Monday 11 May: It’s time to ease lockdown, but we must stick to basics to beat the virus

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but not as good as ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be blacklisted.

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/05/10/lettersits-time-ease-lockdown-must-stick-basics-beat-virus/

1,001 thoughts on “Monday 11 May: It’s time to ease lockdown, but we must stick to basics to beat the virus”

  1. Good Morning Folks,

    Bright start here but much colder, at least we can now sunbathe outside.

    1. ‘Morning, B3. A sweltering 5°C here in Sussex, and the strong wind is as cold as a penguin’s chuff. We are threatened with frost tonight, so a heater in the greenhouse will be necessary. Come back global warming, all is forgiven.

  2. I’m in need of a haircut, no sign of the barbers re-opening, still at least it looks prime-ministerial

    1. I have experimentally chopped some off the back. A tricky job with no proper mirror arrangement. I cannot class it as a success, but at least I’m not alone. And the extra hair will keep my head warm with the shocking temperature drop. Currently 4.3C here…

  3. Boris’s problem is that most of our social and working arrangements are not set up and not viable when maintaining a two-metre separation between people. Everything works best when the distance between people can be measured in inches, and are often crammed in together. Making love in our species works best when the couple are in close proximity – doing it at a distance like fish is not nearly as satisfying. As someone remarked, maintaining social distancing would require a queue a kilometre long to fill a jumbo, and if the jumbo is not filled too often, the airline goes bust.

    Is it worth a total redesign, given that we could be back to close contact as soon as they find a virus, or the thing evolves to the level of common cold or ‘flu, when it is not so deadly (although ‘flu is known to be deadly, it tends not to overwhelm health systems)?

  4. A Sunday Telegraph editorial that went unnoticed on here yesterday. It omits to mention double student registration and postal voting fraud.

    The Electoral Commission must be abolished

    TELEGRAPH VIEW

    There is no quango that can equal the Electoral Commission for its breathtaking mix of incompetence and arrogance. After the Brexit vote, it hounded Leave campaigners – unfairly and unsuccessfully.

    The National Crime Agency has found no evidence against Arron Banks, referred to it by the Commission; the Metropolitan Police has dropped investigations into Alan Halsall and Darren Grimes.

    Time and money have been wasted; lives have been turned upside down. And the reputational damage to British democracy has been significant. The unintended effect of the Commission’s initial investigations was to encourage ludicrous conspiracy theories that the referendum was in some way manipulated, while the gross unfairness of the Commission’s activities leaves many Brexit campaigners feeling hounded by the establishment.

    Despite all its embarrassing and damaging failures, the shocking thing is that the Commission plans to publish a consultation setting out proposals to give itself a “prosecutions capability”. On what basis is such a thing necessary and who in their right mind would want to give it such powers?

    The Commission denies bias, but trust has been lost. Individual members of the Commission have been accused of displaying political prejudice in the past. With the collapse of investigations into Leave campaigners and the Commission clearly reaching dangerously beyond its remit, the time has come for the Government to pull the plug.

    The Electoral Commission should be abolished for good.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/05/09/electoral-commission-must-abolished/

    1. I don’t agree. The Electoral Commission has valuable work to do upholding our unwritten constitution so that it benefits the nation and ensures the public is properly represented.

      Rather than abolishing it, it should be made to do its job.

      1. I agree, JM. There is a need for such a body, but not the dolts currently in charge. A thorough clear-out is required, and soon.

    2. …setting out proposals to give itself a “prosecutions capability”.

      The Electoral Commission is failing on just about every measure, including bias, and now wants more power for itself. How very EU.

    3. Just exchange Commission for a Commissariat and you have your answer.

      Same as with Police and Crime Commissioner = Political Officer.

    4. It had not struck me until I read that article that the electoral commission is entirely separate from the boundaries commission. I see no reason not to implement the already defined changes to remove the current inbuilt Labour bias in constituency sizes.

      1. They won’t do that. The Electoral Commission is made up of people from Labour.

  5. Let memories of 1945 make us steadfast now

    SIR – John Plumb (Letters, May 8) asks whether his parents fought in the Second World War so that he could celebrate VE Day as a prisoner in his own home. Yes, Mr Plumb, they did.

    They fought so we could have a functioning government in a free and democratic country. Now we are in another war against an unseen enemy and our Government is waging it in the best way it can. So we stay at home, as asked, for the greater good.

    My father served in the Royal Flying Corps and the RAF in the First and Second World War. I’m in my late eighties and am grateful to him and all the others who made it possible to live a peaceful life. We should all put up with the lockdown with understanding and patience, and welcome the opportunity to take pleasure in small things.

    Sybil Hampton
    Alresford, Hampshire

    Unless Sybil Hampton is one of those remarkable 80-somethings who can run marathons and do a hundred press-ups, she should be grateful she has reached the age when she can no longer stand on her head when ordered to do so by a government apparatchik.

    1. The upvote is for your comment, not Sybil Hampton’s enthusiastic welcoming of her new Blob overlords.

    3. Sybil’s parents got the ‘y’ and the ‘i’ the wrong way round when they named her.

    4. I am amazed that her father served in such an individualistic service as the RFC and RAF.

  6. Listening to the media and talk radio this morning I wonder why are so many people are expecting the government to know all the answers and want guidance when they themselves are far smarter and more practical than anyone in politics especially when it concerns their own business.
    It’s as if everyone has lost confidence in their ability and has to be told everything
    If you wait for guidance you will only get hindrance.
    Maybe that is why the advice is all so vague.

    1. Maybe it is better that we make our own rules and adapt in our own way using our ingenuity tailored to each of our individual and communal circumstances?

      Core to this is that the police revive some level of discretion when applying the law, applying public interest as opposed to ticking boxes and meeting targets.

      For example, the other week, I broke the law by driving out seven miles to collect a tree I had ordered from a specialist nursery. The approved approach was that they send it to me by pallet through a carrier, with a central distribution depot, employing drivers from the Covid hotspot in the Black Country. It would take a week, the tree would die, and the price would be so uncompetitive, the nursery would probably go bust unless the rules are relaxed by the summer.

      I pointed out how ridiculous it was to send something that way from two villages away, and it was easy enough for me to drive over and pick it up. “You are not allowed on the premises” I was told. We agreed in the end to adapt to our mutual best interests, and they delivered the tree behind a large oak at the end of their drive. Without meeting anyone on the way, I picked it up and it was in the ground that afternoon.

      I take a similar approach to traffic lights, especially when the traffic levels are greatly reduced, thanks to lockdown. Why should I stop at a red light, only put there because the council had to use up their Highways budget by the end of the year, when I could see perfectly clearly nothing was coming, and by jumping the light I saved myself time and irritation and kept the flow of traffic moving as it should? There is one unwanted red light in Worcester that only goes green when oncoming traffic is racing towards those turning right, but will hold up those turning left where there is no conflict from any direction. There is a pair of lights in Malvern that are timed to cause a tailback, since the second goes red as soon as the first goes green. Those emerging from the Lidl car park must drive into moving traffic, leaning on the horn, since otherwise they are held up by the queue built up by the lights. Before they put an elaborate system of lights and pedestrian islands (and I hardly ever see pedestrians crossing the road there) charged to my Council Tax, there was never any problem with this junction.

      1. They do seem to be disconnected from reality. When on a rare occasion our traffic lights in town fail a mighty cheer goes up and the traffic flows as it should. Perhaps the council planners should employ one or two taxi drivers as SPADS.

        Good morning, JM.

      2. Good heavens, jeremy! Take into account individual circumstances? How very un-EU. It has to be a case of “one size fits all”!

  7. Following the strict rules of social distancing i brought Waitrose to a halt yesterday. They were operating a one in one out policy so i would like to apologise to the 100 or so people freezing their arses off outside.

    A one way system was in place. Half way round the store i came up against a confused elderly lady. I waited patiently for her to find the bread she wanted. I waited and waited. 2 metres apart all behind me going back to the outside many other people were caught in the logjam.

    I decided to be utterly bloodyminded about it and so i just stood there. And waited some more. About 20 minutes before the old dear gave up and waddled off.

    Tum tee tum…….

    1. There are always a few people in our supermarket who just don’t get the whole distancing thing and carry on as usual, lost in thought, just standing there debating between two choices, seemingly oblivious of people waiting.

        1. Morning Phizzee
          This 2 metre thing in a shopping queue means that as the queue shuffles on, doesn’t it mean we are entering someonelse’s breathing space .. I just don’t get it .

          How are people going to cope in an overcrowded park .
          The government says you can now travel anywhere in your car for exercise .. so just imagine your area, or mine , crowded beaches, BBQ’s, parties , crowded roads .. how on earth will social spacing work.. People will bring their bugs with them . The whole country will become similar to a giant traffic jam.

          I can see this virus spiking, there’s always tears before bedtime .

          1. The lockdown restrictions have served their purpose in allowing the NHS to get its self organised to cope with any possible increase in infection and should have been eased further than they have been, leaving people to make up their own minds on how to cope.

            Sadly, such is the paranoia created by the MEEJAH and the sniping from the Labour Party, people no longer have the common sense to cope with their own decisions.

          2. It was always envisaged that we would all get the lurgy. Time now to try and save the economy. Without saying it, Boris has released the people who wish to return to normal. Those who feel at risk can isolate as before. In Wales we are still locked down as the windbags in the Bay want to make sure that we know they are there.

          3. Good morning, Belle.

            After listening and reading to what Boris had to say it was clear that they know they have lost control of the narrative.

          4. They certainly have .

            They have thrown all decisions back onto the public . We know the IQ of the country is a dismal 100.

            If people can lose their dogs from the top of cliffs because they cannot engage their brains to put their pet on a lead , there is no hope for for the human race .

          5. Grizzly would agree with you. I think the human race has peaked. Where are our Isambard Kingdom Brunels?

          6. It hasn’t – we’re some of the most educated, most inventive we have ever been.

            The problem is there are an awful lot of people who just aren’t – to be blunt – useful.

          7. Which is EXACTLY what the MEEJAH intended. From Day 1 of the crisis they have snipped, criticised, second guessed and criticised every Government statement or decision without putting forward anything constructive of their own.

          8. The MSM are quite determined that there will never be another Tory government.

            The present situation is a great opportunity for them.

          9. The MSM are quite determined that there will never be another Tory government.

            The present situation is a great opportunity for them.

          1. I did say a prayer before going in !

            Besides, God will forgive me. He knows how important those Sunday afternoon reductions are. 🙂

          2. I did an evening Sainsbury’s visit on Saturday and picked up a large, 1.5kg, chunk of applewood smoked cheese at £4/kilo instead of the usual £11 and a couple of 0.75kg bits of Wookey Hole cheddar at a similar reduction that will do as cooking cheese for the next month or so.

          4. I still have one plastic box in the freezer full of slices from that 4kg turkey crown I picked up at £1/kg instead of the normal £8 at the start of the lockdown.

          5. That’s the way to do it. The next five Christmases sorted. Hope your sprouts are on.

      3. On Saturday I disobeyed the arrows on the floor and entered an aisle against the directions.

        A woman and her children comes around the corner and sees me and makes ‘this way’ motions in a delightfully passive aggressive way.

        I repeat, the aisle was empty when I went into it.

        Her actions – obviously unhappy at my transgression – were upsetting to the point I am posting it now.

        1. Oh don’t worry about it. It’s her problem. You could always change direction presumably.
          Where my daughter lives, face masks are obligatory. She forgot hers and got a lot of filthy looks in the supermarket. Could also have got a fine of 150 euros, but fortunately she didn’t.

        2. At least when I inadvertently ended up going the wrong way down the aisle to find the end of the queue nobody told me off. They were all too busy making sure I didn’t come nearer than six feet!

  8. Good morrow, gentles all. Bright and sunny – and an enormous gale blowing.

    Watched the first half of Antony and Cleopatra. Very shouty. And the words spoken very “shakespearely” – declamed, rather than to make sense.

    The National seems wedded to the revolving screen thingy. Woman playing men. Fortunately, the MR knows the play inside out and was able to guide me…..

    1. I don’t have a problem with women playing men. In the time of Shakespeare, women weren’t even allowed on the stage…so fair do’s.

      But to say every line as if it were a speech is idiotic.

      Good morning Uncle Bill. I see you made it ! 🙂

          1. You are right – it was bright. We are sleeping in the spare room (while we wait and wait for our bed from Laure to turn up) – at that faces east. We are wondering about digging out the blackout curtains!

      2. My first proper job was as a Shakespearean actor. I played King Edward V, one of the princes in the tower, in his play ‘Richard III’. If everybody cheered when I was murdered, I never heard it. In the other play I was in ‘Measure for Measure’, I was a singing page. I was on just after the interval, so used to hear them spilling out of the bar and into their seats. They settled down once I stopped singing. I didn’t mind – it paid my wages.

        At that time, the theatre was a 1000-seater with an auditorium built in the 1930s with a proscenium arch and the back row was a long long way away. it was a stinker acoustically, and we had no choice but to project our voices simply to be heard. Many years later, the actor playing Buckingham died, and I managed to get an invite to his memorial service in Covent Garden. One of my fondest memories was being among several hundred trained voices singing out ‘Jerusalem’ that could be heard all over London. I still see my old colleagues pop up from time to time, as audibly declamatory as ever. My old stage-father (who played Edward IV) revived an old role in a Hollywood TV science fiction series recently. My parents called him “The Man with the Dog” – his role in ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ required him to act alongside this labrador, which he had to walk every day.

        Eventually, they had enough and gutted out the auditorium, replacing it with a thrust stage more in keeping with how the Globe was designed, and allowing a much more intimate acting technique.

        1. Projecting and declaiming i believe are two different things.

          Sounds like you have had an interesting career.

  9. Good morning dear Nottlers

    Does this government know the difference between its A### from it’s elbow?

