Apologies for the lateness of today’s update. I’ve been busy setting up a GoFundMe page for the Free Speech Union’s new litigation fund.
In the current climate of Maoist intolerance, the Free Speech Union is being deluged with requests for help from people all over the country. As I’ve been documenting in this twitter thread, dozens of people have suffered catastrophic career damage for criticising the activities of the Black Lives Matter movement, or because they haven’t genuflected before it with sufficient piety, or because they’re linked to someone who’s criticised it.
But it isn’t just BLM.
The public shaming of people who challenged the official Covid narrative in the first three months of the pandemic has now been extended to anyone who expresses the slightest dissent from progressive dogma – and people on the Left are as vulnerable as people on the Right, as we’ve seen with the recent mobbing of JK Rowling. It’s as if the line you’re expected to remain on the right side of has suddenly lurched violently to the left, with people finding themselves being cancelled for saying something that would have been perfectly fine two weeks ago.
We need to put a stop to this madness.
Freedom of expression is legally protected in Britain, but that’s often forgotten by private companies and public organisations when they come under pressure to get rid of someone who’s said something people don’t want to hear. Faced with an angry mob on social media, the directors and trustees nearly always cave in, firing the heretic in question or forcing them to resign. Due process is forgotten and people’s careers and reputations are destroyed.
One of the best ways to protect people from mob justice is to let their bosses know that there is an organisation out there that will stand up for people’s speech rights in the courts. That’s where the FSU litigation fund comes in.
We are currently engaged in legal battles on a number of fronts:
- We’ve sent a Letter Before Action to Ofcom, telling the broadcast watchdog we will apply for a Judicial Review of its coronavirus guidance unless it withdraws it. That was the document it invoked when it reprimanded ITV and London Live for broadcasting comments by Eamonn Holmes and David Icke that challenged the Government’s official narrative about COVID-19. This is a particularly egregious violation of free speech, given that the official narrative has often proved to be wrong, such as the advice issued to hospitals by Public Health England on February 25 that it was safe to discharge elderly patients into care homes without testing them first to make sure they didn’t have COVID-19. According to the latest report, hospitals discharged 25,000 patients to care homes without testing them for COVID-19 at the peak of Britain’s epidemic in March and April.
- We’ve written to the Isle of Man’s Communications Commission demanding it drops its investigation of Stu Peters, a Manx Radio host who was suspended when a local advertiser pulled its sponsorship after he challenged the concept of “White Privilege”.
- We’ve said to Change.org that unless it reinstates a petition by the feminist campaigner Posie Parker, urging the Oxford English Dictionary not to change its definition of “Woman”, we will take it to court.
That’s just a handful of the cases we are fighting and over the coming weeks and months we expect to be involved in many more. The FSU has a Legal Advisory Council that includes many prominent barristers who donate their time for free, but going to court is expensive and we can’t afford to continue entering the fray without additional funds.
Our work ranges from defending individuals who have been hung out to dry after expressing a controversial opinion, to scrutinising state institutions that disregard their own rules and their duty to the public. Any donations we receive will be ring-fenced for the sole purpose of paying our legal costs.
As George Orwell said, “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people things they do not want to hear.”
It’s more important now than ever to stand up for that right. If you’d like to donate, you can do so by clicking here.
Latest on Simon Dolan’s Legal Challenge
The Government responded to Simon Dolan’s Judicial Review of its decision to lock the country down on March 23rd with a 58-page defence today.
The government has instructed their top lawyer to fight this tooth and nail in the courts – Sir James Eadie QC – who helped the Government in its fight against ISIS bride Shamima Begum. He is joined in this fight by some of the finest young lawyers in the UK.
Simon Dolan says:
The Government’s response is to call the claims we are making absurd claims. It has taken the instruction of one of the top QCs in the land and three barristers to come up with this response.
It says it is nonsensical for us to say that schools were closed, because they remained open for key workers and there had only been a “request” that schools should shut their doors to other pupils, yet the PM and Williamson both announced on March 18th that “schools will remain closed until further notice”.
They have also tried to convince themselves that closing schools is not a breach of the human right to education. They should try telling that to the families left high and dry and the pupils who won’t have seen a teacher for at least six months by the time they return next year.
Boris Johnson and his blundering bunch are firmly locked into this mode that it has been a success and done everything right.
As always, you can donate to Simon Dolan’s crowdfunder here. Now up to around £175,000. And check out Dolan’s embryonic political campaign organisation, Keep Britain Free. Looks promising…
Staggers In-House Doctor On the Money
Interesting piece in the latest New Statesman by its resident doctor, Phil Whitaker. It discusses the emerging evidence for pre-existing immunity to COVID-19 thanks to past exposure to other coronavirus infections (e.g. colds). Of course, like any self-respecting Staggers writer he manages to end on a gloomy note, despite the fact that he’s hit on one of SAGE’s fallacious assumptions, viz. that there was “no immunity in the population”. Worth remembering that around 1,200 of those on the Diamond Princess were infected but only a sixth were symptomatic.
Here’s a key quote from the article:
Initially, modelling of the pandemic assumed no immunity in the population: were that to be the case, the tens of millions of infections needed to achieve herd immunity would be unconscionable given an infection fatality rate (IFR) of 0.5 to 1%. But if a substantial bulk of the public has cross-immunity, we may already be near the point at which COVID-19 will lose its sting.
Okay, he’s over-estimated the IFR – it’s 0.25%, doc – but worth reading in full nevertheless.
Magical Thinking
I got an email from an economist making a good point:
The lockdown zealots’ lack of causal logic drives me nuts. The world is doomed so we must lock down; the only reason the world didn’t end was because we locked down; so therefore we must lock down forever. Magic without causal inference.
One of the reasons that modern medicine began to pull away from magic and superstition was because it came to understand the importance of establishing causality. Just because Y happens after X does not mean that X causes Y.
Why Mass Gatherings Won’t Spread the Virus – if the Cause is Progressive
This spoof YouTube video featuring “global scientist” Mark Diamond, explaining why he was shaming people for leaving their homes last month but is now chastising people for not participating in mass protests, is very funny.
Incidentally, the arguments Diamond makes sound exaggerated, but some of them are uncannily similar to the arguments made by these woke epidemiologists and public health experts in the Guardian.
New Passport? Forget About It
I got an email from a reader yesterday about the difficulties of applying for a passport in contemporary Britain. Forget about getting a nice new blue one. You just can’t get one.
Anyone whose passport is about to expire, has expired recently, or one of their children’s, is trying to get a first passport or needs their existing details changed will have noticed the plethora of exhortations on the HM Passport Office website not to apply. It says:
Do not apply unless you need a passport urgently for compassionate reasons, for example if a family member has died, or for government business.*
The reason is that the passport offices are operating on skeleton staffing. Mine didn’t expire till Easter 2021 but would have been useless for many destinations from September on. We have family stuck in Vietnam and a grandson there we’ve never met so we hope to go by the end of the year to help them pack up and leave. I decided to send it off, a passport officer on their advice line saying plenty of people were applying anyway but it would take ages. Since no-one’s going anywhere for the moment it didn’t matter. After entering limbo for over 5 weeks, my new passport was suddenly approved, printed and sent, and it arrived just under 6 weeks after applying.
Turns out there’s been a sudden resumption in the online renewals service, with a dramatic acceleration in turn-around, presumably because staff have started to go back to work and facing a mounting backlog of applications no doubt as a result of frustrated would-be travellers determined to have up to date documents in place.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that it seems anyone applying for a first passport for themselves, or a child, or any renewal that requires human intervention is still much slower or even not happening at all. The same goes for anyone stuck abroad with an expiring passport – all the visa application centres that process UK passport applications abroad are all closed. People with expiring passports and working abroad who need to renew work permits and the like may find the UK government has made an arrangement with the country concerned to accept expired passports up to the end of 2021 as acceptable evidence of identity.
