Bonkers Advisor to Scottish Government Warns of “Stream of Incoming Infections From England and Wales”
Apologies for being late on this one. Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at Edinburgh University, had a piece in the New York Times on Saturday in which she warned of “a stream of incoming infections from England and Wales” and urged Nicola Sturgeon and other European leaders to impose a new quarantine policy whereby all visitors should be tested on arrival, quarantined for five days, and then tested again before being allowed out. “There has to be enforced isolation until two negative tests at least five days apart,” she wrote.
Yes, this will probably interfere with plans to enjoy the beaches of Marbella. But the summer, while infection rates still remain relatively low, is the only time to make this work.
Going into winter with hundreds of cases per day means risking a steep rise once temperatures cool, schools reopen and people head back indoors. It means risking a second round of national lockdowns, which would be catastrophic for mental health and for economies. (And let’s leave aside the question of whether or not it will actually be possible to get people to comply the second time around.)
This is un-evidenced nonsense, even by Prof Sridhar’s standards. She cites rising infections in Spain as a reason English visitors to Scotland could pose a threat, which is odd because any English holidaymakers returning from Spain have to quarantine for 14 days. And how many English people are planning to travel to Scotland for a second summer break, having just returned from a European holiday? She also takes it for granted that if the people of the United Kingdom don’t eliminate the virus in the remaining weeks of summer we face a catastrophic second wave this winter, ignoring the evidence that the virus has largely burnt itself out (and no thanks to the lockdown).
Prof Sridhar’s comments have been condemned by Willie Rennie, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, for “feeding a divisive nationalist narrative without scientific evidence to back it up”.
“It’s news to me that people from England and Wales were responsible for the outbreaks we’ve seen in Aberdeen, Orkney, Lanarkshire and Glasgow,” he said.
Alan Cochrane in today’s Telegraph also has a pop.
Now as an epidemiologist we must take her view seriously but we are entitled to ask (a) is she right in her assessment if the risk and (b) is she wise in her use of language?
These are fractious times politically and the professor’s last suggestion that English visitors might be quarantined in Scotland led to several SNP demonstrators staging a stupid anti-English stunt at the border after it was backed by Nicola Sturgeon.
The professor has ‘form’ for inflaming feelings and landed in trouble when she said that Unionists were anti-Scottish. She later withdrew that assertion, saying that she had “misspoke” – whatever that means.
Then there was the occasion the professor appeared to be opposing the SNP government over the timing of schools reopening only to fall into line within 24 hours.
Perhaps it’s time to dial in that ego and retreat from the public stage, Prof Sridhar?
What Does the Hydroxychloroquine Controversy Tell Us About Medical Science?
There’s an excellent essay in the Tablet about the politics of hydroxychloroquine by Norman Doidge, a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and published author. It doesn’t take sides on the issue of whether HCQ is an effective prophylactic or treatment for COVID-19, but explores the question of why the issue has been so controversial and what that tells us about the state of medical science.
Early in the coronavirus pandemic, a survey of the world’s frontline physicians showed hydroxychloroquine to be the drug they considered the most effective at treating COVID-19 patients. That was in early April, shortly after a French study showed it was safe and effective in lowering the virus count, at times in combination with azithromycin. Next we were told hydroxychloroquine was likely ineffective, and also dangerous, and that that French study was flawed and the scientist behind it worthy of mockery. More studies followed, with contradictory results, and then out came what was hailed by some as a definitive study of 96,000 patients showing the drug was most certainly dangerous and ineffective, and indeed that it killed 30% more people than those who didn’t take it. Within days, that study was retracted, with the editor of one of the two most respected medical journals in the Western world conceding it was “a monumental fraud.” And on it went.
Not only are lay people confused; professionals are. All that seems certain is that there is something disturbing going on in our science, and that if and when the “perfect study” were to ever come along, many won’t know what to believe.
We live in a culture that has uncritically accepted that every domain of life is political, and that even things we think are not political are so, that all human enterprises are merely power struggles, that even the idea of “truth” is a fantasy, and really a matter of imposing one’s view on others. For a while, some held out hope that science remained an exception to this. That scientists would not bring their personal political biases into their science, and they would not be mobbed if what they said was unwelcome to one faction or another. But the sordid 2020 drama of hydroxychloroquine—which saw scientists routinely attacked for critically evaluating evidence and coming to politically inconvenient conclusions—has, for many, killed those hopes.
Phase 1 of the pandemic saw the near collapse of the credible authority of much of our public health officialdom at the highest levels, led by the exposure of the corruption of the World Health Organization. The crisis was deepened by the numerous reversals on recommendations, which led to the growing belief that too many officials were interpreting, bending, or speaking about the science relevant to the pandemic in a politicized way. Phase 2 is equally dangerous, for it shows that politicization has started to penetrate the peer review process, and how studies are reported in scientific journals, and of course in the press.
Worth reading in full.
Postcard From St Tropez
The reader who reported on life at a campsite in France, has a follow-up about staying at another campsite in St Tropez. Doesn’t sound too bad.
Moving on from rural France where life seemed more relaxed and the mood just so, we’ve moved onto a campsite near St Tropez.
We spent the morning at the beach – no masks. The afternoon in the pool – mask free. We popped to a supermarket – masks obligatory. We were refused entry to a small shop because our small child wasn’t wearing a mask (not against the law in France), we walked out in disgust.
We went to see the evening entertainment in the campsite, laughably bad – a Johnny Hallyday impersonator, but that wasn’t the funniest part (although awful, irony lost on the French), the audience in the open air amphitheater were forced to wear masks, yet sitting metres apart. The bar and restaurant area although 20 metres away, no masks required.
The ultra obedient French Poodles had obeyed the rules and we had been sent to Coventry.
To summarise the day:
Beach – no masks
Pool – no masks (yet in close proximity)
Bar and restaurant – no masks
Open air amphitheater – mask up everyone, inc Poodles.My understanding of the French understanding of the virus seems to be that it avoids beaches, swimming pools and bars but not open air theatres.
