What on earth does the Government think it’s doing? What possible reason is there for reimposing a full lockdown on Leicester? In an act of sheer lunacy, Matt Hancock announced this morning that non-essential shops have been told to close today and schools asked to shut their doors to the majority of children from Thursday. Pubs, restaurants and hair salons that have been gearing up to re-open on Saturday have now been told to remain closed.
The rationale, needless to say, is that Leicester has seen a “surge” in cases, with over 900 new cases in the past two weeks. Confusion surrounded this figure since the published data for Leicester recorded just 80 new positive tests between June 13th and 26th. But Hancock now says there were in fact 944.
How do we know the increase in cases isn’t simply an artefact of increased testing in Leicester? We don’t, obviously. The 80 figure is based on Pillar 1 data, which are from tests done in hospitals; the 944 figure is based on Pillar 2 data, which are from tests done at Government centres or at home and processed by commercial labs. But surely the hospital data are more reliable than the community data – although these are all PCR tests and they’re all notoriously unreliable (see this Off-Guardian piece). And if the number of new cases being discovered by hospitals is low that suggests there isn’t a “surge” in new cases in the community. Deaths, too, are low, although, to be fair, if the alleged rise in cases has only happened since June 13th you wouldn’t expect to see any corresponding rise in deaths yet. On June 29th, only two people died from COVID-19 in the whole of the Midlands. According to the FT, the rise in infections is mainly among younger people (as it is in southern and southwestern US states) which means we’re unlikely to see any corresponding rise in deaths.
Let’s suppose the Pillar 2 data are accurate and there have been 944 new cases in Leicester between June 13th and 26th. That’s an average of 472 new cases/week. Assuming an infection fatality rate of ~0.25% (almost certainly an over-estimate), that means ~1 person/week will die if the infection rate remains where it is. And even that’s over-egging it, given that a majority of the new cases are among younger people.
Is it really worth reimposing a lockdown on Leicester to prevent one person/week from dying? I looked at the NHS England data for hospital deaths and of the five people who died from coronavirus on June 29th four were 80+ years’ old.
So the people of Leicester are being asked to close schools, shut non-essential shops and keep their pubs, restaurants and hair salons shuttered for two more weeks in order to prevent the deaths of two people aged 80+? Setting aside the civil liberties argument, is Matt Hancock confident that more than one person per week won’t die as a result of reimposing the lockdown? I’m thinking of cancer operations being postponed, the increased risk of suicide and domestic violence, and elderly people who may die of thirst or starvation because their relatives aren’t allowed to visit them.
What an absolute shower this Government is. If I was the Mayor of Leicester, I’d just point-blank refuse to comply. This report on Sky says the Leicester lockdown has “legal underpinning” which sounds like a mealy-mouthed way of saying its not legally enforceable.
Hector Drummond’s Graph
There’s a good piece in Hector Drummond Magazine entitled “This Is What We Shot Ourselves in the Foot For“. Hector has plotted the ONS’s figures for all-cause mortality in England and Wales dating back to 1900 on a graph and it shows a pretty modest uptick in 2020. For graphing purposes, he assumes that the number will be the five-year average for 2015-19 (531,355) + total Covid deaths. However, as he says, that’s probably an overestimate since some of the people who’ve succumbed to coronavirus would have died anyway this year. He’s also taken total Covid deaths for the UK (42,462), not England and Wales, so that too means the uptick is higher than it will be. Nonetheless, it’s still a pretty meagre increase. He concludes:
So: no gigantic, bowel-emptying spike in 2020. No jaw-dropping upwards vertical rocket-ship to match those jaw-dropping downward vertical cliffs we saw with the economic data. Just a tiny little uptick, like many other little upticks in there, indistinguishable from random noise. If you asked someone in the future who was unacquainted with the era to point to where the once-in-a-century medical disaster was, they would have no chance of picking it out.
Far from being a once-in-a-century pandemic, COVID-19 turned out to be a bad flu. We shut down the world for a bad flu. We shut down the world despite living in the safest era in the whole of history.
ONS Says All-Cause Deaths Now Below Five-Year Average
Today’s data release from the ONS for the w/e June 19th shows all-cause mortality has dropped below the five-year average. This is in addition to Week 23 having the lowest Covid death toll for 13 weeks (623).
A total of 9,339 people died of any cause in the w/e June 19th, down from an average of 9,404 for the same week over the past five years. This bears out Hector Drummond’s suspicion (see above) that the total Covid death toll for 2020 is likely to be lower than the five-year average + those who’ve died from Covid.
As one reader points out:
Since it’s inconceivable and impossible that without COVID-19 being a factor the average death figures would have been below average for Week 23 because of some magical and coincidental reduction in other causes of death, then that leaves only one conclusion, viz. that many people who have died of (or “with”) coronavirus in the UK would have done so this year anyway.
In the movie Aliens, Ripley tells Newt, the small girl and only survivor of the deserted space colony, of all the precautions she and the marines will take to protect Newt against the aliens.
Newt says: “It won’t make any difference.”
I wonder what Newt would say if you told her that, from tomorrow, we’ll have been locked in our homes for 100 days?
“It won’t make any difference.”
Rate of Decline Flattening. Oh No! Mother!
Amusing comment in the Guardian on this graph just released by Downing Street showing the declining daily death tolls:
Downing Street has updated its daily dashboard with the latest coronavirus figures. These are UK figures. Here is the graph showing the number of daily deaths. It is still going down, but now the rate of decline is flattening.
Well, yes. The rate of decline is flattening. That’s what happens when the number approaches zero. When it actually gets to zero – next week? – expect the Guardian run a story saying: “Rate of Decline In COVID-19 Deaths Worryingly Flat.”
Price Fixing
Why is the Government telling pharmacies what price to put on hand sanitiser products and face masks? Has it lost its faith in the market to price those items fairly? A reader writes:
Another nail in our freedoms: the Competition and Markets Authority and the General Pharmaceutical Council have threatened pharmacies with fines if they sold face masks and hand sanitiser at high prices. Have these two organisations heard that in a free enterprise market economy prices are not fixed by officialdom but float subject to supply and demand, the exception being where there is an abuse of a monopoly? As far as I am aware, there are multiple manufacturers and suppliers of these products, which are available in supermarkets and on-line as well as in pharmacies. Why are we allowing our freedom to be infringed by such bureaucrats?
Alternative Poem
Excellent alternative to the ghastly propaganda poem I published in the last Lockdown Sceptics update. This one is by Annie, one of the best commenters below the line.
POEM, TO BE LEARNED BY HEART BY ALL CHILDREN WHOSE PARENTS ARE NOT ZOMBIES
By Annie, Covipoet Laureate and Composer of Deathless Verse for All Occasions (fee scale sent on request)
There was a boy called Johnny
Who as a general rule
Lived a normal, quiet existence
Between home and play and school.
