Tuesday 22nd December 2020

[refitman]

Morning all.

[gilsey]

Good morning.

David Henig
@DavidHenigUK
Replying to
@DavidHenigUK
You have the sense with this government of an almost total absence of knowledge about how the world works. That global trade involves a constant in and outflow of goods and people. That there are constant problems needing solving. You don't just sign an FTA and everything sorted.

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[AnatolyKasparov]

Been to supermarkets twice in the last 24 hours. Busy, but not ridiculously so (especially given the time of year)

Just thought I would mention that given that #panicbuying is currently trending on Twitter.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Stacks and stacks of lovely produce at our local greengrocers.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

It does sound like deliveries are very busy though, both from local shops and supermarkets.

[Willow904]

If our local Tesco is anything to go by, people aren't panic buying because they've been stocking up for Christmas for the last two months and already have enough food to feed an army through to February.
The only "panic buyers" are those suddenly facing Christmas at home who didn't get anything in because they were expecting to eat Christmas dinner elsewhere. Maybe if they'd had an early warning there was a possibility they wouldn't be able to mix households this year, they might have been more prepared, but it seems the media prefer the narrative they're "panicking" for no reason.....I wonder why....

[PorFavor]

Good morfternoon.

Not for those of a nervous disposition:

World's media ask how it went so wrong for 'Plague Island' Britain

Boris Johnson comes under fire as countries suspend travel from UK over new Covid variant (Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... tain-covid

[PorFavor]

Stacks and stacks of lovely produce at our local greengrocers.

And next door at the conveni-market, lashings of ginger beer!

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Ha!

[PaulfromYorkshire]

I just got myself a one gallon mini-keg of Farmers Blonde (from just outside Sheffield) as my Christmas drink treat

[PaulfromYorkshire]

“Royal Mail has suspended all mail services to Europe and delivery company DHL has suspended all road and sea deliveries into the UK.“

ITV

[AnatolyKasparov]

Good morfternoon.

Not for those of a nervous disposition:

World's media ask how it went so wrong for 'Plague Island' Britain

Boris Johnson comes under fire as countries suspend travel from UK over new Covid variant (Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... tain-covid

Just old enough to remember the "Sick Man Of Europe" discourse around the UK on the continent come the Winter Of Discontent.

History might not often completely repeat itself, but......

[tinyclanger2]

Am watching GLOW on Netflix which, with the exception of episode 2 is attracting my attention. It came to minde that Farmers Blonde could be easily be a character off of it (hence the apparently non-sequitive intervention).

[tinyclanger2]

Kind of a pity they didn't seal of China in the same way last February. Without being a professional epidemiologist I did wonder at the time why that wasn't considered.

[RogerOThornhill]

Afternoon all.

Well, Savacentre was pretty packed but then presents for 'Er indoors had to be got somehow - yes, I was one of the people who decided to leave it until this Monday...

Anyway...back home and 'Er indoors has had a call to Occupational Health with the result that she can return to work!

If she'd had the op back last march she would have been back 6 months ago or more but events dear boy, events...

[PaulfromYorkshire]

@TC China has many land borders, so significantly harder. I guess also by the time the word pandemic was being uttered, it was too late.

[RogerOThornhill]

About the new life peers...

Sam Freedman
@Samfr
·
2h
Dan Hannan and Dean Godson made peers. Failing upwards really is a viable career path if you're friends with the right people.


I know cronyism in politics is hardly a new thing but when you think of all the people who could actually add value to public life being passed over for these talentless hacks... it's so grim.

Quite.

Lord Hannan.

Bloody hell...

[tinyclanger2]

@TC China has many land borders, so significantly harder. I guess also by the time the word pandemic was being uttered, it was too late.

V true - but i was nevertheless surprised by the casualness with which my colleagues continued to fly around the planet even once it had started. Plus it pretty obviously had very signficant behavioural differences from SARS, MERS and Ebola, well before WHO called it.

[RogerOThornhill]

This is good from Kate Green and Wes Streeting.

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[PorFavor]

Plans for 30-minute Covid testing in England halted amid accuracy fears

Exclusive: government shelves Christmas rollout of lateral flow test centres

The government has shelved plans to open rapid-turnaround coronavirus test centres across England over Christmas amid concerns from public health experts about the accuracy of their results, the Guardian has learned.

