Latest News

The BBC’s Health Correspondent Nick Triggle, however, pointed out that it may not be necessary to wreck the economy to “protect our NHS” because it’s in no danger of being overwhelmed.

The latest hospital occupancy data has been published in England. It shows in the week ending December 13th, 89% of beds were occupied, leaving 10,500 empty beds. That means hospitals were actually busier this time last year, when 95% of beds were occupied. Ideally hospitals would operate at only 85% capacity, so the right beds are available when patients need them, but in recent years it has been consistently above that level.

They have just over 89,000 beds in total, down 8,000 on last year, reflecting the fact infection control and social distancing have meant some beds have been taken out of the system. The national figure does mask some real hotspots in some areas where hospitals are close to being full. But it does show there is some wriggle room overall. What we don’t know is at what cost this has come.

Stop Press: Why does the Health Secretary sit down like Woody in Toy Story when a human enters the room? Really quite odd.

Furlough Forever

Alongside the review of the tier system, there was the ominous announcement yesterday that the furlough scheme will be extended until April. Does this mean 68% of the English population will be stuck in Tier 3 – or worse – until then? The Telegraph has more:

Rishi Sunak will extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for another month to support the economy while the Government rolls out its mass vaccination programme against COVID-19. The scheme will continue to pay 80pc of salaries, despite hints that this level might be reviewed in the new year. As of the end of October, 2.4 million jobs were still furloughed, with 1.4 million fully furloughed and just short of 1 million using the scheme on a part-time basis. Accommodation and food services accounted for the largest share at just over 600,000 as swathes of the hospitality industry remain under tight restrictions. The Treasury is also extending its business loan guarantee schemes until the end of March, making it easier for companies to borrow to get through the economic downturn.

More than £68 billion has been lent through the Treasury’s initiatives, with the Office for Budget Responsibility predicting about a third of the loans will not be repaid by firms. At the same time, the Bank of England said it would pump more cheap funds into banks to encourage SME lending, while keeping interest rates on hold at 0.1%.

Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said: “Setting out a clear plan to extend the CJRS to the end of June would boost business confidence and mitigate the numerous uncertainties firms are facing as a result of the pandemic, as well as any challenges they may face arising from the end of the Brexit transition and over the timing of economic recovery.”

Worth reading in full.

A disappointing announcement after the Chancellor said in an interview in the Christmas edition of the Spectator that he regards excessive Government borrowing as immoral.

Over his ten months in the job, the Chancellor has borrowed more than Gordon Brown did in nine years. When we mention this to him, he appears taken aback. “It’s the first time someone has put it to me that way,” he says, but adds that there are very different types of borrowers. And Chancellors. He is unusually interested in finance, and worked in a hedge fund during the 2008 crash. “I kind of sat there, watching things evaporate in front of my screen on a daily basis with very large sums of money just disappearing,” he says. The Covid crisis involved an element of déjà-vu. “It was like being back where I came from. Everyone was working night and day, around the clock. But I have never felt better supported…”

“It is clearly not sustainable to borrow at these levels. I don’t think morally, economically or politically it would be right,” he says. “Running a structural deficit years into the future, with debt rising? That’s not building up the resilience you need to deal with the future shock that will come along, and someone else will be sitting in my chair…”

This is Sunakism: a belief that it’s suicidal for any government to depend on high borrowing and low interest rates, because those rates could surge at any time.

Worth reading in full.

Blessed are the Prophylactic Givers for They Shall Inherit the Earth

Long-standing Lockdown Sceptics contributor Freddie Attenborough, author of several brilliant pieces in the right-hand menu, has tried his hand at fiction and written an hilarious piece of dystopian satire in the same mould as 1984. It’s about a future in which the healthy remain locked down, the unhealthy are slaughtered and everyone lives under the thumb of a merciless tyrant called “the Sage”. Here are the opening few paragraphs:

“What did you do during the Great Reset, Grandad?” she squealed excitedly, the words tripping off her tongue in fluent Mandarin.

In the centre of the cage stood an ornate, candle-lit altar. Its upper panels had been cut in triptych form and each panel bore a letter from the old western alphabet: N, H and S. Behind it hung a gilded reredos depicting a coronavirus, its central protein spike outstretched, imparting the spark of life to the reclining Sage, whose fingers could be seen reaching out, but never quite touching, the spike. Running in European style, from left-to-right across the bottom of the image, was a slightly amended excerpt from the Sage’s translation of the New PCR-Testament. Embossed in a plain, puritanical font it read: “The Lord Coronavirus, He who delivered us from The Temptations, creating the Sage (Genesis 24:6.1).”