But when the lad was seven
His whole life turned to bad:
Some people caught a flu germ
And all the world went mad.
They took our little Johnny
And every other kid,
And slammed them in a dungeon
And then screwed down the lid.
Johnny went into the garden
But the policemen came and said
There was virus in the garden
And our John would soon be dead.
Mummy took him to the playground,
But all the slides and swings
Had hazard tape all round them
And other dreadful things.
His granny came to see him
Most secretly one day,
But the next-door neighbour dobbed them
And the police dragged her away.
John’s mummy said the police were right,
And Johnny he should not
Even dream of hugging granny
Or she’d drop dead on the spot.
When mummy went out shopping
She put a bandage round her head
It made her look so monstrous
Johnny hid under his bed.
Then she put a mask on Johnny
And to our lad it seemed
That mask was going to choke him,
And he screamed and screamed and screamed.
Then Johnny got into his bed
And turned to face the wall
And it makes no difference what they do,
He won’t come out at all.
Round-Up
And on to the round-up of all the stories I’ve noticed, or which have been been brought to my attention, in the last 24 hours:
- ‘EasyJet to sack up to 4,500 staff and close its bases at Stansted, Southend and Newcastle‘ – Another airline in trouble
- ‘GCSE and A-level pupils can sit exams if they don’t like coursework grade‘ – Er, so why couldn’t they have just sat the exams anyway?
- ‘Christian leaders invoke Magna Carta and sue the government over church lockdown‘ – At last, some red-blooded Christians we can get behind. Christian Concern is suing the Government over the decision to close churches. May God be with them
- ‘LOCKDOWN LUNACY 2.0: Second wave? Not even close‘ – Comprehensive debunking of “second wave” balls by JB Handley
- ‘Flatten the Fear‘ – Excellent new sceptical initiative by US docs
- ‘The Real Pandemic Was a Nursing Home Problem‘ – Great post on the American Institute for Economic Research blog
- ‘The lockdown is causing so many deaths‘ – Dr Malcolm Kendrick interviewed in Spiked
- ‘Boris Johnson could quickly come unstuck‘ – The always sensible Matthew Goodwin in the Spectator. Ya think?
- ‘A minority opinion on Covid deaths‘ – The peerless Lionel Shriver in the Spectator
- ‘Welby must look to future, not fuss over past‘ – Trevor Philips in the Times says Welby should stop fretting about the church’s past and start worrying about its future, particularly if he remains at the helm
Theme Tune Suggestions From Readers
Two suggestions today: “Beyond Belief” by Elvis Costello and “It’s Time to Get Away” by LCD Soundsystem.
Small Businesses That Have Re-opened
A few weeks 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. 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. Don’t worry if your entries don’t show up immediately – we need to approve them once you’ve entered the data.
Note to the Good Folk Below the Line
I enjoy reading all your comments and I’m glad I’ve created a “safe space” for lockdown sceptics to share their frustrations and keep each other’s spirits up. But please don’t copy and paste whole articles from papers that are behind paywalls in the comments. I work for some of those papers and if they don’t charge for premium content they won’t survive.
And while I’ve got you, any holiday tips? Mrs Young thinks Greece is too risky – sensible, given that they’ve just extended their quarantine for another two weeks. We’re now looking at Italy, Austria and Switzerland, but can go further afield. All tips gratefully received. The little male Youngs are keen on a swimming pool that’s actually open and Mrs Young is happy with anything sunny provided she doesn’t have to cook. Miss Young (16) would ideally like to be near a beach.
Shameless Begging Bit
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation in the last 24 hours to pay for the upkeep of this site. It usually takes me several hours to do these updates, along with everything else, which doesn’t leave much time for other work. If you feel like donating, however small the amount, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in future updates, email me here. (Please don’t email me at any other address.) I’ll try and get another update done on Thursday.
And Finally…
I was interviewed by Stephen Knight, otherwise known as Godless Spellchecker, for his YouTube channel on Monday. We were supposed to be talking about the Free Speech Union, but I got a bit sidetracked when he asked about Lockdown Sceptics and launched into an epic rant against the Government.
Worth watching in full, obviously.
And, for the die-hard fans, there’s always London Calling, the weekly podcast with James Delingpole and me. Quite a lively one this week, with both of us getting steamed up about Britain and America’s Maoist moment.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to the Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
If there’s a keep left system I’ll walk on the right
Just found this on the legislation regarding wearing masks in the UK, particularly on public transport (passed under Section 45R of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984)
https://architectsforsocialhousing.co.uk/2020/06/11/the-science-and-law-of-refusing-to-wear-masks-texts-and-arguments-in-support-of-civil-disobedience/
This contains the following:
“Prohibits any person, without ‘reasonable excuse’, from using public transport without wearing a face covering. This does not include any child under 11 years of age; any employee of the operator of the relevant public transport service in the course of their employment; a constable or police community support officer acting in the course of their duty; an emergency responder; a relevant official; or anyone in an enclosed cabin, berth or car on a ship who is alone or with members of the same household.”
“Defines a reasonable excuse as any physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability; or severe distress caused by wearing a face covering; or travelling with someone who relies on lip reading to communicate; or to avoid harm or injury; or in order to eat or drink; or to take medication; or upon direction by a ‘relevant person’.
Thank you. I now plan to walk around all scottish shops with a cup and drinking straw (containing iron bru) and cheesy chips!
Come to think it, isnt this what most snp supporting individuals do anyway?
From a “scary” article in the Grad:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/02/suspected-covid-19-outbreaks-in-english-workplaces-double-in-a-week
Those graphs are such a con trick!
An outbreak is determined by PHE when two or more lab-confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been linked to a particular setting.
Well that makes it conveniently easy to hyperbolise!
More outbreaks of the virus have been detected since pillar 2 testing became open to everyone during week 21 of the pandemic. This has lead to greater detection of the virus in “settings with healthy younger populations”, according to PHE.
What a surprise!
I don’t know if this counts as a success or not but I’ve got a real person at the council at a senior level replying to an e-mail I sent early last week (and put on here) and they say they will give me a full answer soon to all my points.
No fobbing off, no put it as a FOI request, no bullshit so far.
The reply:
“Thank you for your email which is receiving attention and which has been passed to me to acknowledge on behalf of the Leader of the Council. Please be advised that I await information from various client departments which is being collated. The concerns you have raised are being considered in detail and we aim to come back to you by 15 July 2020. If you have any concerns in the interim please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours faithfully,”
Hopefully will get something meaningful soon.
Certainly the most positive, even if only very preliminary, response I have seen from officialdom over Covysteria!
Oh boy, we’re offusticating with waves and peaks now!
Harries says a second wave is “quite a possibility”. And a second peak cannot be ruled OUT, she says.
