Sunday 19 April: The Government’s dithering has left the country slumped in limbo

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/04/18/lettersthe-governments-dithering-has-left-country-slumped-limbo/

864 thoughts on “Sunday 19 April: The Government’s dithering has left the country slumped in limbo”

      1. “For the last shall be first, and the first shall be last”.
        Morning, johnny.

    1. Morning Michael. I see we’ve opened up a new front in this War on The Virus – The Y Front.

  5. SIR – The public, who have behaved commendably to date, are going to lose if a gradual exit plan is not offered.

    “Protecting the NHS” cannot remain the sole basis of decision-making. Capacity has been increased dramatically in terms of staff and beds.

    Scientific advice is important but the overriding consideration must now be the economy, which gets closer to the edge every day.

    Henry Wilson
    Alton, Hampshire

    1. SIR – The announcement on Thursday that there will be no change to the lockdown came as no surprise.

      This Government has taken a reactive rather than a proactive approach to the coronavirus crisis. It missed the early opportunity to stock up on tests, personal protection equipment and ventilators; it only became aware of problems in care homes after outrage in the media; and it was only after heart-breaking stories of young and old dying alone that it recognised the cruelty of keeping family from their bedsides. Furthermore, the Treasury seems incapable of understanding the true scale of the damage to the economy.

      The problem is that public health announcements and the incessant reporting of those dying with the virus – rather than of it – has generated such fear among the public (many of whom can think of worse things than being at home in beautiful weather on 80 per cent of their salaries but with none of the costs of going to work) that there has been no anger at the irrationality of closing down business. And because the Government is also now waiting for the public to feel ready to be released from confinement, and with businesses too frightened of appearing heartless, a huge number of people may discover they have no jobs to return to once the lockdown is eased.

      Tim Coles
      Carlton, Bedfordshire

      1. Eventually, out of desperation, people will turn to despotism as a solution. I wonder if the perils of despotism are taught anymore?

        3. Lots of programmes on Herr Schickelgruber and his chums.
          I’m not so sure that the reasons for their success are emphasised.

      2. Eventually, out of desperation, people will turn to despotism as a solution. I wonder if the perils of despotism are taught anymore?

    3. Close to the edge? I think we’re already in freefall, we just haven’t noticed it yet.

  6. Hungry Chinese investors line up floundering British targets
    Warren Buffett of the East among buyers ready to strike as firms falter from virus

    By Vinjeru Mkandawire – 18 April 2020 • 5:00pm

    The quiet practice of tai chi relies not on speed and strength but on slow, precise movements at the right time. Investing is no different, according to the financier behind Cirque du Soleil and the luxury resort chain Club Med.

    Guo Guangchang, the billionaire co-chairman of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, has drawn attention over the years by snapping up a string of western brands. Known to practice martial arts between meetings, the so-called Warren Buffett of the East also owns English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

    With so many companies now fighting for survival, Fosun is determined to use the coronavirus crisis to its advantage. “We believe that we are able to capture this new momentum in this downward cycle,” Qunbin Wang – one of five co-founders at Fosun – said in a recent earnings call. “We believe that we can seek more investment opportunities.”

    Like many Chinese companies who are months ahead in dealing with the macroeconomic shocks, Fosun says it is on the lookout for undervalued businesses and opportunities to increase stakes in its assets. Chinese investors have spent $60bn (£48bn) on UK assets in the past decade, according to data from Dealogic.

    The hunt for deals mirrors increased appetite immediately after the 2008 economic downturn, when Chinese investors responded to the market crash by investing billions of dollars in distressed companies.

    Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) peaked in 2017 when Chinese buyers forked out $23bn on dozens of transactions.

    Expectations of another surge in bids for UK companies ramped up last week when ministers summoned Canyon Bridge – the Chinese owner of Imagination Technologies – amid fears the state-owned investor was preparing to take control of the chipmaker.

    It follows the resignations of several senior executives, including chief executive Ron Black, amid concerns about the future direction and ownership of the company.

    The Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, shadow minister for Asia and the Pacific region, describes the resignations at Imagination as troubling. “There are Chinese companies that are genuinely independent competing on a level playing field – and that’s fine – but there are companies with clear and strong links to the Chinese state. I think we need to be cautious in the way we engage with the latter and the extent to which they’re allowed to operate in the UK.”

    Kinnock says he would welcome a more robust approach to shielding homegrown businesses from overseas predators. “Think of the hostile bid by Pfizer on Astrazeneca. It would have been a travesty if one of our greatest national companies had been sold off,” he says. “That is going to be even more important in the post-pandemic context.”

    Deal advisors have received a number of inquiries out of China about investment opportunities, particularly in the manufacturing, automotive, technology and natural resources sectors.

    Hogan Lovells partner Liang Xu says some investors are actively targeting the European teams of US companies struggling to keep their overseas operations afloat. Meanwhile, a number of deals are being re-marketed to Chinese clients for a fraction of the original price, he adds.

    Despite the appetite for deals, Xu says Chinese suitors face an increasingly hostile environment abroad as governments shore up their defences against the threat of hostile bids. “The biggest challenge is the rise in foreign investment control in host countries,” he says.

    Britain, for example, is bringing forward legislation to significantly widen the government’s ability to screen transactions. The framework, known as the National Security and Investment Bill, is expected to see as many as 200 sensitive deals reviewed each year.

    With just 11 deals formally reviewed by the Government on national security grounds since the current framework was adopted in 2002, the changes represent a major shift in policy.

    “The concern I have, which I think is broadly shared in government, is that there are real issues with the openness of the UK economy in areas of sensitive technology,” says Tom Tugendhat, conservative MP and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. “This is something that the Government is urgently trying to address.”

    Companies themselves are increasingly wary of hostile bids. “To make a move in the current climate would come across as aggressive and borderline rude to most boards,” says one M&A banker who believes Chinese companies are feeling emboldened as Asia slowly opens up its economies.

    “Unless there is a rescue scenario, most companies would be really reluctant to court opportunistic approaches – Chinese or non-Chinese.”

    But as more distressed companies grow desperate for capital investment and liquidity, concerns are growing that some may have no choice. “We have to have a positive relationship and dialogue with Beijing,” Kinnock says. “But we need to be firm. Beijing does whatever it takes to protect its own national interest first and foremost and we must do the same.”

    *****************************************************************************

    Inter Alia
    18 Apr 2020 9:35PM

    Just for interest and food for thought: in Australia, the government have closed all foreign investment for the time being, for the express purpose of preventing Chinese interests buying assets in failed enterprises for a song.

    At the same time, there are calls being made from parliamentarians to present China with a damages bill for the damage caused through COVID-19, the so called “China virus” or “Wuhan virus”. The thinking is to calculate the damages bill and present it to China for payment. Knowing full well that they will reject it out of hand, the calls are for Australia to confiscate assets that the CCP have already acquired in lieu of those damages, including a port, various food manufacturing industries, land and property, etc.

    Donald Trump is considering doing the same thing, and the UK and others should also get on board…

        2. Probably in exchange for a silent Chinese takeover of half our big companies. Since Blair, I haven’t believed in fairy tales of good government any more.

      1. True. But the lawyers have filed the lawyers’ law suits with the intention of the principal beneficiaries being the lawyers, if you get my drift.

  7. SWEDISH EPIDEMIOLOGIST LAYS OUT SWEDEN’S THINKING
    https://youtu.be/bfN2JWifLCY

    This interview by Freddie Sayers of Professor Johan Giesecke, one of the world’s most senior epidemiologists, who is an advisor to the Swedish Government (he hired Anders Tegnell who is currently directing Sweden’s strategy), is worth 35 minutes of your lockdown viewing time. He lays out Sweden’s thinking

    The flattening of the curve we are seeing now is due to the most vulnerable dying first as much as the lockdown
    UK policy on lockdown and in other European countries is not evidence-based

    The correct policy is to protect the old and the frail only
    This will eventually lead to herd immunity as a “by-product”
    The initial UK response, before the “180 degree U-turn”, was better
    The Imperial College paper was “not very good” and he has never seen an unpublished, non-peer-reviewed paper have so much policy impact
    Is dismissive of the 510,000 figure that was predicted if mitigation measures were not implemented
    The Imperial College paper was much too pessimistic and did not factor in the now much increased ICU capacity
    Any such models are a dubious basis for public policy anyway, taking no account of real world specifics
    The results will eventually be similar for all countries
    Covid-19 is a “mild disease” and similar to the flu, and it was the novelty of the disease that scared people.
    The actual fatality rate of Covid-19 will in all likelihood turn out to be in the region of 0.1%
    At least 50% of the population of both the UK and Sweden will likely be shown to have already had the disease when mass antibody testing becomes available
    His Swedish blunt logic is not an eccentricity, he was the first Chief Scientist of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and an advisor to the director general of the WHO. Guido increasingly thinks we need to move towards “climbing down the rungs” of lockdown.

    This eminent epidemiologist makes a convincing case that this 3 week extension should be the last unless and until there is a second wave…

    Hat-tip: Unherd: Swedish expert: why lockdowns are the wrong policy
    https://order-order.com/2020/04/18/must-watch-swedish-epidemiologist-lays-swedens-thinking-video/#comments

    2. For the same reason China keeps lying about the number of deaths they’ve suffered. The state does NOT accept anything that could embarrass it.

      1. I’ve found that as chair for our Clinical Governance meetings via MST, I have the power to mute all.
        Mwah ha ha ha 😊

        1. I have the camera disabled so that my colleagues can’t see my house. Microsoft teams lets you choose a fake background now, which is quite fun, but most colleagues still disable the camera, I’ve noticed.
          Actually, that reminds me of something: every time I try to call my elderly parent, my grown up sibling who lives in the same household is on a conference call, and apparently nobody can call in on the telephone while a conference call is running, as the conference call then drops out.
          I’m guessing the telephone is an IP connection, and the conference call drops out because the video link needs too many resources.
          But knowing my family, there is also some exercise of power and control going on here. I’m always asked to call again another time, but as my sibling knows perfectly well, our elderly parent cannot be called too late, plus I am working during the day, so the window for calling is actually quite small.
          I want to ask my sibling to drop the video link, but they may be using it for screen sharing – surely that would use fewer resources than a video link?
          Some people in my family always have to be special, and force you to all kinds of rituals to keep them happy, and I lost patience with this behaviour a long time ago.

          1. Some things never change.
            I get on very well with my brother until he starts his argumentative “I’m an original thinker, me” nonsense. Then I remember my father imperceptibly dragged you into an argument; I shut up and ‘go quiet’.

          3. That is a good idea, but would cost me a fortune. I used to call on my own mobile, so as to be more flexible about calling times, and I was getting bills of several hundred a month. I’ve just got a landline flat rate, to try and save money.

          4. We have a BT contract (since they own all the lines used by others) and with Internet, Sky and Mobile phones x 2, the Mobile Phone cost is £5 per month each with up to 300 minutes of call-time and free texts.

          5. I suggest taking a look at giffgaff.com. I use them for all my family’s mobile phones. One minor drawback is that you need a separate email address per phone.

          7. I haven’t lived in Munich for quite a while now, but I’m keeping my Moniker and I don’t care how many down votes I get :oD
            I now reside in the “posh” bit of Northamptonshire (Borders on Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire)

          8. If your ‘phone call makes the video conference crash, surely you have the advantage? Go ahead & make the call & tell our sibling to get real.

          10. Errm, the connection packets won’t get confused. If there are ten people making phone calls all at the same time using the same wire won’t affect that one bit.

            It could be that the connection is very poor and thus another bandwidth heavy connection coming in causes a jitter, but multiple connections should be possible without issue.

            What it screams is that we urgently, desperately need bandwidth. Proper internet connections.

          11. I am familiar with the OSI model. The connection is extremely poor (rural area), but I still think my sibling could fix things so that a phone call wouldn’t disturb the internet meeting, probably by turning off the video link. My son has reported in the past watching a video on the internet and seeing the quality affected when someone calls the landline.
            But I know perfectly well that if I suggest switching off the video, then I will be told that the video link is indispensable for my sibling’s livelihood.
            I suspect that sharing a screen during a meeting will take less bandwidth than a video link though. I just find it very hard to believe, that our family is so special that we have the only internet connection in the UK that can’t run an online meeting and a landline call at the same time.

      3. I started our session up and went to get a coffee. Came back to find Mongo leaning on the desk with half a dozen people all looking at this great slobbering dog.

  12. Good morrow, gentle NoTTLers. Clear blue sky – but quite a breeze.

    A delicious dinner last night. Then the “streamed” documentary from the Royal Academy about David Hockney. For once, two very good RA staff interviewers. Fascinating.

  13. Sunday Times

    “A study by Southampton University has shown that 190,000 people flew into
    the U.K. from Wuhan and other high-risk Chinese cities between January
    and March. The researchers estimated that up to 1,900 of these
    passengers would have been infected with Coronavirus.”
    Ahem,and just how many would have been infected after the 10 hour flight with largely recycled air swishing around the cabin??

    1. Hancock: “No point in testing them, because the virus is already in the UK.”
      Hancock: “It might be an idea to think about testing people arriving in the UK at some stage.”

      Great to have such a pillock “in charge”…..

  14. Morning all

    SIR – We are fortunate to live in a rural community with a garden and plenty of walks. But we are becoming angry about the failure of our Government even to contemplate an exit strategy.

    Quite apart from the toll that this crisis must be taking on the nation’s mental health (which can only be exacerbated by the lack of an end in sight), small businesses and charities need to be able to plan for the future.

    Leading members of our Government told us during the Brexit referendum campaign not to put all our faith in experts, but as soon as they are faced with a political decision they hide behind “expert medical opinion”.

    If other countries can debate their exit strategies openly, why can’t we?

    Paul Petrides

    Braunton, Devon

      1. ‘Morning, Bill, that’s why I’ve continually said ,”NO!” to her. She knows ⅞ of ⅜ of not a lot about allowing the country to recover – very soon.

  15. SIR – James Bartholomew is right about the NHS.

    Those of us who worked in it for many years knew a long time ago that it had ceased to be the envy of the world. The frontline workers, whether in hospital or the community, did their best. The problems always lay with the systems, and this has been clearly demonstrated during the present pandemic. The resources were never in the right place at the right time.

    All political parties have been afraid to address these issues because the NHS is thought to be sacrosanct. Perhaps, after this is all over, there can be a proper review of the way forward – one that doesn’t just suggest throwing more money at the problem.

    Dr K Bolden

    Exeter, Devon

    1. Like most British people when I moved to France in 1989 I thought that the NHS was the best health service in the world. I soon discovered that the French health service is far better.

      Certain British things are very probably the best in the world but I cannot see what good there is in saying that British things are the best when they clearly are not: it is false and dangerous complacency and is certainly not patriotic.

    2. My first girlfriend was a geriatric nurse in Dorking General Hospital in 1980. At that time, most of the hospital was a converted Victorian workhouse, a splendid Gothic hogwarts of a building where a good scrubbing with carbolic sorted out the damp, and did what it was supposed to, and that was to make people better.

      They then knocked down a wing of the hospital to build two new wards. To save money, they cut the number of nurses. Despite the clean modern lines, the nurses hated working there, and sometimes fights would break out between the nurses and the patients, which never happened in the old Victorian hospital.

