Sunday 22 March: Scenes from one supermarket where good manners did prevail

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/03/22/lettersscenes-one-supermarket-good-manners-did-prevail/

1,182 thoughts on “Sunday 22 March: Scenes from one supermarket where good manners did prevail”

  1. Well, a very happy and Holy Sunday, Gentlefolk – just to start you off before I repair to my bed:

    An Emergency Call Centre worker in London has been dismissed from her job, much to the dismay of colleagues who are reportedly unhappy with her treatment.

    It seems a male caller dialled 999 from a mobile phone stating, “I am depressed and lying here on a railway track. I am waiting for the train to come so I can finally meet Allah.”

    Apparently “Please remain calm and stay on the line” was not considered to be an appropriate or correct response…

    1. It is very, very quiet here, as if we have had a blanket of snow. Eerily quiet. Our younger son is coming round to see us this afternoon….. however seeing is mostly all it will be. He travels in and out of London daily. We have pre-arranged to put a picnic chair in the sheltered area by the conservatory. We will be sitting in the conservatory with the windows open and we will chat from a distance – a cup of tea and a piece of cake will be added to the mix. He has had probably the worst days of his life this last week.

      Keep safe and keep well. We are living through strange times.

      1. Our son turned up yesterday with the shopping we ordered, less the flour, as it appears home baking ingredients have flown off the shelves in both of the town’s LIDLs. It was strange to have him keep about ten feet away as we chatted about all manner of things. Good to see him though and know that his wife and children are fine. He informed me that five reports of possible infection have been reported at Colchester Hospital, all tests proved negative.
        Our second supply line also turned up with more of the supplies she couldn’t get the day before, she really is a gem.

        1. We did the 7.00 am weekly shop in Waitrose on Friday for pensioners and vulnerables only. There was tension in the air whilst queuing and going through the doors, but as we dispersed it dispersed too. We were able to get everything we needed but some shelves were fairly thinly stocked, especially potatoes. Loads, barrowfulls of tomatoes! No fresh meat on the meat counter though. We got a pre-packed chicken and minced beef off the shelf. There was plenty of dairy prods but no eggs. No toilet rolls, tissues nor kitchen rolls, but I didn’t need them. No pasta apart from three or four packs of macaroni. Hardly any cooking oil, except a very few glass bottles of very small ones, and three large bottles of expensive olive oil, of which we took one as we were in need – it will last ages. And that was it, except for one difference. In our branch of Waitrose there is no piped music – perhaps this is true of all Waitroses. However, on this occasion Waitrose had a surprise in store for us – they had a female harpist sitting in the corner (with her harp) playing Enya-type music and singing her songs. This lovely music filtered its way down the aisles and you could almost feel your blood pressure falling to healthy levels.

          Our son has volunteered to do our shopping – he has placed us under curfew – but he has had such a bad time and we felt he needed to concentrate his energies on supporting his wife and little son and recharge his batteries for the coming week over the weekend. Thus I told him a little white lie, that we had just about enough stuff in to see us through next week, I thought it was permissible under the circumstances.

          Keep posting, we need to know everyone is all right at this time. Keep safe.

          1. Thank you, pm.
            I have given up listening to LBC for the weekend, especially first thing in the morning: too much doom and gloom with people reciting their problems with few solutions. I caught a bit of Iain Dale just now and he is a calming influence at the moment. I may give Ferrari a chance tomorrow but if it’s, “I have this problem,” or, “My daughter’s this or that,” then I do not want to know.
            My elder sister just called to find out how we are and to let us know that she and her husband are fine. She ended the call saying, “See you at Christmas.” She did chuckle after she said it.
            That’s the spirit we need, optimism; it’ll all be over by Christmas. Where have I read that line before?😎

          2. Our local Waitrose is a treasure.

            It’s always had the reputation as the best supermarket in the area.

            Today they allowed elderly and infirm in at 9.45, and the rest in at 10.15.

            Lots of helpful and courteous staff around.

      2. We expect to hear from children today over Whatsapp on Mother’s day
        I see you can do group calling for up to four people – just enough with three married children.

  3. Good Morning Folks

    Weather not bad, might get a game of golf in, might be the last one for a while.
    I will be self isolating in the rough most of the time I expect, as usual.

  4. Morning all, sunny but frosty here in Norf Zummerzet. It is getting that we are having more winter like weather in the spring than the winter.
    Today is not going to be a normal Mother’s Day but nothing is normal at the moment. Thank goodness for FaceTime and Skype.

