Indefinite Travel Restrictions Loom Over New Variant Fears
With the ever-present prospect of the emergence of new virus variants that can escape or weaken vaccine protection, it appears to be dawning on Government figures that a vaccine-dependent recovery will have to be one with closely guarded borders. This means that even when restrictions are lifted domestically, strict border controls are likely to remain, and it is not clear when it will be deemed safe to remove them. James Forsyth in the Spectator has his ear to the ground in Westminster.
The view is that testing and tighter procedures at the border will be needed to protect the UK from the danger of any vaccine-resistant strain. Priti Patel’s admission this week that the Government should have shut the borders last March is revealing of the current conversations inside Government on what to do, and the way in which they are going.
One thoughtful figure in Government tells me that “the advantage the vaccine has given us is so huge that we have to protect that”. The Government is particularly interested in how Australia has used tough border measures to keep Covid out; the country has had under a thousand deaths from the virus during the pandemic. There is a feeling that Australia is a “parallel democracy” and so the restrictions used there could be replicable here.
This Australian-style system – whereby entry is refused except to residents and those with an exemption, and quarantine must take place in a state-approved facility – would be devastating for business travel and tourism. But there is a growing sense in Westminster that this might be a price worth paying to protect the domestic economy from potential new strains of Covid until other countries have caught up with their vaccination programmes. Though even advocates of the strictest measures accept that hauliers would have to be exempt from quarantine and allowed in (if they had a negative test) to keep trade flowing. Others are sceptical, suggesting the Australian approach is possible only because of its geographical isolation.
Fraser Nelson takes a look at this issue in his Telegraph column this week, and urges a rethink.
Before the pandemic, Brits flew abroad more than any other people in the world, Americans included. Travel is about community, not just investment and trade. I have a divorced friend who now lives in Malmo, but travels back every other week to be with her son in London. What becomes of such families?
You can see the arguments for a Fortress Britain strategy. That, if we’re one of the first countries in the world to reopen, we should exploit that advantage – and not risk it all by letting a new variant fly in via Heathrow. But there are plenty of arguments against. Surely, if we’re vaccinated, we have less reason to fear the virus, so we can open up? Also, there have been some 20,000 mutations of Covid – none of which, so far, threaten to dodge the vaccine. Might we be overstating the risk?
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: The Prime Minister of New Zealand, standard-bearer of the Zero Covid crowd, has signalled her intention to live with Covid through rolling vaccine programmes “as we do seasonally, with the flu”. Stuff has more.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has used her first public remarks for the year to declare 2021 “the year of the vaccine” and stated the Government’s goal is getting Covid to the point where it will be managed like the common seasonal flu…
“Our goal has to be though, to get the management of COVID-19 to a similar place as we do seasonally, with the flu. It won’t be a disease that we will see simply disappear after one round of vaccine across our population,” Ardern said.
Are Infections Really Rising?
Many news outlets yesterday reported claims from the latest React study at Imperial College London that COVID-19 infections may be rising, despite the Government dashboard and ZOE Covid Symptom Study App showing new infections falling since the start of the year.
Ross Clark in the Spectator tries to get to the bottom of this discrepancy.
The React study… is based on testing a randomised sample of the population. Between January 6th and January 15th, it tested 142,909 people across the country, of which 1,962 were positive. That figure was then used to estimate that 1.58% of the population had the virus between those dates.
But React has a major weakness in that it is not a continuous survey; rather it is carried out in rounds, the last of which was between November 25th and December 3rd. It can tell us that prevalence grew between that period (when 0.91% of the population was estimated to be infected) but there is no data for the intervening period.
How, then, does it come to the conclusion that cases may have risen since the beginning of the third lockdown, which began on January 6th? Interestingly, the Office for National Statistics’ summary of the React study does not make this claim. It merely states there is “no strong evidence for either growth or decay in prevalence across the period January 6th and January 15th”. It is only when you go to the paper itself, published by Imperial, that it makes the assertion that infection levels “may have started to rise” at the end of the period – a claim it says it makes on the strength of analyses using “P-splines” – an analytical technique which seeks to smooth out lines generated from limited amounts of data.
A flimsy basis for such an alarming claim then. But it does make for an eye-catching headline…
Long Lockdown Starts Looking Even Longer
It was reported yesterday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not rule out continuing restrictions into the summer. MailOnline has the details, in a report snappily titled: “PM refuses to rule out lockdown lasting to SUMMER amid claims he is willing to keep curbs longer to make sure it’s the last national squeeze – despite UK cases slumping for 12th day in a row and rise in deaths easing.”
Boris Johnson today refused to rule out the brutal lockdown lasting until the summer amid claims he is willing to keep curbs longer to ensure it is the last national squeeze.
The PM insisted it is “too early to say” whether the restrictions will stay in place for months longer – despite cases falling by more than a fifth on last week and hopes rising that the most vulnerable groups will be vaccinated by mid-February, with a record 366,919 jabs administered in 24 hours.
Mr Johnson also delivered a stark message that the new coronavirus strain is “much more contagious”, repeating his plea for people to stay at home and obey the rules.
The intervention came as scientists delivered a grim warning that even mass vaccinations will not be enough to stop the disease spreading, suggesting that measures will need to remain longer.
There are claims from the PM’s circle that he is ready to risk the wrath of Tory MPs – who are clamouring for confirmation of an easing starting March 8th – by persisting with the curbs.
The UK recorded another 37,892 infections today, but that was down more than a fifth on last Thursday.
There were another 1,290 deaths but that was up just 3.4 per cent on the same day last week, suggesting that the rate might be slowing.
Boris cited the questionable React study data in justifying his caution.
On a visit to see flooding in Greater Manchester today, Mr Johnson was asked whether lockdown could stay until the summer.
“I think it’s too early to say when we’ll be able to lift some of the restrictions,” he said.
“We’ll look then (February 15th) at how we’re doing but I think what we’re seeing in the ONS data, in the React survey, we’re seeing the contagiousness of the new variant that we saw arrive just before Christmas – there’s no doubt it does spread very fast indeed. It’s not more deadly but it is much more contagious and the numbers are very great.”
He said it is “absolutely crucial” to obey the current restrictions “in what is unquestionably going to be a tough few weeks ahead”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We will continue to keep all of the scientific evidence and data under review. It remains our position that we want to ease restrictions as soon as it is safe to do so, but in order for us to do that we need to see the transmission rates of the virus come down and we need to see the pressure on the NHS reduce. It is our intention and our hope that this will be the last national lockdown.”
Worth reading in full.
What Happened to Plan A?
In these days when being known as a sceptic can lead to notoriety it can be hard to remember that the approach favoured by the sceptics is nothing other than the pandemic plan the Government had prepared on the basis of WHO advice. A Lockdown Sceptics reader has revisited this plan, which is still available here and was reaffirmed as recently as February 27th last year, and copied out some excerpts to show how far current policy differs from it.
The envisaged death toll from the hypothetical pandemic (assumed to be flu but allowing for the possibility that it might be something similar to SARS) is given as 210,000-315,000. This was assumed to occur in as little as 15 weeks with perhaps half the deaths, up to 158,000, in just three weeks. These death tolls are significantly higher than the current UK Covid death toll (95,000 according to the Government dashboard), even allowing for the inflated PCR-based metric and the fact that we are now adding on the usual excess winter deaths as well.
Our reader observes:
Seen from my rather soggy molehill in God’s own county (Essex) we tore up the plans and threw them out the window with very little new knowledge, and absolutely no publicly made justification, in March, on the back of one single model produced by a nutter with form from previous incidences.
Yet even Neil Ferguson’s model of doom was only projecting 510,000 deaths, not a far cry from the 315,000 envisaged in the plan, making the Government’s mid-March volte face even harder to fathom. The reality is, the incoming pandemic was textbook, but the textbook was discarded.
From the plan (emphasis added):
2.12 This means that it almost certainly will not be possible to contain or eradicate a new virus in its country of origin or on arrival in the UK. The expectation must be that the virus will inevitably spread and that any local measures taken to disrupt or reduce the spread are likely to have very limited or partial success at a national level and cannot be relied on as a way to ‘buy time’.
2.20 For deaths, the analysis of previous influenza pandemics suggests that we should plan for a situation in which up to 2.5% of those with symptoms would die as a result of influenza, assuming no effective treatment was available.
A pandemic is most likely to be caused by a new subtype of the Influenza A virus but the plans could be adapted and deployed for scenarios such as an outbreak of another infectious disease, e.g. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in health care settings, with an altogether different pattern of infectivity.
It will not be possible to stop the spread of, or to eradicate, the pandemic influenza virus, either in the country of origin or in the UK, as it will spread too rapidly and too widely.
Taking account of this, and the practicality of different levels of response, when planning for excess deaths, local planners should prepare to extend capacity on a precautionary but reasonably practicable basis, and aim to cope with a population mortality rate of up to 210,000 – 315,000 additional deaths, possibly over as little as a 15 week period and perhaps half of these over three weeks at the height of the outbreak.
4.11 To protect others and reduce the spread of infection, anyone ill with pandemic influenza should:
– Stay at home.
– Minimise close contacts.
