Coronavirus update - NO MORE RESTRICTIONS

[Eric Cartman]

I'd rather go for a drink with Hancock than Cummings but can find it believable that Hancock was (and is) being kept in a job so could be sacked at the right time.

Probably should add that reports suggest Hancock has long backed vaccines to get us out of this mess while others opposed lockdown including, if media reports accurate, Sunak in the autumn/winter.

Really? Cummings has always struck me as a complete oddball. Hancock is just a wannabe bullingdon boy trying to fit in, spit 3ft in the city of London and it will land on 15 guys just like him.

[Eric Cartman]

I struggle to believe factually anything he says, as everybody did when he went to Durham. I read an article today written by someone woo has worked with him who says he has enormous difficulty in actually admitting he is in any way responsible for when something goes wrong even when he is part of the team, and he pointed out that he did exactly the same in the committee, he apologised initially and from then on blamed everyone but himself.
There is almost certainly kernels of truth in what he says but finding them when you take away the bile lack of any admission of real fault and the revenge and you'd be hard pushed to find them.
In a few months he will be forgotten. And if he keeps coming back with more 'Revelations' he will become less and less plausible.
If he felt so strongly about everything why didn't he resign and go to the press at the time? That alone questions his motives if not his veracity.
there may be proof out there, but this modern information world being what it is for every piece of information that says A there will be another that say B.
I wouldn't like to be the person with the job of unravelling it all and coming up with the real answers at the end of it all.

And now I'm going to the pub - - because I can But God knows for how long!

The difference with his complete nonsense about Barnard castle is that a lot of what he says fits incredibly neatly with what we already know:

Doris being an initial covid denier (he pretty clearly was, it's on video)
The mass shifting of old people into care homes being a complete shambles (I can't believe the whole cabinet went along with this knowing the lack of testing)
The ridiculous situation around the 100k test target (tests went up to 100k and down within days it was obviously bullshit)

[surge]

The decades of failure that led to Wales' catastrophic Covid-19 death toll
The underlying factors that made the coronavirus pandemic so much worse than it might have been

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...ophic-20679608

I'm sure there will be similar story in the Guardian but will be interesting to see if papers with more readers do a similar piece for England and Scotland - though the latter has managed much lower peaks really up until this latest period.

[xsnaggle]

I merely questioned what you wrote but your response is rather confusing. And something can be stated verbally, you know.

yes it can but the verbal answer cannot then be shown at a later date, which is what you asked for.
As Sam Goldwyn said, 'A verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on'.

[xsnaggle]

The difference with his complete nonsense about Barnard castle is that a lot of what he says fits incredibly neatly with what we already know:

Doris being an initial covid denier (he pretty clearly was, it's on video)
The mass shifting of old people into care homes being a complete shambles (I can't believe the whole cabinet went along with this knowing the lack of testing)
The ridiculous situation around the 100k test target (tests went up to 100k and down within days it was obviously bullshit)

I know all these things but I fail to see why you feel the need to point them out to me. I have stated my opinion of his trustworthiness his veracity and his goals. It is what it is. Do you think you will change it?

[the other bob wilson]

Throughout the last fifteen months, I’ve been convinced that I’ve been living in one of the areas with the most potential to become one of the worst Covid hotspots in the UK - the same applies to Merthyr a few miles away. Around this time last year, RCT was the worst affected area in the country for a few weeks and Merthyr has had its time at the “top of the league” in the linked table.

Of course, there could be a time when we’re top again, but for weeks now, us and Merthyr have been a lot closer to the bottom of the table than the top. That said, I’ve not seen a week like this one where, out of the near four hundred areas involved, there are only eight with lower rates than RCT and Merthyr.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...inations-today

[Taunton Blue Genie]

yes it can but the verbal answer cannot then be shown at a later date, which is what you asked for.
As Sam Goldwyn said, 'A verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on'.

I didn't ask for a verbal answer to be 'shown' at all. You asserted something and I was interested in the source of your assertion. Many sources are available for a period of time whether they be in the written form or even on the radio - and your assertion clearly referred to the BBC so it is probably easy to trace via BBC iPlayer.

[xsnaggle]

I didn't ask for a verbal answer to be 'shown' at all. You asserted something and I was interested in the source of your assertion. Many sources are available for a period of time whether they be in the written form or even on the radio - and your assertion clearly referred to the BBC so it is probably easy to trace via BBC iP2layer.

i didn't "assert" anything, i just passed comment on what I heard on a live BBC Programme that was being broadcast at the same time as Cummins was being questioned.
Again I'll say that the people on here who demand 'proof' or 'links' whenever they see something they disagree with and who try to make others look foolish whilst having no real opinion themselves are living in an unreal world. If the same people reacted like this to everything that was said to them in real time they'd very soon find themselves with no one to talk to. Can you imagine being for example in a pub and every time someone said something the cry was "Prove it" or "where's the link"?
It's totally ridiculous.

[xsnaggle]

Looking at the news this morning with quotes from this Baroness, it made me wonder what happened with Gethin? Was he elbowed out for arguing with Drakeford? Was it the chips on a park bench? Did he jump or was he pushed? I meant to ask at the time.

He seemed to leave with unseemly haste after the election and I can't see anything he did particularly disastrous. does anybody know?

[surge]

Looking at the news this morning with quotes from this Baroness, it made me wonder what happened with Gethin? Was he elbowed out for arguing with Drakeford? Was it the chips on a park bench? Did he jump or was he pushed? I meant to ask at the time.

He seemed to leave with unseemly haste after the election and I can't see anything he did particularly disastrous. does anybody know?

