Did Boris’s announcement yesterday that up to six people from different households will be able to gather outside from Monday sound the death knell for the lockdown? It certainly feels that way for those of us who’ve been out and about on this glorious Summer day. Guy de la Bédoyère, who’s contributed many fine things to this site, has sent me a note about a motorcycle ride he took this afternoon. Sounds like things are returning to normal in Middle England…
It’s another afternoon of piercing sunshine in England on the last Friday of May 2020. The trees are in full leaf, the hedges thick and verdant. It’s a day out of one’s childhood, a summer day filled with memories of past times. I pull out one of my vintage motorcycles and set off for a short run through the countryside and villages as a break from a day of proof-reading my next book. Immediately I notice a change from other days in recent weeks. I have to wait to turn onto the main road. An endless stream of cars and vans keep me waiting. What’s this? For weeks I have been able to turn out almost without bothering to look. As I hurtle on I pass the Joint Services Flying School. The carpark is full. More vans and trucks pass me. I reach a crossroads in one of the larger villages and actually have to wait in a small queue. I turn left and pass a garage. Outside a gaggle of eight or nine children aged between 9 and 14 are on their bicycles all gathered together and enjoying a Friday afternoon like no other. It’s half-term of course but these are the days of Covid aren’t they? How many of their parents won’t be sending them back to school any time soon “because it’s not safe”. You could hardly have got 2 metres between the whole crowd of children let alone any two of them. If what some parents say is true and if one of the children is infected they’ll all be dead along with their families in a couple of weeks.
I accelerate on, watching the glint of sunshine on car roofs ahead as they approach me on the other side of the road, each one whizzing past. I head on into a road that crosses National Trust property. The stately home and its gardens are closed but there’s a public footpath and carpark on one side. It’s packed with vehicles, no doubt belonging to furloughed workers and those “working at home”. I have to dodge several joggers on the road, often running in pairs and side by side, adding to the numerous cyclists I’ve passed too (in one instance four of them in a formation barely two metres across), and also more commercial vans: painters, decorators, TV aerial vans, builders and many more. And so on and back home and once more it’s a wait to get back on the main road near my house as the cars churn past. This is the world of those who have gone back to work and those still eking out their time at home or on leisure outings before the Day of Reckoning. Some are going to look back on this as the best of times, and others the worst of times. Either way, the lockdown is dwindling and there’s one unalterable fact about summers – they always come to an end.
More Dodgy Covid Data From the Financial Times
Yesterday, the Financial Times published the above chart purporting to show that countries which had locked down the quickest had a lower excess death toll. I was immediately suspicious because it’s at odds with the numerous other papers and surveys I’ve linked to on this site showing that there’s no statistical correlation between a country’s Covid death toll and whether or not it locked down, the date at which it locked down, and how severe its restrictions are/were.
Today, my financial journalist friend who’s made many contributions to this site got in touch to tell me I was right to be suspicious. The chart is nonsense.
I’ve had a look at yesterday’s Financial Times story by John Burn-Murdoch and Chris Giles suggesting a link between excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic and the speed with which countries entered lockdown. Countries that locked down early had had fewer excess deaths than those which locked down later, according to the story. It confirms the widespread view among the Government’s critics that the UK’s high death rate is linked to Boris Johnson’s tardy decision to enter lockdown. A chart was published alongside the piece showing a near perfect correlation between the estimated number of infections on lockdown day and the total number of excess deaths (see below). To drive this point home, the chart’s title read: “Locking down in the early stages of the spread of the virus is linked to a reduced excess death toll.”
A sceptic might have marvelled at such a good statistical fit, particularly as we’ve never seen it before. A second sceptical thought suggested itself to me: how had the FT estimated its lockdown day infections? The methodology wasn’t explained. Still, if the data were correct, it was game over for the lockdown sceptics. At last, there appeared to be definitive statistical evidence that lockdowns saved lives.
Later in the day, however, the pink paper pulled its original chart and replaced it with a new chart [the one at the top of this article]. The new chart showed the total excess deaths per million of the population against the estimated lockdown infections per million of the population. That seemed like a sensible way of comparing countries with different population sizes. This chart carried the same title as the original and supposedly showed the same thing – the earlier a country locked down, the lower its Covid death toll.
But the data told a completely different story. The link between lockdown day infections and deaths had broken down. The US, for instance, had a much greater infection rate on lockdown day (30 infections per million) than the Netherlands (7.5 per million), but suffered far fewer excess deaths. Although the new FT chart had a regression line drawn through the data points, it was clear that there was no statistical correlation between estimated lockdown infections and a country’s excess deaths. You can see from looking at the FT’s scatter plot that the regression coefficient (R-squared) for its new, revised chart is very low and not statistically meaningful. Most of the dots are quite far away from the regression line, whereas in the first chart the dots all cluster around the line.
In fact, the new chart appears to support the recent claim from the Norwegian Health Ministry that there is no evidence that Norway’s own lockdown saved lives. Yet the FT’s original text was not revised to reflect this profound change. Instead, a note was added to the bottom of the article, stating: “This article has been modified to replace a chart linking excess deaths to lockdown dates with one linking excess deaths per million.” A puzzling comment and hardly a proper retraction. Later on the same day, the headline was changed again to account for new data which showed that Spain, rather than the UK, had the highest excess death rate in Europe.
I ran the FT’s data on excess deaths against the Blavatnik index of lockdown severity (from the end of April). In the chart I came up with, the Regression score (R-squared) is 0.16 which is STATISTICALLY MEANINGLESS. Thus, from the FT’s own data it appears that lockdown stringency has had no meaningful impact on excess deaths in either Europe or the US.
Recalculating the UK’s IFR Based On the ONS’s Antibody Survey
Yesterday, I did a back-of-envelope calculation to work out the infection fatality rate (IFR) in the UK based on the just-released results of the ONS’s seroprevalence survey which estimates that 6.78% of the population has antibodies. The survey didn’t include people in hospitals or care homes, just those “in the community”. Consequently, I stripped out the deaths that have occurred in care homes from the latest UK totals, but not hospitals, assuming that the people who’ve died in hospitals were originally “in the community”. I ended up with an IFR of 0.82% and because this is so at odds with the latest CDC estimate I concluded that either the numerator or the denominator must be wrong.
However, the number-crunching genius Alistair Haimes has been in touch to say I miscalculated.
Just gone through your calculation of the UK IFR from yesterday – I’d actually used those results and got to an IFR of 0.25% which is strikingly close to the CDC’s estimate of 0.26%.
