Some Covid restrictions were “idiocy” and lengthy school closures were an “unnecessary mistake”, Germany’s lockdown chief has admitted. The Telegraph has the story.
Karl Lauterbach, who became the face of the pro-lockdown movement, said some regulations went too far.
“Much of what we did was right, but what was idiocy was the things like jogging with masks, or rules for outdoors. Those were excessive,” Mr. Lauterbach said.
Mr. Lauterbach, of Olaf Scholz’s ruling Socialist party, also conceded that too little attention had been paid to the wellbeing of children, describing school closures as “a big mistake”.
Germany was praised for its handling of the pandemic by heavily restricting people’s contacts and closing schools and kindergarten for weeks on end.
Before Mr. Lauterbach was appointed health minister in late 2021, he became an influential advocate of strict lockdown measures as a backbencher.
Among his more controversial proposals was the suggestion made in 2020 to suspend regular schooling for at least a year.
“What was a mistake was the long school closures. That was unnecessary,” he told ZDF, the German broadcaster, on Friday.
As recently as April 2022, he was warning against lifting restrictions too quickly, saying that the country could be hit by a “killer variant”.
A trained doctor, Mr. Lauterbach gained a wide following among the German public, but critics warned that his predictions were alarmist.
More rowing back and half-hearted faux mea culpas from the lockdown zealots. If only someone had mentioned this at the time. No, wait, we did – but it was suppressed as ‘misinformation’.
Worth reading in full.
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He did seem to try to roll back the state. How effective was he behind the scenes? Hard to say and whatever he did, it was nowhere near enough.
I do remember John Redwood as a controversial figure but I couldn’t recall the details. This brief synopsis provides a good background history.
At least Redwood stuck to his guns and was from a genuine Conservative mould. Far rather politicians such as Redwood than the easily bought toadies occupying the benches in Westminster.
He has stood against Nut Zero and immigration and for that he has my respect.
https://www.iwa.wales/agenda/2019/01/the-unintended-consequences-of-john-redwood/
Yes, despite my rants, I have to concede there are a few, very few, good eggs.
He was probably proposing conservative policies. Very controversial.
Having read a bit of his background I would say that is correct.
Proposing conservative policies whilst taking the party whip – how brave.
I am afraid there are fewer and fewer left in government who are not group think toadies. No one gives a sh.t whether there is global warming or not. They all just blend in with herd. When all around you say there is a climate emergency then you better say the same or you won’t be there. In group think there can be no room for individuality. Redwood having come from the Thatcher era would have wanted the truth on this issue, just as Thatcher realised after initially thinking global warming was mostly settled science and wanted to use Nuclear Energy rather than coal because it had zero CO2 emissions, she later come to understand how it was being used to create what she called “Supranational Socialism” and had the courage to change her stance on it.
It was a shame nuclear was not continued. At least 25% would have provided a reliable energy source at a known cost.
also, in those days, we could and would have built the plants in this country adding value instead of bleeding the economy to pay France and China.
I think you will find he was snd is a conservative. I suppose he will remain a Conservative. I hope that if anyone gets a peerage he is top of the list.
critics of his achievements, as also Mrs Thatcher, would do well to check the scale of the problems they faced.
How could any genuine Conservative remain in a fake Conservative Party over the last 25 years?
Good riddance to another Tory timeserver who talked the talk but trod the Party line at the end of the day. He and all the other Tory MPs who have played to the centre Right gallery haven’t managed to halt in the slightest the slide of the party to the Left over the last 30 years. What they have done is play a vital role in keeping lots of dim witted centre Right voters on side whils the Party moved Leftwards.
So,Wishi-Washi will go down on the sinking ship he steered onto the rocks, alone.
I wonder if his constituents might not re-elect him.
I’m happy the fake Conservative Party is disintegrating they’ve ruined this country. We’ll go through some real pain with WEF Starmer as PM but who knows perhaps we’ll have the Revolution needed to rise up and take our country back.
