A massive rave was piloted to see what happens when you completely drop all restrictions and allow hundreds of people to gather in one place to sing, dance and - presumably - take a few drugs to help them get through the night.
A few more unrestricted events culminated in the European Cup Final, where 60,000 unmasked people gathered in one place to go wild with excitement. We will not get the data from Wembley for a couple of weeks. Actually, we will not get the data ever.
B.J. purports to want to do away with the nanny state he has been presiding over for the last couple of years, but can you imagine anything more like a nanny state than one which deliberately withholds important information from its children on the grounds they would not know what to do with it?
When exactly did BJ actually listen to the scientists?
ReplyDeleteI think he began by listening because he was completely at sea and desperately needed advice. Then he began to pick and choose as the vaccine was rolled out. Pretty soon he was lobbied by businesses who were losing money and the treasury who were dolling it out. Now he feels confident enough to put out his own conflicting edicts which nobody can accurately interpret - not the supermarkets, not the police, not the hospitality sector, not the transport sector, not the NHS - not even his own ministers. We are on our own now and bracing ourselves for the inevitable. If the statistics were good, he would be crowing about them. He isn't.
DeleteIt is my plan to write about this tomorrow, your final paragraph that is.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to it.
DeleteToday, in the US, it is a pandemic among those not vaccinated. Mostly younger people. Age 12 and up qualify for the vaccine. Those diagnosed positive show the Delta virus. This is widely known. Mobile vaccination operations are going far and wide to make getting the vaccine easy and free. In my opinion, politicians say whatever they "think" is most advantageous to them and factoring this in (for me) is important.
ReplyDeleteOur Health Minister has just tested positive and is ill, even though he has had two doses of the vaccine. Our test and trace system has just gone haywire, and hundreds of thousands of people are being told to stay at home because they have been somewhere near a positive case in the last 24 hours. The Prime Minister has been told to isolate as has another minister, because they spent time with the Health Minister, but they are not going to. They will take daily tests instead. The last time B.J. was ill with Covid, things went rather well.
DeleteInteresting article on the whole thing in Saturday's Times magazine.
ReplyDeleteI may try to find it Weave.
DeleteAutomatic pilot. Pilot light.
ReplyDeleteGone out?
DeleteCan't wait to assess tomorrow's blog comments from all the self-appointed experts on the subject and see if I agree with any of them.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the whole gist of this post has escaped you - again - Derek, it being that the genuine self-appointed experts who have found themselves in the unenviable position of having to make any decision at all - right or wrong - do not seem able to decide anything. The latest u-turn tonight is that Boris and the Chancellor will, after all, go into isolation as a result of the Health Minister's positive test. They are a shower.
DeleteAnyway, I too look forward to your pronouncement about your fellow blogger's opinions tomorrow, if you have the courage to tell us.
If I had to isola thante can't think of a more pleasant place to isolate than Chequers = better than in an inner London flat with half a dozen kids round you any day - he spread his eleven or how many he isreputed to have out a bit .
ReplyDeleteMost people would spend a lot of money for a six day break at Chequers if they could afford it. Butlers and everything. The best bit for B.J. is that none of his extended family are allowed to be there at the same time. Bliss.
DeleteWhat to do, what to do? Even down here at ground level we are not on the same field.
ReplyDeleteToday, as predicted, older people are wearing masks and the under 40s aren't. No herd immunity in sight.
DeleteYou give the impression that while Self Isolating our Prime Minister will be sitting with his feet up and napping. This may well be what a load of people do but I am sure that BJ will be working on line and just not having face to face meetings with Staff and Collegues. Be this in the No 10 flat or Chequers.
ReplyDeleteOf course he will - like every other office worker has been doing for months. I didn't give the impression that he wouldn't be, I just thought that the isolation at Chequers would be from reality as much as society.
DeleteI had an email from the CEO of Tesco.....ha ha!
ReplyDeleteThey are continuing to advise the use of masks, social distancing and the hand gel dotted around the store. Very sensible. The question is, will the customers be sensible? I'm sure that many, like me, have no wish to either catch or spread the virus but if you add the deniers and the anti vaxers to those that believe it must all be over, we could be in the minority. People need guidance and to be led from the top. Ha ha again.
The under 40s will not wear masks. I wish there was an authority worth rebelling against.
DeleteI am so sick, and exhausted by of the whole business - but I couldn't agree more bout the nanny state.
ReplyDeleteWe need to think very carefully about a system that withholds information (how can democracy function in that case) even if for supposedly benign purposes. The same is true of the behavioural psychologists - there is fine line between nudge and propaganda, especially when you are also withholding data.
The moral implications of the pandemic are also vast and yet little debated - where are the prominent ethicists in all this; who has heard their voices?
It will all be conducted with the benefit of hindsight.
DeleteI will cut my cloth accordingly
ReplyDeleteWork will be unchanged for me , PPE still applies
By law in wales masks are mandatory inside until our review in Aug
We can meet 6 people indoors yeah like I know 6 people together
Wales is taking a much more sensible approach. All we get is shit like 'freedom day '. Boris wants the youth vote.
DeleteHe want to blame the population if a third wave hits home
DeleteI despise Cummings and I despise BJ and his crew. They are the worst thing that British politics has had to offer for generations. They stink. All that money. So many lives. Your 3% pay rise is going to be paid for by your hospital. Cunts.
DeleteNow the dozy sod has seen last night's mayhem, he is planning ahead by suggesting Covid passports for nightclubs - in September. Christ, is there nothing he can accomplish in good time without harassment from Labour and more sensible people?
ReplyDelete