– Adopt thorough respiratory and hand hygiene practices, i.e. covering the nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing and sneezing, disposing immediately of that tissue after use, and washing hands frequently with soap and warm water, or alcohol gel if water is not readily available.4.15 Although there is a perception that the wearing of facemasks by the public in the community and household setting may be beneficial, there is in fact very little evidence of widespread benefit from their use in this setting. Facemasks must be worn correctly, changed frequently, removed properly, disposed of safely and used in combination with good respiratory, hand, and home hygiene behaviour in order for them to achieve the intended benefit. Research also shows that compliance with these recommended behaviours when wearing facemasks for prolonged periods reduces over time.
4.18 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will issue advice regarding travel to affected countries. There are no plans to attempt to close borders in the event of an influenza pandemic. The UK generally has a high level of international connectivity, and so is likely to be one of the earlier countries to receive infectious individuals. Modelling suggests that imposing a 90% restriction on all air travel to the UK at the point a pandemic emerges would only delay the peak of a pandemic wave by one to two weeks 10,11. Even a 99.9% travel restriction might delay a pandemic wave by only two months. During 2009 it became clear that the pandemic virus had already spread widely before international authorities were alerted, suggesting that in any case the point of pandemic emergence had been missed by several weeks. The economic, political and social consequences of border closures would also be very substantial, including risks to the secure supply of food, pharmaceuticals and other supplies.
Restrictions on public gatherings and public transport
4.21 There is very limited evidence that restrictions on mass gatherings will have any significant effect on influenza virus transmission. Large public gatherings or crowded events where people may be in close proximity are an important indicator of ‘normality’ and may help maintain public morale during a pandemic. The social and economic consequences of advising cancellation or postponement of large gatherings are likely to be considerable for event organisers, contributors and participants. There is also a lack of scientific evidence on the impact of internal travel restrictions on transmission and attempts to impose such restrictions would have wide-reaching implications for business and welfare.
4.22 For these reasons, the working presumption will be that Government will not impose any such restrictions. The emphasis will instead be on encouraging all those who have symptoms to follow the advice to stay at home and avoid spreading their illness. However, local organisers may decide to cancel or postpone events in a pandemic fearing economic loss through poor attendances, and the public themselves may decide not to mix in crowds, or use public transport if other options are available.
School closures
4.23 There is modelling data highlighting the potential benefit of school closures in certain circumstances, both in terms of protecting individual children from infection and in reducing overall transmission of the virus in the population. However, to be effective prolonged closures are required. This would involve schools over a wide area, but carries a risk that social mixing of children outside school would defeat the object of the closures.
Business as usual
7.4 During a pandemic, the Government will encourage those who are well to carry on with their normal daily lives for as long and as far as that is possible, whilst taking basic precautions to protect themselves from infection and lessen the risk of spreading influenza to others (see Chapter 4). The UK Government does not plan to close borders, stop mass gatherings or impose controls on public transport during any pandemic.
Was the November Lockdown Effective?
There follows a guest post by David Paton, Professor of Industrial Economics at Nottingham University Business School, who tweets as @CricketWyvern.
Recent data have confirmed beyond doubt that infections in most if not all regions of England were falling before the national lockdown was even announced on January 4th. Whether the falls can be attributed to the earlier imposition of strict Tier 4 restrictions is another matter though it is noteworthy that decreases in Yorkshire, which never went into Tier 4, started at a similar time to the South East which had been in Tier 4 from before Christmas.
Queries over whether the latest lockdown was necessary to reduce infections have resurrected debates about the effectiveness of the last national lockdown imposed on England on November 5th. For example, Christopher Snowdon of the IEA has argued recently that this is a clear example of effective lockdown. But does his claim stand up to scrutiny of the data?
Our best reference point is the ONS series of COVID-19 related deaths by date of occurrence. Based on information from death registrations, it gives us the best indicator of trends in infections.
Although there is some uncertainty over the average lag between infections and death, we should expect any effect of lockdown to be visible in the deaths series after about three weeks.
So if the November 5th lockdown had been effective, we might expect an effect on the deaths trend from around November 26th. Similarly, if the relaxation of lockdown measures on December 2nd led to an increase in infections, we might expect an effect on the deaths trend from about December 23rd.
Figure 1 shows the trend in deaths by date of occurrence in England over the relevant period using the centred seven-day average to smooth the series. The series ends on January 1st as delays in death registration may mean it is not complete after that point. The grey line indicates the likely point at which the lockdown will have an effect, the black line indicates when we might see an effect of its lifting.
Deaths increase during November but peak on the 21st, just 16 days after the lockdown, almost certainly too early for that to be causing the decrease. Just as striking is that, although deaths do decrease thereafter, they only do so until December 4th after which they increase again. Given the infection-death lag, not only is it hard to attribute the decrease in deaths to the lockdown, it is clear infections start to increase again right in the middle of the national lockdown.
What about the impact of releasing the lockdown on December 2nd? Even if deaths are already increasing (perhaps due to spread of the new variant), we might expect to see the rate of increase go up from about December 23rd. But no, relaxing the lockdown has little observable effect on the trend.
One problem is that the national data aggregates various different regional trends. Looking at the regional data also helps to isolate some testable lockdown predictions. Much of the North and Midlands were already under quite tight restrictions by November 5th. Those areas also largely returned to even tighter restrictions when the lockdown was lifted. As such, we should expect any impact of both the imposition and the lifting of the national lockdown to be stronger in London, the East, the South East and the South West. Note London and most of the South East went into Tier 3 and then Tier 4 later in December, too late to effect deaths up to January 1st.
Figures 2 and 3 show the deaths trend for the regions least and most affected by the lockdown respectively. Deaths in the North West, North East and Yorkshire were decreasing well before the national lockdown was likely to have exerted any effect whilst deaths in the Midlands were stable before and after the likely impact. Similarly, it is hard to identify any significant effect on the deaths trend from lifting the national lockdown in December.
More striking is the lack of any obvious impact in those regions where we would expect the national lockdown to have had most effect. Possibly the slow increase we had been seeing in South East and London stabilised a little after lockdown, but only for a very short period of time. The South East, East and London all increase again about 10 days after the lockdown should have been having an effect and there is no obvious effect on the trends from the December lifting of the lockdown. The South West seems remarkably unaffected either by the lockdown or its lifting.
The deaths trends are consistent with hospital admissions (figure 4) which should be affected some 10-12 days after lockdown or relaxation. In fact admissions decreased from 12 Nov, too early for lockdown to be the cause and had started increasing again by November 30th before the lockdown had even been lifted.
Looking at the national and the regional pictures, it is hard to identify any beneficial impact of the November lockdown. Given the different factors going on: regional restrictions, development of the new variant and so on, it is impossible to rule out some marginal beneficial effects on the rate or timing of increase. But it is hard to see much in the data to suggest England’s November lockdown was effective in preventing any deaths or hospitalisations at all.
Given the huge costs involved with lockdown restrictions, the lack of any obvious benefit from both the November and (from the early data) the January lockdowns, raises important questions about our current strategy.
SAGE Should Not Even Exist
Today we’re publishing a new piece by Lockdown Sceptics contributor Sean Walsh. Bringing his distinctive philosophical edge to the analysis, Sean asks whether SAGE, as an organ of state power, is even capable of giving Government sound, objective advice.
It is always the mavericks who add the most to objective knowledge. In 1905 Einstein published four papers, each of which was a Nobel contender, and he wrote them in his spare time. With all due respect, Chris Whitty is no Einstein.
Things are, though, even worse than that. The Establishment ‘scientists’ have corrupted the worldview of the politicians they are supposed merely to advise. And the political class has passed that corruption of thought onto the people whose interests they are supposed to serve, not to define. In his excellent piece for Lockdown Sceptics, Ben Hawkins discusses Wittgenstein’s thoughts about the nature of certainty, and how it seems that some beliefs are foundational, that they serve as enabling conditions of thought in general. As Ben points out, for the High Priests of SAGE and their Government disciples the belief in lockdown has become cognitively indispensable. It’s not so much that they have rejected any alternatives to the current strategy. It’s that without a belief in the rightness of their approach, they are unable to think about the C19 problem at all.
Worth reading in full.
The Moral Panic Against Lockdown Sceptics
There follows a guest post by Rob Tyson.
Remember when that paediatrician was driven from her home by a gang of vigilantes who also daubed “paedo” on her door, in the mistaken belief they were dealing with a paedophile?
Maybe you remember the late 80s panic over Pitbull terriers and their feckless owners?
Readers of a certain age may remember the reported conflicts between “mods and rockers” of the 1960s.
All were classic “moral panics” and as I write we appear to be in another one, but this time, the “folk devils” are you, lockdown sceptics.
Observing the hysterically shrill response to anything outside of a narrow orthodoxy on our eminently questionable COVID-19 response by “moral entrepeneurs” such as Neil O’Brien MP, I suddenly remembered Stanley Cohen’s 1972 book Folk Devils & Moral Panics.
I don’t have the book anymore but Wikipedia does a good precis. The hysteria directed at lockdown scepticism since the turn of 2021 feels like a textbook example of a moral panic:
A moral panic occurs when “…[a] condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests”.
Those who start the panic when they fear a threat to prevailing social or cultural values are known by researchers as ‘moral entrepreneurs’, while people who supposedly threaten social order have been described as “folk devils”.