      By Christmas, my girlfriend had had enough, so went AWOL to spend Christmas with her family back in France and I went with her. It took five levels of management to discipline her when she got back, and that was before they opened it up to the market. In the past, all that was needed was one matron.

      I went onto Google Earth the other day to see what became of it. The old Victorian hospital is now a housing estate, with a community health unit where the 1980 wards were. I imagine most of the medical facilities have been transferred to a big new central county hospital, built under PFI and requiring three times the management and five times the cost, and with much fewer doctors and nurses.

      They call it “Progress”.

      1. Although there are many doctors in the family I have had very few doctors or nurses amongst my past girlfriends. Many of them – including the best of the lot, Caroline, my wife – have been Modern Linguists who studied French, Spanish, Italian, German or Russian at university

  16. Win some, lose some……

    SIR – Liz Marlow (Letters, April 16) praises British Airways for refunding her cancelled flight.

    She was lucky. On Wednesday, BA notified me that my flight to Crete on May 16 has been cancelled, but obtaining a refund is proving impossible.

    The BA website is only offering rebooking or a credit voucher. For a refund, it is necessary to telephone – but, as phone calls are not currently being taken, this is not an option.

    Judith Catto

    Twickenham, Middlesex

    SIR – I received an email from British Airways on March 30 telling me that our holiday and flights had been cancelled.

    I tried to contact BA by phone as I wanted a refund, not a voucher. After a few attempts, I gave up. The next day I tried again, managed to speak to an agent and, after a call of less than 12 minutes, was told that the refund would be processed within the next seven days.

    A week later I checked my credit card statement and found that the refund had been put into my account on the same day as my phone call. Well done, BA.

    Paul Regan

    Birmingham

      1. Er, they don’t reply to letters. You can ONLY get the refund by telephoning the number which is answered then cut off.

      2. Letters have a bad habit of getting lost.
        That is why the PO rips us off charging extra for registering, tracking, signing for etc …..
        Morning, bb2.

  17. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH FFS

    Home Secretary Priti Patel says she is “determined” to stop illegal Channel crossings by migrants.

    On Friday 73 migrants were intercepted

    in the Channel and those landing in Dover were given face masks amid

    concerns about reports of a coronavirus outbreak in migrant camps near

    Calais.

    At least 470 people have attempted to cross the Channel illegally since Britain went into lockdown on 23 March.

    Ms Patel said: “I am determined to stop this criminal trade.”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-52338124?at_campaign=64&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_custom4=twitter&at_medium=custom7&at_custom2=twitter&at_custom3=%40BBCPolitics
    I despair,I absolutely despair,it’s so simple so easy
    “Anyone entering the UK illegally will NEVER be granted asylum,leave to remain or any benefits and will be deported without appeal”
    JOB DONE,If Australia can do it why can’t we??

    1. Because Priti Awful hasn’t a clue; and there are lots of people in the Home Office who sympathise with the illegals…..

      1. Good morning, Bill

        Has the Home Office officially set up a special unit to recruit illegal immigrants into its ranks? If not I am sure it will soon do so.

    2. 318323+ up ticks,
      Morning Rik,
      They are as one, you do NOT get into the party unless you conform to the party / party leaders hidden path.
      The fact is johnson by his own rhetoric has suggested
      an amnesty for those in place, signaling to others to follow.
      They need to think of the welfare of the indigenous and
      stop ALL welfare, housing especially for invaders is called for years ago.
      Five year period of NO incomers then take up the REAL UKIPs policy of controlled immigration.

    3. If Australia can do it why can’t we??

      Lack of political will appears to be the plausible explanation. The lack of will is driven by an inexplicable ideological desire to import alien cultures, especially islam, into the UK and the Western World generally. Do not expect change any time soon, both major parties are signed up to importing an ever growing alien demographic. The Labour Party openly state their intention to open the gates while the Tories make promises to the contrary but carry on regardless with the importation.

      1. Why is it “inexplicable” ?

        Globalist no borders Soros “leverages legislation and policy” through “strong relationships with officials and politicians”.

        He has a mega “leveraging” office just along the street from parliament.

        Aren’t his words sufficient explanation ?

      2. Why is it “inexplicable” ?

        Globalist no borders Soros “leverages legislation and policy” through “strong relationships with officials and politicians”.

        He has a mega “leveraging” office just along the street from parliament.

        Aren’t his words sufficient explanation ?

      4. I’ve commented on this before. Illegal immigrants and the like get Legal Aid. There is an entire industry with its own coterie of specialist lawyers who use the Legal Aid system to get rich. They take up cases on behalf of the illegal immigrants and pursue these cases relentlessly, garnering a fortune in fees.
        This process should provoke questions, but it does not seem to. For instance, why should taxpayers pay the legal costs of foreign criminals?
        Why should foreign criminals be allowed to remain in this country and be supported by the taxpayers while these drawn out cases play out at the taxpayers cost?

    4. Why do you keep asking the same questions ?

      Because Soros runs Britain and has done since at least 1997. Virtually all British laws and policies are Soros compliant.

    6. “I am determined to stop this criminal trade.”

      This is a bare-faced lie! It is quite obviously policy to bring in as many immigrants as possible. Morning Rik.

      1. A very good morning to you, Minty

        You are probably right but I shall, to borrow once more from Enobarbus,

        Follow the wounded chance of Antony (or in this case Ms Patel)
        Though my reason sits in the wind against me.

        [Antony and Cleopatra]

    7. Partially because Oz has far, far fewer lefties and bleeding hearts who want them to be welcomed.

      One sees the odd protest about the Island internment centres but they are few and far between.

      1. Oz also has a handy island inhabited by tribal cannibals just offshore from Queensland to put their unwanted migrants. Anyone thinking of swimming ashore will make the day of 4 metre saltwater crocodiles waiting for their dinner.

        What have we got? Puffins!

    8. Give Priti Patel a large plate of parsnips and a bowl full of the best butter – or even ghee if Asians prefer it – and see if her fine words get the job done.

      1. Morning. It seems to me that, while our government has the levers of power, they’re not connected to anything. The “Civil Service” just carries on doing what it always does.

        1. I imagine that is very close to the mark, especially with the NHS none-clinical managers.

        2. Yes, that pretty much sums up the civil service in a nutshell.

          It doesn’t matter what politicians want: unless it suits their agenda, it doesn’t get done.

  18. SIR – Mr Owen says HS2 “will transform rail travel between London, the North and Scotland”.

    That is exactly why the project must be cancelled. London does not need another route to the North. What is urgently required is a new east-to-west route through the Pennines, connecting cities such as Newcastle and Manchester. That would be an asset worth the money.

    John M Dent

    Derby

    1. Yes, but Johnson like May has sold out to the Chinese and the Chinese look likely to build it.

  19. A little girl is in line to see Santa. When it’s her turn, she climbs up on Santa’s lap. Santa asks,

    “What would you like Santa to bring you for Christmas?”

    The little girl replies, “I want a Barbie and GI Joe.”

    Santa looks at the little girl and says, “I thought Barbie comes with Ken.”

    “No,” said the little girl. “She comes with GI Joe. She fakes with Ken!”

  20. Will someone explain to me why ‘yer leftie media’ continually
    blames the Prime Minister for the [seemingly] on going problems
    within the NHS.
    Surely the NHS is to blame
    …..or am I too simple [no, don’t answer that] to understand?

    2. Because nationalized institutions are ultimately the responsibility of government.

      1. You have to be very strong to stand up to the vested interests. Look at Mr. Petulant when Priti Patel expected him to do his job.
        I’ve seen all too many councillors go native when faced with local bureaucrats.

    3. 318323+ up ticks,
      Morning G,
      The whole of the infrastructure is rotten in the upper echelons & well rooted in, in the governance department
      the chiefs are, in the main, carpet- baggers, the indians
      ( followers) at best, misguided.

      The NHS department far to many chiefs and not enough
      in-house trained indians ( nurses doctors, cleaners etc)
      what we have are top class.

      Post virus we are as a nation are in dire need of a very serious political / NHS top management ( deceivers)
      arse OUT kicking campaign.

    4. It’s the liblabcon game it’s how it works and diverts attention of the public away from the fact that they are not really in charge, whatever party gets elected.

    5. Idiots seem to think that politicians run their departments. As most idiots are also Lefties, you have a situation where they can blame the people they hate for the failures of the organisation.

  21. Morning, Campers. (In your own back yard, natch.)
    A couple of MoS links and pictures of a fridge that makes Allan Towers food chilling arrangements seem positively state of the art.
    (The most exotic object I could find was some out-of-date gorgonzola which walked to the bin under its own power.)

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8233207/Private-hospitals-taken-NHS-fight-against-coronavirus-left-sinfully-empty.html

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-8233479/PETER-HITCHENS-five-weeks-mad-lockdown-panic-actually-good.html

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4fcd9d267546b026e90cfd3035cfcae2e7798c3a6e4dd6c5bcb5e1c6b9d1fea1.jpg

  22. Teenager, 17, dies after being hit by motorbike at funeral attended by 150 people. Jimmy Nsubuga – Yahoo! News UK – 18 April 2020.

    A teenager has died after being hit by a motorcycle at a funeral that had 150 guests.

    Dad-of-three Aaron Smith, 17, was airlifted to hospital after suffering head injuries on Thursday morning in Murston, near Sittingbourne in Kent.

    I shall leave you all to cogitate on that!

    https://uk.news.yahoo.com/aaron-smith-teenager-killed-funeral-kent-171330090.html

    2. I can’t gain access to that article.
      But 150 people ?
      Ten is the absolute maximum allowed at a funeral.
      Our family had to sit and watch a Facebook version of the funeral of a beloved family member !

          1. The law should apply equally to everyone. We need to get the whole concept of protected groups out of the law books. Our country is sick at the moment.

      2. I’m guessing, since it’s Yahoo and Microsoft News, that is an incident in the USA.

          3. ?
            Call me old fashioned but I’m getting peed orff with having to accept cookies.
            I’m finding they give me indigestion.

          4. Accept as much as you like and then, before shutting down and after you’ve signed out of everything, find, via the three lines in the top right of you Internet Screen (called the ‘Hamburger) the ‘History’, Select them all and delete.

            Then run Ccleaner and that’s them gone – takes two minutes, maximum, at the end of every session, to have a clean machine.

  23. We are all under lock down and living under strained conditions , more like a police state

    YET…

    WHY IS THIS IDIOTIC REPATRIATION being planned

    Thousands of Britons are to be brought home on rescue flights from South Asia, while many say they are still stuck in other countries.

    Under plans announced by the Foreign Office, 7,000 people will be put on 31 charter flights running between 20 and 27 April, with elderly people and those with underlying conditions taking priority.

    A total of 17 flights will leave from India, 10 from Pakistan and four from Bangladesh.

    https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-thousands-of-britons-to-be-brought-home-on-rescue-flights-from-south-asia-11975311?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

    1. 318323+ up ticks,
      Morning TB,
      Party / voting numbers must be maintained
      political lifestyles likewise.

    2. “Britons”???
      People should be left where they are. Full Stop. (Will they get the bill? No we poor tax-paying, close-mouthed, powerless saps will.)

    3. To Hell with them, they must almost certainly be with relatives, let them stay with their relatives.

    4. Unless these people have holidays lasting four months or more, they knew darn well that there would be travel problems.
      I doubt they popped home to see the rellies for Christmas.

      1. Tabassum Niamat wrote on Twitter: “How are families with 4 upto 10 family members able to afford tickets that are being sold for £800+. These do not sound like repatriation flights! Why are Pakistani Brits not afforded the same care as other Brits?”

        Days later, she claimed passengers were left waiting at the airport without food “for hours” after buying tickets.

        1. Duh, because other Brits do not require flying home from Pakistan. There is a big difference between being stranded in a country where you speak the language, hold a passport and have a family home, and being stranded in a country you are just visiting.

          1. Because Pakistani Brits demand that the rest of us pay for them to be here, and ignore what some of them do to our country (and its young girls). It’s called having your cake and eating it. They should stay in Pakistan.

          2. Because Pakistani Brits demand that the rest of us pay for them to be here, and ignore what some of them do to our country (and its young girls). It’s called having your cake and eating it. They should stay in Pakistan.

      3. It is part of a £75m scheme announced on 30 March by Dominic Raab to return Britons home from countries affected by the coronavirus crisis.

        Flights have already been chartered from countries including Bolivia, Ecuador, Philippines and India.

        The government has faced criticism that it has not done enough to help thousands of Britons stranded abroad during the pandemic that causes COVID-19.

    6. I thought we had the highest death rate from corona panic of anywhere. Why would they want to come back apart from their running out of benefits and why are we actively letting them come back? I thought you weren’t allowed to visit relatives.

      1. Protected minority. We mustn’t be judgemental and criticise their ancestral customs.

    8. It has to be said ……Just WTF is actually going on ?
      Conversly, our next door neighbours have been on lock down in France for nearly five weeks.

        1. Strange how things are turning out.
          And only last week we had at least one plane load of people from Romanian arrive at Stansted airport comming here to pick fruit and veg. That seems a bit strange we don’t have any fruit picking until the strawberry season, mid summer. And I don’t think vegetables are quite ready yet. We are still importing from Spain and Africa ???
          I know I keep saying this but, something dark and evil is happening around this virus pandemic.

          1. 2 weeks quarantine.
            Lots of weeding and planting.
            Also, most Brits can’t be arsed to do hard work in the fields – bending, pulling, lifting. Every day. For minimum wage. Living in barracks, because they need to be close to the job. Not fucking off because it’s Saturday, or there’s a party, or it’s all too hard and I miss me Mam. So another asparagus stalk needs trained to not pull up crop plants rather than weeds.

            Youth in the rich West isn’t what it used to be.

          2. You ain’t wrong Obs, but you forgot to mention all the mental health issues. Distraught from a broken nail greasy hair not enough Tats…..the list is endless.

          4. Asparagus. Salads under glass/plastic.
            But should still be done by Brits who are kicking their heels.

          5. I have said it before – Direction of labour in a national emergency. Bevin Boys etc etc. Compulsory.

        2. They haven’t gone away. Toy Boy knows that and is very worried that they will re-emerge as the militant wing of the locked in.

  25. I must start by saying the police up here in North Yorks are behaving well but the photos and reports which show police elsewhere acting disgracefully and letting their colleagues down. The pictures of numerous police vehicles in London with their blue lights flashing. Cressida Dick surrounded by her fawning bobbies and a crowd of people with disregard to the 2 metre distance rule was a bad example to we “submissive” individuals. Cressida Dick should be charged with wasting police time, disobeying the Corona virus rules and failing to prevent civilians forming a crowd. The other story was the clip of a Lancashire policeman in a mad outrage threatening a civilian with charging him for a made up offence. The policeman will be disciplined and I suspect he will be sacked. A former colleague of mine was a magistrate and often said he would never trust a policeman. Fortunately I still have respect for most policemen but the Police FORCE needs to get its act together.

    2. Unfortunately for the policeman in question, there isn’t an offence of being stroppy, lippy and argumentative to a police officer or he could easily have used that.

        1. I confess to watching TV programmes such as “Police interceptors” and “Motorway Cops”, and I am amazed at what police officers commonly have to put up with yet still manage to keep their tempers. Foul language, verbal abuse, spitting, insults and physical assaults are common, and often supported by crowds of feral like-minded friends or neighbours. Of course, it can be argued that the police officers were on their best behaviour because of being on camera but, even so, remarkable restraint is the norm. I find it difficult to keep my cool just watching the behaviour meted out to our police.

