Friday 20 March: In the rush to stock up, we should not forget to use our local businesses

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/03/20/lettersin-rush-stock-should-not-forget-use-local-businesses/

1,194 thoughts on “Friday 20 March: In the rush to stock up, we should not forget to use our local businesses”

    1. Good for you, Maggie. Get out your knitting, your box of chocolates and a glass of cooking sherry and listen to Angel Radio – you’ll have a ball.

      1. Good morning EB

        Haha ..

        Have things to do , I am not the cosy old lady you imagine .. quick tidy up, dogs to walk , distribute about 100 + leaflets.. through difficult letter boxes .. tidy house .. trying not to think about my lost sleep .. Moh up and down all night .. leaky springs .. etc etc..

        I should have visited the hairdresser a couple of weeks ago .. no chance now !

        What is Angel radio?

        1. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2711c3c348a0e96253bb1cb99aec9bcf4b3b848718334c4a511a9ced93542d57.jpg Morning, Maggie.

          You wouldn’t have a problem with “difficult letter boxes” if the UK adopted the same brainless scheme for post-boxes that we have here in rural Sweden. This is a photograph that I took a couple of weeks ago showing a row of 18 boxes, newly installed by Postnord, 15 of which had their lids blown open by the wind! These were replacements for some equally idiotic boxes that had become damaged.

          The problems with them are manifold. You have to venture out in all kinds of weather, often crossing busy roads, to collect your post. The lids (made of light plastic, mainly) blow up and remain open in moderate winds; this permits rain to enter and saturate the contents. Most rural Swedes don’t possess the right kind of common sense to affix a heavy weight under the lid to prevent this happening.

          I passed by this row of boxes a few days later and every single one of them had its lid blown vertically open!

          4. Hmm, ‘Morning, George, funny that, Best Beloved has been assembling a wardrobe, that was flat-pack delivered from IKEA, and I heard mutterings that the quality had plummeted to an almost MFI level.

            Mind you, it is only a stop-gap IDEA at £99 so, what does one expect? Hardly Chippendale.

          5. I bought a small flat-pack chest of drawers from MFI back in the 1970s. On the instructions it said, “This can be assembled by a ten-year-old with a screwdriver in five minutes.”

            I drove around the streets for two weeks and could I hell-as-like find a ten-year-old with a screwdriver!

          7. The good thing about Boris letterboxes in the wind is that one gets to see what’s underneath.

          8. Norwegians build a nice little wooden shelters for them; painted nicely, they are quite attractive. Similar “bus shelters” for wheely bins.

          9. When we lived in SA, postal deliveries to houses was discontinued. In its stead, a building was provided that contained lockable postboxes, one box for each address in the area. This normally necessitated a drive once a week to pick up your post, assuming it hadn’t been nicked by some bent wallah in the Post Office for its contents or sold to the squatter camps for fuel. I believe now the postal service ha collapsed entirely and people now rely upon courier companies.

          11. We still use this service here. Having scribbled our note, such as blog posts, it is passed to the typewriter, a charming little chap who bashes away on his machine at lightning speed. A runner is summoned and the missive is place in the stick. The runner then runs to the telex office and the content is telexed to the town bureau which has a connection to the world wide web. They then send our corrspondence out to the blogosphere. The whole process works in reverse if required. Amazingly quick and efficient.

        2. Two points, Maggie:

          JOKE: You’re wasting your time distributing 100+ leaflets. Didn’t you hear that all elections have now been cancelled/postponed?

          :-))

          SERIOUS: Just Google “Angel Radio” and have a listen. It consists of “our kind of music from the good old days, when songs had tunes and lyrics”, i.e. from around 1900 to 1969. The presenters are volunteers and sometimes rather naff but the music is to die for. Do give it a try (this is advice for all NoTTLers) and let me know what you think. (I first read about it in SAGA magazine and, having given it a go, I find I increasingly listen to it.)

          2. That’s a great idea, my dear. (And well done for organising it.)

            But DO give Angel Radio a try.

          3. You’re a saint, T_B. I hope you don’t have to wait for heaven to get your reward 🙂

    2. Well done that man and remember he’s going to have at least two months when Southampton don’t lose a game! …

    3. One of my neighbours (the husband of the woman I was walking with when we were walking our dogs as I described earlier) went off “to walk the golf course on his own” this morning 🙂

    1. Morning, Delboy. Have I overindulged last night? I ask because I can see 36 of you.

      :-))

      1. No, you are fine. One to mow the green this morning, one to paint the equipment shed, one to ………….

        1. Brussels is playing a long game. Let the national governments take the difficult decisions, the EU emerges unscathed. They didn’t get where they are today by being thick.

      3. ‘Morning, Paul, funny that we hear nothing about Greece, coronavirus, or the battle against the hordes unleashed by its friendly neighbour.

  6. Morning all

    SIR – While in these uncertain times supermarkets are having a field day, with bare shelves and many thousands of online orders, let us not forget our independent shops.

    We should be supporting local suppliers – butchers, bakers, farm shops and others – and perhaps encouraging them to begin weekly home deliveries, in order to keep households supplied and their own livelihoods intact.

    Pam Haworth

    Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire

    SIR – The Prime Minister rightly acknowledged the great work being done by our NHS staff.

    We should also recognise the shop-workers keeping our stores open for essential supplies, along with the postal workers, the delivery drivers and many more who are at risk from direct contact with the public.

    Michael Ryan

    Northmoor, Oxfordshire

    SIR – I took advantage of the “silver hour” for over-70s at Sainsbury’s yesterday morning. I can only liken the experience to rush hour on the London Underground.

    We were asked over the tannoy to “keep two metres apart in these difficult circumstances;: we know it’s not easy but please try.”

    I paused to allow space to develop in front of me – only to be shunted from behind and both sides.

    Rodney Goodwin

    Sherborne, Dorset

    1. I remember the travelling greengrocer, milkman, library… should I get me coat?

          2. Like Norman Wisdom, his slapstick comedy didn’t need language skills.
            Not always my cuppa char, as I love wordplay and character based comedy, but that type of humour does have a world wide appeal.

  7. SIR – On Wednesday, my wife and I went to our local Waitrose for the weekly shop. A policy of no more than three items of each individual product was in force. Needless to say there were no lavatory rolls on the shelves.

    Chatting to the lady on the till, we learnt that the shelves had been fully restocked with the product for the morning opening – but some customers came in and bought three multi-packs, left the store and then came back in for more. On the other hand, I was not allowed to buy more than three 330ml bottles of lemonade.

    Time for some legislation against hoarding, perhaps.

    R A Lonsdale

    Cranbrook, Kent

    SIR – I have a suggestion for stopping bulk-buying in supermarkets.

    Baskets only – no trolleys.

    Juliet Johnston

    London SW19

    SIR – Our daughter lives in Singapore. When panic-buying started, stores began to hold back from immediately restocking shelves. Each morning, food of every variety reappeared, and people came to realise that they didn’t need to panic-buy. Within two days they stopped doing it.

    Sharon Hall

    Finchampstead, Berkshire

    1. Has Juliet wondered how the disabled are supposed to manage without a trolley?

  8. SIR – Is it not time that news programmes stopped showing footage of empty shelves and concentrated on the fact that products are being replaced? If people are encouraged to revert to normal buying, there will be enough to go round.

    Rosemary Griffiths

    Hythe, Kent

    SIR – Visiting our local supermarket, I noticed that the aisle previously holding lavatory rolls was now stacked with disposable nappies.

    I assumed that this was a pragmatic and imaginative response to a shortage created by panic-buying, even if it did take the Dunkirk Spirit a little too far.

    I was relieved when my wife informed me later that the toilet rolls had been moved to another aisle since my last visit.

    Neil Russell

    Portsmouth, Hampshire

    1. A large lorry turned up at Lidl in Malvern stopping the customers getting their cars out. I thought – goody, fresh stocks. When I looked again though, the lorry had arrived empty and the next day the shelves were.

      I actually experienced a very similar experience with toilet paper substitute. I spent a month on a cultural exchange in communist Poland in 1979. The retail distribution system was chaotic there. Any delivery anywhere attracted a queue – don’t bother what’s just come, just queue for it and hope for the best. At the archaeology dig near Hrubieszów, one village shop got the entire wojwojdship’s ration of sanitary towels, which we were using as toilet paper (long out of stock). The next village got the region’s beer supply, so you can imagine the parties there, once the local yokels got bored with wódka.

      1. Could they not print copies of the Labour Party Manifesto in response to the lavatory paper crisis?

        2. Er, imagine we have to go back to the days of Izal toilet paper…. a sort of grease proof stuff that formed dangerous creases if not properly handled…..people today have it too soft (no pun intended) and have no recognition that if the internet goes down it will be us oldies who will survive because we come a from an era before mobile phones, computers etc and the only games were space invaders or paddle ball in the pub. What the millenials will do without technology is anyone’s guess. Just maybe, instead of us asking them how to fix the time on the video recorder (do we still have those) they will come to ask us how they can talk to their friends without a phone….

    2. Yes, this is the nastiest habit of supermarkets, reorganising everything so that a five minute dash for what you want means you now have to browse all the aisles to find where they have now hidden it. The idea is that when browsing you will impulse buy stuff but…. when Jumbo decided to reorganise so you could only follow a convoluted path through the store which took you past every single product we simply stopped going. But I suspect those addicted to Chinese junk probably love it.

      Of course, my wife and I have different shopping styles and I often go into meltdown in supermarkets with her….
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrAytLkEBMU

      1. Yep, I agree entirely.

        Go in, know what you want, get out.

        I have told them many, many times that if they insist on moving things around I will do the same. I asked them to please stop doing it. It was annoying beyond sense.

  9. Morning again

    SIR – While closing schools to slow down the spread of coronavirus (report, March 19) is understandable, I do not see why exams cannot be held in otherwise nearly empty schools.

    The candidates could just be spread out further. Not having proper exam results will affect these pupils in the future when they apply for jobs.

    Jennifer Wallace

    Ely, Cambridgeshire

    SIR – The hysteria that surrounds the issue of children not going to school is entirely without foundation.

    All teachers have to do is teach their pupils on Skype or FaceTime, with the result that, instead of playing computer games ad nauseam, they can still get an education.

    Sir Gavin Gilbey Bt

    Dornoch, Sutherland

    SIR – Given the present need for information to provide concrete evidence of a pupil’s ability, was it not a mistake to remove coursework from the assessment process?

    Many of us in the education system were suspicious of the true motive behind this, and doubted that it was to add greater rigour and clarity by confining testing to the end of a course. We were convinced it was because politicians consistently promoted the idea that teachers can’t be trusted.

    It would now appear that the only meaningful way to provide any meaningful record by which to judge pupil performance will be to access the regular records of achievement carefully noted in teachers’ mark books.

    Paul Strong

    Claxby, Lincolnshire

  10. Bus Pass Restrictions Lifted

    Manchester & Suffolk have lifted the AM restriction on Bus Passes so they can now be used before 9:30

          4. ‘Morning, Elsie with me, it’s the no of ‘This user is blocked’ that I see with replies to the Pockroach and the Carrot that keeps me going and playing the ‘collapse’ game as I go.

  11. SIR – I fail to see how closing schools can help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

    As it stands, pupils are grouped in one place, thus potentially helping to contain the spread. We now have to rely on parents to persuade their offspring of the dangers of unnecessarily frequenting populated public places and to dissuade them from loitering in large groups. Surely such freedom can only lead to a more widespread problem.

    Sally Hancock

    Goostrey, Cheshire

    Schools will be closing on Friday, sending millions of children home

    Schools will be closing on Friday, sending millions of children home CREDIT: FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

    SIR – Children will now need something else to give structure to their day, and I hope that the BBC will step in and give parents a helping hand.

    How about fun lessons throughout the day at set times for different age groups? CBeebies could also become more lesson-focused. I recall Johnny Ball enthralling children with his maths lessons.

    Barbara Smith

    Stafford

    SIR – Our daughter has been sent home early from university and the summer term is likely to be cancelled. Like thousands of other students in the same boat, she wants to help the cause.

    Who can harness such a valuable asset? The NHS and charities must utilise this willing and able group.

    William Tice FRCS

    Southampton

    SIR – University students like me are facing the prospect of no contact time being cancelled until next September, possibly even beyond.

    These students, many of whom will be unaffected if they contract the virus, should be deployed in teams around the country to help out in hospitals, deliver goods and supplies to the isolated, and to bear the bulk of the volunteer work the country will need in the weeks ahead.

    The Prime Minister says we are in a time of war; now is the time for national service.

    Lachlan Rurlander

    London NW1

  12. SIR – Our roadsides are disgracefully littered. What an opportunity we now have to clear them. This would provide fresh air, exercise, social distancing and relief from boredom.

    Judy Forbes

    Coldstream, Berwickshire

    1. Why not just lie in wait with a machine gun and flatten the littererers in the act? Bonfire time, problem solved at source and so much more satisfying than shuffling along with a plastic bag and one of those grabbers, only to have to do the same day after day.

      1. The machine-gun tactic would also work efficiently against all those anti-social “panic-buyers”.

        1. Not to mention all those gangs (teenage drug and organised crime). A sequential failure to deal with this problem, effectively and finally, has allowed them to get out of control.

          A machine-gun would also get rid of those wearing “hoodies”.

        2. Anybody with more than one pack of toilet rolls as they come out of a shop, ‘Pop’. Onto the pile in the corner of the car park for later collection and delivery to their front garden for their family to sort out.

    2. Don’t be silly, Judy Forbes, that would be, like, unwoke and anti-soshul, innit?

      1. You’d also need to DBS’d in case a kiddiwink spoke to you and go on myriad local council H&S courses, buy your own HisViz, helmet, steel toe capped boots and log every piece of litter you collect and write in detail how you disposed of it.
        By then, even the crisp packets would have degraded.

  13. Looks like Boris has got this all wrong.

    99% of fatalities in Italy are in the underlying illness groups.

    Therefore protecting those groups should be the priority through isolation including block booking hotels for all expenses paid stays for those unable to isolate.

    The research clearly implicates underlying condition treatment as a factor exactly as The Lancet suggested.

    1. Exacto. This is not, as had been feared, Spanish flu 2.0. Maybe more like the Asian flu of 1957.

      1. The WHO says that the SARS epidemic had a 10.4% death rate, whilst Coronavirus has a 2% death rate.

  14. Well that didn’t take long. Within 5 minutes of me posting a reply to Minty’s doom and gloom post below, Minty calls me a liar. Nice community spirit not.

    1. I must admit that I failed to see anything in your post that could be called a lie. One might disagree with some of what you say (I don’t), but that does not amount to lying.

  15. Just heard on the wireless that today is the equinox, so now the days will start to get longer.

      1. I know that, you know that. But I’m not sure that the arts graduates at the Beeb know that.

        1. Indeed.
          These are the dumbasses who keep saying that moving the clocks forwards gives you more daylight… sheesh.

          6. Who would benefit from hyperinflation? The heavily indebted. Who would that be? Governments mainly.

          7. … and by destroying private pensions, it keeps people working longer and beholden to the state.

        1. Not quite. There are quite a number of days prior to and after each solstice when daylight hours remain static.

          1. But, bizarrely, the sun-up and sun-down times keep shifting, although daylight hours doesn’t change.

          2. Earliest sunset is always a couple of weeks before Christmas, with the latest sunrise sometime in the first week of January.

    2. The equinox occurred at exactly 03:49 hrs GMT today (the time when the sun crossed the equator). Winter segued into Spring at that precise moment.

    3. No they will not, they will be exactly the same 24hours (approximately) as they always have been!
      However, the hours of DAYLIGHT will now increase as the hours of darkness decrease.

  16. Qantas International network changes

    All Qantas and Jetstar international flights from Australia will be suspended from the end of March until at least 31 May 2020. Some additional services may be considered to assist with repatriation. More than 150 aircraft will be grounded during this time, including all of Qantas’ A380s, 747s and B787s.

  17. Calling at my Tesco Express after a short evening walk at about 9:30pm, I noted that as always for at least a week they were cleaned out of Paracetamol, Fruit, Bread, Eggs. On the shelves by the Eggs there was a notice “Customers are limited to three items, so that items are available for all customers”.

    I approached the front counter and said “Why don’t you limit Egg purchases to one pack?”. Assistant said ” … “that’s what we’ve been doing today” …. I said, so whythehell do you have a notice saying three items … ” ….. She smiled …. I said “your policy means some are taking THREE** packs and most customers are taking NONE ”

    ** (or SIX? or NINE? by queueing again …

    1. We buy multipacks of water, pre-packed and shrink-wrapped in sixes with. quick code for the checkout operator. Yesterday in Lidl, the Sultana could not buy a pack as the operator said we are limiting purchases to four items. So the multipack was split and two bottles were removed. Insanity rules.