According to Cohen, there are five key stages in the construction of a moral panic:
1. Someone, something or a group are defined as a threat to social norms or community interests
2. The threat is then depicted in a simple and recognizable symbol/form by the media
Yes, that’s you “covidiots”, “conspiracy theorists”, and “anti-vaxxers”. Not only that, but in recent days a “new variant” of derogatory labels has emerged: “denialists”.
An intriguing term, isn’t it? Being so flexible it is very useful to moral entrepreneurs, as Douglas Murray was quick to notice:
Cohen’s stages continue:
3. The portrayal of this symbol rouses public concern
4. There is a response from authorities and policy makers
5. The moral panic over the issue results in social changes within the community
Moral panics have several distinct features, say a couple of other researchers, Goode and Ben-Yehuda:
Concern – There must be the belief that the behaviour of the group or activity deemed deviant is likely to have a negative effect on society.
Hostility – Hostility toward the group in question increases, and they become “folk devils”. A clear division forms between “them” and “us”.
Consensus – Though concern does not have to be nationwide, there must be widespread acceptance that the group in question poses a very real threat to society. It is important at this stage that the “moral entrepreneurs” are vocal and the “folk devils” appear weak and disorganised.
Disproportionality – The action taken is disproportionate to the actual threat posed by the accused group.
Volatility – Moral panics are highly volatile and tend to disappear as quickly as they appeared because public interest wanes or news reports change to another narrative.
Concern – check.
Hostility – check.
Consensus – I would say we are seeing this hardening this week; certainly the moral entrepreneurs have been extremely vocal.
Then only today I saw this call for jail, not just for “Covid rule breakers” themselves, but for a “list” of “celebrities using their platform to encourage rule breaking”:
I’d consider that Disproportionality.
Let’s hope Volatility keeps up its side of the bargain too, and this moral panic doesn’t last too long.
A Dentist Writes…
Lockdown Sceptics reader and retired dentist Dr Mark Shaw has come up with a good analogy of the poor approach to risk in this pandemic.
I am very concerned about the way the risks associated with COVID-19 are being presented to the public.
Professional healthcare workers are generally held in high regard and the public trust them to look after their needs. It’s a privilege that the healthcare worker must never take for granted – and that trust must never be abused. If a professional health worker advises a patient to have a radiograph taken for diagnostic purposes, it is quite reasonable
for the patient to know whether it is absolutely necessary to have it and what the risks of having that exposure to radiation are (no matter how small). I would have to explain the pros and cons and put the risk in context.If the patient was having a total radiation exposure equivalent to a single chest x-ray, a good practitioner would explain some basics of natural background radiation exposure. Then the clinician could put things into context and describe this as being equivalent to roughly three days of additional background radiation.
If the practitioner was taking the patient’s trust for granted and intended to abuse that trust and try to alter the patient’s reasonable decision to opt for the x-ray, he or she could scare the patient by taking things out of context. Every time the patient came in to the clinic the clinician could say that diagnostic radiology causes 700 cancer cases a year – which might not be a lie.
Of course, if it is found that the health care professional is doing this and systems are in place that deal with patient safety and allow for whistle-blowing, then this practitioner can be reported and disciplined. If it persists the practitioner could rightly be struck off.
How can the Government, the medical establishment and media organisations that publicise the Covid death figures and Covid risks be allowed to do so in the way that they are doing? It is an absolute scandal.
The public are being misled by taking overall risks out of context. The classification of a Covid death as being a death within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, the publication of these deaths on a daily basis, and the citing of positive tests as “cases” are only a few examples.
In a fair society all risks need to be kept in perspective and when that doesn’t happen those responsible need to be held accountable. In the medical and dental profession disciplinary action is taken in these situations to protect the public and so that lessons can be learned. It may be a little too late to halt the damaging (possibly catastrophic) effects of the publication of information that seems designed to scare the public into conforming to a particular agenda. I do not think it is too late for those responsible – the Government, some of the media and some healthcare professionals and their representatives to be held accountable and learn lessons.
How Well Has the BBC Covered this Crisis? Readers’ Views Requested
The Beeb is asking for the views of its audience, so do be sure to let them know.
We are really interested in understanding your views on the BBC and some of the other services you use. Here is a short survey that should take no longer than five minutes to complete and your answers will be completely confidential.
We will be looking at the results of the survey, alongside looking at how you and others use the BBC’s services when you are signed in to your account. For example, we might look at whether people who use the BBC a lot have a different view to those who don’t use it very often. This is to help us better understand how people feel about the BBC. The survey results and how you use the BBC will remain totally anonymous.
Find the survey here.
Round-up
- “Ministers consider £500 payment for positive Covid test” – The Telegraph reports that ministers are considering paying £500 to everyone who tests positive for Covid (costing £2 billion a month) amid concern that only one in six people with symptoms are getting tested because many can’t afford to self-isolate
- “Scientists challenge ‘flawed’ lateral flow tests report” – The PCR vs LFT battle heats up, with Prof Calum Semple, Prof Sir John Bell and PHE’s Dr Susan Hopkins among others coming out in defence of the beleaguered LFT, reports the BBC
- “Lockdown flouters will get £800 fine just for going to a party” – Enforcement ramps up, reports the Mail
- “Swiss propaganda on mortality” – The Swiss Doctor exposes the underhand efforts of Swiss national newspaper NZZ to discredit the factually accurate statement of chief physician Dr Vernazza that mortality among Swiss seniors in 2020 was roughly at the level of 2009-2015
- “Scruton, lockdown and the metaphysics of the face” – Sean Walsh in the Article brings the great thinker’s ideas to bear on present concerns
- “What makes us think they’ll release lockdown after vaccines?” – Entertaining and outrageous as ever, Rod Liddle in the Spectator has a serious point to make
- “The Madness of Crowds” – The latest episode of the Real Normal Podcast is out, taking a look at NHS failings, heroes and villains of Covid and looking ahead to the vaccine rollout and what potential there is for a free society
- “Covid debate won’t improve until ‘lockdowns’ themselves are questioned” – Michael Psaras in Bournbrook writes on the baffling lack of interest within Government and the media to question lockdown orthodoxy, “even though the policy of ‘lockdown’ is completely new and, surely by this very reason alone, is worth being sceptical about”
- “Lords Spooked by Parliament’s Halloween Unlock Timetable” – Guido notes the ominous news that Parliament’s events team have decided not to resume hosting events until October
- “Italy – China’s virus gateway to the West” – Edward Gifford in Conservative Woman wonders whether there’s a link between Italy’s eagerness to sign up to China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the country’s role in pioneering Chinese-style policies like lockdown
- “The showtrial of the sceptics” – Peter Hitchens joins Brendan O’Neill on the latest spiked podcast
- “US president Joe Biden signs 10 executive orders to curb spread of coronavirus” – New boss, new direction, though the president’s direct power to address public health issues in the US is limited
- “The COVID-19 suicides” – David Bullard writes in Politicsweb on the recent tragic deaths of three of his friends and acquaintances
- “Take Junction 3 off the road to Hell? That’s the choice ahead on lockdowns” – Jon Dobinson of Recovery writes in Think Scotland that for all the talk of vaccines, lockdown is “a cycle which will never end until we learn to live with this unpleasant virus”
- Ross Clark has hit back against Neil O’Brien for lashing out at lockdown sceptics
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Ten today: “Anxious” by The Housemartins, “Living in a box” by Living in a box, “Please release me” by Engelbert Humperdinck, “19th Nervous breakdown” by Rolling Stones, “Going nowhere” by Neil Sedaka, “Confusion” by The Electric Light Orchestra, “Perilous Times” by Mystic Eyes, “Fool If You Think It’s Over” by Elkie Brooks, “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House and “When Will I See You Again” by The Three Degrees.
Love in the Time of Covid
We have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums, including a dating forum called “Love in a Covid Climate” that has attracted a bit of attention. We have a team of moderators in place to remove spam and deal with the trolls, but sometimes it takes a little while so please bear with us. You have to register to use the Forums as well as post comments below the line, but that should just be a one-time thing. Any problems, email the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster Ian Rons here.
Sharing Stories
Some of you have asked how to link to particular stories on Lockdown Sceptics so you can share it. To do that, click on the headline of a particular story and a link symbol will appear on the right-hand side of the headline. Click on the link and the URL of your page will switch to the URL of that particular story. You can then copy that URL and either email it to your friends or post it on social media. Please do share the stories.
Social Media Accounts
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Woke Gobbledegook
We’ve decided to create a permanent slot down here for woke gobbledegook. Today, it’s the worrying news that Boris Johnson has declared “there’s nothing wrong with being woke”. The Spectator has the details.
Labour’s shadow Foreign Secretary, Lisa Nandy, opened a Pandora’s box yesterday in an interview with the Guardian, in which she praised the new US President Joe Biden for being a “woke guy” and, according to the paper, appeared to suggest that those defending the Parliament Square statue of Churchill were comparable to white supremacists marching in America. Mr S imagines that isn’t quite the strategy the party had in mind to win back Red Wall towns lost in 2019.
Nonetheless, it appeared to be Boris Johnson who was struggling most with the idea of a ‘woke’ US President yesterday. In an interview with Sky News, the PM was asked if he thought Joe Biden was woke as well. At first, a visibly flustered Boris Johnson, clearly worried about poisoning US relations, sought to evade the question. But the PM then added the surprising admission that ‘there’s nothing wrong with being “woke”’.