    1. Normal here, I have allowed all my servants their annual one unpaid day off to visit their mothers.

      2. The whole day?
        Surely you expect Madge to give you lunch first and then pick a bunch of violets on her walk back to Mother’s hovel?

      3. You have been conned – the day off was to visit their mother church and as services have stopped, there was no need to give them a day off.

    1. Hitchens has no qualifications in public health and disease management. Journalists simply shouldn’t be writing this type of article.

      The government and media should be honest and tell us that the actions being taken are to save x excess deaths (yesterday’s BBC article made this point well) and let’s debate whether causing a recession is worth stopping death rates exceeding the average. But if we want to bring deaths down to normal rates we must shut the country down.

      Hitchens fails to make this point and is out of his depth.

      1. He is articulating and questioning what very few people seem to be prepared to do.

        Why must we shut the country down? Nobody seems to be able to give a calm and rational explanation. I look at what is happening and conclude that it is a knee-jerk reaction based on “something must be done”.

        I’ve lived through far too many of these Government/establishment panics, over the last 60+ years to believe that the “experts” are alway right. In most of the historical episodes, when the dust has settled, the experts have been shown to have been wrong.

        One day the sky really will fall in, but for the time being I think Chicken Little is charging around unchallenged.

      1. We read about that threat here too.

        The EU economy is already being slowly strangled and a total shut down to the UK would have hurt them at least as much as us, I suspect.

        We still have our own container ports that could receive shipped goods, and air cargo could be kept open. I am fairly sure that there are plenty of countries that would leap on the opportunity to supply Britain and long term such a petulant action by the EU might well turn out to be an almighty hat-trick of own goals.

        1. We should look to the Commonwealth again, as well as to places such as Argentina and Uruguay. “Supply us now and write your own trade deal.” We are, after all, looking for free trade with the world outside the EU.
          As well as food there may be a shortage of vehicle parts as PSA have closed their UK factories, and the Germans have closed down theirs. (Can robots catch coronavirus?)

      2. Essential goods are still passing everywhere in the EU. For example, supermarkets are full of produce from Italy and Spain, lorries are still on the motorway etc.

        1. Essential goods from the EU would mainly arrive via French ports. Was a threat made to close such ports and that influenced Johnson. I realise the damage would affect both the UK and the EU but I wonder if it played any part in what has happened?

          1. I cannot believe that. We are threatened with a slump, surely no country would be stupid enough.

          2. IF there is truth to this report I can only say we are talking about the EU and/or France. Stupidity has never been in short supply before.

      3. Email from Britanny Ferries said they were maintaining a skeleton freight service, but were not taking any other bookings at the moment. So presumably tomatoes etc are still arriving from Spain.

  6. Morning all

    SIR – We recently took advantage of the early-morning “oldies shopping hour” at Sainsbury’s. Our experience was quite different from what others have reported. We were welcomed by helpful staff and served by friendly check-out assistants. There were lots of shoppers but British reserve and politeness prevailed.

    We apologised for getting in each other’s way and most people smiled – at least, the ones without face masks did. We were home eating breakfast by 8 am.

    Elizabeth Lyne

    Whitchurch, Hampshire

    SIR – I tried to make use of Tesco’s “silver hour”.

    When I arrived at the starting time, 9 am, the store had been open for three hours, the car park was nearly full and people were pouring out with laden trollies. There was no attempt to enforce an age limit, and the crowds rivalled those on Christmas Eve.

    By 10 am the queue for the checkouts stretched more than half way around the store. What is the point of this measure if nobody is enforcing it?

    Eric Crook

    Writtle, Essex

    1. Simple answer is for them to require some proof of age or disability ie bus pass , proof of state pension payment . Birth Certificate etc

      It may cause a problem for some but without proof being required these house will jiust be massively abused

  7. SIR – By limiting the amount of each item we are able to purchase, the supermarkets are actually putting my husband and I at risk.

    We had planned to shop once a week, but now we will have to go out every two days to get milk. We are both in the high-risk category. Panic is taking over from common sense.

    Jennifer Howells

    Shrewsbury

    SIR – With chaos and shortages in our major supermarkets, and long delays in their delivery services, I suggest that the small shopkeepers in towns across the country should form their own joint delivery system.

    Those of us who are self-isolating would be only too happy to phone the suppliers we have used for years, give them an order using a credit card, and have it brought to our front door. I’m sure this would also help to keep such businesses going.