As for my grandson in Vietnam, his first passport application was suspended in March. The Passport Office has all his birth evidence documents which have been gathering dust since then. Thanks to the lockdown there must be thousands of other UK citizen children abroad like him without travel documents or any immediate prospect at the moment of getting them.
No “Second Wave” in the US
PHOTO: EVE EDELHEIT/BLOOMBERG NEWS
There’s a good piece in the Wall St Journal about why stock market anxiety over a “second wave” in the United States is misplaced.
Democrats cite a spike in cases in Florida, Arizona and Texas as evidence of a virus resurgence. But more testing, especially in vulnerable communities, is naturally turning up more cases. Cases in Texas have increased by about a third in the last two weeks, but so have tests. About a quarter of the new cases are in counties with large prisons and meatpacking plants that were never forced to shut down.
Tests have increased by about 37% in Florida in two weeks, but confirmed cases have risen 28%. Cases were rising at a faster clip during the last two weeks of April (47%) when much of the state remained locked down. Now restaurants, malls, barbershops and gyms are open if they follow social-distancing guidelines.
In Arizona, cases have increased by 73% in the last two weeks though tests have increased by just 53%. But a quarter of all cases in the state are on Indian reservations, which have especially high-risk populations. The rate of diabetes is twice as high among Native Americans as whites and the rate of obesity is 50% higher.
The Journal points out that a better metric is the number of new hospital admissions for COVID-19, as well as the weekly death toll. And these data tell a different story:
- In Arizona the weekly rolling average for new COVID-19 hospitalisations has been flat for a month.
- In Texas, COVID-19 hospitalisations are up about 20% since the state began to reopen, but Gov. Greg Abbott says hospitals aren’t overwhelmed and much of the increase is tied to nursing homes. Texas has recorded 151 deaths this past week versus 221 in the last week of April.
- Florida has reported 239 deaths in the past week, 72 fewer than in the last week of April.
The Journal concludes:
More infections are inevitable as states reopen, and there will be much trial and error. States need to be vigilant for outbreaks and protect high-risk areas and the vulnerable. But the costs of shutting down the economy are so great, in damage to lives and livelihoods, that there is no alternative to opening for the broader public good.
Open Letter From Academics Calling For Schools to Reopen
Professor Ellen Townsend, who runs the self-harm research group at Nottingham University, has written an “open letter” to the Government demanding that schools reopen and is currently trying to attract as many signatures as possible before she sends it. Some media coverage is expected, so it’s important that it should attract hundreds of signatories to keep the pressure up. If you are an academic or a teacher or an educationalist, please contact her at Ellen.Townsend@nottingham.ac.uk.
The Cultural Revolution
An anonymous reader sent me a poem which I’m betting the Poetry Foundation of America won’t be publishing in its in-house magazine. It’s called “Viral (or Defund the Thought Police)”.
Don’t call me till your lips are blue
I can’t breathe, I can’t hear youLives before economy, home is where your safest
Statues are not history, Churchill is a racist
White Boris is a wasteman
School is just a waste of timeTake the knee, show solidarity
Bend your knee, bend your mind, dismantle the family
SubmitWear the mask, think of your elders
Don’t argue, don’t speak, don’t smile
SilenceWuhan, Lombardy, Madrid, New York, London
Minneapolis, Berlin, Paris and back to bloody London
Viruses travel economy class by air
Twitter sneezes ideas faster, share, share, shareTake the knee, submit to the BBC
Bend your knee, bend your mind, lose your impartiality
SubmitWear the mask, think of the vulnerable
Don’t argue, don’t speak, don’t smile
SilencePolice on the streets are overrated
Police your thoughts or you’ll be hated
Educate yourself, don’t like the wrong tweet
Don’t laugh at little jokes, BritainTake the knee, submit to ideology
Bend your knee, bend your mind, ignore your morality
SubmitWear the mask, think of the f***ing fines
Don’t argue, don’t speak, don’t smile
SilenceProtect the NHS, it is not here to protect you,
We’ll do the counting, have we ever let you down?
Fields lie unharvested, pubs are contagious
Feed the mob, it’s hungry, and that is very dangerousTake the knee, bend your democracy
Bend your knee, bend your mind, laugh at your weak-kneed MP
SubmitWear the mask, think of…no, don’t think
Don’t argue, don’t speak, don’t smile
SilenceDon’t call me till your lips are blue
I can’t breathe, I can’t hear youI can’t think
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:
- ‘How Anti Racism Hurts Black People‘ – John McWhorter on how anti-racist hysteria often ends up harming African-Americans
- ‘Black Lives Matter – are the stats accurate? | Interview with Associate Prof. Wilfred Reilly‘ – Another YouTube video, this one an interview with Wilfred Reilly, African-American Professor of Political Science at Kentucky State University
- ‘Alex Berenson Discusses Best-Selling Book, Tells Tucker Why Lockdowns Did “Not Seem To Make Much Difference At All”‘ – Alex Berenson interviewed by Tucker Carlson
- ‘Orwell’s 1984. How police state Britain makes fact of fiction‘ – Alarming blog post by Andrew Mahon for Conservatives Global
- ‘Former Dutch Scientist Willem Engel Speaks Up – A Crisis In Science, Lockdown Is A Disgrace‘ – Good critique of the lockdowns by a former Dutch scientist
- ‘Australia did “absolutely not” have to lockdown‘ – Another Dr Michael Levitt has materialised and he, too, is as sound as a pound. Watch him being interviewed on Sky Australian’s The Outsiders
- ‘Episode 3 Comedy Unleashed: QUARANTINED‘ – Latest offering from those talented folks at Comedy Unleashed
- ‘Would the UK have half the Covid deaths if Boris had “followed the science”‘? – I turned yesterday’s update into a blog post for The Critic
- ‘“Tucker Carlson Tonight” loses Disney, T-Mobile ads after host’s Black Lives Matter comments‘ – Stay strong, Fox News
- ‘WHO’s deadly incompetence‘ – Hard-hitting critique of the WHO in a Washington Examiner editorial
- ‘Over 95% of UK “Covid19” deaths had “pre-existing condition”‘ – Good summary of what we know about those who died with COVID-19 in England and Wales in Off-Guardian
- ‘Why UK GDP may have fallen by more than a fifth‘ – Ross Clark in the Spectator on the ONS data that shows Britain’s GDP fell by 20.4% in April
- ‘Scottish Secretary wants one-metre distance rule‘ – Cabinet minister calls for the two-metre rule to be relaxed
- ‘We should leave the anti-Semites standing‘ – Zoe Stempel says we should stop pulling down statues
- ‘Preliminary analysis of SARS-CoV-2 importation & establishment of UK transmission lineages‘ – Preprint showing that the virus entered the UK via international arrivals. If only we’d introduced port-of-entry screening back in January!
- ‘Questions over virus models that prompted lockdowns‘ – Jean-Francois Toussaint, Director of France’s Irmes Medical Research Centre, tells AFP that the computer models that governments around the world based the lockdowns on aren’t reliable
- ‘The lessons from Wisconsin’s lockdown lifting‘ – Alarming piece in the Spectator saying that even after lockdown was lifted in Wisconsin, following a successful legal challenge, people were reluctant to resume their pre-lockdown lives
- ‘Revealed: SAGE minutes show advisers were not calling for an early lockdown‘ – The Government has released another tranche of SAGE minutes. (How many are there?) More confirmation if it was needed that the scientists were not calling for an earlier lockdown
- ‘Britain is a ship of fools heading for the rocks‘ – The Telegraph‘s Jeremy Warner is unimpressed by the Government’s leadership skills
Theme Tune Suggestions From Readers
I got one new suggestion for a theme song from a reader: “Self-Isolation” by Beepfrog. It’s not bad.