    1. I doubt it will be dropped, and it’s nice for the PTB to keep it hanging over him to add to his and his family’s stress.

      1. Note to all NoTTLers: The post below Sosraboc’s contained one upvote and one downvote. Wishing to discover who was the downvoter I hovered over the single downvote but nothing could be seen. So I added a downvote myself (intending to remove it immediately after I had identified the downvoter) and suddenly the entire post changed to “This user is blocked”. So anyone trying to see who is the downvoter will see my name there. I wish to make it absolutely clear that Elsie Bloodaxe does NOT do downvotes.

        2. Morning, Elsie.

          I can see both downvotes.
          On more important matters: to protect my wife’s fragile health we have taken the step to isolate. In spite of CV-19 the rhubarb is moving onwards and upwards and when ready I will let you know and put a bag of it beside the porch for you.

          1. Since you can see it (and I have forgotten what the post was) would you be so kind as to re-post it for me here – along with the name of the original poster and that of his/her downvoter? Thanks in advance.

            I too have battened down the hatches, but will emerge once a fortnight for a fortnightly shop. And when you bring round the rhubarb, don’t forget to ring the bell. If you stand back we can wave at each other as you point to the bag.

            My very best wishes to Mrs. Kat.

        3. 317286+ up ticks.
          Morning EB,
          I did observe your moniker alongside the regular “fred the sour grape”, and though
          ….funny, thanks for the update.

      2. …to keep it hanging over him to add to his and his family’s stress

        Yes that’s an ongoing process. Tommy changed his name to protect his family and the press delight in saying “formerly known as Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon” just to needle him. The effect this must have on his children is of no concern to the PTB that run this program of intimidation!

    2. With CV-19 dominating the news isn’t it surprising that TR’s case has been temporarily suspended? What happened to the idea of having the opportunity to bury news items that the PTB have concerns about?

    3. 317286+ up ticks,
      Morning AS,
      Done it’s job, kept Tommy in the spot light as a racist
      rotter, when in reality it has gained him more support
      as a justice seeking / child protector.
      Much of the establishment needs to do heavy time methinks.

  19. Colchester Council buildings shut because of coronavirus

    ALL of Colchester Council’s buildings will be closed to the public following advice from the government around coronavirus.

    The doors to Leisure World, Charter Hall, Town Hall, Colchester Castle, Hollytrees Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Visitor Information Centre and High Woods Country Park Visitor Centre will be closed to the public for the foreseeable future.

    1. Hmm… I think St Greta of Hysteria would welcome that, Grizz. Be careful what you wish for!

    2. Quite right, Grizzly, but where I live it is difficult to find eggs these days. And where are fried eggs (and mushrooms, beans and tomatoes) without a ration rasher or two of bacon?

      1. I had bacon, eggs, sausages, (tinned) tomatoes and mushrooms yesterday and I feel much better for it. I have it twice-to-thrice a week now, it is a traditional English breakfast.

        All that was missing was black pudding and fried bread. Baked beans do not count for two reasons: they contain loads of sugar and are, in any case, an American insurgence.

        So called “hash browns” are also banned. Not only do Americans like to — wrongly — call them their own, they are mistaken since they were invented by the Swiss and are properly called Rösti.

          1. Do you mean chips?

            The answer is no: I’m on a low carb diet. Bacon, eggs, sausages, tomatoes and mushrooms (and black pudding) are low carb.

          3. A FEB is almost all protein (if you don’t have tomato and dont count the fat naturally in the meat).

            A FWB is even better though in my view; add some laverbread to go with the bacon – delish

          4. The Welsh add laverbread.
            The Irish add white pudding.
            The Scots add lorne sausage.
            All of them delicious additions to a full British.

        2. If you want some wet with the EB, refried beans are a good adjunct to English breakfast. They go well with Hash Röstis / Rösti Browns, too. As does bread fried in the bacon fat.
          I love a good black pudding – small fat globules, and quite spicy – lovely!

          1. I will have you know, Herr Oberst, that I resent you calling me (EB) “a good black pudding of small fat globules”. How would you like it if I called you a Silly Sausage with HP sauce?

        3. I thought that Rostis were what you had wiv yer Sunday lunch, innit? I think I may have the dreaded virus – my grandma grammar is getting wurst hot dog.

          :-))

          1. ‘Morning, Anne, far too crumbly these days, someone has reduced whatever the binding agent is/was.

      2. We are very lucky, as the farm just down the lane sells not only fresh hens’ eggs but often has duck eggs as well – yummy.

        Oh, and it’s tons cheaper than any the supermarket might have – and fresher.

    3. I am amazed at how much room people have in their homes for all the stuff they have grabbed.. Piles of loo roll must take up loads of space.

      1. Could it be infected Scots nipping over the border because the fishwife’s health service is so bad?

        ‘Morning, another Mum.

  22. London Buses are implementing an immediate thinning out of certain bus services. From Monday 23 March a Saturday-type service will apply on Monday to Friday. Just four exceptions:- on the 507/521 a M-F (ish) service, the Tue & Fri 969 will run normally but the X68 will be withdrawn. From Friday night 20 March all the weekend-only night bus services and the Night Tubes will not run. All normal night bus services will run as Sunday Night/Monday morning schedules on all seven nights of the week.

    School services were intended to run as normal but the Prime Minister announced on the evening of 18 March that all schools would be closed after Friday 20 March, thus most school-only services may not be needed. From this weekend 40 underground stations will be closed to allow reduced staff numbers to be concentrated on busier stations. Earlier this week sightseeing bus operations of The Original Tour, Big Bus and Golden Tours were suspended. The Megasighteeing operation will cease after Saturday 21 March. The Heritage 15 will not now commence on 28 March.

    1. On the plus side, in the afternoon, I will be able to drive on the main roads near my home ….
      Bugger, forgot one small detail.

      1. You nearly shouted, “Hip, hip, hooray!” didn’t you?

        We hope you are mending, dear nursey.

  23. 317286+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    In the market town I am living, one they are trying to convert into a city of
    multiple tongues, we have a selection of butchers, greengrocers,wet fish
    shops and do use them on a regular basis without prompting, not to do so gets you a wind blown tumbleweed high street.
    Three markets a week, three supermarkets,a workable balance, plenty of ducks in evidence, once the mass uncontrolled immigration takes up again after the next GE and the locust hit all this WILL disappear, the ducks first, them being the canaries in the mine warning.
    So be it, if that is what the electorate call for, then that’s democracy, of
    a sort.

          2. Reminds me of the verse from Jeremy Taylor’s brilliant song Jobsworth:

            “Mornin’ Skipper, what can we do for you?
            “Don’t call me Skipper!”
            “All right Chief, don’t shout
            Whatever you require, we’re very sorry Squire
            But it’s ten to one we just sold out.
            Course you could try that shop around the block
            But I doubt if he’s got any left in stock
            And if you think we’ll get it through
            Inside a week or two
            I’m afraid you’re in for a nasty shock, Cock!”

            (This is a verse he does not sing in the attached clip)

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz44_Sp0K8A

  26. Tower of London among six iconic sites being closed by Historic Royal Palaces in battle against coronavirus

    The Tower of London, as of Friday evening, will be one of six historical sites run by Historic Royal Palaces that close in light of the coronavirus crisis.
    The other sites closing are Hampton Court, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, the Banqueting Hall, and Hillsborough Castle.

  27. Well, on Radio4Toady I’ve just heard from a 39-year old women in a Londonhospital bed … saying this is an awful virus, take it VERY seriously … No information given as to whether she had any underlying conditions ….

    Anyway, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

    1. Have there been any instances of people dying of Covid-19 who did not also have either an underlying condition/s or aged over 80?

      1. Few I believe. They are telling the wrong ones to stay at home, further degrading their health through lack of exercise and fresh air.

          1. Good question. I assumed it was 1% of those who were reckoned to have suffered from C19.
            Then we get to the tricky question if many of the fatalities died ‘with’ rather than ‘of’ the virus.

        2. I’m actually surprised that it’s as high as that.

          I am sure there must be cases, but every one involving a “youngster” that I’ve followed up on has had a problem, even if that problem has been total exhaustion through over-work in the healthcare sector.

    2. The official Government figure for deaths due to ‘flu in Winter 2017/18 was 26,408.

      The BBC proudly states that there have been 131 deaths due to Coronavirus ‘flu this winter.

      1. Saw that.
        I keep posting these numbers in the vain hope that the world will develop a sense of proportion, but I’m wasting my time…

        1. I’m not sure that you’re wasting your time Herr Oberst.

          A number of people around here have been questioning the unbroken media hysteria, and what is its purpose.

          Is it a smokescreen? If so, a very expensive one!

      2. 144 deaths now in the UK according to the Telegraph. Further context, 7.8 billion people in the world. 10,254 deaths due to Covid-19.

    3. The official Government figure for deaths due to ‘flu in Winter 2017/18 was 26,408.

      The BBC proudly states that there have been 131 deaths due to Coronavirus ‘flu this winter.

    2. Caroline, you are Rik and I claim my five bob postal order.

      :-))

      PS – Your post is absolutely hilarious! And regards to Richard.

  29. One interesting thing I’ve noticed in this crisis is that some people actually want the solid foot of authoritarianism to descend on them. Joan Bakewell last week on PM on Radio4 was obviously dissatisfied with being merely advised to self-isolate and said she would like to be TOLD to stay at home. Chap on SkyNews PressReview last night was really upset that the government had not closed ALL pubs. Pity we can’t give this pair two one-way tickets to Cuba, China or North Korea

    1. Power always has sycophants who seek reassurance from it. Oddly enough they are the ones who fill its ranks as secret policeman and torturers!

      1. Well, Joan Bakewell has been one of 100s who’ve tortured me on the BBC over the years.

      1. Love a heavily buttered crumpet. A heavily buttered JB may once have been desirable…

        1. Thank goodness I’ve not yet had my breakfast.
          Which reminds me …… Nurse ……..

          1. Once a vision lathered in softened Anchor, certainly not that Lurpak rubbish. I’m beginning to think this isolation is getting to me and it’s only day 2.😎

    3. What is she famous for, apart from being ‘the thinking man’s crumpet’ more than half a century ago?

      Some people just go though life being paid to express opinions that most people never need.

      I do it ‘for free’.

      2. She was too equine looking for many tastes. Muffin the mule and dobbin the donkey were not considered a good thing.

        1. About to be about to start on learning… However, I do have a lapel badge of the Cruiser Aurora so I do have the right credentials.

    5. Morn LD, I can understand the desire of some for mandatory instructions to stay at home.
      IF (big if) you believe that a lockdown as used by other countries will defeat this virus and you see pictures of all those crowded in bars celebrating St Patrick’s day for example, you will want them off the streets by any means.
      My youngest is a student nurse, I do not want her needlessly exposed to any of those idiots who end up in hospital with the virus after catching it in a crowded bar having a pi$$ up!
      The country seems to have a lot of people incapable of responsible action, unwilling or unable to accept sensible advice.

      1. I will come back later with a new thread to suggest that it’s a good idea to have young people socialising.

    6. In my family, there is one idiot who keeps on going out socialising and endangering an elderly, sick person in the same household. So yes, rules are very welcome in that situation.

    1. HR departments: a compelling argument in favour of strong trade unions. (Nothing personal, JK.)

      1. To be honest, in an age when workers know their rights and most of the major battles of industrial relations have been fought and won, there is little need for either. Don’t tell my boss that though!

  31. Morning, Campers.
    Better night and actually overslept. Hoorah!
    Been browsing over on The Conservative Woman and there are some corking articles today.
    I am first posting a BTL comment, the relevance of which will become obvious when you read the linked article.

    “Agreed but I wouldn’t call them ‘the left’, tempting though it is. These people are authoritarian, contemptuous of the ‘lower orders’, narcissistic and more often than not, pretty well-off. They’re neither conservative nor liberal, they’re a third group which has inflitrated both left and right. Emily Thornberry is a classic poster child.”

    https://conservativewoman.co.uk/will-we-wake-up-from-this-nightmare-even-worse-off/?utm_source=TCW+Daily+Email&utm_campaign=a86b3f4d95-Mailchimp+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a63cca1cc5-a86b3f4d95-559682581

    1. Morning Anne,
      A good night’s sleep is better for recovery than any medicine 🙂
      I hope the exercises are going OK and you’re ready to gambol with the arrival of spring.

      1. Er ….. ummmm …… I think the answer may be no!
        On the plus side, Spartie is all for this; he’s most put out when I actually dress and go downstairs.

  33. Hancock on LBC talking with a suitable level of gravitas about taking action re CV-19. Let’s hope he has moved on from issuing useless leaflets.

    2. The Government should take control of toilet roll production and distribution with appropriate messages printed on each sheet.
      e.g. do not flush anything down the toilet except Government directives.
      Do not block this bogger!

    3. The Government should take control of toilet roll production and distribution with appropriate messages printed on each sheet.
      e.g. do not flush anything down the toilet except Government directives.
      Do not block this bogger!

  34. Off to Asda in a few minutes for the weekly shop.

    It could be interesting in not a good way. We’ll see.

    1. Possibly. The Right Honourable Jack Straw (New Labour) was happy to authorise landing rights for kidnapping flights which may have resulted in ‘water-boarding’, and worse.

  36. Eurostar running fewer than a fifth of schedule as demand plummets

    The Cross-Channel rail operator is running just 10 trains on Friday, compared with its usual schedule of 56.

    The reduced timetable consists of three trains between London and Paris and two between London and Brussels, in each direction.

  38. “Manchester United have (sic) announced they will pay their 3,000 plus casual staff even if their remaining home games are cancelled or played behind closed doors. It will cost the club around £1million.”

    So about two weeks’ wages for one of their players.

      1. The number of staff employed on a match day might surprise you.
        A typical MUFC home game has nearly 75,000 fans attending

        Stewards, bar staff, lavatory attendants, hospitality staff for boxes, internal TV crews, laundry staff etc etc.

        1. OK, understood, Sos but I haven’t been to a wendyball match since the 1960s because a) I’m not interested and b)it’s not sport anymore but a business.

  42. Man, 26, arrested for ‘failing to self-isolate’ and may be jailed

    A man has been arrested and faces a £10,000 fine after failing to self-isolate amid the coronavirus pandemic.

        1. Perhaps 3 months in prison is a good way to self-isolate. No dawn visits to the supermarket.

  43. Influenza

    Epidemiology

    In tropical areas, influenza occurs throughout the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the influenza season typically starts in early fall, peaks in mid-February, and ends in the late spring of the following year. The duration and severity of influenza epidemics vary, however, depending on the virus subtype involved.

    The World Health Organization estimates that worldwide, annual influenza epidemics result in about 3-5 million cases of severe illness and about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths.

    1. ‘Morning, George and you ‘fall’ about declaiming American and Americanese yet fail to spot fall instead of Autumn.

      It’s no excuse to claim cut and paste – that’s BJ’s forte, plus typos.

      1. Tell you what, Tom. If you excuse my cut-and-paste faux pas, then I’ll forgive yours.

        Deal?

        1. Example:

          Expand your vocabulary

          … Swedish: Jag Alskar Dig …

          [“Jag älskar dig”, in actual fact but who’s counting on cut-and-paste faux pas?]

          2. I can’t as I have an English keyboard and have to rely upon charmap for other characters, jag forstor ‘jag alskar dig’ as I was married to a Swede for 13 years – most of which was refining her English.

          3. The advantage of a pad. Keep the finger on the key, and up pops the alternatives, with umlauts, accents and cidillas…

          5. Bare et spørsmål. Folk prøver å skrive et eller annet norsk dialekt, med det ser teit ut når man leser.
            Ellers bruker man Nynorsk, som er et slags hillbillyaktig språk.
            Just wondered.

          6. Jeg kan knapt forstå snakket Svensk, men jeg har et enormt problem når jeg lytter til den lokale Skånska-dialekten, som er ugjennomtrengelig.

  44. A spot of social guidance on the correct etiquette in this brave new new world.

    “I always had to cough to hide my farts. Now I have to fart to hide my coughs.”

    2. I found myself trying to stifle the coughs from my croissant crumbs this morning lest my neighbours think I’ve come down with the lurgy. We’re too close for them not to hear but stifling the coughs doesn’t arf make yer eyes water!

      1. Because I have to sleep propped up, I wake with a dry throat.
        The worst part of this is controlling my morning coughs so I’m not carted off to a pest house.

  45. Portable kit to test NHS staff for coronavirus ‘available in weeks’

    A portable coronavirus test kit that takes just 50 minutes from sample to result could be available for use on NHS staff within weeks, a scientist has said.

    The kit, which works from a throat swab sample, is a molecular test to establish if a person currently has Covid-19.

    It could be used in a hospital anteroom, processing 16 samples at a time and displaying the result on a smartphone.

