency klaxon. False equivalence is a logical fallacy in which an equivalence is drawn between two subjects based on flawed or false reasoning. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency. A colloquial expression of false equivalency is "comparing apples and oranges".Philip_Thompson said:I'm wondering how many people speaking about the instruction to stay at home would have done so if their fire alarm was going off and the building was being engulfed in flames.
Using your own personal judgement is what any sentient intelligent person should do. People banging on as if there's one rule for every situation don't just insult our intelligence they're insulting their own.
They were infected with a deadly virus - something your false equivalency doesn't take into account. Leaving the house meant that others could catch it. Unlike in a fire, there were alternatives to leaving the house up to and including calling social services. While I accept that calling social services not ideal, particularly not to the policital elite, it is temporary and not deadly, WHICH IS WHAT INFECTING COUNTY DURHAM WITH COVID-19 IS FFS. How hard can this be to understand? They may have killed someone to avoid sending their child to a place of safety outside their family - something plenty of very good parents do and have done since time began.
point of not travelling about the country when you suspect you might have Covid-19.
NHS staff by and large don't have a choice about whether or not they come into contact with the virus, hence all the PPE. With the best will in the world a paramedic in London or Durham could get infected through the Cummings' family action but the virus was already rampant through London at that point so adding 1 infection to the pool simply doesn't matter as much as introducing to a low infected place. THIS really, really, really was precisely why travel around the country to second homes etc was explicitly banned in the guidance (I am not sure of the law)
I can't believe I'm having to explain this, @Foxy is a medic and might be able to help you out more on this if you need the fact that travelling around with the virus is a horrendously poor idea.0 -
Without drivingFoxy said:
The numberplate eyesight test is still the standard, and is changed only in minor ways for nearly a century.Chris said:
It's strange, isn't it that opticians tend to sit people down in a chair and ask them to read letters, rather than putting them in a car and doing it that way.rcs1000 said:
If I wanted to take a drive to test my eyesight* I would probably prefer not to stray too far from home, in case I decided it wasn't up to a long drive. It's a bit risky going 25 miles away, IMHO, because what do you do in this CV-19 world if you get to Castle Bernard and decide your eyesight is not good enough.Philip_Thompson said:
I think it's logical before you go for a long cross country drive if you've just recovered from illness to take a half hour drive to see that you're up to the pressures of driving.rcs1000 said:
In all your comments, you seem to pretend there was only one beach of regulations, not three or more.Philip_Thompson said:
Indeed and having a young infant with no childcare is harmful. QED it is reasonable to leave the home to get childcare.Freggles said:
The regulations specifically allow you to leave home in order to prevent injury.Philip_Thompson said:I'm wondering how many people speaking about the instruction to stay at home would have done so if their fire alarm was going off and the building was being engulfed in flames.
Using your own personal judgement is what any sentient intelligent person should do. People banging on as if there's one rule for every situation don't just insult our intelligence they're insulting their own.
Very specific aren't they?
Forget the trips (plural) between London and Durham, and tell me how the Castle Bernard sojourn was in the rules.
I believe that's what Cummings meant but not what he said. The way it was phrased was awful but the logic I understood.
* Which, I would assume, the DVLA does not recommend
Perhaps Cummings plans to set up his own chain of opticians based around that concept. Perhaps he could call it JobSavers?
The reason is so that anyone can measure out the distance and test themselves.0 -
It is a statement of the obvious that getting the economy going after lock down will not be easy, why on earth you need to see a NDA to realise that is beyond me?kyf_100 said:Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".0 -
So no change then, because that's the percentage that thought he should quit.Scott_xP said:0 -
Great post. Some of us have been expecting this economic catastrophe.kyf_100 said:Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".
In the end, the reason why we are leaving lockdown is that we have to. The reason we will junk social distancing is that we have to. The reason wqe will go back to the old normal is that we have to. The alternative is social and economic disintegration.