It’s one hell of a clever virus.
Melbourne’s Descent into Hellish Dystopia
There’s a good piece in Spiked by James Bolt, a resident of Melbourne about the city’s slide into totalitarianism.
A couple are watching their child play in a playground. They are fined by the police. They are further than five kilometres from their home.
A man leaves his home at 9.30pm to buy some cigarettes. He too is fined: $1,652. He has left his house during the city-wide curfew, which comes in at 8pm.
On Facebook, two men plan a protest against Victoria’s restrictions. Police execute a search warrant and seize their mobile phones and a computer. One is charged with incitement because he wanted to organise a protest – public gatherings are limited to two people and only for exercise (physical, not of our basic rights).
This is the situation in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, right now. In a supposedly liberal democracy.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: Jeffrey Tucker, Editorial Director of the American Institute for Economic Research, has written a good article on the “tyranny without limit” in Melbourne.
Is This the World’s Best Broadcaster?
Why don’t we have a British version of Alan Jones on Sky News? The Sky News Australia commentator has been speaking truth to power throughout the pandemic. Here’s his latest jeremiad. Gold, as usual.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has suggested face masks should be mandatory every year to prevent people catching seasonal flu. The Mail has the story.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton indicated on Tuesday elements of the restrictive lockdown protocols could be here to stay well after the state defeats COVID-19.
“The flu isn’t as severe as COVID-19, but it is still deadly because millions and millions of people get infected,” he explained.
About 3,000 Australians usually die every year from the seasonal flu, but infection rates have been trending down since April.
“With all the restrictions put in place because of COVID, it has absolutely brought the flu in check,” Sutton said.
This is what happens if you don’t stand up to the tyrants, folks.
Seafood Restaurant in Whitstable Bans 12-Year-Olds Due to Covid Risk
A reader has written in to tell me about a nasty experience in Whitstable. Sounds completely insane.
Sad scenes in Whitstable, Kent today after my two small kids were turned away from a popular local restaurant.
I don’t usually go in for public shamings, but I was so staggered by this abject idiocy that I felt compelled to write in. I’d booked a table for my father and two children (aged six and four) at Crab & Winkle, a popular seafood restaurant overlooking Whitstable harbour. On arrival, I discovered the previously normal entrance had been converted into the kind of arrangement you might expect to find in a nuclear power station, complete with reinforced door, tiny window and alert buzzer.
After pressing said buzzer, a lady in a face visor swiftly appeared and proceeded to talk to me through the two defensive shields that now separated us. Unfortunately, rather than extending us a warm welcome, she was only able to inform me that children under 12 were not allowed in the restaurant due to the risk of them spreading the virus.
Somewhat taken aback, I asked a) why this rule wasn’t mentioned to me when I’d made my booking on the phone, and b) why it only applies to under 12s, given all the evidence pointing to younger kids being the least likely transmitters.
Her explanation was that children under 12 are often unable to remain seated during a meal, and that they can’t risk having kids running amok, passing on their deadly germs to other diners.
There was little point in me highlighting the absurdity of this policy, so we turned on our heels and took a gamble on another distinguished Whitstable eatery, The Lobster Shack, which I’m pleased to report had a far more relaxed (i.e. not utterly insane) approach to hospitality.
Postcard From Carcassonne
A reader tells me he had a good experience in the medieval town of Carcassonne in France.
We arrived back from Carcassonne yesterday, after an excellent few days pottering around the medieval city, as well as shopping and dining out in the (often overlooked) attractive city of Carcassonne itself. We stayed at the Ibis Styles hotel, which was great. There were masks everywhere – even when getting up from the table to get a fresh croissant – but that was the only irritation. The French public seem to have a much more sane attitude than we do. Yes, they wear masks, but social distancing is completely ignored: the restaurants and streets are rammed; the swimming pool at our hotel was open as normal; nobody veers out of the way to avoid you; there are no ludicrous perspex screens between tables, nor enforced hand-sanitisations. After our visit, we spent a lovely few days at a friend’s house a few hours away, with 20 or so others, at an anniversary celebration. The quarantine announcement came and nobody fled to the border. We simply opened another beer.
I am now deeply irritated to be under house arrest due to an arbitrary diktat of a government that is clearly out of control. I will obviously use my common sense in that regard – but it is worrying that the great British people are still not up in arms.
News From Tanzania
Interesting tidbit from Tanzania from a regular reader.
My wife and I have friends in Tanzania, one of whom is a headteacher at a large city school and who sent the message below, which might interest you. Bear in mind that the classes there are very large, with over 70 children per class, sometimes more than 100, sitting shoulder to shoulder. Facilities at the schools are very basic. Much of the local housing is even more basic and crowded. And Tanzania is one of the few African countries to shun lockdowns. Yet our friend reports not a single Covid case in his school…
Sceptical Covid Painting
This painting, ‘Sanity, Her Son and the Credulous’, was done by Jordan Henderson (not the Liverpool midfielder). Jordan is an artist from Washington State in the United States. He works in oil on canvas and charcoal on paper. A portfolio of his works can be viewed at jordanhendersonfineart.com.