She says it is possible there could be further waves after that.
She says the focus now is on ensuring that a second wave does not become a second peak.
17.28, from the Grad’s llive update.
There’s also “quite a possibility” that the Yellowstone Park supervolcano will erupt and plunge the northern hemisphere into permanent winter under a choking ash cloud. It’s long overdue.
The way things are going, I’d feel like I’d welcome it…
.
But will the giant asteroid carrying Earth’s name on it get here first?
Or earth’s magnetic fields might fall prey to magnetocovid and flip.
A hyperspace bypass would solve all our problems. Where are the Vogons in our time of need??
It’s so strange to think that the same species which builds skyscrapers in earthquake zones has succumbed to this level of terror.
It’s so strange to think that the same species which builds skyscrapers in earthquake zones is so stupid
This lockdown sceptic says it’s “possible” he can win the Euromillions tomorrow night and he has “not ruled out” winning Saturday’s UK lottery as well! See- two can play at that game Harries.
It feels like she is being deliberately vague, in case of a future enquiry into the whole virus debacle..
Long wave, medium wave, short wave, BBC world service
So the MSM are reporting continued surges in cases across most of the USA, plus more and more young (under 40) people being hospitalized. This goes against everything that has happened in other countries – why are more young people getting severe symptoms in the USA or is this all more BS by the MSM?
They never seem to cover the pandemic in Peru where infections are higher per head of population than almost anywhere and deaths per head are higher than Brazil – despite having imposed one of the earliest (12th March) and strictest lockdowns (children and the over 65’s not allowed outdoors at all).
The Fed pays up to 30 thousand USD per Covid death in NY and NJ hospitals.
They never cover(ed) Belgium either which is a similar story.
Maybe not embarrassing Brussels is a bonus to maintaining the narrative.
More people are being tested, so the positive case numbers are up. More people are going to hospital for other conditions so hospitals are filling up. The two may not be related. I think much of it is selective reporting by the MSM. In the U.S. it’s 95% against Trump. In the UK it’s closer to 100%
This is by design. As part of “reopening”, states are paying full salaries to 10s of thousands of new contact tracers who are gleefully chasing down every one they can find who was within a football pitch’s distance to someone with a positive test. Tests and respiratory illness symptoms are now completely disassociated. So this is an artifact of yet another policy intervention and in now way reflects an increase in illness or disease for that matter. California is reporting about 100,000 tests per day. Finding between 5 & 6 percent positive. This number can easily fall within the error range for said testing, which is largely automated anyway (more hidden error). Also. there is a significant lag between date swabs collected and the day they are uploaded into state surveillance. Here is southern california, that lag seems to be about two weeks. So we are well into the rear view mirror here.
The USA has a huge drug, especially opioid, crisis which President Trump has been trying to address positively. I wouldn’t be surprised if these younger people are addicts, frequent users of marjuana or crack cocaine, etc – in other words people with serious underlying health conditions, but not necessarily recognised as such. Our media would certainly hide that fact from us.
“why are more young people getting severe symptoms in the USA “
High levels of obesity in the US may be a factor – apparently this doesn’t help you deal with an attack of Covid.
Below is the link to the scientific report for the Scottish Government which was used to make the judgement call to keep the 2m social distancing rule (or law, depending on who you listen to).
It’s interesting that the “scientists” admit there’s no real science behind 2m, the WHO recommends 1m, reducing it to 1m will have economic benefits and allow us greater freedom, but ultimately it’s a matter of judgement.
So, Sturgeon’s judgement is to keep the 2m rule.
Also, despite the peak of CV19 deaths being April, despite Scotland only having 5 new cases and something like 4 deaths in over a week, she’s mandating face coverings in shops from next week. This will be, apparently, enforced by the police.
Is it me, or is easing lockdown worse than the actual lockdown?
https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/independent-report/2020/06/covid-19-advisory-group-physical-distancing-advice/documents/covid-19-advisory-group-advice-on-physical-distancing/covid-19-advisory-group-advice-on-physical-distancing/govscot%3Adocument/COVID%2B19%2BAdvisory%2BGroup%2B-%2Badvice%2Bon%2Bphysical%2Bdistancing.pdf
It makes no sense at all. So shop staff who haven’t been wearing masks this entire time (and not dying) will now have to start wearing masks……
I said to the checkout guy in Lidl today, “so, you’ll be wearing a mask again next week.”
He sighed and said, “yeah, I hate it. It’s too hot in here and they’re so uncomfortable.”
Yeah, I noticed the same just 2 hours after her announcement. Is it law in England to wear them in shops, I can’t keep up?
Either way, I really don’t want to wear one…this is fucking shite.
No it isn’t; my niece has been emailing this afternoon and thinks the latest Sturgeon edict is daft.
More freedom in England, comparatively speaking.
In England it’s only mandatory on public transport.
And in Wales not mandatory anywhere – yet. Odd when the WG are being so militant in all other ways.
Quackaduck doesn’t like them. They get in the way of his beak.
But reports suggest this is not being adhered to & LT bus drivers have been told they do not have to enforce the wearing of face masks.
Not seen any reports of police involvement.
I spoke to one recently, who has to wear a plastic vizor; prolonged wear causes contact dermatitis, overheating and general discomfort.
Sorry but there is more chance of her making people muzzled in the open air . I hope I’m not tempting fate!
It makes sense only in the realm of mind control and behavioural science.
Gee folks lets cover our faces so we cannot communicate normally. It’s been a pretty rough few months but lets crack down and alienate each other further.
Feels like they want to compromise everyone’s immune systems via mask-wearing and thereby manufacture a second wave..
No, it’s not just you.
But will the police enforce it? This is a political decision and clearly not proportionate to the level of risk. Also most people in Scotland choose not to wear a mask when shopping so perhaps Sturgeon has overshot the runway on this one.
Police by consent yes.
But this is Scotland.
Here a Police Scotland officer says how it works in Scotland. https://mobile.twitter.com/craigy33?lang=en
And do you know when you write politely to the police about this matter the police tell you they have not received your email, before going completely silent. At least the Scottish administration give you a case code number to show they are doing a bit of not vety much.
I think this might be her own poll tax moment. Not one of the staff in our local supermarket has worn one since the madness erupted and they’re all well, thankfully.
Thank you for this.
Every day I think we must have reached the peak of ‘lockdown’ madness, and yet the news becomes increasingly surreal.
Presumably mask wearing in shops is intended to prolong the climate of fear and maintain the illusion that the ‘lockdown’ was necessary in the first place… and also to distract everyone from the Scottish Government’s responsibility for the cares homes fiasco…
There is lockdown. Or there is no lockdown. How on earth can it be ‘eased’. Your door is locked. It is unlocked. And in a week. Is the fairy dust keeping us ‘safe’ till then.