You need to make the following changes to your calculation:
1. You assumed that only 21% of deaths are care home residents based on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control data, but actually ONS figures show it’s 37.4% (as at May 1st: 12,526 care home residents out of the 33,480 Covid deaths til then = 37.4%). Very sneakily, the ONS only generally shows “care home deaths” as those where the death is actually inside the care home, but in a release on May 15th they also include care home residents in England and Wales who die in hospital.
2. You also need to remove infections acquired in hospitals, where the percentage of infected people is far higher than “in the community”. That is “somewhere between 10% and 20%” according to the NHS figures from recent Guardian article. Say mid-way, 15%.
3. If we deduct those care home deaths (37.4% of 47,343 is 17,706) and those who caught the virus in hospital (15% of 47,343 is ~7,000), the total number of deaths “in the community” comes to 22,637.
4. Having sorted out the numerator, you now need to look at the denominator. That means accounting for the percentage of people who fight off the virus (so should be included in the number who’ve been infected) using antibodies from other coronaviruses. According to the implications of this article in Cell, you might well have to double the percentage of the population testing positive for antibodies in a seroprevalence survey to get the true figure. That means doubling the 6.78% to 13.56%. 13.5% x 67 million = 9,085,200.
5. So what’s the IFR? 9,085,200 ÷ 22,637 = 401.34 and 100 ÷ 401.34 = 0.249, so an IFR of ~0.25%.
Canadian Columnist Fired For Covid Dissent
Brian Jones, a columnist for a Canadian newspaper called the St John’s Telegram, has lost his weekly gig after writing a piece in which he pointed out that public sector workers in Canada are having an easier time of it during lockdown than private sector employes. The former have been furloughed on full pay, while the latter are expected to subsist on $2,000 a month. Here’s an extract:
It is more proof, as if any were needed, that Government workers enjoy a special status paid for by everyone else, even by people who lose jobs and then receive a measly $2,000 per month.
A laughable explanation is that Government employees are working from home, when possible. Please. Civil servants move at half speed even when they’re in the workplace.
Although, to give them their due, there were credible reports of Transportation and Works employees taking shovels home so they could lean on them in their living rooms.
Needless to say, this provoked a storm on Canadian Twitter, with hundreds of outraged readers demanding that Jones be fired for wrongthink. So what did the Telegram‘s editors do? Tell the hashtag activists to take a running jump? Alas not. They fired the heretical columnist. Here’s how they announced the decision – on Twitter, naturally:
Dear Readers, as a daily news publication we aim to offer you an informative mix of features, news, fun diversions and diverse opinions. With opinions, in particular, sometimes we push the edges and explore unpopular opinions. When we go too far, you tell us.
We’re always grateful for that. This week, you stepped up once again with scores of readers responding to Brian Jones’s May 20th column. Your feedback was an important gauge for us and for him, and, in response, he has decided that that this week’s column will be his last.
As excuses go, that’s right up there with being told your opinions “violate our Community Guidelines”. Solidarity, brother.
Dodgy Death Statistics
A reader provides yet another anecdote of a doctor ascribing a death to COVID-19 when it clearly wasn’t. I get a lot of these.
I met up with a friend of mine the other day and he mentioned he had spoken to a mutual friend of ours the other week. He said that our friend’s gran sadly passed away in a care home the other week. However, on the death certificate – you guessed it – cause of death COVID-19.
She tested positive six weeks ago, recovered form the virus (two Covid tests to confirm she was negative) the following week. Then sadly she died last week as she was very unwell before hand.
I don’t understand how the cause of death can be COVID-19 after testing negative to show she had fought the virus off, she can pass away a month later and then have her death go down as a Covid death?
Donor-Conceived Babies Cannot Find Out Who Their Biological Parents Are
Following last week’s news that it’s nigh-on impossible to register a new birth at the moment – because of the lockdown, natch – a reader has contacted me to point out that donor-conceived people cannot obtain any information about who their biological parents are while the crisis continues.
A notice on the website of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority informs people that: “Due to COVID-19, we cannot currently process any applications for information.” It blames it on the fact that fertility clinics, which it depends on to help it access this information, are not “fully operational”. It then adds: “We estimate it will be several months before sufficient support is available across the sector to enable the… services to restart.”
President of Tanzania is Sceptic of the Week
Among the heroes to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, Dr John Pombe Magufuli, the President of Tanzania, is one of the least likely. Yet hero he is, having sacked his chief health advisor after a goat and a papaya tested positive for COVID-19 in the Government lab, and refused to lockdown the country. According to Worldometers, the death toll in Tanzania currently stands at 21. That’s since the beginning of the year, not in the last 24 hours.
In his latest audacious move, President Magufuli has banned face masks, as well as ordered schools and businesses to reopen. He also recently told the American envoy to Tanzania not to “cause panic” after the American embassy in the capital, Dar es Salaam, wrongly claimed that the chances of contracting the virus were “extremely high”.
Top man.
An American in London Writes…
Nice blog post from the writer Michael Hurley about what it’s like being an American ex-pat living in London during lockdown. It’s entitled “Land of Fear and Loathing“. He’s one of us, but more pessimistic than me. Here are a couple of paragraphs:
Unlike some, I do not kindle hope that the many able commentators who keep pointing out the continuing tragedy of the lockdown policy and the absurdity of the “new normal” of social distancing will eventually win the argument with their fellow Britons. There is no argument to be won. As the American cartoon character Pogo would say, “I have met the enemy, and he is us.”
We are the new normal. We are not the people our grandparents were. We are the ones eagerly participating in this extravagant charade that we are all about to die from shaking hands with our neighbours or walking outside without a mask. We have the power to choose the kind of society we live in by refusing to give aid and comfort to the scaremongers through our silence. Too many of us simply refuse to speak.
Worth reading the whole thing.
Sign Petition to Get Club Cricket Back Up and Running
A reader sent me this Change.org petition calling on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to stop being such big girls blouses and allow county cricket to restart. The ECB recently announced a further delay to the start of the professional domestic cricket season, with no domestic cricket to be played until August. As the author of the petition writes:
I’m urging people to sign this petition and plead with the ECB/UK Government to work hard at making all forms of recreational cricket matches possible from early July 2020.
No cricket season in 2020 will have a major effect on many clubs across the country financially.
No cricket at club level this year could see participation levels and interest in the sport drop which is not what anyone wishes to see especially within the younger generation.