Those are the choices. They always were.2 -
Tories and Leavers call him Boris, left-wingers and Remainers call him Johnson.OnlyLivingBoy said:
I always call him Johnson. As a friend put it on Facebook once, he couldn't call him "Boris" because he wasn't his mate, and he was a dick.ydoethur said:
It’s funny, but I think I’m the only poster who refers to him consistently as ‘Johnson.’ Never called him ‘Boris’ since he became FS.Mexicanpete said:
I previously regularly referred to him as Johnson, I have been criticised for using his surname for being agressively partisan as everyone knows him as Boris.Nigel_Foremain said:
"Boris" as you affectionately refer to him does not just come over as a fool, he is a fool. Not necessarily educationally (though an Eton education always helps), but from every aspect of leadership that one would expect from a PM he is an idiot. Cummings is clever, in that he is riding a donkey for as long as said donkey thinks it needs him and not the other way around.Mexicanpete said:
Cummings is clever but arrogant, he needs to stay, Boris comes over as a fool, he needs to take a rest until the end of the pandemic.Nigel_Foremain said:This is a lose-lose for Bozo now. If he fires him he will look weak. if he keeps him he looks weak. POBWAS
Just doesn’t feel right to me to call the PM by their first name.
Also as others have noted, the whole "Boris" thing is part of his PR operation, and isn't even his actual name.
Same as Labour supporters called Corbyn Jeremy and Tories called him by his surname1 -
As a matter of interest, I have collated a table of the numbers of Covid-19 inpatients in Leics. This is from published figures, using all the dates when our comms team sent out an update:
6 May: 139
10 May: 145
11 May: 138
12 May: 131
13 May: 125
14 May: 140
17 May: 155
19 May: 156
21 May: 141
26 May: 141
There seems to be a weekend effect, with a slight uptick both BH Weekend (8-10 May) and the following one (16-17 May).
There seems to be a peak 10 days after the VE day BH, and we end the three weeks no better than we started. Not much of a downward trend here.
Deaths up from 256 to 332 over the period, discharged up from 558 to 738
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It wasnt in the first place?williamglenn said:0 -
The SNP strategy is all about being able to say "nur nur ni nur nur - we did better than England at controlling Covid." Then expecting the resulting fucked economy to be bailed out by, er, England. It takes some brass neck to try it. But if it should fail....solarflare said:At the moment comparing the Scottish and UK Government strategies is fascinating me.
The Scottish Government message is extremely clear and simple and well-delivered, but arguably their aim is far too narrow. They are putting suppression of the virus to effectively zero as the sole aim of everything they do to the complete neglect of pretty much every other potential consideration. It is an understandable but entirely unnuanced position. I'm sure they would deny that, but it seems clear to me, as someone who has read all the SG papers and listened to the SG daily briefings - that they are relying on the fact that they don't really need to worry about paying for everything to allow them to focus solely on the covid health issue. This allows them effectively to now have drifted to a full "step" behind the UK government position in terms of easing the lockdown, despite what would appear to be the natural advantages of having locked down at the same timepoint but effectively earlier in the infection curve than England, plus a naturally much more separated population on average across the country anyway.
The UK Government appear to have more of a nuanced understanding that life does need to go on despite the virus and an acuter knowledge of the fact that the economy cannot simply be ignored indefinitely till this is all over, but their message and communications are so hilariously incompetently vague and blustered and confused and off-the-cuff (and now distracted at best and utterly compromised at worst by Cummings) - a veritable smorgasbord of suggestions and ideas and guidance and advice all pinging and ricocheting off every surface - that no one really appears to know what it is that they're actually intending to DO. Boris cannot explain anything concisely or coherently at the best of times and at the moment he is just a blubbering wreck. Everyone else who regularly stands in for him seems to have their own take on what is happening. An absolute bona fide mess.
To me the UK government have the right position but no apparent competence to achieve it; the Scottish government have the competence (not perfect I accept but considerably better) but to achieve the wrong (in my eyes) strategy.0 -
Actually we do know. And are very fearful.kyf_100 said:Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".
Yesterday I was approached about a full-time job. Unprompted by me. I would normally say no.
I am not. I am going to think very hard about it because I may very well need it.2 -
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There must be some:CorrectHorseBattery said:
So no change then, because that's the percentage that thought he should quit.Scott_xP said:
Its important and he must stay
Its not important but he should go0 -
The SNP strategy is entirely to cover up the lack of skills and experience they have to deal with a crisis of this magnitude - by blaming Westminster for bad stuff.MarqueeMark said:
The SNP strategy is all about being able to say "nur nur ni nur nur - we did better than England at controlling Covid." Then expecting the resulting fucked economy to be bailed out by, er, England. It takes some brass neck to try it. But if it should fail....solarflare said:At the moment comparing the Scottish and UK Government strategies is fascinating me.