Hi All, I’ve been following Simon Dolan’s legal challenge on Twitter – I feel a bit deflated, to be honest, but trying to keep a chin up.
The last tweet from Joshua Rozenberg following the proceedings:
Lewis J says he’s now minded to issue a relatively short judgment early next week dealing in turn with each of the grounds of challenge to the regulations. He stresses he’s not yet decided whether to grant permission in all, some or none of the grounds: he’s not made up his mind
So I’m not sure if a “relatively short judgement” is considered a good thing? I’m no legal mind, but the judge’s continual interruption of Simon’s legal representative Havers QC, and the uninterrupted dross of the Eadie QC (the government’s representative) doesn’t bode well.
But bloody well done, Simon, you have my utmost respect for your courage and tenacity! Fingers crossed the judge finds in Simon’s favour!
What do others think?
It’s not a good thing 🙁
From the thread, I think it’s obvious which way the judge is going, unfortunately. And after he’s delivered his verdict next week he’ll be scuttling back to hide from the plague under his bed.
Counting his ill-gotten gains……
Sadly, this sounds about right.
Someone further down on a similar thread mentioned that possibly the judge’s interrogation of the plaintiff is a requirement to flesh out details, whereas the defendant (in this context) isn’t on trial yet. I know, “straws” and “clutching”, but I’ve had a beer, and refuse to let this get me down further. And as others have more eloquently pointed out, if (when?!) the government’s “win” does get suddenly papered all over MSM, then maybe they’ll be seen as an unchallenged dictatorship.
I think the judge has to give the plaintiff a proper grilling. They have to prove that they have a reasonable case against the government, worthy of a full review.
My expectations are low but we’ll see
The only times judges rule against the government is when the government does something Brexity. Don Quixote had a better chance against the windmill giants; sad, but true.
Just had an email from Simon in which he says they are “quietly confident” that they will be allowed to take this to the next step. It didn’t sound like it from the tweeted information but I guess he knows more than we do.
Let’s hope he is right!
Hope and pray.
Wow, just read that email as well – and fair enough point, I was hardly going to get the full gist and nuances of complex legal proceedings from a series of tweets. Fingers crossed!!
My weekly outing to our local supermarket. Once again I was wandering round pleased to see no face masks, even amongst those who looked well over 70. They didn’t look worried either.
Just a normal day in the supermarket…. until I turned round and there was a thirty/forty something tall athletic looking man with a tiny boy – four years old perhaps – both wearing face masks. Poor bloody kid, the mask was so huge it nearly covered his eyes as well. You can only imagine the conversation –
‘Daddy, why are we the only ones wearing masks? Why are the old people not wearing them? Or the shop staff?’ ‘Well son, we are the only good and sensible people in the world, everyone else is selfish and will surely die very soon’
That poor kid will be scarred for life 🙁
To add that in our county there have been ZERO positive cases for the last week and in the whole of June only 11 positives.
“No one’s going to die very soon and your daddy’s a tit.”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3e11u-ivUH8
Why masks are a bad idea. Watch the guy arguing with Steve Crowder and the number of times he fiddles with his mask.
It keeps slipping down so he pulls it back up, again and again. Where is his hand sanitizer… surely as a concerned Woke citizen he should be bathing his hands in alcoholic jelly every five seconds? Yep, very clear example of why masks are a bad idea
Do you remember the ‘major incident’ in Bournemouth a week ago when selfish and irresponsible families tried to have some time in the sun? Armageddon was prophesied, a second wave that would infect and kill us all. Where is it?
We can always lock Bournemouth down for being a gang of crybaby wusses. It would keep people off their beach I suppose.
Someone somewhere in a government office is grinning and rubbing their hands together whilst staring lustily at a calendar on which 9th July is circled several times.
The magic date when these magic ‘cases’ in Bournemouth should start to spring up (in response to the fleet of super testers the aforementioned gurner dispatched to Bournemouth personally), in readiness for the next local lockdown….
Takes at least 2 weeks for Armageddon to hit, apparently.
Strange, the modal average incubation for covid is six days.
Think you don’t get ill enough to turn up at hospital until around day 10, although I might be remembering that wrong.
Anyway, I thought people had travelled from all over the country to sit on the beach, so we’re due multiple and widely dispersed Armageddons, surely?
No – they all came from Leicester : and look at the consequences!
From the reporting at the time the ‘major incident’ seemed to centre around the 33t of rubbish which was left after the visitors departed.
MSM of course was using long lenses to compress the images to make it look like everyone was crushed in on the beaches, the drone footage from over the sea did not back this up.
As you say people enjoying themselves on the beach has not resulted in hospitals been filled to the gunnels, neither did protests a week earlier.
I’ve been trying to find drone footage, can you point me to some?
I grew up in Bournemouth, so I’m well used to the hordes of invading beach-goers every summer. Would love to compare with last week’s “crisis”!
I will try to find the drone footage and post a link
Hi A.Contrarian this is not the footage I original saw, that was shot from over the sea with the camera pointing directly at the beach.
Make your own mind up, as I am sure you will
https://youtu.be/8uKmvSnzHTY
Well, it’s as busy as I’ve ever seen it – similar to a hot August bank holiday I would say.
Repeatable, observable.
Hospitals remain empty after gatherings. Are these people dying at home? Mortuaries filling? This sounds brutal to by typing but this IS the fear message they put out about the beach, not the protests.
It’s been engulfed by all the previous incidents that were sure to bring about a second wave.
They all went to stay in Leicester
Things will change thousands of jobs going every day ,people will forget about corona when they are on universal credit a winter of riots await us and I truly believe this.
Boris and his cronies will of course resign as the Chinese proverb says we wish you intersting times.
I can’t see them resigning. They are under no pressure from their own party, at least publicly. Possibly nearer an election. Not now. Not a single Tory backbencher has spoken out, that I have seen.
Or if they do it’s not reported?
I’d like to think there’s a plot being secretly hatched. However, I’m sure nobody would welcome the job now that Boris & Co have created such a deep ditch.
Remember after the referendum when Cameron basically said “Oops, I’ve dropped us in the sh*t, haven’t I? Well obviously I’m not qualified to get us out of the mess I’ve made. Bye!”
This is about politics and that will dictate when a move will be made openly. No one with a chance of gaining power is in this out of philanthropy, so they’ll bide their time.
I’ve had a look at a few Twitter feeds – nothing. I may have missed some.
Cameron had been in for a decade, current PM has only just arrived. No way IMO he will quit unless he has to.
Bastille Day is just under 2 weeks away. Just saying.
Up to 5,000 job cuts at Upper Crust owner SSP Group
About 600 workers at shirtmaker TM Lewin
Up to 900 cuts at management consulting firm Accenture
300 staff cuts across Virgin Money, Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank
1,700 UK jobs at plane-maker Airbus
1,300 crew and 727 pilots at EasyJet
Topshop owner Arcadia and Harrods said they planned a total of 1,180 job cuts.