If Drakeford still plans to step down a la Rhodri Morgan and Carwyn Jones before him then it could just be about giving more than one MS a chance of public facing role before next leadership election.

[Rjk]

If Drakeford still plans to step down a la Rhodri Morgan and Carwyn Jones before him then it could just be about giving more than one MS a chance of public facing role before next leadership election.

Or perhaps giving Gething experience of another major department before he takes over the top job.

[xsnaggle]

If Drakeford still plans to step down a la Rhodri Morgan and Carwyn Jones before him then it could just be about giving more than one MS a chance of public facing role before next leadership election.

I get that but I sort of looked at it the other way, that maybe Drakeford doesn't want Gethin to follow him and so took him out of the spotlight to give people the time to forget his contribution.

Giving him the chance to run another department is also a valid point but again not so high profile. I just wondered if some closer to the Labour party than am I might have known or heard something.

[surge]

FAO people in #Cardiff and the Vale:

@CV_UHB
are asking people who haven't had an invite for a second vaccine 11 weeks after the first to call their phone line on 02921 841234.

https://twitter.com/GillibrandPeter/...18698090553348

Just in case anyone falls into that bracket.

[surge]

Latest figures show Wales has first dosed 85.3% of people above age of 18 and second dosed 45.1%.

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations

[Taunton Blue Genie]

i didn't "assert" anything, i just passed comment on what I heard on a live BBC Programme that was being broadcast at the same time as Cummins was being questioned.
Again I'll say that the people on here who demand 'proof' or 'links' whenever they see something they disagree with and who try to make others look foolish whilst having no real opinion themselves are living in an unreal world. If the same people reacted like this to everything that was said to them in real time they'd very soon find themselves with no one to talk to. Can you imagine being for example in a pub and every time someone said something the cry was "Prove it" or "where's the link"?
It's totally ridiculous.

Why do you assume that someone interested in a subject is trying to make someone else look foolish? What live broadcast was it, by the way?

[xsnaggle]

Why do you assume that someone interested in a subject is trying to make someone else look foolish? What live broadcast was it, by the way?

Because that's the way your posts normally come across.

News at 1 and later PM the same day.

[MOZZER2]

looks like Portugal is coming off the green list on the day over half the adult population has had the 2 doses in England

another blow for the travel industry

With so many fully vaccinated now thought it would open up more destinations not decrease ?

[Wash DC Blue]

looks like Portugal is coming off the green list on the day over half the adult population has had the 2 doses in England

another blow for the travel industry

With so many fully vaccinated now thought it would open up more destinations not decrease ?

It’s a massive blow to the travel industry and also to people’s Mental Health.
Maybe it’s a way of getting people to accept a vaccine passport.

[surge]

looks like Portugal is coming off the green list on the day over half the adult population has had the 2 doses in England

another blow for the travel industry

With so many fully vaccinated now thought it would open up more destinations not decrease ?

"The Government put Portugal on the green list only 2.5 weeks ago..."

Yvette Cooper today. What exactly has changed in 2.5 weeks apart from people booking holidays in Portugal and now either having to cancel without easy access to compensation or go and quarantine?

[blue matt]

If we cannot get away to countries that as safe / similar / less C19 numbers than us, then we really have issues with the future of the travel industry in the UK

with a good % having had 1 or both jabs, its almost at a point that its as good as its going to get for a while

[xsnaggle]

Why do I get the impression again that Wales is going to be kept restricted more than England?
This health Minister talking about this big spike (59 cases) meaning we may have to wait, this despite continuous low hospitalisations and deaths. They seem to be cherry picking the bits of information that suit the narrative they have already decide to follow, which seems a bit arse backwards to me
The hospitality sector is being singled out again with no change to indoor restrictions, which means a lot of places that have no outdoor facilities still cannot make a living. Indoor live music can forget any hope of revival if this goes on.

[Rjk]

Why do I get the impression again that Wales is going to be kept restricted more than England?
This health Minister talking about this big spike (59 cases) meaning we may have to wait, this despite continuous low hospitalisations and deaths. They seem to be cherry picking the bits of information that suit the narrative they have already decide to follow, which seems a bit arse backwards to me
The hospitality sector is being singled out again with no change to indoor restrictions, which means a lot of places that have no outdoor facilities still cannot make a living. Indoor live music can forget any hope of revival if this goes on.

there have been something like 1000 fewer deaths in Wales than if we had the same fatality rate than England has had. So perhaps our more cautious approach has its merits

[xsnaggle]

there have been something like 1000 fewer deaths in Wales than if we had the same fatality rate than England has had. So perhaps our more cautious approach has its merits

Maybe so, or maybe it is because Wales is more rural, I don't know. It seems though as if restaurants and pubs (Which have far stricter controls than shops and other places) are being left behind. Not to mention indoor music venues and nightclubs. We will need to wait and see but I just get the feeling. as I said, that they have already decided to block reopening the country and as choosing the narrative now to justify it later.
I hopw I'm wrong.

[surge]

xsnaggle, good reminder to us all to support our local businesses throughout this and when they're recovering after

"The UK regulator has approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine for 12-15 year olds. It's now up to the JCVI to decide" as per Peter Gillibrand of ITV.

[blue matt]

Not sure what the UK ( i will include all home nations in this ) plan / end game is

I watched a USA news article in Universal studio's theme park a few days ago, it was a big day for them, The end of social distancing, no face masks, its back to normal

yet over here we have another dark shadow lurking in the background ( be it the delta or Thai variant , which they also have in the USA )

The mindset of the 2 countries are a mile apart on life returning to normal