    R A Collings

    Presteigne, Radnorshire

  8. Wales looking to use the Emergency Powers Act to Close Camp Sites

    Wales has had a big problem with people coming down to camp & Caravan sites at weekends. They are highly likely om Monday to extend the Emergency Powers to cover Camp sites and Caravan sites. The other problem this brings is these areas have limited hospital and medical facilitated

  9. Morning again

    A sense of proportion

    SIR – It is beholden on all of us, not least those in public life, to give maximum support to the measures deemed necessary by medical and scientific advice to combat Covid-19.

    But it is also necessary for those of us with experience of dealing with other forms of threat, and therefore risk to the life and well-being of our country, to make a contribution to the debate on the proportionality and balance needed to ensure continuity of basic services and the foundation of our economy.

    It is in that spirit, and having dealt with the counter-terrorism measures required when I was home secretary from 2001, that I hope sincerely that the Government will not be pushed on a daily basis to feel that it has to do “something new” and “something more” in addition to the measures already announced.

    It may, in due course, be necessary to activate those measures in the emergency legislation passing through Parliament in the coming days that do not deal with medical, welfare or employment matters.

    Nevertheless, at this moment in time, it is my judgment that there is a real danger, particularly with talk of a “total lockdown” of London, that panic will become a serious threat, undermining the proportionate measures necessary to contain the virus while sustaining the wellbeing of our country.

    The Government’s Scientific Advisory Group (Sage) has an incredibly difficult job which I do not underestimate. Testing its modelling and expanding the expertise drawn into the group must surely be prudent in avoiding apocalyptic scenarios which then lead to actions that might prove to be as damaging to life and wellbeing as less draconian alternatives.

    Lord Blunkett (Lab)

    London SW1

    1. Surely the Scientific Advisory Group would be Sag, rather than Sage. Could be more appropriate in the circumstances 🙂

      1. Morning John. How are you doing? Hope you’re keeping well and staying safe in these dark days.

  11. SIR – The Prime Minister’s announcement that whole families should isolate themselves for 14 days if one member has coronavirus symptoms has resulted in the emptying of supermarket shelves.

    This has been blamed on the evils of stockpiling and panic-buying, but people can hardly be criticised for trying to make sure that there are enough provisions in the house to last for two or three weeks, in case of illness.

    This response could and should have been predicted in Whitehall. It is resulting in a considerable increase in social mixing, with people having to visit multiple stores on multiple days in search of basic commodities.

    All this fear and distress might well turn out to have been for nothing. 
The projected mortalities are based on a number of questionable assumptions, as has been succinctly pointed out by the Stanford University epidemiologist Professor John Ioannidis.

    We cannot afford to ignore the evidence provided by the cruise ship Diamond Princess, on board which 700 passengers (mostly elderly) and crew were infected, with a mortality 
of 1 per cent. This might appear high, but our Government is currently basing its actions on a much higher projected death rate in the over-70 age group.

    If, over the next few weeks, Italy is shown to be coming to the end of its own epidemic, we need to be cautious in assuming this to have been a benefit of social isolation, which likely came too late to have much impact.

    If such a decline is indeed observed we should seriously consider rolling back with alacrity some of the more draconian measures, which risk destroying not only our economy but also the very fabric of our society.

    Dr Paul A Fox

    London W6

    1. The only accurate estimates at present are coming from Italy and Spain. WE are several weeks behind them because of the incubation period and the failure to take any real action at the start and even now the steps we have taken have been far less so we are likely to see the number of deaths far higher than those in Italy and the number requiring hospital treatment far higher

    2. The Diamond Princess results are skewed though, because the passengers are all people who could afford cruises, and felt in good enough health to go on one. They are probably a cross-section of healthier pensioners.

      1. I thought most of the elderly cruisers chose cruises because they do not need to indulge in a lot of exercise.

    3. Dr Fox ignores the actions taken to stop the spread on the Diamond Princess. Those infected were removed to hospital and those testing negative were locked down i.e. locked in their cabins for 23 hours a day.

  12. SIR – Perhaps now is the time for the Government to instruct councils and the Highways Agency to fast-track as many road works as possible.

    There’s little traffic around and plenty of people who would be glad of the opportunity to work. It’s also unlikely that those working would have to come into close contact with each other or any members of the public. A genuine win-win?

    Paul Shields

    London NW1

    Don’t leave the shipping industry high and dry

    A British cargo ship leaves Southampton docks

    Heading into choppy waters? A British cargo ship leaves Southampton docks CREDIT: andrew duke/alamy

    SIR – These are incredibly difficult times for our country and it is imperative that the Government supports Britain’s shipping sector.