Ministers had planned to convert a number of existing testing sites into centres for lateral flow tests, which provide results in 30 minutes, to help cope with an anticipated surge in demand.

However, the scheme was halted last week after concerns were raised by directors of public health about the accuracy of the tests and the potential false reassurance given to people who test negative. A government source said the planned rollout “proved unnecessary”.

The development is a blow to the UK government’s £100bn “Operation Moonshot” mass-testing plan, which aims to increase the number of tests carried out each day from 430,000 to 10m by early next year.

It also raises questions about the plan to rapidly test lorry drivers taking goods across the Channel, which is one of the UK government’s proposed solutions to bring an end to the disruption at Britain’s ports. (Guardian - my emphasis)

Well, at least Boris Johnson was right about something being "all over by Christmas".

No wonder the French aren't happy about the attempt to palm this off on them (apparently Emmanuel Macron has been unhappy about the Government's attempt to palm this method of testing off on them.)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... racy-fears

[Willow904]

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Welsh Government
@WelshGovernment
Were you previously shielding?

We’ve updated our advice. You should no longer attend work or school outside the home.

This follows a significant rise in infection rates, possibly due to a new strain of coronavirus.
3:29 PM · Dec 22, 2020

[AnatolyKasparov]

This is good from Kate Green and Wes Streeting.

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Streeting has been decent as a front bencher this year, credit where its due. And it might also mean he has less time to indulge in factional rubbish

[RogerOThornhill]

The Lords Speaker is not happy about the number of new Peers...

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[RogerOThornhill]

Ahead of the curve...not on shaking hands though obviously.

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[Willow904]

https://www.ft.com/content/290c234b-e8e ... ada5a633d9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Guess whose Christmas isn’t cancelled?
Boris and Carrie could still legally have a rather merry Christmas if they wanted to.

Any household with a baby under one can create a support bubble with any other household from any tier - alongside the more obvious exceptions we already knew about such as single, vulnerable people, single parents, parents of disabled children etc, Boris and Carrie and little Johnson will be legally allowed to spend Christmas with another household rather than on their own like the rest of London.

[PorFavor]

NHS leaders raise concerns over pace of Covid vaccine rollout

Exclusive: more than half of hospital trusts in England yet to receive supplies as variant spreads

Experts also demanded greater transparency from ministers on how many doses are available.
(Guardian)

They've surely not cocked it up\lied again. Or have they?


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... ne-rollout

[AnatolyKasparov]

Well, based on their past record - what's your gut feeling?

[gilsey]

(apparently Emmanuel Macron has been unhappy about the Government's attempt to palm this method of testing off on them.)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... racy-fears

PCR tests required, how long will it take to even get started, and then 24-48 hours for a result, those drivers are going to be in Kent for a while. Apparently Manston is 20 miles from Dover, not dual carriageway, will take 80 trucks/hour, 400/hour needed to fill the ferries.

Transport disruption at Dover is one No-deal Brexit scenario so the contingency plan should be swinging smoothly into action in no time. Ha.

Incidentally, if Macron had a chance to think this through, he must have gambled on most of these people not being French. You wouldn't want to make them angry.

[PorFavor]

What's this bell-ringing on the doorstep on Christmas Eve? How many people have a handy bell knocking about the house? Needless to say, Boris Johnson reckons he'll be joining in. (And yes, I've already thought of that joke.)

[RogerOThornhill]

Probably not a good idea if Jeremy Hunt gets involved though...

[youtube]xmCtGKwgJ2k[/youtube]

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Ha ha wish I’d thought of posting that.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Up there with this one in the eternally rewatchable category
[youtube]JXJ-rIzutfs[/youtube]

[gilsey]

PCR tests required,

Incidentally, if Macron had a chance to think this through, he must have gambled on most of these people not being French. You wouldn't want to make them angry.

Lateral flow tests will do, apparently. Not very satisfactory from an infection control POV but the only practical solution in the circs.

[RogerOThornhill]

Oh, one of these...

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[PaulfromYorkshire]

Useful update from Jon Stone on Brexit

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