Any transgender types at this party of yours?

As for illegals, I assume they are still doing cash in hand work. Seems to be very little enforcement of anything round here

Originally Posted by: The Beast from the East 

I am sure there are a proportion here who shouldn't legally be, but have made it here and been housed and looked after by relatives already based here.

Originally Posted by: Phil G 

People who entered the country illegally, who then work illegally and pay no taxes or NICs, should not get a penny from the public purse.

Originally Posted by: Maunder Minimum 

Absolutly correct.MM you may have also read about Priti Patels proposal of a catch and return policy re illegals crossing the channel.This would send a strong messege don`t try and come here illegally in your dingies! At last we have a decent hone secretary who is tackling  immigration positively.

Originally Posted by: springsunshine 

Perhaps Sweden has called this correctly? Have the rest of us panicked and overreacted?

 

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

Patel being described as 'decent'?

We sure do live in weird times.

Originally Posted by: Saint Snow 

The jury is still out, but their whole approach has been misreported and misinterpreted:

• they banned mass events 2 weeks before we did (which they think has made a big difference)
• they keep trying to enforce physical distancing everywhere
• bars and restaurants operate with very specific guidelines (no serving at the bar, bigger gaps between tables, no cold food allowed etc.)

They see it as 'smart' physical distancing, which they can maintain more easily until the potential vaccine and without risking sudden R increases at the end of lockdowns. Their public supports this approach and it might well work in the long run, but it still has resulted in a much higher death toll than their neighbours.

Their approach might also be a model for us for when we start lifting our lockdown.

Originally Posted by: xioni2 

The jury is still out, but their whole approach has been misreported and misinterpreted:

• they banned mass events 2 weeks before we did (which they think has made a big difference)
• they keep trying to enforce physical distancing everywhere
• bars and restaurants operate with very specific guidelines (no serving at the bar, bigger gaps between tables, no cold food allowed etc.)

They see it as 'smart' physical distancing, which they can maintain more easily until the potential vaccine and without risking sudden R increases at the end of lockdowns. Their public supports this approach and it might well work in the long run, but it still has resulted in a much higher death toll than their neighbours.

Their approach might also be a model for us for when we start lifting our lockdown.

Originally Posted by: xioni2 

Decent, as in responding to what the majority of voters want, which is the democratic imperative.

Originally Posted by: Maunder Minimum 

I think their 'national psyche' is also far more pragmatic and sensible than ours. We've got a mix of thousands of scrotes throwing house parties and spitting at police officers, and self-entitled second home owners travelling hundreds of miles because they won't be denied their jollies.

Originally Posted by: Saint Snow 

They see it as 'smart' physical distancing, which they can maintain more easily until the potential vaccine and without risking sudden R increases at the end of lockdowns. Their public supports this approach and it might well work in the long run, but it still has resulted in a much higher death toll than their neighbours.

Their approach might also be a model for us for when we start lifting our lockdown.

Originally Posted by: xioni2 

As for serving at the bar, do they still take cash payments? Many of our regulars only pay in cash and dont have smartphones. If our pub re-opens with such measures, they wont get much business back

Originally Posted by: The Beast from the East 

Perhaps they are iPhones and we are Androids?

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

 Never understood the bit about cold food

As for serving at the bar, do they still take cash payments? Many of our regulars only pay in cash and dont have smartphones. If our pub re-opens with such measures, they wont get much business back

Originally Posted by: The Beast from the East 

I think their rationale is that heat kills the virus, so they don't allow salads etc.. As for cash, I remember being in Finland around 2010 and there were already places which did not accept cash, it was considered a stupid thing to do.

Their mentality is quite different in general, technocracy is highly valued and ideology is frowned upon. 

Originally Posted by: xioni2 

I think their 'national psyche' is also far more pragmatic and sensible than ours. We've got a mix of thousands of scrotes throwing house parties and spitting at police officers, and self-entitled second home owners travelling hundreds of miles because they won't be denied their jollies.

Originally Posted by: Saint Snow 

Early suggestions this would be a middle class disease appear overstated:

Of the 20,283 Covid-19 registered deaths in England and Wales to 17 April an overwhelming proportion of fatalities were of people from the poorest areas. The most deprived area had 55.1 deaths per 100,00 people, more than double (118%) that in the least deprived areas, where the rate was 25.3 deaths.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/may/01/uk-coronavirus-live-job-cuts-end-lockdown-politics-covid-19-latest-updates

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

Perhaps Sweden has called this correctly? Have the rest of us panicked and overreacted?

Sweden is a model for the new coronavirus normal, says WHO

The World Health Organisation lavished praise on Sweden as “a future model” in the next phase of fighting the outbreak because it has trusted people to observe social distancing rules.

Uniquely in Europe, Sweden chose not to tackle the pandemic with an enforced lockdown even though the policy has led to a higher death toll than in Denmark and Norway.

Dr Mike Ryan, of the WHO emergencies team, said it was wrong to believe that Sweden had “just let the infection spread”, adding: “Nothing can be further from the truth. Sweden has set a very strong policy on public health, it is about physical distancing and how to protect the elderly in various nursing homes and much more.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sweden-is-a-model-for-the-new-coronavirus-normal-says-who-dd8fgw7d0

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

That ties in well. Exceptionally deprived areas, such as mine, tend to have far more people in poor health. Stands to reason if they come down with Covid-19 they're more likely to die.

Originally Posted by: Retron