Please sign the petition.
In Wales, the First Minister is Granting People “Permission” to Leave Their Homes!
I got an email from a disgruntled reader in Wales following yesterday’s announcement by the First Minister about the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Had to comment on the latest measures here in Wales which tells us that we’re allowed to leave our homes, but have to stay local and within five miles. I do understand that the FM has said there’s room for interpretation as we do not have a bus within five miles of here, never mind a shop or a relation. But will the police give us this same latitude?
One thing that really annoyed me though was his use of the phrase “we are offering people permission…” Sorry? I thought this was a free country? I understand we have emergency powers in place, but shouldn’t the politicians be talking about “we are returning some of the civil liberties we have withdrawn” instead?
I think if I were to write down the emotion I feel whenever I hear such words as “permission” being used, it would be GRRRRR.
“It’s all bullshit,” says Russia’s Head of Coronavirus Information
In Russia, the doctor and television presenter Alexander Myasnikov has been given the task of informing the Russian people about coronavirus treatment and prevention methods and to battle “fake news” about COVID-19. He recently called the country’s reported low death rate a “Russian miracle”. But in a moment of candour, when he thought he was off air, he blurted out the truth, according to the Moscow Times.
In an interview that aired Wednesday, Myasnikov gestured for the cameras to stop running and said candidly: “It’s all bullsh*t.”
“It’s all exaggerated. It’s an acute respiratory disease with minimal mortality,” he told television personality Ksenia Sobchak in the interview for her YouTube project.
“Why has the whole world been destroyed? That I don’t know,” Myasnikov said.
Round-Up
And on to the round-up of all the stories I’ve noticed, or which have been been brought to my attention, in the last 24 hours:
- ‘Prevalence of “silent” COVID-19 infection may be higher than thought‘ – Article in a medical journal pointing out that 80% of passengers on a cruise ship infected with Covid were asymptomatic
- ‘Why No One Can Explain the Drop in Coronavirus Cases in Israel‘ – Meirav Arlosoroff points out that the number of new cases has fallen in Israel since lockdown was eased, contrary to the prediction of many. Why were the experts’ models so mistaken?
- ‘Let’s learn from this pandemic to be better prepared for the really big one‘ – Professor Ramesh Thakur on the rise and fall of coronavirus modelling
- ‘Japan’s Covid success is a mystery‘ – Philip Patrick in the Spectator marvels at well Japan has navigated the crisis, with no lockdown
- ‘Was the lockdown worth it?‘ – Inaya Folarin asks a question to which the answer is no in Spiked
- ‘Easyjet’s 30% cut in jobs bigger than feared‘ – Job losses at EasyJet continue to mount
- ‘Car production fell to just 197 vehicles in April‘ – Things aren’t looking good for the British motor industry, reports the Times
- ‘Bodyguards for Italian leaders amid anger at economic woe‘ – Will Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings soon require the same service?’
- ‘Seven in ten testing positive show no symptoms‘ – More data from yesterday’s ONS survey
- ‘People asked to self-isolate will not be told name of informant amid fears of reprisals‘ – The Telegraph reports on precautions being taken to protect Covid informants to Matt Hancock’s test-and-trace task force. But won’t this increase the likelihood of vexatious reports?
- ‘Extent of Covid-19 Deaths Failed to Be Captured by Most Countries‘ – The Wall St Journal delves into the dodgy Covid death statistics
Small Businesses That Have Reopened
A couple of weeks ago, Lockdown Sceptics launched a searchable directory of open businesses across the UK. The idea is to celebrate those retail and hospitality businesses that have reopened, as well as help people find out what has opened in their area. But we need your help to build it, so we’ve created a form you can fill out to tell us about those businesses that have opened near you. Please visit the page and let us know about those brave folk who are doing their bit to get our country back on its feet.
Shameless Begging Bit
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation in the last 24 hours to pay for the upkeep of this site. It still takes me about nine hours a day, what with doing these updates, moderating your comments and commissioning original material. If you feel like donating, however paltry the amount, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in tomorrow’s update, email me here.
And Finally…
This picture is for fans of the John Carpenter movie They Live, a cult classic about how aliens are living among us and use subliminal messages to ensure compliance with their diabolical plans. To most people in the film, they appear normal. But occasionally they get to see what the aliens really look like…
For more on the psychological techniques being used by the Government to control the population, see this YouTube video by Dr Vernon Coleman. Watch it before it’s taken down…
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
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Things won’t be close to normal until all kids go back to school and the parents can go back to work!
I agree. It’s great to see people out and about and socialising, in groups of bigger than 6. But we’re being thrown morsels really and we can’t be satisifed until the Coronavirus Act is off the statute books and social distancing rules that will screw up every organisation and business that needs to follow them are scrapped.
For example, just got this from my local Freecycle group:
“All posts must describe how social distancing will be done”
*rolls eyes*
Is social distancing necessary on bikes?
Freecycle is a recycling group, notting to do with bikes!
Lol ok
Like….. Does this mean people get together to sort their rubbish?
i used to recycle but now the dump is closed i’m feeling like fly tipping. I won’t because i don’t want to bother any one else land but i tell you it’s tempting
Well that’s me off Freecycle
I was going to say what a load of cricket balls.
Why would I gift something to someone which is no longer any use to me, if I think it can kill someone.
I can see it now, someone comes to collect a piece of furniture, before they put it in their vehicle to take it away they wash it down with neat Dettol, and they are in full head to toe PPE.
WAKE UP PEOPLE
And until this distancing nonsense is ignored it will never feel normal.
Some snippets from today’s govt. briefing:
“NHS England’s medical director Stephen Powis gives some details on public observance of lockdown rules and guidance from an official survey.
He says 29% of people are using a face covering outside their home.”
Hmm. Maybe in cities? Been out all day in my town and in the park – I would say that figure is closer to 2.9%.
BBC, piece about number of fines issued for lockdown breaches: “Social distancing of two metres still has to be observed, although police do not enforce this guidance because it has not been written into the law.”
So 2 metres “has to be observed” but it’s not the law? How has the BBC sunk so low.
“There’s a question about whether total costs of the furlough and self-employed schemes will be £100bn over eight months.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak says it is difficult to give a “precise estimate” at this stage, and points to figures from the Office of Budget Responsibility.”
Well, how about a rough estimate then? Never mind – why would we expect the Chancellor of the Exchequer of one of the world’s most “advanced” nations to know how much of other people’s money he was wasting?
