Current Affairs

[Mervyn and Trish]

Sadly we now have a death from Omicron. No details yet but hope there will be a reason such as a pre-existing condition or no jabs. Seems to have come very quickly so maybe Omicron has been around longer than we knew.

Meanwhile people who've resisted being jabbed are now rushing to get done. Hopefully that'll help stave off the worst effects.

And thanl goodness Sir Hindsight is taking it more seriously for once by echoing Boris's message rather than nit picking. I can't help thinking if he'd done that from the beginning some people may have been less inclined to ignore guidance.

Weird that South Africa have hundreds of thousands of reported cases but no deaths and hardly anyone in hospital.
Our Omicron level is still relatively low and we apparently have folk in hospital and a fatality.

I suspect we have more cases than reported. It may be our level of vaccination while not completely preventing it is making a proportion of cases asymptomatic and so not tested. Also I read South Africa's population is younger so maybe less liable to hospitalisation.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Meanwhile people who've resisted being jabbed are now rushing to get done.

Nothing to do with Christmas and New Year on the horizon then

Preparing to party?

[Stephen]

Allot of the people in the queues look of an age where they should have been jabbed weeks/months ago and have probably not bothered but are now reluctantly coming forward. Perhaps if they had their jab when they were called there wouldn’t be the current pressure on the system.

Make them wait I say.

Covid: Call for volunteers as 500k book boosters in a day https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59646877

[Kendhni]

Thought for the day:
What are the odds that Johnson is massaging and manipulating his Plan C for release when the photographs from the Christmas parties (that didn't happen) hit the media.

As expected, the photos of the events that did not happen have started to arrive.
Time to start fining them the same way as others got fined ... although, knowing how dishonest Conservatism is at the minute, they would probably just claim it on expenses.

[Gill W]

Don’t give them ideas, Ken!

At least the ‘Plan B’ regulations went through Parliament last night, but what sort of person votes against measures designed to protect public health and the NHS

[oldbluefox]

Those in the photo partied. The same rules should apply to them as they do to everybody else. Simple.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Those in the photo partied. The same rules should apply to them as they do to everybody else. Simple.

Agreed.

What sort of person votes against measures designed to protect public health and the NHS

Agreed.

[towny44]

Thought for the day:
What are the odds that Johnson is massaging and manipulating his Plan C for release when the photographs from the Christmas parties (that didn't happen) hit the media.

As expected, the photos of the events that did not happen have started to arrive.
Time to start fining them the same way as others got fined ... although, knowing how dishonest Conservatism is at the minute, they would probably just claim it on expenses.

Before you levy fines on the Tory party, do we actually know if all the civil servants attending these festivities were actually party members, or even Tory voters?

[barney]

I don’t know what has happened to my neighbours opposite who went to Tenerife over a fortnight ago.
Still not back and it will be three weeks this Saturday.
Maybe they actually went for three weeks or longer?
I never asked how long they were going for.
Hopefully not tested positive out there and stuck in a hotel.

[screwy]

Thought for the day:
What are the odds that Johnson is massaging and manipulating his Plan C for release when the photographs from the Christmas parties (that didn't happen) hit the media.

As expected, the photos of the events that did not happen have started to arrive.
Time to start fining them the same way as others got fined ... although, knowing how dishonest Conservatism is at the minute, they would probably just claim it on expenses.

Before you levy fines on the Tory party, do we actually know if all the civil servants attending these festivities were actually party members, or even Tory voters?

I’ve not seen the photos yet but are there any Tory MPs there.? If they’re only Civil Servants then they could be supporters of any party ( especially ones with drinks & nibbles ) but yes, fine them, even the whistle blower who was obviously there.

[screwy]

Ok, I’ve caught up with it now.

Shaun Bailey and 4 members of his team held a party, no excuses. Apparently they have been disciplined and possible further action.

Party held in the basement of the Tory campaign building, no MPs attended.

Not sure about anyone else but if I was attending a Party I would expect more than 5 attendees. Still against the rules though so yeah hit them hard.

[oldbluefox]

I’ve not seen the photos yet but are there any Tory MPs there.? If they’re only Civil Servants then they could be supporters of any party ( especially ones with drinks & nibbles ) but yes, fine them, even the whistle blower who was obviously there.

And the camera 'person' who was also at the party.
If they do all get clobbered I wouldn't like to be in the whistle-blower's shoes if/when they find out.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I hope when the investigation is complete, given the assumption by some that this was a Boris/Tory thing, we get a full list of who was there and their status. And yes fine the lot of them.

Let's not forget that Downing Street's role as the PM's London home accounts for a very small part of the building. Numbers 10, 11 and 12 are an office complex, the majority of whose occupants are Civil Servants.

[Kendhni]

If they do all get clobbered I wouldn't like to be in the whistle-blower's shoes if/when they find out.

Why? The law and all reputable companies/organisations recognise the rights of those that whistleblow and report wrongdoing - I know in our company if we detect wrongdoing and do not report it then we can be disciplined. It is illegal for the company or any individual to take any retaliatory action against a whistleblower - if they do then it is more likely that they are the one that will lose their job or be taken in front of a tribunal.

[david63]

But it can be subtly by not inviting the whistleblower to the next Christmas party

[oldbluefox]

If they disagreed with the holding of a party they should not have gone. As I said the others will not be pleased and there will be ways the others can show their displeasure.
How can you shop all your colleagues when you are part of the issue?

[Kendhni]

Who knows if they were at the party or not? Maybe a photo was circulated around the office the next day ... including to those that were not there ? On Monday one of my colleagues posted a few snapshots on Teams from a do they were at last weekend. It doesn't mean I was at the party, just because I have the photos.

[oldbluefox]

That's why I said "if".

[towny44]

If they do all get clobbered I wouldn't like to be in the whistle-blower's shoes if/when they find out.

Why? The law and all reputable companies/organisations recognise the rights of those that whistleblow and report wrongdoing - I know in our company if we detect wrongdoing and do not report it then we can be disciplined. It is illegal for the company or any individual to take any retaliatory action against a whistleblower - if they do then it is more likely that they are the one that will lose their job or be taken in front of a tribunal.

I wonder what.your views on the Julian Assanģe situation are?

[Kendhni]

I have generally believed that the most likely source of COVID was from the lab in Wuhan and all the stories about pangolins, bats etc. was just fluff.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/wuhan-lab-lea ... 41328.html

A friend of mine, loves his conspiracy theories, went further. He thought it was manufactured to attack non-Chinese people because if you look at the stats about deaths/infected they seem to show that China has been hardly affected. I am more minded to think that China just doesn't want to make them public.

[screwy]

RIP Jethro.

Another victim of COVID.

[Kendhni]

Another one being sentenced - how can any mother allow this to happen?
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/star-hobson-m ... 50384.html

Given what is on the news these days I am wondering if violent crime is much more prevalent or is it just a case that detection/reporting is better. Is lockdown increasing 'in-home' crime?

[david63]

Is it morally right that a football club limits the number of spectators to 9,999 to avoid the need for "Covid passports"?

[Chalgrave4]

Is it morally right that a football club limits the number of spectators to 9,999 to avoid the need for "Covid passports"?

I would say "Morally Reprehensible" but typical of lots of such organisations squirming to find ways round sensible precautions to the ultimate detriment of their Customers/fans

[Mervyn and Trish]

I hope their counting is accurate. If not, throw the book at them. I'd have more respect if they said 9,000. They're just taking the p*ss.

It would serve them right if the government said okay then, Covid passports all round or play behind closed doors.