At its foot knelt an old man, evidently in prayer. Though he faced the altar, his eyes had strayed towards the impenetrable darkness beyond their cage. Out there lay the wilderness. The crucible of The Temptations. Hazy, half-forgotten memories still lingered. They came bubbling up now from that most dangerous of personal traitors, his unconscious. The greasy, voluptuous joy of it all. Unadulterated, untrammelled, rollicking, infective, glorious, filthy human life… biological proximity, dirt, penetration, tongues, sex, risk, sweat, uncertainty, sex… laughter… sex…

“Grandad!”

The sound of her voice dragged him back from the volcano’s edge. Shaking, dripping with sweat, appalled at this lapse into unholy reverie, he wrenched his dilated pupils back to the reredos and set to mumbling his prayers once more, now with renewed vigour.

As with all Freddie’s pieces, this one is worth reading in full.

“Draconian but Necessary”: Northern Ireland Locks Down

Following the five-day relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions agreed for the Christmas period there will be a six-week lockdown, according to the Northern Ireland Executive. Details from rte.

Northern Ireland will enter a six-week lockdown on 26th December, according to Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill. Under the agreement, reached by the Northern Ireland Executive, all non-essential retail will be closed.

An overnight curfew will be put in place, with people being told not to visit other households after 8pm. Health Minister Robin Swann said: “From 8pm to 6am from 26th December… we don’t see mixing in households except for the households themselves.

“For the essential businesses that are open for the rest of the six weeks – they will actually close over that time.

“That’s really to send a signal this is how serious this has to be taken, this is how much we’re asking of the people of Northern Ireland – when we’re curtailing people’s ability to meet in each other’s homes after 8pm.”

Ms O’Neill described the situation as “quite dire”: “It’s very clear from the positive cases we’re seeing every day that an urgent intervention was required.”

Stormont ministers agreed to close non-essential retail and contact services, as well as restricting the hospitality sector to takeaway only, from December 26th. No sporting events will be permitted, with an overarching message to the public to stay at home.

However, the festive bubbling arrangements will be permitted.

The first week of the intervention will include an 8pm curfew for essential shops. The measures are set to be reviewed after four weeks.

“There will also be financial supports put in place, so the current measures which we have had over previous restrictions will be rolled over to support businesses through this very challenging time,” Ms O’Neill said.

For those who had chosen to form a family bubble over the Christmas period, she said they would be allowed to go ahead. Ms O’Neill said Northern Ireland is in a “worse position” than it has been throughout the pandemic. “I think the health service would be completely crushed in January if we didn’t intervene now,” she added.

“Whilst this is draconian in many ways, it’s necessary, and this is about saving lives, this is about saving the health service and this is about taking some pressure off the health care staff,” she added. Ms O’Neill described what ministers have agreed as a “longer and deeper intervention”.

“That’s been a collective position from the executive that has been arrived at this evening,” she said.

Dog grooming will also be open, but car washes will be closed.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: John Swinney, Deputy First Minister for Scotland, has warned Scots that a New Year’s lockdown is a “possibility” in the face of a “rising tide of COVID-19”. The Scottish Cabinet will meet again on Tuesday to review the guidance and lockdown levels.

Stop Press 2: Downing Street has refused to rule out a third lockdown if placing 68% of the population in Tier 3 doesn’t stem the rising tide of “cases”.

School’s Out For Winter

Having fought to keep schools open until yesterday, it looks like Gavin Williamsom will be delaying their opening in the New Year. MailOnline has the story.

Millions of secondary school pupils in England will have their return to school delayed by up to a week after the Christmas holidays amid a Covid crisis in the classroom. Downing Street confirmed that the planned January 4th and 5th restart would now be “staggered” with the use of online lessons, with full face-to-face learning beginning on January 11th.

It came as figures showed more than half of schools in England had coronavirus cases during the first two weeks of November’s lockdown and those aged 12-18 have the highest infection rate of any age group. 

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The start of the term won’t be delayed but what we are doing is asking secondary schools and colleges to operate a staggered return supported by full-time remote education during the first week of term with in-person teaching in full starting on January 11th. Students in exam year groups, vulnerable children, children of key workers, will attend school or college in person from the start of term as well as students in primary, special and alternative provision schools and colleges.”

