Covid-19 and Politics

[Garrison]

The Chancellor has announced a raft of measures to bolster the economy and protect jobs, whether its enough is debatable, but it does once again demonstrate Sunak seems to be the only one in the Cabinet actually paying attention:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-53333253

 

[Andy_Ross]

The Chancellor has announced a raft of measures to bolster the economy and protect jobs, whether its enough is debatable, but it does once again demonstrate Sunak seems to be the only one in the Cabinet actually paying attention:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-53333253

tenner off a restaurant meal midweek?

woop de doo

 

[Mid]

The Chancellor has announced a raft of measures to bolster the economy and protect jobs, whether its enough is debatable, but it does once again demonstrate Sunak seems to be the only one in the Cabinet actually paying attention:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-53333253

I thought the measures where distinctly underwhelming, total value about 1.4% of GDP so hardly New Deal levels.

VAT cut won't help most of the high street. Stamp duty cut will be eaten up by price rises which always happens when stamp duty is reduced. A lot of the other measures already pre-announced. But you can get up to £10 off your meal at participating pubs and restaurants* which is probably the bung they put in to keep Wetherspoon's happy. A better (in the economic term) but more costly measure would have been the proposed £500 voucher for everyone to spend on the high street.

*(Monday-Wednesdays only, only in the month of August, other terms and conditions may apply)

 

[The Don]

tenner off a restaurant meal midweek?

woop de doo

Well I suppose we could go to the Lion Inn Trellech for a meal before our Tuesday night band practice were it not for the fact that it's in Wales so may not be open in August, that we'd need a table for people from three households which is probably a no-no and the Lion Inn is a standalone pub owned by the landlady so likely wouldn't be eligible (I'm thinking the scheme has been designed to benefit the PubCo's).

edited to add....

Looks like I was being really unfair about that last part. It's likely that the Lion would be eligible and because it's pre-practice we'd likely be drinking non-alcoholic beverages.

 

[Mid]

tenner off a restaurant meal midweek?

woop de doo

FDR in the 1930s let's build the Hoover Dam to get out of the depression. BJ in 2020s let's have £10 off Nando's to get out of the depression.

From New Deal to Meal Deal in just under 90 years.

 

[Carrot Flower King]

FDR in the 1930s let's build the Hoover Dam to get out of the depression. BJ in 2020s let's have £10 off Nando's to get out of the depression.

From New Deal to Meal Deal in just under 90 years.

With our half-baked classicist's record on infra-structure schemes (garden bridge?) I wouldn't want him anywhere near something like a Hoover Dam...I mean, I wouldn't leave him in charge of making a sand castle.

 

[jimbob]

Israel looks to be a case study in the effects of increasing and relaxing lockdown.

I've plotted the cases and deaths data from

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publi...graphic-distribution-covid-19-cases-worldwide

Then plotted the 7-day average (3 days before and 3 after, so it's not lagging, unlike the Excel rolling average)

And then plotted when it increased (with a red X) or relaxed (with a green +) its restrictions.

 

[The Don]

FDR in the 1930s let's build the Hoover Dam to get out of the depression. BJ in 2020s let's have £10 off Nando's to get out of the depression.

From New Deal to Meal Deal in just under 90 years.

I had the pleasure of working in Leeds City Hall for a while - a project which was designed to provide jobs in the 30s. A magnificent building, built from great materials, built to last and looked after with pride.

As a Boro supporter it hurts me to say anything nice about Leeds - that's how impressive that building is.

 

[catsmate]

I saw something about this draconian step. It reminds me of what they were doing in Wuhan, China. In a democracy?

Video is from the BBC:

It's nice to see a democracy doing what is needed to keep people safe.

 

[catsmate]

Thanks for the elaboration. If that's indeed the case, is a vaccine necessary? Or can we simply rely on contact tracing and isolation to knock it out?
Thinking on my last question, it might be possible to stamp it out with contract tracing and isolation—if humans weren't so darned stupid. So we really need to develop a vaccine as well.

Unfortunately this requires people to behave sensibly and reliably.

 

[Blue Mountain]

Unfortunately this requires people to behave sensibly and reliably.

Eventually they will ... after all the alternatives have been exhausted.

 

[Ulf Nereng]

It's nice to see a democracy doing what is needed to keep people safe.

Agreed. There have been times when our democracies took away the freedom of every able bodied man to send them to the front line. Telling people to stay in their homes or wear face masks is nothing. But that was because of war? Well, this pandemic will soon have killed more americans than the number of US troops who were killed by the combined efforts of the nazis and japs during WW2. It's time people stopped being such snowflakes.

 

[EHocking]

Eventually they will ... after all the alternatives have been exhausted.

I disagree. The reaction of idiots in Melbourne Australia is one example, mostly anti-government retoric of the nature that the state's Premier is "a dictator revelling in his power, with “a disturbing streak of authoritarianism”, a premier who wildly exaggerated the risk of Covid-19 and is now deliberately hampering the economic recovery."
Unfortunately a number of people resent the impingement on their "freedom" and such such BS up - I've been disappointed by a number of friends who have this attitude.

Only this morning I was in a discussion with an USAan colleague who resents "having" to wear a mask because of COVID.

She says,
"I wear one usually anyway because it is the smart thing to do in this crisis
I just resent the government telling me to, so I don't wear one"


Sensible and reliable my arse.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Just been down the hospital with Boris wheel clamping the nurses cars.
Got to make money for the parking management companies.

Mind, a lot of hospitals didn't lift the parking charges anyway, their contracts with the management companies wouldn't let them.

 

[jimbob]

In their effort to release rapid data to show the increase in testing capacity, officials from Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) "hand-cranked" the numbers to ensure a constant stream of rising test numbers were available for each day's press conference, Sky News has been told.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...c-testing-regime-broke-all-the-rules-12022566

Worth reading the rest too

Sky News has uncovered hand-written tables of testing data, allegedly from mid-May, which show national testing figures for different parts of the operation.

 

[catsmate]

Just been down the hospital with Boris wheel clamping the nurses cars.
Got to make money for the parking management companies.

Mind, a lot of hospitals didn't lift the parking charges anyway, their contracts with the management companies wouldn't let them.

We had a similar problem here, solved with angle grinders and a refusal to arrest anyone.

 

[The Don]

It's interesting, sad but predictable to see how many companies are taking the opportunity to "rightsize" their business in the wake of Coronavirus. Today we've had announcements from John Lewis and Boots but there have been recent announcements from a variety of other companies.

 

[Agatha]

I recognise that there will be overlaps, but please try to keep this thread focused on politics, responses of governments and the like. There is another thread to discuss the science.

Replying to this modbox in thread will be off topic  Posted By: Agatha

 

[Blue Mountain]

Just been down the hospital with Boris wheel clamping the nurses cars.

Translation from British English:

Just been down the hospital: Uncertain, but I think it means "It has been reported that a hospital"

with Boris wheel: A colloquialism describing a vehicle immobilisation device. Here in North America I've seen it described as a "Denver boot."

clamping the nurses cars: vehicles owned by nurses are being immobilised.


How'd I do?

 

[Ulf Nereng]

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...c-testing-regime-broke-all-the-rules-12022566

Worth reading the rest too

I laughed at this bit: "The Germans were lucky. They had lots of machines lying around and a system in place."

Those lucky, lucky Germans! Always so lucky! No, it isn't skill! Just blind luck!