It must clearly have been a different Prime Minister who was reportedly considering starting a “war on woke” last year…
Katy Balls added further analysis here.
Stop Press: Will Knowland, who was sacked from Eton for posting online a lecture questioning feminist orthodoxy, has told Freddie Sayers from UnHerd that he stands by his “patriarchy lecture”.
“Mask Exempt” Lanyards
We’ve created a one-stop shop down here for people who want to obtain a “Mask Exempt” lanyard/card – because wearing a mask causes them “severe distress”, for instance. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and the Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. And if you feel obliged to wear a mask but want to signal your disapproval of having to do so, you can get a “sexy world” mask with the Swedish flag on it here.
Don’t forget to sign the petition on the UK Government’s petitions website calling for an end to mandatory face masks in shops here.
A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption. Another reader has created an Android app which displays “I am exempt from wearing a face mask” on your phone. Only 99p.
If you’re a shop owner and you want to let your customers know you will not be insisting on face masks or asking them what their reasons for exemption are, you can download a friendly sign to stick in your window here.
And here’s an excellent piece about the ineffectiveness of masks by a Roger W. Koops, who has a doctorate in organic chemistry. See also the Swiss Doctor’s thorough review of the scientific evidence here and Prof Carl Heneghan and Dr Tom Jefferson’s Spectator article about the Danish mask study here.
The Great Barrington Declaration
The Great Barrington Declaration, a petition started by Professor Martin Kulldorff, Professor Sunetra Gupta and Professor Jay Bhattacharya calling for a strategy of “Focused Protection” (protect the elderly and the vulnerable and let everyone else get on with life), was launched in October and the lockdown zealots have been doing their best to discredit it ever since. If you googled it a week after launch, the top hits were three smear pieces from the Guardian, including: “Herd immunity letter signed by fake experts including ‘Dr Johnny Bananas’.” (Freddie Sayers at UnHerd warned us about this the day before it appeared.) On the bright side, Google UK has stopped shadow banning it, so the actual Declaration now tops the search results – and Toby’s Spectator piece about the attempt to suppress it is among the top hits – although discussion of it has been censored by Reddit. The reason the zealots hate it, of course, is that it gives the lie to their claim that “the science” only supports their strategy. These three scientists are every bit as eminent – more eminent – than the pro-lockdown fanatics so expect no let up in the attacks. (Wikipedia has also done a smear job.)
You can find it here. Please sign it. Now over three quarters of a million signatures.
Update: The authors of the GBD have expanded the FAQs to deal with some of the arguments and smears that have been made against their proposal. Worth reading in full.
Update 2: Many of the signatories of the Great Barrington Declaration are involved with new UK anti-lockdown campaign Recovery. Find out more and join here.
Update 3: You can watch Sunetra Gupta set out the case for “Focused Protection” here and Jay Bhattacharya make it here.
Update 4: The three GBD authors plus Prof Carl Heneghan of CEBM have launched a new website collateralglobal.org, “a global repository for research into the collateral effects of the COVID-19 lockdown measures”. Follow Collateral Global on Twitter here. Sign up to the newsletter here.
Judicial Reviews Against the Government
There are now so many legal cases being brought against the Government and its ministers we thought we’d include them all in one place down here.
The Simon Dolan case has now reached the end of the road. The current lead case is the Robin Tilbrook case which challenges whether the Lockdown Regulations are constitutional. You can read about that and contribute here.
Then there’s John’s Campaign which is focused specifically on care homes. Find out more about that here.
There’s the GoodLawProject and Runnymede Trust’s Judicial Review of the Government’s award of lucrative PPE contracts to various private companies. You can find out more about that here and contribute to the crowdfunder here.
And last but not least there was the Free Speech Union‘s challenge to Ofcom over its ‘coronavirus guidance’. A High Court judge refused permission for the FSU’s judicial review on December 9th and the FSU has decided not to appeal the decision because Ofcom has conceded most of the points it was making. Check here for details.
Samaritans
If you are struggling to cope, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year, providing a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has done to them.
Shameless Begging Bit
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation in the past 24 hours to pay for the upkeep of this site. Doing these daily updates is hard work (although we have help from lots of people, mainly in the form of readers sending us stories and links). If you feel like donating, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links we should include in future updates, email us here. (Don’t assume we’ll pick them up in the comments.)
And Finally…
Watch Toby being interviewed by Rowan Dean, co-presenter of Outsiders on Sky Australia, about the Government’s mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
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Volunteers wanted… http://www.covid19assembly.org
Folks, organise yourself and your neighbourhood, and then your community. That’s what they don’t want you to do because it’ll harm them more than the displaced activity they want you to waste your time in.
Action To End The Interminable Unlawful Lockdown
👍✅
I didn’t think they were that desperate for volunteers – applied to them previously, still awaiting any response from my email in November.
Hi Stringfellow – sorry about that! We had a huge response to the last call for volunteers and have also been busy working on our site. We’re a small team so there were a few people we weren’t able to get back to. We’ll be reaching back out to everyone who contacted us last time shortly. (And just in case, if you’re still interested in helping out, feel free to email us again just in case we didn’t get your original email for some reason,)
I presume that a register is being compiled of local anti-Lockdown groups?? I’ve sent in an email adding ours if so – we are a West Wales local anti-Lockdown Facebook group.
Thanks Eliza – it is. We’ll be launching more content on our site soon and there will be tools and functionality to help people and groups organize. Stay tuned!
Where do I find you?
We’re at https://www.covid19assembly.org/ (If the question was for us. I’m not sure where ElizaP is if the question is for her 😉
Eliza – I’ve looked for your group on Facebook using relevant terms and can’t find anything…Please post the link!
Are they likely to be infiltrated though, and are any precautions necessary? that’s what worries me ( and we all know, I presume the horror stories that have happened to other sorts of campaign group). I don’t want to risk making any trouble for my anti-lockdown friends…
Like I said, looks like people who don’t take the vaccine(s) won’t be able to travel where they want any time soon. (“Indefinite travel restrictions).
Correct.
Much that should worry us if nobody is allowed to travel. Except, of course, illegal immigrants on rafts.
I don’t understand why any of those illegal immigrants would now want to risk everything to come to a dystopian hell hole like this
You get free food, free housing, free everything. It’s a comfortable dystopian hellhole.
I see increasing numbers of Brits welcoming the immigrants and hopping in their boats, rowing a mile out to sea and then coming back pretending to be immigrants.
Their alternatives are even worse poor bastards so they risk death and slavery if they make it.
In France?
Haha exactly! They could have stopped in any of the 12 countries they passed through to the get to the UK.
I was thinking of the ones who have mortgaged their lives for a package deal from sub Saharan Africa or similar. Doesn’t really apply to Channel hoppers I tend to agree.
I believe France is under-populated too? That’s off the top of my head – without going off to check figures on that. But, as we know, we are VERY overpopulated.
France is underpopulated, we are underpopulated. Overpopulation is a myth of the eugenicists and malthusians. Our problems are localised and due to bad government. Same as Ethiopia in the 1980’s wasn’t due to overpopulation (and by the way, quite a lot of that live aid money didn’t get to the starving people from what I heard).
They’re the wealthier people from the countries they travel from. The poor bastards are the ones who stay behind to pick up the pieces of a broken country, destroyed usually by our military force under the pretence of a tyrannical leader.
Ah yes. Takes me back to the days when our politicians and media used their awful lies to ruin and murder people over-seas, far away from ourselves.
I was thinking of those mortgaging their futures to traffickers and gang masters rather than the ‘yacht people’.
We could be the asset-stripped masses in a broken country under a tyrannical leader ourselves in the not too distant future if the full plan goes ahead
Is there really any alternative?
There is no
M agic
M oney
T ree/
M odern
M onetary
T heory
And the vast majority of them are young men. Very few women.
Our local illegals’ home from home (exclusively for young men) is apparently going to close, after about four months.It isn’t fit for immigrants to live in, though it was fine for squaddies in former days.
The problem seems to be that the loos have got blocked. Appalling crisis. So everybody moves out.
Because continental Europe is even worse of a hell hole than the UK?
Because most continental countries (unlike the UK) have compulsory ID cards, which make it far more difficult to work illegally without being caught.
“Paris est une ville sale”
Perhaps Camus had a point
Illegal immigrants come here because (unlike continental European countries) we don’t have compulsory ID cards, which means it’s a lot easier to work illegally here than in mainland Europe without being caught and deported.
Plus there’s the fact that English is now the world’s second language…
Is that why there are 10,000 plus slaves in Britain?
https://www.who.int/news/item/20-01-2021-who-information-notice-for-ivd-users-2020-05
Oh but they do.
They own all of us.
Especially if the majority are clamouring to be treated like slaves.
Yes, which is one of the most puzzling aspects of all this.
I used to think we had rights…
Looks like people who DO take the vaccine (s) won’t be able to travel anywhere either.
Yip, Talk Radio asked the government, ‘If I have had the vaccine, travel abroad and then come back in to the country, do I have to isolate?’ Yes was the answer!!
So, what is this magic water for then? Doesn’t stop you from getting it, doesn’t stop you from dying of it. Am I missing something or is it just snake oil, that millions of people have bough in to under the lie that things will go back to normal. When, it is quite plain that they won’t.
