Poland has postponed it's presidential election.
https://www.france24.com/en/20200506-poland-postpones-may-10-presidential-election-over-covid-19-fears

How long before our lot spot the opportunity being presented here? They've previously struggled to find excuses to end democracy in the UK, only succeeding in limited cases, but I'm sure the effective policy implementation being carried out by covid-19 will not be lost on them.

There is no election anyway for years, and Bozo I suspect will not serve a second term. He is already bored of this and has achieved what he wanted - Brexit glory and his name up on the Old Etonians Hall of Fame

But Trump could easily use this as a pretext to suspend the US election and keep himself in power. It would go to the Supreme Court, but he has now installed his right wing stooges, including Maunder's hero - the sex pervert Kavanaugh

US death toll running at 1000 a day and fast approaching 80,000

 

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I didn't explain "voluntary" very well. What I mean is that if there is no way of following up on people coming into the country and checking whether they really are self isolating, then any rules on self isolation will in effect be voluntary. Fair enough, if there are enough spot checks and a system of fines, that's ok.

The problem with that last line is that we don't have enough resources to effectively carry it out. It's a token gesture.

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At virtually every step, HMG has either dithered or made the wrong decision:

• Not closing our borders in January/February when it was clear that a highly infectious new virus was on the march

• Allowing major sporting events to go ahead in mid March

• Not locking down society two weeks earlier

• The ongoing PPE fiasco

• The care homes disaster

• The briefing about relaxing lockdown from Monday

• And now the forthcoming garden centres disaster

On the plus side, Sunak's furlough scheme, business interruption loans and grants and for the self-employed were timely and well conceived at pace. But the messaging on this has been soured by the very poorly advised comments about people becoming "addicted to state aid". And if Sunak withdraws these measures too soon (as he is threatening), there will be a far worse economic and social disaster.

Agreed, but the people going back to work in Garden centres etc, do they automatically come off the furlough? What happens if some are not required. Will they just be sacked and have to go on Universal credit?

This is a recipe for mass unemployment

 

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Spain are easing many restrictions on Monday except for worst hit areas such as Madrid. Hopefully it won't result in a surge of new cases....

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The problem with that last line is that we don't have enough resources to effectively carry it out. It's a token gesture.

Gesture politics is what Vote Leave and the New Brexit party is all about. 

And the plebs are so gaslit by 40 years of media lies that they fall for it

 

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The problem with that last line is that we don't have enough resources to effectively carry it out. It's a token gesture.

Yes but even if not everyone is actually spot checked, the majority will follow the rules if there is a reasonable possibility of being checked. Hopefully, your lot will do it better than ours so far. Apparently, a third of people coming into Irish ports and airports didn't even leave an address. Which will make spot checks rather hard to carry out. 

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Another interesting read which highlights clear evidence that the way to spread CV-19 is for people to be in close contact with each other for longer periods.
Passing in the street, and most normal activities (combined with hand-washing hygene and not touching face) would need you to be mighty unlucky.

http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=87602 

Cevik (rightly) asserts that close and prolonged contact is required for Covid-19 transmission, suggesting that the risk is highest in enclosed environments: household; long-term care facilities; and public transport.

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Even Brillo is not impressed

 

Despite allowing people to arrive in UK throughout height of pandemic without the slightest check for Covid, The Times reports that, as the pandemic now abates, all arrivals from June 1 must self-isolate for 14 days. As they say across the pond, go figure.

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) May 9, 2020

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Even Brillo is not impressed

 

Despite allowing people to arrive in UK throughout height of pandemic without the slightest check for Covid, The Times reports that, as the pandemic now abates, all arrivals from June 1 must self-isolate for 14 days. As they say across the pond, go figure.

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) May 9, 2020

Neil has been savaging HMG throughout this. He has been forensic. Unlike the droning Peston, vapid Kuenssberg etc.

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Four inhabits his own weird universe where reality is simply ignored if it doesn’t fit his fixed opinions. Then he goes to his usual preferred sources to cherry pick and bias confirmation.

 

Four linked an article by Brenden O Neill who I find very difficult to read these days but there has actually been a couple of really interesting (and evidence based) articles on Spiked by Professor Wilfred Reilly. They are primarily US focussed but they raise some important questions about the effectiveness of lockdowns. 

https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/05/08/the-lockdowns-still-arent-working/

The data is a bit technical for me but I'm sure Q/Lanky and others would be able to get to grips with it!

Again, I'm not saying this is right, I just think we need to look at different sides to the debate and keep an open mind.

 

These are the lunatics running your Govt. Yet the morons voted for it, so serves them right. This country and the US both deserve to be top of the table of global laughing stock

 

 

 

.@pacquep I’m of course aware of the EU argument about proximity, but it’s a red herring. In the modern world of international commerce and trade, geography is irrelevant. It’s just the EU excuse to keep us in its orbit.