The Scottish Government message is extremely clear and simple and well-delivered, but arguably their aim is far too narrow. They are putting suppression of the virus to effectively zero as the sole aim of everything they do to the complete neglect of pretty much every other potential consideration. It is an understandable but entirely unnuanced position. I'm sure they would deny that, but it seems clear to me, as someone who has read all the SG papers and listened to the SG daily briefings - that they are relying on the fact that they don't really need to worry about paying for everything to allow them to focus solely on the covid health issue. This allows them effectively to now have drifted to a full "step" behind the UK government position in terms of easing the lockdown, despite what would appear to be the natural advantages of having locked down at the same timepoint but effectively earlier in the infection curve than England, plus a naturally much more separated population on average across the country anyway.
The UK Government appear to have more of a nuanced understanding that life does need to go on despite the virus and an acuter knowledge of the fact that the economy cannot simply be ignored indefinitely till this is all over, but their message and communications are so hilariously incompetently vague and blustered and confused and off-the-cuff (and now distracted at best and utterly compromised at worst by Cummings) - a veritable smorgasbord of suggestions and ideas and guidance and advice all pinging and ricocheting off every surface - that no one really appears to know what it is that they're actually intending to DO. Boris cannot explain anything concisely or coherently at the best of times and at the moment he is just a blubbering wreck. Everyone else who regularly stands in for him seems to have their own take on what is happening. An absolute bona fide mess.
To me the UK government have the right position but no apparent competence to achieve it; the Scottish government have the competence (not perfect I accept but considerably better) but to achieve the wrong (in my eyes) strategy.0 -
Rubbish, Boris won a bigger majority than any Tory leader since Thatcher and the biggest of any leader since Blair in 2001.Nigel_Foremain said:This moment does remind me of when some Labour supporters who had so long wished Brown to take over from Blair started the slow realisation that their man was a crock of shit. I had the advantage of a little inside knowledge on Boris Johnson. He is even more unsuited to the job of PM than Gordy. People thought that TMay was poor. She is a colossus compared to her hopeless successor.
Neither Brown nor May won a majority.
As long as the Tories still lead most polls Boris is going nowhere1 -
He's badly exposed in these focused, professional environments. He needs noise and a bit of chaos. Bet he can't wait for normal slapstick PMQs to resume.Stuartinromford said:
Not really. To a large degree, he was always this bad. It's just that it's not being edited, there's no laugh track and his audience is sober.Stocky said:Bojo`s lost his mojo.
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Good idea. Distance yourself from this decaying regime and be ready clear up the mess. I'm green on Penny.Scott_xP said:0 -
you probably don't drive yourself ..its like saying you have passed the test so you can drive.bigjohnowls said:
Without drivingFoxy said:
The numberplate eyesight test is still the standard, and is changed only in minor ways for nearly a century.Chris said:
It's strange, isn't it that opticians tend to sit people down in a chair and ask them to read letters, rather than putting them in a car and doing it that way.rcs1000 said:
If I wanted to take a drive to test my eyesight* I would probably prefer not to stray too far from home, in case I decided it wasn't up to a long drive. It's a bit risky going 25 miles away, IMHO, because what do you do in this CV-19 world if you get to Castle Bernard and decide your eyesight is not good enough.Philip_Thompson said:
I think it's logical before you go for a long cross country drive if you've just recovered from illness to take a half hour drive to see that you're up to the pressures of driving.rcs1000 said:
In all your comments, you seem to pretend there was only one beach of regulations, not three or more.Philip_Thompson said:
Indeed and having a young infant with no childcare is harmful. QED it is reasonable to leave the home to get childcare.Freggles said:
The regulations specifically allow you to leave home in order to prevent injury.Philip_Thompson said:I'm wondering how many people speaking about the instruction to stay at home would have done so if their fire alarm was going off and the building was being engulfed in flames.
Using your own personal judgement is what any sentient intelligent person should do. People banging on as if there's one rule for every situation don't just insult our intelligence they're insulting their own.
Very specific aren't they?