It’s the Covid21 carrier that will force the next lockdown by assigning the illnesses it causes to a ‘new strain’ – it’s in the plan
“So, what is this magic water for then?”
It is solely to enrich the bottom line of Big Pharma, the CEOs and their bought-paid-for placemen in regulatory/government agencies.
I think most DT moron commentators who support the hotel quarantines are firmly convinced that it’ll only be for furreinas.
As with Brexit, they’ll be in for a surprise.
A rush for the podium again! 🙂
But – they are saying new vaccines will be necessary, current vaccines may be less effective/ineffective against already existing variants – could it be that they are slowly moving towards what some have said for a while – that you can’t beat a coronavirus with vaccines?
Biden Inauguration a DISASTER as Steve Bannon Predicts Trump will WIN in 2024!!!
Three times as many people watched Trump’s departure speech than watch Biden Inauguration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRfRzF6jF3o
Dr. Steve Turle
Peking Bidden
Joseph Stealin
very good!
Attendance at rallies is meaningless otherwise Michael Foot would have won in 1983 & Corbyn in 2017 & 2019.
Clearly Foot and Corbyn weren’t in charge of the vote counts….
I looked at the right hand bar on youtube and there was one video for Biden’s inauguration, the other for Trump’s departure speech. The count was 200,000 for Biden, 5,000,000 for Trump.
Lockdown Stories: We lost everything | 21-Jan-21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWnR296tNPo&list=WL&index=44
A talkRADIO listener has shared his story of how the lockdown restrictions have impacted him and his family, and what he has done to try and turn his life around.
Rory Green started 2020 with a new job and a “miracle baby” on the way, but once first lockdown was imposed he could not start work and was forced onto Universal Credit. His wife also lost work as a speech and language therapist. The couple also lost their unborn child: “We lost pretty much everything… It was a rough start to the year.”
While grieving for that loss, his step-sister, an NHS doctor, committed suicide.
“It had a lot of impact on my mental health. I struggled with suicidal thoughts. I’m an upbeat guy, but I got to a point in my life where I had to make a decision… I need to do something about this. Either goes into destruction or into life.”
Rory setup Enlighten the Shadows, a YouTube channel to help men cope with mental health issues.
What a shame that mouthy that piss Morgan does not have this on his show. Would he tell him to man up and take one for the team?
But you can sure make a tonne of money, especially if it’s an annual one.
No. They’re moving towards permanent restrictions and lockdowns.
oh dear. let’s hope the restrictions don’t include on elections or it really might be time for something else
Guaranteed. It’s so much easier to cheat during mail in voting 🙄
Got to be one of our goals – an end to mass mail in voting, and an end to the involvement of big tech in elections. Make it simple cross on a piece of paper
THAT is a great reset I can live with!
Love these reboots…
His film, Demolition Man, shows a future where ultra-clean, ultra sensitive people live above ground in a police state and below ground is the people who want to live normal free lives.
I was thinking about other films which strike a scary cored for what we’re experiencing. John Carpenter’s The Thing revolves around an alien that clones its human victims. But it’s the way the characters are forced to become hyper paranoid about one-another that really sticks out. The part when they’re all tied down and being tested to see who’s the alien makes me think of the rabid obsession with testing for C19.
Other Carpenter movies like They Live and Escape New York both have alarming similarities with our current and developing predicament.
I haven’t watched the film Rollerball (1975) since its release but I recall what an impact it made on me. A lot of people, even today, regard it as simply a very graphic depiction of violent sport in a futuristic era; apart from the blood and gore, almost comic book. But I remember that, even though I was a relatively young age, I saw it for the allegorical messages it was conveying: one man’s fight against the controlling, manipulative and ruthless power of big corporations.
For me the movies that most align with our current situation are:
One unerrated B movie is Virtual Nightmare, The Island and Logan’s Run natch..
Underrated indeed!
All can be filed under ‘Predictive Programming’.
Yep, if you want to wallow in lockdownism (as I kinda do) a few things to go at on Netflix:
Demolition Man
To The Lake
Falling Down
…for a kick off
is that the one with rat burgers?
PUBS Great Reset, Wetherspoons Buys Up ‘Broke’ Pubs / Hugo Talks #lockdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22T2cTBkrEw&list=WL&index=41
Yeah, common sense and a “can do” attitude.
With thanks to Richard Tice (Reform UK) for quote.
In this instance, it’s just a slogan,or maybe getting us used to a Great Reset, which is what this all appears to be.
Apologies for using this comment of Yours, but there are so many comments that I am glad I found this one. I am using “Multipolar Magazin” and they had this on their Telegram channel:
https://2020news.de/bestatter-spricht-tacheles-wo-corona-drauf-steht-ist-oft-nicht-corona-drin/
Maybe You could translate it? You might be faster than me…
But it is a pretty disturbing revelation – considering the suffering and pain the Merkel regime has been and still is creating.
Woman’s severe reaction to Pfizer COVID vaccine prompts investigation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf6NDIiE3Tw&list=WL&index=40
Fears over the vaccine’s safety were prompted by a video of a woman suffering convulsions after receiving a Pfizer coronavirus jab in Louisiana. In an exclusive interview with RT, Brant Griner, son of the affected person, says that she hadn’t experienced any health issues before taking the shot, and added that the response he’d received to his video about it suggests his mum’s case isn’t a one-off.
My friend was telling me that his brother, long time HGV driver until well into his 70’s had blacked out at the wheel of his car. He has been told that he has an underlying heart condition, that has never been detected. To drive a HGV in later life you need regular check ups. I found it strange as he is not overweight and has been pretty fit all his life. I asked if he had had the vaccine. Apparently he had.
I had some bad news yesterday, my best friends Mum in hospital with a bleed on the brain and is not expected to survive the weekend. Okay she is 87 and things happen but she did have the Pfizer vaccine on New years Eve.
The Inquisition have just released their Codex of Obfuscation and Character Assasination. Self appointed prime inquisitors include Sam Bowman and Neil O’Brien. They claim that it was written in their spare time as if it’s just for a bit of fun. I only had time to skim the first chapter – “99.5% survive Covid” and seems to be a lot of waffle to detract from the facts, a bit like a bad salesman might do when selling a turd. In this chapter they try to say that the IFR is different depending on what kind of spin they want to put on it. “The IFR is kept low because the disease is being suppressed” if it wasn’t they say then more people would die due to overflowing hospitals and result in a higher IFR. There’s a few other fudges they describe to try to show that the IFR might be worse than claimed. No mention of course that the IFR is calculated and published by official organisations. I’m going to presume I’ll find the rest of the chapters full of much the same misdirection. The true purpose of the Codex I believe is the kangaroo court trial of people they… Read more »
Natural,y, people such as the Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford are not reliable persons to listen to. Go to your local witch doctor instead.
I still find it incomprehensible that Oxford professors should be treated as fake news conspiracy theorists who should be no platformed and have their comments banned from social media. Crazy – even if I am biased.
Especially by the likes of Neil O’Brien, career politician with a PPE (not exactly the scientific background to challenge S. Gupta).
I also find it strange that so many politicians who have studied economics can still set about apparently bankrupting the country (and also gloss over the devastating economic consequences in the third world). Do any of them have a degree in (of?) common sense? from the university of Real Life?
They’re getting something out of it, fame, power, money or all of the above
I have long considered that politicians ought to be forced to live in an o flat among ordinary hard working people. Possibly in Barnsley (or Otley). Maybe they would think twice about their mad power trips then, instead of their stuffing bubbles of group think among a self serving class of political ideologues – or is it just me?
I have been reading the site. They really are shameless propagandists. For example, one page is devoted to the sceptics’ claim that the vaccines have been rushed. They deny this, at length, pretending the denial is a refutation. But the pretend refutation does not even acknowledge that the vaccines are still in the trial stage and have not been licensed. These are people who would say black is white, if it suited them.
It does suit them. They are saying it.And the zombies believe them. And two and two do make five.
That is actually dangerous misinformation.
I wonder whether they can be charged for it.
Apparently they have redefined misinformation, and it no longer means inaccurate information, but accurate information that the establishment do not want people to know.
The IFR is low because it is being suppressed? Utter nonsense. What is the point in having an IFR for anything if some unmeasureable action is having a significant impact on it? They are working from the assumption that an official IFR is simply deaths per infection. If that was the case, we wouldn’t need a Professor to work through it.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.13.20101253v3.article-info
Its funny how if you are writing to praise lockdown and there effectiveness you are fine. No matter how illogical or with no qualifications to talk on the subject. Or the fact that you are a fucking know nothing mong. But Toby writes a balanced piece using actual scientific data about t-cell immunity and this gets pulled. Can’t one of you bods with a degree challenge the truth in this and the inaccuracy of the data with the same body that pulled Toby’s article? Ipso?
Theme tunes suggested – “Please Release Me”.
I remember it from that Peter Kay John Smith’s advert – one of my favourite’s.
Live music, pubs, bingo nights – those were the days. Clickety click!
Its an Engleburt Humperdink song innit? (can’t wait to see what spell check makes of that, apologies if I spelt the great man’s name wrong)
it is. I think I have the LP somewhere. (I suspect you did spell it wrong!)
Thank you! Made my day!
A judge with integrity.,The one righteous person.