    Dr Justin O’Grady, research group leader at the Quadram Institute in Norwich, said the test kit aims to help self-isolating medical staff to return to work as quickly as possible and ensure those at work are not spreading the virus.

    First attempt at 50 min (from sample to result) CoV test with a 3 min extraction and rapid cycle RT-qPCR on a portable qPCR machine (16 samples per run) with readout on a mobile phone. Needs optimisation but looking promising. Collaboration with Jonathan Edgeworth at St Thomas’

    1. I too was confused, Bob3. I thought it was 7.45am so I got up, only to discover it was just 6.45am. So here I am – and a very happy Friday to all NoTTLers. (Can I go back to bed now? No? Drat and double drat, I’ll have to do a bit of gardening to wake me up.)

      :-))

  47. Naked Attraction is looking for new contestants from Hertfordshire

    Think you’ve got what it takes to star in the next series?

    Who can apply?
    The following terms and conditions apply:

    That you are aged 18 years or over on the date of submitting your application and a British National and/or have the right to reside in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland and that you are not employed or engaged and have not been previously employed or engaged by any company within the All 3 Media Group or Channel 4 and you are not a live-in partner or immediate relative of an employee of or worker for any company within the All 3 Media Group or Channel 4.

    You acknowledge that we will be carrying out background checks, including criminal record background checks, on all contributors. If you have anything in your past or you become involved in any criminal and/or civil proceedings or other conduct that may attract negative press or publicity at any time after submitting this application, you will make us aware of it immediately.

    If you are shortlisted, you agree to undergo a psychological assessment by an independent psychologist.

    Naked Attraction is made by a TV production company called Studio Lambert which also makes Gogglebox, Tattoo Fixers and Four In a Bed.

    To apply for the new series, click here https://lambert.etribez.com/ag/lambert/nakedattraction6/welcome.html .

    1. I’m not moving to Hertfordshire just so I can have a chance of waving my willie at some tattooed lass on the television.

  48. Public-spiritedness will get us through the pandemic. Spiked 20 March 2020.

    In Morrisons one evening this week, I watched a young man give his pack of toilet roll to a panicked-looking woman in her 70s. It was a small thing, but evidence nonetheless that despite the general despair about selfish stockpilers, fear of coronavirus hasn’t turned all of us into monsters.

    Morning everyone. Well one toilet roll does not a spirited public make and the author eventually has to turn to Italy to make her point. This said I’m not certain how you would measure it if it existed. That people in general would help out their family and friends I take for granted, but that would not be abnormal or unexpected.

    Is there an outbreak of the said public spirit? There is an article in the Daily Mail that encloses a message from the Queen about “Communities coming together” and which has 5000 comments BTL. There’s no evidence of it there. In fact hardened observer that I am I was still rather shocked by them. Many of them are actively hostile and there is a current of selfish interest and personal resentment that takes no regard of the greater good. The use of the army to patrol the streets speaks of the same. Why is this necessary if the people are behind the government? Churchill had vast military resources at his disposal during WWII and the only problem he faced were public meetings calling for a Second Front! My own view is that there is nothing out of the ordinary going on and since that ordinariness is a fragmented population with nothing in common except mutual suspicion and hostility disguised by state propaganda there cannot be.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8130409/The-Queen-leaves-London-Windsor-Castle-retreat.html

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/03/19/public-spiritedness-will-get-us-through-the-pandemic/

    1. Well you’re not looking hard enough then. In my community there’s been a huge increase in community spirit as evidenced by the Facebook group established to offer practical support to people in need. There will be ignorant panic buyers and profiteers, just like in every war, but the clear majority are stepping up to help.

      1. In my part of Birmingham the “ignorant panic buyers” have emptied the shelves before any of the old ladies have even got their stockings on in the morning.

        1. Ah, “ignorant panic buyers”. I suppose some of them might think that being incarcerated in their houses for 4 months might require a full pantry.

        1. Him and every other head of government in the world. I’m always suspicious of consensus – smacks of stitch-up.

        2. No. He has the sense to delegate to those with the specialist knowledge.
          This virus appears to be a new strain and his advisors will know far more about it and its possible trajectory than a generalist politician. And Boris recognises the fact. He is also visibly uncomfortable at the draconian measures that would seem – seem – to be necessary in the short term.
          Thank goodness we have at the top a delegator who know his limitations rather than an ineffectual micro-manager.

          1. But that doesn’t fit in with the research from Italy which shows that 99% of fatalities are in the high risk groups. Nor does it fit in with the Princess liner episode.

            Therefore, isolate the high risk.

            The Italian research also strongly suggests that The Lancet research is true and that ACE and ARB medications are making the infection worse and leading to fatalities.

            There should also be a national campaign against using Ibuprofen.

            I think Johnson can only keep his plan going for three months because after that the Pound will collapse.

        3. No. He’s acting on the best scientific advice available to him. Not all experts will agree with it and we may never actually know what would have been a better response, but I think he’s doing the right thing.

          1. What about the research from Italy which shows 99% of fatalities had serious underlying conditions ?

            The likelihood therefore being that all had ACE and ARB medication meaning The Lancet and BMJ are right.

          3. Of course, but many can’t. Therefore the focus should be to block book as many hotels as isolation units as possible. Preferably in isolated locations. All expenses paid.

            Allowing the non high risk groups to continue working as normal and not crash the economy.

            At the same time as quickly researching further The Lancet ACE and ARB issue with a view to changing medications for the high risk if needs be.

            Also, a national warning against using Ibuprofen.

          4. Cohorting the vulnerable in hotels sounds like a recipe for killing many of them.

          5. There is no perfect solution other than a simple cure.

            I’m not suggesting compulsion. Just a voluntary decision by those who can’t self isolate to spend some time by the sea or away from hot spots.

            Anyway, the Princess liner episode ended pretty well, apparently.

            I think closing the economy down is unnecessary and the focus should be assisting the high risk groups and urgently reviewing medication.

          6. I’m not really disagreeing. We all have our theories and preferred strategies, although I’ll support what the government is doing on this.

            The various cruise liners all give us some good evidence, but I think the strategy needs to minimise risk for the next year plus, until a vaccine is available and the liner passengers were exposed for just a few weeks not months.

          7. If the strategy is ”to minimize the risk for the next year plus” then the government plan won’t work because the economy will be totally broke and there’ll be nothing to eat thanks to a worthless Pound on international markets.

            The only viable strategy is to help the high risk groups and to keep the economy moving along.

    2. I agree – my morale (and people’s behaviour) would be immensely improved IF I had seen the police actually mow down some of those effnics smashing their way into a Poundland in a turd-world part of London.

      1. I have read several books recently about the less glamorous war efforts.
        There were people who actively wished for Britain to be overrun by the N@zis; they were far more numerous than I had realised. They fantasised about the bombings of their neighbourhoods and rejoiced over the deaths and maimings of their fellow Britons. And they weren’t the aristocratic nutters like the Moseleys.
        It is thought that murderers like Christie took advantage of convenient bomb sites to dispose of his victims.

        1. Qvisling used the Nazi invasion in Norway to “advance his career” through, effectively, a coup. His problem was that he was despised by Norwegians and Germans both; he kept running to Germany to kiss arse, which made them despise him more. However, he was a “useful idiot” so was tolerated. I suspect a lot of those who wish bad things for their country have an eye open to the advantage of being able to seize power amongst the chaos. This is why I keep posting “never waste a good crisis” – it can be used to advantage.
          Once Germany had lost the war, Qvisling was tried and shot at Akershus Fortress, the military headquarters in Oslo.

          1. However since we left the control of the EU we haven’t yet shot any British Quislings

          4. We haven’t actually left yet; we are still “in transition”. That means subject to all the petty rules and regulation, the ECJ and paying a small fortune.

    4. Morning, Araminta.

      Is this an example of community spirit i.e. is she is out shopping for all the little old ladies/gentlemen in her street or is she a selfish PoS who cares nothing for anyone else?
      My young neighbour has offered her help to me and my wife as has my son, obviously. He could pose a risk to us as his wife is working on the front line in the local hospital’s A&E department. My son is now permanently working from home, his firm, a technical outfit in the financial world, extended their VPN to10 Gigabits last weekend to enable the company’s move to home working. Some people and firms have the will to try and overcome the problems this disease is posing.

      https://twitter.com/SocialM85897394/status/1240777042578362369

    5. We are nothing like the population which survived WW2. That was homogeneous, largely Christian and patriotic. We all know what today’s population is like. I suspect the most enriched areas will suffer most; the rural, still relatively untouched, places will show solidarity and fellow feeling (although even here, in the sticks, we are not immune to panic buying).

  49. Apologies if posted before but the list of key workers that qualify for their children’s continued nursery and school placement is below.
    It leaves you with one of two options, the Government does not really want schools etc shut and are playing lip service to silence those who were calling for it, or they are just bloody useless.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision

  50. 317286+ up ticks,
    Common sense, decency & integrity as shown by your leadership regarding the real UKIP ( not to be confused with the current ersatz Nec UKIP) was always going to find opposition, some from within which it has & did.
    May I ask the supporters / voters of the governance parties how it is that
    everybody in the world seems to have a medical ventilator excepting us in the UK who invested via their NI contributions,are sadly lacking and this is only one issue in the “lacking department”

    https://twitter.com/GerardBattenUK/status/1240955624013410305

    2. CV19 has produced a world wide demand for many more ventilators than anyone has on hand, i.e. every country is “lacking”.

      1. 317286+ up ticks,
        Afternoon Jtl,
        Not being impolite but currently I am mainly interested in the UK and as I posted yesterday
        there should be the equivalent of a hospital bed at least and adequate ventilators on hand
        with standby spares to accommodate ALL NI
        payee’s.
        Monies for foreign space programs, daily financing the eu scam, unnecessary in many cases overseas aid, is found on a regular basis
        these issues are never found to be “lacking” far from it.

    1. If you aren’t allowed out, what’s the point in opening grocery stores and retail banks?

      1. California, commonsense, and economics, haven’t been compatible for at least 30 years.

  52. Spain: death toll surpasses 1,000

    More than 1,000 people have now died in Spain from coronavirus, according to the Spanish government.

    Spain’s Ministry of Health released figures on friday recording that
    there are 19,980 people infected, with 1,141 admitted to the intensive
    care units and 1,002 dead.

    Fernando Simón, director of the Ministry’s Health Emergency
    Coordination Centre has warned that “the data is very likely to
    underestimate reality.”

  53. The problem with claims for massive death rates from Chinese Flu is that there has not been any serious large scale testing. No one seems to know just how many people have actually been infected. How many people have been exposed to it and not got ill, or just recovered quickly ?

    There is one well tested example though, namely the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined off Japan. Wiki tells us…..

    As of 16 March 2020, at least 712 out of the 3,711 passengers and crew had tested positive for the virus. As of 19 March, 8 of those who were on board have died from the disease

    That sounds pretty hopeful since it’s a fairly enclosed environment with air conditioning, lots of social contact yet of the passengers and crew more than 80% didn’t test positive. Of the 20% who did get it only 8 have died, which is a 1.1% fatality rate among the infected and only about 0.22% of the ship’s population.

    Assuming that Wikipedia is right.

    If we apply that to the @70 million population of the UK that adds up to 154,000 deaths, a lot smaller than the million+ figures being thrown around.

  54. The science looks increasingly wrong.

    The media hype is way OTT and looks deliberately designed to terrify everyone.

    Who is big in “leveraging” the media and “leveraging” policy ?

    Who must be making billions. maybe trillions, shorting markets ?

    Wrecking countries is what no borders globalists want.

    This crisis is looking centrally organized

    1. Pays for the hedge fund executives’ new yacht though, and also for lobbyists to make sure it doesn’t get taxed. “Only little people pay taxes” some rich American once said.

    2. In my opinion, Polly, it is your own posts which continuously attempt to terrify people.

    3. If you insist on using American accounting disciplines your figures will be massively wrong in any case. Americans need re-educating.

      1,000 is a thousand.
      10,000 is ten thousand.
      100,000 is a hundred thousand.
      1,000,000 is a million.
      1,000,000,000 is a milliard (or a thousand million).
      1,000,000,000,000 is a billion (or a million million).
      1,000,000,000,000,000,000 is a trillion (or a million, million, million).

      1. Okkaay, Brits are vastly more broke than I realized and can never pay off their deficit.

      2. Good morning Grizzly – hope the head is not too sore this morning.

        When we first came to France 30 years ago Caroline did a certain amount of translation and at the time the American billion, 1,000,000,000 was not fully established in Britain and of course in France there was considerably less ambiguity because they used, and still use, the word ‘milliard’.

        Of course many people in government never fully understood the difference which explains many of the financial messes they have created.

        1. Good morning, Rastus.

          The head will remain permanently sore during these benighted times.

      4. I count a billion as a million million and have to double check sometimes when figures quoted seem extreme what definition of billion is being used.

        1. Yes. That’s my immediate reaction. Then I have to check whether it’s our ex-colony’s idea of a billion.

  55. Thankfully, our runner ducks have started laying again and I like omelettes and quiche.

    1. Read that as “rubber ducks”. Once they are open again, I’d better get me to Specsavers! :-((

        2. The ducks wrote to you?? ;-))
          Here, all businesses that involve very close contact, or touching, are closed – so, opticians, hairdressers, and dentists only for emergency work.

          2. The UK is still playing at this. Watching Johnson and his daily briefing is like watching a rabbit caught in the headlights.

            Some are convinced not enough is being stringently done, ie no mandatory lockdown and others that it is an overreaction.

            Time will tell I suppose.

          3. I’ve got a dental checkup on Monday and the surgery phoned me today to confirm that I will attend.

          4. So have I, They usually send an email, but all I’ve had today is one from HSBC titled ‘Corona virus : How we are supporting you in these uncertain times’.

            One day I might get round to opening it.

    2. I used to keep Indian Runners in North Cornwall. I was told they wouldn’t go anywhere near the water…..WTF do locals know!! I spent hours trying to coax them into the duck house at night due to the local fox. When they were ready they would assemble on the bank and form a neat tidy line when one returned to the water…they all followed much to my annoyance.
      I had to wait patiently until they decided it was late and they were ready for bed….bless.

      Some of the happiest days of my life…

    1. Don’t panic Mr Mainwaring, don’t panic.

      It’s not only the pandemic that’s out of control but also the MSM.

      1. It was the bit at the end that was a tad worrying – 4000 patients had recovered 4,000 had died (although I accept other morbidities are involved). It is a Viral Pneumonia…..:-(

        1. The Sky reporter made the astute observation that if you contract the coronavirus, you either live or you die.

          Colour me thick, but what other outcome could be expected?

  57. I was just about to reply to Aethelfled and she seems to have deleted her comment already!

    Welcome back – we haven’t seen you lately. Glad you are making yourself useful.

    1. I can see one, it’s the usual Disqus poor database mirroring issue… Actually I can’t now! I suppose they’ll blame it on coronavirus…

  58. So are Nottlers agreed ?

    It’s a globalist take over stitch up.

    Please vote up for Yes, down for No.

  59. Back from buying a replacement printer & doing a bit of shopping in Matlock.
    Iceland had a full shelf of bog rolls this morning that lasted all of an hour & a half! Up from less than an hour for the earlier part of the week.
    Sainsbury’s sold out as were Wilkos.
    Luckily I’ve still got half a pack left.

    1. Did you buy any paper with the printer? Not soft and double play but probably better than the isal we used to have.

        1. What and have the ink run?

          You might end up with a pro Corbyn headline tattooed on your bum.

    3. Just think, someone, somewhere, is giggling into their coronavirus saturated sleeve saying, between splutters ‘Hey, I started this toilet roll stuff with my tweet that has gone world wide. Isn’t social media wonderful! I control the world’.

    1. If this really is a complete and immediate cure for the coronavirus then the politicians will stop it. They have invested too much of their fragile credibility in trying to make us panic and to keep us under the yoke of the despotic control.

      I believe Tucker Carlson is as much loved by the American Democrats as Tommy Robinson is loved by the woke snowflakes and the political establishment in the UK.

  61. One can tell that there are more at home than usual as it’s only just gone 08:30 and already we have 104 comments. I shall say, Good morning and add my two pennorth:

    Expand your vocabulary

    Just a reminder for all you folks that we are never too old to learn and continue to be polite to others.

    How to say “I Love You” in 10 Languages
    English I Love You
    Spanish Te Amo
    French Je T’aime
    German Ich Liebe Dich
    Japanese Ai Shite Imasu
    Italian Ti Amo
    Chinese Wo Ai Ni
    Swedish Jag Alskar Dig
    Lithuanian As Tave Meliu
    Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia Nice Tits, Get in the Truck.

    2. “Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia ‘Nice Tits, Get in the Truck, Sister.”