How has the BBC sunk so low.
The BBC has its hands tied pretty tightly, as the recent clampdown on Newsnight clearly demonstrates. I prefer to think that it keeps sneaking in tiny cracks and hoping people will spot them.
Having said that, I’ve been so disgusted with the blatant propaganda I’ve been having very serious doubts whether to renew my tv licence this weekend.
Well, they don’t seem so tightly tied that they can’t attack the government over PPE, or Cummings, among other things. They’ve just not questioned the basic narrative – but then again hardly anyone else has either. They are only going along with this supposedly Conservative goverment while it fawns over the NHS, pays people to do nothing, and overreacts to the crisis.
They still have to satisfy Ofcom ATEOTD – not that that particularly matters cause the print press have largely been on the same train. Hence – the pretend adversarial stance towards the gvt. I say pretend because as you say the REAL opposition is opposition to the lockdown policy itself, not all this nitpicking round the edges on relatively small issues. As I’ve said before the BBC actually permits the gvt. to use it as an organ of… well basically propaganda ‘in times of crisis’ (hence Orwell’s digust when he worked for them during the war), so they tow the line incredibly well when it comes to ‘national security’ issues / terrorism / ‘crises’ etc. They’re totally on board when it comes to gvt policy in the round, so they have to feign opposition by reducing debate to that very narrow Overton window of ‘right policy, wrong implementation’. Hence – lockdown wasn’t early enough, lockdown wasn’t hard enough, not enough PPE, blablabla. The only thing they’ve rightfully zoned in on is the care home scandal, but even that hasn’t been concentrated on in the way it should – they really haven’t focused at all on the fact that the policy… Read more »
I haven’t had a TV for years. Haven’t missed it. The odd sports event, perhaps, but nothing else.
Me too. I was going to ask if anyone else had done it as a result of the fear porn and how much hassle it was.
You get letters from Crapita. Err, that’s it.
No, I’ve had 3 visits in 9 years.
Tell them to get lost! Stand up for yourself man.
Cool ! I’ve always wanted a visit. Have been telly/licence free for around 12 years, and no visit. 🙁 We are pretty rural, are you in a town or city, Martin ?
My (Ukrainian) wife has been taught what to say should they ever darken our door – “Please leave immediately.”.
Got ride of the licence years ago. Plenty of other things to watch aside from the BBC.
I ditched mine a few years back
Not had a telly for years now and have boycotted the MSM for a long time too.
My TV licence expired at the end of April and I did not renew. Absolutely the correct decision. I don’t really watch TV though, just movies and series through Netflix etc.
The propaganda is awful.
Do not pay them to propagandise you and whoever else watches your television!
Better still give it up. You will feel much better.
I suspect many of the furloughed workers who’ve been paid today would have been chuckling all the way back from the off-licence as they prepare for another day supping ice cold lager in the sun.
Little do thousands of them know that their employers are already drawing up redundancy plans!
Couldn’t agree more Julian. I’m up in Yorkshire and would calculate fewer than 5% are wearing masks.
Just where do these estimates originate!
I thought the whole point about an estimate was that it wasn’t precise, that’s why it’s estimated.
I would estimate 5-10% here in St Albans. It’s usually the 20 somethings.
Even if the FT’s correlation did exist it doesn’t change anything. At some point you have to come out of the lockdown whereupon everything is the same apart from you now have a few million more unemployed people.
The only viable strategies are and always were TTT and herd immunity + protect the vulnerable. It was too late for the former and the UK is far too incompetent anyway.
Toby’s piece about the IFR calculated from seroprevalence studies (his revised figure is 0.25%) seems to me to be plain wrong. The ONS estimated that 6.78% of the population have antibodies but if only that small percentage have had the disease, why is the epidemic behaving as if the population is approaching herd immunity? We know that many people, maybe as many as 50%, clear Covid without developing antibodies. As previously discussed here there have been studies (Prof Shane Crotty in La Jolla for example) that have found T-cell mediated immunity to Covid which is presumed to be cross-reactivity from previous exposure to other coronaviruses e.g. the common cold. I think the IFR is going to turn out to be much lower than the 0.25% Toby calculates.
Most seroprevalence studies wind up with an IFR of around 0.2% on the assumption that everyone exposed has antibodies. This means that the true IFR is probably quite a bit lower than that.
But it’s fairly reasonable to assume that a “has antibodies fatality ratio” should be around 0.2%. When it comes out as 0.7% or so you need to look closely at whether the infection rate outside the hospitals and care homes is representative of the infection rate inside them.
Toby’s corrections to get to about 0.25% (by compensating for nosocomial infections) look reasonable because he’s comparing like for like.
So WHY are we still locked down?! Surely Whitty etc know all this? They seem like reasonable people! What’s the issue?
I think the main reasons are:
1) The govt know they have messed a few major things up (care homes, PPE, track and trace) and are petrified of messing anything else up (though they are trying their best to do so
2) Having made such a song and dance about lockdown, saying it was a bit of a waste of time would make them look very silly indeed
3) Public opinion is still probably only just in favour of lockdown. The relaxation in restrictions they are introducing seem to be running a week or two behind the public ignoring them. They are scared to be seen to be going too fast.
Point being it’s politically motivated not pulbic health motivated.
But then, so was the original lockdown, so…..
You’re assuming the lockdown had anything to do with a virus in the first place.
Well yes, there is that…
They’re enjoying their moment of fame and don’t want their legacy as being seen to be responsible for The Big Corona Cock-Up.
So what would you do?
You’d stay on-message, come over all THE (manipulated selective) SCIENCE, play the AVOID THE SECOND WAVE card by recommending a VERY gradual Unlockdown, and look forward to your Knighthood and thanks from A GRATEFUL NATION delivered by you, from CERTAIN DEATH.
Tosser.
Yup. Can’t be cut off from that juicy gvt funding
Love that word! 😂
Can we deliver them TO certain death?
Didn’t mean that.
Not really.
No.
Ex-fucking-actly
Yes. The ‘dissenting’ wag from SAGE re the relaxation of guidelines, was given time on rad 4 news and quoted the 1% or 0.5% IFR in order to predict future daily deaths based on number of current cases. So it’s like we can’t have anyone die now?? That was never the plan!!
They’re all fixed on the belief a second wave will come. That’s the problem with scientists now. They’re almost incapable of detaching themselves from the theory even if reality is punching them in the face.