WH Smith, Bensons for Beds, Wrights Pies, tableware-maker Steelite International, the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool and Norwich Theatre Royal have also announced plans to reduce staff.
John lewis are to close stores, but not details yet.
The list is growing by the day, when will people wake up? Once they have spent their redundancy and face like on Universal Credit
I feel sad for those people facing redundancy. Especially those who have to completely careers suddenly.
I think things will be bad for some who keep jobs. My wife’s employer has stopped pension contributions and is trying to persuade as many as possible to go part time. Incomes will fall and people will postpone or cancel large purchases.
Those who say productivity will rise because of more remote working are optimistic. I think not being around colleagues, no spontaneous conversations, no coffee machine chat etc… creativity will not be what it was. Maybe it’s a personal thing, but zoom and video conferencing don’t work for me. It’s about 10-20% as good as being actually present.
I seem to have turned into a miserable sod.
They’ll be alright if they’re wearing face masks though
Big job losses in Wales.
Quackaduck says it’s a disaster for the Welsh economy.
Quackaduck does not say that he is solely responsible for said disaster.
But it doesn’t stop me thinking. Or some other people, who hopefully have their knives out.
As things now finally “open up” in scotland, just ordered a union jack face cover / bandana from ebay just in case I have a run in with the wee scottish police in the next few weeks. Every time I visit a shop I also plan to wear a union jack t-shirt and trousers!
Brilliant! They hate the South
But hey at least Madam Maxwell is in the clink.
Convenient timing for Fauci et al.
(Wonder how long she’ll live? ;oP )
It is like conspiracy central round here, I bet you think Jeffrey Epstein is sunning himself on a tropical island 😉
No he’s dead.
I just wonder about who killed him. 😀
He is although I believe it is Majorca!
Watching Toby’s interview with Stephen Knight I was reminded of some work on software project critical success factors which I carried out along with others in the late 1990’s. I believe one of our conclusions is relevant to the free speech debate. One factor we found which was critical to the successful outcome of a project was the existence of a ‘Fifth Column’. In other words who could a programmer talk to if they had concerns about the direction of the project? If the answer was ‘nobody’ then you could be pretty sure that project would fail. See the significance?
the coronavirus regulations scotland amendment 4 reasonable excuse not to be muzzled includes ‘if it causes distress’. Thats me sorted, my fellow sceptics. Distressed at being muzzled 6 weeks after its over. Distressed at being told 6 weeks ago by ‘the dentist’ that face masks make no difference!
as we scrummaged for the last bog roll! No to Muzzles!
Yesterday someone removed the cone from the statue in George Square in Glasgow…..the photo shows the response from the locals – there is hope and always humour:
Brilliant
In line with my attitude toward unpalatable legacy aspects of our physical environment: Add, don’t take away 😀
https://youtu.be/hsL9UL9qbv8
And if this hasn’t already been suggested; the original ‘Think’ by Aretha : ‘freedom’!
Respect would work too!
And my favourite: ‘ Chain of Fools’. Aretha knew a thing or two.
Richie Havens 1971/2? ‘Freedom’.
It’s official. (If it wasn’t with Brexit).
The judiciary is now little more than an arm of the government. Even in South Africa they understand the concept of common law. But the country that basically invented it has lost its way.
That’s my concern too. Is it likely that the High Court will agree with Simon Dolan? I have no confidence that they’re independent.
My estimate is that this case has about the same chance as a covid particle in Hell – much the same as this country’s chance of a V-shaped recovery.
It worked in SA – why not here?
Are we in some uniquely political vortex where all law and order goes out of the window in order to preserve reputations?
Lol. Yes. Yes we are.
(The only place worse is the US but at least they have state law to fall back on)
Feel sad about it, I’m afraid you may be right. Also I don’t understand how a V-shape is possible. In most sectors, resuming consumption won’t make up for the 3 months of lost revenue. We won’t now spend all that we would have spent if lockdown hadn’t happened (theatres, pubs etc…). Many business have taken on debt just to get through. Debt is good when it is used for growth and to make a business move efficient, through capital expenditure and investment. Borrowing to get through a cashflow crisis will just depress future growth. Businesses will look at furloughed staff and wonder if they can afford to keep them on when the scheme runs its course. What a nightmare.
exactly, the debt repayments and interest will be an added overhead which needs to be covered most likely by increased prices. Which in turn will put people off from spending on anything other than essentials.
Looking at the Twitter feed from Joshua Rozenberg, and the kind of questions and comments coming from the judge, it doesn’t look promising.
I know Julian, I have the Twitter feed in another tab, refreshing every few minutes. It doesn’t look positive at all but this is a war, this is the first step, and it may take several battles for us to be successful.
I’m no legal expert but I always thought the case was weak. But I am glad the government felt some heat, and it has brought out into the open the subterfuge regarding schools, and caused SAGE minutes to be published.
In the absence of specific constituional protections, which other countries have and we lack, I think the issue is political, mainly. The answer has to be for public opinion to change. It is changing, slowly, despite unrelenting propaganda from everywhere and the lack of any major opposition. I think there’s a reasonable chance that when no second wave is seen, enough people will change their minds to allow the government to move on. I think most of them probably do want to move on, though not all – the ones that look like they are enjoying the power a bit too much would happily keep this going forever. I don’t think the PM wants to preside over a permanent farce. He’ll get bored.
I’m no legal expert either but I remember reading that SAGE did not recommend a lockdown, but the government said policies were determined by their scientists.
It will change when 5 million + are out of work this winter,seriously it is going to be a winter of despair horrible what will become of us?
It doesn’t look promising at all. The judge appears to be leaning very much to the Government’s side.
It’s not looking promising at this stage
Coincidence?
Sky News: Coronavirus: All pupils must return to school in September, education secretary says.
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-all-pupils-must-return-to-school-in-september-education-secretary-tells-mps-12019585
Lol. The circlejerk about the school closures is hilarious.
defence – “the didn’t close schools, they ‘advised’ them to close”
judge- “so why did the pm say they were closed?”
defence- “it doesn’t matter now really- the regulations will be dropped and schools will be reopened in september”
Us- “You mean those regulations that didn’t force the schools to close will now…. force schools to reopen?”
EH?
People on twitter throwing round that video of Boris saying, verbatim, “Schools will remain closed indefinitely”
Lol. Absolutely hilarity. It’s all gaslighting and wordplay.
Either they forced schools to effectively close for the majority of children without legal power to do so (by way of panic, thread and fines), or they remained open the whole time and parents just voluntarily kept their kids away despite the schools being open. Despite the fact that the non key-worker parents could not send their kids to school under pain of DEATH or whatever.