    Very very confusing guidlines seem to be flowing forth.

    1. Forgive me if this has been posted elsewhere:

      I think I’ve worked it out…

      * 4 year olds can go to school but university students who have paid for their tuition and the accommodation that they aren’t living in, can’t go back to university.

      * I can go to school with many 4 year olds that I’m not related to but can’t see one 4 year old that I am related to.

      * I can sit in a park, but not tomorrow or Tuesday but by Wednesday that’ll be fine.

      * I can meet one person from another household for a chat or to sunbathe but not two people so if I know two people from another household I have to pick my favourite. Hopefully, I’m also their favourite person from my household or this could be awkward. But possibly I’m not. In fact, thinking about it, I definitely wouldn’t be. But as I can’t go closer than 2m to the one I choose anyway so you wouldn’t think having the other one sat next to them would matter – unless two people would restrict my eyeline too much and prevent me from being alert.

      * I can work all day with my colleagues but I can’t sit in their garden for a chat after work.

      * I can now do unlimited exercise when quite frankly just doing an hour a day felt like I was some kind of fitness guru. I can think of lots of things that I would like to be unlimited but exercise definitely isn’t one of them.

      * I can drive to other destinations although which destinations is unclear. I was supposed to be in Brighton this weekend. Can I drive there? It’s hundreds of miles away but no one has said that’s wrong.

      * The buses are still running past my house but I shouldn’t get on one. We should just let empty buses drive around so bus drivers aren’t doing nothing.

      * It will soon be time to quarantine people coming into the country by air… but not yet. It’s too soon. And not ever if you’re coming from France because… well, I don’t do know why, actually. Because the French version of coronavirus wouldn’t come to the UK maybe.

      * Our youngest children go back to school first because… they are notoriously good at not touching things they shouldn’t, maintain personal space at all times and never randomly lick you.

      * We are somewhere in between 3.5 and 4.5 on a five point scale where 5 is all of the virus and 1 is none of the virus but 2,3 and 4 can be anything you’d like it to be really. Some of the virus? A bit of the virus? Just enough virus to see off those over 70s who were told to self isolate but now we’ve realised that they’ve done that a bit too well despite us offloading coronavirus patients into care homes and now we are claiming that was never said in the first place, even though it’s in writing in the stay at home guidance.

      * The slogan isn’t stay at home any more.So we don’t have to say at home. Except we do. Unless we can’t. In which case we should go out. But there will be fines if we break the rules. So don’t do that.

      Don’t forget…

      Stay alert… which Robert Jenrick has explained actually means Stay home as much as possible. Obviously.

      Control the virus. Well, I can’t even control my dogs and I can actually see them. Plus I know a bit about dogs and very little about controlling viruses.

      Save lives. Always preferable to not saving lives, I’d say, so I’ll try my best with that one, although hopefully I don’t need telling to do that. I know I’m bragging now but not NOT saving lives is something I do every day.

      So there you are. If you’re the weirdo wanting unlimited exercise then enjoy. But not until Wednesday. Obviously.

      PS When can Year 7 go back to school? Not even asking for a friend!

  10. Letter sent to my MP (Andrew Rossindell), followed by his reply:

    ‘Dear Mr Rossindell,

    I’m becoming increasingly concerned about the activities of the British Border Patrol Force in connection with collection of illegal immigrants in the English Channel. At present they appear to be offering a taxi service to the UK for any that can get part-way across the
    Channel. There is no way that these people can be deemed ‘refugees’ as they have left from France – a country that is not war-torn and can offer them ‘sanctuary’. It is clear they are simply economic migrants who realise that once they reach our shores there is very little prospect they will be sent back. They then become a burden to the UK for the
    rest of their lives as we have to house, feed and clothe them as well as
    looking after their (often extensive) medical and dental requirements. In addition I understand they are giving weekly monetary payments, followed by pension in later life. As no contributions will have been made it offends the natural sense of justice as well as adding considerable pressure on education, health and infrastructure services.
    In some cases, of course, they add to prison numbers.

    There have been reports of instances where these people have been displeased with what they are given and have taken legal action against us, the cost of which has also to be borne by the state and its taxpayers.

    The situation also begs the question as to how they are able to get some miles from their camps to the ports in France while the country is supposedly in strict lockdown. Very strict checks are made on French citizens who venture out. There is a suspicion that ‘blind eye’ strategy is being employed.

    Is it government policy to aid and assist these ‘illegals’ in getting to the UK? My view is that we should take a robust approach and on interception immediately return these people to France. It would not take long for people smugglers to go out of business should this happen. Australia took a very firm stance against illegal immigrants arriving by boat and the trade has all but ceased.

    The impression I, and a number of acquaintances, have is that the UK is actively encouraging these people to come here – a practice I thought had died out with the demise of the last Labour government.

    Can you please supply me with evidence that this is not the case?’

    Reply:

    ‘Thank you very much for contacting me, regarding your considerable concerns with illegal immigration.

    I wanted to let you know that I have received your message and am grateful to you for taking the time to raise this important matter with me.

    You are absolutely right that illegal immigration must be tackled, and can ensure you that is what past Governments have done and will continue to do. A wide range of measures was introduced in the Immigration Acts 2014 and 2016 to remove the ability of illegal immigrants to remain in the UK in defiance of our
    immigration laws. These include allowing the earnings of illegal
    workers to be seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act, while employers of illegal workers also face tougher enforcement, with increased custodial sentences for those who persistently use illegal workers as a source of cheap labour.

    It is also true that those who have no right to remain in the UK are expected to leave voluntarily and should take all reasonable steps to do so. If they do not leave voluntarily I know that the authorities will seek to enforce their removal. More generally, the Government is in the process of building our future immigration system to benefit the needs and interests of all parts of the UK. I have always been clear that the UK’s new points-based immigration system must serve the national interest and lead to a reduction in migration.

    Regarding the current situation with immigrants crossing the English Channel, the Home Secretary, The Rt. Hon. Priti Patel M.P., yesterday urged the French Government to back a new crackdown to enable the return of these immigrants to France even if they are caught in British waters. She is also seeking to renegotiate an international agreement that would enable the UK to return more asylum-seekers
    who land here.

    The Home Secretary has my full support because if people know that they can’t get across the channel, they are less likely to congregate in the camps so it is a benefit to the French Government!

    On Monday, the Home Office stated :
    Keeping our border secure is the Government’s highest priority and it is committed to doing everything it can to stop these dangerous Channel crossings which are putting vulnerable lives at risk.

    The Home Office liaises directly with the French Interior Ministry on addressing the issue of illegal migration, engaging at an official, diplomatic level and supported at an operational level through regular UK-French Migration Committees.

    Through this joint-working, the UK has funded the continued deployment of gendarme reservists along the coast of northern France, who are patrolling constantly in order to detect attempted crossings by migrants. Funding has been allocated, among other projects, for further improvements at ports in northern France and on the ground, this now includes drones, specialist vehicles and detection equipment to stop small boats leaving European shores.

    Intelligence flows are also key to dismantling the organised crime groups behind crossings. We have restructured and repurposed our approach to support the growing intelligence feeds which is used to inform and direct how and where resources are deployed.

    I will continue to monitor the situation closely, and I will contact the Home Secretary if it is not resolved soon!

    Should you like to discuss illegal immigration further, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.’

    Was pleased to receive a prompt and reasonably detailed
    response, but suppose the obvious response is to ask why these measures aren’t
    working.

    1. “Through this joint-working, the UK has funded the continued deployment of gendarme reservists along the coast of northern France, who are patrolling constantly in order to detect attempted crossings by migrants. Funding has been allocated, among other projects, for further improvements at ports in northern France and on the ground, this now includes drones, specialist vehicles and detection equipment to stop small boats leaving European shores.”

      Sorry, VOM, I simply do not believe this. As I have banged on about endlessly, for the last eight weeks until this morning, in order to leave your residence, you have to carry a signed, dated AND timed document explaining why you are out. The police are everywhere enforcing this. For a load of illegals to wander several miles across Calais (which is swarming with police) without being stopped and checked is – quite simply – rubbish.

      1. Also there is the situation with the purchase and delivery of the boats. The French authorities must be able to gather intelligence on who is purchasing and who is delivering the increasing number of these items. Just how many rubber boats are required in the Calais area?

        1. I expect the Border Farce send each one back … for more illegals to come.

          1. Farage investigated along the Sussex coast and found a beach where illegals were suspected of landing at night. The beach had an access road and was set up perfectly for vehicles with trailers to whisk the boats away and be recycled. Container trucks returning to France loaded with the means to bring in more illegals?

          2. Only visited by the police in daylight in order to fine sunbathers, I suppose.

        2. I said much the same in respect of the ISIS forces in the Middle East. They were charging round in big new Japanese 4x4s. We did not arrange for an SAS group to drop in on them to collect a few VIN numbers by which the entire network could be traced and the importers and suppliers could be dealt with.
          Nor has there been any answer to my question as the who pays the mobile phone bills of the hordes invading Europe.
          As for the cross-Channel invaders, apparently our British detectives cannot read the brand name on a rubber boat.

          All of this is happening by agreement. “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action”.. Ian Fleming/Goldfinger.

    2. 319117+ up ticks,
      Morning Vom,
      As with A great many issues the answer is rhetorical only no further action needed or to be taken.
      The lab/lib/con are a pro eu coalition
      party…. still.
      Mass uncontrolled immigration has them joined at the political hip for years.
      The wretch cameron when pledging to reduce the numbers raised them.

    3. Well done, VOM. Sadly you have received the usual drivel that MPs dish out. I wrote to my MP re the tens of thousands of people flying in the the UK whilst the Country is in lock-down. He didn’t address the question but sent me what very much appeared to be a Government prepared reply. Totally useless. Nothing is more taboo than asking questions about the number and type of people arriving on our island home.

      1. Ditto, K. I wrote to our useless, time-serving MP (who has one of the safest Tory seats in the land) asking him to enquire of Priti Awful why she was doing nothing to stop the flood of illegals. . Acknowledgement, saying he too was “very concerned” – and then – silence.

        1. He was just very concerned to have got your letter. It meant he had to do something decisive – to find his waste paper bin…..

    4. Morning VOM,
      Is there any proof the French gendarmes are patrolling in appropriate areas? Have they, or the drones or other measures, detected and stopped any illegal movement or boats?
      As to the allegations that our government ever removes/deports more than a small minority of these unwelcome invaders, we all know these are lies. Their asylum sob stories are taken at face value and, before long, plans are made to bring in the rest of their unemployable, non-integrating families under ‘family reunification’ scams.
      I really don’t give a hoot that these crossings may put these supposedly ‘vulnerable’ aliens at risk. Nobody is forcing them into the vessels.
      There, rant over!

    5. VOM – may I humbly suggest that you write back to the MP – quoting, if you wish, my amended comment

      “For the last eight weeks until this morning, in order to leave your residence, you have to carry a signed, dated AND timed document explaining why you are out. The police are everywhere enforcing this. For a load of illegals to wander several miles across Calais (which is swarming with police) without being stopped and checked is – quite simply – unbelievable. If the UK is paying the French for patrols – we are wasting our money.”

    6. Respect to you Sir for making your points so clear.

      What you got in response is the same horseshit we have been hearing for years.

      We now have convicted muslim rapists who have been ordered by the courts to be deported yet 2 years after serving part of their prison term are still living in the areas where they committed their crimes.

    7. Good morning VOM

      In this rural area , a pop up car wash operated for a couple of years , the operation was run by a chap who manages a larger one in the nearest town .

      The crew were none English speaking and came from where , I have no idea , in Eastern Europe and beyond . I used to call by to have my car washed , they were efficient and friendly and my very muddy car soon gleamed as good as new , and I would give them a tip .. the price was so cheap considering that 3 men hosed, soap sudded and polished and dried the car.

      Lock down came .. so the business closed down . We all noticed a small cramped caravan was still occupied on the premises . The poor so and sos had nowhere to live , and the council had been alerted to this fact , and had allowed them to stay put.

      Local anxiety locally was , were these people trafficked , and are they technically slaves?

      I think they were trafficked , I have no idea how they are managing .. they must feel trapped.

      1. Other concern would be how they are supporting themselves. Have heard rumours (scurrilous, no doubt) concerning the honesty of some of them.

    8. The clue is is in the phrase describing these dangerous, greedy, ne’er-do-well, criminal invaders as “vulnerable lives”.
      As long as this revolves around committees rather than hard-nosed enforcers on the ground and at sea, it will continue and expand.

  11. Morning all

    SIR – I am not a Conservative voter but feel that Government ministers have been doing their best to keep us safe. Whatever they do or have done will be right in some eyes and wrong in others. Yes, they are “following the science”, but even the scientists disagree because there is not enough data about Covid-19 yet. Whoever was in charge would be making some right and some wrong decisions.

    The message has been clear from the beginning: wash your hands and keep your distance. There will always be those who feel the rules do not apply to them, and this is why we have the police and courts. The lockdown must be slowly eased, but let’s all continue to remember the rules.

    Mag Humphreys

    Wadebridge, Cornwall

    SIR – I have been in lockdown for eight weeks. Before last weekend, I hadn’t been next to another human being, apart from my wife, for the entire time. On Saturday I needed to go to the chemist to pick up my prescription, so I went to the local market town.

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    It was most strange. Where was the social distancing I had heard about? People were walking near each other on the pavement. Those in the shop were not staying noticeably apart. Workmen at roadworks were together. There was not a mask to be seen.

    Bob Gardiner

    Great Habton, North Yorkshire

    SIR – There is much discussion of face masks, even as fashion accessories (Features, May 9). We should beware the unintended consequences.