Small Businesses That Have Reopened
A few 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 takes me many hours every day, which doesn’t leave much time for other work. If you feel like donating, however small the amount, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in future updates, email me here.
And Finally…
In my latest Spectator column I thank the BLM protestors for doing more to advance the cause of lockdown scepticism than I’ve been able to do in the past two months. I’ve been blogging away here like a demon, pointing out that the public health argument for suspending our liberties just doesn’t stack up. But the case against lockdowns is often quite technical and so doesn’t have much cut-through with the general public. But the protests could change that.
I’ve written thousands of words on why I think the infection fatality rate of Sars-CoV-2 has been over-estimated and the virus is likely to kill fewer people worldwide than seasonal flu did in 2017-18. I’ve published an article by an ex-Google software engineer criticising the code used in the apocalyptic Imperial College computer model that spooked Boris Johnson into imposing a full lockdown. I’ve even published two lengthy papers by Mikko Paunio, an adjunct professor in general epidemiology at the University of Helsinki, pouring scorn on the World Health Organisation’s dire warnings about the disease and claiming that the populations of many large cities, including London, are close to herd immunity.
But while some of these arguments have been taken up by other journalists, none of them has moved the dial. The British public have remained stubbornly attached to their own confinement. Until now, that is. Many of the same politicians, public health panjandrums and celebrities who’ve been telling us that if we emerge from under our beds we risk a “second spike” and “all our sacrifices will have been for nothing” are now enthusiastically endorsing the protests. That’s quite incredible, given that almost 150,000 people across the UK have participated in them so far and that number will probably swell by tens of thousands by the end of the weekend.
How can it be that the virus poses such a grave threat to public health that we’re not allowed to hold weddings, attend funerals or send our kids to school, but it’s perfectly acceptable to attend mass rallies to protest about the killing of a man 4,000 miles away? Why are the same progressive journalists who were so indignant about Dominic Cummings driving 260 miles to Durham with his sick wife and child now publishing handy guides to attending the nearest demo?
I think the public will smell a rat.
Worth reading in full.
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Can anyone please help me with this? Thank you https://dailysceptic.org/2020/06/08/latest-news-51/#comment-24780
It’s just a funny caption for the pic, isn’t it? (Ie not related to a specific incident)
Donated to the FSU, now to read the update. Thank you Toby.
Ditto!
Thanks both.
£6,182 raised already – amazing!
Just curious as to whether any lockdown sceptics have joined Toby’s FSU (Free Speech Union) as a result of learning about it here, or as a result of the coronapanic?
I have.
I was a political freedom of speech zealot decades ago but had given up on the country to mind my own business for quite a few years when the nation suddenly breached my unilateral non-aggression pact with it, with first the disgraceful coronapanic and then the Cultural Revolutionary BLM hysteria. As a result, I’ve decided Toby’s effort, of which I wasn’t previously aware, has to be encouraged, for a start.
Me too
I joined before Covid was even a twinkle in Neil Ferguson’s eye 😉
Good on ya! My only excuse is, like I said, I was reasonably happily minding my own business until the country suddenly decided to poke its big hairy nose firmly into it….
To be honest I have a professional reason to – not that I do much journalism work these days but the stuff I do is likely to fall foul of this crap. It’s nice to have an organisation at my back because the NUJ are shit-tips
I intend to.
I’m just about to join.
I will join FSU as I am so very frightened of the misplaced revenge against free speech, which is transferring into persecution, cancelling and violence. Thank you and your family for your bravery !!!! And your immense hard work.
Toby,
Another great post today. Does not matter what time you post it!
Best regards
Mitesh
Thanks Mitesh. And thanks for sending me all the links. Really helpful.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/12/science-right-government-wrong/ ‘The science’ was right – it was the Government that was wrong SAGE advisors never suggested a full lockdown – so why are they now trying to rewrite history? By TOBY YOUNG ……………………………… The penultimate SAGE meeting before the lockdown was on March 18 where it was noted that the impact of the measures introduced so far would not be known for two or three weeks. According to the minutes, the boffins said it was too early to say whether additional measures – such as closing pubs, restaurants and entertainment venues – would be necessary. In short, Boris Johnson and his Cabinet were not “following the science” when they took the decision to place everyone under virtual house arrest, and nor were they ignoring it by not doing so earlier. On the contrary, their scientific advisors were urging a more cautious approach. ……………………. In other words, the containment measures introduced on March 16 were more than sufficient to halt the spread of the virus. The government’s scientific advisors did not urge the Prime Minister to go any further, and they were right not to do so. I’m convinced that the decision to place the entire country in suspended animation… Read more »
Listened to ‘More or less’ R4 4.30 today they said much the same thing (I think) mind you Prof Pants always looks a bit furtive which puts me off anything he says
This is not correct.
Ferguson’s March 16th paper makes it clear that he believes that most recent data means that the only option if suppression. Read it. On Page 16 he writes
“In the UK, this conclusion has only been reached in the last few days, with the refinement of estimates of likely ICU demand due to COVID-19 based on experience in Italy and the UK (previous planning estimates assumed half the demand now estimated) and with the NHS providing increasing certainty around the limits of hospital surge capacity.
We therefore conclude that epidemic suppression is the only viable strategy at the current time. “
https://slate.com/technology/2020/06/advice-on-reopening-activies-er-doctor.html I’m an ER Doctor. Here’s What I Feel OK Doing as My State Reopens. …………………. So should I just ignore the fact that restrictions are easing, and stay home? Well, I haven’t been. Yes, we would all be safer at home. If you had the ability to ride out the pandemic, however long it takes, by staying home, growing and cooking your own food, ordering nothing off the internet, and avoiding contact with anyone except those who had chosen to isolate themselves with you, you could be 100 percent guaranteed not to be infected with coronavirus. You would also be guaranteed not to die in a car accident, an occurrence whose lifetime risk is 1 in 100 for people who live in this country. And yet most of us drive every day. I know that people want to be safe and healthy but that they also want art, and laughter, and music, and bourbon—to create them and to consume them. Responsible people take risks all the time in the course of normal life. And as responsible people, both out of regard for ourselves and for others, we take steps to mitigate those risks. We… Read more »
An interesting read but fatally weakened by the obsession with anti-social distancing and wearing face masks.
Indeed. Only a total fuckwit masks their kids.
I agree. This obsession with the muzzle and anti-social distancing is getting out of hand.
The whole thing is nonsense.
Seriously ENOUGH about wearing a f. muzzle
I can’t understand the reasoning that this should go on until a vaccine has been found. It seems that the Americans have been brainwashed by Fauci et al. This is a pandemic like a flu pandemic which will end after 3-4 mths. This means that the circulation of virus will reach an un significant level. It can’t be ruled out that a second wave may come later in the autumn or beginning of next year but to start worrying for normal contacts until a vaccine arrives seems delusional, even more so coming from a medic. I can understand an individual decision to avoid visiting elderly people if you work in an ER department with Covid-19 patients during the pandemic but it will come to an end soon. But you must be critical of the scare mongering initiated by Big Pharma and the testing now also sponsored by them. This will all the time be used as an instrument to scare the public into the absurd notion that this pandemic will be two peaks immediately, and continue the absurd permanently the social distancing, waiting for the “glorious” vaccine coming.
To understand whats happening its necessary to understand that none of this is about protecting the public from a virus – or protecting the public at all. This seemed clear to me at the start of the lockdown after enough research and I felt physically sick for 3 weeks with worry about what this actually implied. Thankfully I forced myself to eat and managed to overcome the sickness but my initial fears appear to have been correct.
Follow the money.