They’ve believed their own propaganda
Because it’s the agenda they have been told to follow.
If the ridiculously ‘soft’ revised furlough terms and timetable are anything to go by, this Government is simply not serious about getting folk back to work. They will remain as ‘scared’ to return as Rishi pays them to be, particularly given the weather!
My thoughts too. I suspect there will not be much impetus to open schools from Monday either.
I just don’t know wtf planet Boris et al think they -and we- are all living on.
Are we suddenly inhabiting a new world where jobs just magically reappear after being lost and children miraculously learn via osmosis?
Not sure they ever learned that much at school in the first place. But it’s good for them to play with each other and good for their parents to get rid of them for a bit.
School’s main function is as a childminding service now that, in so many cases, both parents need to work to keep a roof over their family’s heads.
I sometimes think we should be praying for rain and not just any rain but a rainfall of biblical proportions over the next few weeks or so….
That might get people back to work and social distancing to completely fall apart.
If you’re responsible for wrecking the economy and taking away people’s livelihoods the least you can do is prop it up for a while and hope people don’t notice it was your fault in the first place.
Der Spiegel reports that the ‘lockdown’ in Switzerland is to be ‘drastically’ relaxed – ‘discos can reopen, erotic services will be permitted’ – apparently Switzerland wants to get back to the old normal!
Theatres, cinemas, sporting events etc can resume from 6th June.
https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/medizin/coronavirus-news-am-mittwoch-die-wichtigsten-entwicklungen-zu-sars-cov-2-und-covid-19-a-5c78d039-303a-450e-94c9-cdf6ff186a4e
New cases have dropped rapidly, from about 1500 a day in March, to about 20 over the last few days. The Swiss Government’s special powers under the Epidemic Law will end on 19th June.
Lucky for some!
I’m moving to Switzerland
I’m moving bro Tanzania
Holiday in Switzerland! It’s an odd country to be sure- the sex shop/wine bar hybrid is something I’ve never seen anywhere else
?!?
I’m sure they have other things to do as well…
Too pissed, too shagged out?
Clearly never been to Thailand.
Made me wonder … Are all British prostitutes currently on furlough? On 100% salary?
Will they shortly be allowed to do takeaways?
Prostitutes being furloughed sounds a bit kinky to me. They can always follow the recent Swedish guidelines for sex during this pandemic.
Recommended positions are doggy and reverse cowgirl (some people may need to Google this) to accomodate for social distancing.
The FT plot should have been at least looked at deaths one and two weeks before lockdown date at the very least. To expect an instant response when social distancing had begun before lockdown is not helpful. The excess death data is bad enough already.
Vernon Coleman is awesome:
DISTRUST THE GOVERNMENT
AVOID MASS MEDIA
FIGHT THE LIES
Yes!
Someone posted this on yesterday’s thread published today: DM (yeuck) “Mr Johnson’s suggestion that barbecues will be acceptable under the new regime has provoked particular anger with experts saying that in fact they are ‘really dangerous’.” Who are these bloody experts?
Because of undercooked chicken? 🤔
They could be dangerous because of the following:
food poisoning
drunken brawls
accidentally swallowing a skewer
accidentally setting fire
facing the wrath of neighbours who don’t like the smell or barbecued meat or the noise or the dreadful choice in music
etc, etc.
Let’s face it a person might more likely succumb to food poisoning than Covid 19
A friend lit a fire on top of a flagstone a few years ago. All went well, until the flagstone exploded.
Yet another BBQ peril …
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340066073_Is_Our_Immune_System_a_Powerful_Vaccine_Factory This rather interesting but also speculative article about possibility “of a genetic mechanism that edit RNA, DNA or both, which suggests that this virus sequence hypermutation (VSH) mechanism may be an evolutionary defense weapon. They could either kill the virus but also attenuate the virus. Nothing prevents these new supposedly “innocuous” viruses to leave the host and, eventually, to propagate faster than the wild type. Perhaps, the VSH mechanism goal was never meant to kill the viruses in the first place (other mechanisms do this job), but to produce, within each infected cell, mutated strains that could be used to train the immune system killing-machine against the virulent wild type. If this conjecture proves right, then the immune system has a two-fold mission: to safeguard our organism by destroying the threatening agents and to protect our species, acting like a powerful vaccine factory” The author doesn’t state it directly but Covid-19 could be such a mutated virus which was only meant to immunise persons hence the majority of infections are always asymptomatic (perfect vaccine of Mother Nature) but unfortunately, not that perfect, as a few can’t handle it immunologically and succumb. There are probably many flaws in this reasoning… Read more »
Good God! It almost sounds……I don’t know, call me crazy if you like…..but it almost sounds as if OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM KNOWS WHAT IT’S DOING! How weird is that? Nah, that can’t be right; world expert immunologist Bill Gates says so…..
This is absolutely stunning. Clearly we owe it to society to try and catch the bug as soon as possible so our ancient, clever biology can process it into something more innocuous.
Toby I know it is killing you to have to read all these comments but please do read the link. Swedenborg, you should cross-post to r/LockdownSkepticism, possibly even to r/COVID19.
Perhaps this coronavirus was developed as a vaccine?
As the last glowing embers of the virus seem to be dying in Europe, has anyone looked at South America and the impact of the different approaches taken there, from hard early lockdown in several, to lassez-faire (akin to Belarus?) in Brazil.
I see that there are only 2 SA countries in the FT’s chart on Toby’s page – yet each country there may be instructive. Is there a reader of this site in South America?
That’s a very interesting point. Not much talk at all of SA in general really. You’d expect to hear more about the bigger / more political concerns – Argentina, Ecuador, Peru etc.
Death is only an issue when it reaches developed countries.
Friend’s daughter has been confined to her hotel in a remote Peruvian town for a few weeks now. No booze allowed, armed police visits looking for evidence of smoking weed, UK embassy in chocolate teapot mode.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/gunnersbury-park-closed-after-devastating-18330559
Toby has mentioned Gunnersbury park on more than one occasion.It’s the posh park where Chiswick people go to tut at other pedestrians if they don’t maintain 2 metre social distancing. Although there has been plenty of that it’s always been the park where local people go and can sit on a bench without fear of being busted or reported even from day one of the lock down. However no more. As a result of the fire at the cafe last night the whole park is now shut. Even when most of the park was used for functions such as Lovebox the majority of the park was kept open. As you can imagine this is not going down well.
