Covid - coming out of Lockdown 3 - no politics, less opinion and more facts and information.

[Ron Ron Ron]

Christmas has become this intangible “thing” that seems to have lost any definition.

I’m not talking about losing the meaning of the original religious celebration or its significance, but rather it has taken on this nebulous existence, quite apart from and beyond the break from work, family get-togethers, present giving and commercialism.

More so in the context of COVID.

Thank goodness it’ll be over by this time next week……..unfortunately the pandemic will not be, but at least this “ thing”  (whatever Christmas is now?) will not be the temporary distraction that has taken over the current narrative.

 

[Bernard Lamb]

8 minutes ago, TheQ said:

My Dear chap, the hoi poli may have gotten out of the drinking culture but the boardroom hasn't. it's been going on a long time.. Churchill was famous for passing the brandy bottle and being P****d most of the time..

What's the saying? " Work is the curse of the drinking classes."

Bernard

[Reorte]

9 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

Seeing as all the underlying messaging now is that there will be some sort of lockdown by Christmas day perhaps it's time to rename the thread again!

 

That'll be political suicide (although you could easily argue that that's been committed so often now no-one in government's bothered by it any more).

[woodenhead]

My xmas dinner options started at feed the 5000 size turkey, now I might just need a quail.

 

I could do with knowing before I make the plunge

[hayfield]

3 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

Christmas has become this intangible “thing” that seems to have lost any definition.

I’m not talking about losing the meaning of the original religious celebration or its significance, but rather it has taken on this nebulous existence, quite apart from and beyond the break from work, family get-togethers, present giving and commercialism.

More so in the context of COVID.

Thank goodness it’ll be over by this time next week……..unfortunately the pandemic will not be, but at least this “ thing”  (whatever Christmas is now?) will not be the temporary distraction that has taken over the current narrative.

 

 

 

Not for everyone, certainly with my extended family for the past 2 years everyone has cut down drastically who we give presents to. With the immediate family we see it as a time to get together (when allowed) and enjoy each others company, and spend modestly on presents and treat everyone the same. Its the thought not the value that's important.

 

Last year we had zoomed each other for a mass present opening, this year hopefully it will be in person.

 

Seemingly my friends and their families are much of the same opinion, If nothing else perhaps we are learning to not spending a fortune, but making time for each other is far more important.

 

Hopefully Christmas and Boxing day lunches will be so much more rewarding after last year.

 

 

[Hobby]

38 minutes ago, john new said:

If the mods think this is too political please delete.

 

Stating that your work(?) meeting includes the serving of wine and cheese is not a good advert by the leader of the country for sensible office practice in the rest of society. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59722081 

 

I am happy to accept that although a debrief in the garden post the event was perhaps stretching the, then in place, rules but serving wine for an alleged business meeting (aka a party to the rest of us) is just taking the p***.  Is Whitehall still stuck in the 1970s drinking culture the rest of society grew out of or do they just take society for a bunch of gullible fools……?

 

 

Yawn...

[Nearholmer]

46 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

but at least this “ thing”  (whatever Christmas is now?) will not be the temporary distraction that has taken over the current narrative.

Christmas, whatever else it is, is very important to a huge number of people as a family gathering fest at the dullest time of year. My children certainly felt seriously deflated when the grannies, cousins, uncles and aunts couldn’t come last year, and they are really looking forward to a proper gathering, if not everyone then at least some, this year, and I’m sure they’re not alone in that. We’ve sliced back everything else to minimise the probability of any of us catching it before, and we practically eat LFTs for breakfast.

IMO, banning ‘household mixing’ over Christmas would be seriously bad for ‘National morale’, so I hope to goodness that it isn’t necessary. Please let it not be!

 

But …… the rate round here is really high, and we’ve heard from three people this morning who’ve tested positive in the past 24hrs, one of youngest’s pal’s sister, and both the manager and coach of son’s football team (son continues to test negative).

 

This shows c3% of the population with “active” Covid, so at some stage from just tested positive to recovered, and the direction is only one way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Nearholmer

[boxbrownie]

23 hours ago, crompton 33 said:

What where we told by Doris NO more lockdowns as we have got to live with it.

Pretty sure “Doris” or Mr Stammer has said neither, unlike the majority of the travel and leisure industries.

[boxbrownie]

21 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The “no more lockdowns” thing has always been accompanied (sometimes rather quietly) by “unless a new variant makes that necessary”, which is only sensible really.

And that’s the bit that the press and others purposely forget when quoting for effect.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by boxbrownie

[RJS1977]

3 hours ago, Neil said:

Two thoughts:

 

A good number of those interviewed having boosters over the last couple of days have said that they've had it so that they can do the big family gathering at Christmas. Given that the vaccination takes a fortnight to achieve full effect then there are potential problems ahead.

 

Are the media complicit in the pressures around Christmas; I'm thinking of those 'Save our Christmas' type headlines which help no one.

 

Much as indeed the "Save our holidays" demands which keep allowing new variants to enter the country when Government caves in to them.

[hayfield]

2 minutes ago, RJS1977 said:

 

Much as indeed the "Save our holidays" demands which keep allowing new variants to enter the country when Government caves in to them.

 

Does it matter why people get vaccinated, the main thing is they get vaccinated to protect themselves and others. 

 

I was quite impressed that yesterday it was quoted 900,000+ boosters were given and nearly 49% of the over 12 have had boosters.

 

Given that many of the 82% who have had a second dose the rollout of the boosters/3rd dose is gaining speed, and may get quite close to expectations

[Oldddudders]

On 19/12/2021 at 12:18, boxbrownie said:

Oddly on the news today they are reporting he is going out of principal, the principal being he believes in a lightly regulated low tax country, and the direction of travel is going in the other direction. It was in his resignation letter.