This is beyond ridiculous.
This was all purposefully ‘advised’ rather than mandated simply so they could wiggle out of responsibility by saying it was never mandated.
“School leaders will have to consider implementing staggered starts, finishes and lunchtimes, alongside transport to and from school, on an epic scale.”
How will that work for parents who have more than one child? What do they do in winter? Hang around in the rain with the little ones for an hour till the older child finishes?
These people have no idea how the real world works!
or mothers not being able to go to work as they have to juggle hanging around schools. We are definitely back to the early 1900’s
One thing that could my eye in the feed on Twitter was the govt. QC commenting that the assertion that “only 3 children had died from the virus” “wasn’t very attractive as an argument“.
Doesn’t strike me as a very “legal” term – “not very attractive”. More of a political one. Shows how somehow covid-19 is looked at with very different eyes to every other cause of death and suffering that afflicts us – all the existing ones we live and coexist with, and are at some kind of peace with – trying to improve life, but not at the cost of utterly changing that life. Covid-19 is different – no-one must die from it. Utter madness.
The more than three children who will be murdered as a result of being locked down with their abusive parents isn’t ‘attractive’ either.
I see this case as a win-win situation. Either Dolan wins the case and we have shown the government acted illegally in stealing our freedoms OR
government wins the case and shows that we never had rights or freedoms, and that we actually live in a dictatorship.
And what are a people allowed to do with dictatorships?
As I said, a win-win situation 😊
It was indeed depressing. I have long wondered if the government will have bought off/ leaned heavily upon the judiciary. Sometimes it feels like in Rosemary’s Baby, where it turns out (spoiler alert) that everybody else is actively in on it…
But there’s something else that’s occurred to me.
Perhaps it is the judge’s responsibility to play devil’s advocate and challenge the plaintiff as far as possible, exposing any flaws in their case – to ensure that it is watertight and that there is indeed a case to answer. I know that that’s obvious to us here on LS -we’ve been reading the data for months now- but in a court of law everything needs to be dissected and interrogated rather than assumed. Because it’s about authorising the case to be taken further, the onus is on the plaintiff rather than the defendant.
That’s one (optimistic) way of looking at it anyway: that the judge is merely doing his job, rather than displaying bias. I hope I’m right.
indeed I hope that judge is the most concerted troller ever and he’s actually on our side.
Or, at least, open to persuasion….
I was wondering if he secretly snoozed during the defence’s ramblings.
Am I right in thinking that the judiciary was threatened in the Tory manifesto?
It would put some pressure on them.
Thanks Gossamer, I never considered that point of view! It is highly optimistic, but I nevertheless, even if the judge finds partially for Simon’s team, then I the case will be taken further (I hope?!) and at some point, the publicity will leak into the MSM.
Glad I’ve helped you feel a little more hopeful, Dave 🙂 At the very least, the case appears to have given the government cause for concern…
Another video on the numbers being reported identically all over the place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=-Vkxk_XjDe8&feature=emb_logo
You cannot make this BS up.
It’s frightening really.
How about these totally independent “news” shows:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/4nJdjNbWSVIB/
Who’s controlling the teleprompter?
Either they don’t think anyone will notice or uses the internet, or we’re being trolled, and they don’t care that we notice.
More on 33:
https://www.dtss.us/blog/everything-changes-at-33-numerology-occult-symbolism/
Got this one past the Mail’s censor bot for this “story”:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8482475/Covid-19-cases-dropping-lockdowns-introduced.html#newcomment
MSM and the Daily Mail – months behind the independent sites. this has been known since late March and it’s now July and they finally start catching up. The MSM has ignored the independent researchers since day 1 so why the change? New orders from on high to change the narrative due to the Simon Dolan court case that started today? Absolutely pathetic. But what do you expect from people who believe a positive test for antibodies is these are as actually suffering from something – there is no 2nd wave, just an increase in testings showing more people with antibodies which are NOT cases.
More crap from my local council,
‘The easing of restrictions on July 4th is an important step forward in the fight against Covid-19. The council has been clear about its support for local businesses and the role that they will play in the recovery from Coronavirus, but to be successful we need to ensure that everyone continues to follow Government guidelines to protect public health and prevent the potential of local lockdowns.From Saturday, hairdressers, barbers, pubs, and restaurants will be able to reopen with strict social distancing and Covid-safe hygiene measures in place.
During the first phase of town centre reopening on 15 June, the council organised a small number of social distancing champions,council staff and volunteers, to highlight any pinch-points so that appropriate action could be taken to avoid problems.
This has resulted in some minor adjustments for some retailers and additional signage being introduced for pedestrians and road users.
The social distancing champions will continue to operate for the next few weeks.’
The council is in a dream world at the best of times,they don’t seem to have noticed that the town centre is on it’s last legs,about 70% of the shops remain closed,only one extra one opened… Read more »
“Social distancing champions” is the most nauseating phrase I’ve ever heard. Do they cheer you on if you do well?
Agreed. It’s absolute shite, but only to be expected from the local government parasites. In my town the streets are now full of notices urging people to “turn away as someone walks past”, amongst other ‘instructions’.
I just went to the shops and this is exactly what 2 people did. It fair near broke my heart. One of them was a kid. As I saw him doing it, I shouted “Don’t worry, I’m not a biohazard, neither are you!”
He looked confused.
I feel really horrible today. I’ve been following the live tweets from the judicial review and it’s really not looking good. Judge just letting the defence rattle on for half an hour unchallenged before chipping in supporting him, whereas he continually jabbed at the prosecution. There’s literally nobody to protect us from these people (the government), we may need to get out on the streets pretty soon if more local lockdowns are brought in. Honestly I feel like it’s the only thing that will work, but people are gonna need another six months of enforced penury and misery before they’re willing to do anything.
🙁
I agree. Time to up the ante.
No wonder people are scared!
Councils will be history when there are 6 million unemployed and no tax receipts
Well that’s been Tory policy since the 80s.
That’s really taking it to another level!
Totally anti- human. Some future generation will see that as the absolute nadir of British society.
.
Yes. Truly vomit-inducing!
Buy some tomatoes to throw at the gestapo. They’ll soon resign.
Paul, write to your local councillors and tell them what you point out here. It’s up to them whether the local area recovers or not.
They’re your elected representatives and have the power to decide how far to enforce many of the guidelines. They must start to set a less betwetting example.