Yes, things have to get even worse before they can get better. The destruction of the Conservative is a necessary condition for the required radical overhaul of policy and institutions to take place.
Things can only get better, after they get worse!
Quite. People say the Con’s will have a 1997 wipe out, but there is little mention of the probable further destruction of our personal sovereignty by the potential labour majority, as further degradational steps will ensue in direct comparisons to those taken by the Blair Directorate as Stage 1.
We are not the revolutionary type. We are all so fat and lazy. We have our football and soaps on the telly, our Cheezy Wotsits and our Irn Bru. We take the car for 5 minute journeys. We will only revolt when the government takes away our Mars Bars.
From all that I have read about Sir John Redwood in the news over the years, he has been a steadfast patriot, quietly but firmly defending the rights of the Indigenous British people, and deserved his knighthood, unlike many others.
As author Will Jones pointed out, “It is a reflection of the sorry state of the Conservative Party that he was never offered a Government office since the Tories returned to power in 2010. The party needs more MPs like him, who stand on principle for freedom and national sovereignty, not fewer.”
In truth, the fact that he was never offered a Cabinet position shows how much the Fake Conservatives in power feared him as a strong, genuine Conservative, and he can hold his head high.
And he was also in The Bruges Group. A long time campaigner against the expansionist EU. If proper old school conservatives were in the cabinet in 2020, the Lockdown fascism would’ve never got off the ground.
Agreed. I said at the start of the lockdowns that Thatcher would have told the WHO to stick it and the population to get a grip.
And even more importantly neither would the economy and wallet crippling Net Zero
Can any genuine Tory MP hold their head up whilst remaining in a fake Tory Party over the last decade.
Has anybody seen this new documentary yet? I’ve watched half so far and it’s very interesting. Unlike many posters on here I’m not very well read on the subject so this works for a noob like me. Recommended ( link in article );
”A NEW film blows apart the elite’s plan to enslave humanity in global communism.
Richard Jeffs, a former ITV producer and director of photography, who is now an independent investigative filmmaker and a tech company CEO, has produced ‘Stakeholder Communism’, which he says “proves irrefutably that we’re more than one-third of our 10-year transition to full global communism”.
Jeffs, who also produced the documentary The New Normal in 2020, has spent the past 16 months making the film that investigates our new political system, Stakeholder Capitalism, that was enacted in 2020 by the WEF elite members and is now mandated by governments across the world.
Jeffs told News Uncut: “The film proves irrefutably that we’re over one-third of our 10-year transition to full global communism.
“For it to be conveyed irrefutably, I ensured every part of the story was either explained by Klaus Schwab and his Stakeholders, or referenced in a World Economic Forum report. I refrained from featuring third-party anecdotal interviews to prevent any doubt. Writing and editing the film in this style will help more people understand what’s happening.
“To protect their ideology, I’ve noticed that people who are affected by the Stakeholder Capitalism propaganda often display aggressive behaviour. This is a key indicator that Stakeholder Capitalism is an ideology – in addition to the obvious; no one voted for it.”
https://uncut.substack.com/p/we-are-more-than-a-third-into-a-10
Thanks for the link and I will watch it. But I knew that already and that is what “Sustainable Devlopment” really is. Control of wealth and resources. —–with climate as the excuse.
Just think, if John Redwood had beaten John Major in the 1995 leadership election, we might have been spared the Blair disaster and much else. Those fake Tory MPs have a lot to answer for.
I can’t imagine anyone with any sense standing as a Conservative. It would be a waste of time and a destroyer of self-confidence.
Just announced that Michael Gove is not standing either at the next election. Horrible little rat. Good riddance.
NB: apologies to real rats which I quite like.
I have just posted the same ellie – hadn’t read your post. Yes, good riddance. Back stabber.
Maybe he’s landed a full time job fawning on little Saint Greta.
He’d love that.
https://x.com/michaelgove/status/1794066234406768881
Gove is standing down. Running away more like.