Round-Up
- ‘Return under house arrest? Non! We’re staying in France‘ – Richard Madeley says he and wife Judy Finegan are “tired of being herded around like sheep by a bunch of useless shepherds who haven’t got a clue what they’re doing”
- ‘Covid Rebellion‘ – According to sceptical blogger Omar Khan, opposition to lockdown policies is beginning to build
- ‘China partygoers cram into Wuhan water park‘ – Looks like the Chinese authorities have concluded the epidemic is over in Wuhan
- ‘Art Museum Curator Resigns After Petition Accuses Him of Racism for Not Excluding White Artists‘ – Gary Garrels, a curator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern ARt, is the latest victim of cancel culture
- ‘New York Governor Cuomo calls coronavirus the “European virus”‘ – Andrew Cuomo proves he’s a useful idiot of the Chinese Communist Party
- ‘MN Governor Quietly Reverses Course on Hydroxychloroquine‘ – The Governor of Minnesota has changed his mind about HCQ and reversed the ban
- ‘Never mind scrapping PHE, shouldn’t Hancock scrap himself?‘ – Will Jones poses a good question in the Conservative Woman
- ‘Has the world gone mad? 10 bizarre Covid rules (all in the name of science)‘ – The Telegraph‘s Digital Travel Editor Oliver Smith on some of the more bizarre Covid rules around the world, such as the ban on flip flops in South African shops
- ‘Kenya dismisses exposé on looting of Covid funds‘ – Coronavirus aid is been looted in Kenya
- ‘The scientists and the government relationship: it’s not you, it’s me‘ – Hard hitting piece by Sean Walsh in the Article
- ‘North Korea bans owning pet dogs with pooches sent to restaurants to be eaten‘ – Communism in action, folks
- ‘Marks & Spencer to cut 7,000 jobs after “material shift” in trading‘ – The economic devastation caused by the lockdown continues to wreak havoc
- ‘Holiday at home? Irish tourism boss resigns after getting caught on vacation in Italy‘ – Head of Ireland’s tourism development authority (Fáilte), Michael Cawley, has resigned after ignoring his own agency’s advice to opt for domestic “staycations” and heading off on holiday to Italy instead
- ‘Government confusion aggravates Covid despair‘ – Good column in the Times by Libby Purves
- ‘Tony Blair warns another national lockdown is “impossible” and blasts 14 day quarantine rules as too long – as he claims ministers have been over relying on experts during coronavirus crisis‘ – Crikey Moses! Has Blair become a lockdown sceptic? Fortune makes for strange bedfellows
- ‘Good News: Fauci’s Out and Common Sense Might Be Returning‘ – Ron Paul welcomes Trump’s sidelining of Anthony Fauci
- ‘Professor Sunetra Gupta at the Plan B Conference‘ – Watch Sunetra Gupta’s contribution to the Plan B policy symposium in New Zealand
- ‘Italy’s PM is now officially under investigation for enforcing a nationwide lockdown in Italy against the advice of Italy’s scientific committee‘ – Interesting development in Italy
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Two today: “Blind Leading the Blind” by Mumford and Sons and “Sleepwalking Past Hope” by HIM
Love in the Time of Covid
We have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums that are now open, including a dating forum called “Love in a Covid Climate” that has attracted a bit of attention (including this piece on Fox News). We have a team of moderators in place to remove spam and deal with the trolls, but sometimes it takes a little while so please bear with us. You have to register to use the Forums, but that should just be a one-time thing. Any problems, email the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster Ian Rons here.
Small Businesses That Have Re-Opened
A few months ago, Lockdown Sceptics launched a searchable directory of open businesses across the UK. The idea is to celebrate those retail and hospitality businesses that have re-opened, as well as help people find out what has opened in their area. But we need your help to build it, so we’ve created a form you can fill out to tell us about those businesses that have opened near you.
Now that non-essential shops have re-opened – or most of them, anyway – we’re now focusing on pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants, as well as other social venues. As of July 4th, many of them have re-opened too, but not all (and some of them are at risk of having to close again). Please visit the page and let us know about those brave folk who are doing their bit to get our country back on its feet – particularly if they’re not insisting on face masks! Don’t worry if your entries don’t show up immediately – we need to approve them once you’ve entered the data.
A reader has put forward a good suggestion.
I was wondering if your map of businesses who have opened could be expanded to businesses who display “No mask? We won’t ask” sign? That would allow us mask-refusers to know where we are safe to visit without risking a drama with a Covid loon, and also reward those plucky businesses with our custom. It’s been interesting to see how the Covid terror only seems to last as long as financial necessity allows (note previously hysterical pub landlords get much less worried when they are allowed to re-open) so I’d be interested to see if a line of mask free customers outside one shop tempted its neighbours to risk the plague.
“Mask Exempt” lanyards
I’ve created a permanent slot down here for people who want to buy (or make) a “Mask Exempt” lanyard/card. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and it has the advantage of not explicitly claiming you have a disability. But if you have no qualms about that (or you are disabled), you can buy a lanyard from Amazon saying you do have a disability/medical exemption here (now showing it will arrive between Oct 2nd to Oct 12th). The Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. You can get a “Hidden Disability” tag from ebay here and an “exempt” card or just £2.79 from Etsy here.
Don’t forget to sign the petition on the UK Government’s petitions website calling for an end to mandatory face nappies in shops here (now over 29,000). The Government responded to this petition today. Usual balls. You can read the response here.
A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption.
And here’s a round-up of the scientific evidence on the effectiveness of mask (threadbare at best).
A reader reports that mask-wearing fever in Malvern hasn’t yet reached epidemic proportions.
My wife and I had our first experience of a hotel since lockdown when we visited Malvern and failed to realise that muzzles are compulsory in the communal areas of the hotel. We were told by reception on entering that masks were compulsory and were handed a Ziploc bag with two disposable baby blue face nappies (which remained undisturbed in the Ziploc throughout our stay). The General Manager was a lovely chap and when my wife apologised for forgetting her face mask responded that the whole thing was utterly preposterous.
In the hotel lobby there was a couple having a drink (un-muzzled) and nearby a couple standing up who weren’t having a drink (muzzled). The virus is very clever and only punishes unmuzzled drinkers. We went for a drink at Wetherspoon’s where lip service was being paid to the rules and only one of the serving staff was muzzled (presumably by choice).
Generally, in the street the usual leapers were wearing face coverings but the majority of people were not although there seem to be general obeisance in the shops.
Bedwetters of the week had to be an Anglo-French couple in their early 30s who arrived both with face coverings in the dining room and asked the Romanian waiter (whose muzzle had slipped below his nose) for two kettles of boiling water so that they could sterilise the cutlery…
Shameless Begging Bit
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation in the past 24 hours to pay for the upkeep of this site. Doing these daily updates is a lot of work (although I have help from several people, including one indefatigable techie who doesn’t want to be named). If you feel like donating, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in future updates, email me here.