The staggered return will coincide with an increase in on-site testing, according to the announcement. Schools and colleges will be able to establish testing to offer students two rapid tests three days apart, with positive results confirmed by a lab-based PCR test. 

Gavin Williamson said: “This targeted testing round will clamp down on the virus as students return from the Christmas break and help stop the spread of COVID-19 in the wider community. Building on the fantastic actions that schools and colleges have already taken to be as safe as possible, this additional testing will catch those who have the virus but are not showing symptoms to help schools and colleges stay in control of the virus throughout the spring term.”

What Williamson neglected to mention, perhaps because this hasn’t been fully worked out yet, is how much support teachers will get to carry out this “additional testing”. Will the Army be drafted in, as it was in Liverpool? Or will teachers be expected to carry out the tests themselves? Can’t see anything going wrong there!

Another question Williamson failed to address is why it was so essential for children to stay in school for the last week of this term, but inessential for them to be in school for the first week of next term?

The announcement comes, reports the BBC, as an analysis by Public Health England, the Office for National Statistics and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine shows that COVID-19 cases in schools reflect the rate of infection in the community, suggesting school closures are pointless.

COVID-19 cases in schools reflect virus levels in the local community, a study of 100 schools across England suggests. In tests on nearly 10,000 staff and pupils in November, 1.24% of pupils and 1.29% of staff tested positive for coronavirus in schools. The researchers suggest school closures have only a temporary effect on cases. And they add driving down infections in wider society is the best way to keep schools open and safe.

Dr Shamez Ladhani, the study’s chief investigator and a consultant at Public Health England, said: “While there is still more research to be done, these results appear to show that the rate of infection among students and staff attending school closely mirrors what’s happening outside the school gates.”

Data from PHE so far suggests infections in school year groups are being introduced from different sources rather than being spread between pupils in schools, but genetic analysis of virus strains is needed to confirm this. After schools reopened in the autumn, Dr Ladhani said the rate of infections in all year groups had been rising every week, with older pupils seeing the biggest increases.

He explained that lockdowns have a greater impact on adult infection rates rather than children’s, but there is often a delayed effect in children a week later than seen in adults. Closing schools would only have a “temporary effect”, Dr Ladhani added.

Human Rights Abuses Committed in 60 Countries

Amnesty International has published a new report suggesting that law-enforcement agencies in 60 countries have breached human rights under the pretext of controlling the Pandemic. The Telegraph has the story:

The abuses include accounts of people being shot for breaking curfew, the violent suppression of protests, arbitrary arrests, and assaults on individuals not wearing masks – in countries from Angola to Chechnya.

In some cases, the abuses actually may have worsened the impact of COVID-19, for example by detaining people in crowded, unsanitary jails, the report added. 

“The horrific abuses committed on the pretext of fighting COVID-19 include Angolan police shooting a teenage boy in the face for allegedly breaking curfew, and police in El Salvador shooting a man in the legs after he went out to buy food,” said Patrick Wilcken, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Global Issues Programme.

While the role of law-enforcement at this moment is vital to protect people’s health and lives, the over reliance on coercive measures to enforce public health restrictions is making things worse. The profound impact of the pandemic on people’s lives compounds the need for policing to be carried out with full respect for human rights,” he added.

The report, COVID-19 Crackdowns: Police Abuse and the Global Pandemic, also found that 85,000 people in the Dominican Republic were detained for not complying with curfews in just three months, from May – July.

In Iran, several were killed and injured when security forces reportedly used live ammunition and tear gas to suppress protests over the COVID-19 risk in prisons.

In the first five days of a curfew in Kenya earlier this year, seven people were killed and 16 hospitalised “as a result of excessive police operations”, according to the report.

In Chechnya, video footage showed police assaulting and kicking a man for not wearing a mask, and in South Africa, police fired rubber bullets at people “loitering” on the streets on the first day of lockdown.

In Turkey, 510 were reportedly detained for questioning for “sharing provocative coronavirus posts” on social media.

Worth reading in full.

The Amnesty International Report is available here.

A Lockdown Funeral

One of the Lockdown Sceptics moderators attended a funeral earlier this week. Here’s her account of it.

I attended a funeral of a friend who died in a road traffic accident. It was held in a well known town about an hour from London. The county is in Tier 2 but adjacent to Tier 3 areas – or was then. It’s since been placed in Tier 3. When we arrived at the crematorium, rather early, the only other people in the car park were guests at our function. It was very quiet in the surrounding cemetery, which we thought was strange in the middle of a deadly pandemic supposedly killing thousands and thousands. There was no funeral booked that day after ours either.

