Brexit, for once some facts.

[flecc]

Flecc, you are one person , probably of very sober habits ,living in one locality Croydon ,..and managing your local Risks well, you cannot know how the ladies in Chiswick are faring. ..Or my cousin near Barnet. Again the few images I see from central London shows a very reduced footfall.

I'm moving in London inner and outer, adjacent Surrey and Kent, friends in all of them and activities in two.

And as I've already posted previously, those empty Central London places the media like to show are totally irrelevant. That's where visitors and tourists go, Londoners don't. I haven't been to them in many decades.

Please accept that someone like me living here for the last 52 years actually knows what goes on infinitely better than outsiders from intermittent contacts and media reports.

Lockdown here is a joke, practically non existent. I've already illustrated such things as the cash based tyre service that totally ignores all the restrictions and separation advice, the painting and decoration company that has continued throughout the lockdown working in peoples homes in defiance of the regulations.

There's also our gardening company that's worked throughout. Our two handymen working here again today whose recent non-essential work has included retiling all the bin room floors and building a garden wall. My two cash in hand window cleaners who've continued working their rounds throughout. The mobile car body repair service that's continued thoughout although they aren't classed as essential. A couple of "Man and Van" operators. A home clearance service.

I've seen at first hand that they are not observing any of the separation and cleansing rules, freely chatting with customers and others.

London is full of such businesses who often can't claim the chancellor's support since they have no income records to show, so they've just carried on.

Realistically there isn't much lockdown to remove, we've largely already either not practiced it or removed it long ago. As I've shown previously, now people have spread their shopping hours, even the supermarket queues have largely disappeared or are greatly diminished.

So much buying has shifted to the internet I think the few major locked down businesses are going to find a huge loss of business, so removing their lockdown will make precious little difference.

And I've already illustrated at length that over half our public aren't observing separation and a further quarter or so only paying lip service to it. The rarity of face masks says it all.

So no, I don't agree that our lockdown has made any appreciable difference or that removing it would make any more since it's so vestigial.

Avoiding infection here has largely been a matter of luck.
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[Woosh]

That's what we've been doing in London, having ineffective or zero lockdown, fact as I've illustrated, yet you say it's made no difference, our "r" is the same!!!!
,

For you, may be because you don't fly, don't have visitors, don't go to work and only shop for food.
it's not the same for me and others during the lockdown.
People don't fly into London, TfL asked for £ billions to keep afloat because tickets don't sell and buses run empty. Restaurants are shut, shops are closed, people don't visit friends and relatives.

 

[oldgroaner]

You miss the point, all he had have is make the claim that he was convinced that his wife and or child was getting ill ,whether CV or any other acute illness, he was legal. He was not in law required to supply doctors certs .
Sloppy law of course ,

No way: the law did not allow you to make long journeys without a valid reason, it was quite plain about that and that was what was so wrong
The message: STAY HOME
Cummings lives in LONDON not DURHAM

That was the message and the police hounded people out for a drive for a walk
Cummings excuses were to cover up the fact the Coward fled North to his Mummy and Daddy in terror.

 

[Barry Shittpeas]

Never mind the lockdown regulations, by his own admission he contravened the Road Traffic Act by failing to ensure that his eyesight met the requirements before driving the family for a game of crash test dummies.

As of today you are correct, but I’m expecting the law to change immediately. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has endorsed the Cummings Test as an acceptable way to establish if you vision meets the standard required to drive a motor vehicle on a public highway. Clarification was sought at the Downing Street briefing yesterday, but the Prime Minister himself has ruled that the Cummings test is valid and requires no further discussion. Watch this space for a change in the law.

 

[Barry Shittpeas]

No way: the law did not allow you to make long journeys without a valid reason, it was quite plain about that and that was what was so wrong
The message: STAY HOME
Cummings lives in LONDON not DURHAM

That was the message and the police hounded people out for a drive for a walk
Cummings excuses were to cover up the fact the Coward fled North to his Mummy and Daddy in terror.

I partiality agree, but as bits emerge, it’s clear to me that it was a birthday treat weekend at his parents pile in Durham. Unfortunately he was clocked by that chemistry teacher and a bloke in the woods.

Rather than do what any person with a backbone would do, Cummings and the yellow streak of pi$$ Johnson have treated the public like idiots by constructing a flimsy lie. Maybe the public are idiots and deserve no better.

I wouldn’t be surprised if non of the Cummings ever had Coronavirus or any symptoms. That was probably part of the cover.

I’m a bit sorry that the story is dropping out of the news. Downing Streets tactic of intimidation, censorship and putting politics ahead of public health is working for them.

 

[flecc]

I’m a bit sorry that the story is dropping out of the news.

This story was dead long ago.

They visited the grandparents at the time of his wife's birthday, that's all. Then visited Barnard Castle on his wife's birthday.

Just a son, husband and father caring about his family before other considerations, hoping it was ok.

No-one had any infection, no-one was ill.

All the rest is political ducking and diving to deflect the media provoked attack.
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[Barry Shittpeas]

This story was dead long ago.

I thought it seemed very much alive on Monday.

The story is the vivid breach of trust between government and public. Not a great deal of trust existed before this, but I think it brought it into focus.

 

[Wicky]

Cricket teams are now secretly arranging friendly tour games t'up north with Barnard Castle CC despite officially no cricket before Aug 1st - my club is hoping to show symptoms and just need to find a small child for our cover story.