And Finally…
In our latest London Calling podcast, James Delingpole and I have our usual moan about the Government’s mishandling of the crisis, focusing on the French quarantine rules this week. Also, we discuss our summer reading and what we’ve been watching recently. Scintillating stuff! You can listen here and subscribe on iTunes here.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
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just a reminder for those still loitering here…
WEDNESDAY has arrived
https://dailysceptic.org/2020/08/19/latest-news-108/#comments
say goodbye and move along
Aw no, I’ve been enjoying it here…! Oh, OK then!
DavidC
The restaurant in Whitstable story made riveting reading! I hope he put a message on Trust Pilot or equivalent Web page. It would be good to know beforehand which places to avoid.
Latest LS Update now available —–>>>
I’ve already heard of of cases where people have received a result of a Covid test they never had.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/matt-cartoons-august-2020/
Oh my!
A lot more naked shoppers in Asda today and many more wearing them sub proboscis. People are beginning to catch on that others are not wearing masks, so why should they?
Off for a few days to the south coast next week. We stayed in the same hotel last year-it’s a very nice 4 star with spa facilities. We were just looking through all the Covid blurb and found out, to our dismay, that our rooms will not be cleaned/made up at all during our stay and we will have to make our own beds, ask for clean towels etc.
Don’t want anyone to think I’m so precious that I can’t make my own bed but it’s the principle that annoys me. OH rang to ask if this would be reflected in the price of the room. No, was the response, so we are going to be paying for a service which we will not be getting. It appears that I’m also going to have to clean the loo every day myself too-not exactly my favourite holiday occupation. I do hope that they will be supplying me with Marigolds.
We were told that it is the policy for most… Read more »
That’s a put off then. If you’re renting a holiday flat that’s different you don’t expect room service but hotel rooms I would expect a service!
If you’re going to have to clean the loo every day can I recommend the Boris Johnson toilet brush.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/matt-cartoons-august-2020/
I just found this. Very, Very interesting, and the source looks legit, although I must admit I have not followed through to investigate exactly who they are. Please read as it includes new information from recent sewage testing, not just the Spanish findings that most of us know about:
https://www.darkdaily.com/studies-finding-remnants-of-sars-cov-2-in-sewage-suggest-covid-19-may-not-have-originated-at-wuhan-market-some-scientists-dispute-the-findings/
That is interesting. It makes any lockdown look more likely to have been the causes of deaths than the virus!!
Something has nagged at me since I read Toby’s post yesterday and then I realised what it was: Richard bloody Madeley and Judy Bloody Finnigan bleating about quarantine from their nice pad in lovely France. They can comfortably sit out quarantine there as long as they want and probably have ‘people’ to do their shopping in masks for them.
People like our kids, trying to have a precious 2 weeks camping holiday there after being key workers and enduring 5 months of lockdown will not have that luxury, (Sorry if this sounds a little bitter!) MW
After working 12 hours per day on reduced salary for the last 5 months, doing his own job plus covering for those on
furloughpaid holiday, my son has just lost his holiday mountain biking in the Alps, booked last year.You’re right to feel bitter. I thought the Richard and Judy article was vomit-inducingly smug.
My wife has just started reading a new book, it’s opening sentence is,
““The truth is still the truth, even if no one believes it. A lie is still a lie, even if everyone believes it.” -Author Unknown” (from “Anatomy of a Crime” by Sibel Hodge)
How true!
Indeed. Hold to that.
Sanity us not statistical.
Spanish ICU Doctor dropping some truth bombs on Spanish TVE -with English sub-titles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFa9JHMFO9s&feature=youtu.be
Good, to have people speaking out, because have you seen this? Seriously scary…
https://twitter.com/simondolan/status/1296059067954352130
‘No jab, no pay’
This is really terrible. But it would be challenged in the courts …. wouldn’t it?????
No jab – no pay. If they introduce this here, I’ll have to go on the streets (or into the wild…).
He was visibly shitting himself saying that.
The Australian PM has back tracked on the compulsory jab line because he knows it contravenes international law and anything beyond persuasion will be challenged in the courts which will put the whole vaccination plan on hold.
And that’s “a reasonable interpretation” of what the PM said?!
No wonder he looked so uncomfortable.
Amazing! He seriously rattled them.
He did. That was the best bit. She looked very uncomfortable saying “your words are very reassuring”
What heartened me was when he implied that he is far from alone, amongst Spanish doctors, in his opinions. Hopefully some British medics will be brave enough to break cover and tell everyone the emperor hasn’t got any clothes on.
Very good. We really don’t need a vaccine
Whilst great to see – it really is sickening to see the TV presenter continuing to try and push the fear agenda throughout and not being the slightest bit interested in what he was saying
Yeah. When the presenter was saying words to the effect of “I’ve been out in the streets and seen bodies” and the doc responds “The streets, eh? Have you signed any death certificates?”
Phil,
Many thanks for that, absolutely brilliant! And, once more, people who know nothing about a subject not believing, in this case, a DOCTOR working at the front end of it all! I loved the bit where he spoke about the prevelance of Heliobacter pylori (that would CERTAINLY go over their heads!). Priceless!
DavidC
Apologies if discussed before; I’m just a dim Northerner, I mean, we don’t even know how to follow ‘the rules’…
Anyway, what happens (or has happened) if a person, about 80 yrs of age, with an existing condition, goes for a test and it’s positive? Are they treated as high risk and hospitalised, or just sent home as usual?
Sam, a friends grandmother 94 years, recently tested positive after one of her carers had a positive test. No symptoms at all. She was sent home to isolate and looked after by her family who tested negative. The 94 year old never developed any symptoms and is fine now.
The ONS did a survey of care home residents and of those they found positive 80% had no symptoms! Vivaldi study.
So, the ‘treatment’ for a seriously at-risk victim of The Deadly Virus(tm) is the same as for say, an otherwise healthy person in the least vulnerable demographic, is that it?
Gosh it really is deadly.
Sam, if you’re interested enough in what’s been going on to have come to LS and contribute as much as you have comment wise, I’d hardly describe you as a dim Northerner!