          1. There is that, I agree. But to lord it over decent law-abiding people during times when we are all under stress, is not acceptable. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

          2. Police officers are not immune from this time of stress either and I suggest that the incident in question is the exception rather than the rule. Yes, there have been some excesses but they are mostly the result of poor senior leadership rather than individual officers acting improperly.

          3. When all this hoohah has died down, the upper echelons of the police, the NHS and the Civil Service need to be gone through like a dose of salts.
            At times like this, I can understand why the calls for a Man of Destiny become overwhelming. If the useless sluggards at the top, who have brought this country to its knees, still remain place things could get very nasty. Then I think of the people practically leaping over the fence to distance themselves, straying out into road for the same reason, refusing to make eye contact and the general air of ovine obedience, and hope withers on the vine.
            1,000 years without serious occupation by a foreign power has seemingly produced a nation of unquestioning sheep.

      2. Aren’t those public order offences? I’m an expert – I watch Police Interceptors :o)

          1. They’re decent bunch up my way (well except the bastard who gave me a speeding ticket – he was in an unmarked car parked in a private driveway)

    4. The Met/Dick event was a version of a Zil lane, rubbing the people’s faces in the Met police privilege. “If you try it, you will be tazered and arrested, but we can do it when we like”.

  26. Just to add a note of despair.

    First World War – average DAILY death rate of servicemen = 550

    Second World War – Blitz = average DAILY death rate of civilians = 170

    Of course, lots of other people were dying all the time, from old age, lack of breath, accidents etc etc

    Don’t recall much in the way of either “lockdown” (dreadful word) or “social distancing”…..

    1. And as a percentage of the population at the time, those numbers were even more significant

      1. I work FT in one hospital and have a part time job in another. Plenty in both.

  29. The government has got a tiger by the tail with this lockdown.

    Things like this are always easier to switch on than to switch off and the government’s big problem is that it will have to switch off one day and it hasn’t got a clue how to do it. They’ve scared us all into submission, looking at anyone we encounter with suspicion, going shopping in masks, like the woman I saw the other day whose dust mask covered only her chin and lower lip, probably because she didn’t like the way it interfered with her breathing and got soggy.

    They’ve taken all the enjoyment out of simple pleasures like going for a walk.

    They’ve broken up families and banned gatherings. They’ve terrified the population into acting irrationally.

    They are destroying the economy that pays for, along with everything else, the NHS.

    And they are going to have to admit soon that the virus isn’t going away. It’s with us for good. They don’t know how to do this, because they will have to admit this has all been for nothing and there was really not much they could do about it from the start.

    1. 318323+ up ticks,
      Morning B,
      I do not agree ,in the nicest possible manner with the seemingly ALL inclusive “we”.
      All we are seeing are a new set of issues but the same
      type governance that has been in, and voted in, for decades.
      Peoples can hardly blame the politico’s / governance when they, the peoples, back the politico’s actions even when treacherous & via the ballot booth again,again,& again, then some.
      Some of these politico’s have to wear boxing gloves to deter arse fonderling, others are into rent boys
      ( foreign) not even patriotic, in the construction of snorting daisy chains .
      Then we have paedophilia allowed to continue with the full knowledge of a SIR no less, tying Hol to the Hoc.
      What I cannot get my head around is that these same type are returned to power time & again, again,& again.

    2. At least you haven’t got the opposition parties stirring up resentment and unrest over the lock up.

      I suppose that Abbott standing up and telling everyone that the numbers don’t add up would not really be believable but the antifa types could certainly stir things up by protests with the mob waving “We want to work” banners.

      1. I understand Starmer is insisting the govt publishes its get out strategy. If they don’t come up with one, he’ll be pushing the agenda.

      1. The cure appears to be various pop singers singing songs and people standing on the doorsteps on a Thursday evening howling at the moon.

    4. It’s a perfect storm, Government expenditure is going through the roof while tax revenues are falling through the floor.

        1. Plus new bands, possibly 60% on “unearned” income and income over £250,000.

          And 50% IHT band on estates up to £5mn and 75% on over £5mn to encourage spending on Chinese tat.

          1. If you are going to up the inheritance tax you may as well release the oldies from lockup. Ease future load on the NHS and increase short term revenues at the same time.

          2. What, before the inevitable short term bounce back of stock markets when the earlier releases are getting back to work?

            The majority of any early deaths amongst the elderly would help the pensions aspect but they are also the ones below IHT thresholds.

          3. Not all elderly are poor, plenty of value in property that could be assessed for tax.

          4. The vast majority of the very old don’t hit the current thresholds for IHT.
            Fewer than 5% of estates pay the tax.

          6. It’s an archetypical envy tax.

            The really rich can avoid it, the poor to moderate well off don’t get caught by it.

            It satisfies the left because people who are better off than they are are hit by it. It doesn’t get paid by the dead it gets paid by their heirs.

      1. 318323+ up ticks,
        Morning M,
        You can hum that tune again.
        Think about it,gun confiscation was put in place
        years ago along with a 100 year D notice on Dunblane.

        Ask yourself are more policemen armed ?

        Police currently = establishment employees.

        Ask yourself would the politico’s be capable of holding a four year grudge?

        Ask yourself would these governance parties
        act in a treacherous manner ?

  30. I have just finished watching our Church Service,
    the following link was provided, as well as prayers,
    sermon and hymns.
    I hope you will enjoy it:

    https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=28sqs5H5hao

  31. in lieu of much else to do, and fired (?) by the latest sleb cringe fest (step away from that TV) MB and I have come up with a good publicity ploy for Madonna.
    She should keep her legs and gob shut.

    1. Yo anne

      I did not realise there were progs on the Telly, before the Chase came on at 1700 hours

      1. A handy tip if you’re watching The Chase. Record it and sit down to watch it at 18.00. That way you can whizz through not only the adverts, but also those annoying bits where the chaser is setting the bids and they go through the ritual of asking the wierdos on the panel which bid they should go for.

        Then you can spend your time better as they pass on questions relating to things like ‘Which country invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982?’

    2. I had the optio of watching or leaving the room.

      Another lesson from that cringefest is how so few of those never heard of performers can sing . What a waste of time that was I am only surprised that Ging and Meagain did not get involved.

        1. But only three hours behind us. The whole thing was surely recorded so they could have recorded their woke offering before Archie’s tea.

          The fact that it was recorded makes the appalling quality even harder to accept. Did no one have the gumption to say “nice song darlin, now sing into the bloody mike”.

          Do you think Trump watched it?

          1. Every time I see the name of that unfortunate child I have a vision similar to Reginald Perrin who saw a hippo every time his mother in law was mentioned.

            My vision isn’t a hippo. It’s a dachshund, a sort of toffee-coloured one. It’s my mate’s pet and he’s always going on about it. Archie it’s called and this Archie was around before the sparkling couple had even met, in the days when Harry had a pair.

    3. Many years ago when I worked in Selfridges I was told that one of the guys in the stockroom put himself about because, “he’s frightened if he doesn’t use it, it’ll drop off”. I figure it’s the same with Madonna. Women like her think if they don’t open their legs, it’ll heal up!

      2. But I thought she never did open her legs, so she had to fly around the world adopting children.

        1. She’s had two of her own. At least two who’ve been allowed to live. La Ciccone is a big supporter of infanticide, sorry, feminism, so there may have been others.

        2. 🙂 She does have one child that was produced by natural methods.
          (I’m waiting for a big finger to come down from the sky and blast us for discussing such profane matters on a Sunday.)

          1. Are you suggesting that as well as chemists and food stores, Lottery ticket sellers are going round knocking on doors, standing 6 feet back and selling tickets to householders?

            :-))

  32. Has anybody any idea where I can find the total daily deaths since house arrest?
    Are they significantly different to other years?

      1. Yo Nd

        Government (contolled) statistics just prove that idrimking orange will get you pi$$ed.

        over a five day period, drink orange squash with a spirit, getting drunk everyday. The only constant in their eyes is Orange

      2. Thank you. I’ve posted a link above and the qualification it gives on the figures.

        Note: Deaths could possibly be counted in both causes presented. If a death had an underlying respiratory cause and a mention of COVID-19 then it would appear in both counts.

      1. Thank you but what I was really after was total deaths from all causes to see if there is a significant difference to other years or if they are just moving figures about.

          1. Thanks but I think ONS would be their source or they might make their own numbers up. Who knows who or what to believe.

          1. Thank you for that. I’ll bookmark that website for future use.
            It’s useful to see as it’s the number of deaths overall that will show the true picture. As the ONS figures say, if someone dies and has a respiratory disease and Covid 19 they may be recorded as 2 deaths.

  33. Deleted a post below. Tried to copy a Candace Owens Twitter page but it didn’t work! It was about Covid death forecasts now being 12% lower than originally forecast.

  34. Despite what some say, Britain is not always on the right side of history. Rowan Moore19 April 2020.

    You will have heard of the Spanish Armada of 1588, in which King Philip II’s boys took one hell of a beating. Up to 60 ships sunk, 15,000 lives lost, a famous speech by Elizabeth I. But you may not have heard of the return fixture, the English Armada, 1589, a disastrous attack on Spain in which Francis Drake’s fleet lost 40 ships and 10,000 to 15,000 lives.

    Morning everyone. This is the sort of BritBashing that has become obligatory in the MSM.

    The overall implication here is that the fate of the Spanish Armada is lauded in English History because it supports the idea of English exceptionalism and Drake’s Armada suppressed because it was a defeat. You will note that, “King Philip II’s boys took one hell of a beating” while the English implemented a “disastrous (no innocent heroic young males here) attack”. Like most Cultural Marxist reasoning it is this twisting of facts that tells the story.

    The Spanish Armada’s task was to conquer England and bring it under the sway of Spain and the Inquisition. Drakes was to cripple Spanish seapower further and establish a base in the Azores. There was no question of him invading Spain proper or burning its citizens at the stake. That Moore should somehow think there is an equivalence between the two, or that they should be treated equally in the history books, speaks more to the moral corruption that Cultural Marxism always engenders than historical accuracy. .

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/19/despite-what-some-say-britain-is-not-always-on-the-right-side-of-history

    1. But you may not have heard of the return fixture, the English Armada,

      Actually, we have. It was mentioned on QI, as well as in at least one history documentary. So what’s the Guardian’s point, apart from “we hate Britain and the British.” I really do wonder why they stay here, and don’t relocate to a country that would meet all their huge expectations.

    3. I assume that isn’t Charles Moore but the Moore bint who Germaine Greer referred to as wearing ‘fŭck me’ shoes.
      I can’t imagine CM wearing anything other than well polished brogues.

      1. What sort of footware is that?

        What about Hush Puppies as worn by Ken Clarke? There is a man who certainly did not deserve to have any literal, enjoyable, fulfilling and pleasant lovemaking but certainly deserved to be horribly f*cked in the metaphorical sense.

        1. ‘Morning, Richard, one always knew that they were Hush Puppies as one had pi55ed on the other one.

          Boom, boom!

        2. Like ‘getting mediaeval on your ass’ you knew what it meant but it was impossible to explain. Somehow, red high heeled shoes waving in the air from a recumbent position sprang to mind.
          GG can be a cantankerous old bat, but she sure has a way with words.

      1. Various governments’ propaganda on immigration would have the people believe that our recent invaders actually improve and strengthen our culture and we cannot do without them. History isn’t the propagandists’ strong point, it would seem.

      2. Even back in the time of Elizabeth I the English (and particularly the apprentices) were known for their xenophobia.

        1. When I were a lad growing up in the Somerset village of North Pertherton the lads of North Newton a couple of miles away were viewed with deep suspicion and distrust, people don’t change much, ho hum

    5. 3183323+ up ticks,
      Morning AS,
      Maybe some holding a long term grudge are, within the UK, bringing the inquisition back into play, as in ” what’s in your shopping trolley lady” ?
      We can Tommy Robinson you, we can say what you
      do or don’t do, We write the script,
      Hop, skip, jump, on Command, NOW.

      1. It beggars belief that at the moment when Britons are being fined for going outside, invaders are simultaneously being welcomed by the authorities.
        And most people aren’t seeing anything wrong with this setup!

        1. A lot of people aren’t seeing the picture at all. I suspect a majority that do see that it’s wrong. It’s just the usual pro-EU, open borders mob that don’t. They’re a minority, but unfortunately very loud.

        2. 318323+ up ticks,
          Morning BB2,
          Precisely, most peoples in my personal opinion
          in the electorate have been condoning it for years via the ballot booth, & the keep in / keep out, voting mode ie party first.
          Regardless of consequences, by the by we are currently witnessing the consequences.
          Seemingly the current invaders are, along with being given a NI number also receive a face mask.
          NO WELFARE would stop the incoming invasion in it’s GB heading tracks, but the politico’s know that, so do their supporters.

    6. I like the title of the leading picture, “A year later it was the turn of the British“. I don’t think the Scots were participating in joint ventures with the English at that time. For one thing it was barely two years since the English had executed the Queen of Scotland.
      A jolly good grasp of history then?

      1. You can’t expect the grauniad to mention the “English”, surely, Horace. I mean as far as they are concerned we don’t exist as a nation (except for nasty little nationalists who fly the flag of St George and are hopelessly white and racist).

      1. 318323+ up ticks,
        Afternoon N,
        Would that be the Irish down voting, bloodless
        self assessing p o r g ( A ne mick ) A…. scroat
        ogga 1 knows him as.
        To answer it direct is to invite odious contamination, I do put his attitude down to being a prefect in the early days ,still, a sad case, to be pitied.
        I find it strange when posting an anti paedophilia comment “it” down ticks it, & has peoples in agreement.

        1. I have never down ticked but how can people agree with a down tick? Surely you need a comment to either up or down tick.

          1. 318323 + up ticks,
            Afternoon Atg,
            please redirect your question to “it” the multi
            alias “it” recognises itself as A…. scroat.

    2. Discontent brought about by a shortfall in the jeans, you say?

      I blame that dastardly Levi Strauss.

      1. 318323+ up ticks,
        Afternoon DM,
        Jeans was purposely posted to attract the eye
        knowing there are those on here that no matter how serious the issue it must be posted in a correct manner.
        Genes / Jeans = concealing small willy, not “it’s” fault but enough to turn one bitter.

  36. When the electricity bills start dropping onto the doormats after this lockdown I wonder whether people will finally realise what the Greenscam is costing us.

      1. Too few of those to give a statistically significant number.
        };-O

        Don’t use Nottle as your base for people being awake to such things!

        1. Sad but true. The tinkerers’ blogsite Hackaday published an article about climate change recently. You would think that people who build their own electronic and mechanical stuff would be logical and clued up.
          Unfortunately not.
          There were one or two brave souls protesting that it’s all codswallop, but they were drowned out by the far greater number of Gretins. One post that stood out, was the one that pointed out that Venus (or was it Saturn, I don’t remember) has a lot of CO2 in its atmosphere, which is clearly the result of runaway global warming. We don’t want to end up turning Earth into Venus (or whatever), so we’d better pay our green dues.

          1. Did he mention at all the fact that Venus is 26 million miles closer to the sun than we are?

          3. Honestly, I forget which planet it was. It was all such a load of drivel! We have plants and the sea as CO2 regulating factors too.