Zed Phoenix has done an interesting video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkzDQAeKcIU
I had a meeting with someone today. She offered me her hand to shake. I shook it. We stayed about a metre apart but personal space is and always has been about a metre so it was as ever it ever would have been. It shouldn’t be but it was quite lovely to meet another normal person. They are out there. All is not lost. The number is growing.
Me and the missus went to visit her aunt and uncle recently, and as is the Spanish way exchanged 2 kisses on the aunt’s cheek and shook hands with the uncle. They supported house arrest for a time but are now angry that it’s continuing and admit that this virus has passed. There have not been any covid deaths in this province for more than 3 weeks and there is 1 person in ICU in a province of 600,000 people. Some people are beginning to see through the lies.
It’s only took all that to make only “some” see ?
God, that’s depressing.
DT reports that gangs of thugs(well, they don’t put it quite like that) will be patrolling public transport in search of the criminally unmuzzled.
Also that sewage farms are to be monitored for evidence of the Covibug:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/12/sewage-systems-will-monitored-across-uk-detect-new-outbreaks/
Coming out the wring end now, is it?
Bum muzzles will be on sale shortly.
wrong. should be ‘wrong’. Sorry.
Businesses can scrap two-metre rule if they take other coronavirus precautions, scientists say https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/12/businesses-can-scrap-two-metre-rule-take-coronavirus-precautions/ The two-metre social distancing rule can be abandoned by businesses reopening after lockdown if they introduce other measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus, Government scientists have told ministers. Following a political backlash against the two-metre rule, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) published a paper on Friday which set out protocols – such as regular breaks, and getting workers to sit side by side – that would make it much safer for people to be within one metre of each other. …………….. When people are at close range and face to face, transmission is most likely to be through respiratory droplets, but aerosol transmission of fine particles can carry further depending on ventilation. The new research says that sitting within one metre of a person side by side or back to back is as safe as facing a person at two metres when indoors. “When people are side to side or behind one another, risk is via aerosols and so is determined by the influence of ventilation; at one metre the exposure risks would be similar to two metres when face to… Read more »
Every day I pray there will be an end to all social distancing! It is a cruel form of psychological torture. It must be banished to the confines of history and never spoken of again.
‘Psychological torture’ – exactly what I’ve been saying for some time now. We are doing our level best to get the word out with mixed results but at least it’s not all hostile zombie-dom.
I imagine very few businesses would kick up a fuss, more likely problem, as in my place, is the unions…..
– Married
– Four children
– Daily updates on Lockdown Sceptics
– Regular column in The Spectator
– Regular column in The Telegraph
– Regular column in The Critic
– London Calling Podcast
– Heads up The Free Speech Union
Have I missed anything? Where do you find the hours in the day? I’m bamboozled! Great stuff. You must be on rocket fuel 🚀
Hopefully, founding a political party/movement to restore facts, logic, common sense and community over feelings, censorship, division and deception.
Toby should add to his demanding portfolio a crowd-funded internet radio-TV station so we have an alternative to the three unwise monkeys of BBC, Sky and ITV who hear only certain types of evil, see only certain types of evil and speak a lot of evil.
If Toby is going to do all this he will need to clone himself!!!
Well Lockdown Sceptics won’t last forever…at least one hopes not. Time would be freed up for him to become Director-General of the new CNBBC* media outlet!
If Toby were to get together with say Rod Liddle, Brendan O’Neill, Douglas Murray, Mahyar Tousi, Julia Hartley-Brewer, Trevor Phillips, Peter Whittle and Melanie Phillips or similar and crowd-fund this project it could really take off I think. You could crowd-fund a million in a month – definitely! 🙂
Putting together an internet radio and TV station is not a hugely expensive enterprise.
*Certainly Not BBC
Just read Douglas Murray’s “The Madness of Crowds” Essential reading to understand this current BLM hysteria.
Yes indeed – it shows that none of this behaviour is new to the human race!
I have the book, have read it and attended a talk that Douglas Murray did – it was well worth it.
UK Column does an hour’s ‘TV’ round up about every other day.
https://www.ukcolumn.org/
He has a wife 🙂
Wonder if she still recognises him… but at least she’s the wife of a man, not a zombie, and that is something to be proud of in today’s Britain.
I. too, am in awe of and profoundly grateful to Toby.
Doesn’t add up tbh .
Just saying
We are coming up to three months now of societal madness and insanity and it is said that schools won’t be properly open now until the end of 2020 and Krankie in Scotland is going even further by suggesting that the furlough scheme be extended for another two years. The majority of people through the use of propaganda techniques that the late Joseph Goebbels would be proud of have been turned by the MSM/ BBC into quivering wrecks. I see patients everyday ; they are obliged to wear a face mask in the waiting room not through my request but because it is the local CCG policy . I wear one not because I believe it is efficacious because I know it is not ,but because I fear being denounced by a patient ; yes it does have a parallel in what is happening with the other cultural revolution going on . We must all conform . Much of my work is dealing with consequences of the defacto closure of the NHS on the 16/3/20 . People who were on the waiting list for surgery for a new knee or hip etc will find that it wont be… Read more »
I think it’s maybe beginning to dawn on them.
Thanks for this and yes of course they realise; the government has the blueprints and it’s all going ahead as planned.
‘fear being denounced’…
Gid, this used to be a free country. An advanced democracy. God help us all.
By late March I was convinced that part of the government’s COVID-19 response was to hamstring the NHS, claim that it’s “not fit for purpose” as a justification to privatise it. Nothing I’ve seen or heard since then has changed my mind.
They seem to have been privatising is piecemeal as it is. I think they wish to make it less fit for purpose in order to kill more of us off. They elderly and vulnerable were just the start, they have no intention of stopping there.
Yes. It is all deliberate.
As painful as it is to accept this I don’t see how we can effectively resist until we do. We need to harness our righteous anger not be apologists for murderous MPs , government advisers and those who have corrupted them to this extent.
There was no evidence to support lockdown from the start, at this point how else are their continued actions explained? The systematic destruction of our liberty and prosperity in a manner that can only make us more susceptible to disease including viral infections.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/will-boris-johnson-listen-to-his-mps-on-lockdown- Katy Balls Will Boris Johnson listen to his MPs on lockdown? 12 June 2020, 3:59pm In coronavirus, the Prime Minister faces both a public health crisis and an economic crisis. Up until now, Tory MPs feel as though Boris Johnson has prioritised the former. But with new figures from the ONS showing the UK economy shrank by a record 20.4 per cent in April and the furlough scheme being reduced in August, there’s a sense that the economic damage will soon have to take priority. While repeated polling suggests the public has been receptive to lockdown measures and worry about it ending too quickly, the Conservative parliamentary party has, in large part, been agitating for a quicker easing than offered. Tory MPs have made their displeasure known at the two-week quarantine policy, the delay to the reopening of schools and most recently the two-metre rule. So far Downing Street has been comfortable enough overriding such concerns and picking a more cautious route out of lockdown. Although a majority of the cabinet has also been agitating for more lockdown measures to be relaxed, the view in Downing Street has been that those on the outside don’t understand the complexities of the unwinding of lockdown. Given the… Read more »
An American boss of mine always went on about ‘right to work’ states. Is it time for this in the UK? I would abandon strict liability for the ‘rona in exchange for a decent day’s work!!
https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1lzhkdhx5k4r9/They-re-Free-Markets-Guys-and-They-Want-the-Government-to-Intervene
They’re ‘Free Markets’ Guys — and They Want the Government to Intervene
Tucker Carlson is absolutely on a roll, though admittedly he is being provided with some of the best material a conservative media host could dream of getting, from US Democrat politicians and establishment media organs. Absurd and unpleasant as things are in this country with the BLM’s thuggery and rampant politically correct opinion policing, they have it far, far worse in the US. The shameless hypocrisy of the BLM’s Democrat fellow travellers in office over there has passed the point where outrage and anger are the right response. Only open ridicule is appropriate.