    4. Australia:- G’day Sheila, fancy a shag? No? Well do you mind lying still while I have one?

        1. ‘Morning, Spikey, as the Drum Major of RAF Laarbruch, Pipe band, the girls would ask what was under the kilt. the stock reply was, “Nur ein Lächeln!” – only a smile.

          Other corrections for German are available.

  63. Aaaarrrgh! I’ve got the CV lurgy. I shall therefore be social distancing from all NOTTLers until further notice…

      1. Hot chest, sore throat, headache, and generally feeling cr*p. Interestingly, no coughing, unlike my OH, who is a few days ahead of me in terms of symptoms, and who suspects she caught at from a London hospital when we went there to get her monthly treatment.

        Of course, we can’t confirm it is CV without getting tested, which is unlikely unless one or both of us gets worse.

        1. Hope it’s just a cold, AA. Any tightness in the chest? (Yorkies always have tightness in the wallet, btw).
          SWMBO & I had Un-flu recently. Knowing my luck, it was really Un-flu and not Corona, so we’re not immune and are eligible for another round of misery shivering & sweating.
          :-((

        2. There’s nowt anyone can do, anyway. Stay at home, keep hydrated, use paracet sparingly, and snuggle up to a bottle of anæsthetic. Or several.

        4. Best of luck A_A, I hope for your sakes that it’s merely a bog-standard ‘flu or heavy cold.

          If you’ve got a thermometer keep a close eye on your temperatures. According to my charts I was bobbing along in the high 30’s for a few days and even crept over 40 briefly.

    2. Sorry to hear it. Hopefully you have no ‘underlying conditions’, as they say. Good luck and keep us informed.

    3. Sorry to hear it. Hopefully you have no ‘underlying conditions’, as they say. Good luck and keep us informed.

    4. Oh gosh, really? Do you know where you caught it?
      What symptoms have you got? I hope it’s not too debilitating and that you rally before too long.

  64. Now things are getting serious.
    The local vineyards depend on immigrant workers to prune the vines at the start of the season. We now have closed borders so the workers are not able to get in.

    1. The bosses are going to have to get their hands dirty.

      Those vineyards have a lot of vines.

    3. We now have closed borders so the workers are not able to get in.

      This doesn’t appear to present any difficulties to anyone else!

      1. Now that does present an interesting possibility.

        With the US border now closed, will the rcmp start turning back the illegal sorry, must call them undocumented invaders at the border? Ai far they just seem to be welcoming them un.

        1. Many would, yes. Youth are great, but for a few lost souls who are snowflakes.
          I could rustle up somewhere like 10-off 18-year olds (M & F) who’d love a week or two grape picking.
          Of course, drinking the product after dark, and jumping each other’s bones, would also be an attraction, but hey! Who’s to deny the kids some fun?

    5. Just goes to show, you never quite know what an ‘essential worker’ is until you need one.

    6. McCornick of the NFU in Scotland is suggesting that all the unemployed hospitality workers could be used to plant and harvest. Not a bad idea.

      1. Exactly. Plenty of people and plenty of work. They just need to be connected.

  65. I wonder what ‘Drop the Dead Donkey’ would have made of this Covid-19 crisis?

    1. Henry Davenport would have laughed it off, stayed in the studio with a disinfectant sprayed toupé and sent Damien Day out to interview patients in an isolation ward.

      1. Henry once described himself as “A cavalier amongst pork swordsmen”. Priceless!

    2. One of the last TV sitcoms I actually enjoyed.

      Damien Day wouldn’t get a part these days though. He was supposed to be a parody, but modern reporters have taken him as a role model, with his planted teddy bears and slowly rotating toy pram wheels. People would completely miss the satire.

  66. UK’s chief Brexit negotiator self-isolating

    The UK’s chief negotiator in post-Brexit trade talks, David Frost, is self-isolating after showing symptoms of coronavirus.

    It comes a day after the European Union’s lead negotiator, Michel Barnier, announced he had tested positive.

    1. I think we should use this opportunity to annexe France. They do need looking after, after all.

    2. If they are both coughing then they can get together and get on with the job in a twin bed quarantine office.

  67. Conspiracy theory alert !

    If the ERM was a deliberate trap set by influential billionaires to make more billions, is there a parallel with Chinese flu being deliberately hyped up into something it’s not, and to create a similar trap ? Albeit much bigger.

    After all, following the money lands up in the same place !

      2. At least make shorting illegal. That looks the root of the problem.

        That shorting isn’t banned suggests manipulation by those profiting from it.

        1. But public companies protect their share price, eg by avoiding thorough audits, and deceiving their owners, so it is only fair that someone should be able to counteract such knavery.
          Look at bank shares in the early 2000s, apparently valuable, or internet firms in the dotcom boom.

  68. The government has announced the temporary relaxation of competition laws to help supermarkets pool staff and data. This means retailers will be able to discuss stock levels, co-operate to keep shops open and share distribution depots and delivery vans.

  69. Email from chum who works at Sainsbury’s. Anyone who knows the carpark at Colchester Sainsbury’s (v. big, I often get lost because I forget in which section I’ve parked) will appreciate the point.

    “Hi Anne,

    Your frail little old biddies who could not get up and get to the shop for 6am because they cannot use the bus pass decided to chuck the zimmer and get the car out instead. I found out from the night shift the queue outside the door was enormous and the car park so full they were driving round looking for space. Needless to say they trashed the shop. When I arrived a 1pm every piece of meat had been sold. I was working GM today but my feeling was footfall still very high but they are not loading up so much any more. Shop still very empty when I left.”

    1. Morning Anne. I get the impression that if we wait till next Wednesday the Supermarkets will be full of produce and empty of customers!

      1. Apparently there has also been a run on freezers coz people are stocking up!
        Morning all. Nice day and almost sunny.

        1. That will be why my replacement fridge/freezer, ordered last Friday and supposed to be delivered in a week, still hasn’t arrived, then.

      2. Many peeps by then having filled their spare rooms with tins and rolls..

        By which time some houses may also begin to collapse.

    2. yesterday in Sainsburys – zilch dog food but lots of cat food. Question – do people in Wiltshire not like cats or just don’t feed them?

  70. Clampdown for London with cinemas and pubs to be told to shut amid ‘stay home’ warning

    Pubs, restaurants, gyms, leisure centres and cinemas across London will be told to close in a massive ramping up of measures to slow the coronavirus surge.

    Boris Johnson chaired an emergency meeting this morning to decide what will be the most drastic action yet to try to shield the capital’s NHS from being overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients

    The action will only apply to London for now because the capital has a much steeper curve in cases. It follows mounting concern that Londoners are still going out to socialise, work out and enjoy leisure centres

          2. I know I am very busy at present as I am also moonlighting as Boris’s special adviser

  73. Train Services Reduced from Monday

    The train operators are now working to create emergency timetables, with the aim of publishing them on websites on Sunday. The move to drastically reduce the national network follows huge cuts to the Tube service, the largest in peace-time, announced yesterday.

    1. I just read this somewhere –

      “The train operators are now working to create emergency timetables, with
      the aim of publishing them on websites on Sunday. The move to
      drastically reduce the national network follows huge cuts to the Tube
      service, the largest in peace-time, announced yesterday.”

    2. Another good move. Well done those concerned.

      Reduced demand because of fewer people travelling and so following government advice, so that the trains are less crowded in these days when we are being told to avoid crowds, so they reduce the service and put on fewer trains to ensure that those needing to travel are just as crowded as they were before we were advised to avoid unneccessary travel.

      Way to go, planners.

      Or should I say ‘chumps’.

  74. I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere.
    With the closure of many shopping parade bank branches and post offices, with them have gone their ” hole in the wall ” cash points.
    So the nearest parade to me, there is a RBS one outside a Tesco convenience store.
    But it has been out of service all week.
    On the bigger parade a short distance away, there are two cash points.
    One outside a Barclays Bank branch.
    But it has been out of service all week.
    And one outside a Lloyds branch (the bank, not the pharmacy).
    This one functioning, with quite a queue.
    As it is likely that these will eventually disappear anyway, what are we going to do ?

    1. They are seeking to shut these down anyway so they will probably one of the first permanent casualties of the “Crisis”.

      1. That’s what I said. My question is, how will people manage without a handy cash point ?

        1. We’ll be forced to use our cards and that means that our movements can be tracked.

          1. “Et ne quis possit emere aut vendere nisi qui habet caracter nomen bestiae aut numerum nominis eius”
            — Rev. 13:17

    2. Given that many businesses round here are stipulating “cash only”, things could get interesting.

    1. It has not yet been spelled out how complete this confinement is intended to be. Transport secretary Grant Shapps suggested that people would be able to take their dog for a walk, and that solitary promenades could be permitted. Shopping, however, and anything that might mean encountering other people, will be discouraged or ruled out. This includes entertaining the grandchildren at Sunday lunch, as they could carry the virus, with dire consequences for someone older.

      Next stage euthanasia!

      1. Transport secretary Grant Shapps suggested that people would be able
        to take their wog for a dalk, and that solitary promenades could be
        permitted, but on one leg only.

      2. Andrew Neil: “What is the Labour Party policy on euthanasia?”

        Diane Abbott: “We firmly support youth in Asia and we welcome those of them who have come here to enrich us. Our strength is our diversity.”

        1. Clever word play, DM.
          Abbott’s been quite quiet recently; I believe she was told to isolate for 14 days and she’s actually been isolated for 31 days in real time but eleventy and boo, in Abbot time.

      3. I have just invited the neighbours for Sunday lunch.

        Why Grant Shapps is in government is beyond me.

        Oh, i know. It’s because he is a liar and a thief.

      4. I took my dog out for a walk this morning and met up with a neighbour doing the same thing. We walked along having a chat, keeping our distance (her dog is not very good with other dogs, but is improving as he’s constantly being trained). Then we met a gormless mother with a blond labrador and an even more gormless kid. The dog was trying to get at our two dogs, the mother was pinned against the fence trying to hold it while the kid stood in the middle of the path, ignoring its mother and only moving when I got right up close to it and it realised it was going to be forcibly shunted out of the way if it didn’t move. I gave it a helping push on its backpack (and disinfected my finger afterwards). I told the mother to distract her dog with the ball (she was carrying one of those whangy things to project a tennis ball) – as soon as she did that, it lost all interest in our pair and we walked on in peace. I couldn’t help remarking that this was a woman who shouldn’t have either a child or a dog since she clearly hadn’t got a clue about training either of them. She had clearly learned nothing, because when I was on my way back, she was approaching in the distance. The dog did exactly the same thing kicking off and she didn’t distract it. You can’t fix stupid, unfortunately.

  78. Every cloud has a silver lining……they’ve cancelled the Eurovision song contest…… whoopee!!!!
    We never win anyway so it’s no big loss.

      1. Grizzly, I’m surprised at you for thinking there was any music associated with the contest. 😀

        1. It was never good, but it really all went to hell when they all started copying the Norwegians.

  79. Thousands of weddings postponed and the Bbc manage to find a lesbian couple whose plans have been upturned…

    3. This evening’s PM programme on Radio 4 managed to find a sobbing Angel nurse who found supermarket shelves empty after a long shift.

  80. Just opened a “premium” article. Have I hit on one of those freak one-offs or has the Telegraph lifted the paywall?

    1. I noticed they have made a few CF virus articles premium free over the last week.

    2. I haven’t tried it but people say if you hit the escape button you can get round the paywall somehow.

    3. I’ve been able to read ‘premium’ articles for the past three weeks, but I don’t know why.

  81. The Beeb have discovered a couple whose marriage has been blighted by C19.
    A non-wedding day which they will now spend thinking about others.
    Fortunately, the Beeb had managed to find a pair of lesbians whose day had been ruined.
    Who is going to worry about all those boring heteros?

      2. Beeb slipped up there; both white.
        Maybe they couldn’t find at short notice a few refugees from African countries where the Top Banana is against such unbiblical behaviour.

    2. At least in these uncertain times we can rely on dear old Aunty.

      Sorry……………i have to go and have a lie down.

  83. Hi Nottlers
    Should I gird my loins and make haste to ….Liddell’s ? (tough call).

    1. Make haste……I had my shopping delivered this morning. Almost everything was missing except the Scotch and tinned rice pudding. Guess what i’m having for dinner?

    2. Just been to Aldi, a few empty spaces on the shelves but enough food to buy to make you morbidly obese if you stay in for 3 months (or is it 6 now).

    4. Just as well we bought a few extra things before this panic started, e.g. couple of pints of milk in the freezer….
      Didn’t stock up enough, unfortunately, as I was ill for about ten days, and MOH was doing the shopping, right at the time I wouldn’t have been picking up next supplies, e.g. rice, some more pasta, etc. Not stockpiling exactly, but getting ahead of the curve…

      1. Not only that but one has to get food in in case you are ill, let alone shortages, something you would actually feel like eating but doesn’t involve too much preparation. I didn’t stock up either, I have had post-illness lethargy lasting weeks from our post-Christmas virus and I simply couldn’t be bothered. Ambrosia rice and custard are my stock-up comfort foods du jour! I don’t know why, I haven’t bought either of these items for decades but suddenly they are redolent of comfort to me.

  84. Fewer trains on Greater Anglia because of coronavirus crisis from Monday

    There will be fewer trains on the main line between the region and London – two an hour from Ipswich to London and one an hour from Ipswich to Norwich – and an hourly service on most local services.

    A spokesman for the company said it would be a similar frequency to Sundays, but a few extra early and late services.

    The mix of services on the Great Eastern Main Line will see three trains an hour available from Colchester and Chelmsford to London.

    Hourly

    Norwich to London intercity services

    Ipswich to London (in addition to the intercity service)

    Clacton to London – but no services to or via Colchester Town

    Norwich to Lowestoft

    Ipswich to Lowestoft

    Ipswich to Felixstowe

    Ipswich to Cambridge

    Thorpe-le-Soken to Walton-on-the-Naze

    Manningtree to Harwich

    Marks Tey to Sudbury

    Witham to Braintree (shuttle all day with no direct trains to London)

    Stansted Airport to London

    Two-hourly

    Ipswich to Peterborough

    1. 317286+ up ticks,
      Afternoon AS,
      At least when they land on the Kent coast we give them
      a test before welfare / accommodation.

        1. I’ve been knocked sideways and am a bit discombobulated at the moment.

          Ask me an easier question.

          2. Until the FTSE recovers i am facing financial ruin. I have asked my dog sitter to take Dolly for a while because i am not sure my mind state will remain entirely stable.

            The advice is to sit tight and wait for things to recover however i am seriously considering converting the remainder into cash holdings.

            My hands are shaking.

          4. Thank you. I’m not destitute. The mortgage is paid off and i can meet all the usual bills, including holidays!

            It’s just such a worry. That money is for old age and infirmity.

            Perhaps i’ll take a cruise to take my mind off it………oh.

          5. In that case, sit tight. It is always a mistake to cash in at this point in the process. Do not panic!! You are actually in a good position so hold on. Our position is exactly the same as yours and you are quite a bit younger than us, lots of time for the market to recover and cover your losses.

          6. Very sensible advice and it does help, thanks. I’m still going to get pissed though.

            I took a parcel in for my neighbour this morning and when she came to collect it i invited them both for Sunday lunch. Sod the one metre rule.

            I’m going to do a Beef Wellington and i am going to open the Brunello di Montalcino i had laid down. Sod it.

          7. Exactly. Sod it. In Cambs there are 15 reported cases (probably more swimming like mad below the surface though, but not that many).. Actually, getting pissed sometimes really does help, it flushes out the mind. Despite being a shy, retiring creature I have been known to do likewise. Very occasionally. I know it solves nothing but it does give the mind a rest from WORRYING about the problem for a while and sometimes that break is all you need to reset your emotional stability. Your Sunday lunch sounds delicious. Sod it. I’m packing my bag and I’m on my way…

          8. Eat, drink and be merry, Phizz. I am recovering from a very stressful day. Stress had been building all week with all my outlets to have a bit of me time being closed down, but this morning I had to run the curfew gauntlet to take MOH into town to go to the bank – being deaf makes telephone banking out of the question and our internet is not reliable enough for internet banking. We arrived, having shuffled along at a snail’s pace (the convoy can only travel as fast as the slowest ship) only to find that the bank was closed because there had been a power cut. In fact, everything had been shut down. We had started to shuffle back to the car when the woman from the bank came haring after us to say that the power was back on – phew! After a short wait to allow the computers to come back on line, all was sorted. The medicines were an entirely different matter. I had arranged with a friend to pick up the prescription at the surgery (I had put it in last week so there was plenty of time), but they refused to let her have it. When I rang up, I was told it had to be done electronically (I had cancelled the original arrangement because it wasn’t working) and had to nominate a pharmacy. I chose the one we normally use. When I rang them up, they said they were very busy and it probably wouldn’t be in today, try early tomorrow morning (oh yes, I’m really good getting going in a morning) or it would be Monday. Couldn’t I arrange for a friend to do it? That’s what I had done only my plans were scuppered! I am really bad when I lose control of my organisation! I said I’d be down today before they closed. Consequently, I couldn’t settle to anything (deadlines are a real stress maker for me), but thankfully when I went in, they’d got them ready. I had to undergo a grilling from the pharmacist, but I’ve put off the stressful situation for another month. I really, in my current state, could not face another trip into town with MOH who doesn’t seem to understand the rules necessary in the present situation. I am only waiting for the sun to be over the yardarm (or even approaching it!) before I finish the last of the bottle of SA red I started last night.