        2. In fact don’t use NoTTL as a measure of any knowledge in the population at large. I keep on getting caught out with MOH and others.

    2. Hundreds of billions.

      It’s not just the economic cost, it’s the pollution. All the policies we labour under prevent us from trulyrecycling and they hide the waste we throw out which we send overseas for them to dump in the sea.

    2. So they used a stock photo of a 13 year old boy, even though the one who died of CV19 was a muslim. Is that so we know what a young boy looks like?

    4. Yo Sue

      I wonder, if Sad Dick Khant was involved

      Mayor of London backed tech start-up used to make ‘deep fakes’

      Synthesia, a UK start-up, develops technology that has been used to make doctored videos

      A London start-up called Synthesia is a leading global developer of“deep fake” technology which allows video and audio to be doctored to
      create convincing footage of people saying things they have never said.

      The technology has been described by Damian Collins MP, who chairs a parliamentary committee on fake news, as a serious threat to democracy.

      “Deep fakes bring fake news to another level and threatens democracies around the world,” he has said.

      Facebook is so concerned about the potential damaging effects of deep fakes on the next presidential election that the US company has banned them from its social network….

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/04/18/mayor-london-backed-tech-start-up-used-make-deep-fakes/

      1. There was a TV program about that not too long ago, they had taken stock recordings of Obama and the Synthesia program had been able to merge in a completely nonsensical script to give an extremely believable new video.

        Not to worry they said!

      2. This is similar to an outfit I read about a few weeks ago, where they can take video footage of a dead person and make it “live” again so that the parnts or whoever an hold a conversation with the quasi-hologram persona.

        Ghoulish, I’d say. Like dressing your dead in clothes and leave them in an underground cave sitting around a tea table…

  38. All the figures available are on he link and click the green box for Excel spreadsheet.

    The note below is interesting as I read that as some deaths are being counted twice. What do you think?

    Weekly provisional figures on deaths registered in England and Wales

    Note: Deaths could possibly be counted in both causes presented. If a death had an underlying respiratory cause and a mention of COVID-19 then it would appear in both counts.

    Note that up-to-date counts of the total numbers of deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) are published by Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on the .GOV.UK website. ONS figures differ from the DHSC counts as the latter include deaths which have not yet been registered.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/weeklyprovisionalfiguresondeathsregisteredinenglandandwales

    2. Confusion is good. Unreliable statistics per any interpretation. Any course action may be thereby justified.
      (As arithmetic is considered a basic competency, it would not be beyond the wit of man to compile accurate figures on anything, if they wanted to?)

  39. If the over 70s reallly are expected to stay at home until the middle of next year – there will be a revolt.

    Why not just supply each of us with a cyanide pill right now?

    1. At what point does protecting and saving life mean no life at all for the ones wrapped in cotton wool.

    2. At what point does protecting and saving life mean no life at all for the ones wrapped in cotton wool.

      1. I think we are at that point now Bob3. The cotton wool may never come off if there is a COVID-20/21 [ad infinitum] outbreak which our leaders cannot control. Let us free and we will protect ourselves as we think fit. We are not entirely stupid.

        1. ‘Morning, Clyde, “We are not entirely stupid.”

          …and those who are, will soon follow Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

    4. The ill effects of such a lockdown really will overwhelm the NHS, unless of course they refuse to treat the over 70’s in hospital.

    1. I don’t wish to denigrate what he did in any way. It was a magnificent effort and well done Tom

      But the fact that the NHS budget for 2019 was £134,000,000,000 rather makes you wonder if they’d even notice the difference that 20 million will make. The NHS has a large appetite for money.

        1. That’s not the point. Apparently the money is earmarked for specific items of use or comfort to patients and/or staff.

          1. I know – I was simply pointing out how much money it costs to run an acute hospital…

      2. I think the real significance of Tom Moore’s fundraising is to raise the profile of elderly people, and show that they are active members of society, not just waste to be disposed of, which was how things were going up til a couple of weeks ago.

        1. I think “supposed” is the key word, Missus. I have many doubts about where the sums raised will end up.

      4. The NHS has a limitless appetite. And boy will it be milked once this is over! No criticism will be allowed.

      5. Every time you try to check NHS Charities, a cookie box comes up.
        Has anybody any idea what these ‘charities’ are and are there any online details about them?
        I’m so afraid that Major Tom’s understanding of the NHS is based on the organisation set up when he was a young man.

    2. There is a Swedish film called “The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared” which is worth watching if you enjoy dark humour and can tolerate subtitles. Similar theme.

      1. Also the book. It is one of the funniest I’ve read. By Jonas Jonasson.
        You may also try “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole.
        (And no, it is not about our politicians.)

    3. As a fitting reward for his sterling service, I believe Capt. Tom should be placed on the Regular Reserve List and immediately promoted to major.

      That’d give him something to sing about.

    1. Harry must have had a very bad upbringing indeed, because it left him under the illusion that he is qualified to lead and inspire other people.

    2. Recruitment is difficult enough. If His Ex Royalness keeps banging on about negative aspects of serving (which were ever thus, incidentally) he’ll completely destroy the thing he purports to love.

      1. How did this beastly woman turn a stupid but pleasant young man into a piece of excrement so quickly?

        Mind you it was myth that his mother was an agreeable person – she was a manipulative woman who may have been academically as challenged as he was but she turned herself into a very adroit opportunist.

    5. Presumably Trash told him what to say. Mustn’t drop out of the public eye now we are “private” people.

      1. Judging by the MoS, the photographer was working overtime while they delivered potato peelings and cabbage soup to the poor.

        2. “You’ve just shot Prince Harry and Meagain!”

          “Who am dey officer? All I seed was dem masked robbers”

      2. I have seldom seen a whiter looking baby than young Archie. It is a mystery to me and what will the next one be like if there is one?

        1. I suspect madam will keep her claws well dug into Prince Doormat until the spare is produced; just as an insurance policy. Can’t let all that lovely money and publicity dry up, can we?

        1. I would never be rude to Belle.
          She is nice and wouldn’t desert her country because her hormones were in overdrive.

    7. Has he suggested that instead of paying for his security protection the money allocated should be given to a fund for forces’ veterans?

      Migraine, Duchess of Sussex, is giving me a headache!

  44. PPE shortages still front and centre in the CV-19 debate. LBC reporting that 84 tons of PPE, including 400,000 gowns, are being flown in from Turkey. The UK has outsourced its PPE supply and did not hold sufficient stocks to cover a pandemic. What exactly did the pandemic ‘exercise’ held in 2016 highlight as key points, if not including PPE?
    At the start of this pandemic the monolithic NHS management were bleating about the difficulties of delivering PPE to the front line. They’ve had over four weeks to sort that ‘problem’ out but have they?

    1. Why should they sort out anything?
      They are hardly going to go out of business, so they won’t lose their jobs. And they have Matt Hancock there to blame.

      1. I agree but it’s around four weeks since the claims of delivery problems were aired – or am I losing track of time under lock-down?

    3. I’m guessing you’ve experienced the problems involved with the inertia inherent in the higher management structures of a large monolithic organisation, certainly from my lowly position it had me tearing the last few strands of my hair out , this involved the ill fated NHS patient records system, my colleagues and I could have resolved most of the problems without too much trouble.

      1. I was fortunate to be employed at a time when the very set in stone GPO was privatised and became BT. The new BT shed jobs and layers of management and many of us sitting through those briefings wondered how we would cope.
        In fact, in those heady days the Networks side of the business improved as decisions were being taken at a lower level of management: we were, in modern parlance, empowered to get the job done. Without that step change in running the business the modernisation of the network wouldn’t have happened in the time frame it did.
        I can only speak from my experience in Networks and I did have personal experience that the dead hand of unresponsive/uncooperative management survived in other areas of the business.
        One incident involved a major international company with literally 24/365 worldwide responsibilities that had a serious problem, not BT’s fault but I had to produce a solution and cure the problem in short order. I required another group to complete a simple job on my instruction but they wouldn’t do the work on a verbal request and therefore I went ahead and did it myself. Bypassing the ‘system’ wasn’t ideal but the risk was justified. This same group ignored my instruction not to bill the customer for the work done and placed me in a very embarrassing position with the company’s communications boss.
        In my experience giving junior management the encouragement to make the decisions to get the job done improves performance and Networks went down that road: on the other hand, being bound by systems and inflexible procedures attracts another type of manager and that’s a problem.

    4. They’ve had xxx years to sort it out.
      £4.5 billion down the drain.
      Morning, fellow Colcestrian.

      1. It would cost £4.5 billion in consultancy fees to prepare the feasibility study and equality survey.

      2. It would cost £4.5 billion in consultancy fees to prepare the feasibility study and equality survey.

        1. I, and a few others who’ve done it for companies like SmithKline Beecham as was, La Technip in France with outlying operations in Abu Dhabi and other large, international conglomerates, will do it for about 5 million and that will include all the hardware, software, firmware etc.

          The only caveat is, in order to get the whole thing up and running, there is a requirement for Top Management to commit to the project, override the Unions and eventually take ‘Ownership’ of the whole system.

          Ah, well, dream on…

        1. I haven’t listened. Do I assume the cost of supporting the desk pilots in the style to which they quickly become accustomed was mentioned?

          1. Oh, it was a range of things: Johnson missing 4 or 5 COBRA meetings; Hancock failing here, there and everywhere; PPE shortages and a rumour that we sent our reserves of PPE to China back in February; outsourcing manufacture of PPE. Nothing very positive at all and if only half of it has a basis in truth then we’re buggered.
            The globalist chickens are coming home to roost big time for the UK because long term strategic thinking became a thing of the past and low costs and higher profits took centre stage.

  46. Morning all 😕
    They are at it again eh, more cockups by our political classes.
    Apparently the virus has had a second comming in China. How did that happen ?

  48. I’m getting sorely irritated by the constant criticism of NHS pay. Bleeding hearts keep mainly citing the salary of a Band 5 nurse (£24,907 rising incrementally to £30,615 over seven years).

    1. £24K is actually a pretty good starting salary
    2. What they don’t mention is the perks and benefits enjoyed by NHS staff:
    ▪︎27 days holiday each year (plus BHs), rising to 29 days after five years and 33 days after ten years.
    ▪︎some of the most generous other leave allowances on top of this; carers, compassionate, Reserve Forces training, study, funeral, jury service etc etc.
    ▪︎a virtual job for life as it is almost impossible to be fired
    ▪︎one of the most generous pensions in the UK
    ▪︎26 weeks maternity leave on full pay
    ▪︎paid paternity, adoption and parental leave
    ▪︎six months sick leave on full pay
    ▪︎many and various reward and discount shopping schemes

    All of the above paid for by tax payers. I doubt there are many private sector employees enjoying these kind of benefits that add several thousands of worth to the figure that is paid to the bank. A monthly ‘take home’ of £1500 costs the NHS about £2500

  49. BTL@DTletters

    Michael McDougall
    19 Apr 2020 8:58AM

    Until a day or two ago, I had huge respect for the medical professionals. Unfortunately, over the last two days they have shown themselves to be led by a lot of whinging whining idiots and they have lacked the common sense to tell these useless leaders to get lost.

    If they were the heroes that they have been made out to be they would face the reality on the ground and realise that washing and reusing is the best option in an environment when, despite best efforts, it is not possible to get new PPE gear. Any health worker threatening to go on strike at a time like this is a disgrace to their profession.

    The reality is the stupidity of Blair and successive governments combined with the greed of businessmen has led to China having the power to control UK through commerce. The outsourcing of the production of safety equipment or medical supplies to hostile, evil empires like the EU and China was an act of unmitigated stupidity

    Richard Jenkins
    19 Apr 2020 9:15AM

    You won’t like the one in the daily mail about a nurse who’s daughter cries as she hasn’t got enough Ppe equipment. Turns out she’s a labour activist.

    Pat Bryant [Nagsman]
    19 Apr 2020 9:27AM

    @Michael McDougall And here on the ground it would be instructive to know just how many orders for PPE were placed by the Trust managers between Thursday of last week and the following Tuesday – the Easter Holiday weekend.

    PPE deliveries have been made every 3 days and if the management were on holiday and orders were not placed then the PPE would not be delivered.

    I am also exercised by the blanket adoration of the NHS. NHS Medical staff do a great job but the mangement is shockingly bad. Are you clapping for Doctors and Nurses or for the NHS management?

    1. Yo all

      A question

      How long after Coviddays are over, will the prosecutions of NHS staff, who did what was required of them, start, ask Northern Ireland vetrans

    2. https://mobile.twitter.com/RockboltG/status/1249001093826260992
      Rich: I don’t understand the PPE figures.
      Nobody seems to argue that over 700 million pieces of PPE have been distributed throughout the NHS in the past few weeks. They just say it’s not enough.
      There are 1.5 million employees in the NHS, so that’s over 460 pieces of PPE per person

      https://mobile.twitter.com/Iromg/status/1249234570098233350

      Mike Graham @Iromg
      Another actual ICU doctor blows apart the @BBCNews narrative about #PPEshortage – he says: “We are incredibly well protected”, much to the disappointment of the bloke interviewing him.

      Tony Esq Flag of JamaicaFlag of United Kingdom. @RagToo
      12 Apr
      Replying to @RockboltG
      My daughter is a CCU nurse, redeployed to ITU, my wife is a research nurse, redeployed to a medical ward, I’m an community infectious diseases nurse redeployed to ITU all at different trusts all have enough good quality PPE

      1. Nor do I, but I have personally thanked some supermarket checkout operators for their efforts in the face of arsey customers.

        1. I thank supermarket workers regardless of any “arsey” customers. When they reply “It’s my job” I add “Yes, but without you turning up to work we would all starve”. If ever I hear an “arsey” customer giving them grief and/or lip I would have a go at them and tell them that they should be ashamed of themselves.

    5. Yo all

      A question

      How long after Coviddays are over, will the prosecutions of NHS staff, who did what was required of them, start, ask Northern Ireland vetrans

    6. https://mobile.twitter.com/RockboltG/status/1249001093826260992
      Rich: I don’t understand the PPE figures.
      Nobody seems to argue that over 700 million pieces of PPE have been distributed throughout the NHS in the past few weeks. They just say it’s not enough.
      There are 1.5 million employees in the NHS, so that’s over 460 pieces of PPE per person

      https://mobile.twitter.com/Iromg/status/1249234570098233350

      Mike Graham @Iromg
      Another actual ICU doctor blows apart the @BBCNews narrative about #PPEshortage – he says: “We are incredibly well protected”, much to the disappointment of the bloke interviewing him.

      Tony Esq Flag of JamaicaFlag of United Kingdom. @RagToo
      12 Apr
      Replying to @RockboltG
      My daughter is a CCU nurse, redeployed to ITU, my wife is a research nurse, redeployed to a medical ward, I’m an community infectious diseases nurse redeployed to ITU all at different trusts all have enough good quality PPE

    1. Just how I feel at the moment. It’s a lovely day, not a cloud in the sky and I can’t even bring myself to go out into the garden.

        1. I’ll be putting the pork into the oven in half an hour or so. The smell of that roasting might make a difference. 🙂

        2. Funnily enough, we’ve cheered up because the zip on the bike tent has given up the ghost.
          Which means I’ve ordered another one, which means we will have to have a clear-out – even of stuff round, rather than in it.
          And the bike which I’ve not been able to use for a couple of years (with hindsight, early dodgy hip warning) has now passed into the hands of terribly practical grandson for a service and spruce up.
          And Spartie became more relaxed as our walk progressed today; more people and dogs and everyone was more chilled and chattier. He definitely picked up on the weird atmosphere.