Here he discusses the new police-free zone the BLM fools have set up in Seattle. At one point he has to correct a reporter who has bravely ventured into the zone for referring to the “protesters'” menacing behaviour as “violence” – clearly a racist insult to a new developing country. As the reporter concedes, the appropriate term is “peacefully challenged”.
Tucker: The world welcomes its newest country
He’s good….Fox News is a tiny life raft in an ocean of deceit.
It’s instructive though for those who think the problem with the media in the UK is simply that the BBC is publicly-funded via licence fee to reflect upon the American media. In the USA, the private sector media – CNN, CBS, MSNBC, ABC, New York Times, Washington Post etc – are even worse than the BBC and the rest of the UK media I would say. They are quite brazen in censoring their President and deliberately misinterpreting his words for instance. I think our confrontational parliamentary democracy at least create as situation where the media have to report what Conservatives actually say, even if they then “analyse it” out of existence. But in the USA the majority media omit and lie and engage in a constant culture war.
Clearly the overall problem is far wider than just the BBC, but that doesn’t mean the BBC isn’t a big part of our problems here.By virtue of its supposed “neutral” status it sustains far higher levels of presumed credibility (undeserved, as we’re having our noses rubbed in over coronapanic and the BLM hysteria) than any commercial stations either here or in the US. It has waged “progressive” campaigns on a number of issues remorselessly and relentlessly for several decades.
Heaven forfend! I wasn’t defending the BBC which has become a massing tumour lodged in the nation’s innards. Nope,I was simply pointing out that even if you vapourised the BBC tomorrow you would still have a pro PC globalist media in the shape of Sky, ITV, the Global radio network (Classic FM, Capital, LBC etc) and a host of paid-for social media outlets funded by globalist billionaires.
“…social media outlets funded by globalist billionaires.” Which includes Murdoch and Fox News.Let’s not pretend they’re impartial. Roger Ailes was its CEO ffs and Sean Hannity is one of its propagandists
You’re right of course, but from my perspective though certainly a long way from angelic they are at least a force for balance because they are at least somewhat biased against the overwhelmingly dominant media/academe/societal elite world-view.
Not going to disagree with you on that.
He is good. I’m sure you have seen this one too “Tucker: Our leaders used a health emergency to subvert democracy”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWsyNB95ljY
messed up the link, sorry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWsyNB95ljY
Can anyone help me over the compulsory masks rules? I can only find the media summaries (although that’s probably all the gov has actually put out, light on detail as usual) which state ‘compulsory for public transport unless young children, disabilities or breathing difficulties’,and that you may be denied travel without one, then in another paragraph says compulsory for hospital visits. So are they compulsory in both cases or are there exceptions for hospitals too? I’m not so worried about hospitals I’ll keep away for now. How do you define breathing difficulties and who gets to decide if they can deny you access to travel, the driver, police, you’re own definition of breathing difficulties, do I need to print out a letter from my GP (no chance there they’ll barely speak to me over the phone like it’s contagious as it is)? I have asthma and no desire to be muzzled, masks make me dizzy and hazy and frankly I fear is just a badge of compliance and submission which I’m not willing to endure. I’m sure sick people can stay home and the rest can sneeze into a tissue. How long before we are denied travel… Read more »
From my observations masks encourage face and nose touching by their wearers…a classic route to acquiring and spreading infection. The country that is most devoted to face mask culture – China – has the worst incidence of incubating novel pathogens in the world. Whether the two are causally related I don’t know.
On all of my train journeys the masks are so uncomfortable that you fiddle with the Hanocockian mess on your face…. Thus defeating the object….
Of course the chinese have worn masks for years because of the chronic pollution in the cities (Oh look, another 100 coal fired power stations being built there!!) and not for anti viral purposes. The Japanese are also keen for the same reason but those two countries have completely different infection profiles i think
That’s only part of the reason but its also for placebo reasons. A Chinese acquaintance has told me that more or less everyone knows that they’re useless but its seen as a way of “doing something”.
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/transport-secretarys-statement-on-coronavirus-covid-19-4-june-2020 ‘As of Monday 15 June, face coverings will become mandatory on public transport. That doesn’t mean surgical masks, which we must keep for clinical settings. It means the kind of face covering you can easily make at home. There’ll be exceptions to the rule for very young children, disabled people and those with breathing difficulties.’ There is another document: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/face-coverings-to-become-mandatory-on-public-transport which, surprise, surprise, doesn’t mention the exceptions, never mind the known dangers of mask-wearing (lack of oxygen and the risk of exacerbating infections). Keep ’em confused, keep ’em under control. I too am asthmatic (no proof but my inhaler but why should I need to offer proof?) and I have no intention of wearing a mask on buses, on which I rely. If today’s bus journeys were anything to go by, it’s going to be fun next week: even young children wearing masks (which got stuffed in pockets as they got of the bus) and reports that some drivers are not going to let us board without them from Monday. What a clever little virus it is that doesn’t apply this week but will suddenly become much more virulent in 2… Read more »
I have to go on the bus probably next week at some point. Gonna be fun with my skeleton balaclava. If they want to treat me like a biohazard, I’ll make myself look like a criminal. i may test the water and see what the drivers are doing about ‘enforcing’ this bullshit by seeing what they’ll let me on with. Would they let someone on with a very transparent veil draped over their lower face, for instance?
Great! We could compare notes in a few days. We feel a stronge to take the piss and we love Winston Smith’s suggestion. I can feign a severe asthma attack very easily as I know from experience what it’s like. We could cause mayhem and we’re already planning it out…
A Lone Ranger mask is a mask. Wear that.
If coronavirus is such a serious threat why is it necessary to resort to pointless and illogical rules. Take the rules regarding masks on public transport. If masks are essential to spread coronavirus, why is the mask rule only being introduced now on public transport. If coronavirus was a genuine threat and masks helped to stop the virus spreading, surely the mask rule would have been introduced much earlier.
I think the Government would reply that the science has changed over recent months – the consensus now is that they offer some protection against the spread of the disease. WHO have changed their advice for sure. I would say the so called “science” remains totally confused and I would prefer to rely on common sense having seen hundreds of people now fiddling with their masks bringing their fingers into contact with their nose and mouth.
As I posted above, Keep ’em confused, keep ’em under control.
There is no logic, that’s the point. Contradictary and arbitrary rules are a well known technique for keeping people compliant and scared.
Curses – ‘contradictory’ – sorry!!
Carry on as normal Paul B. If an inspector asks why you are not wearing a mask, just tell him/her you have asthma. Sorted.
(Someone posted a Travel FAQ on yesterday’s update.).
Hi JohnB, I have failed to find the Travel FAQ, could you point me to it?
Here you go https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travelling-with-us/on-the-train/face-coverings-faq -every company has similar ones. In brief you don’t have to prove you have a breathing difficulty. First bus asks you carry a card https://www.firstgroup.com/uploads/node_images/face-covering-exemption-extra-help-travel-assistance-card-12-06-20.pdf
Thank you so much for this. The TP Express rules are hilarious really but the First group exemption card is a cracker. I love the ‘please be supportive’ bit. ‘Printing one out ready for tomorrow!
Just feign a panic attack/seizure/respiratory arrest every time you travel. Stop the bus/tram/train, make sure an ambulance is called.
I believe it’s face covering and not masks, so a scarf or such like is sufficient. Presumably that could also include pulling the top of a jumper (sweater for non brits) over your mouth.
