Current Affairs

[oldbluefox]

Not surprised by anything van der Leyen and the EU do. Do as I say....or else.

[towny44]

Anyone else thought Ed Daveys knocking down a ‘Blue wall’ was rather childish and pathetic.?

Leader of the Liberal Deludeds. Were they not preparing to form the next government under Jo Swinson who famously went on to lose her seat?
The Amersham result was a consequence of HS2 and housing policy which the LibDems exploited.

I doubt that the Libdems were responsible for the absentee Tory vote, but let them dream, that's about all they can do.

[Manoverboard]

I note that little creep ' Birdpoo ' has switched to Labour ...

[david63]

I note that little creep ' Birdpoo ' has switched to Labour ...

Does anybody care?

[oldbluefox]

I note that little creep ' Birdpoo ' has switched to Labour ...

Well that's a surprise from the impartial ex-speaker. Who would have thought it?

[Mervyn and Trish]

That man shows no dignity. Creep.

[Gill W]

I note that little creep ' Birdpoo ' has switched to Labour ...

Does anybody care?

It seems this forum does.

In a time of lots of news, this thread has been exceptionally quiet, until triggered by Bercow!

[Gill W]

Anyone else thought Ed Daveys knocking down a ‘Blue wall’ was rather childish and pathetic.?

No more childish and pathetic than Johnson when he drove through a fake wall in a JCB

[towny44]

Anyone else thought Ed Daveys knocking down a ‘Blue wall’ was rather childish and pathetic.?

No more childish and pathetic than Johnson when he drove through a fake wall in a JCB

Deuce!!!!

[Manoverboard]

I note that little creep ' Birdpoo ' has switched to Labour ...

Does anybody care?

It seems this forum does.

In a time of lots of news, this thread has been exceptionally quiet, until triggered by Bercow!

I cared only that the man lacks credibility / loyalty and yet the Labour Party welcome him aboard, do they seriously believe that he will do their cause any good ?

There was certainly other news regarding post Brexit Trade Deals but I prefer to inwardly support rather than gloat. There are ongoing issues with Ireland but, hey, what's new.

[Ray Scully]

Bojo's reign little by little is looking like a house of cards.

[towny44]

Bojo's reign little by little is looking like a house of cards.

You wish Ray.

[Kendhni]

Just reading a few articles on proposals on helping to fund the huge borrowing that we have created over the last few years.
https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/pensi ... 48127.html

Nobody likes to having to pay their bills, but overall I think Sunak is on the right path with a couple of these options (limit the LTA or levelling of the tax relief across the board (this has been threatened for many years now)) - I am less sure about increasing employers contributions (since that could affect those on lower incomes much more).

Personally I would have also thrown in a hit to IHT as well.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Oh the irony. Mrs Krankie wants to stop Mancunians going to Scotland. She wasn't bothered by tens of thousands of Scots without tickets travelling unnecessarily to Wembley

[david63]

Oh the irony. Mrs Krankie wants to stop Mancunians going to Scotland. She wasn't bothered by tens of thousands of Scots without tickets travelling unnecessarily to Wembley

I don't think that has bypassed Andy Burnham

[screwy]

And she even accused Burnham of playing Politics.

[towny44]

And she even accused Burnham of playing Politics.

The woman's an idiot, how can an elected Mayor's job not be political.

[david63]

I am getting a bit lot fed up with MPs who criticise the Government plans before they know what the plans are.

Last week both Boris ans Matt Hancock were saying that we are going to have to live with Covid for many years. Today Matt is saying that they are working on plans to allow quarantine free travel from amber list countries for those fully vaccinated (actually it is isolation not quarantine for amber list countries!) Now Caroline Lucas is saying that this plan is "reckless" - which part of living with Covid has she missed?

[Kendhni]

I am getting a bit lot fed up with MPs who criticise the Government plans before they know what the plans are.

Last week both Boris ans Matt Hancock were saying that we are going to have to live with Covid for many years. Today Matt is saying that they are working on plans to allow quarantine free travel from amber list countries for those fully vaccinated (actually it is isolation not quarantine for amber list countries!) Now Caroline Lucas is saying that this plan is "reckless" - which part of living with Covid has she missed?

There is a funny thing about politicians that makes them totally different to the general public ... they do not (generally) take comments as personal attacks, but more as political statements based on a role that they are playing. On the other hand the media's role seems to be to whip the public up into a frenzy of indignation over every little comment. MPs generally know exactly what is about to be announced several days before it is - especially with this government that seems to deliberately leak information in order to judge reaction.