    The use of face masks could transform social distancing into social isolation, especially for people with hearing difficulties. At the very least, removing visual cues can make communication difficult because of the exertion required to listen, especially with background noise. As a result, even if a person can follow what is said, they have fewer mental resources left to think about (and recall) what they heard. Depending on the style of mask, and the material used, they may also distort speech.

    Around one in six adults in Britain has hearing loss. It can mean years of life are lived with a disability, and is associated with poor social interactions, isolation, depression and anxiety, increased risk of dementia and reduced quality of life.

    Kevin J Munro

    Ewing Professor of Audiology

    University of Manchester

    SIR – Lucy Denyer (Comment, May 8) points out that for many people life has become quieter, less stressful and more family friendly in lockdown.

    We once had lockdown for a day each week. It was called Sunday. Shops and businesses shut and people had time for their families and a chance to recharge their batteries for the week ahead. The economy did not appear to suffer. In fact, the weekly rest probably made people more productive. Would it be a good idea to return to this when lockdown is over?

    Ngaio Malcolm

    Lowestoft, Suffolk

    2. I lived many years of life with poor social interactions, isolation, depression and anxiety, increased risk of dementia and reduced quality of life.
      Then I became a bit hard of hearing and it was wonderful!

  12. What a disaster Johnson was last evening. Completely out of touch with the people. No hope offered; the destruction of the economy “a price worth paying”…More fines. Talk about a Lert.

    2. He looks like shiite. But then even ‘normal’ flu leaves you groggy for some weeks afterwards.

      1. He never was much to look at, in my opinion. Overweight, needing a haircut etc. Have never understood what women see in him.

        1. A boring, self-obsessed adonis loses out hands down to an amusing scruff bag.

          2. 🙂 After clearing the shed and checking the drains yesterday, he fell into the second category.

          1. Which was the Shakespeare play at the National that you gave up on, Richard?

    3. The alternative is Starmer and the Labour Party?

      We are doomed by more than the corona virus!”

  13. SIR – I pay nearly £25 per month for British Gas boiler, controls and central heating cover. Last Thursday, I was refused a visit by the engineer to replace a faulty valve as it was not deemed an emergency under British Gas’s Covid-19 guidelines.

    He did, however, book one for when the restrictions are eased – for 8am to 6pm on Saturday December 25 2021.

    Steve Meys

    Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire

  15. Morning again. Keep up with the Vitamin D….

    SIR – A disproportionate number of deaths from Covid-19 occur in black, Asian and minority ethnic groups (report, May 8). Two thirds of healthcare workers who have died come from ethnic minorities.

    Darker skin pigmentation impedes the synthesis from sunlight of vitamin D, which affects the immune system and has antiviral actions. Low sun exposure due to working conditions, cultural practices and traditional clothing, together with low or no consumption of meat, fish, eggs or dairy products, can contribute to chronically low vitamin D. Vegetarian and vegan diets associated with religious and cultural beliefs have few or none of the nutrients known to support immune functions, such as vitamin D, vitamin B12, zinc and selenium, as well as the omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish. Zinc bioavailability is influenced by high-fibre diets and plant-based foods such as grains and legumes.

    Nutrition surveys in Britain show that our diets have well below the recommended amounts of all these nutrients, especially among people in care homes and hospitals. Vitamins A, C and E contribute to immune functions related to inflammatory stress and respiratory infections. Some ethnic groups have genetic predispositions to diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

    Understanding these potential risk factors could help explain why certain groups are more susceptible to coronavirus, and contribute to the evidence base for counselling about healthy weight and essential micronutrients in clinical guidelines and public health strategies.

    Professor David Richardson

    School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy

    University of Reading

    1. Morning, Epi.

      Perhaps all those who consider that a vegan lifestyle is good for them might care to read Prof. Richardson’s excellent letter. I am getting lots of vitamin D from sunlight these past few weeks but I do supplement my normal diet with capsules of the stuff (D3) as well as capsules of Omega-3 fish oil.

      I obtain all my other dietary requirements from a diet of meat, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy products, leaf vegetables, salads, and a few legumes. My opinion of vegans is that they must be on a suicide mission.

        1. Morning, Billy.

          Nay, lad. Still reasonably warm, bit cloudy and a bit of a breeze. Paul may keep the snow in Norway, he’s welcome to it.

      2. Morning, Grizz. Allegedly Bozza was put on a vegan diet by his current squeeze. Maybe that was why he was so badly hit by C19.

        1. Morning, Sister Allan. I wouldn’t doubt that for one second. I am convinced that those who are beguiled by the doctrine of veganism are suffering from a mental illness.

          My nephew —a staunch Lefty — was persuaded, last year, by his Lefty wife to adopt a vegan lifestyle, which they took to with gusto. At the weekend he showed us all a photograph of his BBQ smoker that was adorned with all manner of animal products: steaks, hamburgers and sausages. It is my opinion that he has seen the light. I wonder if he will, one day, see the light politically too!

          1. Knowing how flu fuzzes one up for several weeks, I suspect he’s still under the weather.

      3. “My opinion of vegans is that they must be on a suicide mission”.

        I do wish they would get on with it…

        Morning, Grizz.

        1. Morning, Philip.

          They can have my share of spuds, carrots and parsnips and I’ll take their steaks, liver and kidneys! ;•)

          [Disclaimer: I still love spuds, carrots and parsnips and one day I’ll sample them again.]

      4. Good morning Grizzly

        You are clearly determined to follow a sensible regime and live a long life.

        However, what I cannot understand is why, with your misanthropic view that humanity is on the brink of self-annihilation as as result of its crass stupidity, you are so eager to live for as long as you can!

        1. Good morning, Rastus.

          I do not think that my view of believing mankind is on a one-way trip to self-destruction has anything to do with misanthropy.

          I would prefer to see myself as a, quite detached, amateur anthropologist; closely observing how humanity is rapidly deteriorating, both intellectually and morally, and how it seems hell-bent on oblivion.

    2. Psst Prof, we know, but you’re not allowed to say it. Time to pack an overnight bag, anything with arrows on will do.

  16. SIR – As it is impossible to eat out, go to the cinema or theatre or do any of the other things I remember being able to do, I have taken advantage of the savings I’ve made by buying much more expensive wine as compensation.

    Dr Stephen Humphreys

    London NW11

    1. Good chap. I’ve just placed a Majestic order; we finished the case Chapeldown Bacchus we bought to celebrate 31st. January. (Those dim, distant days when we could travel and mingle with our fellow human beings.)

          1. Spend it Anne or the government will take it to fill this financial hole we are getting into

          3. My thoughts exactly. Goodwood and the Boultbee Spitfire here I come – as soon as everything opens up.

      2. I had a dozen from majestic ready for the BBQ season. I finished my last glass of shriaz last night. Whoops.
        And the BBQ is still covered up.

    2. I will be writing a cheque to the LOCAL branch of the Salvation Army, NOT the Salvation Army HQ.
      They look after local people & families who literally have little or nothing,

    3. Although my nights out were limited to three a week, I worked out that I’m saving more during lockdown than the peanuts I’m getting on my savings interest.

      I don’t drink in the house and haven’t dropped a touch for the past couple of months.

      Morning Epi.

        1. One of my essentials – salted peanuts – has come down 2p in Aldi. My other stuff seems to have been the same price.

          Morning T_B.

        2. ‘Mornig, Belle

          No, they haven’t. What did happen is that the usual offers disappeared for a while & everything was sold at its full normal price. On my last trip to W/rose I noticed that they were re-introducing offers slowly. I can’t speak for other supermarkets because I avoid them.

        3. My Waitrose bill yesterday was £141.99.

          Though £75 of that was alcohol. The Tanqueray Ten Gin was £32.50 !

          And i forgot the damn tonic.

        4. No, many items are drastically reduced in the shops due to customers buying online.

        5. One of my essentials – salted peanuts – has come down 2p in Aldi. My other stuff seems to have been the same price.

          Morning T_B.

      4. “I don’t drink in the house” – just in the garden…{:¬))

        Morning, Eddy.

          1. I hope you have a policeman on the gate, collecting the single penny entrance fee like they used to do at the glorious Kew gardens.

    4. I do hope you don’t drink more than one glass a day Dr Stephen. Can’t go against your own rules now can you…?

  18. There appears some confusion over Boris’s ‘Darkest Hour’ speech to the nation.

    It’s quite simple:
    STAY ALERT BY STAYING AT HOME.

    1. What a complete and utter mess it all is. Is this the best that Boris can do? I fear so much for the future now. And I really would like a haircut, now. Fortunately Poppie got one on 1 May.

      Good morning, P-T.

      1. Hi psm, KBO….

        The country I loved and which my father fought for like many others going down the pan….

      2. I went to the Turkish barber & got shorn the day before lockdown started. Hair still looks respectable but the beard is getting a bit itchy.

        1. I had my last cut in Spain in January. I was to go for a cut on the day the barber closed. I now look like a country & western singer.

          2. Lerts be ‘avin’ you. (Plod in park to elderly person enjoying the sun)

  19. Morning all 😕
    Oh dear Boris…..what was that again ?
    I suspect one day someone who knows what is actually going on, will be able to enlighten us.
    Waffle just isn’t working at the moment.

    1. An excellent and mature speech, the details, which could never be spelled out in a 10minute TV broadcast, will be filled out in the documents to be published today.

      1. I watched it but still don’t know what the message was. Can you help please?

      2. I watched it but still don’t know what the message was. Can you help please?

      3. So tell me, just when do you expect we will get to level one, normal life?

      4. There are so many questions being asked now, the main one being, what does it all mean ? Better Clarification is needed.

    2. When one of my pupils wrote nonsense and waffle in his or her “A” level essays I made the comment;

      Semblance of worth – not substance

      which was a phrase I borrowed from John Milton.

      This phrase sums up Boris Johnson to a T.

  21. ‘Morning, all. From the Daily Express:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8354cb366db2a4e7958058144f7141abfbca1a3f7119e6ebb34a68f6239787a3.png

    The alarming prediction of an all-out war between China and the US comes as George Galloway pointed out the eerily similarities between the prelude to the First World War and the current tensions.

    Let us hope and pray that the Chinese don’t assassinate an American Archduke, or I fear that the lamps will be going out all over the Pacific Region and we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime
    :¬(

    1. Gen Macarthur would have started it years ago but was sacked for saying it.

    4. I thought WW1 started because some bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich? [Thanks Baldrick]

    7. In all fairness to Galloway the Express anounces the imminence of WW3 every other day!

  23. Luc Montagnier, independent Nobel prize winner for his work on HIV says that COVID-19 was professionally manufactured with malaria and HIV sequences.

    In French with English subtitles:

    https://youtu.be/durcHyxpFT4

  24. Far-right posing as journalists to spread fake news about Muslims, government Islamophobia advisor warns. 11 may 2020.

    Far-right activists are posing as journalists in a “deplorable” bid to spread fake news about Muslims breaking lockdown, the government’s Islamophobia advisor has warned.

    Imam Qari Asim MBE, chair of Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB), and the Government’s Islamophobia adviser, said that these far-right extremists were hanging around mosques – which have been closed for weeks as part of the lockdown.

    Speaking to The Telegraph, the Imam at Makkah Mosque, Leeds, said that far right extremists were exploiting the lockdown “to spread hatred of Muslims”.

    Really? If there’s nothing happening what are all these purported journalists going to do? Loiter on the mosque steps with bacon sandwiches and swastika’s on their press cards?

    Methinks there’s a bit of future proofing going on here!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/10/far-right-posing-journalists-spread-fake-news-muslims-government/

    3. As we all know the extremists are the left wing extremists who work in the MSM and especially in the BBC.

      Is it fake news or true that the majority of illegal immigrants attempting to enter Britain from France are Muslims?

      A sImple question:

      IS IT TRUE OR NOT TRUE?

      And why is so little media attention directed at this issue?

      It seems that if the truth is right wing it needs to be suppressed – but the left wing can say and do as it likes.

        1. If I remember correctly the video clip a few weeks back, of the 20 or so Asian looking men replacing their shoes as they were leaving a terraced house in the west midlands, was filmed by a person by the name of Singh.

    5. Whenever i read “far right extremist”, I release the… Oh, hang on.

    7. ‘Morning, Minty, it would be nice to tell the Imam that there is no need “to spread hatred of Muslims”.

      They’ve done it well enough themselves.

  25. Listening to radio phone ins recently I despaired at the questions raised by worried listeners.
    How did we become such a nation of wimps?
    After celebrating VE Day incarcerated in our own homes I had to laugh at the irony. Sadly it was missed by many ……

    1. I spent the day in a state of suppressed fury.
      You are right; the irony went straight over most people’s heads.
      Even the bloody distancing instructions were using the enemy’s measurements.

    2. Maybe they’re the only ones allowed to speak on the radio, thereby enforcing the message….

      Or am I being overly cynical??

  26. When is the NHS going to clap the people for saving them at great cost. I thank the NHS and the people.

    1. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-care-homes-nhs-deaths-statistics-a9500326.html
      Coronavirus: Care homes still expected to take Covid-19 hospital patients as deaths mount
      ‘We are now seeing almost as many deaths in care homes as hospitals which will be putting an incredible amount of strain on overburdened care services’

      As the NHS may have killed as many as they’ve saved, I’m not clapping for them any time soon, or for the government ministers and anyone else involved.

      And isn’t it funny how this same scenario has occurred in other countries, such as Sweden and New York.

  27. Ahem

    A Somalian arrives in the UK as a new immigrant. He stops the first person
    he sees walking down the street and says, “Thank you Mr UK man for
    letting me into this country, giving me housing, money for food, free
    medical care, free education and no taxes!”
    The passerby says, “You are mistaken, I am an Afghani. ”

    The man goes on and encounters another passer by. “Thank you for having such a beautiful country here in the UK!”
    The person says, “I not from the UK, I am Iraqi!”