I think the ‘rules’ state that it has to tie at the back. I’m going to print a First Bus exemption card (see above); if all else fails I’ll probably wear my string vest mask and have a very bad asthma/panic attack. As I really do have asthma that is actually likely but anyone could take ‘Winston Smith’s’ advice and fake one!
I know that I am quite old but I seem to remember that I had to have a handkerchief available at all times, laundered and clean, in my pocket and I was trained to use it if I were to sneeze or needed to blow my nose. It was good manners to use it and bad manners not to. Clearly the purpose was to avoid passing infections to others and it worked. Why try and reinvent the wheel with masks?
The government used to a have a good “catch it, bin it, kill it” adverts and tissues are so much more effective and hygienic than masks.
Good sense; so why make muzzles mandatory at all? See above posts for what people including me think are the politics behind it.
I’d say asthma could impair your breathing so you have a perfect excuse not to conform, its up to you. Your body your life!
https://www.firstgroup.com/help-and-support/coronavirus-information/face-coverings “How will drivers know if someone is exempt from the requirement to wear a face covering? We would ask that passengers work with us and comply with the requirement to wear a face covering if at all possible. If you are unable to wear a face covering becuse of an exemption please be prepared to inform the driver and show a journey assistance card”
If you travel with various train and bus companies, you could have a fair collection!
Thanks everyone, it looks as if the various companies are being sensible and asking us to do the same within the gov framework (excusing the madness of the entire idea!) – I’ll just flash the driver my inhaler – Maybe get a T-Shirt made up for the other passengers “I have asthma, save your scornful looks and tuts for your mirror”.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/armstrongeconomics101/economics/milton-friedman-of-libertarianism/
Milton Friedman on Libertarianism
Further to my comment earlier today on the previous post, a rebellion is brewing in public sector science land. Our technical division have said they would rather carry on working from home rather than comply with b*llshit social distancing regulations – the words ‘no more camaraderie’ occur again and again….
I feel the advantage is coming our way, we must press home now…
There is a big discussion about the size of Covid-19 deaths in care homes in the US. Many are suspecting that 50% of the deaths in the US are in care homes i.e. 50% of all deaths in the US of Covid-19 is happening in a segment of population 0.6% (2.2 million in care homes). This has been discussed in this article
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2767062
“First, current models may not be providing policy makers with accurate analysis of the outbreak and its anticipated course in LTC facilities vs the community, possibly leading to inadequate resources devoted to nursing homes or delays in developing aggressive, creative strategies to protect this vulnerable population”
The astonishing thing is how badly prepared both Europe and US were to the risk for the long term care elderly population. It was already quite clear in February that elderly patients had the highest risk of death from the China reports. Singapore prepared already at that time for this possible event in their elderly care homes.
“The astonishing thing is how badly prepared both Europe and US were to the risk for the long term care elderly population.”
I hate to be a party pooper, but care homes are essentially hospices for the elderly and infirm. I think around 20% are suffering from dementia.
And when you say “long term” you’re not talking a very long time. People die. It’s a fact of life. If we accepted that then maybe this shitshow would not be happening.
I agree with what you say in general terms, but care homes shouldn’t be positive incubators for disease. I think you’ll find the dementia figure is actually much higher in actual care homes (as opposed to sheltered housing).
Talking of ‘long term’, I think the average time a dementia sufferer spends in a care home before dying is about two years. That’s Subject to correction; it’s what we gathered from my father’s ‘home’,and he did survive for about two years in that ghastly limbo. It wasn’t the fault of the home that it was ghastly: they did all they could. It was that horrible assembly of awful wrecks of what had once been human beings. I decided then that death was infinitely preferable.
If we had trashed our economy and abandoned our freedoms to prolong the lives of such sufferers, I would say that frankly, it wasn’t wirth it. But the crowning irony is that we did the exact reverse.
I would agree Annie. My elderly father had Alzheimer’s and cancer and lived for just 18 months in a really lovely care home with genuinely caring staff. His Alzheimer’s was so bad that there was no way that I, single handed and living alone, could take care of him 24/7. It broke my heart. I saw him every day and was part of his downhill slide. Truthfully if Covid had taken him 3 months earlier I would have been relieved and so would he. I believe firmly in quality of life.
Long term care is just a definition to be used. Naturally it would be very difficult to stop the spread of such a virus even in the best of circumstances. But the whole meaning is that instead of a totally ineffective and reckless lockdown for the healthy population and, if only a fraction of that money spent went into long term care homes, the outcome would have not been worse than the currently projected. It might have been a bit better and we could say that at least we tried. Instead we have the worst outcome of all. An economy in ruins, and because of lockdown and save the NHS, in practice, a deliberate spread of the disease to our care homes.
You make a good point, they aren’t in rehab centres after all! The saddest part however is that though many of these older people were already knocking on heavens door, because of the insane rules they have died alone without their families, loved ones and without proper palliation. This has happened to many people who haven’t died of covid too. Can you imagine anything worse than to be denied the right to tell your wife, or your sister you love them before they die. I’ve heard such sad stories from people. A colleague who’s husband had covid19,e waved him into the ambulance and never saw him again. He was 62 and very popular, yet people could only watch his funeral online. She went alone, no one touched her and she went home alone. I couldn’t deal with that. Dehumanising and cruel.
Clearly the biggest scandal of thid whole sad sorry affair.
Well…. maybe the second biggest scandal after the blatant falsification of the death figures – but the first scandal plays into the second.
I hope one positive outcome of this horrendous business is that we reconsider the design of care homes. While the staff are more often than not excellent in their care of the elderly or disabled, the homes themselves seem designed to spread infection: poor ventilation and clients crowded together sitting inches apart. Clearly the design is driven by economic considerations. Contrary to popular belief the number of elderly in care homes has not been growing hugely: older people are increasingly leading healthy lives in older age and developments in IT and so on allow them to remain independent within their homes. I think if we can revive our economy we can afford to create care homes that are healthier places and better serve the needs of the elderly and the vulnerable.
Maybe Toby could take Nigel Farage’s vacant slot on LBC?
Can only hope he has nothing to do with that PC Globalist propaganda outfit, LBC.
Missed a few days of updates, because I’ve been agog watching the culture wars finally leak completely off campuses and into everything, with increasing alarm (when the EDL knuckle draggers start getting their shit kickers on it’s not going to end well). USA political twitter is just astonishing, the NYT has gone mad, along with rest of the ‘progressive left’, the JK Rowling backlash (that’s one Id Pol battle I do know something about) completely insane, what a brave woman, and what with lockdown insanity, my circuits blew! Mark, if you’re here, you were right. I haven’t changed my views on racism and injustice (vile, needs to be sorted) but I have changed my views on the current approach to the problem. It’s so sad, but a trojan horse I fear, with the same identity politics idiots driving the bus, to the ultimate detriment of the very people they purport to care about, and anyone else who gets in the way. And in the States (Seattle!) they might as well have poured petrol on a fire, and handed an AK47 to the Alt Right. Not good. So, whilst treading with care, I’m at my limit with the plastic… Read more »
I agree with most of what you say, but why do you feel entitled to use a racist term to describe EDL supporters – referring to them as “knuckle draggers”. Many of them have personal experience of what a certain ideology has done to their communities and their loved ones. The fact that we are not allowed now to even refer to the fact that a certain person living around 690AD was one of the worst slavers in history for fear of social media persecution or even prosecution by the authorities is proof enough that what the EDL were protesting against was not something generated by conspiracy theory but was real, tangible and is now strangling our cultural life. I never approved of the EDL approach – it seemed counter-productive to me – but it seems to me they had a right to protest against this assault by an alien ideology on our freedoms. The fact that there is virtually no one in Parliament or the media bar perhaps Douglas Murray and Lord Pearson prepared to speak out frankly shows just how far things have gone. It’s nothing to do with people’s actual beliefs, they are no more… Read more »
What? As in thugs, barely evolved, crawling from the primordial ooze. I have zero interest in defending or understanding the EDL.