Fire at the cafe?
yes, but at least they did save the Rothschild carriages
I’m emigrating to Tanzania …
Anyone else think Putin might be on board?
Russian health officials aren’t allowed to say stuff like that in public, off the record or not, without permission from their masters.
Jealous much … ?
Eh?
You think the UK is a free country?
Not any more. – Gonna have to go some to beat Russia on that score though. I’ll concede though that Putin is currently holding Boris’s beer 🙁
I’ve never been to Russia so can’t comment. But when I’ve met Russians they don’t really seem the compliant type.
That’s because you didn’t meet them in Russia 😉
(Interestingly enough, the woman doing that interview is actually a social media star and socialite who stood against Putin in the 2018 election. — Obviously she didn’t have a chance in hell, and her previously friendly if publically fractious relationship with Putin and his cronies has led many to label her as a stooge and a ‘fake opponent’ – possibly paid with a lucrative journalism job or two).
Sally Bloomfield, of the London School of Tropical Witchdoctery, is quoted (DT) as saying that ‘gathering for a meal is a really dangerous thing’ and warning against having barbecues.
Now I have always hated barbecues. I hate the smell of lighter fuel and burned fat, the half-cooked sausages, the paper plates and plastic forks, the chilly breeze that creeps along after sunset, the uncomfortable seating, the inadequate lighting and the midges.
But after hearing from dear Sally I have this overwhelming impulse to hold a barbecue and invite every lockdown sceptic in Britain. Come one one come all!
Bet Sally had great fun at Cheltenham though.
I hate BBQ’s too, when’s it happening and what’s your address? 🤣
Eek. Have to put it off for a bit, I’m afraid. I’m in Wales – all approach roads blocked, visitors will be vaporised.
It will end…
It will 🤗👍🏻
Looked her up on Wiki earlier. Conclusion – she is the academic version of Kim and Aggie!
Wonder if she has a cleaner? Who has continued to work during this ‘crisis’?
You have not had a proper barbecue Annie. Never use lighter fuel, only use lump wood charcoal and learnt my trade through many excellent books such as Firefood. There is a joyous world of flavours to be discovered and the perfect opportunity to explore.
But what if I need the loo?
Will you be adhering to these rules
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8370067/How-socially-distanced-BBQ-Bring-cutlery-garden-one-way-systems.html
Make it fun, she says.
Well, people used to have fun attending a public hanging.
Lol maybe we should start kidnapping politicians on their way back to parliament……
When you do, Matt Hancock is mine. You can divvy up the rest of them.
Half cook the meat in your oven then finish it off on the BBQ. This also means you’re not serving one sausage at a time and people can actually get a proper plate of food all at once.
Excellent advice, should I apply it to Matt Hancock?
Guy de la Bedoyere. I resent his implication that those like me who work from home – something I have done for ten years now – are not actually working from home at all.
I remember him from Channel 4’s Time Team. He was the Roman history expert. Lol, like archaeology is a proper job …
…… Jealous much?
;oP
lol, Toby, can I swear at this guy?
I’m clearly a woman, and be my guest.
What? Your photo is 5mm. And no it’s not clear at all. Maybe is you used your name rather than a silly alias I would have realised. Whoever you are, get over yourself.
I’m not the one whose first post appears to have been a bash at a contributor and archeologists in general. Might wanna dial down that #bitterman
Look. I’m not reading your comments. I have no idea who you are. I replied to your comment about Putin. It was not meant as an insult to you.
Leave me alone please.
Then what the hell was the point? To make me realise I’m somehow….. jealous of Russians?
I think he perhaps was referring to those who normally work at work (as it were) and who may now be claiming to work at home. Very hard to say what percentage, but plenty of teachers seem to be claiming to be working just as hard as normal – with rather little to show for it based on many reported parental comments!
It’s weird how people have responded to working at home. Those who always have have just carried on, of course. But the newbies. They seem to have split into two groups – those who treat it as a doss, and those who find themselves doing more, because they don’t break off to chat / get distracted / have lunch with colleagues etc. like they would naturally do in the office. Of course the first lot aren’t talking about how much of a doss it is 😉 whereas the second lot are moaning that they’re doing more work than usual – so everyone seems to think everyone is doing more work than usual, when we can all see with our own eyes that they’re not. (I have two teachers next door and…. let’s just say they are now several shades darker than they were six weeks ago).
Big diff between those who work from home and those that have been temporarily forced to
https://eu.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/05/28/coronavirus-antibodies-michigan-parnall-correctional-facility/5270127002/
Many have discussed the low level of Covid-19 antibodies in the general population. Not in prisons in Michigan.
“As of May 22, 92% of prisoners tested at Parnall were positive for antibodies, according to Chris Gautz, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections. The department offered antibody blood tests to all prisoners at Parnall about two weeks ago. Of 1,248 people tested, Gautz said 1,148 were positive”
This newspaper article is not very good at presenting numbers. They seemed to have screened the entire 38000 prisoners first with PCR. Some confusing numbers of actually how many PCR positive ill prisoners and some deaths but the main focus is that the absolute majority seemed to have asymptomatic infection.
But how can anyone explain a 92 % antibody test positive from mainly asymptomatic persons?
Are prisons classed as….. nocosoc…. still can’t get that word right… environments? Would it spread there in the way it does in a hospital or care home?
Yes it would spread fast and you might get 92% infection. But normally you don’t see antibody rates that high– they only get to about 33% or so even in crowded environments.
Very interesting. One obvious question is what antibody testing kits were they using. Assuming it is a correct result, you do often seem to see some homogeneity of response in these closed environments. In the homeless shelter they found a very high percentage asymptomatic, higher than in the general population. I have heard anecdotes that often a whole household will tend to all have bad symptoms or all to have minimal symptoms. This would fit with the idea of cross-immunity. You might find that almost everyone in a prison either was or wasn’t exposed to some previous pathogen, all together, so they would all have the same response. So they may have all made the antibodies because they missed out on “Covid-18” or whatever it is lots of other people have had that means they don’t need them, or are using different ones. Being asymptomatic isn’t necessarily correlated with having cross-immunity, although it makes sense that it would be– if your body recognizes the infection sooner it will eliminate it sooner. But sometimes having been exposed to something similar makes the infection from the new thing worse. It guess it might be this way around with COVID-19. But I think… Read more »
I think if I were to write down the emotion I feel whenever I hear such words as “permission” being used, it would be GRRRRR. Exactly the same for me. “We’re not allowed to hug”, “we’re not allowed to go inside”, or now we can all be graciously grateful we’ve permission to go for as much exercise as we like, when exercise and fresh air are such basic, fundamental human needs to stay healthy. Another basic, fundamental human need to stay healthy being social contact, of course. But again, we’re not allowed — and if you speak to those who are pro-lockdown, anyone flaunting the rules are idiots, are selfish people who don’t care about the lives of anyone else other than their own. I care about the impact of these restrictions on the current and future health of people in this country and countries around the world, taking into account economic effects on health too. There are estimates of terrible consequences of lockdowns for millions of people worldwide, and yet we still have the most basic of permissions – 6 people gathering but not too close! – to visit people we care about. There’s been so much terrorising over… Read more »
It’s so frustrating! In the course of a few short weeks, the default setting has gone from civil liberties – do whatever you like, unless it’s harming anyone else – to don’t do anything, in case it harms anyone else.