    To keep Britain trading, we need to keep freight moving. It is as simple and as that. The Government has talked a good game, but we are yet to see any tangible support for the sector. We know that ferry operators are already making redundancies.

    At a time when the expertise of seafarers is needed more than ever, the Government must not stand idly by. It needs to provide immediate funding so that companies can pay their staff.

    Britain relies on its shipping sector to keep essential medical supplies, drugs, manufacturing components and food coming into the country. We have raised this with the Transport Secretary and it is time for the Government to act.

    Bob Sanguinetti

    CEO, UK Chamber of Shipping

    London SE1

    1. It is mainly cruise ships laying off staff and few of those would be of much help to cargo ships

      1. I think the support for shipping was keeping the ferries running – Passengers & cars pay lots of the costs of a crossing to Europe.
        No punters but the costs of running the ship is exactly the same for each trip. Losses for ferry owners will add up massively in a matter of weeks.
        Same story for airlines – the HP/lease payments of the planes swallows massive amounts of cash when the planes are grounded or flying half empty & using the same amount of fuel.

  13. SIR – Could Oxfam shops – and other charity establishments having to close or cut down their hours because the over-70s are no longer allowed to work in them – start recruiting students?

    Those who are confined to their homes are going to need somewhere to donate their no-longer-loved objects as they turn out their cupboards over the next few weeks.

    Gillian Reid

    Pangbourne, Berkshire

    1. Turning out my cupboards will be the last thing I do; weed the garden, cut the lawns, replant, pot up, read lots of books, yes, but getting rid of stuff, no. The best that can be said is that I won’t be adding more!

  16. Good morning all.

    If I may proffer a thought on the panic-buyers, and I suspect it won’t be a popular one – is this not simply human nature in action? We put our own families first when the chips are down, despite the starry-eyed socialist views of ‘comradeship’ and ‘solidarity.’ Would you really let you own child go hungry so that a stranger’s child could eat? Would you really give away medical supplies to other countries if it meant that your own people had to go untreated? This virus is showing human nature at its ugliest and most real. It isn’t pretty, but it is giving us a much-needed dose of reality.

    1. 317337+ up ticks,
      Morning JK,
      That is what the governance parties via eu dealings ie
      rubber stamping, and overseas aid, aided & abetted time & again by the peoples via the polling booth.

    3. What has happened is that people have tried to buy two weeks supply of groceries instead of their usual one. Supermarkets could not possibly have planned for this. Result – empty shelves, with latecomers losing out. Reports in the media of this happening have exacerbated the situation, with normal, reasonable people feeling that they have to rush out to get something while they still can.

      Hopefully, shoppers will realise what is happening, and in future only buy their normal amount of food. If it is made clear that there are plenty of groceries available, things hopefully should settle down in a week or so. They should also be made aware that, if they have to ‘self-isolate’ for 14 days, they only need supplies for that period and no more than that.

      It’s no use appealing to people’s better natures – many of them care only about themselves. But if they are made aware that hoarding is self-defeating, things should get back to normal fairly quickly, as far as shopping is concerned. It’s all a matter of confidence. Restore the confidence that the supplies are there, and there is no shortage, then the panic-buying spree should end.

      1. I do wonder how much of it is supermarket’s supply-chains not keeping up with the increased demand, most supermarkets I’ve been to have been pretty quiet and I haven’t seen many people walking out with loads of loo-rolls. But yes, hopefully when this becomes the ‘new normal’ people will start to shop normally again.

        But people can read what is happening in France, Italy, Spain. Early in the week Boris was saying there would be no school closures, no lockdown of pubs and restaurants but now it has happened. What happens if next week we need a pass to leave the house? It is selfish and ugly, but can you blame people for wanting to have emergency stocks in the house? When the chips are down, it is every family for themselves.

        1. Even in Italy, where deaths have exceeded those in China and all shops are closed, the food shops remain open. If they didn’t, everyone would starve, as home delivery services would be unable to cater for the demand. This is why it is important that people who have to remain at home should be given priority for home deliveries.

          1. Yep. No one needs 14 days supply of food because home deliveries continue even if you’re isolated.

          2. In most cases the delivery services have collapsed under the load and are not available

          3. Not true. Delivery services are expanding including shops offering them. That’s also without help from friends and neighbours.