Forget the trips (plural) between London and Durham, and tell me how the Castle Bernard sojourn was in the rules.
I believe that's what Cummings meant but not what he said. The way it was phrased was awful but the logic I understood.
* Which, I would assume, the DVLA does not recommend
Perhaps Cummings plans to set up his own chain of opticians based around that concept. Perhaps he could call it JobSavers?
The reason is so that anyone can measure out the distance and test themselves.
That certainly isn't true, it might be legally true.... just look at the stats of accidents involving young drivers and why their premiums are resultantly so huge.
Its not just seeing things at the required distance, its seeing what's going on to the left and the right and the ability to judge things correctly.0 -
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Do you also have the figures for how screwed the economy would have been had there been the Corona pandemic but no lockdown?kyf_100 said:Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".
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Prediction - neither the Liaison Committee nor PMQs will exist in their current form by the end of this Parliament. Both will be changed to ensure that Johnson faces less scrutiny.1
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Declare war on china to win in November?noneoftheabove said:
It wasnt in the first place?williamglenn said:1 -
Are these how many in patients there are, or how many were admitted on that day?Foxy said:As a matter of interest, I have collated a table of the numbers of Covid-19 inpatients in Leics. This is from published figures, using all the dates when our comms team sent out an update:
6 May: 139
10 May: 145
11 May: 138
12 May: 131
13 May: 125
14 May: 140
17 May: 155
19 May: 156
21 May: 141
26 May: 141
There seems to be a weekend effect, with a slight uptick both BH Weekend (8-10 May) and the following one (16-17 May).
There seems to be a peak 10 days after the VE day BH, and we end the three weeks no better than we started. Not much of a downward trend here.
Deaths up from 256 to 332 over the period, discharged up from 558 to 7380 -
Michael Portillo was very interesting on the PM programme about 30 minutes ago. He described Johnson as being like a "spectator".0
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The Liaison committee will stay. BoZo just won't attend.SouthamObserver said:Prediction - neither the Liaison Committee nor PMQs will exist in their current form by the end of this Parliament. Both will be changed to ensure that Johnson faces less scrutiny.
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What I'm wondering is how much more screwed the British economy will be if we have a second lockdown.eristdoof said:
Do you also have the figures for how screwed the economy would have been had there been the Corona pandemic but no lockdown?kyf_100 said:Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".0 -
Under the Basic Law, it had devolved executive, legislative, and judicial powers. In most political systems, that would be considered a high degree of autonomy.noneoftheabove said:
It wasnt in the first place?williamglenn said:0 -
Far from it, you were telling me before the election Boris would not win northern and Midlands Leave seats, he did, by a landslideNigel_Foremain said:
It gives me no pleasure to say "told you so" to all those Tory Members that voted for him. The odd thing is, he is even worse than I thought he'd be. He just cannot step up to the plate. I wonder if even HYUFD is having doubts?SouthamObserver said:Johnson is desperately unimpressive. He genuinely has no idea about the policy of the government he is supposed to lead.
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I declined to commit to attending again within the first two minutes.Scott_xP said:
The Liaison committee will stay. BoZo just won't attend.SouthamObserver said:Prediction - neither the Liaison Committee nor PMQs will exist in their current form by the end of this Parliament. Both will be changed to ensure that Johnson faces less scrutiny.
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Same as every other economy I suppose.Chris said:
What I'm wondering is how much more screwed the British economy will be if we have a second lockdown.eristdoof said:
Do you also have the figures for how screwed the economy would have been had there been the Corona pandemic but no lockdown?kyf_100 said:Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".0 -
Winning an election is not proof of being suited to the job of prime-minister.HYUFD said:
Rubbish, Boris won a bigger majority than any Tory leader since Thatcher and the biggest of any leader since Blair in 2001.Nigel_Foremain said:This moment does remind me of when some Labour supporters who had so long wished Brown to take over from Blair started the slow realisation that their man was a crock of shit. I had the advantage of a little inside knowledge on Boris Johnson. He is even more unsuited to the job of PM than Gordy. People thought that TMay was poor. She is a colossus compared to her hopeless successor.
Neither Brown nor May won a majority.
As long as the Tories still lead most polls Boris is going nowhere0 -
I look forward to them doing a partisan hatchet job on themselves on the next Newsnight!TGOHF666 said:Anyone at Newsnight been sacked ?