And out of EVERYTHING I just said, I’m amazed you found that one thing to talk about.
Who else do you call “knuckle draggers” – as in “thugs, barely evolved, crawling from the primordial ooze”, to use your helpful description? Anyone else anywhere in the world? Or just EDL marchers in the UK, your fellow citizens? If you can’t offer any examples I’ll assumes it’s just your fellow citizens.
As George Orwell observed “any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during ‘God save the King’ than of stealing from a poor box”.
knuckle-draggerNOUNinformal
Just ignore them, quite a few EDL types on here, they’re easy to spot. They’re opinions aren’t all bad they just get a bit one eyed about certain things.
the good thing about this site is that there are all types here. so yes, people come with different views. However there is too much slinging about the “racist” adjective. For example i was pro brexit – for many reasons but primarily i did not want to go the euro federalist route that the EC was clearly going down. But the remainers would happily call me a racist on the basis that obviously i dont like foreigners. It is the same with the BLM issue. i dont see that events of over 200 years ago and the recent death of convicted drugged up thug in the USA are anything to with me, and whilst black people kill each other all over the world (Zimbabwe, Ruanda, Chicago) (and similarly muslims happily kill each other – Shiite v Sunni etc, Chinese persecution) without any comments being made about this , it is apparently my fault as a privileged white man. But as those thoughts do not toe the BLM/marxist view that the London intelligencia support, that must mean that i am a racist for that. First they change the historical narrative. Then they ban the films and the books. Then they indoctrinate… Read more »
Can I just correct you there. It is primarily black and white men who kill black and white people all over the world. Does pointing that out make me sexist?
Can anyone point me to somewhere that sets out EDL beliefs/policies/initiatives? I don’t know much about them – perhaps I should. I can’t find a website.
I am up for a nuanced discussion about cultural forces colliding, I am up for political chats about the alienation of the working class, I am NOT up for defending people too stupid to see they are being manipulated by race baiting, disignenuous, opportunist grifters. I also note it’s a very male response, although for fear of pile on, I’ll keep my thoughts on that to myself.
Yes OKUK, but there’s no denting such levels of tolerance.
The EDL, founding motto “black and white unite”, significant black membership, fully supported by their local Sikh community.
But it doesn’t matter, we all know know they’re racist far right thugs, right? Everybody says so, so it must be right. Hell, they probably beat their wives, attack the police, and vandalise statues, so I’m glad we’ve got that sorted.
Ah well, back to kneeling and apologising, in front of the largely peaceful protests!
I didn’t interpret it as racist, for whatever that term is worth anyway. Clearly there are knuckle draggers on both sides, and the real problem is that our authorities and media tend to treat the pc knuckle draggers with kid gloves while demonising and cracking down hard on any politically incorrect knuckle dragging.
But I will agree that characterising the EDL as a whole, or even mostly, as knuckle draggers is simply incorrect. I have had no direct contact with them, but it’s clear just from honestly watching footage of their demonstrations that an awful lot of their membership are just decent men and women concerned about the country. Others are indeed knuckle draggers. But demonstrating for politically incorrect causes is not for the faint-hearted.
I’ll go for the ‘alt-right’ and their being given AK-47s.
Wouldn’t anyone vaguely describable as alt-right already have an AK-47, or an equivalent ?
The Seattle People’s Republic has a border protected by Far Left “knuckle draggers” – to use a fashionable phrase – carrying what look like AK47s
Did you see Tucker Carlson on the Seattle CHAZ? Includes a nice section contrasting Democrat reactions to rightists demonstrating peacefully against lockdown armed to the teeth with Democrats’ reactions to armed BLM thuggery.
Thought we’d lost you Bec, welcome back :o)
Thanks mate.
“Mark, if you’re here, you were right.” Much appreciated, thanks! And if I may say, more creditable to you than to me. We all have opinions on things and doubtless we are all right on some things and wrong on others. But to be able to change one’s mind is rarer than it should be, and to be willing to say as much in public is doubly so. I had noticed your absence and had considered one possible reason to be that the overtone of racism you (along with others, less polite than you) clearly had sensed had made you choose to leave, so it’s especially nice to see you back with this post. If you haven’t seen it, the letter from a US academic about the BLM stuff that Toby mentioned is a very good read on this stuff, along with the Youtube video from a black US Christian about the issue following the death of David Dorn in the BLM riots. My view on this is: 1 BLM, along with the identity lobby based dogmatic antiracism movement in general, is just a dangerous, destructive cause, that should be opposed 2 Race is… Read more »
That’s precisely what happened, and I think that’s plain in my responses above. I have no time for racism, and I’m wary of the ‘certainty’ both sides purport to have, it’s extremely complicated, it requires good will and nuance. I also do not deny that racism exists, it does, and it needs to stop. That said, what is concerning me more is the current iteration of the culture wars, what we are seeing is yet more of the same divisive, puritanical hard left identity politics, with which I do not agree, and I am also concerned about the backlash that will bring about (see: knuckle draggers, I live down the road from the W Mids, i remember Enoch Powell, and I remember the violence and disgusting behaviour in my largely very well integrated corner of the world, I am not and will not defend that shit, I don’t give a stuff how culturally alienated anyone feels, it’s not OK). But I think an opportunity for a moment of unity was just missed, as almost everybody agrees that injustice is wrong, racism is wrong, and they don’t support it. We’ve gone from that to extreme division, and normal, ordinary… Read more »
The important thing is to be talking about it rather than shouting insults at each other. Since “racist” became the go to insult to shout at anyone disagreeing on a whole range of issues, I don’t think the discourse has improved anything much. I don’t have to agree with someone to leap to his or her defence in the face of aggressive intolerance of his or her opinion.
We disagree on a lot, but we also agree on a lot. A lot of the concerns you raise here mirror what was being said in the sources I mentioned before, the anonymous (black) academic and the Youtube video-er, Brandon Tatum.
I agree that whatever the issue, good faith discussion is the answer, and I feel sad that what arose was the very moment for that discussion, and within days we’re all arguing about bloody statues, and everyone is back in the trenches lobbing hand grenades back and forth. I am white, middle class, affluent, I have lived in many respects a very sheltered life, so I am aware also that my understanding of the powerful cultural forces currently colliding are largely the abstract. It’s easy to pontificate. As I said, I feel a responsibility to not be a dick about all this, and to choose my words with care. But yes, we disagree about a great deal, but I think as we’ve discussed before, unless we can get back to some kind of political discourse that is based on good faith, public service, integrity, and respect for our opponents I think we are all doomed, whether that’s lockdown, trans, brexit, women’s issues, left vs right, or the landmine of race. In fact, I think a really big part of these strange days we’re living through is a total absence of leadership, that’s a big vacuum and nature abhors… Read more »
On the subject of Seattle, this video from Tucker Carlson on the new country of ‘CHAZ’ is a good laugh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=KafIdOk8bLs&feature=emb_logo CHAZ= Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
I saw that, wish he wouldn’t quote Candace Owens though, she’s a grifter, I think it really undermines him.
New York City health officials published “Safer Sex and COVID-19” guideline.
I thought it was a joke. Apparently not.
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-sex-guidance.pdf
This is gold!
“Masturbate together. Use physical distance and face coverings to reduce the risk.”
… or a wall.
Pyramus and Thisbe:
Thisbe. O kiss me through the hole in this vile wall.
Pyramus. I wear a face mask, can’t kiss you at all.
They even thought about sex orgies – they are allowed – just bring a hand sanitiser and wear a face mask.
A lot more progressive than our government.
“Have sex only with consenting partners.”
As opposed to having sex with non-consenting partners?! Seriously?