  52. Hoorah! Phase Eight have sent me an email advertising their ‘occasion wear’. Presumably to celebrate when old farts are freed to mix in public again.

        2. That is something that bothers me during this enforced idleness. I didn’t realise how much I just nipped around.
          The only compensating factor is that we just don’t seem to fancy much food, presumably because we’re not getting the exercise.

  53. Just back indoors from a bit of grass cutting. Bright blue sky – but a bitterly cold east wind. Most unwelcoming.

    1. I wore a scarf for the walk – but didn’t really need it as it was warmer than I thought.

          2. I always thought that the lovely June Whitfield deserved a better tv spouse than wooden old Terry Scott.

            Geoffrey Palmer would have been perfect.

          3. So many memories conjured up, June Whitfield was such a talented lady, from Take it From Here, a mainstay on the Light Programme! and onwards.

    1. Getting very Aberdonian? Do you mean it’s his shout and he seems to have misplaced his wallet?
      ;¬)

    1. If someone had told me in 1978 that in 42 years time I would be kneading dough, for a loaf and pizza bases, to the beat of YMCA by the Village People, who cropped up yesterday for some reason, I would have laughed or something.

    1. “The Court Jester” with Danny Kaye is on at 12:35 today – Freeview Channel 81.

      “The Pellet with the Poison’s in the Vessel with the Pestle”.

    2. “The Court Jester” with Danny Kaye is on at 12:35 today – Freeview Channel 81.

      “The Pellet with the Poison’s in the Vessel with the Pestle”.

          1. Great minds think alike, Aeneas. I reckon there was a micro mini-second between us.

            EDIT: No, my post changes from 9 minutes ago to 10 minutes ago several seconds before you.

  57. Telegraph Article

    Here in Sweden we’re playing the long game, and listening to science not fear

    JOANNA LE PLUART

    Is Sweden working on the problems it has with criminal immigrants? It would be rather sad to escape from the virus only to be murdered by a violent thug from a different culture to the Swedish one of love and tolerance.

    1. Just a wicked thought.

      If this thing hits BAMEs far harder than white Europeans, perhaps the Swedes are dealing with two problems simultaneously?

    2. 318323+ up ticks,
      Afternoon R,
      We in the United Kingdom have by rhetoric came out of the eU, nearly.
      But as can be seen by the voting pattern we are in dire danger of allowing parties that regard submission,PCism & appeasement as tools to be used
      taking us to the nearest mosque.
      A case of out of the fires of brussels into the hell of full blown islamic ideology followed to the letter.

      Death sentence is a tad extreme for calling your local mullah a pratt, don’t you think ?

        1. The media is ignoring her, not giving her a platform to put forth her views because they don’t fit the left-wing narrative? I recall Tony Blair always in the background whenever there was an outside broadcast going on, his head going this way and that around shoulders to get himself in the picture when someone else was being interviewed and almost grabbing hold of the mic when there was an opportunity.

        2. As I posted earlier – I’m still hoping against hope that she will get to grips with the problem because if she doesn’t we are doomed as nobody in either the Conservative or the Labour Party will even admit that there is a problem let alone try to do anything about it.

          Now if Boris Johnson really had any guts he would appoint Tommy Robinson as minister in charge of Muslim immigration!

          1. If you do not admit there is a problem, then there is no need to do anything about what isn’t known!!!

          4. Of course you’re right – but the fact that you are right spells doom for us all.

        3. 318323+ up ticks,
          Afternoon TB,
          She would NOT be in the position she is in today if she did otherwise.

        5. Or are her instructions being ignored by those supposedly tasked with carrying them out?

          1. Or is it a matter of making the right noises but not ensuring compliance combined with dilatoriness on behalf of those who are supposed to be doing it?

  59. Gardening question please..

    Slugs , have they all vanished, I have seen a few snails, no slugs but lots of ants

    WE do NOT use slug and snail eliminator because of the birds , absent hedghogs , dogs etc.

    Lots of people are saying that slugs seem to have vanished. Perhaps they have all drowned in the past seasons wet weather.

    Have I spoken too soon?

    3. I hadn’t really noticed but come to think of it, my young Clematis shoots have been left alone so far this year.

    7. I think they are only just waking up. I found two slugs today, but they were still hiding in the soil.

    8. Removed a tarpaulin from one of my raised beds this afternoon and found two rather large green slugs underneath. Found several of the same variety in my grape greenhouse a few weeks ago.However, thinking about it the number does seem low considering how wet and mild the winter was.
      I saw a large hedgehog in my garden back in the late summer and had hopes it would hibernate in the wood and pallets at the top of the garden. No sign since, which is a pity.

    1. They will end up like the Duke and Duchess of Windsor – but without the ‘romantic’ aura.

      1. In my youth women who looked and behaved as she does were unceremoniously called scrubbers.

        1. Aren’t they still? If not, what is the current term? Slappers?

          Mrs. Slocombe would have said “Common as muck”

  61. The delivery man from Waitrose says he was delivering to Mersea yesterday and that the pubs and beach were heaving with people. No plod to be seen.

          3. Ferry cross the Strood, that’s what the causeway is known as, doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Deep, glutinous grey mud is on display when the tide is out. Never been a fan of Mersea, East or West.

          4. When I was living in Essex I used to hire a horse and gallop along the beach at West Mersea (at least I think it was West, rather than East – it was a long time ago).

          5. West Mersea is the urban area on the island and across the Blackwater estuary from the beach would have been Bradwell nuclear power station circa late ’50s.
            East Mersea is, even today, a small rural group of properties with a pub. Looking left from the beach across the Colne estuary are Brightlingsea and Point Clear. Bradwell would have been well round to your right.

  62. Shock!! Horror!!

    The PM missed five COBRA meetings.

    I am not a Conservative nor did I vote
    for them in the last general election but
    this continual government bashing needs
    to stop. Do these, so called writers of trash
    not realise they are hastening their own
    redundancy?

    1. Wasn’t he ill or were they supposed to roll his death bed into the cabinet office?

      I would be more concerned if they were not up to running a cobra meeting without him.

      2. He was.

        They would have, if they could have.

        They aren’t.

        Be concerned, very concerned…

  63. Cambridge scientista are saying Covid 19 started last September and not in China [ The Metro 18 April ]. There are 3 variants A,B and C. THe UK has variant B.
    This might explain that many people in the UK had the Corona virus in January with severe coughing and pain in the chest. It was a prolonged illness lasting weeks but like myself we did not trouble the GPs. This is an interesting development.

    1. Plus in spite of the ” leave means leave” jingo before the last election
      We are now bringing in Romanian crop pickers, despite the fact we are all self isolating , I just don’t get it.

      If there are 3 variants .. ABC, and we have B, what happens when the £75 million pound repatriation of South Asians back to Britain occurs next week

      https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-thousands-of-britons-to-be-brought-home-on-rescue-flights-from-south-asia-11975311?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

      I really just don’t get it .. They do not know a thing about safety and transferable diseases. What the blazes are they thinking of ..

    3. From anecdotal evidence – friends, family and casual chats with a variety of people like the postie – that sounds about right.
      However, I wonder where Cambridge scientists will try to pin the blame? Follow their funding.

        1. It was said that most of the infections in Germany and the Netherlands were from Alpine ski resorts, some of which are in northern Italy.

        2. Interesting that Canada shows type B but the US is type A. There is so much travel between the two that it would seem logical that the same variant would have occurred in both.

          There were tens of thousands of Canadians in the US when the number of cases really took off and we were all told to return from warmer climes. Average age of the sunbirds must genup around seventy as well, we should all be dead.

        3. I wondered if the strains reflected racial characteristics, but looking at the US, it would seem not.
          Does type B reflect the number of Chinese eateries in Europe, though I thought they were mostly 2nd or 3rd generations from Hong Kong and Malaysia.

      3. There is a map in the article of where the variants are. Australia and Europe figure in the world wide distribution. I will see if I can catch the photo of the map.

        1. Wow a real source for this, not some far left or right Institute that stretches the truth to their agenda.

          So the threatened two year wrinkly lockdown that the Daily Mail suggests may not be needed?

          1. Not so fast bro…

            This is real science, the Government is nowhere near ready to apply real science over this.

            Cambridge does tend to be of the Left.

  64. I’ve just been perusing the Coronavirus Act 2020 to try and establish exactly what is a legal requirementwith regard to the lockdown but it doesn’t appear to cover any of the things that police seem to have been handing out fines for etc. Does anyone know if this is embodied in a different piece of legislation?

    1. It’s embodied in the imagination of our police, politicians and most importantly, journalists.

      The latter are the new rulers of our country.

    2. There are numerous earlier acts that were sufficiently loosely written and badly reviewed that they cover almost every eventuality.

      Many of those pieces of legislation are being used for things that the legislators did not intend.

      1. I thought that was the fundamental principle of writing legislation in our constitutionless country?
        That and trying to tie up the HoC so tightly that certain things can never be abolished, because they are mentioned separately in so many bits of legislation.

      2. The “necessary and proportionate” requirement seems to have escape some of Plod’s exercise of their powers.

      3. Thankyou. That may answer my queries. A quick scan suggests it was what I was looking for so will read it in more detail.

    4. 318323+ up ticks,
      Afternoon C,
      When do you say “yes sir” ?
      that would be when the whip holder gives an order.

      1. Fixed penalty notices? or whatever the correct term should be.

        Amounts to much the same thing as a fine.

    6. Is there a Statutory Instrument related to the act, defining these? Then, a minister can change things as they like without bothering parliament.

  65. Re my saga of the cancelled BA flight to Rome and the non refund.

    Just had an e-mail to say that I can now check-in on line for the flight tomorrow……

    Talk about left hands and right hands….

      1. Indeed I have. As and when the time runs out, I will.

        My point was that the organisation is so inept that it both cancels a flight AND tells one to check-in.

  66. 318323+ up ticks
    “The governments dithering has left the Country slumped in limbo”
    Funny thing is that since the mayday 9 month delay, delay,delay, has ruled the day all the way.
    Maybe the true fact is that four decades of rubber stamping has intentionally knocked the arse completely out of this Country’s independence & know how.
    As for china, loads of fresh scam material,
    Look out for the politico who has a yen for the Ren minbi.

    This AIN’T a scare post it is common bloody sense based on past political actions.

  68. For many years to come, the only issue in politics will be how to return to jobs and growth
    DANIEL HANNAN – 19 APRIL 2020 • 6:00AM

    How small our concerns of yesterday seem, how self-absorbed and petty.

    When a million more people are on the dole, does anyone think it will be a priority to publish gender pay gaps? When a generation of children is going unschooled, will anyone be fussed about universities having received bequests from the wrong 19th‑century donors? When people from ethnic minority backgrounds might be disproportionately at risk from coronavirus, isn’t finding out why more urgent than trotting out woke slogans? When our priority is to understand Covid-19, who gives two hoots about whether it is referred to as a Chinese virus? Or whether the Chief Scientific Adviser and Chief Medical Officer are privately educated white men?

    Our culture wars were a function of comfort – a comfort which, until a month ago, we took for granted. Sure, there were occasional blips. But, since the 1980s at any rate, we have operated on the assumption that, as New Labour’s theme tune had it, “thi‑i-ings can only get beddah!”

    And, by and large, they did. We live longer than any previous generation. We have a wider choice of diet, of dress, of entertainment, of lifestyle. We wander online through unnumbered virtual universes. We wander – or used to wander – a lot more in this one, too: almost all of us were members of what was once called “the jet set”. Longer spells in education and retirement meant a lower proportion of our lives spent at work. Inevitably, perhaps, we got into the habit of filling our extra leisure time with gripes about what now look like unbelievably petty grievances.

    All of a sudden, the former things are passed away. For many years to come, the only issue in politics will be how to claw our way out of the coronavirus slough. The Office for Budgetary Responsibility predicts a 35 per cent fall in GDP in the current quarter – worse than in the world wars. Why assume that we will blithely come back from that? Had a phased easing of the lockdown begun this week, businesses might have recovered. Yes, they would still have had to absorb a heavy one-off blow and, yes, taxpayers would be paying off the debt for many years. But at least previously solvent firms would still be trading.

    It now looks, though, as if the economy will continue to be asphyxiated for weeks. By the time the chokehold is released, many companies will have breathed their last. At that point, letting surviving firms reopen will have less impact because, with everyone else also having had to cut back, there will be fewer customers.

    We may soon be getting used to something that we thought we had seen off forever: mass unemployment. As tax receipts fall and benefits claims rise, a government that has had to borrow record sums will find itself having either to raise taxes even further or inflate its debts away. Either course will further damage competitiveness and growth. We could be in for the kind of stagnation that we experienced during the Heath‑Wilson years – and partly for the same reasons.

    In retrospect, we can see that the collapse of the 1970s was, in some senses, a delayed consequence of the Second World War. During that conflict, as with the coronavirus, the government ran up massive debts while expanding its powers. Having acquired those powers on a supposedly contingent basis, it was slow to relinquish them when the peace came. Identity cards lasted until 1952; food rationing until 1954; conscription until 1960. Some of the nationalisations, requisitions and economic controls remained until the Thatcher reforms.

    Will the current pandemic be followed by a single-minded focus on growth, or will voters cling to the authoritarianism that they demand during the crisis itself?

    On the one hand, politicians who prioritise jobs and living standards will be heard with a new urgency. It will be awkward, after this, to argue that we are too obsessed with GDP, or that we should all be prepared to suffer a little for the sake of the planet. After all, we are currently experiencing precisely what Extinction Rebellion types wanted: less economic activity, lower trade, reduced carbon emissions, grounded planes – and greater equality. People with assets have seen their net worth collapse. People on benefits, by contrast, have seen no reduction in their incomes. But can anyone doubt that a reduction in growth – less “obsession with GDP” – none the less hits the poor hardest?

    For some Telegraph readers, the most inconvenient aspect of the crisis has been losing their cleaners. But, for people who actually work as cleaners, or in any other part of the cash-in-hand economy, the virus is not an inconvenience but a job-killer. A world without growth will not be so indulgent of Greta-style radicalism.

    On the other hand, emergencies of this kind encourage economic nationalism. As people become more tribal, they demand export bans, border closures and other restrictive measures. Americans cheer when their president proclaims that he has “total authority”. Strongmen around the world, from Turkey to India, see their approval ratings surge. Just as the Second World War encouraged (in the phrase of the time) the “little Hitlers”, the people who took inordinate pleasure in telling others what to do, so the coronavirus has licensed those who resent the idea of anyone else exercising too much freedom.

    Which way will we go? If we decide that our priority is economic recovery, a lot of things will change. Budgets previously regarded as sacrosanct will have to be cut to return to sustainable deficits. Regulations that inhibit growth, including planning rules, will be scrapped. Even the minimum wage will be hard to justify if millions of people are looking for work.

    But it is at least as likely that the authoritarian mood encouraged by the crisis will last, and that there will be no appetite either for spending cuts or for other reductions in state power. If the government could find £70 billion in a week to fight the virus, voters might think, it can surely find a few billion more to prop up a key industry – or increase a benefit, or support the charity sector, or promote British farming or whatever.