          6. Booking supermarket slots appear to be a problem.
            On the plus side, I suspect small, local businesses will be rediscovered.
            I intend to pop into our local butchers next week; I will be as interested to chat with them as to buy their superior quality meat.

          7. With most supermarkets their are no deliver slots and ORCADO has closed its Online ordering at present and the Wait rose site was pretty much down

          8. We are still able to get our normal deliveries from the milkman and Occado. More substitutions but regular deliveries.

      2. Let’s hope the smell of rotting cabbages and onions deter them from repeating their actions.
        Thanks to the kindness of family and friends, I over-estimated the amount of food MB would need while I was hors de combat.
        On Friday, we had to bin a very dubious looking Savoy cabbage. I cannot believe how guilty I felt.

          1. Provided you blanche it first.
            Which then means remembering it’s there and also being present yourself.

        2. You ought to have sliced it up after removing the dubious bits, put it into jars & topped up with vinegar & spices.

          1. Believe you me; we sliced and diced.
            It was a late cabbage. It had ceased to be etc……

      3. The supermarkets should lock up all the trolleys and make people shop with just the baskets

        1. There is a problem with that – the elderly find them difficult to carry, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome. Perhaps a maximum £100 spend?

          1. Quite agree. While I was organising stuff before my operation, I needed to use a small trolley rather than a basket, as the weight skewed my posture to an unbearably painful level.
            And that was just for a few short weeks.

    4. Morning Kuffar. Highly integrated societies usually have unwritten rules (women and children first etc.) to cover emergencies. If you do not live in such a state then it is better to look to yourself since the devil will take the hindmost!

      2. Indeed. This crisis should graphically demonstrate why socialism never works in practice, because an annoying thing called human nature gets in the way! Germany was castigated for refusing to export medical supplies, but how would we feel if we heard that the British government was sending ventilators to Italy or Spain? Would we be happy for our old people to die so a Spanish person could be saved?

        We should immediately suspend all foreign aid payments and EU membership fees (as well as expensive white elephants like HS2) and simply focus on getting our own people through this crisis. I’m sure all other countries will quietly be doing the same.

        1. Hence Pavlik Morosov; presented to Soviet era children as their ideal role model.
          He betrayed his family to the authorities. I’m not sure how they spun his grandfather bumping off the little sh!te.
          Probably as incorrect thinking; so like Oxford or Cambridge university debates with the death penalty as an added frisson.

        2. One of the good things about Brexit is that the British can once again exploit the English Common Law way of doing things: anything is allowed until someone stops you. On the continent, they direct what you can produce and how, and you are fine as long as you comply.

          It was Britain that produced Heath Robinson, and the licence to improvise probably won the war against the more ordered Germans.

          An example relevant today concerns a vacuum cleaner maker in my nearest city Worcester. Using a few odds and sods knocking about the shed, and adapting vacuum cleaner technology, they have already made a prototype for a cheap and easily-cobbled up respirator, and can go into production as soon as they can find someone to supply them with the bits. Never mind about waiting for a Government directive before starting, and just wait what the public would do to anyone trying to stop them.

    5. Most of us wouldn’t send stuff we need abroad – our government, on the other hand … It’s 19.00. Just lit the candle in my window to signify the light of Christ in this dark world.

      1. Why we still borrowing £14bn a year to put in the pockets of dictators, even now?

  17. Apologies for the off topic post, but I wonder if I am the only person noticing this.

    The two elderly people whom I love the most in the world, have both, separately, had their safety compromised by grown up children.
    Now we know the death rate from this virus is not that great, but both these people have underlying health conditions that make them high risk, especially with limited hospital services.
    The first one lives with a grown up child who will not stop going out. To put it bluntly, this person is egoistic and is known to be constantly thinking about their inheritance.
    The second one was visited the day before yesterday by a grown up daughter with small grandchild. This strikes me as particularly dangerous, as they live in an area with a fair number of infections, and it is believed that children can be symptomless. The son-in-law is said to be a manipulative fortune-hunter.

    I feel I am being over-suspicious, but everyone else I know, including me, is bending over backwards to try and avoid bringing an infection to elderly people who are not in terribly good health. 🙁

    2. Thoughtlessness or Criminal Intention? It’s impossible to say without knowing the people involved.

      1. Let’s say, that I do not see how it is possible, in the current climate, that it has NOT crossed their minds that their actions could lead to someone’s death.
        In one case, the family is acting together to try and shame the offender, and make sure that they know their actions have been noticed. Only time will tell if this will be enough.

