Brexit, for once some facts.

[flecc]

As a completely irrelevant point, it struck me that the official government page for Johnson states:

10 Downing Street is the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, and not of the Prime Minister.

The Rt Hon Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson was Prime Minister from 24 July 2019 to 6 September 2022. He was previously Foreign Secretary from 13 July 2016 to 9 July 2018. He was Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip from May 2015 to June 2023. Previously he was the MP for Henley from June 2001 to June 2008.

www.gov.uk

But everywhere you look, you see that the £30,000 per years "decorating allowance" is paid to the Prime Minister.

Why would it not be paid to the First Lord of the Treasury? Especially as the flat decorated isn't even the PM's, nor the FLoT's, official residence!

The First Lord of the Treasury is one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. This role is usually held by the Prime Minister.
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[Zlatan]

In respect of enforcement, the WHO, the EU and the UN are all useless quangos. Supra-national organisations only have the power to order what the nations grant them, and only the even less power to enforce that those nations will back them with.

For example long ago the UN voted in two resolutions on Israel ordering the following:

Withdraw to the 1967 border.

Dismantle the illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Israel's response was to advance even further beyond the 1967 border to build a barrier wall and approve and defend many more illegal settlements in the West Bank.

In theory the UN can invade Israel and enforce their orders. In practice though they can only do that with armed forces from the member countries that approved the resolutions, and they are never going to volunteer them to do that.

So it's not the UN that is useless, it is the member nations who wont live up to what they know is needed.

Exactly the same is true of the WHO, the EU and all other supra-nationals, lack of support by those who put them where they are, thus rendering these supra-nationals impotent.
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We should have a World Police force to go knocking at No 10...As many Parties as they wish on Elba.

 

[flecc]

Channel 4 have changed the scheduled half hour program for 7.30 pm.

It's now "Vaccine Wars, the Truth", an expose which reveals quite a lot, especially about Pfizer and their profiteering.

You can still watch it at 8.30 this evening on 4 + 1 using Freeview channel number 15, or later on one of the freeview play services or the 4 Player.
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[oyster]

The First Lord of the Treasury is one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. This role is usually held by the Prime Minister.
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True - but why make the distinctions? Quite forcefully with respect to the FLotT and No. 10.

 

[oldgroaner]

Transparency data released by No. 10 reveals that the PM invited editors from the Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail & the Sun as well as the BBC’s Chief Executive & its Director of News & Affairs into Downing Street on 27 November 2020 -
Trying to get us to believe it was a working meeting

 

[oyster]

Transparency data released by No. 10 reveals that the PM invited editors from the Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail & the Sun as well as the BBC’s Chief Executive & its Director of News & Affairs into Downing Street on 27 November 2020 -
Trying to get us to believe it was a working meeting

What? No editors from Guardian, Mirror, Morning Star, New European!

 

[flecc]

Transparency data released by No. 10 reveals that the PM invited editors from the Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail & the Sun as well as the BBC’s Chief Executive & its Director of News & Affairs into Downing Street on 27 November 2020 -
Trying to get us to believe it was a working meeting

Of course it was, the government trying to get favourable reporting from the media, and I bet they worked hard at that.

Work places are specifically excluded from the Covid regulations so there is nothing legally wrong in that meeting.

The whole present hate campaign about activities at 10 Downing Street should be dropped now since it has the unpleasant air of a witchhunt with no justifiable basis.
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[Nev]

I do wish they were warmer - my hands never get toasty in them when riding (but they aren't freezing either, so they obviously are working)

Yes I know what you mean, my hands don't get really hot in them, and the tips of my fingers can feel cool but not cold or painful. I was recently watching a YT review on some motorcycle heated gloves and the reviewer described the effect like this, he said he was noticing more an absence of cold rather than a presence of warmth. I think this was a good way of explaining the operation of our gloves too.

I have noticed if your riding along with them in cold weather and turn them off completely you quickly realize how much of a difference they do actually make. As you say if they were much hotter then the batteries would not last as long.

I doubt I will get around to wiring the gloves up to my motorcycle, in the cold weather my riding round trip time will typically be around an hour to an hour and a half. I don't do long rides in the winter, any long journeys I need to make I take the comfortable route and use the car.

 

[Jesus H Christ]

Of course it was, the government trying to get favourable reporting from the media, and I bet they worked hard at that.

Work places are specifically excluded from the Covid regulations so there is nothing legally wrong in that meeting.

The whole present hate campaign about activities at 10 Downing Street should be dropped now since it has the unpleasant air of a witchhunt with no justifiable basis.
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You are right regarding work places being excluded from Covid regs. However, there comes a time when the workplace transitions into being a venue for a party / social gathering. When that transition occurs, it’s time for responsible leaders to pull up stumps and disperse. That didn’t happen, the workplace became a party venue and a party took place. At that point, the line was crossed and conduct did contravene Covid regs. I know it, you know it and the people in attendance knew it. The leaders chose to do nothing at a time when it was critical to set an example. That’s the point, they did nothing, they laughed and they lied.

The actual party is of secondary importance, it’s the actions / conduct they have subsequently embarked on. This marks them out as children unfit to be involved in government. This needs to be called out, exposed and those involved got rid of.

 

[Jesus H Christ]

What’s the best booster combo?

AZ AZ PB?

AZ AZ Mod?

PB PB PB?

PB PB Mod?

Or any other permutations?

The Lancet suggests AZ AZ Mod isn’t a bad combo, but the trial sample was small and it’s early days.

 

[Zlatan]

What’s the best booster combo?