          9. Thank you Conway.

            You seem to have had as bad a day as i have had. Clearly the pharma and hospitals are also having a very bad time.

            You have pinpointed the major danger though…Stress. It shortens our lives, which is why i invited my neighbours to lunch.

            As you say….Eat, Drink and er….Drink.

            You humble me. My problems are just money. Stay Strong.

          10. I came close to meltdown this afternoon – the frustration of it all. Being a terrible completist (I’m a pedantic Virgo), I’ve been struggling to cope with not getting all (or even anywhere near most) of the things on my shopping list, pathetic as it may seem. This just came to top everything. Still, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. Hope everything works out for you. I think the advice you’ve been given is sound.

          11. There are days when everything seems to go wrong. Then you crack your elbow !

            We are strong. We might say ouch occasionally but we are still here…..I find controlled breathing works well…..plus a decent Vodka Martini…big, up and dirty……with nibbles. :o)

            I appear to have transitioned to flippant mode. Can’t be the alcohol…i’m still conscious….

          12. Having finished the Sarf Effrikan Merlot, I have now opened the Californian. Who needs the EU to get blotto? 🙂

          14. It’s pretty stressful on a day-to-day basis with MOH having dementia, but sometimes things happen to really beggar it up. I am okay if I can manage my stress, but when others put a spoke in the wheel it can tip me over the edge because I am no longer in control of my life. I need flexibility (ie being able to choose which pharmacy I use depending on circumstances). They took that away from me and given that this particular pharmacy chose to close until 2 because of the power cut, even though the power had been restored by 1.15, made that much more difficult for me. They have told me that in future I need to allow at least a week between ordering and actually getting the drugs. What would suit me is 48 hours to get the prescription then I can take it wherever I like to get it filled. This long delay was what made me revert to getting the paper prescription in the first place. They seem to think I have nothing else to do in my life!

          15. I have an inkling of how you feel. Unless you’ve been selling bits of your portfolio to provide an income, sit tight is the professional advice that I’ve been getting from my financial advisor and the two fund managers (Blevins, Lombard and Russell ).

            The people who manage my modest funds, which I have had to use for income, say one is unlikely to second guess the markets and get the timing even close to optimum. In our case I fear that that time has passed.

            Unless there is a specfic reason to take a capital gains loss/hit you might be better placed to consider using your Premium Bonds as cash to weather the storm.

            NB I am not authrorised to give financial advice and am merely reporting what I have been advised

          16. Good advice Sos.

            All £600 K was in a low risk spread. Now depleted by two thirds. It’s why i’m a bit like a rollercoaster at the moment.

            I will sit tight and if the worst happens i will get a job in a bank….then rob it.

          17. Two thirds?
            Blimey, I would very seriously question the managers if that was “low-risk”; at first face it looks as though they’ve made an almightly Lulu. Do some background at the FS Ombudsman before making any complaint as the clock starts ticking on day one and the FSO isn’t the most helpful.

          18. I don’t believe the ombudsman would be of any use. This is a huge drop in all markets. I expect the Sauds and the Chinks are buying up the shares as we speak.

          23. And yer Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.

            Funny how they’ve built a huge buffer and we squandered our windfall.

          24. It does raise the question…………….WHY?

            I know we are a first world country which apparently we should feel guilty about but why the hell do we give billions away to a bunch of people i wouldn’t allow into my front room or across my doorstep?

          27. I’m not looking to see how far my ISA’s fallen.

            There’s no point in selling or converting to cash as that just chrystalises your losses.

            Hold tight and invest some more when you think it’s reached the bottom.

          32. Even before this i didn’t want to live forever. New experiences and new friends are the only things that keep me sane.

          34. True. Sadly.

            I also lost my Uncle and my Aunt last month and things begin to weigh. They were very old so it’s not something anyone should concern themselves about. They had a good life. He at one time besides his RN career was harbourmaster at Weymouth. And aunt Janet was my mother’s best friend when she went off the rails.

            We all have a past. I remember one of our posters saying about his past and how he survived it and rebuilt himself. It’s what i will do. Still gonna party though.

          35. I’m sorry to hear that – I miss my aunts and uncles – they all went some time ago, as did my cousins. But I think about them often and there’s nothing wrong with you missing yours.
            These are strange times and we can all help each other out on here by being someone to chat to or listen.

          36. I got on well with Uncle Barry. He had a good attitude and was able to teach? bring along us youngers. Aunt Janet is and was my benchmark,…as in ‘what would Janet think of this’.

            Besides all the other shit i am feeling bereft

            Sorry.

          37. The FTSE will recover, but it could take a while. I pray for you that it’s just temporary. If we were inclined to do anything with the stock market right now, it would be to buy.
            I don’t think you should sell your shares right now, it’s the worst time, i.e. selling in a falling market. Unless the companies are at risk of going completely bust (are there any at risk that you have shares in?), I’d hold on for now.

            Are your shares spread across a lot of companies?

          38. You are very kind. Thank you.

            It will recover and it is not the end of the world,…. regardless of what our idiotic media purports constantly

          39. Sit tight. This happened to us in 2008. It will recover. We are in a similar predicament once again but we do not need liquidity from this source.

          40. This is life i suppose. I know there are many people less fortunate.

            I took a massive hit in 2008 and prior to that a £200,000 share portfolio went up in smoke when Bernie Ebbers was sent to jail.

            And before that 17% interest rates on the mortgage. It took years to catch up.

            I really can’t complain. But it hurts.

            Geoff Graham made a joke about this site being the Bill Jackson blog. I don’t want it to turn in Phizze’s doomfest.

            Stay strong.

          42. Thank you Geoff. All rather weird at the moment. Everything cancelled. The holidays the lunches with friends but i keep going back to Alex Lewis and you dealt with. It really is the only thing keeping me on an even keel

          43. Late response, Phil. Sorry. If I’ve learned nothing else in 63 years, it is that “Shit Happens”. Some bastards seem to be exempt, but they’re the exception to the rule. The current shitstorm is different- it is likely to affect everyone, one way or another. At the moment, you’ve lost nothing. It’s all on paper. It only becomes an actual loss when you sell. Eventually, things will recover.

            I’ve just turned down the possible opportunity of living in a heavily-subsidised old-folks’ bungalow. £60 a week rent. But it’s in the middle of nowhere, has a tiny kitchen, a wet room (which might suit some disabilities, but not mine. I can’t stand in a shower, and even if I could get onto the chair, I’d struggle to wash the smelliest bit of my anatomy).

            You own the roof over your head. You still have assets, though dwindling. You’re doing better than most…

            Here endeth the lesson.

            BTW, I’m seriously pee’d off that the 1st Apr is unlikely to happen. :-((

          44. I appreciate your comments.

            Are you being turfed out then?

            So many plans turned on the head but it will happen eventually.

          46. When the market recovers, make sure you have a good spread of shares, don’t put everything into one or two, trust no one, and don’t have all your money in shares. Unfortunately, there’s not much out there that isn’t risky.

          47. I didn’t see GG’s joke but a similar thought occurred to me yesterday about it being the BJ blog… yes, we had the 17% interest rates, and I think inflation then was running at 25%. In 2008 much of our investment was invested on our behalf in commercial property which took the biggest hit. I was horrified. Awful for you to lose your share portfolio like that, I can’t imagine how sick you must have felt. We are not really in a position to take advantage of market falls, we just have to sit tight and ride it out. It does help to lob a problem onto the blog, people are mostly sympathetic and advice helps to firm up a decision one way or the other in your own mind. KBO as BT would say.

          48. I am sorry you were hit hard. Even being very careful and taking professional (!) advice doesn’t give protection.

            As regards Bernie. Who has been given library duty. I would quite happily shoot the bastard. As i am sure many of his ex employees and shareholders would fight me for the gun.

          49. ‘Bastard’ is one of our favourite household names….. there are so many around. We are babes in the wood where investing is concerned, but we have learned sufficiently not to go with those who are being strongly promoted and all the rage and the darlings of the media, e.g. Neil Woodford, commercial property. And the rest.

    3. 317286+ up ticks,
      AS,
      Apt name for panic buyers, able to strip an area in no time, both with dangerous consequences.

      1. Flied rocust surely …

        Had a locust land on me in Mysore, India one night – they are long and meaty, and quick, much longer and meatier than the flying cockroach I encountered on the first in my new flat in Kanazawa, Japan (Japanese cockroaches – they are quick scurriers) …

        1. Thanks. Must get in updated Chinese dictionary…
          I wouldn’t have enjoyed those coming near me. I’m sure there’s an opportunity for some celebrity chef to create some novelle cuisine from them.

          1. We were offered fried grasshoppers in Uganda (I declined) they are much the same as locusts. Highly nutricious and a delicacy.

    5. Millions – that hardly scratches the surface of excessive population caused by excessive …. And no representation by the Free School Dinners party with Corbyn saying it’s a disgrace so many children are in poverty (but never goes into any detail about how many are in large families of either single chav mothers or muslim families – how come Luton South is a constituency with so much child poverty? …. plenty jobs in Luton surely)

  86. 316286+ up ticks,
    Even the frogs are telling the UK to lock down borders & the indigenous snowflakes are asking how will we survive ? we will surely starve if the supermarkets cannot make these meat joint things & various vegetable thingies fast enough, surely will.
    Lady next door ( lardarse) 5′ 3” is down to 16 stone already.
    What a tado, i ask yer.

    1. BBC Look East

      Bernard Matthews seeking labour to cope with surge in demand of 30% in turkey products.

      Out of work pluckers needed?

      1. Bernard Matthews used to come through Norwich Airport (where he kept his private plane). He was a most obnoxious and arrogant wanker.

        1. I get the feeling that any of these company bosses who go on their own TV adverts in person to promote their product would fit into the same mould.

  87. London hospital first to admit it is turning Covid-19 patients away

    Coronavirus patients are being turned away by a London hospital trust as it struggles to cope with the growing epidemic.

    Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has become the first in the UK to admit having to take such devastating action, with the capital’s death toll continuing to surge.

    Some of those infected with Covid-19 have been shipped out to other neighbouring sites to help ease the pressure on overrun staff.

    1. “Two London hospitals deny turning away coronavirus patients because they are running out of beds in over-stretched intensive care units

      Two London hospitals are allegedly turning away coronavirus patients because they are running out of beds, staff have shockingly claimed.
      Queen Elizabeth Hospital and University Hospital Lewisham, run by the same trust, are reportedly unable to admit all critically ill patients to intensive care.
      Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has reported six deaths of London’s 50 deaths, all of which have been in the past week.
      The trust said the claims, reported by The Telegraph, are ‘not true’ and patients were receiving life-saving treatment. ”

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8134277/Two-London-hospitals-admit-turning-away-coronavirus-patients.html

      Can’t trust the media any more. Plus the DM website is atrocious to use, with its videos popping up, slowing down everything.

        1. And if you do disable it you still can’t read it because it bounces around for ages while the ads and the annoying videos load.

  88. Just back from shopping at our village greengrocers were people are queuing. Marvellous entrepreneurs they had milk, bread, cheese (Brie), fruit juices as well as all the fresh fruit and veg you could want. Three of them on the tills all working hard to get the customers served. Friendly faces, great customer service and very happy customers. Even helped us to the car with our purchases.
    BTW they are owned and run by 3 brothers whose parents brought them here from Bosnia when they were very young. Also have a wholesale business serving pubs and restaurants over a wide area. Open from 7 in the morning until 6.30 in the evening.

  89. Getting a bit sick and tired of emails from companies we haven’t dealt with for years us what they’re doing about the Coronapanic.
    It’s providing an excellent opportunity to unsubscribe.

    1. I’ve had quite a few of them from companies I deal with by mail order – as web-based buying used to called, so I’ve never had need to physically cross their thresholds.

    2. From Barclaycard: Coronavirus – we’re here to help! A similar one yesterday from Barclays.

      1. How crass. Here to cash in on it by trying to drive people away from using money, more like.

    1. And this is why you are top of my list for “Morale Improvement Officer” for Nottlers during these strange days. 👏

    2. Interesting article, Anne. Pondering thoughts, how long before Spain complains about referring to the flu after WWI as ‘The Spanish Flu’??

        1. After the current crisis is over, hopefully it will be a case of The Asian Flu Back Home ( by PIA ).

      2. Wasn’t Spanish flu so named because that is where it was first discovered. Apparently hundreds of Chinese workers were imported after WW1 to help the rebuilding. They were all jammed together in cattle class so spread around the lurgy during the trip. Or so it was claimed on the radio this morning. Don’t tell Trump, he will rename it as Chinese flu.

        1. It’s named after where it was discovered, like Marburg disease, discovered in Marburg, Germany, it didn’t originate there.

          And as the Chinese government lied and covered up this latest outbreak, then tried to blame America, I’d call it Chinese flu loudly and often.

        2. There was an article from National Geographic posted a while ago telling the story.

          Needless to say they managed to hint it was partly the fault of the British Empire for using Chinese labourers.

    3. I listened to the edition of Moral Maze to which she refers. Panellist Matthew Taylor (confusingly taking part by phone from his home because he was ‘isolating’) and one of the guests both had hissy fits about Brexit and how it represents another form of ‘isolation’. Some people just can’t help themselves!

      Jonathan Sacks was so decent and reasonable – indeed almost laid-back – that I am slightly surprised that there haven’t been complaints about him not taking the subject seriously.

    4. Having googled ‘who she?’ I only had to see Graudian journo, to decide I couldn’t read more. Sorry, Anne.

      2. She has travelled some way from her Grauniad days.
        Otherwise I wouldn’t be reading her.

      1. We grow our own limes… and lemons.
        Pity that gin doesn’t grow on trees as well!

        1. Don’t cry for me Quarantina,
          The truth is I never left home
          All through the Corvid days
          My mad existence
          I kept my promise
          You keep your distance

  93. Is anyone keeping an eye on opportunist supermarket staff in fall this? Yesterday I Sainsbury’s I heard and saw a bloke making a list of ‘things to set aside’ for various people who asked.
    I don’t know whether he was actually taking bribes for this, but still, it’s not what I’d call playing with a straight bat.

      1. It’s not the bats in the trees we need to worry about, but the ones in the food markets.

      2. “M’mmmmm”, says Mrs. Hoo Flung Dung.
        “Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to wok we go ………’

      3. BREAKING NEWS

        Despite the widespread panic over coronavirus throughout Europe, Romanian health authorities have stressed that in Transylvania, life goes on as normal and no travel restrictions apply. A spokesman, Dr. Vlad Nosferatu, a consultant hematologist, said at a briefing:

        “There is no cause for alarm. Our people have considerable experience, going back hundreds of years, in containing threats to public health from bat-borne infections. Tourists can feel perfectly safe in Transylvania but, just as a precaution, we strongly advise against feeding the bats.”

      4. I have never understood why bats, which carry rabies, are a protected species.

    2. The supermarkets have emailed me and said vulnerable groups will get priority.

      Those groups are the isolated and elderly.

      Which makes a change. You would think that all the illegals would be a priority. They get everything else for free and served first.

  94. Dear Sainsbury’s Customer Service,
    How nice of you to send me all those e-mails telling me the steps you are taking
    to put food on your shelves again.
    While we are waiting, could you ask some of your staff to get a few wet rags and
    wipe the dirty shelves down. If Tesco and Aldi can keep the place clean, I’m sure you could do it
    if you try.
    Half the shelves in your local store were empty at 10.30 this morning. I am reliably informed
    that this was not due to panic buying, but just because you hadn’t managed to stock up.
    Have you perhaps forgotten to pay your suppliers’ bills ?
    No packet or other chips, potatoes. No canned soups. No toilet rolls or pasta (presumably en
    route from Outer Mongolia ). No lots of other things. No soap.

    Don’t whine in the media.M&S, Tesco, Aldi have a few shortages, but are a pleasure to visit.
    We will recover when the panic is over. You will not. We will remember just how awful you have been.
    Yours sincerely,
    an ex-customer

  95. NOT Glastonbury….

    Any chance of the snowflakes getting their act together and organising their own festival.

    Plenty of music fans will be disappointed Glastonbury has been cancelled especially if we have a long hot summer. Many are off school and will be bored out of their brains in a few weeks. This is the time to get bands together offering their services for free….
    Rent a field cannot be too difficult to arrange ……maybe Michael Eavis can offer to help out.