— Robbie Gibb (@RobbieGibb) May 9, 2020

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Four linked an article by Brenden O Neill who I find very difficult to read these days but there has actually been a couple of really interesting (and evidence based) articles on Spiked by Professor Wilfred Reilly. They are primarily US focussed but they raise some important questions about the effectiveness of lockdowns. 

https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/05/08/the-lockdowns-still-arent-working/

The data is a bit technical for me but I'm sure Q/Lanky and others would be able to get to grips with it!

Again, I'm not saying this is right, I just think we need to look at different sides to the debate and keep an open mind.

 

It is hardly empirical but European countries which locked down early (France, Spain and, to a lesser extent, Italy) have fared considerably better than others (er, the UK). What is more concerning is that infections in this country appear to be plateauing while they are falling elsewhere and I suspect this may be because the lockdown has frayed considerably here. As I said, this is not anything like empirical but it suggests to me that lockdowns have worked.

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Garden centres will immediately become absolute hell holes. For hundreds of thousands of people they will be the only option for a "nice day out" while others will be desperate to buy up as many plants as possible. I imagine that social distancing will immediately go out of the window in the scrum at these places. Big mistake allowing them to reopen now, IMO.

In the garden centres that I have been dragged kicking and screaming to in the recent past,  plants and other horticultural merchandise seems almost peripheral to the business model. They look more like out-of-town department stores. If garden centres are to be opened then why not department stores (not there are many of those left now)?

Opening them will make social distancing a distant memory. People will meet up with others they haven't seen for months and stop to have a good natter and the queues will be horrific.

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In the garden centres that I have been dragged kicking and screaming to in the recent past,  plants and other horticultural merchandise seems almost peripheral to the business model. They look more like out-of-town department stores. If garden centres are to be opened then why not department stores (not there are many of those left now)?

Opening them will make social distancing a distant memory. People will meet up with others they haven't seen for months and stop to have a good natter and the queues will be horrific.

Agreed. My local one sells books, kitchenwares, food, fresh meats, clothes, greetings cards etc, booze! 

Yes, the café is the main hub, but I assume the same people will still come to have a look around for people they know to say hello

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In the garden centres that I have been dragged kicking and screaming to in the recent past,  plants and other horticultural merchandise seems almost peripheral to the business model. They look more like out-of-town department stores. If garden centres are to be opened then why not department stores (not there are many of those left now)?

Opening them will make social distancing a distant memory. People will meet up with others they haven't seen for months and stop to have a good natter and the queues will be horrific.

I've been buying my plants online so no need to visit one anytime soon. Hopefully they'll quieten down after a couple of weeks and then I can have a peruse....

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I thought most of those were parked up in the Philippines.

I've just been to do a shop in Weymouth Aldi. Something I've never seen before driving on the esplanade. 

5 ocean liners anchored in the bay and looking incredible in the Corona morning light.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-2.369/centery:50.606/zoom:14

 

Aurora

Arcadia

Oceana

Queen Mary

Ventura

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My lasting memory of garden centres is that walkways once inside are generally quite narrow. Perhaps their more modern these days.

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Agreed. My local one sells books, kitchenwares, food, fresh meats, clothes, greetings cards etc, booze! 

Yes, the café is the main hub, but I assume the same people will still come to have a look around for people they know to say hello

In this part of the world, it is the elderly (and Popular Jo's motley crew of saggy male tag teamsters) who are ignoring the lockdown. They think it is all a big joke that younger people are 'too frightened to go out'. I imagine the garden centres will be visions of hell when they open. I pity anybody who works at one.

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It is hardly empirical but European countries which locked down early (France, Spain and, to a lesser extent, Italy) have fared considerably better than others (er, the UK). What is more concerning is that infections in this country appear to be plateauing while they are falling elsewhere and I suspect this may be because the lockdown has frayed considerably here. As I said, this is not anything like empirical but it suggests to me that lockdowns have worked.

I think the biggest among a number of failures in the UK has been the care home scandal. In terms of wider society I don't think we've done any worse than France, Italy or Spain. Other countries with less strict lockdowns have fared better both with the virus itself and the devastating effect on the economy. 

The crucial question regarding infection rates is what percentage are in hospitals/care homes and what are in wider society? If the majority are in the former groups then it's less worrying: if they're not...

 

I've just been to do a shop in Weymouth Aldi. Something I've never seen before driving on the esplanade. 

5 ocean liners anchored in the bay and looking incredible in the Corona morning light.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-2.369/centery:50.606/zoom:14

 

Aurora

Arcadia

Oceana

Queen Mary

Ventura

Oh, more than I thought. I knew there were loads moored in the bay outside Manila.

https://www.cruisehive.com/almost-a-dozen-cruise-ships-anchored-in-manila-bay-in-one-day/39401

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