I suppose the key there is ‘unless it’s harming anyone else’. Everyone now automatically assumes it IS harming everyone else. Because they are brainwashed.
The media have been conditioning the public to think in binary terms for the last couple of decades, causing division and lack of rational thought. It’s coming home to roost now. Or could be another one of my nutty conspiracy theories.
I don’t think you’re wrong. Binary terms means more conflict and more conflict means more sensationalism and more more sensationalism means more ratings/sales.
I tend to agree too, the media reports in a way that there is always a right and a wrong, never the shades of grey (or colour, if you’re optimistic) that life is actually made up of.
Yes, you’re right, it’s ‘unless it’s harming anyone else’. It’s sad how the harm of lockdowns seem to be almost constantly overlooked for their supposed benefit, ironically causing a lot of harm.
The fundamental basis of freedom is not requiring permission to do something.
A common argument people often make about curtailing of freedom is if you’re not doing anything wrong then you’ve nothing to worry about. People who think this are missing the point. Freedom is having the choice to do something even if you never plan to do it.
People who think that are slaves and fools. They will allow the ‘anything wrong’ to be extended until nobody can do anything at all.
As in Wales right now.
A doctor writes . ” To be honest if I hadn’t had been on the end of 24/7 MSM hysteria and government insanity I wouldn’t have noticed there was a pandemic indeed the workload for the last 2 months has been amazingly light . . again I have seen people today who start off with… I know you are very busy doctor but….. at this point I want to scream “
I wish UK doctors/nurses/health professionals would start organising some sort of resistance like is happening in Germany. It would make a lot of difference if the public could see they weren’t all overworked and exhausted / in fear for their lives.
Big difference is in Germany the doctors are fee for service . No surgery, no investigation , no money. In the UK the money flows even if the patients don’t , No incentive to see any patient or do any procedure…too dangerous you see.
Aaaaah, of course. Here’s me thinking the Teutonic docs had suddenly grown a backbone
I think the entire German population is more concerned then the British so perhaps there is a bit of both involved.
More concerned about covid or civil liberties?
civil liberties. Off the job of my head at the start polls were showing 33% opposed to lockdown compared to 5% here. There have been impressive sized protests much bigger then anything here weeks ago now.
Interestingly also this pandemic is not visible in their excess mortality figured.
Sorry that should have been ‘pandemic’.
Sorry Farinances, but your comment is pretty condescending. I am half Brit half German and whilst I have watched my fellow Brit swallow every government guideline without question, and doctors touting the official media guideline with absolutely no resistance, German doctors went against the grain as soon as the lockdown commenced there… Prof Bhakti, Prof B Schiffmann, Prof. Püschel, et. al. Demonstrations started as early as 01 April. How many demonstrations has Britain mustered..!? Oh… 1!? I find it immensely tiring that people keep throwing Germany into the old Nazi bucket, whilst the education system there has enabled many young people to critically reflect on the past and the importance of the law, debate, discourse etc. by brutally confronting them with Nazi atrocities day in day out. Would you say the same of young British people…!? How far does their understanding of British colonial past go!? Britain has the same problem as America, always on the right side of history supposedly as the victor, therefore no self reflection possible or necessary. Look what happened in this country.. the powers-that-be threw the law out the window and the nation shrugged their shoulders and went to suckle on a bottle of wine… Read more »
I am beginning to learn that the ‘Hitler bad’ story is not the full story, Difficult subject to discuss as certain aspects of it are deemed illegal to even say. I guess everyone has access to a wide spectrum of sources via the internet to research the subject and draw their own conclusions. Just sayin)
Hitler and the Nazis were utterly evil, there can be no doubt about that! However, you are right, it is not the full story of WW2 and the roles of several nations through the conflict. If you are interested in that then I suggest watching the 1973 documentary series ‘The World at War’.. yes, it is a British production, but is actually very balanced overall, has interviews with survivors on both sides of the conflict – as was made 30 years after the end of it. And is simply the best documentary I have ever seen, on anything.
The way the German people were brainwashed into being Nazi supporters is frighteningly similar to what we have seen with covid. The propaganda techniques are all the same
Well said, I agree. Having been to Germany recently, I can only speak positively about the people in general. The current generation cannot be judged arbitrarily on the sins of the past
The efficient stereotype is true though.. 😉
Plus, as both of my parents were Polish and were growing up and fought in WW2, I would have plenty of reasons to hold a prejudice.
It’s funny because all the doctors I’ve seen being interviewed over the last few months have been pretty relaxed about it all. I’ve never had the impression that the hospitals were anywhere near breaking point.
I want to know where the BBC are finding all their wide-eyed, teary and exhausted medical interviewees. On the Labour Party rolls I’m guessing…..
… the victim is played by an actor.
The Grad has pulled an “exhausted consultant” out of the hat tonight – just to balance your observation?
Grad are just an extension of the BBC as far as I’m concerned.
Exhausted and fearing the ‘second wave’! Presumably a Guardian reading consultant now stuck in a positive feedback loop so perhaps the exhaustion is understandable,
Clearly most of them are enjoying the break…. and don’t bloody care enough. Any economic downturn or depression… they’ll still be in a job
Just imagine all those things they will be able to spend the pounds their paid on, ah wait a minute – actually I think there are many more tears to be shed by our heros.