    The
    new arrival walks further, and the next person he sees he stops, shakes
    his hand and says, ‘Thank you for the wonderful UK!’ That person puts
    up his hand and says, “I am from Pakistan, I am not from the UK!”

    He finally sees a nice lady and asks, “Are you British?”
    She says, “No, I am from India!” Puzzled, he asks her, “Where are all the British?”

    The Indian lady checks her watch and says: “Probably all gone back to work.”

    1. Amusing, but one thing wrong……I don’t think I have ever heard a single word of thanks or appreciation from one single migrant. All they seem to do is stamp their feet and complain.

  28. Morning everyone. Monday morning is usually pretty slack newswise so I will just offer a personal view of part of the political scene before I head off to Morrisons.

    Several comments were offered yesterday about the cross channel migrant pipeline into the UK that quite clearly functions despite the opposition of the UK government, not only as Policy and the Law but in contravention of the Lockdown. This can only be possible if forces within the Home Office bureaucracy are actively sabotaging this program. Although the majority of this activity is almost certainly due to the efforts of Islamic elements within the organisational structure they probably get considerable support from certain external bodies, other concerned ethnic groups, and since recruitment to all Government positions is conditional on the appointee having politically correct views; a majority of individuals within the Ministry will be at the very least, silently sympathetic to this cause with the few (older) dissenters keeping their opinions to themselves to avoid the usual charges of, Racism, Islamophobia etc. The Minister who is in charge; in this case Priti Patel, is essentially helpless in such a situation; she cannot make these people do as she wishes as demonstrated by her debut where she attempted to get them to follow policy only to find that they would not do so and one of her permanent secretaries resigned and involved her in a judicial spat designed to show her who was really in charge. She cannot go public and tell the people that one of the major Pillars of State is out of the control of the elected representatives of the people and does as it pleases. Even if Boris allowed it, she would be laughed out of office at a minimum and if she were believed it would provoke a political crisis that would bring down the Government in normal times and would probably do worse in the present. She has decided wisely, for herself at least, to keep quiet and follow the norms by going to the French and asking them to help, which if utterly useless at least spreads the political load and makes it look as though she’s doing something.

    This situation would be bad enough if it were confined to just the few hundred migrants per day crossing the channel but it must be remembered the Home Office also controls the Police and the Judiciary which explains to some extent things like the Cultural and Ethnic Diversification of the former and their persecution of Tommy Robinson and the supposed “Far Right”; the failure to act against Islamic law breaking in general and the suppression of the report into Muslim mass rapes in particular. In essence all this means that, (ironically considering its title) the Home Office is probably the most powerful agency in Britain for the eventual Islamic Conversion of the UK.

    1. They have been allowed to infiltrate too deep. People are fooled by the likes of the very pretty Nadiya Hussain (Bake Off Winner). What they don’t realise is that when the numbers get high enough all these moderate types will bow to the will of Allah’s Imaams. They are now everywhere in positions of authority. From local councillors to control off the passport office. From Airport security to MP’s. The Crusades continue and are gaining pace.

      1. I agree Phizz but I console myself with the thought that I am 73 and with just a smidgen of luck will miss the end of this tragedy!

    2. … [T]he cross channel migrant pipeline into the UK that quite clearly functions despite the opposition of the UK government people, surely? If the UK govt really were opposed to it, they have the means to stop it.

      1. I don’t think there’s another agenda at play.

        I’m sure of it.
        Too many governments all singing from the same hymn sheet.

        1. They all have a Common Purpose, A Shared Future – Globalism. I’m sounding like Pretty Polly now!

    1. And the secret plans with the formula? (All secret plans have to have formulae)

      1. Shouldn’t the briefcases be identical for the swap to be authentic?

        Just asking…..{:¬))

        1. Well spotted, Bill. Were you ever an undercover MI6 operative?

          Just asking…

          3. Living in the past. We use short range digital systems for briefcase interchange now. As long as they are no greater than a metric benchwidth apart, they’ll be OK. Whoops, oh what a giveaway.

    2. And the secret plans with the formula? (All secret plans have to have formulae)

    1. Why don’t they put on the normal number of trains to spread them out a bit? Most of these regular commuters have probably already paid through the nose for their season tickets that they haven’t been able to use.

    3. What did they expect? They’ve been told to go back to work, but they can’t all cycle or walk to work.

    4. I wonder when that photo was really taken. I live within a short distance of five tube stations and they’re all pretty much deserted. Like the one packed beach photo that turned out to be an archive library image being passed off as people not observing distancing at several locations.

    3. Childish rubbish. Have they not read the reports from Germany and Thailand following the easing of lockdown?

      1. Hurrah! for Susan, then. All Susans, in fact.

        Good morning, Bill, on this cloudy-bright s.Cambs day.

        1. Good morning, PM. Bright and sunny it is – BUT it is blowing a hooley. Horrible, blustery gale.

    5. At least all the London nutters will be in the same place at the same time…

      Good morning, Sue (manners).

    7. Somebody else’s comment but it made me smile

      Stupid, like rust, never sleeps.
      And Stupid, like a terrorist, only has to be really stupid every now and then to succeed, whereas Sensible has to be Sensible all the time

      1. I, mainly, like that quotation and I have purloined it for my own use.

        It has to be said, though, that the use of “stupid” — an adjective — in place of the noun “stupidity” smacks of it being coined by an American.

        1. ‘Morning, George, could it be that you are reading too much into the quote? Inasmuch that like Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle -Dee, Stupid and Sensible are cast as people.

          1. Morning, Tom,

            Maybe I am, but couldn’t ‘Stupidity’ and ‘Common Sense’ be given anthropomorphic identities too?

  33. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    I hear on the radio this morning that Mrs Murrell, aka Wee Krankie, has taken her grandstanding up a notch by fierce criticism of the proposed easing of certain aspects of lockdown in BoJo’s broadcast yesterday.

    And her scientific/medical qualifications are…?

    It is also beyond me why the emergency powers permit Scotland (and the other parts of the United Kingdom) to run their own Covid-19 shows in a national emergency. This is unnecessary duplication and probably comes at hideous extra cost.

    1. “Nice little Barnett formula you’ve got there, Missus. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to it, would we?”

      1. I think it was well thought through; Blair wanted this country to be as divided and fractious as possible.

  34. Well, well, well. Some things are still working. The MR saw an offer for 12 bottles of wine in the Sunday Grimes yesterday – at what she said was a daft prie; so she ordered it yesterday afternoon.

    It has just arrived….. Service, eh?

  35. Having slept on Boris’s talk to the nation – it’s taken a mere 9 hrs sleep to ask myself ‘How does he expect people to go back to work, as it sounds as though most children are unlikely to be back at school before September?’

    And following on from that – can schools ever claim again that taking a child out of school for a week or two for a holiday is detrimental, when the government doesn’t seem to give a hoot about two terms?

    1. You’re being logical and noting in-built contradictions, which political ideology tends to ignore. It does strike me though that the Rousseau philosophy of the state raising children rather than their parents has rather gone to the wall. What if parents have been teaching their children facts and good sense. How will the schools cope when they finally reopen?

      1. All of this home schooling will bring it’s own problems..

        There will be some better educated parents taking the opportunity to teach their children wisely, at the other end of the spectrum will be those that can not or just plain will not spend time teaching their kids.

        No doubt the deprived kids could use their smart phones to access lessons on the internet but without encouragement will not bother.

        No wonder the teachers don’t want to go back, half the kids will know more than they do but the other half will have regressed a year or two back.

      2. In the usual way.

        They will fail any child who doesn’t toe the official line.

      3. Apparently, there’s a petition to make the government allow home schooling to continue. I thought anybody could home school anyway.

          1. I really don’t know that much about it, but I expect you have to convince the PTB that you have a plan (which almost certainly would exclude any “right wing” leanings).

    2. That has crossed my mind; a little difficult to stick it to parents for a fortnight out of school when the government, on a mere whim, can close down the entire education system for six months.

  36. South Korea faces critical new coronavirus battle after sudden spike in cases. 10 may 2020.

    South Korea is bracing for a tense week ahead as the authorities battle the largest spike in coronavirus cases in a month after an outbreak linked to several bars and nightclubs in the capital, Seoul.

    The latest cluster, which has so far resulted in 85 new cases with the numbers expected to rise, is a blow to the East-Asian nation after being praised globally for curbing the virus with its successful “test, track, treat” strategy.

    I found this interesting. It looks to me (I’m not a virologist) that it is quite possible that we are never finally rid of this virus by the discovery of a vaccine. It may become like the Common Cold and Influenza a permanent health hazard, waxing and waning in its power as it mutates to enhance its survival chances. If this happens it would mean that a far more deadly strain might arise in the future. Worse still it may not be possible to gain a natural immunity by infection either which would imply a battle of attrition by treatment which we might not win in the long term. In other words the Apocalypse by increments!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/11/south-korea-faces-critical-new-coronavirus-battle-sudden-spike/

    1. At the risk of repeating myself:-

      We were born into a world of vaccinations and antibiotics. We have always expected to die of cancer, heart disease, hypertension or falling down stairs, not of something we caught. Much as I hope that a cure will be found for this plague, and even better, an inoculation against it, or that it might be time-limited, and will simply go away, I fear that we have entered an era of chronically higher mortality – the kind of mortality that our grandparents lived with, but which we believed had been permanently conquered.

      If I am correct, those who are most vulnerable to this infection will leave the gene pool, and eventually, it will be no worse in its effect than influenza. But that will take a long time, as the old, who have already reproduced themselves, are the first to go (unlike in the case of Spanish flu, which hit the young hardest, ensuring that the weakest among them did not pass on that weakness).

      However credible this scenario may be, no politician would ever openly admit to it.

  37. The Sky reports that Dominic Raab is wrong to say that you can meet more than one person. I see it every day on the street groups of more than 2 talking to one another respecting the 2 metre rule, or not, as the case may be. The larger groups could be family members. The older youths walk in groups of more than two in total disregard of the 2 metre rule.. That is why we have to be ALERT to avoid trouble when out of our homely prisons. but I would never be a snitch for trivial behaviour like that – only for major crimes. The media are just trying to muddle Boris’s already muddled address last night.

    1. Just proves that the meejah are either as thick as two short planks or want to stir up trouble. Raab was clear(ish) in what he said, and certainly not contradictory.

    2. I met a group of four out on my dog walk today. Whether they were all from the same family or not, I have no idea – and I’m not about to grass.

    1. 319117+ up ticks,
      Morning Tb,
      I would lay money on the fact that the next GE will show bumper voting numbers for lab/lib/con, acknowledging
      the fact that the indigenous peoples waiting list for housing has been eliminated.

    2. That was over a year old, but in the Reuters article it says:

      The British government is awarding contracts worth a total of 4 billion
      pounds to house asylum seekers, the sources said, but last year’s
      collapse of Carillion has dampened appetite for riskier projects.

      Small wonder the illegals are crossing the channel.

    3. As I commented yesterday. Look at the shareholders of these and similar companies. Tories and their friends. Labour and their friends.

    4. That was over a year old, but in the Reuters article it says:

      The British government is awarding contracts worth a total of 4 billion
      pounds to house asylum seekers, the sources said, but last year’s
      collapse of Carillion has dampened appetite for riskier projects.

      Small wonder the illegals are crossing the channel.

      1. The properties will have to be filled with asylum seekers or pressure might grow to use them to house our own homeless, and that would never do. Lots of talk to reduce immigration – do asylum seekers ever leave? – whilst spending £4 billion to house them. Makes sense.

        1. Of course they leave.
          They regularly go home for their holidays and to visit relatives before returning to the UK.

          2. Can’t do that, they need a steady supply of first cousins for forced marriages, not so easily done in the UK.

    5. Indeed WTF ?

      Barnet Hertfordshire, now a London borough. Unfortunately under the control of the London mayor. Have seen fit to build on every square inch of spare land calling it ‘brown field’. So much so in Mill Hill NW7 there is a proposal to build a new 50 megawatts gas fired power station. On green belt land. In a valley.
      Think of the pollution.
      And the very people who should care, those who love the attention climate change global warming brings them, don’t appear to give a toss.
      Their resistance is low.

      1. 50 megawatts?

        You’d get more spark from a box of Ever-Ready. 50 MW is tiny.

  39. The BBC is saying,”It’s estimated that about 100,000 people have arrived in the UK since 23 March, when the lockdown was brought in.”
    I have not been counting, but that figure seems quite low. It equates to about 20 flights a day, maybe. In any event the quarantine for arrivals is obviously nonsense, coming as it does around four months too late. Six months too late if one is of the opinion that our people in China should have been aware of what was going on, long before there were any cases outside China. Maybe all our spies are too busy trying to hunt down right wing extremists in the UK rather than the real threats from outside.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52610594

  40. Good Morning, Fellow Nottlers,

    The following e-mail which I received this morning shows the danger of changing your avatar and identity (as many of us here have done) as those searching for our comments will not be able to find them:

    Dear Dad,

    In a moment of Great Moral Weakness I visited the Nottlers site to enjoy the cutting wit of what must surely be Brittany‘a finest grumpy old expat with an internet connection. To my great dismay, rastusctastey was nowhere to be seen! Hunting through the archives in a moment of total panic, I could find no records after the 23rd.

    What happened to the tastiest poster on the nottlers? Did the elusive downvoter finally get his or her revenge? Is the account rastusc_tastey a cunning disguise to confound even the most cunning of snowflakes?

    Lots of love,

    Henry

    1. Not quite ‘a cunning stunt’ then rastus ;-*)
      Still here :-))
      Goodonya.

    2. Although I love blackberry crumble, let him know a plum tart comes a close second.

  41. A blonde walks up to the clerk at a hardware store and says, “I would like to buy a set of hinges.”

    The clerk says, “Would you like a screw for these hinges?”

    “No,” replies the blonde, “but I’ll blow you for that toaster up there!”