 

So more to do with his beliefs regarding the Conservative party than Covid it appears.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59726067

 

At least one Cabinet Minister has indicated, apparently, that were a lockdown to be mandated, he/she would resign. There are very strong feelings about Covid's effect on life and the economy, evidently.

[boxbrownie]

2 hours ago, woodenhead said:

Seeing as all the underlying messaging now is that there will be some sort of lockdown by Christmas day perhaps it's time to rename the thread again!

I’m still going for midnight Boxing Day 

[woodenhead]

1 minute ago, Oldddudders said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59726067

 

At least one Cabinet Minister has indicated, apparently, that were a lockdown to be mandated, he/she would resign. There are very strong feelings about Covid's effect on life and the economy, evidently.

And what we have now is a critical situation where a prime minister will have to make decisions that could affect his future.  If he goes with a lockdown now he will certainly face severe consequences from his own party with Labour likely to support him but twist the knife some more.  If he doesn't go with a lockdown despite all the noises that something is needed then he will have been seen to have made a political decision which sacrifices the public.

 

The simplest option for him is the Sturgeon model of appealing to the better nature of the general public to socially distance over Xmas without needing to go against the party or have to hold  a vote that could be disastrous.

 

In the meantime images of Government cheese and wine events keep on being posted to media to continue raising the temperature within the party.

 

A change in leader is coming one way or another as it is not only a distraction but fraught with danger as the public are finding it harder to support a stance on public safety that is now so politically entangled and the leader is up to his neck in it.

[AY Mod]

3 hours ago, Hobby said:

Yawn...

 

You may shrug it off as repetitive, boring, laboured, unnecessary or whatever but, in reality, this is part of the problem the government has caused, or laid itself bare to it all at a time when they should be delivering strong and sensible messaging about where we are and what we need to do. They've left themselves wide open to everyone taking the P and disregarding anything they say as lacking in credibility; or are you trying to control what people actually think on their behalf?

[AY Mod]

2 hours ago, Hobby said:

Yawn...

 

And if you think I'm being party political then I'm not as this monumental penis should be locked up until the day after forever - https://news.sky.com/story/piers-corbyn-arrested-over-video-calling-for-people-to-burn-down-the-offices-of-mps-12499698

[boxbrownie]

33 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59726067

 

At least one Cabinet Minister has indicated, apparently, that were a lockdown to be mandated, he/she would resign. There are very strong feelings about Covid's effect on life and the economy, evidently.

There is no denying there are very strong feelings in the party about this.

 

Just like the RMWeb thread? 

[woodenhead]

I will add the one thing in the prime minister's favour at the moment is Xmas and the UK being on the cusp of the largest peak in Covid that we've seen so far.

 

It would take a very bad judgement to try and run a leadership campaign right in the middle of all this, so that gives Boris about 4 weeks to steer the UK through the peak.  If SAGE's worst fears are borne out and he has locked down then he will be seen as being a leader, if he capitulates and we still see SAGE's worst fears then his own party will have to learn to back him again to try and regain public confidence.

 

It seems his future is perhaps attached to how well SAGE are predicting the next 4 weeks, no pressure on SAGE then!

[Oldddudders]

This Government did nothing to create the Covid crisis, and at times has been seen to do the best to control it. But currently the conflicts of wider interest, from the travel and hospitality trades on the one hand, with the civil liberties lobby crying foul, and the beleaguered NHS on the other, are indeed a rock and a hard place. But HM Opposition are having a field day pointing out the dithering, while topping the moral high ground by being prepared to support the Government decision. 

 

No way is the PM having an easy time - but a decision is several days overdue. 

[woodenhead]

1 minute ago, Oldddudders said:

This Government did nothing to create the Covid crisis, and at times has been seen to do the best to control it. But currently the conflicts of wider interest, from the travel and hospitality trades on the one hand, with the civil liberties lobby crying foul, and the beleaguered NHS on the other, are indeed a rock and a hard place. But HM Opposition are having a field day pointing out the dithering, while topping the moral high ground by being prepared to support the Government decision. 

 

No way is the PM having an easy time - but a decision is several days overdue. 

Quite.

 

We can see from the reactions around Europe and the full lockdown in the Netherlands that we are not alone in this mess and a long way from being on the other side.

[boxbrownie]

3 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

if he capitulates and we still see SAGE's worst fears then his own party will have to learn to back him again to try and regain public confidence.

There you go, that’s the bit………it will certainly be an interesting few weeks now.

[Nearholmer]

5 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

It would take a very bad judgement to try and run a leadership campaign right in the middle of all this,

 

Maybe some of those involved have such strongly-held ideologies that they aren't thinking very far beyond the possibility of wresting the steering wheel from the bloke currently in the driver's seat. Study ye closely The Hon Member for Wycombe, for instance.

[woodenhead]

9 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

Maybe some of those involved have such strongly-held ideologies that they aren't thinking very far beyond the possibility of wresting the steering wheel from the bloke currently in the driver's seat. Study ye closely The Hon Member for Wycombe, for instance.

If it all goes Pete Tong in the next 4 weeks the right honourable member for Wycombe will not have his hand anywhere near number 10, there is a safer pair of hands in the party, he may be what the party needs to regain trust and be more of a conservative and, is so far unaffected by all this palava in Number 10.

Edited December 20, 2021 by woodenhead

[Nearholmer]

12 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

the right honourable member for Wycombe will not have his hand anywhere near number

 

Kingmaker, not king.

 

The route to power without accountability.

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Nearholmer

[woodenhead]

Starmer has confirmed he will vote with the Government should it recommend further restrictions, so that ensures it will pass through Parliament, but he is referencing the internal tussles within Number 10 as a concern.

 

So what will it be party or the country...........