DavidC
Found this updated edition of a well known book.
“We Are Legend”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Legend_(novel)
Robert NevilleLockdown Sceptics appear to be the sole survivors of a pandemic thathashasn’t killed most of the human population and turned the remainder into“vampires”“Sheeple” that largely conform to their stereotypes in fiction and folklore: they areblood-suckingsupine, pale-skinned, andnocturnalmaskbound, though otherwise indistinguishable from normal humans. Implicitly set in Los Angeles, the novel detailsNeville’sSceptic’s life in the months and eventually years after the outbreak ashethey attempt to comprehend, research, and possibly cure the disease.Swarms of vampires surround his house nightly daily and try to find ways to get inside, which includes the females exposing themselves and his vampire neighbor relentlessly shouting for him to come out.NevilleSceptics survive bybarricading himself inside his house every nightliving as normally as possible;hetheyisare further protected by the traditionalvampiresheeple repellents ofgarlic, mirrors, and crucifixeslogic and reasoning and the use of their brains.Keep Toby Young trending on Twitter
https://twitter.com/toadmeister/status/1295745557617680387
Just got a typical non committal reply to a long, evidence and data based snail where I gave all the ONS stats about risks to students at university, and the wider public. First line back from physics prof “I am not an epidemiologist so am not qualified to answer your questions”. I wanted to go to my subject because I know if I email epidemiologists they will simply come back with the usual scare story mumbo jumbo! And then the other cracking line of “the broader approach to protect not only student body, but the university and wider community” albeit the risk is “statistically small”. I am hoping this is a standard response and that if any lecturers actually put in writing heaven forbid differing views to the government, they might be sacked. I hope.
Have you all seen this. Just filled it in. https://wh.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=159774516489
Me too!
And me.
Preaching to the converted..?
Me too. Annie, probably, but it’s ammunition for the case against the government.
Have you sent the link to Toby? [email protected]
So, they are ‘not considering’ compulsory face masks in workplaces, says Hancock. Expect pics of Boris wearing a mask by about Friday, then? And the announcement about next Tuesday, followed by law from Saturday.
R2 news this morning had item about increasing infection survey numbers from 28000 to 150000. It was followed by a clip of Wancock saying “We are going to expand it, essentially by almost ten times…”
So, we know we count on him, then…
Guaranteed, next week, masks in workplaces “because science”. Everything they say turns out to be the opposite within a few weeks. And as in 1984, they always considered it, it was always on the table, in fact we should have always been wearing them. We have always been wearing them!
You lot, things are bad enough – please stop stoking up the fear! MW
Should have said Boris *in the workplace*.
Sorry Sam, but you are missing something here. Boris and ‘workplace’ or ‘work’ do not sit comfortably in the same sentence!
He hasn’t finished his bridge of sand yet.
https://player.fm/series/the-richie-allen-show/the-richie-allen-radio-show-tuesday-may-5th-2020
Around minute 20 Richie Allen called Health Minister Matt Hancock an amoeba. In the interview that followed you will discover that this man doesn’t even know what’s going on in his department on an hourly, daily basis.
Insult to amoebas everywhere.
Oh ah ee oo
There’s absolutely no strife
Living the timeless life, I don’t need a wife
Living the timeless life
If I need a friend I just give a wriggle
Split right down the middle
And when I look there’s two of me
Both as handsome as can be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvvblmN1hEw
Some of my best friends are amoebas!
Another cracking Covid-sceptic article by Jeremy Warner in the DT. As someone said elsewhere on this forum The Telegraph is becoming more sceptical by the day….
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/08/18/fiscal-ruin-beckons-ship-fools-does-not-even-seem-know/
Opening para:
“In Plato’s The Republic, Socrates describes a ship on which the sailors mutiny and try to pilot the vessel with no knowledge of “the year and seasons and sky and stars and winds, and whatever else belongs to his [a pilot’s] art”. Success on this “Ship of Fools” is defined not by having the skills to navigate the vessel but only by the ability to persuade others that such skills aren’t actually necessary and that the job can be done regardless.
The story is intended as an allegory on the downsides of democracy, of the danger that in such a system of government, ignorant fools elect persuasive fools and are then led to ruin. After the Government’s latest shambolic, Covid-related failing, it seems an appropriate description of today’s political leadership.”
Someone said something along the lines of: Democracy fails when the electorate realise they can vote themselves gifts.
Gifts that turn out to be rather empty in the long run
There’s a book by Samuel Brittan “The Economic Consequences of Democracy”, published in 1977. I have a copy but have never got round to reading it. However I think the general idea is as stated in your sentence.
Excellent KBF Sussex 2nd meeting last night. 25 people came, a 92.30769% increase on our initial meeting. 🙂
Organic coffee / beer / wine/ cake. Comfy chairs, loads of space, and a sympathetic proprietor.
10-15K mask info leaflets distributed. (This was our agreed focus from previous meeting).
Next focus to be schools/children.
Many intending to be in London 29th Aug.
KBF Surrey group will be kicking off on Sunday 23rd.
Onwards !
Fantastic. That’s a start.
Excellent! Well done all of you!
Ooh. Where? How do I find out where and when next meeting? I live in Sussex.
All the best people do, Libby. 🙂 https://www.keepbritainfree.com/forum
Click on Community then Forum then South then Sussex (I think !). If you think it’s for you, there is also a Sussex private messaging forum. Paul sorts all that out. 🙂
Thank you👍
That’s awesome!
4 of us meeting up in West Yorkshire next week. Small but a start. Join us if you can!
https://www.keepbritainfree.com/forum/kbf-north/west-yorkshire
You were lucky. We used to dream of meeting up…
On travel quarantines:
Transport secretary Grant Shapps confirmed the government is “working” on airport testing but appeared to rule out a single test, saying: “If you test somebody who is asymptomatic on day one [of infection] at the airport, it’s likely to pick up only 7% of people who have coronavirus, so isn’t useful on its own. You need to test after seven or eight days and ask people to quarantine in the meantime.”