    Come on snowflakes show us oldies what you are really made of…..

  96. Uh oh, looks like I may have to get in a last Wetherspoons and a workout today before pubs, restaurants and gyms are forced to close:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-uk-latest-italy-deaths-cases-schools-lockdown/

    I went to the gym yesterday, there were about twenty people when there would have normally been about a hundred. And I had practically the entire top floor of my local Wetherspoons to myself. I had no problem maintaining at least 10 metre-distance from other people. No need to do this in my view, just causing more misery and unemployment.

      1. Very well thanks! We want to see each other again. May have to be in about six months, or via Skype…

        1. Skype is ok, but doesn’t beat a walk in the spring sun, flask of tea at hand. Cannot beat daffodils and crocuses in the sunshine.

        2. Glad it went well. At least talking by Skype will allow you to get to know each other.

  97. Good Monring All,

    The sun is shining and I am going to ride my horse this afternoon. Vulnerable? Pah!

          1. I am seriously p’d off at being labelled vulnerable. Not so vulnerable that I cannot take part in the confence calls – and fit enough to walk the dog, muck out stables and ride the horses. I am fitter than many half my age who are not considered vulnerable. There are more here like me I am sure.

          2. I suspect anyone calling you “Vulnerable” is liable to walk away with their head in their hands!

      4. Lydl……. during the horse meat scare some wit said they’d relabelled the beefburgers “My Lydl Pony burgers”

  98. I had the misfortune of getting a dollop of the BBC’s news channel yesterday. One of the reports was talking to some climate change carpetbagger, who was trying to remind the world about “temperature rise” and “climate change” etc. He was keen that with the world’s economies in meltdown, we should be accelerating the collapse of our livelihoods by remembering to focus on the jiggery-wokery mumbo jumbo that will make him richer still. Viable businesses will go to the wall during this crisis but one assumes the Green scam will be bombproof.Here’s a good guy:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xZbCajXaAA&feature=em-uploademail

    1. The Beeb speak with forked tongue, Dean.

      The word round the campfire, hombre, is that if you chuck another log on that fire, then the heat rises. The Beeb is scam-city central, dude. Switch that wireless off and get hip.

      1. Hey, Beatnik, watch the video I posted, Dude. Dave’s the man- he says the media is “trying to tear us apart”. You may know Dave, Beatnik- he lives in a camper van, he’s on the road, hombre.

        I’m off to buy a strimmer, Dude. I foresee endless gardening leave, man.

  99. “Holiday park operator Butlin’s has said it will have to lay off 10,000
    seasonal workers if it does not get enough state aid to pay their wages.”
    No comment necessary.

    1. I thought they’d died off in the days of Hi-De-Hi.

      (A programme I never saw, by the way)

    2. They are stretching it a bit most of the summer seasonal staff would not have started yet

    1. In the countryside, when the distance to your nearest neighbour is measured in miles rather than yards it makes isolation a bit easier

      1. ‘Afternoon, Mags, unfortunately there, the White Farmers have been ordered to open their gates and stand-by for aided self-immolation.

    3. A lot of the adults are behaving sensibly which helps.
      The US was a mighty forlorn place this week. Bars, cinemas and restaurants closed. Takeout meals from a fast food joints can hardly be classified as gourmet dining and they do not live up to Grizzly standards.

      Still a few areas ignoring instructions and continuing as normal. The police closed Florida beaches this week to shut down the partying.

      Don’t forget the police have guns and are prepared to use them.

  101. Alex Salmond trial: Jury retires to consider its verdict

    The jury is considering its verdict in the trial of Alex Salmond, who denies carrying out a string of sexual assaults while he was Scotland’s first minister.

    The jury of nine women and six men retired at 14:00 on Friday after hearing two weeks of evidence.

    They can reach one of three verdicts for each of the 13 charges – guilty, not guilty or not proven.

    The verdicts must be agreed by a majority of the 15 jurors.

    Mr Salmond says he is innocent of all 13 charges of sexual assault, which are alleged to have been committed against nine women over a six-year period.

    Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC claimed on Thursday that Mr Salmond was a “sexual predator” who had used his position and power to “satisfy his sexual desires with impunity”.

    1. Place you bets now – odds on Not Proven.

      Absolutely no parallel with H WeinStein but 23 years would be too lenient for one half of the fishy pair.

      1. I really struggle to understand why young women and blackmailable men who know each other through work but not socially happen to find themselves together in hotel rooms.

      2. There is also the Courts closed option that they could take.
        Just introduce meeting sizes of ten people or less then jobs done.

    2. We know all that Bill. Just tell us whether he does time or gets off, and when the appeal will be.

  102. Very good lunch today. fried butter herb chicken brest, boiled pots, carrots, leeks & peas. half a bottle of red and half a bottle of white wine between us. All fresh cooked from scratch. Will have to get used to this.

      1. We do mostly eat at home or at Cote in Lewes or our first choice Horsted Place. Perhaps once every 6 weeks or so..

    3. Gawd it’s a hard life you lead.
      You’re an inspiration to us all! How do you cope?
      }:-))

    4. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e4a6ff9e83b03b007707c22cf71a2d3ed8ccd7bdfda50a122c47056d57ea9cdb.jpg I had similar. Roasted drumstick and thigh of free-range, maize-fed chicken; chopped celery and yellow pepper; hard-boiled egg; tomato; cheddar cheese; and a handful of mixed olives. High fat, high protein, low carbohydrate and very delicious. Six pints of water a day.

      Eating like this has seen me lose 1·6 stones in the past eleven weeks. I’m getting fitter and healthier every day.

        1. Not in the least. There are a multitude of foods that I can (and do) eat and enjoy. Dieting needn’t be boring.

          2. Oh, if I’m offending everyone these days by what I say then I’ll piss off for good.

            Funny how a select few (the chosen few) on this wank forum can regurgitate the same crap every fucking day without any form of censure.

          3. I am glad you are here. Don’t leave us like Bill Thomas did – the site would be a poorer place if you did.

      2. It’s just chicken and termarters, with a bit of salad. No wonder you are losing weight !!

    5. No big lunch for us, but a slow cooked beef casserole with vegetables and dumplings for this evening.
      And Monday…

  103. Another 39 deaths

    The patients died at hospitals run by the following NHS Trusts:

    Over 50% in London area

    Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Trust – 2
    Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust – 1
    South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – 1
    Medway NHS Foundation Trust – 1
    Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust – 2
    Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust – 1
    Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust – 2
    Great Western Hospital NHS Trust – 1
    Torbay & South Devon NHS Foundation Trust – 2
    Royal Gloucester NHS Foundation Trust – 1
    Royal United Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – 1
    Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – 4
    Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust – 1
    Imperial College Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – 4
    University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust – 1
    Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust – 3
    London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust – 1
    Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – 4
    St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – 3
    University College London Hospitals NHS Trust – 1
    Croydon Health Services NHS Trust – 2

      2. Clearly London is a big problem , The numbers there are escalated rapidly and it appears many are still going to pubs clubs and bars, Gyms etc

    2. London must have around a fifth of the UK’s population and a very large transient community, which surely makes it inevitable that we’ll have a high proportion of the fatalities? Imperial College NHS Trust is my area. Imperial run the Charing Cross and Hammersmith Hospitals. Also Queen Charlotte’s maternity but hopefully no Covid-19 there.

      1. The numbers in London are almost 4 times you would expect giving its population which is about 14% of the UK’s population

        1. Looks as if you may get some money, Thayaric, as you were employed on 28th. February.

          1. No I was self-employed, paid in cash. Never had any payslips. Can’t prove I was even working. Wife earns so can’t claim benefits. It’s a sh1t sandwich again. Just when things were looking up for me.

        2. Sounds correct for the Royal Surrey. Around here, if you’re unfortunate enough to be picked up by an ambulance crew, the correct respones to “left or right” is “left”. That takes you to Frimley Park. “Right” takes you to certain death. I exaggerate slightly.

    1. Let Sad Dick Khant and his alternative side-kick, Ms Dildo deal with the problem they think they’re so good at.

  105. Harry Lime PLC is alive and and flourishing in Blighty. Let us hope the verb changes to the past tense.

    “More than 80 crucial medicines commonly used to treat patients in NHS intensive care units have been banned from parallel export out of the UK.

    The new restrictions, which cover medicines including adrenaline, insulin, paracetamol and morphine, have been imposed by the Government and will help ensure there is an uninterrupted supply of medicines for NHS hospitals treating coronavirus patients.

    Parallel exporting is when companies buy medicines meant for UK patients and sell on for a higher price in another country, potentially causing or aggravating supply problems.

    Health Minister Lord Bethell said: “Our brilliant NHS staff are going above and beyond to provide world-class care to patients with coronavirus and we are supporting them in every way we can.

    “We are today banning the parallel export of more than 80 crucial medicines to protect patients in the UK and help ensure they can always get the treatments they need.”

    1. Parallel exporting is when companies buy medicines meant for UK patients and sell on for a higher price in another country, potentially causing or aggravating supply problems.

      Surely this should be made permanently illegal? Or am I missing something?

      1. Precisely what I thought.
        Even a hardened old cynic like me was surprised to find that practice was a regular feature of life.

    2. Ah, I wondered if Co-codamol was acceptable, given that ibruprofen isn’t. As morphine is listed above, I take it that codeine and paracetamol together is OK.

      2. I have taken them together at night.
        In fact, rummaging through my goody bag from the hospital, I found a pack of codeine. I will seriously knock myself out tonight; this sleeping propped up is really getting to me.
        S0d being a hero. I need my sleep.

      3. If you or an elderly relation is/are on medication that does not mix with paracetamol (eg warfarin) you should be able to take co-codamol, IMHO. BUT ALWAYS CHECK WITH A PHARMACIST. BY PHONE IF NECESSARY. The codeine can result in constipation, but sometimes that is a plus.

  106. Just in from Asda.

    It was better than I thought it might be, but worse than I hoped. All I was after was a normal weekly shop, nothing controversial. If there had been a queue outside as I’ve seen in the media I was planning on doing a 180 and just going home without stopping. As it was it was no busier than on a normal Friday, but it was different.

    As I went up the escalator people were coming down with trolleys, some with toilet rolls, some without. Packets of 24. I decided that things must be back to
    normal and as I went amongst the rows I passed a young couple with two 24 packs of toilet roll and a load of meat in a trolley full to the brim as they went around the shelves looking for more. They either have a big family or they are planning on staying in until October.

    I got to the medicines, still wanting some sinus treatment for my wife that they had none of last week. They had none again this week, but at least they had a few packets of paracetamol, so I got a couple.

    On to the veg, where a major surprise was the total lack of potatoes. Panic buying spuds! Didn’t need any anyway.

    Pasta shelves blitzed, never noticed the rice, probably the same. Cooking oil shelves empty. What are the morons doing? Bathing in the stuff?

    Tinned fish, soup and meat plundered, with only some survivors.

    No tinned tomatoes, peas or baked beans. I think we’re in for a blow.

    Tea down to less than half, Egg shelves empty apart from a few trays of 15 cut-price battery eggs. Who panic buys eggs? There’ll be a stink about that in a few weeks.

    Flour and home baking, devastated. One lone packet of Bero self-raising. Do the morons that cleared it even know how to cook with the stuff? My wife is out of luck for the packet of plain flour for the sticky ginger cake she wanted to make. Bread severely depleted and a limit of 4 items per customer.

    Vodka (Russian Standard) exterminated, but other spirits were there in abundance. Maybe the plunderers don’t realise you’re supposed to drink the stuff, not use it as a hand wash.

    Washing up liquid gone & washing powder down to a few survivors.

    Despite me seeing people walking around with 48 bog rolls in their trolley when I went in, the toilet roll shelves were completely empty. Plundered. It’s like Russia in the days of Communist shortages.

    Frozen meals hammered.

    The big surprise was fresh meat. Only about 16 whole chickens (bargain price), one leg of lamb and no beef or pork joints. There was no pork
    there of any variety. Gone. No chicken breast or leg packs. hammered.

    I managed to get most of what I went for, but that’s not the point.

    Morons walk this earth. There is thick, thicker and panic-buyers. Internment for life on minimal rations is too good for them.

    Photos of spuds, eggs, flour and pork.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0d843550efe7bbd896e71e093f6ebd67e9311b72212b58f63eb8daa937e93010.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9e795414573474f544bf96b6bf3cdc109daf3980038fd2e252fca5873dec329e.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a649aeed26ffd6e05958e1bc13d28ddb7329ee151d650d822ed172e3a47512c0.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/683afe3592c60c0fe9cfa3c4778e8daa340eba221fc1a431f2d7c0fbf2f7986b.jpg

    1. Re sinuses.
      Have you considered “Fisherman’s Friend”.
      I find they are pretty good.

      1. I like them, my wife doesn’t. It was a painkiller for sinuses she was after. She’s suffereng a week-long hangover from a two week cold she had, but which somehow missed me, while I was suffering from a bad chest that somehow missed her.

        Such are infections.

        1. I used to use a herbal remedy called Sinotar, which I found very effective. I am not sure it’s still available, though, thanks to the EU’s crackdown on herbal medicine.

    2. I went out and bought some milk this morning. As I was down to just one carrot I wandered over to the veg section and found to my amazement the last one and a half carrot! Success!

    1. As if that weren’t enough, I escaped curfew to go to the bank today to pay a bill – there was a power cut and everything was closed. Stopped panic buying for a while, I suppose.

  111. EasyJet has said it will “ground the majority of its fleet of aircraft” from Tuesday.

    1. Why are people panic-buying washing powder and detergent? Have they decided to wash their clothes more often? They must be a very smelly lot.

  114. LOCKDOWN UK

    Clubs, Pubs, Bars, Shops, Leisure Centers, Theaters, Cinemas Gym etc Are to be ORDERED to Close

          1. A London-centric government decision based on the number of Covid-19 cases in London.

    4. Sunak got it wrong. Shops do not have to close down. A questioner corrected him. Sunak has opened a bonaza for fraudsters.

  115. 317286+ up ticks.

    None at G tech are suckers that is for sure real British at their finest.

  116. British Boffins

    “We designed the ventilator entirely from parts that can readily be

    made from stock materials or bought off-the-shelf. This means that if

    government approves and wants Gtech ventilators they can be made by

    almost any engineering and manufacturing company” says Nick.

    “Gtech could produce around 100 per day within a week or two

    providing we could find steel fabrication and CNC machining companies to

    help us make some of the parts.”

    Gtech plan to produce two more ventilators tomorrow and submit them to the government for assessment.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/03/20/responding-to-uk-govt-call-vacuum-firm-designs-simplified-ventilator/
    Warms the cockles don’t it

    1. 317286+ up ticks,
      Afternoon Rik,
      As I posted they certainly not suckers that is for sure.

    2. Daft way of going about it in my view. Use an existing design it has been designed proven tested and qualified and get another manufacture . Much producing it. Much quicker to ramp up volumes that way

      1. Yes, if you are already tooled up for it. If you are producing something that will do the same job, then you would utilise the tooling the you have as well as components. Slight difference in tube width, clip sizes etc may make no difference to effectiveness, but it is difficult to replicate an original if you have to source new tubes, new clips, set machines.

  117. While various sources give the numbers of Covid-19 positives per NHS area this is not very helpful. What we would like to know, surely, is where these patients came from? If they are from Muswell Hill we could avoid the area. There are a dozen or so cases in the Borders which stretch from Eyemouth to Langholm ,a distance of 74 miles (and a drive of well over 2 hours). So should I avoid Hawick or Kelso?
    Nope, there is no help. I have to stay at home even thought the whole area maybe clear for 20 miles around…
    Something is rotten with this.

    1. They don’t want you drawing your own conclusions and acting on your own initiative. It might be catching and for them, that would be far more dangerous than coronavirus.

  118. Cafes, pubs and restaurants must close from Friday night, except for take-away food, to tackle coronavirus, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.

    All the UK’s nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres have also been told to close “as soon as they reasonably can“.

  119. Looks like a lot of people are going to have to remember how to cook a Sunday dinner instead of going to the pub for it.

    Good luck with them finding a joint of meat in the supermarkets between now and Sunday.

    Happy Mother’s Day

    1. My local pub has agreed to allow a small party of us to have lunch there this Sunday (unless, of course, the govt forces them to close). It will, in effect, be a private party.

    2. Look on the bright side…dinner, whatever’s left on the supermarket shelves.

      No more worrying about what to cook for a hungry family.

  120. The chancellor has said the government will pay 80% of wages for employees who are not working, up to £2,500 a month.

  121. Just had a knock at the door. It was my month’s delivery of meds. This time no signature wanted; the driver was away as soon as he handed over the package.
    Presumably a virus control measure.