        1. I do not think shaming works to change behaviour in this type of person – they want what they want and nothing will get in their way – the end always, always justifies the means they use to acquire that end.

  18. Should the government order some minor airports to close on Sunday’s ?

    Many of the minor airports have almost no flights on Sunday. It makes no sense to have hundreds of staff traveling to them for just one or two flights

    1. I am amazed that any planes are flying at all. As I’ve said before, the simplest thing would have been to ban all flights at the start of the outbreak. But no, peoplew were still coming off planes from Milan only a week or so ago. Does the government not want to stop infected people coming to the country?

        1. Let’s hope that’s all it is. I’ve been reading that only a week or so ago flights were landing from places like Milan filled with passengers. One day there needs to be an enquiry on how the government handled this. Now is not that time, but surely the simplest thing would have been to close all ports and airports and simply stop people coming into the country?

        2. No freight flights to these airports. May be a small amount of freight in the holds of passenger flights but unlikely on a Sunday

      2. Noticed a Chicago-Abu Dhabi pass overhead on Flight Radar a short while ago!

        1. It does rather suggest to me that this is a ‘beneficial crisis’ which world governments are secretely rather enjoying. A chance to crush all the pleasures out of the little people’s lives and remind them who is really in charge.

    2. Why not ration yourself to a maximum of 15 posts a day?

      This would encourage you to be more selective and to sharpen up your mind. An accurate marksman firing a single bullet is more effective than a dolt with a blunderbuss!

  19. Am I alone in thinking that China should be made to pay in some way for yet another worldwide pandemic. A suitable punishment this time would be the loss of those islands they illegally built several hundred miles offshore in the South China Seas. Next time it’ll be Hong Kong which is lost.

    2. It was just one of those things. It could have started anywhere. Plenty of people in the UK eat road kill which is a potential health risk

        1. I saw a disgusting video of a tempura battered live fish. It was still moving when they served it on a plate. They all need to go to re-education camps.

      2. Erm, not just for this pandemic, but the one before, and the one before that – oh and perhaps the one in between as well.

        It is ridiculous that the Chinese are so scared of “losing face” but their disgusting habits (in Western terms) make them moral pariahs.

      3. Really? How many plagues and pandemics that have spread worldwide can you name that haven’t started in China? I can only think of Ebola.

  20. (Transferred from yesterday):

    Am I alone in thinking that Western “Democracies” have devoted far too many resources into bloated welfare spending and far too little into spending on Defence and Border Security, including Contingency Planning.

    If emergency powers are to be introduced, how about reintroducing Capital Punishment for scamming the old and vulnerable as well as for Treason.

    1. You are talking about what they should do.
      What they will do: Reintroduce Capital Punishment for those insulting the rainbow flag on Twitter.

    2. Time that Overseas aid was largely scrapped. It is in my view long overdue that this vast gravy train as stopped. Just keep the disaster relief bit of it

    3. 317337+ up ticks,
      Morning LD,
      You are not alone, feel free to count on ogga1.
      I did say yesterday that a genuine Tommy Robinson law should be introduced for real justice, same day
      verdict / jail, long term, commencing YESTERDAY.
      Submission,PCism, Appeasement & users must be
      rhetorically annihilated.

  21. Coronavirus: Lombardy region announces stricter measures

    The Italian region of Lombardy has introduced stricter measures in a bid to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

    Under the new rules announced late on Saturday, sport and physical activity outside, even individually, is banned. Using vending machines is forbidden.

    The move comes as Italy reported nearly 800 coronavirus deaths on Saturday and saw its toll for the past month reach 4,825, the highest in the world.

    Lombardy is the worst-affected region in the country with 3,095 deaths.

    The region’s President Attilio Fontana announced the new measures in a statement.

    Businesses have been asked to close all operations excluding “essential” supply chains. Work on building sites will be stopped apart from those working on hospitals, roads and railways.

    All open-air weekly markets have been suspended.

    1. In the end, the people became so physically and mentally weakened that domestic murders and suicides took out many younger Lombardians, who also became more vulnerable to the Covid-19, which raged right through 2021.

  22. Listening to Thought for the Day by Michael Morpurgo this morning and his message that this crisis demonstrates how much we are “all in this together” and slightly jarred by thoughts that he hadn’t mentioned the many hoarders who’d selfishly stuffed their kitchens/pantries and the looters of South London raiding a Poundland. Still, I thought it showed that issues like Extinction, TransRights, WhitePrivilege were nowhere …. until the last sentence when he said “just like the urgent problem of Climate Change, Covid-19 knows no borders” ………….. Grrrh, the BBC and popular modern children’s authors can always be relied upon to spread woke cr@p ….