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LOL. Well he is isn't he? Cummings run the show and that's why he has been kept at enormous cost.Andy_JS said:Michael Portillo was very interesting on the PM programme about 30 minutes ago. He described Johnson as being like a "spectator".
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The same Amber Rudd who was "aristocracy co-ordinator" on Four Weddings? That one?Scott_xP said:1 -
It probably goes a very long way though. Considering it's the only way of getting the job (mostly).eristdoof said:
Winning an election is not proof of being suited to the job of prime-minister.HYUFD said:
Rubbish, Boris won a bigger majority than any Tory leader since Thatcher and the biggest of any leader since Blair in 2001.Nigel_Foremain said:This moment does remind me of when some Labour supporters who had so long wished Brown to take over from Blair started the slow realisation that their man was a crock of shit. I had the advantage of a little inside knowledge on Boris Johnson. He is even more unsuited to the job of PM than Gordy. People thought that TMay was poor. She is a colossus compared to her hopeless successor.
Neither Brown nor May won a majority.
As long as the Tories still lead most polls Boris is going nowhere0 -
Do the wider population appreciate what is to come economically?0
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It is the most important job of the party leader and the party pick the leader who becomes the PM if they win that electioneristdoof said:
Winning an election is not proof of being suited to the job of prime-minister.HYUFD said:
Rubbish, Boris won a bigger majority than any Tory leader since Thatcher and the biggest of any leader since Blair in 2001.Nigel_Foremain said:This moment does remind me of when some Labour supporters who had so long wished Brown to take over from Blair started the slow realisation that their man was a crock of shit. I had the advantage of a little inside knowledge on Boris Johnson. He is even more unsuited to the job of PM than Gordy. People thought that TMay was poor. She is a colossus compared to her hopeless successor.
Neither Brown nor May won a majority.
As long as the Tories still lead most polls Boris is going nowhere0 -
Always good to be ahead of the curve.ydoethur said:
Smug? Moi? As if.kinabalu said:
You must be feeling well smug as the poster who more than anyone has been telling anybody who would listen - which was precious few - that the sum of Dominic Cummings was considerably less than his parts.ydoethur said:
Yes.ozymandias said:
You do know the next GE is fours years from now?OllyT said:
Four years of Dominic Cummings doing this level of damage and it won’t be a new Thatcher the Tories need but a new Clement Davies.
But I will confess I find it mildly gratifying that so many people are now noticing what has been apparent to me all along...
Hey, point of order though -
EYE always call the PM "Johnson" too. Only called him Boris when he was sick and I was feeling a bit motherly.0 -
Not if the other countries don't have a second lockdown.ozymandias said:
Same as every other economy I suppose.Chris said:
What I'm wondering is how much more screwed the British economy will be if we have a second lockdown.eristdoof said:
Do you also have the figures for how screwed the economy would have been had there been the Corona pandemic but no lockdown?kyf_100 said:Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".0 -
Yes, very interesting.Andy_JS said:Michael Portillo was very interesting on the PM programme about 30 minutes ago. He described Johnson as being like a "spectator".
Also of interest was his opinion that the pursuit of Cummings was a bit of a waste of time now since the PM has decided that he will not be sacked come what may.
Starmer is a very lucky General!2 -
The Cummings affair is integral to how the government tackles what is coming next politically. It needs as much goodwill as it can get as the lockdown ends, the furlough unwinds and things become real. I agree that very few will be talking about Cummings in four years' time - except in the sense that this episode made it much harder for the government to tackle the crisis. The fact that Johnson will not give him up shows just how important to the finctioning of the government he believes Cummings to be. That matters a lot.kyf_100 said:Could I just say I find it absolutely barking mad that you are all still debating Cummings as if it will matter in four years time when the economic depression bites later this year.
I really wish I could share some of the data I have seen under NDA, because it would terrify all of you. Suffice to say nobody is going to give a s*it about Cummings in six months time. Certainly not in 2024.
If you have a job at the end of all this, or are lucky enough to not need a job for a year or two, you will be thanking your lucky stars.
We are in serious, serious trouble and the government has literally no idea what to do about it. That is the real story. Everything else is what I believe IT consultants call "bike shedding".
0