    The virus is infecting our thoughts, making us lose our sense of the normal restraints on government. Long after the physical contagion has passed, that mental infection will linger.

    1. A world without growth will not be so indulgent of Greta-style radicalism.

      That’s at least one cloud with a silver lining.

      1. This Coronavirus crisis is a taste of the future that might happen if the XR people get their way.

        1. Funny how the Police didn’t use heavy handed tactics on that rabble despite them causing Criminal damage on many occasions

      3. Do you think that this government will, or its alternative in waiting would, cut the green crap? Too much has been invested for the wheels to come off over a pandemic.
        Likewise with the vanity projects, just this week we’ve seen the green light for HS2 at >£100 billion pounds when that amount could be used to rejuvenate some of our industries and create new ones. This virus fiasco has highlighted where the UK is severely exposed to capricious nations to whom our betters bequeathed our industrial base. St Greta may disappear into the sunset but the Green Blob will do its utmost to prevail.

        1. HS2 appeared in the DT letters last Sunday and got a response today:
          ________________________

          SIR – I am amazed that the die-hard critics of HS2 continue to complain about its cost. To suggest that it should be stopped in the light of the coronavirus pandemic is even more bizarre.

          The £100 billion (or even £120 billion, or £140 billion) to be spent on HS2 over the next 10 years pales into insignificance compared with the extra budget deficit that is forecast for this year alone to deal with the virus. At least with HS2 the money will buy an asset that will last at least 100 years.

          After years of reviews and reports by countless specialists, the eventual approval for HS2 should be respected. It will transform rail travel between London, the North and Scotland, and its benefits will be felt for generations.

          Edwin Owen
          London W5
          ________________________

          SIR – On Thursday the Government gave contractors formal notice to proceed with phase one of HS2.

          For years, Brexit was a distraction from the folly of HS2. Now, amid the tragedy of coronavirus, it has been given the go-ahead.
          I feel ashamed to have voted for a Government that could, following the publication of an inquiry that was never going to be truly independent, press ahead with a project that makes so little economic sense, and so grossly misunderstands this country’s needs and wishes.

          Martin Jacobs
          Quainton, Buckinghamshire

          SIR – Edwin Owen (Letters, April 12) misses the point about HS2 and coronavirus. The lockdown has shown that many of the journeys that take place on public transport and roads are totally unnecessary – as, I suspect, are many of the future journeys that HS2 will enable.

          If the Government took a step back and looked at helping the private sector invest in our digital infrastructure, it could level up the country for a fraction of the price of HS2. Moreover, digital infrastructure could be rolled out far quicker than HS2 ever could, and there would be far fewer objections. Improvements to the current rail and road networks could be brought forward.

          The Government has serious targets for reducing carbon emissions, and such a move would help it to meet them. Meanwhile, the new digital infrastructure can be used to energise the nation with a new digital economy.

          Cllr Simon Fawthrop (Con)
          Bromley, Kent

          SIR – Mr Owen says HS2 “will transform rail travel between London, the North and Scotland”.

          That is exactly why the project must be cancelled. London does not need another route to the North. What is urgently required is a new east-to-west route through the Pennines, connecting cities such as Newcastle and Manchester. That would be an asset worth the money.

          John M Dent
          Derby

          1. John Dent, HS2 won’t be coming anywhere near The North.

            It’ll be joining one city in the south to the outskirts of another city in the south.

            Look where Birmingham is on a map of the UK. It’s only a fifth of the way up from the south coast.

          2. The idea that HS2 will cost £140bn is hilarious. If it’s less than 500-700bn I’ll change my name to Kojack and wear a pork pie hat.

            Councillor Fawthrop – no. The state should abandon the nonsense of green and HS2. The country does not need them. Those journeys are not being done now because people are being told to stay at home, you half witted oaf.

            What’s needed is fibre internet. None of this asynchronous, leased line protecting nonsense but full speed, 1gb up and down, point to point fibre. Singapore has already done it. It just takes will. Stop wasting 500bn on things the state wants to make itself feel better. Spend the money on things the country needs.

    2. The pandemic is only accelerating the trend towards higher unemployment as the working and social worlds become ever more digitised. Many companies are now switching on to technologies that have been around for a long time (voice recognition software, video conferencing, electronic record keeping, on line shopping to name a few) that can be accessed by as many as are granted permissions (and, it must be acknowledged, others if the encryption isnt up to snuff) and from anywhere.

      While this was heralded better efficiency leading to more leisure time, Silicon Valley conspiracy theorists have advocated for a while that in X years paid employment will be a privilege and that civil wars will eventually be the outcome as the numbers for whom there are no jobs – those willing and wanting to work, as opposed to the feckless unemployed by choice – increases exponentially.

      Some, the extreme paranoid, are already going off-grid and arming themselves. This is mainly in America where there is already a section of the population that lives like this. Who is to say they aren’t ahead of the curve?

    3. The pandemic is only accelerating the trend towards higher unemployment as the working and social worlds become ever more digitised. Many companies are now switching on to technologies that have been around for a long time (voice recognition software, video conferencing, electronic record keeping, on line shopping to name a few) that can be accessed by as many as are granted permissions (and, it must be acknowledged, others if the encryption isnt up to snuff) and from anywhere.

      While this was heralded better efficiency leading to more leisure time, Silicon Valley conspiracy theorists have advocated for a while that in X years paid employment will be a privilege and that civil wars will eventually be the outcome as the numbers for whom there are no jobs – those willing and wanting to work, as opposed to the feckless unemployed by choice – increases exponentially.

      Some, the extreme paranoid, are already going off-grid and arming themselves. This is mainly in America where there is already a section of the population that lives like this. Who is to say they aren’t ahead of the curve?

    4. Some of us, I for one, thought the whole lockdown reaction an over-reaction. The government seemed oblivious to the consequences as described by Daniel Hannan. The government should not be supporting charities IMO – charities should be exactly that, supported by those who wish to contribute, not the government. Perhaps the CEOs will voluntarily take a pay cut but I won’t hold my breath.

      Many people’s pensions will also be badly affected – but not the public sector.

      I would like Boris to order the end of the lockdown from next week. Those who are vulnerable will stay at home and the rest of us can carry on as what used to be normal. I for one am not willing to “stay at home for the next year”.

    5. 318323+ up ticks,
      Afternoon C,
      Keep up the same voting pattern & the only worries will be will I be able to get away with missing one of the five prayer meetings.

    6. The solution is simple: radical and significant tax cuts. Huge great two handed, doubled bladed comical Manga type axes to the state. Close entire government departments. Just shut them down. We don’t need 35,000 bureaucrats telling the police how to police.

      Huge tax cuts means more spending. More spending means more jobs created. Lower taxes and more jobs means more spending and so on. We don’t need a minimum wage, we need lower taxes.

      Tus, my predictions as to what this huge majority, Conservative government will do: hike taxes, increase state spending.

    1. Stanier Class 5? That’s the Rocky Mountaineer – de luxe travel through the Canadian Rockies.

        1. Yes, we looked at it and then saw the prices…

          ViaRail did not make the cut – having the toilet at the end of the car doesn’t work when you have to do the midnight trots on a regular basis!

      1. No shouty celebs
        No highly paid sports taters
        No politically biased newscasters
        No daft soap operas
        Heritage
        British Landscape
        Opportunity to dredge up geography O Level learning (Oh look a Roche Moutonee)

  71. Good afternoon from the Saxon daughter of Alfred of Wessex.

    Had brunch earlier and washing up done ( no daily walkies today)
    peaceful and sunny with the birds singing, just how Sunday’s used to be,
    just don’t read the newspapers or wander into town then it’ll be fine.

    1. Student Son did a chicken curry yesterday which I didn’t fell like at the time, so I had my share this dinnertime. Very nice too.

      The DT has had to go down to her Mum’s yesterday as she’s getting even more doolally than ever and sister-in-law is having trouble coping, so it’s just the two lads & me for the next week to 10 days.

    2. We have had a good tidy up of the garage before lunch. So we were ready for our butter chicken and plenty of wine.On a link to our son in Malta at 1600hrs BST.

      1. The chicken sounds splendid and the wine. Have a pleasant chat with
        your son too.

  72. SIR – On Thursday evenings at 8 pm I have been ringing an old tripe bell that belonged to my grandfather, who was a butcher. In the late 19th century, he used to push a cart loaded with tripe around the village and rang the bell to let his customers know he was near.

    My only previous use of the bell was when England scored a try in the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield. Our Scottish neighbours took it in good part and we remained friends. It has a more important use now.

    Dr A J Bellamy
    Cirencester, Gloucestershire

    I can think of another use – “Bring out your dead!”

      1. My late father had but two favourite meals, Rabbit stew and Tripe and onions. He was also fond of offal. On one occasion I opened the pantry door to be confronted by a large pig’s head sitting on a platter staring at me.

        Tastes change. The old fella was Welsh and drank rather a lot of ale as did his father, a Brewer’s drayman (steam engine).

        Edit:
        I agree that all of the bell ringing, clattering of pans and clapping is a futile exhibition of virtue signalling laced with stupidity. We saw much the same syndrome after the untimely death of the sainted Diana.

        1. I’m with him on the rabbit stew, but I wouldn’t be having tripe.

          One New Year my dad came in with a pig’s head for our New Years dinner.

          Howling at the moon on the doorstep at a particular time on a Thursday? Of all the road accidents in the history of the world there is one in particular that I wish hadn’t happened and to compound the sickness that fraud Blair was on hand to build himself a reputation out of it
          .

          1. When I first left home, my boyfriend and I were living on one person’s grant, and things were very tight indeed. One day we (he) decided on rabbit. I remember when it came to sitting down to eat the stew he had cooked, there wasn’t very much. The sod then started on about poor little bunnies – of course after that I couldn’t eat a thing, and he had it all…

          2. The first time my wife came home with me to meet my parents my mother had cooked one of her delicious rabbit pies, with soft fluffy short pastry that was crisp on the outside, but soaked up the gravy on the inside. Knowing that my wife had never eaten rabbit and was a bit squeamish on that score, I fibbed a bit and told her it was chicken.

            She loved it.

            I owned up later.

            Now, when we’re in Spain, where rabbit lies next to the chicken in supermarkets she laps it up. 🙂

          3. That’s why my former boyfriend made the point of telling me in graphic detail about the poor little bunnies!

          5. Yup. I could manage the rabbit stew with onions and lots of carrots, despite the preponderance of sharp bones, but the white spongy tripe turned my ‘stomach’.

          6. HG likes tripe but won’t eat “bunny” even though I enjoy a good rabbit stew.

            I like kidney and liver, but heart takes my breath away, literally, for some reason.

          7. I would gladly swap my rabbit (I’d rather eat rat) for all of youse’s tripe. :•)

            Liver and kidneys (especially lamb’s) are ambrosial.

  73. Here’s another offering for those of us who were in our 20’s in the 70’s and are now in our 70’s in the 20’s.
    https://youtu.be/unev14e8RUc
    Someone has helpfully added a playlist

    2 months ago (edited)
    00:00 Queen – We Are The Champions
    03:01 The Beatles – Let It Be (alternative version)
    06:55 Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing
    12:35 Creedence Clearwater Revival – Who’ll Stop the Rain
    15:04 Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird
    24:18 Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
    29:01 Aerosmith – Dream On
    33:30 Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road
    38:20 Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge over Troubled Water
    43:12 Pink Floyd – Money
    49:46 Queen – Killer Queen
    52:46 The Rolling Stones – Angie
    57:22 Black Sabbath – Paranoid
    1:00:17 The Allman Brothers Band – Ramblin’ Man
    1:05:06 ZZ Top – La Grange
    1:08:54 Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song
    1:11:18 Pink Floyd – Money
    1:17:51 The Who – Who Are You
    1:22:45 Aerosmith – Walk This Way
    1:26:13 Creedence Clearwater Revival – Up Around the Bend
    1:28:57 The Rolling Stones – Happy
    1:32:00 Kiss – I Was Made for Lovin’ You
    1:36:19 Queen – We Will Rock You

      1. Absolutely superb! Even better than Telegraph Road, and that’s saying something.

      1. Now you’re talking. I have this album still and other Focus LPs from the 70s.

    5. I have a love/hate relationship with 1970s music. I liked a lot of the prog rock and later stuff but I loathed “glam rock” and a lot of the post-1960s bubblegum-type rubbish.

      On this album I am a big fan of bands such as CCR, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Who, ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin and most of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones output. I only liked the early albums of Queen (their later stuff was populist pap), likewise with Pink Floyd, their later stuff was weak. Dire Straits ran hot and cold.

      Aerosmith, Loose Windscreen, Black Sabbath, Simon & Garfunkel and Kiss are for others to enjoy, not for me.

      1. I still have my vinyls from the 70’s.

        Linda Ronstadt, Bette Midler, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton (underrated), Neil Young, Paul Simon, Tom Paxton, Allman Brothers, Jonie Mitchell, Sandy Denny and Johnny Cash and lots more. A sort of eclectic taste.

        I saw The Who at Sheffield University Union. They were great.

        1. Saw The Who at Lewisham Odeon. A friend queued at 4:00 am to get centre front row tickets:

          Pardon – What did you say?

          2. I saw the Rolling Stones in Wolverhampton. I couldn’t hear any music for the screaming.

  75. 318323+ up ticks,
    Seemingly the governance peoples have decided that self incarceration
    ( indoors) is superior to queues at the factory gates ( on show ) bloody
    ingenious, give them credit,
    What has been achieved so far mass beach landings, unchecked airport
    landings, HS2 actually started construction plus.

    opposition = protesting crowds of two.

    https://twitter.com/GerardBattenUK/status/1251849340949323776

    1. 2.60 an hour, but they get their food, medical insurance and accommodation presumably.

      2. 318323+ up ticks,
        Afternoon BB2,
        It is a latch lifter for many, a win,win situation
        at worst they could end up in jail where the pay
        is not much different but the perks are the same, as in, with incarceration they get accommodation, medication,education & four square a day guaranteed.
        Many of the lockdown outside are struggling
        to obtain that.

  76. Lancashire police apologise over threat to ‘make up’ offence. 19 April 2020.

    “We recognise the impact that this behaviour will have had, both on the young man concerned, and on the hard earned trust and confidence of the wider public, particularly the comments about making offences up. It only takes one incident like this to undo the hard work of so many.”

    Rhodes said the man had received a personal apology and that the incident had been referred to the force’s professional standards department for investigation.

    So no change then?

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/apr/19/lancashire-police-apologise-over-threat-to-make-up-offence

  77. Evening, all. Spirits have been lifted today as the sun has returned. It’s amazing the difference sitting out in the garden contemplating all the things I still need to do has made to my well-being 🙂

    3. I’m having a break from trimming the cypress hedge and it’s effin hot work – not a cloud in the sky for the 4th day

          3. If you’re into flies.

            I’ll ask jack, he’ll give a more honest appraisal.

            };-O

  80. Been out to a wonderful local restaurant today (here in non-lockdown Sweden), for the second time in a fortnight, again to celebrate a birthday. The birthday guest today was a fit and healthy 91-year old woman. The talented chef is an Englishman who moved to Sweden 20 years ago.

    We live in a remote, rural, part of southern Sweden and no one in our group of friends has any knowledge of anyone else who is/has been suffering from the Covid-19 virus. Life, as yet, goes on as normal.