  23. Where is the WHO in all of this? Surely this is something the WHO should be helping with. It appears though that if it is not Africa it is not interested

    1. Expecting WHO to do something effective is a bit over the top.
      Like the rest of the UN, it’s little more than a corrupt tool for bashing the West.

    3. The head of the WHO was more worried about racism associated with the virus.
      He was the ex-Health Minister of Ethiopia who denied his country had a cholera outbreak, until it spread to neighbouring countries and be was forced to admit it.
      He’s a Marxist, who wanted Robert Mugabe to be a “goodwill ambassador” for the WHO.
      That tells you everything.

    4. Personally, unless the UN wants play even further on western post-colonial guilt, I can see no use for involving WHO whatsoever.
      Pandering to those who hate the west is an expensive indulgence we can well do without.

  24. Unintended consequences – “Lessons will be learned, no. 992”;

    1. Public transport services reduced

    2. Trains and Buses packed

    PS On the cross-Birmingham line I was once at University station when I heard the announcer say that “the 17:25 to Redditch has been cancelled due to overcrowding …. Ding-dong.

  25. Sainsbury’s offers NHS staff allocated shopping hours and extends dedicated slots for elderly

    Surely it would be more sensible to offer the elderly dedicated home delivery slots. These special opening hour are simply not working s they are unenforceable

      1. I disagree. If the supermarkets are being stocked overnight, as they claim, then they should be fulfilling the home deliveries when the stores are closed, before the shelves are stripped bare. It would save people going out and being in contact with others, and they can control what people buy, i.e. stop stockpiling. It would encourage more people to order online.
        They also need to start rqtioning certain goods.
        I don’t think the dedicated opening time is working. By mid-morning the shelves are empty. Vulnerable people who are ordering from home are failing to receive most of the items they’ve requested, as they’re being fulfilled in normal opening hours, when most of the stock has already gone…assuming it was delivered to the store in the first place.

        1. i had this email a couple of days from chum who works at Sainsburys.

          “Hi Anne,

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

        1. That is not Sainsbury’s fault. At least they are trying.
          Can you ring a bell when somewhere you can find toilet rolls and pasta ?

          3. A lady after my own heart. I need at least two hours on here in the morning with Tea and fags before i’m good for anything.

  26. Morning everyone. Not up to much today. I developed an ache in my lower abdomen yesterday that kept me awake all night. I’m not positively certain that it is not mild food poisoning though I have neither diarrhoea nor vomiting. The only bright spot is the symptoms seem to be diminishing. I wonder if all these illnesses are normal for the time of year and we just don’t usually think they are worth mentioning or could they actually be variants of CV?

    2. From time to time I get odd symptoms like that, they go as they come. We should also remember that there are the usual winter viruses doing the rounds just to complicate matters. One of the first symptoms seems to be fatigue before the others kick in.

  27. I need gluten free bread flour for baking GF bread (I’m gluten intolerant) but Amazon are out of it and so are the supermarkets. Cardboard is tastier than commercially made GF bread (if you can get it)……….I’m stuffed!

    2. Here in France the commercial GF bread flour is as revolting as the ready-made GF bread, so I make my own mixes. And you can also make quite a reasonable soda bread with ordinary GF flour. Let me know if you need any recipes!

    3. oatcakes, flapjack? In Galicia, Spain, they used to make quite an interesting loaf from maize flour.

    4. In our supermarket, gluten free stuff was the last one on the shelves. Can you mix your own? I noticed that rice flour, hemp flour, coconut flour etc were all still in stock on Saturday where we are.

  28. This crisis has shown how much more secure public sector workers and pensioners are than their brothers and sisters in the private sector. As things are going the UK may well emerge from this crisis with a potential GDP 10% or more lower than envisaged pre-crisis. In addition the national debt will have ballooned. I think there will have to be an average cut of 10% in the real incomes of Brits – although I would like to see this exceeded in a number of cases with 50% cuts for the NHS executive and 25% for all in hospitals who had no face-to-face contact with patients during this crisis, and in the BBC licence fee (if it’s not to be scrapped).

    1. Are members of our upper house still drawing their £300 a day exes, or are they only receiving 80 per cent of it because they can’t get in ?
      That exes allowance is one thing that needs to be scrapped.