    1. Yup. We got a message a few days ago saying that signatures for packages were not to be required, but to tell the driver the name of the person taking the delivery.

      We got a parcel this morning and the driver stood back about 6 feet after putting the package down on the doorstep.

  123. Might need to stock up on beer and wine tonight. I can see a big surge in demand from supermarkets

    1. I shan’t point that out to MOH – he could do with downing less beer. My brother reported that his local supermarket had been stripped of lager but there was plenty of decent bottled beer left on the shelves.

    1. It has just been announced that for Health and Safety reasons, including protection of mental health, displaying pictures of Greta Effin Thunberg is forbidden until further notice.

        1. She is banned from the UK at present as non essential travel is barred
          There we are corrected.

  125. Just to clarify with regard to Restaurants they can still open to sell food to take away at least at present

    1. I wonder if the taxi driver today who was complaining about lack of tares is aware of this?
      I suppose you don’t often see a take away hailing a cab.

      1. Could be work for them delivering takeaway food as demand for that is likely to increase

        1. They won’t let you eat in their cabs, but they’ll be bringing round your cod and chips and a curry.

      1. We’re all going to be ordered to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and pay ourselves to do it.

        1. Nor the next 3 generations. Coronapanic has gone too far. Too much political investment in it to stop it now.

    2. That’ll be helpful. I presume the cash will be delivered by the same Government agencies that are delivering my groceries.

  127. With all the Government largesse, I wonder how many fraudsters will be caught when the dust has settled.

      1. What the Government should be putting in place is Draconian punishments for anyone caught.

        Full confiscation of their entire assets as a starter, down to the last cufflink.

        No benefits, they can go and live with extended family, if non-British, deportation with no appeal.

          1. Desperate times, desperate measures. Let the HR lawyers do as they wish, pro bono only and NO legal aid and only hear appeals AFTER the crooks have been cleared out.

          2. Suspend the Human Rights legislation and replace it with the Human Responsibilities Act.

        2. Fraud cost the taxpayers £200 million in early payment of Universal Credit. Sunak and Johnston are unbelieveably lax with taxpayers’ money and I doubt the result will be fraud on a massive scale. Whatever happened to “saving for a rainy day” Almost Zero interest rates for 12 years is one deterrent for saving.

          1. I think the whole, unthought through, over-reaction will come back to bite us, the taxpayers, very hard.

      2. Yes, but having speed read it the first time I’d missed the bit about the massive dose.

    2. Once they had confrimed it wasn’t Covid-19 I was prescribed ibuprofen equivalent by intravenous drip; prior to that I was informed that Ibuprofen might actually be harmful if I had had Covid-19 so was restricted to other painkillers, principally paracetamol, again by drip. I have no idea what the problem might have been with Ibuprofen

        1. Thinking about it, Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory. Inflammation, while unpleasant, is a sign that the immune system is working (all those little phagocytes rushing into battle); maybe ibuprofen suppresses the reaction to a dangerous level.
          I’m no expert, I just put that forward as a theory.

  129. Northwick Park Hospital is at Critical care capacity and patients are having to be sent to other hospitals

  130. Closing schools is a disaster for the Extinction Rebellion people.

    How are kids going to take Fridays off school to protest?

    1. I was never tested, but back in February I had very Covid 19-esque symptoms. Fever, sore throat, new dry, persistent cough. I self isolated (I was bed-ridden!) and recovered.

      1. I was like that from mid January for about 7/8 weeks and was in bed for 3 or 4 days, which is most unlike me. (Our neighbours next door take to their beds if they have just a sniffle). Still left with cough but I really was very poorly.

        1. Exactly. I even failed to take the dog for a walk and I have to be dying to miss that! I normally never take to my bed, but I was barely able to crawl out to do the essentials like keeping the Rayburn alight for five days.

          1. Interesting. I didn’t bother going to the doctors, did you? I just drank lots of water, had lemsip after lemsip, Covonia (!) and inhaled. Went on for weeks. Still left with cough.

          2. You forgot to mention that we’re in our 70s. I know we don’t look but it’s all done by numbers. 💗💗

          3. No, never went near the quack. Stayed in bed, took aspirin, drank lots, quaffed Benylin and suffered. Still give the occasional cough.

      2. At the back end of 2019, every other person had throats, coughs and snuffles, plus general lethargy.
        The common consensus was that it was typical for the time of year and we all just got on with it.

      3. I know a few people that also had something similar around Christmas time, it took a few weeks but the all recovered well.

          1. Mine started 23rd February. Flattened me for a week. Still got the tickly cough.

          2. I had it in early January and it lasted 5 weeks. 2 of my neighbours had it earlier than me and the neighbour’s wife was still recovering after 7 weeks. We are all OK now. Several of us discussed it on this site.
            I did not have the flu jab and did not consult the doctor, I was able to carry on my life normally but it was something I had never experienced before. I often wonder if it could have been CVID-19.

    3. One of the NTTLers mentioned a case, I think on Tuesday. (It was me, so nobody read it).

    4. One nottler mentioned earlier today that he and his wife have succumbed to it – cannot remember who.

    5. The sister of a friend of the S@H has been tested positive. She’s a nurse.

    6. I’m getting reports of families who appear to have contracted it – I’ve asked to be updated…

    7. Nope. My NHS daughter’s beau is an ambulance driver medic out of Exeter. All he’s been doing this last week and more, is picking up suspected infected people. He’s, very likely to get it.

  132. Was going down the local club for a few bevvies this afternoon but was put off by the wife and daughter, it will be months before it is open again, I expect, if ever.

    1. I fear that this will be the final nail in the coffin for a lot of rural pubs and clubs.

      A great pity; we will have lost a huge piece of our heritage.

      1. Very convenient for us dissenters to have nowhere to go to disseminate our subversion, no?

          3. And, of course, just because I’m NOT paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me !

        4. Given that the plan is for lots of people to get it, it is a bit odd that all places of entertainment, all sporting venues and all restaurants and cafes have been shut down.

      2. Many country pubs usually do a delicious selection of food .. A few in this area are deciding to do Take away meals .. Probably quite expensive , but a good idea.

        Having said that , lots of people are concerned that 2nd home owners will come down here and put a further strain on local resources , which are pretty limited nowbecause of panic buying ,

        1. Indeed so.

          In my view, anything that helps them survive is good thing, long term, but I fear that a lot of the independents will go under. The tied pubs might survive but the heavily mortgaged family run pubs/restaurants are likely to struggle.

        2. There is a BBC article on that , comparing Lowestoft and Szzzzzz?. I don’t have the link.

  133. I sense a great distubance in the force,it’s as if 10,000 corner shops suddenly remembered they each employed 5 cousins each,all on 30k a year who have to be supported or made redundant
    Mr Raschid’s wageslip printing business is the latest hot investment
    This is madness isn’t it??
    Utterly surreal

    1. Many a true word spoken in jest. Don’t forget every self-employed taxi-driver or chimney sweep who pays his wife to do his book-keeping.

    3. Who will be authorising the claims? No questions asked to preserve ‘community cohesion’?

  137. Defence Chief tells military to prepare for six-month operation whilst warning of threats from ‘those who wish to undermine our way of life’. 20 March 2020 • 5:08pm.

    The Chief of the Defence Staff has told the armed forces to plan for a six-month Coronavirus operation and warned of threats from “those who wish to undermine our way of life”.

    That’s a little forward preparation for when the arrests begin!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/20/defence-chief-tells-military-prepare-six-month-operation-whilst/

    1. So they’re finally going to do something about the Pakistani grooming gangs.
      Thought not.

    2. Wonder what the next move towards sharia law will be. A mysterious eruption of swine fever!

      1. A mysterious eruption of hostile activity seems more likely! Activity that requires mass arrests!

    3. 317386+ up ticks,
      Evening AS,
      “Threatens our way of life” to me that reads as the current lab/lib/con coalition party going purely on past performances.

  138. “The pubs are shutting all over Britain, we shall not see them open again in our life-time” with thanks to Sir Edward Grey.

    1. It remains to be seen if our private pub lunch (see earlier) will go ahead. A pity as I was looking forward to it, but my friends may include me in their family get-together if it’s cancelled.

      1. Local pub has announced that reservations will honoured, even if pub is closed. Can’t see that happening for more than a couple of days.

  139. , Boris Johnson announced as the government brought in stronger measures to enforce social distancing.
    Our chances of getting enough food in are remote. The rush tomorrow will be enormous (if there is anything to rush for)
    now that you can’t slip out for a meal.
    Prepare for the end of society as we know it.

  140. Looks like we have a society close to that of North Korea. The Government tells us what we can do and when we can do it. Wages will be provided by Dear Leader. The streets are lifeless apart from Gov key workers. Troops on the streets. I wonder where Human Rights legislation fits into that lot. It will, however, take a while to slim the population down to NK standards.

    1. It’s world-wide, don’t forget. If we do as we are told and follow instructions, we will hopefully survive and in due course find out the real truth.

      1. Life was bad enough when I retired last year! Just been out for a jog whilst Im still allowed, because that is next… Just have to make sure my beer cellar is full.

        1. Did that weeks ago. Keep your stock, keep topping it up while you can. There may come a time when you have to live on your store.

        2. Back to the dark days of the 1970s. I can see a revival of home-brewing not far away … Celery wine can be very good …

          1. That reminds me of when the college suddenly supplied every floor of the rooms (four to floor) with a couple of plastic dustbins.
            A day later an edict came down saying they were NOT for home brewing.

            Too late, 90% + had already got a mash going.

            My best friend had the only warm airing cupboard on the floor, so it was conscripted for final run and bottling.

            A few bottles exploded, much to his annoyance as he had recently completed several weeks lauundry!

            On the plus side the beer was superb, Boots home brew.

          2. Way back in the day I went to a student party where the beer had been brewed in the bath… you could say it was full bodied!

          3. We always used to have something bubbling (i.e. fermenting) on our cottage bookshelves thirty-odd years ago. Apple wine was particularly good.

  141. Having closed everything down, the Government may find that the people might get restive. Good job they have 20,000 troops ready to be sent to trouble spots.

    2. 317286+ up ticks,
      Evening HP,
      Will we have need of a phrase book of 27 tongues though ?

  142. Call me anything you like, but, I am beginning to think that we are not being told the whole truth.

    1. You are pretending to be sosraboc and I claim my case of single malt, what with you being a Scot and all.

      1. Oh Dear, you picked the right guy. I do not drink Scotch , or any spirits except cheap brandy in my morning coffee. However, one of our daughters works for a top malt whisky distiller. I can arrange to have your name put on the list for one of the top items. A deposit of £5000 is required. Per bottle, that is…

          2. The last time I bought Scotch it was £8.10/- a bottle. Scotch is now fad, a fashion item, and a sign of wealth…

          3. For the canny shopper, there are bargains to be had, H.

            I looked at a bottle of 30 year-old Macallan but it was far too costly, priced at about £2,000. So I settled on three bottles of 12 year-old Macallan which cost me just over £200.

            Not only did I save £1,800, I got three times the quantity and an extra six years thrown in.

          4. I can’t remember the last bottle I bought for my own consumption. Except as a gift for a family member/in-law who likes the status, I never buy it.

            Notwithstanding centuries of Scottish ancestry I don’t actually like the drink, the only ones I find fairly palatable are Islay single malts. No water, no ice, just the Scotch.

          5. The director of a whisky company for which I worked showed me the tasting room. He was the chief blender and he “nosed” the samples rather than tasting them when choosing the components for the blend. He commented that he had once OK’d a glass of water as it had no adverse scents.

    2. I completely agree. I’ve been thinking the same for a week or two now. This is an over the top reaction to what looks like a seasonal epidemic. What do they know that they aren’t telling us?

        1. That’s why it’s called a pandemic. Seasonal dependent on the country you’re in.

        2. True. But apart from horror stories in the press about Italy and London, have you noticed anything?
          Me neither. Lots of e-mails from large companies telling me they’re concerned for my safety but, other than that, nothing.
          What’s going on?
          Edit – and since I’ve been here (20 minutes) I’ve had 5 more e-mails (Sky, Rohan…)

          1. Yes lots of dead in China and Spain as well. NHS desperately trying to expand the number of intensive care beds from 5000 to 35000.

          2. Do you have any information on the number of deaths from ordinary flu this winter and do you know if the Coronavirus deaths are included. I would imagine the ordinary flu deaths far exceed the CV.

          9. I can assure you that the NHS is taking unprecedented measures to scale up its resources for when this hits. Did you bit to reduce the impact by following the advice.

      2. 317286+ up ticks,
        Evening Itp,
        It has been building up pressure in the pipeline
        on a daily basis for four decades, all it needed was a trigger.

          1. 317286+ up ticks,
            Itp,
            As I posted early on, I cannot think of a reason to trust any of the governance parties, to my mind they have led the gullible electorate by the nose since the mid 70s, especially these last two decades.
            Odious elements have built up as honest opposition has been put down.
            As I personally see it all the build up so far needed was a trigger.
            The main parties could see the peoples losing confidence in them and had to be seen to take action, whatever the cost.
            Their past actions do not fill me with confidence regarding their future actions.
            This is a personal view.

    3. Get the public scared and controlled it makes it easier for the future. Probably preparing for when they say Brexit has been cancelled and we’re not leaving the EU.

      1. 317286+ up ticks,
        Evening Atg,
        Now your talking, fair play they, the politico’s, did
        did tell the peoples time & again ” we are ALL in it together” omitting to say that is not inclusive of you lot.

    5. I could call you a Silly Sausage but that wouldn’t help stop the spread of Conspiracy Theories about the Corona Virus, which are spreading faster than the virus itself.

      1. I don’t know about you, Rik, but I’m suffering from Coronavirus fatigue. The constant blethering of the News Programmes, without telling you anything factual and just spreading gloom and despondency.

        As Batten accurately identifies, what news of all the other UK/European/World atrocities and I’ll add SA White Farmers?

    8. A huge germ chemical scare similar to the Salisbury Novo thing?

      I fear something akin to the devil has been unleashed on the world.

      1. An immense world-wide reaction to something with such a low overall death rate is highly suspicious.
        I wonder if Russians know more than we do ? They have better contacts with awful people.

      2. No, Mags, it’s just Mother Nature throwing a tantrum – good for her, it’s needed.
        And I say that, heading for my 76th Birthday and suffering ischaemic heart disease and COPD, so I guess I’m vulnerable but I’m not going to lie down on my back and drum my heels, shouting, “‘Snot fair!” – I’d just get short of breath.

    9. I think we’re being softened up. This over reaction is nothing short of extraordinary. What’s going to happen next winter when some other virus comes along? We cannot shut the country down simply because some people may pick up a virus, some people may be quite ill and some people may even die.

      I think a lot of the over reaction is to do with controlling the population, bit by bit, and crashing stock markets around the world for the usual suspects to make a killing financially.
      Edit: Bit by bit

  143. If all the pubs and shops are going to close no doubt all TV advertisers will stop advertising and we’ll all be able to watch telly with no adverts. Result?

    2. Release the equity in you property. Mr Rashid will exchange your home for a life supply of Andrex toilet rolls

      Feeling a bit unwell? Pay for your funeral now and avoid a mass grave.

      Plenty of vultures out there.

    3. I read with dismay that Lineker and his geeky footballer friends will continue to present Match of the Day. This despite the fact that football matches have been cancelled.

      Plus the fact that the nation as a whole are sick of the sight and sound of the fatty crisp eating prat.

      1. Match of the day without football. That’s novel perhaps it’ll set a trend.

  144. 317286+ up ticks,
    An anti Submission, PC,Appeasement law must be brought in NOW if not sooner as in a Tommy Robinson law, same day ,fast track incarceration
    for scammers, no if’s or but’s, instant porridge……. if lucky.

      1. 317286+ up ticks,
        T,
        Lack of quacks means eastern europeans are
        close at hand, try to learn to read signs.

  145. When one sees the effects of Covid-19 on vulnerable non-isolated populations, one is very fearful of the results in “refugee” camps in Northern Syria, Lesbos and other what-used-to-be-Greek Islands, and Calais, and those massing on the Turkish-Greek border ,,,,

      1. ‘Evening, Mum, so does Mother Nature, as she surveys the over-population of the Planet.

        One wonders sometimes if the medical profession tries too hard – always influenced by money-grubbing Big Pharma.

    1. Trump has always been ‘on the money’.

      I really hope that he will finally expose the Clinton and Obama corruption. Obama went from peasant to multi millionaire if not billionaire during his time in office and has bought some phenomenally expensive estate.

      Likewise the Clintons are now billionaires having come from scum stock. Then you have other Democrats such as Joe Biden and son and several other prominent anti-Trump senators with children awarded executive jobs in foreign oil companies (Ukraine, for example) whilst having neither knowledge nor qualifications for the posts occupied.