Why would they need to if masks stop you infecting others? Surely just wearing a mask will suffice?
Er, hold on, is Shapps saying that if you test 100 people WITH the virus, only 7% will be positive? Sorry if I have missed the point.
I think what he is saying is that if early stage of infection, the tests will only pick up 7% of them correctly. Incubation period is required to give better results. If people come home and feel ill, they will stay at home. If they don’t feel ill, they could wear a mask (or say they are) which is the same as any asyptomatic person now.
Interesting. Doesn’t that mean that everyone everywhere must be tested daily, before leaving the house, forever?
Probably
has he got shares in the test kit company? If it hasn’t occurred to anyone yet thus is linked to the Green Blob. Holidays abroad will be made to be so uncomfortable with constant tests and travel restrictions you won’t bother. It’s the same with shopping or anything else you used to enjoy. These people should be hanging from lampposts not elected to government!
So what is this telling us about their view of the effectiveness of tests and masks? They don’t believe their own b*ll*cks
This from the State of Wisconsin:
Joining the recent edict of the Governor or Virginia that students must mask during ON LINE CLASSES (!!!) a Wisconsin state agency has required employees to wear masks while teleconferencing from home, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
A July 31 email sent to employees by the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reportedly reminded them that Gov. Tony Evers’s (D)
mask mandate went into effect the next day.
Natural Resources Secretary Preston Cole said in the email that staff has to wear masks in DNR buildings and in virtual meetings, according to the Journal Sentinel.
“Also, wear your mask, even if you are home, to participate in a virtual meeting that involves being seen — such as on Zoom or another video-conferencing platform — by non-DNR staff,” Cole reportedly wrote. “Set the safety example which shows you as a DNR public service employee care about the safety and health of others.” [Emphasis added]
Preston Cole stakes claim in the ‘who can be the biggest twat ?’ competition.
I read about this and thought it had to be a joke. The joke is on us. How do they plan to enforce this? Obviously the masking at home is merely a virtue-signally suggestion, but the workplace is a whole other story. It reads like satire…the world has truly gone mad.
Surely someone can design a filter that fakes a mask on your face? I mean, if they can do rabbit ears and shit, it should be easy, no?
If anybody needs to be convinced of the madness of the situation, surely this is the best fact to do it with?
Agreed, I’ve been gleefully recounting this to everyone I meet.
Had a web chat with a WDNR call centre operative. Suggested the world was laughing at them. She was of course at work, but made no attempt to defend this policy.
Has this in Wisconsin last week.
Morons of the world unite.
WTF! You are alone in your own home participating in a Zoom conference and you should mask? You have to show you care about the health and safety of others, what others?
This virus is so clever it can transmit through the internet now?
The world has truly gone mad.
Does anyone else keep getting blocked on Twitter?
.
I don’t use it. However if I did I am sure I’d be banned within an hour or so.
They’re speedier than that, Bella. 🙂
In that case I won’t last longer than my first twitter. 😂
I didn’t.
I wouldn’t touch Twitter with a used piece of bog paper. Even when I look at a Twitter link posted on this site I need to wash my hands before doing anything else.
Abandoned it a couple of years back. I never got banned but I observed other higher profile users expressing views like mine who were banned – I was going to write left, right and centre – but actually mainly right. I recently joined Parler but don’t participate much since it’s an echo chamber of banned high profile twitter users…. However, it’s more tolerant of heterodoxy and so far, better manners.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.25.20162107v2
Sorry if this has been posted before but some interesting things
“SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV viral load dynamics, duration of viral shedding and infectiousness: a living systematic review and meta-analysis”
“Conclusion: Although SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding in respiratory and stool can be prolonged, duration of viable virus is relatively short-lived. Thus, detection of viral RNA cannot be used to infer infectiousness. High SARS-CoV-2 titres are detectable in the first week of illness with an early peak observed at symptom onset to day 5 of illness”.
Not read the article yet, but from what you say, this idea of testing sewage outflows would be pointless?
The only interesting thing about testing of sewage was that they discovered the virus had been around longer than we thought. I think there’s a good chance I had it in early December, which back in March seemed impossible. The sewage testing made me think it was, indeed, possible.
Wasn’t it detected in Spain in March 2019?
https://player.fm/series/the-richie-allen-show/the-richie-allen-radio-show-thursday-april-30th-2020
Richie is joined by Dr. Rima Laibow MD Rima is the Medical Director of the Natural Solutions Foundation. She got her degree from The Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1970. Follow her at http://drrimatruthreports.com/ Rima tells Richie why she believes that covid-19 was developed in a US bio-weapons facility five years ago. She claims that dark actors in the US, took the virus to China under the guise of research. There is a money trail and it implicates Dr. Anthony Fauci. Rima believes the virus is potent but not lethal in people with healthy immune systems. She believes the virus is being used to get people to consent to a global vaccine programme which will be used to cause infertility in men and women.
She’s been reading the Handmaid’s Tale. Well, I shit you not, I ain’t having it, so they can use me for breeding purposes.
😂😂😂😂
If you want to stop population growth, there is a proven way of doing it. Sink money into educating women. And you don’t even have to destroy the world to do that.
We really need to be challenging the data. The inconsistency is so great that there must be some health professionals that can attempt an answer.
1) Flu deaths are now running at five times Covid deaths. Why/how is the lockdown suppressing Covid but not flu and pneumonia?
2) The normal protective measures for flu in hospitals and care homes are nil. Why is that? Why do we have a lockdown to suppress one virus, and not others?
3) If a health worker is unwell, but test negative for Covid, do they still go into quarantine, are all their contacts traced, and do those people also go into quarantine?
4) What proportion of Covid deaths were not just “with comorbidities” but with terminal dementia, alzheimer’s, heart disease, stroke, cancer? How many Covid deaths were NOT terminally ill?
Questions 1 and 2 are particularly pertinent I feel, Why are Covid virus deaths privileged over flu deaths? It makes no sense…not even the beginning of sense. But where are all the medical experts, the epidemiologists, the MPs calling out this nonsense? Nowhere to be seen. We have a few non-conforming columnists and that’s it.