Around 100 people attended, but only close family were allowed inside the Chapel. Chairs were set out in spaces so only those from the same household could sit together. This was in spite most of the guests in the Chapel having arrived together in groups in their cars. It made the Chapel look very stark and empty. We had a family funeral there once before so we’re able to compare. The waiting room outside the Chapel was closed. Luckily, the rain held off. Plenty of the close family were left outside after 30 were admitted into the Chapel.

There was a live link so people could watch proceedings on their phones if they were not allowed in. Only a tiny minority of the total guests were masked and people seemed to think that on this occasion hugs were more needed than social distancing. The watchers outside congregated in the covered courtyard where the flowers were laid out. There was quite a lot of mingling but on the whole people stayed in their family groups. Several of the watchers noted an elderly relative crying on her own in the Chapel and mentioned how it was a disgrace that people were being told to keep apart at a time when human contact would be such a comfort. Even the few masked people were not fussy about it. One shared her phone with me so I could watch. The service was quite long, nearly an hour, but no hymns were allowed, just recorded music in between eulogies. 

There were lots of very beautiful flowers in bright colours which previously would have all been taken to local hospitals and homes if not removed by the family. Now they just get thrown away in case they are “contaminated”. I thought this was a great shame. How much of a risk could they be? One of the quests, whom I have met before, is a nurse of 30 years experience at a major London hospital. Currently in A&E, but having considerable skills, she can be deployed to several different departments. She said her hospital was busy during the first wave but is now probably quieter than usual for the time of year. Less people going out means less stabbings apparently!

Many of the guests remarked on the lack of activity at the cemetery considering how many excess deaths there are supposed to be. Some were quite surprised by this. There was a wake at a local pub, which was as normal as those things are these days. I would say certainly more than 30 in attendance at that. Overall, the feeling seemed to be that restrictions on funerals were out of order. I think several of the guests were quite surprised to reach this conclusion, having been quite accepting of the rules until they encountered the reality of them. 

Bob Moran Wins ‘Covid Cartoon of the Year’.

The results of the Ellwood Atfield ‘Political Cartoon of the Year’ awards are in and Bob Moran won ‘Covid Cartoon of the Year’. Well done Bob! And a hat-tip to the Free Speech Union who intervened when Bob was initially prevented from entering by the competition’s organiser, a bug-eyed lockdown enthusiast. After the FSU had a quiet word with the sponsors, who were unaware of the ban, Bob was allowed to compete.

Watch his moving acceptance speech here, and take a look at the other winning entries here. His cartoon in today’s Telegraph is a cracker too!

Toby’s Christmas Story in the Spectator

Toby has a longer-than-usual column in the Spectator‘s Christmas triple issue. It’s about a curious episode in the history of his wife’s family.

As I gaze at my four children on Christmas morning, clambering on to the bed with their stockings, I will think of one particular person to whom, in a roundabout way, they owe their lives. He was a colonel in the first world war and, had it not been for his generosity, my children, their mother, her brothers and sisters, their children, their aunts, uncles and cousins – the entire Bondy clan, in fact – would not exist.

The story begins in 1918, as the conflict was nearing its end. Karel Bondy, my wife’s paternal grandfather, was a young Czech officer in the Austro-Hungarian army who had miraculously survived heavy fighting in Albania. He was on his way back to barracks from the front line one evening when he encountered a drunk German colonel, slumped in the saddle of his horse. Karel did the decent thing and asked the officer if he could be of any assistance. Turned out he was lost. Could Karel help him find his quarters? Karel took the horse’s bridle and steered the colonel to his tent.

When they arrived, Karel tried to take his leave but the Oberst wouldn’t hear of it. He sat Karel down and insisted they have a drink together. One drink led to another, and at the end of the night the colonel decided to reward Karel for his act of kindness. He reached for a small wooden box under his bed, pulled out an Iron Cross and pinned it to Karel’s tunic.

“This is for you, in recognition of your outstanding gallantry,” he said.

Naturally, Karel protested, but to no avail. Not only did the colonel stop him giving it back, he reached into the box again and pulled out a certificate which he completed and handed to him.

“Now it’s official,” he said.

After the war ended, placed the Iron Cross in his bottom draw and thought nothing more about it. He established a successful legal practice in Prague, got married and had two boys. But it proved a life-saver after the Nazi’s invaded and he and his family had to leave in a hurry. Karel applied for exit visas so they could leave for England, but these could only be issued if the Nazis rubber-stamped them and one day the Bondy family received a visit from the Gestapo.