    1. Talking of which, I watched the recording I’d made of Terry Jones’ film ”Private Services”, which was on TPTV last week. Remarkable!

    2. Reminds me of this one……back in the day….a bus breaks down and the driver has his head in the engine compartment. A thoughtful conductress stands be hind him and says “Do you need a screw driver” ?
      “No thanks” says the driver “were 40 minutes late already” !

    1. Imperial gets a thrashing here where Weston slags them off not simply for their ridiculous forecast but their political beliefs, seeing them as Marxists only too happy to see the economy collapse. One wonders where he heard this since I have read nothing of it.

      2. We don’t know Ferguson’s political beliefs, but considering who he associates with, we can make an educated guess.

        I don’t know about the rest, and he’s probably using artistic license in his description.

        1. I would agree about Ferguson himself. He’s a typical Marxist Social Justice Warrior type.

    2. Macron will still be financing the smugglers,…… on furlough.
      Strange how someone is employed to produce thousands of notice boards but we can’t quite manage to produce the PPE.
      Usually seats at airports are occupied by bags of some description.

    4. 319117+ up ticks,
      Tb,
      You can always contact your nearest border force
      smuggler sorry officer and ask.

    5. Just what our business needs for our summer French courses in Brittany.

      But we have to be philosophical about the prospect of being wiped out – we are not the only business to be crippled.

      But what really infuriates us is that the filthy politicians (who should all suffer what Margolyes wanted for Boris) gave themselves a bonus of £10,000 on top of their over-generous salaries as ordinary businesses were collapsing all around them.

      Sheer filth.

      1. And don’t forget the effing lords Richard, who recently voted themselves an increase and are now claiming 325 a day for staying at home.

    6. Good morning Lovely Verity

      I am becoming increasingly convinced that the MSM is deliberately trying to confuse and mislead us.

      Did the chap who wrote the headline even bother to read the article. Here is what it actually said in the article:

      “The Prime Minister and the President agreed to work together in taking forward appropriate border measures. This co-operation is particularly necessary for the management of our common border,” the statement said.

      “No quarantine measures would apply to travellers coming from France at this stage; any measures on either side would be taken in a concerted and reciprocal manner.”

      An amnesty for people coming from France could mean the quarantine became defunct for all EU states with freedom of movement.

  44. I’ve just heard “Andy” Burnham complain that the police don’t know how to enforce the unlimited exercise rule. Yup, it’s poser, Andrew.

    1. Afternoon JBF The police should use their common sense or , if not ignore the problem.

        2. The old joke, which goes back at least to the 1950’s, was that the qualifications to enter the police force were length, breadth and thickness.

    5. It’s reported that the police in Perthshire are clamping down on violators of Wee Krankie’s latest lockdown diktat.

      If he really wanted to see an example of how ‘enforcement’ works, Burnham would come to Dunsinane.

      1. Would I be cynical if I suggested Queen Nicola will only let people go back to work once the furlough money is stopped because that comes from the UK not the Scottish ‘government’?

        1. English tax payers paying for Scottish peasants to sit on their arses. Who knew!

          3. As one of my pupils studying the Scottish play misquoted a couple of lines:

            Macbeth:
            What if we fail?.

            Lady Macbeth:
            We fail.
            But stick your courage to the screwing place
            And we’ll not fail!

            (Fortunately enough members of the class were awake enough to enjoy his misquotation!

    6. You will keep exercising, you will not sit on that bench, you will not go home… walk I tell you, walk.

    8. I had the misfortune to catch the opening seconds of the World at One. A slammer; a black rapper; a leftoid “mayor”…I switched off.

      1. Perhaps the Prog should be renamed “Our World at Sixes & Sevens…”?

        1. And the half-witted tart who “presented” it was unable to read her own script without making mistakes and employing the wrong emphasis on words.

    1. This chap is not a natural comedian. He is far too long-winded. As Polonius observed: ‘Brevity is the soul of wit.’

  47. Listening to Iain Dale on LBC last night, the issue of guidance re. grandparents contacts with grandchildren and the need to use grandparents if parents went to work arose again and again. Then, one angry old lady rang in and complained that Boris hadn’t put people in their place as to why there could be no contact, no hugging etc. etc.

    Dale asked why?

    “Because we know it would kill them” replied the (very articulate) old girl.

    “Oh, so what are you going to do?” asked Dale

    “I’m staying in the house until there’s a vaccine” … (this solid position later rather broke down, after Dale pointed out there might never be a vaccine, under further questioning).

  48. How many years ago did we become a cafe/restaurant /take away food society ?

    Why is there so much focus on food / public grazing and eating out.

    I felt quite horrified to see Boris walking through a public park with a cardboard Costa coffee container in his hand .

    Eating and drinking in public years ago was considered naff, apart from of course eating an ice cream.

    Oh for the days of when a pub provided a memorable simple Ploughmans or a decent crab sandwich .

    1. 319117+ up ticks,
      Tb,
      ALL of the toxic trio’s rhetoric in the main is fodder for fools & the politico’s cowboys, ie herd managers.
      🎵
      Git along little doggies, git along.

    2. Yesterday you told us that cafes were convenient places to pee in.

      You can’t deride them today.

    3. I never eat in the street my late mother would not like it at all, and she was quite right.

      1. My mother would also have been appalled. I also think of her if I see people drinking out of bottles, rather than using a glass.

    4. Oh for the days when a pub was a pub and all you could buy to eat was a bag of crisps or a pasty with a dollop of HP.

      1. Oh for the days when you could only buy beer no spirits or wine and never any food. It had a beer house licence.wooden benches and only men with a landlady.

      3. I remember meals being served in my old local.
        True story.
        ‘Twas was funny one day 40 years ago, when a regular went to the bar ordered a pint and lunch of ham eggs and chips.
        The barman shouted back to the kitchen “ham eggs and chips for Pat McInereny”. And ten minutes later 3 portions came through.
        Fortunately there were others at hand to help out.

    5. I met my mechanic when I was out shopping and he remarked that he never realised he would miss going out for a meal so much. Normally, he said, he had to be persuaded to go out. Now …

          4. You would seriously hope not! Can you imagine the size of bag you would need? 😱

  50. Luc Montagnier, independent Nobel prize winner for his work on HIV says that COVID-19 was professionally manufactured with malaria and HIV sequences.

    In French with English subtitles:

    https://youtu.be/durcHyxpFT4

      2. “The website of Health Feedback is a member of the WHO-led project Vaccine Safety Net (VSN).”

        Looking further into this website, I’ll go with the Nobel prize winner.

  51. Was out and about up the shops today, the masketeers are really going for it now, never seen so many scared looking people, even with a mask on the insist on going out into the road to avoid getting within 5 metres of anyone else.

    1. You won’t get into a shop here without a mask. Eminently sensible, as one infected non mask wearer can spray particles a long way when they sneeze. Masks catch a lot of that.

          2. Well if it is not good enough for you, I certainly do not want it over me.

        1. It’s the “Horizon” team talking about Covid, Bill. I’m listening in but can’t tell, not that any of it would surprise you.

      2. I’ve had the opportunity to buy one in my racing colours – I turned it down!

    3. I only saw one person with a mask on, but they were certainly moving out of the way.

      1. I haven’t been into a shop since 21 March. The MR has ventured in three times since 10 April.

        The last time, on ou way back from a silent empty France, we went to Waitrose – wearing masks and gloves. Got some very odd looks. The MR puts a scarf across her face since she was shouted at (for depriving the sainted NHS) for wearing the “medical looking” one we were given in France.

  52. The mess we’re in now shows one of the downsides of us ever being in the EU. It’s not that the EU is good at management or decision-making, because clearly it isn’t.

    It’s more that our own lot have forgotten how to even begin to make a decision or to manage anything at all.

    They are up the creek without a paddle and without an EU Directive to follow they are lost.

    1. Forty odd years kowtowing to the EUSSR now we’re kowtowing to China.

      What goes around comes around….

    2. 319117+ up ticks,
      Morning B,
      You mean, surprised gasp, they are rubber stampers & have been for four decades plus?

  53. 319117+ up ticks,
    Gerard Batten,
    The Govnt has no intention whatsoever of reducing let alone ending the flow of people into the country.
    ogga1,
    Surely the wretch cameron showed that quite clearly when pledging to limit the numbers, raised them.

  54. For those who know the route and doubted me yesterday, this morning I timed my walk into work. Left home in The Grampians at 9.10 am and signed in at Television Centre at 9.20 am. True I took it at a brisk pace and was very glad to escape the wind but it can be done!

    1. Anyone else there?

      When I worked in London, living by Finchley Road tube station, I would frequently walk the four and a half miles to the Law Courts – through St John’s Wood and across Primrose Hill. An hour and a half. Just got up a bit earlier and returned home a bit later.

      1. When I worked in London, living in Braintree, we drove 15 minutes down a fast country road, no pavements, to the train station at Witham, then 50+ mins by train into Liverpool Street, then 15 minutes on the Tube, then another 10-12 minute walk to where I worked, halfway down Tottenham Court Road. Not sure cycling or walking would be feasible whilst trying to get in a full day’s work and get home before it was time for bed….
        Walking in London to get to work is possible for many people, but not all.

      2. Morning Bill,

        Most days there are just two of us but today six others turned up for a meeting. So few in such a huge space seems unnecessary – two dozen on each floor could fit in easily and still be way more than six feet apart – but I think the locked-in mind set has pretty much taken hold so there won’t be any rush to return.

        Yes, I’ve done the 4 mile walk from Shepherds Bush to Oxford Circus many times. Takes me a little over an hour.

    2. Four days ago I left home and started walking. After 14 miles I was exhausted and made camp. The next day was very tiring, mostly uphill. Around 13 miles, made camp. The day after that, 12 miles. This morning, from my camp, I now overlook the city. I should be able to walk to my office by early afternoon. Tomorrow I will be able to do some work. The day after that I will need to make plans for my return home.
      This Government suggestion that you walk is nonsense. As for cycling, I’ve seen a mother out on the road with three children, none of them over eight years old. All with crash helmets. However, the speed limit is sixty mph, and if one of her darlings has meandered too far out on the bends the result could bad. Th mother simply cannot control three novice, wobbly cyclists. Also noted on our most recent trip to the supermarket was that even with much reduced traffic the standard of driving is often poor e.g. overtaking on blind bends.

    4. ‘Morning, Sue.

      The Grampians to London in ten minutes? Now that’s what I call a ‘brisk pace’. You must’ve had a following wind!

      ;¬)

      1. The way it’s blowing from the NE today, it’ll take Sue longer to get back.

        1. A queue for the new English chippy in Delhi, I read. Seems the folk there are fed up with Indian takeaways.

        1. For the second time today, Missus, I am shocked…first DR and now you…{:¬))

    1. Tell her the Chinese designed it that way so that they could take over Africa.

    2. There is definitely a disproportionate hit – just as there is with the BAME population in Britain. Add to that many elderly black folk here have a whole swathe of pre-existing conditions.

      Per the official stats, the latest available COVID-19 mortality rate for Black Americans is 2.3 times higher than the rate for Asians and Latinos, and 2.6 times higher than the rate for Whites.

      Note: Asian here means Oriental.

      1. It’s a very funny video clip in have terrible trouble with my pc trying pass stuff on.
        I’ll try another way.

          3. Richard – for the THIRD time of asking, what was the Shakespeare play at the National Theatre that you couldn’t bear watching?

          4. Good afternoo Bill

            This is the first time I have seen your question. Clearly I should check your posts more assiduously!

            I don’t know if it was a NT production – but it was something televised a week or two ago with the characters wearing modern military dress. I think it was based on a play rather than the play itself.

            I could not find the NT production A & C last night on the available TV channels on my FreeView system. Where was it – we don’t have ‘pay channels’?

          5. Indeed you ought!!

            The NT performances are on YouTube. Look at the NT website and follow the directions.

            The current A&C is in modern dress with lots of militaria in view. Also women playing male parts; a black Augustus with a very white sister Octavia…all the box ticking you could wish for.

    3. Thanks for the heads up on the elephant programme last night, Eddy – we watched it.

      1. I’ll watch it tonight.
        But something else that the Chinese have never relented on ivory and rhino horn.
        I was once introduced a guy named Gary who worked as a guide at Mana pools.
        Some people in our village put him up whilst he was here. They knew him from a visit to the Kariba Zambese region.
        He sold nearly everything he owned and came to the UK to bring the slaughter of elephants and ivory poaching to the attention of world politics.
        We got on well together, i gave him a job for a few weeks to help finance his stay. I couldn’t contact him after he returned. He told me that he feared being bumped off by Mugabe’s henchmen. Who were probably involved in the illegal trade.
        Sadly he probably was.

    1. Gordon Brown spent about that in half the time when the economy was functioning normally – before he broke it.

      Comapred to the burden he lumbered on the economy in pensions and future debt 240bn is peanuts.

      1. Agreed the execution of that sort of policy would require both initiative and common sense….

    3. It’s their secret plan to make the country “carbon neutral”. No matter that the economy is trashed, and people lost their jobs. They will have met that target.

  59. ‘Morning All
    I regret to report the “You couldn’t make it up files” has blown a head gasket due to the pressure of so many incompetent,illogical,inconsistent government policies most of which NoTTLers have already detailed.
    That whirring sound in your ears?? That’s Brian Rix spinning in his grave,he thought his farces would never be topped……….
    Then along came BoJo and his ministers…………..

    1. Have you seen the price of chocolate bars in Aldi and Lidl? Not the finest in the world but cheap and good used in cooking.

      1. Most of the chocolate that we bought before Xmas comes from ALDI/Lidl. JD Gross springs to mind as well as the Lidl range from very specific area designations. As you say, good for cooking. The Whitaker’s creams were bought in Iceland. As the quality is very good, with no cheap ingredients and made in Skipton, Yorkshire rather than Poland, we will be supporting Whitaker’s. A difficult job, but someone has to do it.