The epidemiologists virologists and all doctors taking a contrary view to that of Bill Gates are deplatformed from all media sites. If this doesn’t make people see what a scam this virus is then there is no hope for the human race. We deserve to die out!
Right, and a related question is how the government actually evaluates the effectiveness (or not) of their policies. What result was expected after introducing mandatory masks? Lower infection rate? How does that compare to what has actually happened? Has it actually made any difference to anything, if not, then clearly the conculsion is that the policy is not effective and should be scrapped.
All the right questions. Numbers 2 and 3 scare me because there’s already a movement afoot to treat flu in the same way we are now treating Covid — which means social distancing and masks every winter (the new abnormal). Rather than realizing Covid will soon become just another strain of flu, the thinking is that we now have to treat every day viruses as virulent killers that must be eradicated at all costs.
We all need to come together and resist! Together we are stronger. We must not let them drive a wedge between us.
People Power!
The world’s toughest lockdown has resulted in the world’s highest COVID-19 death toll
https://jordanschachtel.substack.com/p/the-worlds-toughest-lockdown-has
When will someone even consider the link – that lockdowns might, just might actually kill people?
Thought the government already admitted that in the PHE report published the other day – they did expect people to die from the lockdown effects (from cancelling other healthcare treatment, depression etc). Seems the government is still convinced that if they didn’t lockdown 500,000 would have died – based on Prof. Pantsdown’s original, now discredited, model.
So real deaths count for less than imaginary ones.
I’m sure the MSM will be chomping at the bit to report this one …
Our immune systems need social interaction to function properly, isolating only makes them weaker. It’s beginning to seem as if they want to deliberately make us sicker.
Gotta prime people to beg for the vaccine.
A very good new article on the Hector Drummond site :
https://hectordrummond.com/2020/08/19/oliver-watson-is-there-science-or-fiction-behind-the-governments-covid-19-decisions/#comment-25110
One of the responses also contains a really telling argument between Michael Levitt and one of the mock scientists from Imperial :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7167&v=_1u_yworTco&feature=emb_logo
Note to self – must not read BBC HYS. The most depressing 2 minutes of my life yet re the ‘UK not considering masks at work’ article. We will be masking up at work before we know it if they’re saying they’re not considering it. A u-turn will be imminent, and the maskholes will have pushed us down one more level of this madness. I won’t be wearing one – I told my employers a few weeks ago that if that comes into force here, I will be working at home permanently. The commentors on here are what is currently keeping me sane – so good to know there are rational people out there somewhere.
Too right.
I’m thanking my past self for the decision to work from home years ago. Good on you for sticking to your principles.
Yes, I usually avoid the BBC , but went on to check something that someone flagged up here – and encountered a world of insanity and grief. Best avoided to remain sane.
My employer already mandated masks at the office (no exemptions) – IF you turn up (work from home is still an option for now). Of course, nobody I know is interested in going back at the moment.
How could they even think of it?
They have hollow heads, so “thinking” doesn’t enter into it.
I’ve thought about what I would do if masks became mandatory at work (when we go back). I think I’d try to work from home but if that was not allowed, I’d probably quit and try and move somewhere more sane, Sweden maybe.
You’re right, remember on the Sunday Gove said masks won’t be mandatory, on the Tuesday they were mandatory. There’s a quote by someone that if a politician says something then believe the opposite!
Gove just said it was “politeness” to wear a mask but he didn’t think they should be mandatory. He fell into line a couple of days later. Even so, I think he was deliberately taking up a slightly different position to Johnson and still has the top job in his sights.
me too – i’ll continue to WFH with the millions of others that are able to. Imagine sitting for 8 hours at a desk wearing a mask – the thought fills me with horror. I do sympathise those workers that have to do this today in other work situations.
If they want people to go back to offices mandating masks is a backwards step, not forwards.
When will this madness stop …???
What’s going on? There have been several attempts to answer this btl, and here’s my attempt.
The government response started well, with a sane recognition that basically the epidemic would run its course whatever we did, so damage limitation and mitigation was the name of the game. Then they changed course, going for lockdown. This is known to have been a political decision. It was made in advance of SAGE advice, which only fell into line afterwards. It was given cover by Ferguson’s model, but that could and should have been scrutinised if there was a political will to do so – it was clearly just cover for a preceding political decision. Why was that decision made? Obviously we will never be told, and it makes no sense in the terms declared, and that invites conspiracy theory.
But I think the most obvious explanation is that the Tories’ sole priority has been preventing Labour from making political capital from covid deaths. Labour has been openly salivating for deaths that can be pinned on the heartless Tories, and the way for the Tories to counter this has been to ape Labour policy. Whatever Labour says, the Tories do, so… Read more »
That’s a good analysis but it’s UK-specific. What are your thoughts on the way things are going in other countries?
Agree a good analysis from Ovis – a lot of truth in it, especially the cultish obsession with the NHS. I smell Cummings in that. Equally good question from Edward. The ground that would have allowed Labour to attack the government for every Covid death exists in many places, has partly been brewing for years (safetyism) and now consolidated by the panic.
I thought right from the beginning that a huge motivating factor for lockdown was the Tories being (a) terrified of being blamed for the NHS being overwhelmed/unable to cope – which would likely tarnish their reputation and electability for generations – and (b) seeing the massive political capital in, conversely, setting themselves up as the valiant protectors of the NHS, perhaps permanently banishing their image as the “nasty party” who want to privatise or abolish it entirely.
Making the NHS such a big part of the messaging/propaganda also ensured support from the large section of the public who would never vote for or support the current government.
I definitely agree Cummings has to have been behind some of this at least, I don’t think Boris could manage anything this Macchiavellian even if he tried!
The response to this fake virus hysteria is a global one. Governments of different hues responding in the same way and with identical imagery and propaganda. I do believe we need to look beyond party political motives…
David Starkey suggested the lockdown came as one hospital in NW London surged towards its capacity and Boris panicked about the potential optics of the holy NHS suffering on the Tories’ watch.