I think a large number of MPs who are not standing are running away, too. They might have a frisson of shame and / or anxiety about their actions / none actions since March 2020 but running away won’t erase the damage they caused to the U.K. and to the people. Running away won’t erase the memories, either.
Never forgive. Never forget.
Seconded.
Thanks hp.
Good riddance
Lockdown fanatic who pushed vaxx passes but was happy to go clubbing and get pissed
Leadsom going too
https://order-order.com/2024/05/24/list-of-all-the-mps-standing-down-at-general-election/
Thanks for that
I see Bill Cash is going who has I think done good work with vaxx injury compensation
I think you are confusing him with Christopher Chope. Cash was good on Brexit but not heard much on the rona fascism.
Ah yes, thanks
He was obviously a fake Brexiteer being the Globalist that he is.
Like Johnson probably
From what I saw earlier on X from Andrew Bridgen it seems that Rishi does not want to be a wartime PM. Andrew states clearly that we are at war with Russia, it’s not the Ukrainians firing Storm Shadow at targets inside Russia’s borders.
Sorry to hear about John Redwood, he’s been an unwavering Conservative MP for almost 40 years.
Not up to date with Andrew Bridgen on the Russia debacle but he needs to be careful. We are not at war with Russia and have no reason to be.
Fishy and Bozo might be at war but so far they are showing a great reluctance to buckle up and get on the front lines.
Stay out of this Mr Bridgen.
His view is based on how the Russians see the use of UK weapons fired from Ukraine across their borders. It suggests that our military are on the ground doing the work needed to target them as the Ukrainians have not had time to be trained to do it themselves.
I’m unsure if this is correct, but there certainly is an exodus going on and I’m sure Rishi can read the polling numbers even if they are biased against him (which had been a tendency for many years when people are asked about supporting a party that is socially unacceptable to many).
A lot of nasty things going on.
I remember from some time in 1995 seeing a piece of wood in my father’s workshop upon which he had scribbled four MPs’ names. I always assumed it was his predictions for Prime Minister. Redwood was at the top. Major was at the bottom. Can’t remember the other two. Maybe Heath was one.
What a charade it all is…
Sorry to see him go. I wish him well, whatever he’s going to do with himself!
The press are making far too much of the numbers of MP’s standing down. They are mostly old men and women, typically in their 60’s. Of course they look to retire; standing again means a 5 year commitment and who of us can really say we’d do it when we are near, or past, retirement age and comfortably off?
Redwood was always a controversial figure and I haven’t always agreed with him but he is an honourable person and stands by what he believes is right. For that alone he should be appreciated even by the most ardent of Tory haters. There are very, very few in Parliament who actually believe in anything whatsoever, most certainly Starmer doesn’t.
I suppose Redwood is controversial, if you think a Conservative Party should encourage conservative policies. Good heavens, what ever next!
I’ve concluded that the Party became fed up with sorting out the mess that Labour and the Unions left behind, leading Cameron to think, ‘if you can’t beat’em, join’ em, and to extend the fantasy of ‘spending, until you run out of other people’s money’, and their will to think constructively, let alone act upon it.
How people think that Parliament can overule the Laws of Physics, or force particular behaviours on the public (which is different from discouraging some behaviours), or expect the responsibility for large infrastructure projects are possible with negligible knowledge or experience of Engineering or Business, or that the Frankfurt School had some particularly encouraging ideas, points to needing a General Election, without his A-Lists, of course.
They didn’t call Cameron ‘call me Dave’ for nothing. Also, during Dave’s premiership the Nudge Unit’s came into existence.
Cameron regarded Blair as the ‘master’ embracing his style of governance and agenda.
A great shame as we need all the sceptics we can get in parliament. Hopefully John can still be working from the sidelines without Whips trying to tell him what to do.
It has been pointed out that Major’s cabinet suffered from a dearth of old hands.
How brave of him.
A decent Chap , good luck to him