      2. Aldi/Lidl chocolate is really good quality and not just for cooking. Their “finest” range bicuits and cakes are made by the same suppliers as M&S and Waitrose at considerably lower prices!
        .

        1. Yum, delicious , thanks for the comparison .

          I have a box of Celebrations , , and when I feel fed up I have one… yes , one .. ration myself , and throughtly enjoy the feeling . I prefer Lindt , but the local shop doesn’t oblige .

          1. After Easter our local Super-U sells of surplus chocoalte at half price.

            The Lindt small dark chocolate eggs are delicious so we bought several packs – but we are beginning to run out.

          2. Hi Belle! Celebrations are fab! But very moreish! I’m very impressed you can only have one…!

          3. I have put on weight over this lockdown period and the very wet winter , I have had lots of exercise , walking around the village etc , but I have cooked more food than I have for years . We are having a piece of roast pork later, roast potatoes , cabbage , peas carrots etc , when old son comes in from work .

            It is a cold day so a roast meal is justified , we had ate a rib eye l steak for lunch yesterday , warm day , so we had salad , lettuce leaves that we are growing and radishes , grated carrot .. that sort of thing , and trifle .

          4. Me too! I’ve been baking and cooking enough to sink a battleship! Which is how I look!

          5. I am glad I am not the only one.

            I lie in bed thinking of the next day’s menu .
            Visited a lovely farm shop last week and bought my older son a goose egg for £1.80

            He had it boiled for breakfast .. 9 minutes boiling time. He needed a coffee cup to support the egg. It was huge , the white was rather rubbery but the yolk was thick and luscious so he commented .

        3. A few months back, I only had time to get Cadbury’s Bourneville for cooking. Either it has changed or my taste buds have become more sensitive; it was disgusting in both taste and texture.
          From then on, I decided to stockpile ALDI or LIDL chokkie whenever I was in their shops.

          3. Since Cadburys were bought by an American Co their chocolate of all hues has gone crap

          7. Careful, old dear, I could start on the Scots…{:¬))

            I was married to one for many years…..

          11. That’s because Yanks know F all about chocolate (or cheese). They are all brought up on the Hershey bar which looks (and no doubt tastes) like its been recycled!

          12. We never buy Cadbury’s chocolate or products any more, since it was bought by Kraft.
            The chocolate is too sugary sweet.
            I recommend Aldi dark chocolate.

        4. But they canna do “real” ginger nuts.

          Lidl 74% dark choc is brilliant…{:¬))

          2. I prefer to “make” my own with McVities REAL ones and a square of Lidl 74%…{:¬))

        1. Wotcha yerself. 🙂

          I have about 50 bars of plain and dark in my freezer. I use them for party season and make a St Emilion au Chocolate.

          One torte is enough to serve about 30 people.

      1. He was the alien in journey into space. The one who was born in 1923 but still around for Jet Morgan’s spaceflights. ‘It is forbidden to proceed any further without wearing protective clothing’. Now where have I heard that…

        1. I can hear him now. Orders must be obeyed at all times without question. It was David Jacobs who played the part, as were nearly all the characters in the series.

      3. Just as long as you weren’t at war* with him 🙂
        *”To War With Whitaker” – Lady Ranfurly

  61. My wife shouted at me this morning for not opening the car door for her. I would have, but I was too busy swimming to the surface.

      1. Yes Sue , I gather he was fine on Friday , then had several fits .. and that was it.

        Monty’s dogs are so handsome , poor Nigel , a star in his own right .

  63. BERLIN ANTI-LOCKDOWN PROTESTS

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1280180/Germany-chaos-Angela-Merkel-riot-police-protests-lockdown-coronavirus

    The Berlin police said the protesters had ignored calls to stay at least five feet apart, prompting officers to step in. This sparked violent clashes between protesters and riot police.

    How come the Germans are setting social-distancing using the Imperial System of measurement, while the British Government insists on using the metric system?

    Shome mishtake, shurely?

    1. 1.5 metres. I keep hoping that this two-metre nonsense of ours will get the metric system a bad name.

      1. Indeed. The metric system was, I believe, based on the measurement between Napoleon’s arse and his elbow (or multiples thereof).

        1. Don’t forget that most wood sold in the UK is measured in metric feet…..

      1. Those were the days. “Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Furrier!” Never a dissenting voice, because they were all in it together. “Got to Work, Save Lives, Save Organisation Todt”! “Stay Alert, Save Wives!” “Lebensraum For All!”

          2. All the Germans i met were incredibly polite. It’s the Politicians that need lining up and shooting.

          5. Nice, isn’t it? Here we demolish and rebuild. Each rebuild shoddier than the last.

          6. It was nice. Somewhat eerie but the outside pool was open and you could hear young people enjoying themselves. Which lifted the mood.

            There were these huge statues outside which had a very homo-erotic look about them.

            There was also a restaurant which gave relief from the intense heat which was very welcome.

            I think i preferred the afternoon in the Tiergarten the most though. Beer, wine and pretzels.

            The place was quite busy but they had lots of long tables and benches. The buzz of conversation stopped suddenly when a young woman appeared on her bicycle. I couldn’t understand most of her shouted rant but basically she was telling everyone off for drinking and not being in church.

            As her rant paused the crowd spontaneously burst into applause. It was very funny. She even stamped her foot before she left in a cloud of humiliation.

            I had lunch at the Adlon too. 🙂

            I love Berlin.

          7. We stayed with relations there some years go. They insisted that they lived in Berlin but they were in the country, miles away. They took us sight-seeing, instead of letting us go our own way. So they attempted the standard tour. We swept in and out of an aircraft museum and airfield, never stopping the car. They refused to let us off at the Kartoffelfest and so into Berlin. There was a huge demonstration going on against atomic power with maybe half a million people and several thousand police. Very scary. We refused look at the Reichstag as the queue was very long. I insisted on going to Karstadt as I needed a new polo shirt. They tried to drag us past a craft fair, and could not understand my interest in ornate manhole covers. When I asked if the Charlottenberg was a rebuild or restoration they could not tell me.
            That night the sofa bed tipped me out onto the floor and I landed on my elbow. I still have a scar

          10. I nearly dropped a clanger when travelling with my German friend to Potsdam.
            The name ‘Wannsee’ came up on the destination sign in the railway carriage. I knew the name was familiar; I puzzled for a few moments, was just about to ask why I recognised the name …. and (phew) remembered just in time.

  64. Afternoon, folks. With the easing of lockdown I have been out three times today; once to exercise (take the dog and run up the hills) and going shopping on two separate occasions. I’m a rebel, me. The first shopping expedition wasn’t too bad – no queue to get in, not too lengthy a queue to pay (and I got some Bordeaux on offer). I was out of luck at the next shop because, although no queue to get in, there was a one-way system and by the time I’d queued to get to the place where the stuff I wanted was, it turned out they’d sold out 🙁 Ah well. I was still in a fairly pleasant state of mind. Unfortunately, when I got back, MOH wanted something from Tesco’s (and only Tesco’s would do). Ordinarily I avoid Tesco’s like the plague because it has put in place everything that makes shopping an abomination for me – queues and a lengthy one-way system so it takes you far longer to get what you want than it ought to. It didn’t disappoint. I got the three items I needed and then had to weave my way through the rest of the shop to get, as I thought, to the end of the queue to pay. Silly me! That was only the tip of the iceberg; the queue then wound all the way down the side of the shop and round the corner and I ended up going the wrong way down the one way system. Oops. When I finally did reach the end, the woman who came behind me had a mewling infant and a brat who threw a strop and had a temper tantrum because he couldn’t have what he wanted. If I hadn’t been shopping for somebody else, I would have abandoned the basket and left. Needless to say, my stress levels were of epic proportions and to make matters worse, it had clouded over and was threatening rain, so I didn’t get a chance to chill out in the garden. Tesco’s is off limits in future, no matter MOH’s pleadings, to preserve my sanity.

    1. I think you will find the same problem everywhere . All the supermarkets have similar restrictions , Sainsbury had queues all the way around the carpark , and queues in the shop as well to check out . Others had similar systems , and darned if if I am going to queue anywhere in this freezing wind .

      1. I refuse to go to Sainsbury’s for exactly that reason. Queues around the car park. As I wrote, the first two shops were fine (apart from not having what I wanted in the second – it was only a small shop so not far to queue to get to the desired aisle). Lidl had no queue to get in, you could go where you liked and the queue to pay wasn’t that long (I’ve known it much longer) and fairly fast-moving. Plus the person behind me was someone I knew and we could chat 🙂

    2. Tut, tut, Conwy. Doesn’t start till Wednesday. Report yourself to nearest Stasi HQ.

      1. I thought the increased fines didn’t start until Wednesday. Anyway, the second and third trips were to go shopping; that’s still allowed even under the old rules.

    3. That sounds like the kind of shopping trip that alcohol was made for, Conway.

      1. In the interest of shedding the excess pounds I have piled on during incarceration, I am trying to reduce my alcohol intake. I suspect tonight I may fall off the wagon.

        1. Grizzly has good advice on weight loss. Delete all carbs from the diet.

          1. Terrible. I feel so uncomfortable about telling an untruth, no matter how insignificant, that “liar” is written all over my face and body language 🙁

  65. Comments DT

    Rosie Langridge
    11 May 2020 2:38PM
    Ah, what I have been asking for for weeks has been published, stats by occupation. Stupid DT with comments not open for us to analyse them,

    Revealed: The UK professions carrying the highest risk of death
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/11/revealed-uk-professions-carrying-highest-risk-death-coronavirus/
    and at last recognising that men have bigger dangers. Why not police, then, what is distinctive about these occupations? Too long spent in the same airspace while police move around more?
    Security guards, taxi drivers and chefs are the workers most likely to die from coronavirus, facing a higher risk even than care home or NHS staff, according to new data from the ONS.

    The risk levels were revealed in figures published by the ONS the morning after Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, encouraged Britain to start getting back to work.

    The new figures – the first of their kind since the virus crisis started – show that bus and coach drivers face a particularly high risk of death from Covid-19. Experts said the findings have “huge implications” for the route out of lockdown.

    Male security guards, such as those marshaling the numbers of people in supermarkets, were found to have a mortality rate of 45.7 deaths per 100,000, while taxi drivers and chauffeurs had a rate of 36.4.

    ———————————————-
    I also thought the same , people could be catching the virus sharing the same stagnant airspace instead of moving around .

    1. In my locality it is a fact that the majority if not all the security guards are from the BAME segment of society and there has been a lot in the news about how Covid adversely affects BAME personnel.

      1. So strange isn’t it , finding a very black security guard in a Supermarket in a rural market town , especially when English is not a natural understanding .

    2. Taxi drivers and security guards I can understand, as both are required to come into contact with large numbers of people during their work day. The first person to get sick at one of our local companies was the security guy who manned the front desk. Chefs and kitchen staff spread, I would bet, is down to the cramped working conditions – and less than adequate ventilation. And they probably thought they did not need masks either.

    1. Given the only way to increase immunity is by exposire keeping us all locked up isn’t going to work.

  67. I looked up the Border Force on Wikipedia and you/gov and got this information.
    Theresa May replaced the UK Border Agency in March 2012 with the Border Force.
    The current Director General of the Border Force is Paul Lincoln who, according to Wikipedia had no previous experience of the Border Force and neither did the previous incumbent.
    The Minister of State for Immigration is Kevin Foster MP for Westminster appointed on 12 December 2019 to replace Seema Kennedy ex conservative MP born in Lancashire of Persian extraction.
    The Border Force is the Law Enforcement command of the Home Office. It has 7500 employees according to Wikipedia

    The BF is overviewed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct/ Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary. Director General Michael Lockwood.

    The BF has 11 cutters , all of which have the prefix HMC [for Her Majesty’s Cutter]. 5 of these vessels are large cutters and 6 are the much smaller 20 metre RIB cutters.
    The Border Force has responsibility for Border control, security and integrity.
    Some of these offices and chiefs may be responsible for the scandalous failure of the Border Force to do its job properly and allow illegal immigrants to enter the UK without apparent legal retribution. The Border Force needs to be investigated from the top down to find where the problems are and fix them permanently.
    nb the numbers above may vary .

      1. Afternoon Stephen – The Wikipedia entry does list the multiple problems the Border Force and its predecessor have had.

    3. From the top down? I’d suggest starting with Teresa May and the Home Office civil servants.

      1. Afternoon Ims2 – I expect any enquiry would lead to the Home Office and its Civil Servants. They must be ordering the protocols for the Border Force or ignoring the failures of their Law Enforcement Command as the Inspectorate of the Constabulary seems to be doing.

      1. She also refers to Jethro Tull as Yethro which is typical of both German and Swedish pronunciation of the letter ‘J’

          1. That was later: when he got bored playing the same stuff again and again and started ranting at the audiences, he did become a bit of one..

      3. American, I believe. But that Irish flautist also uses flutist I seem to recall.

        1. Is this the chap you’re thinking of?

          ♫ “With a toot on the flute,
          And a twiddle on the fiddle-oh,
          Hopping in the middle,
          Like a herring on the griddle-oh,
          Up, down, hands around,
          Arse against the wall,
          Sure hadn’t we the gaiety,
          At Phil the Fluter’s ball.” ♫

    2. Ian Anderson, the flautist, went into the smoked salmon business. His company Strathaird was a competitor of the company for which I worked. They were not really any competition at all.

    3. There are lots of videos like this out there. Young people (though not musicians!) hear for the first time 70s and 80s rock and pop music, especially of a type they wouldn’t normally listen to, and ask “Why haven’t I heard this before? It’s brilliant!”.