  149. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.*

    The Government has declared “Eat, drink, and be merry” to be verbotenn …

    *[Isaiah 22:13 in 1 Corinthians 15:32]

  150. I would like to warn people in the present difficult circumstances that if you see 4/5 young “Asian” males cruising round in a car in your area, they are probably up to something pretty bad. You are strongly advised not to call the pollice.

    1. A few years ago they were cruisin’ around on our village green after a particularly wet month or so. Cruisin’ with knives and digging up the turf with their tyres. A young public-spirited twenty year old attempted to remonstrate with them. He got stabbed for his efforts. Fortunately he was wearing a leather jacket and he received only a skin graze (and shock). The police said there had been a spate of this sort of thing recently. An attack on our ancient village culture and English way of life.

  151. Off topic.

    For anyone using BT internet services, watch out for this scam:

    We are having trouble authorizing your last bill, Please check or make changes to your payment method.

    If we cannot aut1386316694horize your bi1386316694lling info1386316694rmation we may have to dis1386316694able your acc1386316694ount services.

    1. Mrs VVOF had the same as a text but supposed to be regarding her O2 bill.
      Ignored and number blocked.

      1. It’s a great shame that the “hate police” don’t chase down these scammers and then bankrupt them and anyone involved with them, instead of pursuing the odd “hurty tweets”.

        1. Hurty Tweets are so much easier for them to help keep their conviction figures up

        2. Well the Police had better sort themselves out and become a Police Force again. None of us were impressed by that Rainbow bollocks and the shear waste of ‘our’ resources it entailed.

          If the Police are unable to reform then, post virus, we will have to take the hatchet to them and their senior officers. Just the same as we are determined to do to the biased BBC.

          Message: Just do the job you were appointed to do, not some off field politically motivated nonsense at the behest of some fucking Lesbian. Search for and catch criminals and use evidence gathered to put them away.

    1. Just stop it with all the updates. Just tell us when the UK is closed…Oh …sorry it already is. Except for illegals..fuck knows why they still want to come here……..erm.

      1. The remedy for all those illegals in camps would be to go home. Just a thought.

  155. Sewers being blocked by toilet roll alternatives

    The toilet roll alternatives are blocking the sewers as people with no loo rolls are turning to alternative such as kitchen rolls & newspapers, Nortnumbrian Water said they should use the bin

  156. Farmers call for ‘land army’ to sustain UK food production during coronavirus crisis. 20 March 2020.

    “We must recognise that farmers’ supply of labour is in jeopardy,” said the CLA’s president, Mark Bridgeman. “A shortage of 80,000 workers is something we have never seen before. That is why we are calling for a land army of employees to support farmers in feeding the country.”

    He said workers from other sectors hit hard by the coronavirus crisis could be quickly retrained to do agricultural work. “We need urgent government assistance to help source workers and advertise positions,” he said. “Time is of the essence. If we fail to find these key workers, businesses will go bust.”

    If these people are unable to go to their jobs in factories and offices why should anyone think that they are able to work in the fields safely? This is like Mao’s Cultural Revolution!

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/20/farmers-call-for-land-army-to-sustain-uk-food-production-during-coronavirus-crisis

    1. Here’s an idea. Why do farmers not pay their labourers proper wages. Around these parts they pretend to poverty yet entertain the Hunt and all drive around in fancy four wheel drives and their wives buy clothes from over-priced Angela’s in Long Melford.

      They also receive farm subsidies from the EU, run massive tractors and other equipment on red diesel and spread thick mud and grit over our local roads and narrow lanes, demolishing the fragile verges and ploughing up the lawn at the front of my property. In addition, the kids they employ to drive their tractors all seem to think they have the skills of Nigel Mansell; they do not and will kill someone shortly, if not themselves.

      1. I approached a roundabout on my way to the bomb site which was Asda this morning and needing to turn left I slowed down, even though the road in front of me was clear and there was nothing visible on the road to my right. It makes sense to slow on the approach to a ‘Give Way’.

        It’s a bloody good job I did, because one of those bastards suddenly appeared on the roundabout from my right driving a tractor the size of a house with a trailer behind it the same size at 30mph without slowing down or even considering slowing down. Anyone coming from the opposite direction would have been in trouble, because there was no way he could have stopped if they’d entered the roundabout as was their right. You know the posture, driver sitting upright with his left hand at 11 o’clock on the steering wheel and his right hand down by his side. Tractor drivers like to pretend they are riding a bronco.

        He then maintained his 30mph as I let him pass in front. He maintained it for the next two miles on rthe single carriageway road, building up a queue behind him.

        If these tw@ts can only do 30 flat out they aren’t going to get anywhere quick, so why are they so speedy at pulling out of folk at junctions, only to slow the whole job up as they trundle along.

        They haven’t got the wit or awareness of the stock they farm.

    1. A very good cause. I already contribute. Has something changed?

      I wouldn’t mind meeting You and Duncan Mac there one day.

      You will have to buy the drinks because i’m bust and Duncan is Scottish>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>……

      1. I’ll have you know that in the best traditions of the Highland race, I’m as open-handed as the next man.

        I’m known in the clachan as “Duncan of the Hospitality”

          2. Of course i was joking. I would be happy and privileged to stand the first round….

            You buy all the others !…….. :o)

        2. Having attended the Speyside whisky Festival on the occasion of my 60th Birthday I can attest the fact that the Scots I met were very generous hospitable hosts.

      2. I’ve donated in the past too but they’re appealing for funds to help them through the loss of income through the CV closure.

        Maybe we could RV post CV, DV.

        1. Bad for lots of business but i will always stay there when in town. You may have not seen my earlier posts but i am not in a position to help anyone out on that scale.

          Back to war time and people locally looking out for each other.

          I wonder if the E.U would consider giving aid………………scrub that.

          1. I have read your posts about your investments having plummeted. Hang on in there, they’re bound to pick up again.

    1. …and of course all those that voted Conservative will be issued with access to that Credit Card Account.

      Oh, wait a minute, we are not included in the troughing, are we?

    2. Our income is likely to shrink by 80% this year.

      If MPs were prepared to take even half the percentage cut in their earnings I would have some respect for them. As it is I hold them in total contempt.

    3. If this is true it is completely disgusting. If MPs are not at Parliament for a start their “travelling expenses” should be suspended. And they should in no way be getting paid an extra £10000!

    5. On a par with those US Senators that have been accused of selling millions of dollars worth of shares immediately after a confidential briefing about the possible repercussions of a pandemic.

      All for me, let the peasants suffer.

      1. I saw a production of Othello about 40 year ago when Iago said to Desdemona’s father, the foolish old Brabantio, that the old black ram was tupping his white ewe and making the beast of two backs with her

        “You are a Senator!”

        The line was delivered with utter contempt and the audience agreed that being called a senator or an MP was one of the greatest and most patronising insults Iago could think of.

  162. A friend’s son has been told, by 111, that he has CV. No test and a telephone diagnosis. How are they separating ‘ordinary’ flu from CV or is it all lumped together.

      3. I’m struggling to see much difference between CV and Flu based on that. I think I’ve had a dose of the latter, but I’d be quite happy to find that I’d survived a dose of the former, even if that meant according to official figures I would have been about the third person in the country to have it (along with a lot of others on here as equal third, or even first or second).

    2. I am no medic but I would say it is almost impossible to diagnose over the phone. They can get a clue though. A persistent cough and a high temperature are indications. Not many people though have the means to measure their temperature

  165. Will all the people being laid off be given first dibs on their old jobs when they are advertised again?

    1. That’s a very good question. It’s a bit like holding a job open during maternity leave.
      OTOH, some employers may seize the situation as an opportunity to get rid of an ‘awkward’ employee without fear of an unfair dismissal process.

  166. Afternoon, all. Has the coronavirus got to Disqus? I clicked on I’m not a Robot and it put a tick in without asking me to identify crosswalks or fire hydrants!

  169. In order to save thousands of lives from an invisible enemy they are going to sacrifice millions of lives in the next few years, for what?

    1. As your public service for this evening:

      sing.

      That should get the necessary two metre space fairly quickly.

      }:-))

      1. I paraphrase, but the Guardian reporting of the Trump press conference suggested that he “exploded with rage”, “lost his cool”, “blew a gasket” etc. If you watch the footage he simply told them to act more responsibly as members of the Press. Said quietly but with disdain.

          1. Or to paraphrase he was probably thinking:”You may think I’m a right CU Next Tuesday, but you’ve no idea what what I think of you lot…”

      2. I am glad that in his words he has wonderful control over that virus, it makes us so safe.

        Do you really think that such patently false statements are the words of someone doing a good job?

          1. So you agree that he has wonderful control of the situation?

            Trump has his good points, he has started to shake up the smug self serving political world but his faults are outweighing his good deeds.

            When the governor of New York asked for trump to declare a state of emergency, the result was a verbal attack in the governor. Was that the action of a good president? The same immediate response was given to the California governor.

            Who knows how much worse it would have been if Clinton was in charge but her failing does not make Trump good.

    2. There are some on this forum who could never accept the fact that Trump won the election, let alone his success on some issues.

        3. I used to live in a flat overlooking the lock. The buildings look a bit higher than I remember, that’s the island on the left, I think. Ham on the right side and Teddington on the left. Looking downstream towards Twickenham and Richmond below.

        4. My sister lives in Teddington just upriver from the Lock. At the bottom of her garden there is canal off the Thames where my brother-in-law moors his traditional, clinker-built Thames rowing boat. We would row down to the White Swan in Twickenham for a pint or two navigating Teddington Lock both going down and upstream. When I worked in London I used to keep my Enterprise dinghy at my sister’s and went sailing after work on summer evenings.

    1. Night night Elsie.

      We are watching old Ready Steady Go on BBC4… Re living the 1960’s.
      Couldn’t find Angel radio.. is is national or just a local radio prog?

      1. It’s local to the South of England, Maggie, but can be heard all over the country if you Google Angel Radio and then click on “Listen to Angel Radio Live”. Do please try it, I’m sure you’d enjoy it.

        1. Morning Elsie and thankyou

          I clicked on the Angel link and google said it ws an unsafe site.. I don’t know why .. but I will ask Moh to try ok .. and will fiddle around with the radio . Rumour is , we must get growing veg.. We have hopeless veg growing soil here in our garden .. We used to have an allotment years ago , but the sheep and deer nibbled our cabbages etc, and the mice ate the peas , and carrot root fly was a nuisance.

          Might grow some tomatoes in pots!

          Good luck with your garden .

  177. Feels, for most of us, that we’re in the middle of the Phoney War. Let’s hope the Blitz doesn’t materialise.

    1. Given the situation with certain tissue products I think we’re in what is known as the Shitzkreig

  180. The Saxon Queen daughter of Alfred of Wessex popped back in time using
    quantum physics and revisited the dark ages and the plague.
    She returned to the present and finds a plague of locusts have hit every supermarket.
    Good night and keep well and safe.

    1. I’m watching a youtube concert of a band called the Dead South (I heartily recommend them by the way, they really cheer me up!). I saw them live only three weeks ago. It is incredible to think that the simple spectacle of a few hundred people being together and enjoying some good music is now banned by law. How did it come to this so quickly?

      https://youtu.be/bTpTgBudECU

    3. I’m watching a youtube concert of a band called the Dead South (I heartily recommend them by the way, they really cheer me up!). I saw them live only three weeks ago. It is incredible to think that the simple spectacle of a few hundred people being together and enjoying some good music is now banned by law. How did it come to this so quickly?

      https://youtu.be/bTpTgBudECU

      1. About 2 month ago everything seemed quite normal, we just heard
        of a virus in China and now it’s spread throughout the world,
        Its sinister and very scary.

        1. I do think the measures being taken by governments are excessive. Like having a wart on your arm, so cutting your arm off to get rid of it. By all means isolate elderly people like my parents, but shutting down the whole world is too much. And I can’t help but think that goverments are enjoying the power they wield over us, and the ability to crush the little joys out of our lives.

          1. The Corona virus, in causing chaos and damage to society, acts as camouflage and opportunity for a take-over by the “elites” to “save” society and restore order. At the same time, freedoms are removed to ensure “safety”.
            Like boiling a frog, by the time society realises, it’s too late.
            Thus, immigration is encouraged & facilitated, virus panic encouraged, all leading to draconian curtailment of freedom to protect society. Nearly there now – look at the onset of London lockdown.
            Never waste a good crisis.

          2. I agree that this virus is manufactured by China and possibly funded by the globalist elites viz. George Soros, Bill and Melinda Gates, Bloomberg, the Clintons and Obamas all backed up by the figures concocted by John Hopkins University.

            If the Chinese have contained the virus In their population of billions they are either lying or else in possession of the antidote.

            It seems obvious that this is a particularly virulent contagion and nobody but a fool would suppose that this is a normally common flu-type virus. It is much more.

    1. Good luck with that Muslim activist.

      Please stay where you are and do not bring yourself to England. Your lot have already cost us an arm and a leg, literally, and much else besides.

    2. On that basis we should refuse to provide life saving resources of our NHS to these primitives.

      A visit to any hospital in the UK will reveal many of these Muslims occupying our hospital beds. In children’s hospitals we spend vast sums on caring for the abhorrent results of their inclination to marry first cousins.

      We need a review of our immigration policies which allowed these people access to our country. They often come from very wealthy countries and claims of refugee status are mostly bogus. We all observe this.

      1. 317286+ up ticks,
        Evening C,
        I belong to a party that has called for years for controlled immigration, in opposition to the governance parties that have mass uncontrolled immigration policies.
        These parties are supported & voted for following the same line of, vote for one keep out tother,regardless of consequences.
        All parties being of a pro eu mass uncontrolled immigration nature left the electorate with only one option post GE… to once again whinge.

        1. Yup. I know. We all need to remain vigilant. Our politicians over several decades have let us all down.

          Post this virus, assuming some of us oldies survive its ravages, we need to obtain revenge as a collective. By then, hopefully, the Snowflakes will have grown up.

          Well as ever we all live in hope.

  182. Q: Will it be OK if I go out for a jog in the park tomorrow?

    A: Possibly, but you must first get permission from the government

  183. OMG, when I see these media Jeremiahs questioning the PM about every nook and cranny off the NHS, the economy, and the distribution of dog cr@ps, I have a strong urge to give them a slapping and tell them to grow up. I wish the Press Conferences were simply Announcements.

    In 1940 we didn’t have reporters asking “and when you say we will fight them on the beaches, PrimeMinister, can you guarantee that we have enough anti-tank weapons?”.

      2. Yes, I remember Boris chose to snigger with other European leaders about Trump when he was over here for the NATO meeting (or was it G7/8)

    4. So true! And we didn’t have endless articles in the newspapers about how hard it is to wash your hands when you suffer from OCD, or how you feel unvalued by society because you’ve got an underlying health issue, or how you’ve lost your freelance income as a travel journalist in these terrible times!

    2. Hi Geoff, I hope you are keeping well, I wonder if there is a help area for Disqus people who as I do have trouble logging in. After several days of not being able to log in on my P C. I managed to change the password and it’s clearly okay as I’m here now. But coincidently almost as soon as I got back on line, I now can no longer log in on my phone which was always my preferred choice of use. I have tried for a total of many hours to access Disqus on my mobile which used to be automatic and a simple process. anything I try to do keeps telling me I have the wrong email address or the user name is already in use and even sends me an email link to change the password, yet again. But when I try this the Disqus site tells me it doesn’t recognise my email address, which it’s just sent the link to ?
      It’s beyond me entirely.
      I would appreciate anything you might be able to do to help. There is no way to contact any one from Disqus.
      And obviously I can’t visit a Voda phone out let.

      1. Sorry Eddy – I’ve just seen this. I’m afraid I have no idea how to solve your issue. I think I’ve heard of others having the same experience, but have never had it happen to me. I have a feeling it’s ‘just’ one of Disqus’ frequent glitches. Disqus support is non-existent. There’s a ‘channel’ called Discuss Disqus, run by volunteers – it may be worth a search there for the issue, but don’t hold your breath. Chances are it will resolve itself in time. Not much help, sorry.

  187. I dont think this wlll work? You just self declare that you are self isolating or over the state pension age

    We understand this is a worrying time, but many of our customers are elderly, vulnerable or self-isolating and are unable to get to our stores to buy their essential products.

    This means that we’re temporarily limiting online orders to customers who are over state pension age, self-isolating and other vulnerable people, such as the disabled. If you aren’t over state pension age and can get to one of our stores, we kindly ask that you use our Store Locator to find your local Iceland and complete your shop there.

    We’re working hard with our suppliers to get products to all our customers and we thank you in advance for helping us to prioritise our online service to our most vulnerable. Please note that due to continued high demand in our stores, customers may still be missing items in their online orders.

    We’ll be in contact to let you know when online deliveries are back to normal.

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