    1. I live in a fairly urban part of Staffordshire and no one in our group of friends has any knowledge of anyone else who is/has been suffering from the Covid-19 virus.

      Life, however, does not go on as normal.

      1. I live in a rural part of Shropshire and several of my friends believe they’ve already had the Covid-19 virus and recovered from it, as do I. Life is far from normal.

        1. Exactly. Anecdotally, many within our social circle have already had it last winter.

          1. Dear, Ogga.

            Please……..Give it a rest.
            Your point Is more than proven.

            I am unable to further cope with your
            deliberate grammatical falls.

            Your posts are not witty, relevant or clever.

            I shall have no alternative but to ban you….
            come on, show us your real side!!!

          2. 318323+ up ticks,
            Evening G,
            I have seen the lab/lib/con politicians no other way over the last two decades that is the truth.
            They have no intentions of changing, you really must do as you see fit and truthful, that is your
            prerogative & the way it should be.

          3. O2O,
            318323+ up ticks,
            I see the slow uptake & handling of the virus issue as an ongoing cock up, so they acted in their normal manner.
            judged also on their treacherous past.

    2. I live in a highly populated part of Blighty, and I’ve not heard of anyone getting it either.

        1. Died of it of with it,Harry? If he was in Wat Gen. he might well have caught it there.

          1. Of it, Lass. No, he wasn’t in hospital prior. A big, fit, larger than life beer drinking ex-rugby player. And a regular in The Swan.

        2. Psalm 90:10 King James Version (KJV)

          “The days of our years are three score years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”

          I sympathise with the families of those who go earlier, but in reality those who hit the late 80’s and upwards are still the exceptions.

          2. I always tell people I am living on borrowed time. Probably a good few of us here in the same boat.

          3. Yup. My in-laws lived to be 92 and 91 respectively. Both had live in carers for several years costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

            This is the modern fact of life. Old people live longer and have superb clinical support and treatments which effectively extends their lives. Those who are able to afford this go on but there are many others with no financial support who remain prone in care homes.

            Care homes are not all they appear to be. They are often owned by people whose principal interest is in making money. Thus we have Pakistanis and Indians owning and running many care homes.

            The entire system requires reform. It remains to be seen whether the present government has the balls to do anything about this parlous state of affairs.

        3. Psalm 90:10 King James Version (KJV)

          “The days of our years are three score years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”

          I sympathise with the families of those who go earlier, but in reality those who hit the late 80’s and upwards are still the exceptions.

      2. I know of about ten people who have had it, through two friends, none of the sufferers were known to me personally. One of these was extremely ill and her in-laws – our friends – were very concerned for her, she was however very overweight which seems to be a factor in the severity of the symptoms. My other friend’s daughter and her granddaughter have had this, as did her neighbours, five of them in the family, and her husband has two colleagues, both in their sixties, who have died from it.

    3. Hell or neighbour is a nurse at our large regional hospital.she has come across a few sufferers of COVID19,but they have had no deaths yet.

    4. Nor do we. Even the gardener who works all over the area does not know of anyone with the China Virus.

    5. I hope it lasts, Grizz. It appears that Sweden has taken an enormous gamble with this virus, notsomuch in remote areas such as yours but in the more densely populated cities and regions. Fingers crossed…..

  82. Just got back from our government-sanctioned exercise – our common is looking beautiful with cowslips in full bloom, also a few early purple orchids. The first Duke of Burgundy seen today, and a Green Hairstreak. Also a couple of Peacocks and several Orange Tips. Sadly I was without my camera – if it’s fine tomorrow will try again.

      1. Happy Birthday John! Sorry it’s a bit belated! Are you having a special dinner tonight?

          2. Ah, well, yes, I suppose we have to eat. Probably chicken sandwiches and salad.

  83. Whoops, from ZH – Someone seems to have got a lot of banks over a barrel….

    The deception was simple: Hin Leong (Singaporean based Oil Trader) posted a positive equity of $4.56 billion and net profit of $78 million in the period ended October 31, according to the Bloomberg sources. But Hin Leong told its creditors this month that total liabilities reached $4.05 billion as of early April, while assets were just $714 million, leaving a hole of at least $3.34 billion.

    The balance sheet of the company showed no equity at all as of April 9, 2020, and warned that “figures obtained from the company are subject to verification”.

    What is even more bizarre, is that the company had used an otherwise reputable auditor, with Hin Leong Trading accounts for the financial year ending October 31, 2019 were audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP. The auditor didn’t flag any problems, according to people familiar with the matter. Meanwhile the banks too, were apparently unaware of the gross fraud taking place right under their noses, begging the question just what is the use of banker diligence?

    That said, while auditors should have caught the accounting fraud, even they would have had trouble catching the company’s secret liquidation of pledged collateral. As noted above, Lim’s son said his father sold a substantial part of the company’s inventories even those used as collateral for banks loans. As a result, he said there was a large shortfall of oil inventories compared with the amount that had been pledged to secure the credit lines.

    It also explains why as recently as last weekend, the banks had pulled their letters of credit.

    Altogether, Hin Leong is said to owe almost $4 billion to more than 20 banks including HSBC, who will now scramble to figure out just how massive their loan losses are.

    1. This sort of problem would be much reduced if Auditors as an automatic part of the audit process received 80% of their payment via an equity stake in the audited company which they had to hold for 3/5 years before disposal.

      1. I’d do similar with the lawyers/judges etc who get immigrant rapists etc the “right ” to stay here. They should be totally responsible for the criminal and have to have them live with them at their own house, at their own expense.

    1. If everybody stays at home, they won’t need the language assistants, music teachers or drama teachers. Save lives – save money!

    2. I am happy to report I went all through my school life without ever encountering a drama teacher or a foreign language assistant.

      1. Well, the French assistants that taught us current French were generally very nice young ladies, on loan from the French Institute in Edinburgh.

      2. We regularly had a French assistante at grammar school and also when I did a further Diploma in French in college. It was to sharpen up our accents, encourage colloquial usage and eliminate our grammatical errors.

        1. We were taught French by British teachers who had spent time there. Our senior German master had studied in Leipzig pre WWII. Latin and Ancient Greek were more of a challenge – no-one old enough. One of our Latin masters though had gone up through Italy during WWII and had negotiated surrenders in Latin with the local priests as they moved from town to town. He always used that example when we used to ask him what the point of learning Latin was!

          Also, of course, at the time (’50’s) GCE’s could be passed with really good marks even if one totally fluffed the “orals”. This was the era of “Fog in the Channel, Europe cut off” and “W0gs start at Calais” after all.

        2. We were taught French by British teachers who had spent time there. Our senior German master had studied in Leipzig pre WWII. Latin and Ancient Greek were more of a challenge – no-one old enough. One of our Latin masters though had gone up through Italy during WWII and had negotiated surrenders in Latin with the local priests as they moved from town to town. He always used that example when we used to ask him what the point of learning Latin was!

          Also, of course, at the time (’50’s) GCE’s could be passed with really good marks even if one totally fluffed the “orals”. This was the era of “Fog in the Channel, Europe cut off” and “W0gs start at Calais” after all.

        1. The developers would hate me, then.

          When we arrived here, there were three orchids visible, because the grounds had been cut to within an inch of their lives for years.

          There are probably hundreds of spores/seeds/grains floating in the air during the summer and my “wilding” of the garden has allowed many to set. There’s a huge Lady’s slipper down the road but it won’t/can’t establish here and I won’t try to gather seed from it.

          I spend dozens, possibly hundreds, of hours marking out potential orchids with sticks. When they are coming through they look like grass stems and often I get it completely wrong.

          I now have at least 15 species, plus hybrids, growing. If this was the UK I suspect we would probably be a SSSI.

          The locals used to think I was completely mad, now they are doing the same.

          Even the “council” hedge-cutting man avoids my verge because he knows there are orchids growing.

      2. Beautiful, I keep hoping to find some wild orchids in our woods but no luck so far.

        1. You might be missing them because in your part of the world they are even smaller than they are here.

          I’m a poor photographer so one doesn’t get the scale from my pictures.

          The one in the second picture from the top is probably 8 x bigger than the scruffy looking one below it.
          If you click on the pictures and use the + to expand them you will be able to see finer detail.

          1. I was also looking at the clover in the background, to give perspective, but have done as you say, to see finer detail. Will keep looking.

          2. I don’t know if I’m even remotely on the right track, but there seems to be a symbiotic relationship between the progress of my orchids and the various funghi that grow here.

            Follow where the mushrooms and toadstools grow in the autumn and then look out for any unusual looking grass leaves next Spring. The orchids here at the early stages are almost impossible to tell from grasses.

            I get a lot of bird’s nest orchids later in the year and they need that relationship, because they don’t produce chlorophyll and need a “partner”.

          3. Okay. We did have morels growing quite close to the house when we first moved in but no sign of them since. I have tried growing orchids indoors some years ago but found I did not have the ‘green thumb’ to persevere!! I do like my plants outside, taking their chances!!

          4. Indoor plants here don’t last long.

            Outside I have fairly green fingers, indoor ones get black thumb!

  89. Just watched our weekly service on YouTube. We had recorded organ music from one of the churches this week!
    The organist is a church warden, and needs to inspect the church every week for the validity of the insurance, so….

  91. Goodnight from a Saxon Queen

    Hope tomorrow will be back to normal but know it won’t.

    1. Goodnight Aethel. When normal finally arrives it will be diiferent. The normal we knew has gone forever.

      1. Good afternoon. Maybe but maybe not, it’s very difficult but remember
        to retain hope, it’s very important.

  92. Goodnight from a Saxon Queen

    Hope tomorrow will be back to normal but know it won’t.

      1. Mostly about the Vietnam war. I’ve started watching it a couple of times and given up at different points.

        2. I watched it, twice I think, back in the early 80s.

          There was a lot of fuss about what a masterpiece it was at the time, but I didn’t get it.

          As a film, to me it couldn’t make its mind up what it wanted to be. A bit of a rambling mess as far as I was concerned.

        2. Off topic completely, but while you are here.

          I had a woodpecker visitor to the peanut feeders this morning that I have never seen before. I looked it up in all of my bird books and on-line and the only one that matched was a Syrian woodpecker.

          Is that possible in the Dordogne?

          I live in an area surrounded by pine and mixed deciduous woodland and we get everything from black, greater, middle and lesser spotted but this one was a complete surprise.

          1. I’d say exceedingly unlikely. Most vagrancy in birds is a result of migrating birds getting lost for one reason or another.

            The range of Syrian woodpeckers is mainly around the western Black Sea countries and Turkey. They only reach the Adriatic in a small part of Albania. Other than that their western limit is around Serbia. They are resident and non-migratory, so the chances of one turning up outside their normal range is remote.

            In size and general appearance they look very similar to a great spotted woodpecker and care is needed to tell them apart.

          3. Very, very similar, but all the feathers were a lighter brown where those are black. The underbelly was also grubbier/browner, rather than white and the bird appeared larger (asuming fatballs are a standard size).

            There was a lesser spotted on the feeder just before the newcomer appeared and the new one chased it off.

            I see lots and lots of woodpeckers here and that was definately a new one. I’d love to know what it was.

          4. Very, very similar, but all the feathers were a lighter brown where those are black. The underbelly was also grubbier/browner, rather than white and the bird appeared larger (asuming fatballs are a standard size).

            There was a lesser spotted on the feeder just before the newcomer appeared and the new one chased it off.

            I see lots and lots of woodpeckers here and that was definately a new one. I’d love to know what it was.

          6. I thought so too.
            It was very aggresive towards a lesser spotted that arrived at about the same time at the feeder.

          7. I’d say exceedingly unlikely. Most vagrancy in birds is a result of migrating birds getting lost for one reason or another.

            The range of Syrian woodpeckers is mainly around the western Black Sea countries and Turkey. They only reach the Adriatic in a small part of Albania. Other than that their western limit is around Serbia. They are resident and non-migratory, so the chances of one turning up outside their normal range is remote.

            In size and general appearance they look very similar to a great spotted woodpecker and care is needed to tell them apart.

          8. It was so utterly different from every other visitor that I wondered what the Hell it could be.

  95. Here in Sweden we’re playing the long game, and listening to science not fear
    JOANNA LE PLUART – 19 APRIL 2020 • 1:54PM

    For the first (and probably last) time in living memory, the whole world seems to care about the domestic policy of my plucky little home country. Sweden’s approach to dealing with coronavirus has been hailed by some, but the majority of commentators seem to think we’re conducting some kind of heartless and dangerous experiment. Even Donald Trump has attacked us.

    For those that aren’t aware, while the rest of the world has been shutting down schools, shops and restaurants, banning non-essential travel, and sending the police to shout at those who dare to dawdle in their local park, Sweden remains largely open for business.

    Our schools are full of students, and I can still visit restaurants in Malmo, where I’ve lived for more than 20 years. I’m working from home, but many offices remain open. I can have friends over for lunch. Should I want to, I could drive to the countryside for a weekend away.

    Ministers here have been forced to defend the policy, and the armchair experts on social media track our daily deaths with disturbing relish, but I’m proud of my country’s stand. And, while some people I know would like to see stricter measures enforced, most of my friends here support it too.

    For starters, while we’re still “open for business”, it’s certainly not a case of “business as usual”. Everyone who can is advised to work from home, and the government has issued social distancing and hygiene guidelines. We’ve been urged to avoid large gatherings and crowded public transport, and to maintain a safe distance when socialising. However, these remain “guidelines”. Rather than imposing authoritarian rules and stripping people of their freedoms, we are relying on people’s collective common sense.

    And it appears to be working. While the high streets are open, they are much quieter than usual, and the majority are following the social distancing recommendations. For most Swedes, this isn’t much of an imposition. We are generally a self-reliant (some would say anti-social) bunch. In fact, many are rejoicing as they no longer have to make up an excuse to avoid going for a beer.

    The architect of our policy (the hero or villain, depending on your point of view) is state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, and if the government trusts his advice – and that of the Folkhälsomyndigheten (Public Health Authority) – then that’s good enough for us. Here in Sweden, we trust our authorities. Corruption is rare, and our public agencies are politically independent. Why would the Public Health Agency give advice that is not in the best interests of people and society? They have no other agenda. Also, they’re disarmingly honest. Tegnell recently admitted: “We’re trying this strategy out. We don’t know if it will work or not. If it doesn’t, we’ll revisit it.” Indeed, no country knows which policy is best, or how exactly things will pan out, so why pretend otherwise?

    It is also interesting to note that Sweden is one of the world’s least religious countries, with around 90 per cent being atheist or agnostic. Many here think it’s actually dangerous to believe in things for which there is no concrete evidence. This is reinforced by an education system that encourages independent enquiry and evidence-based reasoning. We see that there is no hard evidence that draconian lockdowns stop the spread, so we keep shops open. We see that there is no evidence of widespread transmission in outdoor environments, so socialising in parks is still permitted. Furthermore, coronavirus conspiracies haven’t had any traction over here – our 5G towers are still intact.

    People say we are putting the economy ahead of saving lives, but the economy is lives. A stronger economy means better healthcare for everyone for years to come. Generally, Swedes like to play the long game and right now we’re thinking about the state of play two, five or even 10 years from now. It’s not just about beating the virus, it’s about coming out of the crisis healthy. It’s easy to tally up deaths from the disease, but what about the impact a lockdown will have in terms of unemployment, homelessness, mental illness, and suicides? One could even draw parallels with Sweden’s neutrality during the Second World War, which paved the way for the country to become an economic and social powerhouse in the post-war years.