Soon to come down with a fatal dose of covid, too late to be protected by a vaccine?
Covidicided with two vaccine shots to the back of the head.
https://thecritic.co.uk/shutting-up-the-unspeakable-is-still-a-bad-idea/
From The Critic
The eager wait for the promised jab, is starting to resemble the mediaeval sale of indulgences, so effectively denounced by Martin Luther.
Rewards await those who join the legions of the safely jabbed.
An unquestioning belief in vaccine salvation seems to be implicit in the maintenance of lockdown adherence, while heretics – sceptics- are now increasingly derided and dismissed in the media.(See the article linked above.)
Try as I might, I’m struggling to withstand the creeping apathy ,despite my sporadic bursts of anger and dismay.
For many months I’ve observed the disappearance of wisdom, integrity, judgement, rationality , maturity and level headedness from our shouty, censorious, risk averse society.
Added to this, the control creep of the SNP cult and its divisive list of grievances which now dominate this run down , locked down dystopia.
Ghost Town indeed.
Many groups in the past have been vilified, derided and persecuted for speaking the truth. It’s not surprising if they are dismayed and even recant.
But the truth is the truth. The sun does NOT go round the earth. Disease is NOT caused by a miasma. There is NO SUCH THING as ‘the ether’. Species are NOT immutable.The earth is NOT 4000+plus years old. Covid is NOT the greatest scourge ever visited on mankind.
If we are speaking the truth, no traducing on their side and no recanting on theirs will make THE SLIGHTEST DIFFERENCE.
Stick with the truth and shame the Devil. He needs a lot of shaming just now.
Quite right Annie. Social stifling is being enforced by the Covid Inquisitors.
Proportionality has lost its place in governance and social life.
And I will never recant.
Well said wendyk and Annie!
We will have to keep on hammering on as the Truth shall prevail!
“truth – what is that?”
all these years latr, the question is still being debated!
The earth us round? What! Ooh no this can’t be right. Mind you they did burn that poor bugger for for his astronomical observations.
If Galileo was alive today, Big Tech would have banned him for his findings.
he was condemned for offering insufficient proof, as I recall
Truth and lies have one thing in common – they are truth or lies no matter who says them.
Truth and lies have one major distinction – truth stands up to scrutiny. Lies require censorship, demonisation, torture etc to shield them.
Something that ought to be obvious to any rational person.
It’ll end up making the 30’s look tame if we don’t look out
It is obvious to any rational person.
Why are people in Britain so afraid? This seems one of the major questions we have to answer relating to the current shambles. There is the propaganda, yes, pushed by vested interests, but I believe there are cultural reasons. People need to find their courage if they are to avoid this sort of thing in the future (“down with this sort of thing). Theree are courageous groups of people out there – what do they have in common? And which groups are cowering.
I think of that film, Dusk ‘Til Dawn , wher the preacher has to decide to be a “mean mmm…. man of God”. What can bring people to a similar resolve? what has gone wrong? what can turn this around? I want answers, and I want them yesterdie!
G’night!
They are afraid of Death. Nothing in their upbringing and education has equipped them to deal with this ultimate fact of life. Which has made them unable to deal with life itself.
Living is the only cure. If you stop living, as the zombies have, there’s nothing left but death and the fear of it.
There’s a novel, ostensibly for children but worth anybody’s reading, called The Farthest Shore, by Ursula K. Le Guin. It’s set in an invented world, but it is realistic at the core. It’s about a magician who offers people an escape from death, but as a consequence they lose all pleasure in life and sink into hopeless passivity. Sound familiar?
https://hekint.org/2020/12/15/gulliver-at-luggnagg-learning-about-the-immortal-struldbrugs-abridged/
The new Struldbrugs are here; longevity at the expense of life as it should be lived.
I’ve always looked forward to death. Not that I want to end things, but I am excited in a way to find out what the big fuss is all about.
Alan Watts has a good way of putting it. Do you rmemeber before you were born? No? Well, that’s what it’s like to die. You won’t remember this life. You’ll go back to wherever it was you came. To the beginning of the universe, because it was you who did that, only you.
https://youtu.be/5UjkPDG-SH4
“I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” ― Woody Allen
I’ll echo that Annie – the sudden realisation (thanks to the weapons-grade fear spewed out by HMG) that we are mortal has shaken many to the core. In times past organised religion provided an emotional security blanket against the fact that we all must die at some point. But as religion (Christianity at least) has declined in the west so replacement security blanket has come along. I’m not a religious man, but I do acknowledge the role religion formerly played in blunting the sting of death. So, most of the time most people don’t even think about their own mortality, but when forced to confront it they start behaving like children desperate to avoid some awful punishment. They start demanding that someone – anyone – save them from the man with the scythe. But no one can confer immortality on humanity, especially not those governments – like our own – who give the impression that they can. The problem we sceptics face is that we’re adults in a world of children, outnumbered hundreds, if not thousands or tens of thousands, to one. The true believers in the cult of Covid may *appear* to be adults – they work, pay taxes,… Read more »
I think its narcissism and a massive sense of entitlement. I deserve to live at all costs because I’m worth it! People have forgotten that death is a part of life and its the quality NOT quantity of life that matters.
Absolutely – all these people there cowering in fear are totally ignoring the rights of the rest of us to get on with our lives as normal. Apparently they are the only ones that count – in their opinion. Now that’s what I call selfish – and shortsighted.
better to live well than live long. You’re right, this is such a narcissistic society we live in. From my point of view, it is a case of “do what you want” rather than “do what is right” driving too many people.
I have a theory based on anecdotal observation.
In general I see that people who are involved in physical labour of some sort tend to be more skeptic.
My sense, is that as our lives become ever more absorbed by the digital realm, we lose touch with the physical word and therefore the reality of the physical world.
If you are out and about in the world doing physical things any sense of danger evaporates. You can see and feel that there isn’t danger really. \
If you lock yourself at home and sit in front of a computer or TV you are essentially locked up inside your head where your sense of danger is more likely to increase (unless you are on here in which case your sense of anger is what increases).
So really, lockdowns are self-perpetuating. The more you do them, the more necessary people think they are.
You make a good point. Social media has brought narcissism to the fore. Just look at Piers Morgan – he thinks he’s a God.
True. We had a look at our old holiday photos. Mostly of places with the occasional pictures with Mrs D and me or one of us in front of a landmark or nice view. My daughter had to change her phone and she was clearing down her photos. I would say 95% of the shots were of her in selfie mode with all the background smashed out. Our last cruise to the Med we were entering Venice. One of the most glorious views in the world. A city on the sea. Two very pretty girls were taking photos of each other at the front of the ship. Mostly selfies so no background or pouty sideways ass out shots taken low to make their legs look thin and taken quite close. The point is not once did they point their cameras at one of the wonders of the world or used it as a backdrop to their shots.
Yes, which is why I have mixed feelings about up ticks and down ticks
There may be some truth to what you say but may be a little generalised. I’m an IT network Engineer, so don’t do physical labour, unless I’m carrying a server somewhere. I’m a sceptic, so are all my colleagues and my wife, who is a pharmacist. So myself, my colleagues and wife don’t fall in to the physical labour model. However in a former life I served in the Army (Infantry) for six years in the late 80s early 90s. I know a hell of a lot about risk having walked the streets of Belfast during the troubles. The only thing that scares me is my wife dying, however we both have no fear of death; we are not religious, so don’t believe we are going to better place. I have never once worried about the covid, the only thing I worried about at the beginning of this was the response by the government and the public. I said to my colleagues ‘The only thing we have to fear from covid, is fear itself’. How true these words have become! There are many reasons why people are fearful of this so called pandemic. We live in a very narcissistic society,… Read more »
That story about a coast guard being told off by his bosses after rescuing a girl stuck on a cliff because he had broken health and safety procedures to do so, and he subsequently resigned – if I didn’t know before that something was seriously wrong in the country, I did after that.
Incidentally, we are being asked to do pretty much the same thing again – sacrifice the welfare of the young in the interests of health and safety – shameful!
Spot on! My expert, self employed plumber has just finished repairing a radiator; no mask, cheerful, down to earth, sensible and thoroughly reliable.
The young window cleaners-2 brothers- who called earlier this week, are the same: they’ve both had a dose of the lurgy,as have their parents, but no fuss, no masks, cheerful and reliable.
These people run their own businesses, so cannot afford to indulge in lockdown hysteria.
They possess a work ethic and common sense which seems to have passed by our affluent politicians, advisors and media motor mouths.
Ah. Which brings us back to my theory that people who do the more difficult mountain climbs and other activities with a genuine element of risk are likely to have a better sense of risk assessment and therefore can put the risk from a virus in its proper place
I think that the majority of people are not so much afraid of the virus as of being thought badly of, or targeted and vilified or even ostracized by their fellows if they don’t follow the rules or say the right things. It’s an extension of Political Correctness. Going along to get along.
It’s the village mentality – the fear of being shamed and ostracised if you go against the grain.
The Japanese have a saying for that – the nail that sticks out will get hammered.
The Danish Law of Jante is similar: no-one is better than the group; you’re not special; you’re not more important than anyone else. I think this – by different names – applies across Scandinavia.
Yep. Same across Asia too, in the Philippines if you’re a non-conformist you get laughed at and constantly told that you’re getting above yourself.