I hope it’s more than the fearful who are not coming out. I hope the majority are contrarians like me who refuse to buy into this bulshit. My friends and I were seven nights a week pub-goers (if we were around). Most of us have vowed not to go into a pub until these restrictions are lifted. I haven’t been for a 100 days another 100 won’t make any difference. Yes, businesses will suffer but why should I pay to alleviate their suffering and make my life miserable? It’s miserable enough as it is to not be able to associate with mates. Telling me I can’t have a drink with them because they are not in the same fucking bubble as me is asking for a punch in the face. (Sorry my language is deteriorating, I am so angry.) Do your shopping online.There’s nothing you can’t buy in cyberspace. Apart from a supermarket I hadn’t been in a shop for months anyway, shopping isn’t one of my pleasures. And if the town centre is reduced to ashes then maybe the phoenix will arise refreshed and renewed. But I shall still go out of my way to patronise the good guys,… Read more »
I’ll bet you have a selection of teas!
Find yourself a Marstons pub to go to. If they are packed out all over the country the rest of them will soon get the message. Money talks.
No you are right half the shops in my town have remained shut
I think it’s a furlough Catch22. You can’t have a bit of furlough and a bit of wage. So if you’re not sure of making enough money to pay the necessary wages, you stay shut and keep the furlough. A perfect recipe for economic collapse.
And keeping the toilets closed…
PRACTICAL GUIDANCE TO MANDATORY FACE MASKS IN SCOTTISH SHOP
I will not be wearing a mask in the shops as has been the case for the last 3 months due to the weak evidence of their effectiveness so long as I continue to use common sense with distancing.
Sturgeon has said shop staff would not be expected to enforce the rule, with the police instead mandated to issue fixed penalty notices to people not wearing face coverings.
She accepted that this may not be an easy rule to police, saying officers would act “very proportionately and sensitively”.
So if any member of staff challenges you, inform them of this and state that they should not be refusing service, rather their only proportionate option is to call the police. If they still refuse to serve you, simply leave the items/s you have purchased at the payment counter and go elsewhere, or return at a later date with a “bank robber balaclava” (with only eyes uncovered!) and use as and when required!
And she says scarves will do! You couldn’t make this up and England will not be masked up.
This makes The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party seem sane.
I see grubby scarves, bank robber black and Boden style coverings here, along with the more ambitious plastic affairs with vents.
Perhaps a head to toe bee keeper’s outfit would make the grade.
Burqas all round – probably great for shoplifting too.
Would serve the little hitler shops right.
I did wonder about buying a burkha a few weeks ago but they are really expensive!
Shops here are experiencing high levels of shoplifting. The shop keepers have told me directly attributable to mask wearing.
I detest Nicola Sturgeon, she’s a little Tinpot Hitler.
The Holyrood Gauleiter. How I wish she would vanish.
I feel exactly the same. She is horrible.
police mandated to issue fixed penalty notices to people not wearing face coverings
What do they do? Slap a sticker on you?
proportionately and sensitively does give them room to sympathise with you and confirm that they think it’s a load of bollox too. As long as they turn up, that could be seen as them taking appropriate action.
I pity the police. They’re going to need all the cooperation they can get in the very near future and this really isn’t going to help them is it?!
And imagine the local Sheriffs’ courts ,already having to enforce social distancing, trying to deal with a growing back log of bare faced miscreants!
This could be another Poll Tax debacle, to add to the BBC licence fee persecution.
I anticipate some supermarkets may not let you enter without a mask. The qguard or champion gestapo of queue may not allow entry without covering.
Mandatory on buses failed – few people bother. Some do wear masks.
These people are drunk on the power they now think they have,all I can say now is,come the popular uprising (very,very doubtful I know) these sort of idiots are going to be among the first against the wall.
Sorry,that’s probably a bit harsh,but I have absolutely had enough of all this,I don’t think it is ever going to end.It worries me that several people I know that I had managed to bring around to our way of thinking have begun to slip back to the other side this week.
Good luck!
What Dom got wrong. My latest on the mistake of lockdown https://medium.com/@philhylandwriter/what-dom-got-wrong-80075d5ae34f
Just found this on the libraries page of the local council as a select few libraries in the area prepare to open on 4th July:
“To ensure the safety of library customers and staff, only limited services will be available until social distancing restrictions are relaxed or removed and customers will not be able to enter the library to browse and borrow, to read or study or to relax and meet friends.”
Which begs the question – what the hell can you do? Stand in a socially-distanced space and admire the volumes from a safe distance? Read a book by osmosis?
Also read elswhere that some libraries will be using “space marshalls” to ensure people follow social distancing rules. Because as we all know, we can’t be trusted to work these rules out for ourselves, as ridiculous as they are. And why use such a militaristic term?
As a lonely remote worker, I often use my local city library, which also doubles up as the university library, as a work space (not to mention the cafes round about which have also been closed). Not only is it a great educational and social resource, it gets me out about among… Read more »
Stanley Johnson, the prime minister’s father, has jetted off to Greece.
Good for him. I see he circumvented some stupid rule or other. Nice one.
In Boris’ new Air Farce One?
Love it. I remember shortly before lockdown started, when they were only advising people to avoid pubs and restaurants, he made some comment along the lines of “If I want to go to the bloody pub I bloody well will!”
That’s great! Undermines Boris a bit more 🙂
I’m not sure that’s actually illegal? I’ve looked into this – I need to get back to Greece too – and although it would mean travelling against Foreign Office advice, which means your insurance isn’t valid and if you get stuck abroad they won’t bring you home – you can still travel. It’s one of these guideline thingies! I could get on a plane tomorrow to somewhere like Amsterdam or Frankfurt and from there to Athens, and then on to one of the Greek islands. We still have freedom of travel around the EU during the withdrawal period. Though if he’d had waited until Monday it might have looked better for Boris!
He clearly doesn’t give a toss about Boris. He’s a selfish git. No wonder his son is such an arse.
Looks like i’m gonna be getting in trouble, i won’t wear a mask, i’l still go to the shops, they can phone the police on me, i’ll be arrested and i’ll still not wear a mask. In the end they’ll have to jail me, i won’t wear mask in jail and when they let me out i still won’t wear a mask. Fuck Sturgeon the poison dumbass fucking barren dwarf the she is
Cough etiquette?!
Is that Mad Nic’s term for mandatory mask wearing, or just a reminder to cover your mouth when you cough?
Scotland has a bit of a history with coercive clothing:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Gough
Do you know the Naked Rambler, by any chance?
.
I completely agree with your decision, but the abuse at the end of your comment is uncalled for.
is it pal? i find your comments dull as shit and you bore me to death
I don’t know. Sturgeon’s being pretty abusive. Bullying is abuse. Tyranny is abuse.
Hope you’re not getting Stockholm Syndrome, John ?
Quite so – Biker was much too gentle in his comments.
Do you live in Scotland? Is it any of your business what Biker says about Sturgeon? Didn’t realise we had Language Champions in the comments section.
Well said Biker. I’ve just read of the latest piece of nonsense from She Who Must Be Obeyed and used a lengthy lust of expletives.
We are turning into a dictatorship just when Calamitous Covid is on its way out.