I think Hancock is probably on the right track and I am not sure what statement that Lucas is saying is reckless. It might simply be one out of many points. Given that she is from the Green party (or I am assuming it is that Caroline Lucas) then maybe her objection is the opening up of flights in general.

We just had the G7 meeting and apparently they were all scratching their heads wondering how to reduce pollution and climate change - they have been handed a golden opportunity but they don't seem to be willing to take it. Keep the 'work from home if you can' message going - positively encourage it and stop trying to force everyone back into offices - some want to go back, others don't. The UK could actually lead the way on this by giving people the choice.

[Gill W]

I am getting a bit lot fed up with MPs who criticise the Government plans before they know what the plans are.

Last week both Boris ans Matt Hancock were saying that we are going to have to live with Covid for many years. Today Matt is saying that they are working on plans to allow quarantine free travel from amber list countries for those fully vaccinated (actually it is isolation not quarantine for amber list countries!) Now Caroline Lucas is saying that this plan is "reckless" - which part of living with Covid has she missed?

‘Living with COVID’ hasn’t really been defined yet.

Some people think it means we go back to our December 2019 lives and pretend COVID doesn’t exist. Others recognise that COVID has changed everything so living with COVID means that we change the way we live.

I think there needs to be a public discourse about this, because it needs to be made clear what ‘living with it’ actually means

[david63]

because it needs to be made clear what ‘living with it’ actually means

Living with it means that it will be there (just like flu), people will get infected (just like flu), people will die (just like flu). No it will not be like December 2019 but it will be a lot closer than it is now - no masks, no social distancing and most importantly no restrictions.

[barney]

I think that living with covid will come a lot quicker than the government are expecting if they allow the Eufa dignitaries in without isolation and allow potentially 60k foreign football fans in for the final.
I reckon most will say all bets are off and do exactly what they want.

[Gill W]

because it needs to be made clear what ‘living with it’ actually means

Living with it means that it will be there (just like flu), people will get infected (just like flu), people will die (just like flu). No it will not be like December 2019 but it will be a lot closer than it is now - no masks, no social distancing and most importantly no restrictions.

The trouble is, Covid isn’t the flu

Infections are going up now and we seem to be at the start of another wave, in summer, so it’s not seasonal like flu.

The vaccine is helping, but it can’t do all the work. I believe we will have to have other mitigations, like masks and social distancing for some time to come.

Even if deaths are kept low, I don’t think it right to allow a third wave. Long Covid is an issue and further viris mutation is a risk, especially if a new variant is vaccine resistant.

Not to mention that other countries won’t want us to visit if we have high levels of infection.

But as Barney says, a lot of people aren’t going to bother anymore, so I think all the hard work that we’ve put in will end up being squandered.

[Kendhni]

because it needs to be made clear what ‘living with it’ actually means

Living with it means that it will be there (just like flu), people will get infected (just like flu), people will die (just like flu). No it will not be like December 2019 but it will be a lot closer than it is now - no masks, no social distancing and most importantly no restrictions.

The trouble is, Covid isn’t the flu

Infections are going up now and we seem to be at the start of another wave, in summer, so it’s not seasonal like flu.

The vaccine is helping, but it can’t do all the work. I believe we will have to have other mitigations, like masks and social distancing for some time to come.

While I agree, that might just be kicking the issue down the road. Without close contact we reduce our immunity and ability to fight other diseases and young children may not gain any immunity. There is a balancing act required ... and I don't think we know where that is.

Even if deaths are kept low, I don’t think it right to allow a third wave. Long Covid is an issue and further viris mutation is a risk, especially if a new variant is vaccine resistant.

Not to mention that other countries won’t want us to visit if we have high levels of infection.

We can but hope the second batch of vaccines will provide a better long term solution - but at the minute our arsenal is expended.

[david63]

Infections are going up now

How do you know that? All I know is that the number of positive tests is going up which is not surprising with surge testing taking place. We have no idea, and never have had any idea, how many "infections" there are and the only way for that data to be meaningful would be to test the entire population every week. We could reduce the number of "infections" overnight by reducing the number of tests that are done.

Not to mention that other countries won’t want us to visit if we have high levels of infection.

I refer to the above and the only reason that we appear to have a higher rate of "infections" (a.k.a positive test results) than some other countries is because we are testing more than these other countries and it follows that the more tests that are done then there will be positive test results.

I just wish that we used sensible data instead of sensationalist big numbers. There are only three valid accurate datasets where Covid is concerned - the number of hospitalisations, the total deaths and the number of vaccines given - everything else is just meaningless numbers without any context.