I am a surgeon in (removed, I don’t want to be identified) and have been skeptical of everything since the start. Other than one hospital in my region, the rest have been quiet. Other than on-call weeks or weekends, I have been in maybe once or twice a week. I have been very vocal that there will be no catastrophe since the start. Every week I said this and the response from others were “the peak will come next week, we are behind Italy on the curve”. Week after week I heard this. I have since stopped mentioning the peak. All I hear now is the second wave is coming. Many doctors don’t care about the lockdown. We get paid regardless if we are not doing anything. If anything the lockdown is great for the work shy doctors. Hiding behind people’s fear to come to hospital means the hospital is essentially empty (though this has lead to deaths from something other than covid). For those of us who actually want to do something, we are hanging around bored senseless. Many of the doctors that have been vocal on social media or on TV are essentially scare mongering. Many of them… Read more »
The corona scamdemic … mass exportation of communism
That is the political stance of many of the key architects of ‘the science’ and their institutional backers
Or…. Heres Longer game behind it … Raised awareness of China CCP and it’s desire to dominate the world. Remember that only china and north Korea are communist states to my knowledge and nobody else in their right minds wants to be in such a horrifying totalitarian system.
At least this is what I hope.
If you are right, then we are all fucked
Had (another) ‘urgent’ corona-call – this one from a healthy under 40 year old having an anxiety attack, having found out he spoke to someone briefly who had since tested positive for the virus.
Bodes well for track and trace calls.
Politicians should take the Hippocratic Oath – ‘First Do No Harm’. Rather than the Hipocritic one.
Although I’d like to suspend mine for a few minutes and smack Boris F’ing Johnson in the mouth.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YgP_Au5RZVw
Thanks. It’s interesting and reassuring to see Tony Robbins’ view on this. Eckhart Tolle who is a bit more “spiritual” than Robbins has a similar view, but a different take.
Ultimately, and while I do think it is rational to believe the virus is real, the real issue at hand with this is fear.
Surely the real issue is the media and government creating fear and the fact that there is no sign they will be held to account for the devastation that has resulted.
They sill be. zOh yes.
Don’t forget Simon Dolan’s judicial review. It is grinding on. Whatever comes if it, it’s a sign of deviance and it’s a start.
Sorry, meant ‘defiance’. But ‘deviance p’ isn’t far out in the present climate.
Has anyone got a picture of the SAGE minutes which reference increasing the fear of ‘personal threat’? I’m scouring Google for it without success
I posted the full text on yesterday’s comments.
Link to the original on Peter Hitchens’s blog.
An absolutely appalling document.
Wish SAGE would fuck off! They hate us look down on us they are luving the power! I despise them.
Got it. Thanks
It’s on UK Column.
Nipped into Lincoln again today…
Only one person wearing a face covering, but probably only saw 50 or so people, 4PM on a lovely sunny summer Friday.
High Street was dead, I noted a small ice cream parlour was open, only two people queueing, I doubt those sales will pay the business rates.
M&S open because they sell food, The part where the clothes are located was in darkness so I assume you can only buy food.
None of the bars or pubs are open, one small restaurant had a sign saying they are doing takeaways, but I did not see or smell any sign that they are prepping food.
Very very few people in the town, virtually no road traffic, railway station like a ghost town.
But from Monday everything will change, some primary school children back at school, car show rooms open, drive through Maccy Ds open, open air markets can resume.
Think I will hibernate from now on.
You can be like the Lord High Excecutioner from “The Mikado”
I’ve lost respect for scientists as well. Whoever said that gone are the days of the independent scientist is right, this current sorry excuse of a bunch are certainly not interested in the truth, not interested in listening to other viewers but think they are gods.
Down with this sort of thing!
They are not actually scientists and so shouldn’t be referred to as such. There are many appropriate titles for them.
Agree – Had a look a while ago at who is on SAGE and was surprised to see it contained quite a few ‘behavioural scientists’, or something akin to this. Inclusion of these sorts of so-called scientists is, to me , something Communist Russia or East Germany would have been proud of and is more about controlling the population than anything else.
Not impressed by the others on SAGE either – seems they are all unaware of HK Flu back in the late 60’s, which was worse than this. 1.2% economic growth back then despite it – whereas 13% decline this time around. Time to disband the whole committee.
And all the so-called experts who on halfwit rules insist
They never would be missed, they never would be missed.
Oh, for a Gilbert right noe.
Brilliant. I’ve updated my version to include your little contribution: [KO-KO] As some day it may happen that a victim must be found I’ve got a little list — I’ve got a little list Of this pandemic that we’ve gone OTT And who never would be missed — who never would be missed! There’s the pestilential media who write for autographs — All newsreaders who shout apocalyptic headlines — Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid — Those daily briefings and those irritating questions — And all the so-called experts who on halfwit rules insist They never would be missed, they never would be missed. And Mike Hancock and his absurd slogans — They’d none of ’em be missed — they’d none of ’em be missed! [Chorus] He’s got ’em on the list — he’s got ’em on the list; And they’ll none of ’em be missed — they’ll none of ’em be missed [KO-KO] There’s Professor Lockdown, and Imperial College And his dodgy spunk trumpet — I’ve got her on the list! And all the so-called experts who on halfwit rules insist They never would be missed, they never would be missed. Then the idiot who praises, with enthusiastic… Read more »
Made me laugh -Thank you!
You’re welcome 🙂
If anyone hasn’t read the piece by Michael Hurley called ‘Land of Fear and Loathing’ then I suggest you read it NOW!
Just saying!
They should have made these “experts” subject to the Official Secrets Act. Or simple take their salary off them if they go blabbing to the press – that would soon shut them up. It’s easy to insist on keeping lockdown going when in receipt of 100% of your public sector salary.
Meantime, in Sturgeon’s Scotland, the imbeciles in local authorities refuse to open car parks in case people use them! They really are fucking idiots.
Glasgow Green tomorrow 12.00pm.
strange people, actively working against you but paid for by you. noticed that lidl were selling cordless angle grinders for £20 the other day.
Yeesh! I’ve been browsing here for quite a while and just had a quick visit to the Grad to see what the latest official MSM headlines are. It’s utterly insane in there!
Amazes me how many people are suddenly devotees of Government advice and will strictly not be within 2m of another human being. I seem to remember Government advice also mentioning not eating too much and getting enough exercise, and yet 63% of adults are overweight…perhaps if people followed the Government advise to take care of themselves properly they might not fear a mild respiratory disease so much?
It’s funny that the majority of people claim to have gained weight during the lockdown… I have zero sympathy for them.
Goes to show how much they *really* care about their health…
I think I’ve lost weight. I stopped eating sugar when the lockdown started because it looked as if dentists would be shut. Mind you I’m drinking a lot more