    Perhaps our most controversial policy has been to keep schools open. But shutting schools would mean key workers, including doctors and nurses, would have to stay at home (or else kids would need to be sent to their grandparents, a high-risk group). Also, Swedes are considering the negative long-term consequences on our kids if they miss a half year of school. Since they are unlikely to contract the virus, isn’t it better that they should carry on studying?

    Not everyone in Sweden supports our coronavirus policy. Marie-Claude Dubois, an architect in Malmo, told me: “So far 1,300 people have died here, is this a price worth paying for children to go to school and for life to continue more or less as normal? How many more are we willing to sacrifice?”

    But the opinions of teacher Sofie Lejdström are more typical. “Locking people up could have catastrophic consequences for people’s mental health, and we’ve seen already that quarantines do not stop people dying,” she said.

    “I believe this policy will slow the spread of the virus and keep the hospitals from filling up all at once. But I don’t believe we can stop the virus. Controlled spreading to create herd immunity doesn’t sound bad to me. It sounds like the best option given there is no vaccine. I don’t believe that acting out of fear and spreading fear will ever lead to anything positive.”

    ****************************************************************************************

    Garden Of England 19 Apr 2020 2:14PM

    Hail Sweden. Something I never thought I’d ever say. They are being driven by reason rather than scare mongering and panic.

    There is very likely to be a second wave. And a third. In all likelihood everywhere except Sweden.

    Meanwhile in the UK we have attention seeking scientists with ridiculous models (and plenty of past failures), self serving bureaucrats, a sensationalist press and gutless politicians. What a toxic mix.

    1. There is nothing particularly ‘plucky’ about little Sweden. We maintain the Swedish Air Force (Marshall’s) and give support in other areas, and most of us would regard their refusal to join with us in confronting Nazism a badge of naked self interest (literally).

      In fact I personally find this article insulting. These smug Swedish bastards will shortly have the full effects of their liberal importation of Islamist foreigners visited on them.

      1. I keep warning them about your second paragraph, but all I get in response are bemused (vacant) looks.

        They are all so indoctrinated by their nanny state as to be as dependent upon it as a smack-head is to a fix of ‘H’.

        1. Just one of the problems brought about by nanny states, a populace without motivation, direction or conviction about anything.

          1. They don’t. They glean all their information from Swedish TV and newspapers. What does that tell you?

    2. As long as you are not old or sick, their plan works. If you are, tough.

      p.s. Sweden population density 25/sq km. England 250/sq km.

      What works for a primarily rural country does not work for a primarily urban one. We see a microcosm of that here in the US – the states with high population densities are hit much harder than those with low densities. That’s why where we live the risk is low – 40 miles away in the DC suburbs it’s a whole different story.

    3. Lots of us NoTTLers have aimed plenty of disdain at HMG’s inept response to the Wuhan Virus in the past few weeks. For my part, the only well founded concern that I could muster was when we learned that HMG was being substantially guided by Neil Ferguson and the rest of the Imperial College team (who get lots of moolah from China). Ferguson’s name had previously cropped up on my radar in connection with his magnifying of the Foot & Mouth threat which prompted such a disastrous response from an inept HMG of the day. On these pages and elsewhere I then learned of his (and his mysterious model’s) rank incompetence in connection with BSE. I am not the first or only person to regard him as a self-aggrandising charlatan who, unfortunately, has the ear of HMG via a bogus quango. I understand that, by virtue of his ‘By Royal Appointment’ bogus crap, the Trump administration was taken in by him for several days before they decided to come to their own conclusions and strategy. Boris was wrong to take Ferguson’s word as Gospel, especially when there is a plethora of other more competent reputable modellers in the UK, albeit without the same skills when it comes to self-promotion as Ferguson. Beyond that, I am not competent to hurl mud at HMG (other than their goofy press relations and an inability to control the narrative) although I do know quite a bit about some of the advice that has been fed into the Cabinet Office.

      Thus I have a fair measure of sympathy with Raab as depicted in tomorrow’s DT cartoon by Bob and if any NoTTLer can see the way forward clearer than the light of day, post your formula below this posting. C’mon; I dare you. I bet that much of what you have to say is as ex post facto arm-chair farts..
      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2020/04/19/047blower20-4-20_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqjYeQRtCUmaNTl9ge3Skvf2LZgWddHfes6e-pNqDiVg.jpg?imwidth=1400

      [None of the above should be taken to dilute my disdain for the MSM’s assault on HMG – they want to bring it down and trample on Boris ASAP]

    4. Population: Sweden 10.3 million, UK 65 million
      Population Density: Sweden 64 per sq mile, UK 727 per sq mile
      Cities with population is excess of 100,000: Sweden less than 10, UK at least 75
      Stockholm population: 970 thousand, London population 7.5 million
      Child Climate Change prodigies: Sweden 1, UK nil

      Drawing conclusions about the UK need for and efficacy of isolation measures from a country so different from the UK is foolish.

        1. It was a rhetorical statement – I wasn’t asking anyone to hold up their hands to being foolish.

          2. I’ve nicked it in turn, Cori and published it on Ar$ebook for the greater good.

            I added this comment:

            It’s been very quiet about ‘Climate Change’. I bet it’s happy to be out of the lime-light for a moment but, be sure, her grasping parents will be pushing the refreshed little Thunderbug back into the glare of World Publicity:

      3. It must be much easier in Sweden to maintain a safe distance than it is in a huge city like London.

    5. …and that’s not to forget the bully-boys in the Stasi Police.

      No, Plod, we won’t forget and we’ll hold your bootless feet to the fire, until you get back to proper policing.

  96. Anyone saying open borders is good then i’d like to hear their argument on the place at Telford that was slaughtering stolen sheep. Blood on the driveway. Is this the benefits of multiculturalism? 7 arrested.

    1. The Muslims are performing their rituals all over East London and in occupied areas West such as Acton, to say nothing of their Northern strongholds in the West Midlands, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and even the lesser towns such as Bradford.

      We have imported aliens who have their own customs and beliefs both of which which are anathema to us, the indigenous population of England.

      1. 318323+ up ticks,
        C,
        May one ask then who is responsible as it has been ongoing for years, why is it continuing ?

          1. 318365+ up ticks,
            Morning PP,
            Via who, there must be a political vehicle ?
            to put it bluntly near skint politico’s blossoming into near millionaires.

  97. I bid you all farewell. Time to skype the young ‘uns. Than make pasta. Then eat it.

    Risking a trip to the shops tomorrow. Be interesting to see what’s what.

    Have a fine evening dreaming of the good old days when you could pop down to the pub.

    A demain.

  98. More BAME people are dying from coronavirus. We have to know why. Sadiq Khan. Sun 19 Apr 2020.

    However, this doesn’t mean the impact of this crisis is being felt equally. More and more, the notion that this epidemic is some kind of “great leveller” is being exposed for what it is – a complete myth.

    Evidence is emerging of how black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities are being disproportionately affected. Despite making up only 14% of the population, one study has shown that we account for a third of critically ill coronavirus patients in our hospitals.

    Ahhhh! Diddums. Is nasty little CV being racist?

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/19/bame-dying-coronavirus-sadiq-khan

    2. I doubt if Khant has been out there trying to find a reason. Even that thicko might realise that if it is actually true it could be just a coincidence.
      Or the bame tribe are not really listening to the UK government.
      Which frankly would be fairly typical.
      We’ll see who is out celebrating on the 23rd St George’s day or ramadam.

    3. The BAME community also accounts for a far higher percentage of crime disproportionately to the rest of the population. Perhaps Covid-19 prefers knife-wielding criminals?

      1. Just as the costs associated with their knife crime the costs of treating these BAME folk in our hospitals for Covid-19 will be borne disproportionately by the indigenous population, we unfashionable whiteys. Accordingly we will be despised and held responsible.

        It has been much the same with their defective children, populating our hospitals with their very severe birth defects caused by tribal and religious inter breeding.

        When this event is over I trust our politicians will take action to restore our society and protect us from these imports, preferably exporting tens of thousands of them back to the shitholes from whence they came.

        1. I know, KNOW, that they won’t. Otherwise why keep on letting them in the middle of the pandemic? The politicians have a lot of answering to do – but then they have had for years. And still we just get more of the same.

    4. The BAME community also accounts for a far higher percentage of crime disproportionately to the rest of the population. Perhaps Covid-19 prefers knife-wielding criminals?

    5. Don’t forget COVID-19 is also sexist because it targets more males than females, it is transphobic because it can’t make up its mind which sex they really are and also hypochondriacist because it has it in for people who are hooked on NSAiDs..

      1. “Hooked on NSAIDS” is not exactly fair to those arthritis sufferers who take them on prescription so they can stay mobile and functional. There are lots of people on long term medication these days to improve and/or extend their lives, everything from blood thinners to insulin.

        1. Yes I agree it is not exactly fair to people on prescription drugs to stay mobile and functional.

          I’m on long term medication – two sorts of diuretics to control my blood pressure, an anti-arrhythmia drug to control atrial fibrillation, an anti-coagulant in case the latter doesn’t work and a beta-blocker to stop me going into tachycardia.

          To be fair, I’ve never felt better but I hate to think what they’re doing to my kidneys.

    6. Don’t forget COVID-19 is also sexist because it targets more males than females, it is transphobic because it can’t make up its mind which sex they really are and also hypochondriacist because it has it in for people who are hooked on NSAiDs..

    7. Not just the UK, the whole world is against him.

      So what exactly does he expect to be done about this?

    8. Not just the UK, the whole world is against him.

      So what exactly does he expect to be done about this?

    9. BAME’s also comprise abouta quarter of the prison population, and often for the worst categoriy 1 prisoners and crimes.

      Odd that you never want to talk about that.

    11. Same in the US with the black communities. Lots of stuff about poor health, etc., but in terms of facts all that is really known is that diabetes and hypertension are much more common among those communities. As is glaucoma, but that’s another story. And that makes them “at risk”.

    1. The earlier I log in to this site in the evening, I still don’t realise you’ve gone upstairs to bed at least an hour earlier. I think I may wish you goodnight tomorrow (Monday) at around 3.30 pm.

      :-))

  102. Top BTL comment:

    Garden Of England 19 Apr 2020 2:14PM

    Hail Sweden. Something I never thought I’d ever say. They are being driven by reason rather than scare mongering and panic.

    There is very likely to be a second wave. And a third. In all likelihood everywhere except Sweden.

    Meanwhile in the UK we have attention seeking scientists with ridiculous models (and plenty of past failures), self serving bureaucrats, a sensationalist press and gutless politicians. What a toxic mix.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/sweden/articles/sweden-coronavirus-policy/

  103. I hope when all this this is over that we will take a long, hard look at all the publicy-funded bodies, both national and international that have let us all down so badly. From PHE and the NHS management who wholly failed to prepare for this predictable pandemic, refused to bring the private sector to help (either for ideological reasons or simply not to be embarassed by how much more effective the private sector is). The WHO which helped China to cover up the epidemic. The woeful response of the EU, which finally showed the world the lie of ‘European solidarity’ – it was every nation for itself when the chips were down! Governments, including that of the UK which had no response other than to have us hunkering down in our bunkers and hoping something will turn up.

    All these institutions which grow fat on public money have shown themselves to be worse than useless. They need to be radically reformed or disbanded when this is over. The people should have their revenge!

    1. “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”.
      Ronnie Reagan was right.

    1. There was a time when nurses uniforms were smart and scrupulously clean. These days they dress more like cleaning staff than medical professionals and wear their overalls outside the hospital. Laundry used to be done on site too?

      1. And you could tell their “rank” by their uniforms. And yes, laundry was done on site way back when.

          1. Nobody would guess it though.
            I know these pyjamas are practical for the highly qualified job they do, but they all say “cleaner” to me.

      2. I have had spells in both West Suffolk and Addenbrookes in the past ten years. All of the ward nurses were brilliant and attentive.

        I noticed quite a few fatties manning the telephones and waddling around the restaurant zones.

        There are dedicated nurses and also fatties waddling around the restaurant zones and failing to pick up the phones to callers.

    2. Lewis, the upvote is for your comment, not for the idiots behaving like morons.

      1. Most definitely. Mine too. Someone from the other end of the village asked me – from across a ditch! – f we clapped for the nhs last Thursday. I replied ‘oh no!’ – oh! was more a quick intake of breath, indicating ‘certainly not!’ He looked me askance, I felt definitely beyond the pale as he said all our street – all eight houses in the cul-de-sac – are out there clapping. I just cannot understand this, I guess I am not a team player. I feel the check-out staff and the shelf stackers are just as deserving, they after all did not sign up to work with the sick amongst us, even worse they do not know who is incubating this virus and who is not.

        1. Virtue signaling by the weak minded. Do people not question anything anymore and just do as they are told.

          1. It is surely an exercise in manipulating people and stopping them from thinking for themselves.

          3. Not only do they do as they are told, they do as they don’t want to, just in case someone somewhere will think less of them if they don’t.

            They are scared of criticism for their beliefs

        3. It’s fairly shocking that people feel the need not only to join in, but to harangue their neighbours who haven’t joined in.
          This reminds me of an account I heard of trying to be a non-muslim in a muslim country. It’s not the fanatics who believe you should be murdered (as mandated in the koran) for rejecting allah, it’s all the ordinary muslims who give you not a moment’s peace. They are always asking, are you coming to the mosque, are you praying etc, and of course, you would provoke a violent reaction if you ate in front of them during ramadan. It depresses me enormously to see the British doing the same kind of thing.
          This is how islam took over north Africa, which used to be Christian.
          At some point, there will be a religious revival in Britain, at which point it might dawn on a few people how foolish they were to stop teaching chidren the fundamentals of Christianity. But probably they will be swept up in the mood of the moment, and be the keenest muslim converts.

    3. Lewis, the upvote is for your comment, not for the idiots behaving like morons.

    4. So this is what people are clapping for. Interesting. I asked our younger son this late afternoon by Whatsapp (just in case you all think he called by…) if he clapped for the NHS on Thursday. He said ‘We certainly did. Everybody on our road is out. We don’t want to get blacklisted!’ I am almost certain that our elder son would not be at the door clapping, even if he was aware that this was happening, which he probably is not.

      1. I appreciate that the NHS is under a lot of stress, but why on earth do we show that appreciation by wanting to give them the clap?

    6. God, how cringeworthy. Do they not realise how bloody stupid they look. The last thing I’d want to do is applaud that lot on a Thursday evening.

    9. I can’t defend the video but I have to say the hospital does great work at a local level. Minor injuries, physiotherapy, certain surgical procedures, X-rays and appointments with visiting specialists (and that’s all I’ve had done there). Takes a load off of Derriford and has a good local rep. Their taking time to make a very silly video might just be a reflection of the countrywide empty GPs, quiet A&Es and many empty hospital beds, that this poxy virus has us panicked about.

    1. I can’t defend the video but I have to say the hospital does great work at a local level. Minor injuries, physiotherapy, certain surgical procedures, X-rays and appointments with visiting specialists (and that’s all I’ve had done there). Takes a load off of Derriford and has a good local rep. Their taking time to make a very silly video might just be a reflection of the countrywide empty GPs, quiet A&Es and many empty hospital beds, that this poxy virus has us panicked about.

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