Add in vested interests, scientific illiteracy amongst politicians and the civil service, group think, media hysteria and pressure to be seen to be doing what other governments had done and it’s probably about there.
Still unforgivable though and a complete abdication of true leadership.
Starkey also said the French threatened to close the boarder to U.K. if we didn’t lockdown.
Indeed
And alignment with the Dear Leader in Scotland may well have resulted in mandatory face masks in England!
Weak, weak leadership.
It the face masks that really did it for me, I thought Boris had more guts and would tell the truth. Oddly we have wales not imposing them!!
Agreed. I could put up with all the other crap, if I had to, but face nappies really are the limit.
That’s what did it for me too. Hate the lining up and the distancing, but the masking put me over the edge and created a huge amount of anxiety. I also believed that mandatory masking would be a slippery slope toward mandatory vaccination because I could see that the same argument — gotta do it to protect others — would be trotted out to force us to be victims of medical experimentation. If not enough people take the vaccine…you know how the argument goes.
That’s because Offa’s Dyke stops Covids from crossing it.
The Science ™
It’s ironic because Sturgeon hates the Tories and Boris, if England didn’t deploy mandatory masks it would have destroyed the SNP. Instead Stasi Sturgeon gets to carry on grandstanding and imposing fascist rule over Scotland.
We know Sturgeon hates the Tories because she says so, and the msm repeat it ?!?
Imho, the truth is more that they’re all in it together, the differences being the roles they play, and the positions they pretend to hold.
Scotland departing would, in some estimations, leave the rUK with little possibility of a change of government party for a long while. This view is openly expressed on the Guido comments and presumably discussed in private by Tory strategists
“a complete abdication of true leadership.”
It should be followed by a true abdication of the complete leadership. Not holding my breath.
Abdication is too good for them!
If there was any justice, there would be a reckoning.
Sadly…
That’s a very astute analysis. Seems far more likely this whole thing is just driven by cynical political calculations rather than any grand conspiracy. Pretty sure Bojo et al couldn’t conspire their way out of a paper bag. But at the end of the day, if they take away our freedom, destroy our livelihoods and way of life then the true motivations for it are really just academic at this point.
I think the impetus for lockdown came from elsewhere.I was told by someone in the home office that they were preparing for a 12 week lockdown 2 weeks before we went in.
Why would Governments around the world destroy their economies,this all doesn’t make sense even on its own terms.
Bill Gates,WEF great reset,USA election,USA/China conflict take your pick of conspiracy theories, all unprovable at the moment but for me this is not about a virus.
Short term pain for maximum gain. Position your business, ready for the brave new world. Atomise the population with various strategies that make people completely inward facing and unable to organise some sort of resistance.
Then hit the “crash” switch. Kill the economies just enough to finish off the already terminally ill and/or smaller businesses. And miraculously, your home working/conferencing software, online consultations/pharmacies, online deliveries and so on are ready to step in…
Oh, and keep postponing elections…
What I am failing to grasp though is that in going with what left seemed to be advocating Boris must have pissed off his own party members, likely many businesses, his red wall voters. I cannot see how him not saying stop, let’s look at Sweden, we must get a grip of the fear, wouldn’t now help him. To continue down the route he is going surely he is only causing himself more injury? Perhaps people who are closer to the Conservative party might know what they are thinking about him?
I agree. I think that the Conservatives might be just waiting for evidence of a change in public sentiment and in the opinions of the health professionals. They only need to be ahead of Starmer, they don’t need to be optimal.
For as long as the health professionals are saying that people will die, there’s only political risk for them in relaxing the lockdown.
Not ALL health professionals are saying that people will die (if by that we mean in the hundreds of thousands predicted)
For what it’s worth, here is another UK-specific take which I think may compliment your analysis; you may or may not agree! It’s from an article by ex-Guardian journalist, Jonathan Cook, so anti-lefties, please don’t dismiss it out of hand. It’s really about the leaked Labour report but I think what he says about the state of politics in the UK is insightful (even if Cook himself has, disappointingly, been silent on the politics of CV19. Note the hints, though, which I’ve emboldened):
‘In his latest column, [Jonathan] Freedland writes: “The guiding principle [of the Johnson government] seems to be brazen cronyism, coupled with the arrogance of those who believe they are untouchable and that rules are for little people.”
Why should the Tories under Johnson be so “arrogant”, so sure they are “untouchable”, that “rules are for little people”, and that there is no political price to be paid for “cronyism”?
Might it not have much to do with seeing Freedland and the Guardian assist so willingly in the corporate media’s efforts to destroy the only political alternative to “rule by the rich” Toryism? Might the Johnson government have grown more confident knowing that the ostensibly liberal-left media were… Read more »
I dislike Corbyn and his student socialism but I agree that he offered an alternative. The situation we have now is that those with busybody and bossyboots tendencies (and a desire to get rich) regard the Conservative party as the most likely vehicle for them to pursue their aims. In the Blair years New Labour was the more likely option (remember Mandelson’s remark about being comfortable with people becoming “filthy rich”). At some future time Labour could again be preferred but it would be largely the same establishment in power.
“ the Tories’ sole priority has been preventing Labour from making political capital from covid deaths.”
Ahhh … Poor ickle Borry Baby : victimized by Starmer.
Johnson and Starmer are of the same ilk – the latter engineered into place to ensure that the establishment interests have a back-up when Mr Toad gets his just deserts. Had the boot been on the other foot, the same tactics would have applied. But Cummjohnson and the Tory spivs are up to their necks in creating this situation with no elecytion on the horizon. No excuses – they have form.
There has been no opposition on the grounds of the ridiculous nature of the Covid narrative and the outrageous deprivation of civil liberties. There is no choice on the horizon.
i’m glad that Toby linked Prof. Sunetra Gupta’s interview. Please tweet about the Plan B interviews or donate if you can. They’re doing good work and don’t get much press. https://www.covidplanb.co.nz/videos/