“Going Western” is a form of insult there.
Ah – so not being afraid to take an unpopular (but correct) view is a common denominator.
The section atl about the pandemic plan that the government chucked in the bin, coupled with the witch hunting article shows us that this isn’t ending anytime soon.
It follows the pattern too closely of previous changes in society driven from the top down.
What was once the belief of the State a year ago is now denounced as heresy. Anyone holding to the previous view is not just a bit behind the times but is dangerously wrong and must be silenced.
The one being attacked reminds the attacker that they hold a position which was commonplace very recently.
“Bigot! Denier! Hater!”
Well, I’ve been there done that and got the t-shirt so I may as well stay as an enemy of the people.
Take a good look at the people/sheeple and ask yourself if you want to be with them or against them.
Quite.
Exactly!
“Bigot-Denier-Hater” seems like a great T-shirt slogan. Wear one proudly.
Catchy, and it can grow like the LGBT acronym soup. Bigot-Denier-Hater-Cynic
BDHCD
Bigot-Denier-Hater-Cynic-Decapitator
Or is that too much?
Thank you NN, my German no longer (if ever) up to it. Should be read by all, particularly odious lickspittles and running dogs like Neil O’Brien (MP!).
A NOB MP
Oh well, can
t say im surprised the spineless useless woke tories done yet another cave in ! – this time brushing the hated bbc licence fee “reform” under the carpet.Please roll on Reform Party UK – it is well past time to get rid of these tory c**ts !
How are they spineless.The BBC have got their reward after becoming the propaganda arm of the government.
The back downs and u turns are a continuing feature of government policy but they are all going in the same direction.A full on police state.
I did that bbc survey yesterday, was great fun hammering them and giving them 1 out of 10. (0 was no opinion) it was fun being able to rant about their wokeness and their complete lack of a balanced debate on covid. Made me feel good.
I didn’t want to do it as they wanted my details and DoB and if there is one organisation i do not trust with that, it’s those fools.
The PM’s difficulty with the question on Biden’s wokeness may be the result of briefings on how dim, corrupt and dishonest ’46’ is. Scott Adams’s take on the ‘Fine People’ hoax is worth a look (profanity advisory!). Biden’s lead role in the 1994 ‘Three strikes’ legislation (resulting in life sentences for marijuana possession for instance) and his history of prejudice against black Americans are shocking. The VP’s misdeeds as a prosecutor are pretty shocking too, almost as horrifying as her nervous cackle.
Biden is a nonce
Kamaltoe is a whore
business as usual in the USA
When you give people jobs on their status, race, beliefs and to tick a box you never end up with an effective team. The best person for the job. Kamala just happened to be a woman and a person of colour, two boxes ticked. The fact that she is a fucking useless politician, a terrible public speaker and corrupt has nothing to do with it. She was destroyed in the debates dropped out in the second round after being slaughtered by a really good politician Tulsi Gabbard who is an ex Vet who would have made a great VP.
Considering the makeup of Biden’s cabinet, it’s even more interesting that he chose a transphobe for VP – Harris, when California Attorney Gen, blocked surgery for trans prisoners.
Yes, you are totally right about her issues when prosecuting – one case she was publicly admonished in court for abuse of office & gross misconduct… Kern County CA, a defendant was on charges of attacking a young child; Harris introduced fake evidence and a falsified confession into court evidence. Defendant was obviously ordered immediately released. Harris continued the charade through to an appeals court, who attacked her conduct again. She claims she meant the whole thing as ‘a joke’. The defendant who was now free in society – immediately went and seriously assaulted a young minor child.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/513265-school-kids-mental-health-covid/
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/non-binary-41st-scot-told-23362639
The second link is an indicator of another NHS conundrum; I won’t comment as I can’t find the words.
I wanted to comment on the ultrafattie, but words failed me as well.
hyperpork
As Pink Floyd might put have said: How can you have your man meat if you don’t stop eating your pudding?
so the paper is complicit in referring to her as them . couple of questions. If she has gender reassignment and a mastectomy who would notice ? and why is the NHS even considering spending money on this.. Isnt this the sort of thing that Sumptions arguments were referencing .
Absolutely and how right he was.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said he is self-isolating after being alerted by the UK’s NHS Covid-19 app.
Covid: Health secretary Matt Hancock self-isolating after app alert – BBC News
Perhaps he should have followed his Government’s guidance to stay at home instead of playing football with his son in a London park last weekend.
Hypocrite…
Perhaps somebody who spotted ‘Han’ nobly took one for the team. I hope so.
Interesting theory!
yes preferably 6 foot under
Follow on from above : ancock has broken the law….
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation) (England) Regulations 2020
Requirements on person notified of positive test for acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and close contacts of such persons.
2.—(1) This regulation applies where an adult is notified, other than by means of the NHS Covid 19 smartphone app developed and operated by the Secretary of State, by a person specified in paragraph (4)
Come on BoJo sack him or prosecute him?
All part of the plan ,look at me I only went to the park and I caught it do as we say stay home and you’re be safe
Of course this is just politics. Look at me, I follow government guidelines when I am pinged!! Its all show. Nobody is following this track and trace bullshit as it does not work and the vast majority of this country does not have it on their phones.
Neil Oliver put it succinctly in his talk radio interview this week when he talked of the “what’s the point” generation.
A world where even if lockdown ends for a summer, maybe even a year, is still a world where lockdowns are accepted and always on the horizon.
Every flu season, every variant of every disease, every time hospitals get busy. If we know that life and freedom will be curtailed at the click of a finger, then quite simply “what’s the point?”
I have maintained hope that once those people clamouring for an untested vaccine are satisfied, lockdown will vanish, but with each day now we see larger and larger numbers with the vaccine, but at the same time, longer and longer prophesies of eternal lockdown.
in some future enquiry they will just have to go back to the normal pandemic plan
It’s not a vaccine by any stretch of the imagination, it is an injection which supposedly activates your T cells to respond to viruses. Thanks but no thanks.
Israel currently has found 12,800 vaccinated people have tested positive!
Conversely, while many of the young will have succumbed to despair and given up on having anything like a ‘life’, such as it was once known, there will be others in the same generational cohort who will not.
It is on these you should place your bets.
They will topple governments.
They will burn cities.
I listened to that interview and he’s right. What baffles me though is how many of the millienials have brought into this whole narrative wholesale. From my experience in my work, they’re the ones who have been vocal in their observance and support of social distancing, masks, vaccines, lockdowns and thinking that everything they read and watch in the MSM is true. Even the threat of redundancy has not led them to question the measures.
As I’ve said here before trying to reason with them is like trying to get blood out of a stone.
Historians of the future will have a field day wondering what went wrong with the young of the early 21st century.
I think we tend to overestimate that compliant attitude amongst the young.
I think there’s a crisis of meaning and a rootlessness for the millennial and post millennial generations. There is very little self awareness about the shortfalls of the tech-mediated life and people are extremely addicted to screens. Without memories of “good old times” to go on or just any memory of a time that felt better, life feels very rootless. I find that millennials are less afraid and more eager for a religion. They need to feel like life matters at the end of the day. And nothing about their world of nonstop self promotion and clicks and cynical consumption of media satisfies that hunger.
I knew all along that the vaccine would not satisfy the lockdown bedwetters for one simple reason.
Their fear is irrational. And you don’t beat irrational fear by indulging it. In fact it indulging irrational fear amplifies it.
People with phobias are not cured by indulging their phobias.
And we see this every time. Facemasks didn’t make people feel safer but less safe. Lockdowns amplify people’s sense of the danger and make them even more fearful. And the vaccines will be the same, it will make the coronaphobic even more afraid. Watch.
There is a good reason Roosevelt said: the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Great comment. Someone told me about a relative of theirs who had the coronavirus test presumably for reassurance purposes. It came back negative but regardless (and perhaps because of the whole process) they ended more scared than they were before. I can imagine people in spacesuits sticking things up your nose and then waiting anxiously for the results to come back is not something that will calm your nerves.
And they would have been happier for the test to come back positive by the sounds of it. Although it does fan the flames in terms of case numbers perhaps eventually if enough people have or think they have had it the fear will dissipate.
Not an experience I intend to have. I’m still trying to decide whether I will go so far as starving rather than submit…
Neil has been an an absolute star in his interviews with Mike Graham. Calm and logical and I could listen to him talk all day. What’s the point indeed.
Yep.
And our concern from the start.
This cycle can and will only end after the likely hyperinflationary induced currency collapses, government bankcupcies and the ensuing depression have occurred.
Masks are the new crucifixes. Sanitiser is the new holy water. The Covidian Prayer is “Hands, Face, Space” (Amen). Cardinals Whitty and Vallance, who sit to the left and right of his excellency Pope de Pfeffel, rightly warn us not to displease Him, for He shall mutate and strike us down with furious anger if we do not sacrifice yet more of our childrens’ futures in His name. We must be baptised in the warm glow of unlicensed, experimental mRNA vaccines, born again as true servants of Him unto whom we must surrender our long term health and bodily integrity. Only then will we be given access to the promised land, and a Saga cruise shall take us there. Archbishop Patel has rightly decreed that all heretics must pay dearly for their sins – their tainted souls shall be cleansed through the medium of Fixed Penalty Notices. Those who resist shall be deemed impure, corrupted, dangerous. They will be cast forever into the darkness, unable to partake in the Great Feast of £30 food parcels. Do not be swayed by the agents of misinformation – those who go by the names of Hitchens, Young and Pearson possess black hearts, and… Read more »
So now we need a 2021 edition of the 39 Articles for sceptics; Lord Sumption perhaps, could assume the role of a much needed Martin Luther, to bring on the Reformation we need so badly.