AZ AZ PB?

AZ AZ Mod?

PB PB PB?

PB PB Mod?

Or any other permutations?

The Lancet suggests AZ AZ Mod isn’t a bad combo, but the trial sample was small and it’s early days.

That's what I, ve had.. Party time.

 

[flecc]

the workplace became a party venue and a party took place. At that point, the line was crossed and conduct did contravene Covid regs.

No different from what hordes of the public did, except that the public actions were often very harmful to public health, those at 10 Downing Street were clearly not.

Why in both cases? People are only human, they like to have some control over their own lives and deserve to have that. Unfortunately our idiot governments have taken that away with overly rigid Covid controls which I've condemned from the very beginning of the pandemic.

As you all know, instead I've been advocating the Swedish approach of voluntary action, seeking public co-operation with hardly any enforcement, predicting that brings better results. That is what has happened since we have almost 50% more deaths pro rata than Sweden, due entirely to our foolish over restriction which has given rise to rebellious refusals to co-operate with Covid safety measures.

That is why I take the position I have over the current fuss, it's petty and vindictive and entirely unnecessary. Some slack should be cut to allow for the natural behaviour of the staff, especially since it did absolutely no harm, as they knew it wouldn't.
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[Woosh]

What’s the best booster combo?

AZ AZ PB?

AZ AZ Mod?

PB PB PB?

PB PB Mod?

Or any other permutations?

The Lancet suggests AZ AZ Mod isn’t a bad combo, but the trial sample was small and it’s early days.

none of those vaccines works properly. They are all based on some small fragment of the virus, so when the virus mutates as it has done, their primary neutralisation capability is useless, they all rely on the broad T-cell boost of the immune system to work.
If I have to choose, I would just alternate one of the whole inactivated virus or protein based vaccines and one mRNA to keep the high level of antibodies.

 

[oyster]

What’s the best booster combo?

AZ AZ PB?

AZ AZ Mod?

PB PB PB?

PB PB Mod?

Or any other permutations?

The Lancet suggests AZ AZ Mod isn’t a bad combo, but the trial sample was small and it’s early days.

Would ZZ Top be a good combo? (In the spirit of the legendary popular beat combo.)

AZ/AZ/PB is what I got.

 

[oyster]

those at 10 Downing Street were clearly not.

Wandering round with an automatic weapon with safety off - but it didn't fire, so that's OK.

Consequences of an illegal act might compound the original illegal act, but lack of consequences do not excuse the act.

 

[flecc]

Wandering round with an automatic weapon with safety off - but it didn't fire, so that's OK.

Consequences of an illegal act might compound the original illegal act, but lack of consequences do not excuse the act.

You've illustrated just how OTT this witch hunt is, a total lack of any sense of proportion.

Cut some slack, just as all the public have for themselves, probably including you. Or are you truly perfect in every respect?
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[Nev]

AZ/AZ/PB is what I got.

Me too, and I am really glad I have had the booster. Professor Peter Openshaw was on LBC this morning saying that two dozes of the AZ gives no protection from Omicron and that two doses of Pizer gives around 30%. A booster increases that protection up to around 70 to 75% and it doesn't seem to matter what you had as your first two jabs.

I was listening to an expert from South Africa yesterday talking about the new variant. He said that Omicron is spreading far quicker than any of their 3 pervious waves of infection, however he was optimistic and getting more optimistic each day.

When asked was this because he thought that Omicron introduced a less serious disease into people and so was weaker than the Delta variant he said he didn't know if that was the case, there was insufficient evidence to confirm that yet.

He went on to explain the reason for his optimism was that they were not seeing anything like the amount of serious covid cases entering hospital that they had with the first three waves. This he said might be because the new variant is not as dangerous but it could also be that over 70% of their population had either been vaccinated or had one or more pervious Covid infections and although this might not stop them catching the new variant it looked like it stopped people becoming so ill they required hospital treatment.

 

[Jesus H Christ]

You've illustrated just how OTT this witch hunt is, a total lack of any sense of proportion.

Cut some slack, just as all the public have for themselves, probably including you. Or are you truly perfect in every respect?
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The important distinguishing fact is that the people in question are paid public figures charged with the duty of leading the country. They are abusing the privilege. It needs calling out and punishing.

It’s not a witch hunt. It’s holding public officials to account.

 

[oyster]

Or are you truly perfect in every respect?

I'm truly infinite miles from perfection.

But I also know that some places I have worked would have had me escorted from the premises for being in possession of alcohol (other than, possibly, in a shopping bag to take home).

I'd like to think Downing Street as offices is free from smoke, alcohol and drugs.

If part is used as a dining area for guests, or the private areas used as accommodation, then that is a different matter. As regards alcohol, at least.

 

[flecc]

The important distinguishing fact is that the people in question are paid public figures charged with the duty of leading the country. They are abusing the privilege. It needs calling out and punishing.

It’s not a witch hunt. It’s holding public officials to account.

Rubbish, you know as well as I do that it is a media initiated witch hunt, with the sole original intention to "Get Boris". Now that has failed it's turned into "get anyone", even the lowly minions will do

It's precisely this punitive approach which had caused us to unnecessarily have one of the highest death rates from Covid in the world, as I clearly illustrated in this post.

There's no future good in this warfare of enforcements between government and public, both sides need to cool down, relax and practice much more tolerance. There's no need for public flogging, just the embarrassment of exposure and the loss of electoral voting confidence is quite enough punishment.

As partners we'll succeed, as enemies we'll fail.
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