      1. Second Son is firmly in the “modern music is carp” camp. Likes all kinds of music from 50s, 60s, 70s. He is only 19.

      2. Totally agree – and let’s hope doing time indoors lets the musical genie out of the bottle for youngsters.

        1. One of the best turned the idea on its head: old rock fans hearing Greta van Fleet for the first time and thinking they were listening to lost Led Zeppelin tapes!

    4. She did go on a bit.

      Reminded me of my younger son after he has seen the film “Amadeus“. “Good music; do you know who wrote it?”

          2. Scoop was one of the “O” level set books when I was teaching in the 1970’s. One of my colleagues was called Mr Salter and this encouraged my class to invent a silly game. Whenever they saw this master, who was a Modern Linguist, they had to work “Up to a point, Sir,” into the conversation and awarded themselves with a bonus point if they managed to say it in either French or Spanish as well.

    5. She describes herself as a “flutist” yet remains completely oblivious to the fact that a flute-player is known as a flautist.

      And “Yetro Tool”? Her “English” is evidently conditioned by exposure to Americanisms, hence beginning sentences with a vacuous “I mean” and calling her little finger a damned “pinky”.

      Ian Anderson knew no peer in classical flute-playing in prog rock.

      1. Didn’t notice, Grizzly.

        Ears trained on the music and eyes on the girl.

        Incidentally, I’ve since downloaded the track and it’s great stuff – much better than my comb and tissue paper efforts.

          1. Thanks for the link.

            Like many at the time, I’m sure, I missed a lot of good stuff in those days.

            I sold all my LPs (for peanuts) a few years ago but needn’t have worried, since most is on YouTube.

      4. What did Zero Mostel say in the film ‘The Producers’ as he gazed enviously out of his garret window at an immaculate Rolls Royce car in the street below?

        “If you’ve got it – flaut it”

  69. OT – to NoTTLers who belong to the Old Wives Tales Onion Marketing Board – your advice has paid dividends.

    I started the raw onion treatment on Saturday. It has worked a treat. Today, for the first time in four weeks, I woke with no wheezing, phlegm filled chest (which felt as though a tight metal band was tight across it) – and feel much more like myself.

    I shall continue for the next few days – to make sure.

    Thank you for the tip.

    2. Did you halve the onion and cover it in brown sugar and leave it in a dish , covered with a saucer overnight to let the onion sweat .. My Moh’s late mother said that was an old country cure for coughs and sinus etc

      The brown sugar onion syrup is quite delicious.

      1. Were you forced to have Liquafruita cough mixture as a child? I had whooping cough quite badly when I was five, and that was followed by disgusting Liquafruita.

        2. I remember having whooping cough, followed by a course of sun-ray treatment at the local clinic. I quite enjoyed that, sitting in the heat from the lamps with huge sun goggles on! But it felt really cold when going outside into the damp, chilly weather!

          1. I didn’t have sun-ray treatment though I was left with a dodgy throat (which culminated in tonsil removal some months later) and I often had earache as a child. I must have missed quite a bit of school for a couple of years.

  70. Moh saw this on F/B

    I copied it .

    All of you railway buffs might find it interesting .

    During WW2, the railways were truly on the front line with its workers facing real danger every time they went to work.

    On the 28th November 1942, LSWR T9 No.120 was working a goods train from Brockenhurst to Dorchester.
    Stopped on its Journey at Wool, near the Ship Inn, No.120 was attacked by two Messerschmitt ME109 fighters.
    One of the cannon shells exploded on the footplate with locomotive crew seriously injured by shrapnel. The Driver sustaining head injures and the Fireman receiving injuries to his back. The pair were taken to nearby Bovington Camp for treatment, but both survived this ordeal.

    When the T9 was recovered it was riddled with bullet and cannon shell holes from end to end. Bullets and cannon shells had shot through its firebox, steam and lubrication pipes were also blown and shot to pieces.

    It must of been a terrifying experience and shows just how railway workers remained on the front line throughout the war. Many railway men and women lost their lives in the war. Without their valiant effort in keeping the railways moving, the war may not have been won.

    Today LSWR T9 No.120 continues to survive and is now part of the National Collection and on loan to the Swanage Railway. It retains the scars of its world war two service to this day. If you look carefully on the fireman side of the cab roof, you will see a bullet hole. This is from the ME109 that attacked it at Wool.

    When you see it, just imagine standing there, in the open back cab with two fighters bearing down on you with no way of defending yourself. This is the horror of war on the Home Front and the Front Line.

    We will remember them. 75th Anniversary VE Day

    http://www.saveourservice.co.uk

    2. “…shot through its firebox…”

      The crew might not have survived had the firebox wall been punctured and released scalding steam into the cab.

    3. May I be pedantic?
      The ‘Messerschmitt’ 109 did not have the designation ME, certainly not during WWII. It’s correct designation was Bf 109 followed by the Mk and number e.g. Bf 109G-6. Bf was the name of the original company, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG that designed and built the aircraft. Bf employed Willy Messerschmitt and he eventually took over the company in July 1938. All Messerschmitt aircraft that originated after that date, such as the Me 210, were to carry the “Me” designation.

          1. There was a strong NW cross wind blowing that day and the morning flight was cancelled. When we arrived mechanics were working on its engine, revving loudly. This would have a bearing on what was to follow.

            As the day went on the wind lessened and at about 16.00 it was announced that the flight might go ahead, dependent on the pilot’s decision. He taxied down to the east end of the runway and announced that it would be safe to go. A fateful decision. The display, a mock dogfight with a spitfire went off well, but then as the 109 came in to land (strangely, downwind) I remarked to my wife that it was travelling very fast – too fast. It touched down on its port wheel right in front of us, but then bounced high. It came back down on its starboard wheel and bounced again, before disappearing behind the tail of a Catalina (The same Cat that crashed at Southampton some time later, killing a local councillor who was a passenger). I expected it to come round again and watched for it to reappear. It didn’t.

            A hush fell over the crowd and I heard the word ‘crashed’ more than once. It was announced that the 109 had crashed and that crews were on the way. The display was over from that moment.

            What had happened was that there had been a problem with the magneto and the engine was revving too high. It came in too fast and after bouncing along the runway it cleared the M11 motorway and landed in a recently-seeded field on the other side, where the soft ground caused the wheels to stick and the 109 flipped over onto its back, badly damaged. The pilot was unhurt, but he had to hang upside-down in his straps until they could get a crane to lift the aircraft. The side-hinged canopy meant he couldn’t open it to escape. Fortunately there was no fire, so he didn’t meet the same fate as Mark Hanna, but I bet that was going through his mind.

          4. I used to go there a lot in the 70s just after I left the RAF – nostalgia I guess

          5. I recall seeing the dog fight at another show a little earlier. It was always touch and go whether the 109 would run, it seemed to be quite delicate to keep maintained.

          6. Ironically that was actually scheduled to be its last flight. Its loan agreement had come to an end and it was going to be stuffed and mounted as a static display (which it now is). It was pure chance that we went to see it. On the Saturday morning I was looking at Teletext and there was a report of the display, saying that the following day would be the 109s last performance.

            I shouted upstairs to ask my wife if she wanted to see a 109 and to my surprise she said yes. Early the next morning we were setting off on the 250 mile drive to Duxford.

    4. I had a couple of cab rides on 120 when it was based on the Mid-Hants after it was put back into steam there in the early-’80s and I was still working there on the P-Way Group.

    1. A number of pro BBC comments, all pretty much agreeing that any and all criticism of the BBC comes from “right wing nut jobs”.

      1. It must come as a real shock to their sensitivities that anyone could possibly dislike the BBC, let alone that thousands are calling for its abolition. With regard to the last point -that really is: ‘News you can trust’

  72. The BBC is saying,”It’s estimated that about 100,000 people have arrived in the UK since 23 March, when the lockdown was brought in.”
    I have not been counting, but that figure seems quite low. It equates to about 20 flights a day, maybe. In any event the quarantine for arrivals is obviously nonsense, coming as it does around four months too late. Six months too late if one is of the opinion that our people in China should have been aware of what was going on, long before there were any cases outside China. Maybe all our spies are too busy trying to hunt down right wing extremists in the UK rather than the real threats from outside.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52610594

    1. 100,000 is still over ten times the number of fines issued to Brits for violating the lockdown rules. Talk about targeting the wrong people…

    2. Blame it on Tommy R, for speaking the truth, therby becoming the prime target for MI-PC aka Soros’ own

      They could not chase Tommy and illegals

  73. 319117+ up ticks,
    We really could not have got to where we are today as a nation without the input of the politico’s of the lab/lib/con coalition party and since the mid 70s their supporter / voters.
    The product of years of party first voting has gave us what must be one of the finest collections of paedophiles on the planet, many still free to prowl.

    breitbart,
    Grooming Gang Epidemic: Nearly 19,000 Children Sexually Exploited in the UK Last Year.
    johnson / patel why is the report NOT out in the public domain ???

    1. …patel why is the report NOT out in the public domain ???

      For goodness sake, ogga1. The people putting together the report overturned a large rock and what they found underneath was shocking beyond belief. There is no way that the report will surface without all the ‘names’ redacted with a few lesser mortals thrown under a row of buses. We will never know who was really responsible for the cover-up or directly involved in the abuse. All decent thinking people are disgusted at the abuse and just as disgusted at the decision not to publish the report, warts and all. The politicos do not care beyond saving their mates’ reputations.

      1. 319117+ up ticks,
        Evening Ktk,
        As with Dunblane then, what I cannot understand is how these same type politico’s / parties stay in power, cannot be decent peoples giving them oxygen, could it ?
        Re, Dunblane was on the
        13 /3/1996 great deal of bad anti UK actions been taken since then
        by, in the main, these same politico’s.

  74. A BBC reporter has just said Garden Centres may open on Wednesday. We are also being allowed to go any distance for exercise but must return the same day. Not allowed to go to live in your holiday home. We cannot go to Scotland or Wales. This will be stopped if abused which I think it might be, A nonsensical item is not being allowed to have a meeting with a friend in your own garden nor to meet more than one person outside of your home. I can’t understand the reason for this as people have been doing this since the lockdown with most obeying the 2 metre rule. Boris is explaining these matters at 7 this evening.

      1. OH was getting excited this morning at the prospect of the tennis club opening.

      2. Tennis can only be played with those in your household. Maud is getting her kit ready!

        1. I understand that if you meet a friend outside your house and you keep 2 metres apart at all times you can play sport such as tennis but that comment on the radio was an aside so may be wrong. I gave up tennis when I got sick of my first wife beating me every time we played. She was a very good player

          1. Your wife may have been a good player but her tactics were not very clever…

        2. You can exercise outside as often as you wish and from Wednesday 13 May, you can also sit and rest outside – exercise or recreation can be alone, with members of your household, or with one other person from outside your household, while keeping two metres apart at all times.

          That is from the govt “guidelines published this arvo.

    2. Surely to God he is not going to “address the nation” again? He did enough damage last night – and again in the Commons this afternoon….

      1. Bill – I may be wrong about that. I thought because thr-ere was no cabinet update today, as far as I am aware , Boris is going to appear on some programme later this evening but the BBC don’t appear to be advertising it so perhaps I am totally wrong on this.

    3. Given the distribution of the virus many might be tempted to move permanently to their second home.

        1. No, that’s the stupidity of it. One size fits all – not. Maybe not going to Wales makes sense for somebody from Lincolnshire, but I am virtually on the border.

          2. Very borderline 🙂 The border is very squiggly round here. As you probably know, I’m a radio amateur; when you move from one country to another you are supposed to add a letter to your callsign if you are operating mobile to indicate where you are. Driving along the road I go from G4 to GW4 and back again about every two minutes in places.

          4. I don’t think Offa was particularly pleased as she was unwilling to give him his oats 🙂

          5. If you’re stopped you just have to tell the perlice that you’re within spitting distance of home.

    5. It’s all blx. They’re making it up to sound scientific, but it isn’t. If anything, it’s anti-scientific.

  77. I see it is nearly time for my medicine. So I’ll leave you – enjoy the government’s guidance….(yawns).

    A demain, one hopes.

      1. Yep, for him 6am-6pm whine o’clock, 6 pm to 10 pm wine o’clock 10 pm to 6 am wee o’clock.

  78. That blond buffoon should tell the Labour, LibDem, SNP and other politicians as well as the journalists that he has sufficient faith in the British people that they will realise what is sensible and act accordingly.

    He should start hitting back, while at the same time shifting the responsibility away from the State and back on to the individual.

    It’s about time the “Great British Public” was told to grow up and stop having to be wet-nursed.

      1. And because it appears to be unable to multi-task, has killed Gawd only knows how many.

      2. Boris was very lucky to get over it in time for the birth of his love child….

    2. He’s probably still far from 100%. It may take months for him to fully recover. Covid apparently leaves a person very lethargic, and with little energy. And he did have a near miss.

      1. True.
        The virus I had was very debilitating, it had all the Covid symptoms, even though the tests came back negative, and I probably took 4 weeks to get close to health after being discharged..

      1. Nor do the Welsh & NI Assemblies or the Fishwife’s Wee Pretendy Parliament. Despite the easing of the lockdown coming from the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, these mavericks want their push-backs to inflict as much damage on him and their own populations, as possible.

        See me, see how strong I am! Time to take them down more than just a peg or two.

        1. Amazing how much faith they have in the British people once every 5 years.

  79. Boris Johnson’s big lockdown speech descends into farce. 11 May 2020.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/16463c83610029a5015a1c710bc8cde84f0af04aef0e67142cedc89a82dc1518.jpg

    Boris Johnson’s big lockdown speech unravelled today as Dominic Raab contradicted his call for millions of workers to return to duties immediately in the middle of rush hour.