How much more of this steady, ill conceived encroachment on normal life will we have to endure?
Cops are never around in my small town and which law will be invoked ,should a bare faced heretic be rounded up in Poundland?
More and more shops ate closing here; many were already struggling before the madness took hold, but now they’re done for.
Should read list, not lust!!
I thought a lust of expletives portrayed powerful emotion rather effectively.
Thank you! A Freudian moment brought on by rage.
I think there’s room for a nicola ‘can’t put lip stick on a gorilla’ sturgeon mask to be worn.
Why are you saying such kind things about the Sturgeon, Biker?
I wish you the very best in your resistance. zGo to it. God bless.
The only MSM coverage I can find….
The Guardian: High court hears legal challenge to England’s lockdown restrictions.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/02/high-court-hears-legal-challenge-to-englands-lockdown-restrictions
No, no, that can’t be right; the BBC will of course be all over this!
I sent a complaint to the BBC when the case was first launched, that they showed bias by not reporting it. I got a boilerplate response listing the criteria they use for deciding what to report on, which was useful as it enabled me to point out that this case ticked all those boxes in spades. I’m still waiting for the follow up response to that, and many other complaints. Like lots of other large organisations they say they are receiving a higher than usual number of issues currently, and are also short of staff because of covid-19 – funny as my company has had almost zero sick days lost since this started.
They are despicable.
In my experience it’s not worth even bothering to complain to the BBC. They make you jump through many hoops to get to anyone who can actually do anything. Six months down the line …
Possibly a waste of energy, yes, but I feel it my duty to remind them that someone is paying attention.
Yes, someone has to read the email.
I had cause to phone my bank yesterday. They said there was much more traffic than usual ‘due to corona virus’. Really? Is one of the symptoms worrying about your finances? Or do they mean the cunning virus has fouled up the one-way system in the City of London?
If there were any large organisations that were NOT doing this nonsense, I would switch my business to them, but they all are. Sometimes I get brilliant service, sometimes rubbish – depends on the person you get on the other end of the line. But the people running these businesses need their ears boxing.
Would be lovely to head for the hills and go off grid. I want a new country!
me too!
Be careful what you wish for!
I guess here is still better than a lot of places, but we’ve fallen a long way down the league table in the last few months
Well done for complaining. I think the complaints procedure is quite labouious and requires repeated responses to get the complaint to someone with anything to do with programme making. Well done for the efforts!
One of these days I will look into cancelling my licence. I don’t watch it. I used to love the BBC but they make hardly any programmes that I enjoy.
Thanks.
The highly incompetent Scottish administration have declared facecoverings to be mandatory in all shops.
I say incompetence since they have left their country to be mask less throughout the peak of the of c19.
By their own rules they are incompetent. They cite no evidence as reason for the arbitrary rule.
Are there the same exemptions as in England?
Fucking Aye – tourism.
FFS! It’s bloody unbelievable. Scotland yesterday – eight new cases and one death. If muzzling people was any use whatsoever surely you’d do it at the start of an epidemic, not when it’s over. Strugeon is insane.
From 10 July, face masks would be mandatory in all Scotland’s shops, she added, following similar requirements (which anecdotal evidence suggests has been frequently ignored by passengers) on public transport and in taxis.
Sturgeon said there would be no immediate cuts in the 2 metre physical distancing rules to 1 metre or 1.5 metres, because her government’s scientific advice showed the risks of transmitting Covid-19 were too high. That would be eased soon, with customers warned they were entering a 1-metre zone.
From the Guardian live section.
Just like the little holiday Coroni took between the 5th and 15th June in England when Handjob made his announcement about mandatory face-nappies on PT 10 days before it came into force!
BTW, the buses round here are running around nearly empty. I wonder how long they will be able to keep going at all.
How can they be so unbelievably stupid? I mean, I’m speechless. The virus is now more dangerous than it was at its peak? Which was fucking April 8th or thereabouts. I thought ‘peak’ meant at the top of things. I am so speechless I can’t string words together. This is complete and utter abuse.
Three late 20s uni graduate types in park today. Asked by me for their opinion about the 10th Mask. “Well if it helps others, and my sister’s a doctor, and I believe in it.” I asked had they read up about masks, “yes, yes we should use them.”
Where does Nicola Sturgeon get her scientific advice? Is it from that wet-looking chap who is often on the Jane Godley videos with her?
Mostly from the dreaded Devi Sridhar I suspect.
Tracey Ullman. Though Tracey was taking the piss and Sturgeon didn’t notice.
Buses run at 80% mask free passengers. Bus drivers have been publicly (in local rag) told not to give a shit or else expect sore jaw as our butcher put it.
Ah yes, Peter Hitchens: good likeness!
Apologies if posted already but interesting from Off Guardian about inflated care home figures in US:
https://off-guardian.org/2020/06/30/us-gov-website-falsely-inflating-care-home-covid-deaths/
Well that would seem to be the end of our summer holiday in the Highlands.
So until the 9th July masks are not necessary but come the glorious 10th, the virus will be doing it worst so better get everyone muzzled.
Sorry edited the post as saw someone had already mentioned the new measures in Scotland so replies may seem random but yes the Covid little tike is very selective:
Like it!
Someone needs to call a good exorcist to get rid of the Scottish witch!
And, who said Scotland was the Land of the Brave?
When I mentioned Nicola Sturgeon’s high heels to a Scottish friend – I mean, how can you take seriously a politician who feels so insecure she makes herself six inches taller and can barely stagger to the door – she stopped me right there. Nicola Sturgeon is her hero – won’t hear a word against her. It gets you down.
Ha! I have similar friend who is fully culted too. Usually,as you say, it gets you down. But not today! They could see my logic was sound, my rage exceptional.
Today nicola wasn’t doing “really well”, or any other such come back. Today nicola has kept all her cult fans in danger throughout the peak of the pandemic and only now making masks mandatory. Today my friend felt vulnerable and separated from the old boot.
Well no one will want to visit Scotland now!
It’ll keep the sassenachs away for sure !
Used to go a lot.
Won’t be going again.
Hills will be there long after this politick has washed away.
You console me.
The view from Carter Bar. Scott’s view. The Forth bridges. The profile of Skye. Walking up Goat Fell on Arran. The marvellous geology of the North West… what is a poisonous little witch in Edinburgh compared with all that?
I will wait until she bites herself and drops dead writhing in coils.
Falsely inflating is happening here in the UK too. The change that the CQC made to the reporting of Care Home death on the 10th April significantly changed the numbers that were reported, before this date there was hardly any deaths in Care Home. They made a change to the online form for death registrations so as to falsely classify these deaths as COVID-19, and we know that people who had died had not been tested and not even been visited by a doctors when they died, the closest they’d get to a doctor would maybe be a Facetime call on a iPad.