Luther was doing his best to reassert old truths that had been distorted and obscured by the ruling power in order to keep people frightened and subservient.
Sumption is a worthy successor.
And the PCR tests and vaccine are the indulgences needed to save souls from going to Covid hell.
At this rate we need a new 95 Theses to be nailed at the gates of Westminster Abbey.
For what we are about to receive,
May the Good Whitty make us truely thankful.
Hands. Face. Space.
Amen
Awomen
Awhitty
Athem is more a-fficient.
Neil Ferguson’s trollope is the new Mary Magdalene
Isn’t that Boris’s trollop?
Or must we have two Maries?
Mary Queen of Scots had four, but only one was a killer, if I remember right,y.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today on zoom for the online wedding of Frankie and Johnny! Our safe zoom wedding. Do you promise to love, honour and wear masks and ppe during the consummation, do you promise to stay inside and only venture out for essential items. If any person here knows of any just cause or impediment why these two should not be joined together in holy matrimony, let them press the objection button on their pad or press control O on their keyboard. You may now virtually kiss the bride by pressing the kiss button on your wedding pad. Your family and friends can now press the confetti button on their pads. Can’t wait to see the photos!
Superb.
Brilliant I hope you don’t mind me sharing it
Now they’ve really lost the plot!
Bribing sheep and collaborators with £500 to actually catch Covid.
I suppose you could say that’s one case where the cure isn’t worse than the disease.
Never been one to argue the finer points of taxation and where out money goes I believe that’s part of being in a society. But now we have to collectively reward these idiots for taking a test and perpetuating lockdown?
what’s the catch? Maybe they will take the WHO advice and reduce the CT to 24 in the PCR test.
Yet they couldn’t find it in themselves to chuck a few quid at the 3 million or so that have fallen through the great-give-away gaps.
They should burn in this mortal life. We can’t take the risk of eternal damnation.
Wow thanks for that NN. Some good news at last
I see in the DM it states the government are now considering giving a payment of £500 for a positive test. How bad is that??? They are absolutely desperate to get the numbers up!
Whilst it has often been said here that all this is about much more than the data nonetheless if the numbers start to fall it will be hard to keep the whole bulk of the population on board, especially if the weather improves as the days get lighter. I still reckon that Uberfuhrer Johnson is trying to time all this so that when he hosts the G7 meeting in Cornwall in June, he can do it as the hero of the G7 nations, the one who cracked covid in the UK. He does not have much room in his brain for many thoughts but I do think he has global ambitions.
Lockdown must be getting to me and giving me crazy visions, so try this one; Boris was born in the USA and was a US citizen for many years, the way things are going how about 2024, Boris as joint President of a linked USA & UK?
yes, I think with low numbers people will want to be out. but you can rely on the government just to keep the restrictions in place as long as possible, claim victory in the summer, then be ‘caught unawares’ by the next winter and have to lockdown again
Ah, but Steve – they are the Great and the Good, and are thus elevated above such petty concerns as infection. Or mortality. Or logic. Or common sense. Or…
Per, your last speculation (Mad King Boris as joint president of a conjoined Anglo-American federation), highly unlikely; even after two centuries & change, there exists a very persistent strain of nativism that would reflexively reject such an eventuality.
Like the piece by Rob Tyson. Zealots are well-worthy of mockery.
The point he makes at the end about volatility is highly pertinent.
History shows that these panics and manias commonly disappear – or at least disappear to a very low background level – very quickly, almost overnight, as society collectively comes to its senses.
Savonarola and the Bonfire of the Vanities springs to mind, Savonarola being the last victim.
In the first world war women would insult men who did not go to the front as cowards. The giving of white feathers was commonplace. The jingoism at sign up parades made young underage men lie about their age to get a chance to fight. Britain needs you, all those posters. But then the children and husbands and sons did not come home. The government passed a law to stop negative articles about war. I wonder how long it took the women giving the feathers to realise they were wrong? Especially if that man signed up and died at the front. Or like the covid zealots did they just keep telling themselves they did the right thing. The zealots have the whip hand at the moment because we are not being given all the data to review so we only have government propaganda. We seem to have lost our best data guy prof. Hennighan. When all the data on deaths for January are available I am sure it will show normal all cause mortality especially when compared to a bad flu year. But in the meantime more and more people are terrified by the msm and the idiots on twitter.… Read more »
I can’t imagine the mindset of someone who sought to shame someone into risking their life, when their own was safe back in the UK. Wretched, small minded selfish souls.
Yesterday I went to work after coming out of isolation due to my wife having covid. I work for the nhs and everyone was saying how their suffered due to vaccine, some required time off. My wife lost her sense of smell but regained it the day before coming out of isolation. As for my family and I nothing even though we hugged and held my wife’s hand. I’ve been taking vitamin D since April and have been giving my family a vitamin supplement since September but my wife works in a shop exposing her to virus. So what have I learned we need to look after our own health by eating healthy, getting fresh air and sunshine, exercising and getting enough vitamin D and sleep.
heresy! you need to hide in your bedroom until someone injects you with some chemicals
Dear Derek, if you haven’t learned by now not to be sensible…
Lost sense of small is due to Zinc deficiency – our bodies burn through nutrients (especially Zinc) during viral infections leading to deficiency.
Hello Victoria didn’t know zinc deficiency caused loss of sense of smell. Anyway my wife didn’t lose her sense of smell straight away but a few days in only regaining it a day before her quarantine ended. The point of my comment is neither me who is 58 or my kids 7 and 14 were affected by covid and we had no protection. So where either immune to covid but not colds or as I believe the government is exaggerating covid. Today a doctor at work told me to get vaccinated but today’s news is saying the new variants may be resistant to the vaccine so what’s the point when what I am doing is working.
And bolster your immune system by remaining a part of the herd.
Interesting that a German court takes this view, which appears to have been rejected in the UK system. (Incredibly, the Dolan judge got his info from the BBC – downright lazy, at the very best.)
But what’s especially interesting is how this. ruling might appertain to the case being headed by Reiner Fuellmich et al against Drosten and the PCR tests. Highly encouraging I would say.
The pressure is building.
UN changed the PCR rules, I reckon as a direct result of the threat of legal action against them as individuals.
Surely you mean the WHO, an organisation with no connection to the UN, other tapping it as a source of funding.
Bring Back Freedom
Bring Back Life
Bring Back Beauty
Bring Back Joy
We keep them all in trust.
Bring back care
Bring back trust
Bring back respect
Bring back love
Anyone that wants to be really depressed need only gaze at the replies of Ameritards to President Bidet’s tweet about wearing masks:
President Biden on Twitter: “Wearing masks isn’t a partisan issue — it’s a patriotic act that can save countless lives. That’s why I signed an executive order today issuing a mask mandate on federal property. It’s time to mask up, America.” / Twitter
Can you imagine the effect of having to wear a face mask in somewhere such as the Rockies National Park, where the roads rise to an elevation above ten thousand foot above sea level. Even without, the smallest exertion leaves you breathless due to the lower oxygen levels.
Or in Death Valley.
Or in Florida where they have been open for month’s
…especially if you’re out-of-shape. Like most Americans.
Nappy up, America, land of the cheat, land of the liar, land of thr fool, land of the slave.
Biden might be president but his powers are limited to federal only therefore only on federal property
Just read the headline and the first bit of today’s update. All I can say is AAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!
If that’s the case then UK tourism is dead and by extension museums & heritage. Ditto culture & entertainment.
Still think this is about the virus?
If the likes of the National Trust, English Heritage, London Zoo,British Museum, National Gallery, Royal Opera House and the National Theatre still continue to kowtow to this nonsense then they really deserve to go bust. And there won’t be any taxpayers’ funds available to bail them out.
This is terrible. My wife and I are both in aviation so we’ll both lose our careers simultaneously.
I really, really hope that some companies actually speak out this time but I’m not holding my breath…
Agree. I escaped redundancy this time but I suspect the longer we’re shut they will be forced to look into more redundancies to save even more money.
I’m hoping that there are those in the museums sector who will break ranks and defy the government but like you I’m no holding my breath either.
It’s the same with my wife. She’s escaped one round of redundancy so far and now round two is looming! This round is voluntary at the moment but I doubt they’ll get many volunteers at this stage, most people close to retirement who could afford to go are already gone.
Let’s hope so. This is going to terminally affect quite a few sectors so we’ll see.
We had voluntary first, I was on the firing line for the compulsory but survived that. I do wonder who they will go after if there’s another round because we don’t have any left from the those of the retirement age who can afford it age group.
Tourism, aviation, heritage and culture I suspect are all bankrupt and won’t survive the longer this goes on. We shall see if any of them have the balls to defy the government.
Isn’t Arts , Culture , music, Theatre why the rest of the world wanted to come to this septic isle? After that London as a financial centre, the most revenue raised by cultural tourism now well and truly FFFFFucked!