    This whole thing is a ridiculous farce. You should ignore everything the government tells you and take such precautions as you deem wise for yourself! (which I already do actually)

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8306539/Commuters-crowd-Tubes-Boris-Johnson-urges-Britons-work.html

    1. 319117+ up ticks,
      Afternoon As,
      Advice received long ago of off a safety officer on a construction site,
      You are your own safety man.

    2. I’m always amazed at how our finest boys in blue seem to be completely impervious to the threat of the virus…..they seem to enter even the most potentially dangerous environment without a moment’s thought…..

      1. Afternoon Stephen. I haven’t believed everything in Weston’s report below but he has allowed me see the inherent contradictions and stupidity in everything the Government has done!

        1. Afternoon Minty. If we the majority who infest this site can see the inherent contradictions and stupidity, what does it say about Ministers and their advisors that they cannot apparently?

          1. I think you could have used a better word than infest. How about pervade…a bit more aromatic.. 🙂

          2. I would like to think it was auto-correct which changed the word “invest” – but it wasn’t….

          3. Are you sure the majority can see the inherent contradictions? People here, maybe, but the majority of the population? Which is what politicians pander to.

          7. I’m sure. All prepositions take the accusative (in English – it’s different in other languages). Where you’d get a dative is if you wrote, he gave us the book. There, ‘us’ is dative and ‘the book’ is accusative.

      2. Dunno why, but the expression ‘mouth breathers’ springs to mind…

    1. A truly dreadful day.

      We were living in Bradford at the time, above the football ground, and we watched the smoke down the valley.

        1. We knew something was badly amiss because of the A&E services sirens. We too saw it on the TV even though it can’t have been more than half a mile away.

          1. I was driving home from Bradford to Shipley at the time. Dozens (hundreds it seemed) of ambulances, lights flashing, horns sounding, driving on pavements, through red lights, along the wrong the side of the road and all the time a vast column of smoke rising straight up into the still air…

            It made a lasting impression on me.

          2. I liked Shipley, I was a member of their Round Table, but it was a different approach from where I initially joined.

            Their Donkey Derby was a good event though.

          3. There was a cracking fish and chip shop in Saltaire. Much smaller portions than you get in other places these days and all the better for it.

            I forget the name of the shop.

          4. Most of the F&C shops were very good, we had an excellent one at the bottom of the hill.

            Friends who still live there tell us that the whole area the other side of the Keighley Rd is now “Asian”.

          5. No surprise there, tbh. I used to live in Nab Wood, btw, if that means anything to you.

          9. I worked at the Inland Revenue Accounts Office in Shipley. Happy days.

        2. I remember a group of young silly beggars jumping up and down waving their arms behind the TV reporter, as though it was just a bonfire that had got out of control.

          1. I remember people having an enquiry into racing and whether the same thing could happen at racecourses. The answer was it was unlikely because people are very mobile at the races; grandstand to pre-parade ring, pre-parade ring to parade ring, parade ring to betting ring, then back to the grandstand to watch the race and afterwards grandstand to winner’s enclosure and repeat for the next race. Somewhere in there, of course, would be a visit to the bar (or to the room set aside for connections of the winner if the racegoer were an owner of the winning horse).

    3. The age distribution is interesting. So many older people, as well as youngsters, perished.

      1. People attended matches as a family, it was the same at the Rugby League grounds.

    2. As the article explains later on, it’s due to the lock-down and social distancing.

      1. As others have pointed out lockdown cannot last indefinitely. Assuming the virus is still circulating in the community a lot of us are going to contract it over the coming months.

        1. I suspect a lot of us, including me, have already contracted it before it was announced.

    1. So, like in other countries, Aussie policemen are immune from C-19, which is why they are allowed to ignore the rules they they enforce?

      1. 319117+ up ticks,
        Afternoon Aa,
        They are well covered by the, now known as, “fergi rule”
        Don’t do as I do, do as I say, NOW.

    2. Why do they stop the man filming?

      That’s the real question. Two officers get in the way and force him backward. He wasn’t involved or causing a problem, so why were they so frightened of being recorded?

      Why? Why do 4 officers descend on one man, blocking him in, intimidating him?

      1. 319117+ up ticks,
        Evening W,
        Th e camera never lies, the full weight of the law has to be seen coming down forcibly, a message ?
        we have been warned.

  84. I listened to this interpretation of Elgar’s Military March on VE day on my AKG headphones – played by Gert van Hoef with his assistant Marjolein Speijer on the renowned Willis organ.

    Excellent sound and acoustics from a brilliant organist:

    https://youtu.be/c9-R4N5zng0

    Liveconcert, by Gert van Hoef.
    Pomp and Circumstance (Militairy March No. 1) – Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

    July 29, 2017
    Live recording concert
    Hooglandse Kerk Leiden (Holland)
    Willis-orgel
    Organist: Gert van Hoef
    Assistent: Marjolein Speijer

    1. I find the rather mournful ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ entirely fitting to my mood re. the spectacle of my country cowed indoors in terror by a foreign virus.

    2. Yet another of the rising generation of young and very competent organists. Tremendous to see – and hear.

    2. ‘Speaking to families of WWII survivors’ – haven’t they gone through enough already?

        1. He’s done as she wished all along. I still think he’ll come crawling back without her in the not too distant future.

      2. Bird watchers report a drop in swift and swallow sightings as experts blame a freak Mediterranean storm that killed thousands of birds in April
        In April heavy winds over Greece forced migrating birds to be flown off course
        Thousands of these birds migrating from Africa were found dead in the streets
        UK bird surveys have found a drop in the number of swallows, swifts and others

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8307451/UK-swallow-swift-sightings-fall-freak-storm-April.html

        1. It’s thought that the swifts which arrive here take a more westerly route, and the majority of those which died were swallows.
          We’re still waiting for our pair but we have seen some flying low on Sunday evening, and others have arrived not far away.

      3. Doesn’t bother me, as I don’t have a TV. (Although I suspect in the not-too-distant future the BBC will be funded by taxation, as it is in many European countries.)

        1. It already is – the telly tax. We have a free licence at the moment, though will doubtless have to start paying again shortly. I could live without it, but I don’t think my OH would want to.

  87. It is a sod. The sun is shining – ad out of the wind it is lovely. An ideal day for gardening.

    But the wind is gale force – and there is no place where one can get out of it. Dagnabbit.

    3. We have a very cold strong wind , sunny but brrr factor , poor young plants will be wind chill damaged .

      A young starling collided with the window , poor thing didn’t stand a chance . It’s bereft parents were alarm calling in the hedge nearby .

    4. Yo Mr Beagle! Have just come in from a gloriously warm and sunny garden. Have cleared the weeds round the pond, cut back the ivy sneaking through the wall and put out the 3rd load of washing! You obviously live far too far south! Our only problem living here is the droning of the fabulous FM wee Nicki!

  88. People coming in by Eurostar can enter with out any complications .

    Nothing has been thought through.

    We have been exposed to a killer virus , which is wiping out an older generation and many innocent younger people .

    What a mess .. the country is crippled by ineptitude.

    2. It’s not killing many younger people at all. It’s the over-50s that are at greater risk, but they should boost their immune system to help if they catch it.
      In perspective, 32,000 deaths equates to 0.05% of the population.

      1. Oh dear, Ims – you are not on message at all. You should be telling everyone that we’re doomed if we so much as put one toe over the threshold 🙂

        1. The sad and inescapable fact, T_B, is that we will ALL be dead at some time or other.

  89. Hells Bells!
    Just had 8 police cars, mainly, if not all, unmarked, screaming past up the Via Gellia with full blues & twos!
    Serious incident somewhere or just a driver training run?

    2. Are you sure it wasn’t a bevy of ice cream vans rushing to the park?

  92. “People who travel to Scotland for anything other than essential purposes are ‘potentially in breach of the law’, Nicola Sturgeon said.”

    That’s all right, Nicky darling. I made some shortbread this afternoon, and we only eat haggis in the winter.

      1. But only for free movement of all the highly educated engineers and doctors from who arrive uninvited on our shores…… English people specifically excluded by the vile, poisonous witch.

        1. The area within the red lines looks more like the Bermuda Triangle, basset edge.

          1. Not when you live there it doesn’t. It’s a haven from the hell to the south.

          5. They are at Seaton Point, a half a mile or so south of Boulmer. The buildings on the right are Foxton Golf Club, and the tower sticking up above the distant horizon on the left is the keep at Warkworth Castle. I could be there in the car in a few minutes, not today obviously, maybe tomorrow when we are let out to play.

          6. Well identified! I couldn’t remember the name. It’s a lovely spot and was deserted when we were there in June 17.

          7. I’m guessing it’ll be deserted today too, but the dog-walkers will be back tomorrow.

    2. Our local liquor store sells Shine in the traditional big screw top Mason Jars – including, Lord help us, flavoured varieties. Getting a licence to produce it is a hassle, but it can be done. But not with the equipment as shown – it has to be a “proper” distillery.

    1. …but you can clearly see that she’s using her sanitary pad!
      🚺☣️☁️⚠️

    2. Now that I have retired, obviously the answer is YES, of course. Had I still been teaching, the answer would have been, NO, of course not. How could you think of such a dangerous thing? 🙂

    3. One of my work colleagues told me (on the phone of course) that he can’t wait to get his kids back to school and pities any virus that comes into contact with them!

  100. A: So, you can meet one grandparent in the park, but not the other.

    Q: what was the question again?

  101. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Avc6_ftzk3w

    MUST WATCH: Debunking the Narrative (Dave Cullen With Prof. Dolores Cahill)

    Prof. Dr Dolores Cahill has over 25 years expertise in high-throughput protein array, antibody array, proteomics technology development, automation and their biomedical applications, including in biomarker discovery.
    In this video she explains why she believes lockdown in Ireland was wrong, that boosting everyone’s immune system with Vitamins C and D, and Zinc would have saved lives, and that hydroxychloroquine works as a preventative medication, and a treatment.

    1. Some of it a bit beyond my comprehension but this is very interesting.

  103. 319117+ up ticks,
    Give the tories credit they certainly know how to pick them, now they seem to have cut a deal to fly migrants in,
    It has reached the point now that if there was a GE tomorrow the electorate would be hard pressed to select the best of the worst, near impossible.

    1. I propose the ‘Nottler Party’
      EDIT

      Father of the House Geoff Graham (sorry Boss

      PM Uncle Bill Thomas
      General Secretary ‘Our Susan’ Edison
      Foreign Minister Peddy (he has lived in most places

      Spokesperson No To Nanny

      Health Minister anneallen
      Defence (&de gate) Conway
      Being nice Garlands
      Police Grizzly
      Animals Ndovu

      Now you lot can fill in the rest

      2. 319140+ up ticks,
        Morning Olt,
        I did write to the express years ago
        saying we needed a presents ( 12) of shop floor folk to sit in on
        parliamentary decision making and be given the courtesy of being listened to, the (12) number being
        on a rotating roster, all televised.

  105. I think I have just realised why they want everyone to wear a mask, to cut down our CO2 greenhouse gas output and save the planet, must be one of Greta’s ideas.

  106. Interesting watching BFMTV (yer French).

    There have been two new clusters of C-19 in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. A number of people tested positive – one lot in the Dordogne.

    Yer telly is ramping this up to suggest (and hope for) a second national wave in three weeks time.

    It ain’t just our meeja that preaches doom and gloom.

    1. Is it too late to hope that this virus starts to run riot through newsrooms.

  109. There’s a mass of fierce comments on FB regarding Piers Morgan’s comments around the lack of control over thousands of people who have arrived in the UK since lockdown.
    Some people are saying there had been absolutely no health checks on any of the passengers landing.
    Let alone the thousands still arriving on our beaches.
    It a comedy of complete and utter errors. Everything Churchill livedand worked for is being held in absolute contempt.
    WTF is actually going on ?
    Night all.

    1. I really don’t understand the thinking behind letting all these people in with no health checks for the last two months, and now they propose quarantining arrivals (except from France or Ireland) when we are hoping to get back to some sort of normal.
      We arrived back from Kenya on 6th March and walked straight through – less than an hour from leaving the plane to back in the car park.
      Do they assume that all these people were Brits arriving home to go straight home, not pass Go and stay indoors?

      1. When we emigrated to Australia we both had to be checked for all sorts of medical conditions.
        Same as when I went to South Africa.
        And of course had to show we were capable of self support.

        1. That was for living there – but most people don’t get these rigorous checks for visiting.
          There seems to be no distinction made in this country and it has always been open to all and sundry.

  110. Robert Spowart
    12 May 2020 4:41AM
    I’ll say it again.
    The primary reason for the Lockdown was to avoid the NHS from being swamped with C-19 Wuhan Virus cases and give them time to ramp up their capacity.

    It has achieved that aim.

    Also, during this time, more has been learned about the disease and it has become obvious that the Ferguson Predictions were totally over pessimistic and that the MEEJAH have been engaged in scaremongering.

    It is now time to ease the restrictions and get back to normal.

    1. Good morning, Bob.

      ‘The primary reason……….’ indeed! but that doesn’t explain why most other countries
      in the world have also Lockeddown, unless their health care is run as inefficiently
      as the NHS appears to be.

      Without wishing to sound like a conspiracy theorist I do wonder if the virus causes
      subsequent health problems in survivors; I accept that ‘flu’ takes a while to get over
      but watching the Prime Minister [who is surely having the best after-care possible]
      makes me think he is nowhere near ‘better’….and yes I accept he is under an
      inordinate amount of pressure, not helped by the braying mobs.

      1. It’s difficult to believe they are holding something back about the virulence of the virus. Have they (MSM/PTB) not relished in telling us just how deadly Covid-19 is?

        1. Good morning, Mola.

          Sometime last week I read an article about
          the long term effects on reduced haemoglobin
          levels in the blood, [ I apologise for no links,
          I cannot remember where I read it] it made
          sense to me……. but I am not a scientist!!

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