 

[wheeler]

Just a son, husband and father caring about his family before other considerations, hoping it was ok
.

Surprised you've bought into that one flecc, such a caring person doesn't then treat their family like crash test dummies.

 

[Nev]

I think this story about S. Kore shows just how difficult coming out of lockdown is going to be.

South Korea re-imposes some coronavirus restrictions after spike in new cases

Museums, parks, and art galleries will all be closed again from Friday for two weeks, with authorities struggling to identify transmission routes

www.theguardian.com

 

[oyster]

I like the sea, I want to go to the beach...

A civilian pilot sparked an emergency response after landing without permission on a closed RAF airfield in North Wales “because he wanted to go to the beach”.

Ministry of Defence guards and fire crews confronted the pilot after he landed on a runway at RAF Valley on the Island of Anglesey on Monday, the RAF confirmed.

The pilot is understood to have flown from an airfield in Surrey in order to go to the beach, despite it being in breach of Welsh coronavirus lockdown rules, a source told the PA news agency.

Workers were said to be carrying out repairs and maintenance of the airfield at the time of the incident, and no bird control unit was in place.

After security checks were carried out, he took off again. An RAF spokesman said the incident had been reported to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

 

[wheeler]

I thought it seemed very much alive on Monday.

The story is the vivid breach of trust between government and public. Not a great deal of trust existed before this, but I think it brought it into focus.

I hope it can be be kept alive, not particularly for anything to do with Cummings but because Boris' tactic of fingers in the ears and sing la la shouldn't be allowed to
succeed.
He seems to be incapable of standing up to scrutiny (unless his pal Dom tells him what to say) as evidenced by his desperately slow response to the flooding, his hiding in a fridge rather than discuss the plight of a sick child, his "empty chairing" because he couldn't face up to an Andrew Neil inquisition.
He may think he has won this one if the media circus moves on but I believe he and Dom have completely misjudged the public mood and the Tories will pay at the ballot box.

 

[flecc]

Surprised you've bought into that one flecc, such a caring person doesn't then treat their family like crash test dummies.

Why the surprise, perhaps you didn't read my post through?

As I said, there was no illness, so no crash testing.

Link to read again
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[flecc]

I thought it seemed very much alive on Monday.

In here maybe!

Anyway it's not Monday, it's Poets day.
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[oldgroaner]

This is an admission of Guilt on the Governments part if ever there was one

 

[flecc]

A civilian pilot sparked an emergency response after landing without permission on a closed RAF airfield in North Wales “because he wanted to go to the beach”.

The pilot is understood to have flown from an airfield in Surrey in order to go to the beach,

Seems typical of our lockdown behaviour around here!

Probably flew from Redhill.
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[flecc]

the Tories will pay at the ballot box.

Totally agree. They would pay even without this Cummings saga.

No government could survive the financial consequences of Covid-19, let alone chucking in the admitted negative consequences of Brexit.

Another period of austerity but even tougher this time.
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[RossG]

No, I've a lifelong record of voting right and left according to need and circumstances. Generally though:

Labour for London mayor.

Changeable for GLC.

Tory for borough council.

Changeable for parliament though Labour for a few years now.
.

Ah, you swing both ways then...hang on I don't mean, well..... yeah bit like that myself TBH.

 

[RossG]

Just been reading the online version of the Portsmouth News ( I'm just up the road from there) and visit regularly.
Apparently only 8 people were tested as positive for CV since early may. Portsmouth City is the most congested city outside London with a pop. approaching 250.000 and has one of the lowest counts for CV in the UK.
What I'm hearing from friends & relatives who live there social distancing is practised diligently, and there's much back slapping from all the local authorities for the way people have behaved.

 

[oyster]

Even the Daily Mail is still critical:

Downing Street today insisted England must wait until Monday before lockdown rules are officially eased, allowing groups of six people to meet up outdoors, despite the nation heading for a sunny 80F weekend. Boris Johnson set out a significant loosening of restrictions which will enable up to half a dozen people from different households to mix outside and in gardens from June 1, as primary schools reopen and non-essential shops prepare to follow suit. However, the Prime Minister's decision to set out his plans on a Thursday but not to roll them out until Monday means the country is facing a weekend of temptation as temperatures soar and many people head outside. Number 10 is adamant that people must wait for the new freedoms to kick in despite the fact that Scotland's more limited changes come into force today, prompting concerns of mixed messages and mass confusion. Meanwhile, scientists are becoming increasingly outspoken over the Government's approach as they warn ministers that the pandemic is far from over. Mr Johnson's suggestion that barbecues will be acceptable under the new regime has provoked particular anger with experts saying that in fact they are 'really dangerous'. It came as Mr Johnson faced questions over his decision to ease lockdown as it emerged that the Government has not lowered its coronavirus alert level.

And Independent is not exactly happy:

Lockdown restrictions are being lifted in England before experts are ready to cut the threat level from coronavirus from “high”, No 10 has admitted.

Boris Johnson had been expected to lower the alert level from 4 to 3 when he gave the go-ahead for groups of 6 to mix in gardens and parks, but failed to mention it.

Now his spokesman has conceded the level remains at 4 – where transmission of the virus is said to be “high” – while arguing it is “coming down from 4 to 3”.

On Wednesday, before the lockdown-easing announcement, the prime minister told MPs: “We're coming down from level 4 to level 3 we hope, we're taking a decision tomorrow.”