Readers might be interested in this opinion piece about the politicization of science and Covid-19. It talks about some of the ferocious reactions to the work of Stanford professor John Ioannidis.
https://undark.org/2020/06/11/john-ioannidis-politicization/
For all of the talk about “following the science” I’ve noticed a really intense, emotional backlash against any expert that pushes against the worst-case scenario/lockdown was an unalloyed good position.
In fact, when this whole crisis started I felt that there was almost a kind of veiled glee among some media, business and political figures over the prospect that this would be a very deadly, devastating virus that would necessitate a “new normal.” Anyone who had a less alarmist view was dismissed as anti-science or uncaring.
Sadly, I worry that no matter how much evidence is produced to show that many of the actions being taken are doing more harm than good and that the virus might not be as dangerous as originally thought, certain voices will be drowned out or even censored. Plus, once the “killer super virus” message is out there among the general public it is hard to walk it back.
It’s 4am and I can’t sleep. So I will compose a haiku:
There was a lockdown
Many people wet their beds
But we, resisted
Government apparently unhappy with the six-foot rule, ‘scientists’ suddenly discover it’s unnecessary.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/12/businesses-can-scrap-two-metre-rule-take-coronavirus-precautions/
Now who’s following who?
They remind me of processional caterpillars, which sometimes folliw one another mindlessly round and round in circles until they all starve fo death.
Or that legendary bird, the ole-ole, the one that flies in ever tighter circles until it disappears up its own … never mind.
Can someone let Sturgeon know about this? She actually said something yesterday along the lines of “we consider the 2m rule very important and the fact that we consider it so important shows how important it is”. Classic circular reasoning.
Her Dentist-in-Chief Leitch constantly defends the 2m rule in Scotland, claiming all the scientific evidence back it up, but never cites said evidence. Which is convenient.
Has her hairdresser been cutting her hair from a distance of 2m for the last few months..? She must have extremely slow-growing hair if she has seriously not had a trim since March..!
Someone pointed out to me that she’s clearly had her lashes done, which certainly can’t be done from 2m away.
Anecdotally, a friend knows an old university pal of hers. They’re still in touch, apparently. This uni pal texted her to say “you’re definitely getting your hair professional cut and coloured”, to which Dear Leader replied with “😂😂😂😂😂”
I think that 3 upcoming court cases are getting the government rattled. They must know by now that everything they’ve done is going to be picked over very publically in court. The very fact that they have employed a QC and 3 barristers to put their side in Simon Dolan’s case shows they are taking this seriously. I would guess they are now looking for a way out of the entire mess and scientists suddenly doing an about turn on the 2 metre rule is part of it. I hope so anyway.
Declare the NHS saved and repeal the coronavirus act. How much more difficult does it need to be? I really don’t think that is their intention.
When has a government ever repealed any law that weakens their hold on us?
As I say I dont think they have any intention of doing so. I dont think they are looking for a way out is what I am saying.
Does anyone know how long this Coronavirus Act lasts? I know it has an end date but I think it was something horrific like 2 years
I believe it’s 2 years, reviewed, originally every 3 weeks, but now extended to every 4 weeks. Remember, this Act was not debated in parliament and only had a cursory word or two of opposition before it was ratified.
It’s been regularly amended to actually tighten the various clauses of it.
I hope a lot more is forthcoming. This government is out of control and they need reining in.
There are 3 in the U.K. that I know of – so far
Especially as there are other court cases happening in Spain and Germany, and possibly others..
It’s good news. Once the stupid 2m rule is gone we need to deal with another thing – 2nd wave scaremongering.
Yesterday morning at work I sneezed violently 4 times in a row. Hay fever, you understand. Each sneeze became progressively aggressive.
My thoughts immediately went to an imaginary commuter, travelling from their home, on the Tube, to their place of work. Wearing a mask. And sneezing into it, violently, 4 times. And having to continue wearing that mask – no fiddling with it, mind – for another 45 minutes, in the fetid, humid train carriage, while enduring the burning stares of COVID-19 suspicion from the eyes of the masked faces around them.
Then, finally, emerging from the Tube station, into the slightly less polluted air of London, teasing the damp, bacteria-filled cloth face covering off, knowing that they hadn’t brought a second one with them, and knowing that the mask would have to be in position for the long journey home.
I hope I haven’t put anyone off their breakfast.
I don’t know which I have found the most frightening over the last three months: the unquestioning subservience of the British public or the day I though I was going to sneeze on public transport. Luckily I avoided the latter although images of being lynched flashed through my mind at the time.
To me the evidence is now clear; there is no science backing the two metre rule; there was no Covid plague; and some lockdownista politicians murdered some elderly a few weeks before they were due to die.
Graphs now indicate that total all cause mortality (the only reliable data) over the last six months has not risen anywhere. What is unusual however are short, sharp, contemporaneous spikes, two to three weeks after the usual mid-winter mortality spikes in parts of the USA and Europe. These spikes all occurred just after the WHO panic. States without lockdowns had no mortality spike even though they were next to states that had a spike and a lockdown. It appears that Governmental action caused these deaths and not a novel corona virus.
It appears politicians murdered some elderly just before the Reaper was due.
That’s what I have been saying. Premeditated murder of the vulnerable. Doesn’t that sound like an echo from 1930s Germany?
Its hard to have sympathy anymore for those who meekly obey these inhumane laws.
Yup. Not planning to go back into London unless in my own car until normal has returned. Am reminded of a sad scene on the train just before it all got shut down, poor bloke having a sneezing/coughing fit, didn’t have any tissues, he was petrified of upsetting people, very apologetic. Someone offered him tissues. Mind you, as someone else posted in some other thread, once upon a time we had handkerchiefs.
Great updates Toby. I’ve joined the FSU and stopped my tv licence payments. Keep up the good work.
How we’re coming out of lockdown feels like breaking up with somebody that you didn’t really like and never want see again, but instead of never seeing them again, they move in with you, refuse to leave and start selling all your favourite possessions.
Comments on papers like the daily mail keep saying the crowds at the demos are BREAKING THE SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES
These are not rules they are guidelines
One doesent have to follow them.
Amazing the amount of people who dont know this
What iv got to ask though is it a hard government law in shops etc ?Does anybody know?
Not law but can be made a condition of entry. Like being searched going into a football match – you can refuse but if you do, you might not get in
That was the legal response Simon Dolan got from the government on schools closure, it was not an edict but a ‘request’. I think it’ll all unravel when that all comes into the light of day.
I think we have to get used to the words “What are the rules on….?”
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-are-the-new-rules-on-race-and-performance-
People seem to have happily shifted from a default position of freedom to one of rule following.
Britain should not forget one of the major interventions that brought about this illiberal, potentially illegal state of affairs: ‘….for the travel ban to work, all countries within the EU should adopt “coherent” methods. “Italy, France, Spain, perhaps other countries will do the same soon, chose confinement, it goes without saying that if states, namely neighboring countries like the United Kingdom continue for much longer without such measures, then it’ll be difficult for us to allow entry to British citizens,” (French Prime Minister) Philippe said. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/22/france-border-coronavirus-uk-141402 It is certainly possible to view in Britain’s quarantine measures a certain element of ‘payback’ conveniently timed to prepare businesses for the effects of a no deal Brexit: ‘“I think that the United Kingdom politicians and government have certainly decided that COVID is going to be blamed for all the fallout from Brexit and my perception of it is they don’t want to drag the negotiations out into 2021 because they can effectively blame COVID for everything,” the trade chief said.’ https://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/news/uk-to-blame-hard-brexit-on-covid-19-warns-eu-trade-chief/ Say what you like about this government’s response to the now plainly risible ‘global pandemic’ (comedy gold for future generations – at least we’ve left them… Read more »