Karel was accused of being a British spy, and he and Frania looked on in horror as the officers ransacked their home looking for secret documents. They broke precious knick-knacks, smashed the children’s toys and started emptying the contents of their drawers on the floor. Karel thought he and his family were done for.

Then, what should spill out of the bottom drawer of his desk but the envelope containing the Iron Cross. One Gestapo officer tore it open and discovered the medal.

“How did you get this?” he demanded.

“I was given it for gallantry during the first world war,” Karel replied.

The officer didn’t believe him – how could a Jew have been awarded such a high distinction? – but Karel told him to examine the certificate and, sure enough, there was his name in black ink. The officer summoned his colleague over and together they marvelled at the medal that they both longed for.

“How much do you want for it?” one of them demanded.

At this point, Karel had to think on his feet. Should he use the Iron Cross to bribe them to authorise the exit visas?

“I’m sorry,” he said, striding over and taking the medal back. “I cannot part with it. I was proud to serve my country and I accepted that on behalf of the men in my unit, many of whom were not as fortunate as I. Some things in life just aren’t for sale.”

This speech impressed the Gestapo officers – they were clearly dealing with a bona fide war hero. Their demeanour began to change and they even made a half-hearted effort to clean up the mess they’d made. They explained, almost apologetically, that there were British spies in Prague and they were just doing their job. Rubber stamps and ink pads were quickly produced and the exit documents authorised.

Worth reading in full.

Round-up

• “Government outsourcing of food parcels forced clinically vulnerable to shield without food” – The Good Law Project takes up the case of the mismanaged outsourcing of food box delivery to people who were shielding. The Government paid over the odds for the boxes and food charities have raised serious concerns about their contents
• “Waste, Negligence and Cronyism: Inside Britain’s Pandemic Spending” – A New York Times report on how the UK Governments rush for PPE put billions into the hands of the politically connected
• “Can any country dodge the COVID-19 bullet” – Ross Clark in the Spectator, commenting on how countries which appeared to handle the virus best the first time around – Germany, South Korea, Japan – are now suffering significant second waves
• “WHO vaccine scheme risks failure, leaving poor countries with no COVID-19 shots until 2024” – Reuters reports that poorer countries are likely to miss out on the vaccine
• “How to End Lockdowns Next Month” – Target vaccines on the most vulnerable, and don’t give them to people who have already been infected, say Great Barrington founding signatories Professor Jay Bhattacharya and Professor Sunetra Gupta in the Wall Street Journal
• “The COVID-19 Data is a ‘Travesty’” – Off-guardian piece by Insight History, on how the data on COVID-19 deaths in the US and UK is inflated
• “2020: The year we let ourselves be infantilised and dehumanised” – Strong piece by Rob Slane for the Blogmire on the infantilising slogans and dehumanising rules of 2020
• “COVID-19 vaccination – warp speed ahead” – Jeffry I. Burke offers a balanced view of the new vaccines in the American Thinker
• “Vaccine certificates part of implementation plan, says Stephen Donnelly” – The Irish Times reports on the country’s vaccines plans. Before certificates, says the Minister for Health, it will be necessary to see exactly what impact these vaccines will have
• “Only meet people indoors that you trust with your life” – Ireland’s Health Service issued stark warning ahead of Christmas gatherings, report the Journal
• “Melbourne public housing lockdown violated human rights” – The Guardian reports that an Ombudsman in the state of Victoria found that hard lockdown in nine public housing towers breached human rights and asked the state Government to apologise to the residents. It refused
• “The decimal point that blew up the world” – Jeffrey A. Tucker explains how a terminological mix-up led to a misplaced decimal point and stoked the panic which shut down the country
• “French president Emmanuel Macron tests positive for coronavirus” – Sky News reports that the French President has tested positive and is isolating for seven days
• “San Bernardino County sues Newsom over COVID-19 restrictions” – The Los Angeles Times reports that San Bernardino County has asked the California Supreme Court to overturn Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order, alleging that he overreached his powers under the state’s Emergency Act
• “Why the well-off love the lockdown” – Julia Hartley-Brewer discusses the catastrophic cost of lockdown in the Brendan O’Neill Show
• “Are COVID-19 restrictions based on data” – Watch the latest episode of Spectator TV, including an interview with ZOE App founder Tim Spector
• “People must have the ‘right to offend’ without facing a police investigation” – The Telegraph reports on a court judgement which strikes a blow for freedom of speech.