      1. I thought they were working from home but I am not certain. The prospect of £30 for debating on-line probably frightened them off. In any case all they have to do is sign on on entry to the HoL, qualify for their £323 and expenses then depart if they want to.

      2. I hope it is not an incontinent question but should we not instead ask Dr Spooner what the roll tells.

  32. Just been on a video call with our grand-daughter who has just turned 5. She wanted to tell her grandma ‘Happy Mothers Day’.

    My tickly cough got the better of me and I cleared my throat. She started laughing and crying out ‘Granda’s got coronavirus!’.

    1. Youngsters have got a disarmingly honest way with words. Let us hope she’s wrong…

  33. Who said… ”I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do” ?

          2. Noooooooooo. It isn’t even the afternoon. Please reserve such stuff for some time after the 9:00PM watershed.

          4. It’s the virgins’ blood wot keeps him going.
            Possibly one of his forbears was Erzsebat Bathory.

          6. Ah yes, George ‘I can’t get enough loo paper so I have a’ Soreass.

    2. 317337+ up ticks,
      Morning PP,
      ALL the current lab/lib/con coalition party supporter / voters.

      1. Now there was a chap who thought it possible to get laughs without yelling ‘Fŭck’ or ‘Fatcher’.

  34. The Sultana and I were discussing stuff after breakfast. We got onto the topic of actors and actresses. Who did we think were the best around? The criteria required that they be versatile, comedy and drama.

    Our List
    Actresses:
    Toni Collette
    Kristin Scott-Thomas
    Meryl Streep
    Sally Field
    Marisa Tomei

    Actors
    Gary Oldman
    Paul Giamatti
    Rowan Atkinson
    Russell Crowe
    Stephen Root
    William H Macy

    You may feel free to comment, and offer alternatives. (There are no prizes.)

    1. Only heard of 2 of the women and 3 of the men. If they’ve got to be alive and still acting, I’m not your man.

      1. Ditto on the numbers, my names being:

        Streep and Field for the female actors – I’m taking the piss here, not out of you, mind.
        Oldman, Atkinson and Crowe for the actors.

    2. Read that as “discussing staff”. As in, layoffs and performance reviews.
      If they are open, I’ll get me to Specsavers…

    3. I definitely agree regarding Gary Oldman. Unlike too many other actors, he really does become the character, and you forget who he is, unlike some who play themselves and you don’t forget who they are. He’s excellent. Just look at how he’s played Dracula, Jim Gordon (Batman films), Winston Churchill, Sirius Black…

      Same with Meryl Streep (despite her politics), i.e. in Mama Mia, Florence Foster Jenkins, The Devil Wears Prada…

    4. I decided a long time ago that being good looking and being a good actor are incompatible. Your list above would suggest the same.

      The exception to my rule, however, is George Clooney who seems to be able to poke fun at himself rather well.

    5. Your list has so many giants compared to

      Kirk Douglas
      Gregory Peck
      Bette Davis
      Kathryn Hepburn
      Joan Crawford
      James Stewart
      James Mason

      1. We have not included “stars”, but current performers whom we thought demonstrated versatility, rather than a costume change, and were still alive..

  36. Just when you couldn’t despise a sleb more………………….
    “Dame Emma Thompson has quit the home country she once described as “a
    tiny little cloud-bolted, rainy corner of sort-of Europe, a cake-filled
    misery-laden grey old island” for Venice, Italy, in the wake of Brexit.”
    She’s back,hiding out at her Scottish retreat,I wonder why??…………….

    4. How fortunate for her that when she quit this drab little isle for the paradise that is Italy she didn’t dispose of her Scottish retreat.

      Maybe her heart wasn’t in it.

      Or maybe she’s just a dishonest cow.

    5. Maybe this ” tiny little cloud-bolted, rainy corner of sort-of Europe, a cake-filled misery-laden grey old island” , ,isn’t so bad after all

    7. ET lives apparently near Dunoon.
      40 years ago the Americans serviced nuclear submarines in the Holy Loch near Dunoon.

      The local young ladies wore their Polaris knickers on Fridays & Saturdays.

      One Yank and they were down

  37. PPE – a tale of over- and under-supply:

    Oversupply – Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (Oxon)

    Undersupply – Personal Protective Equipment, NHS (Covid-crisis)

  38. More deaths in Wales

    The chief medical officer for Wales Dr Frank Atherton, said:

    It is with deep sadness I can confirm a further seven deaths of patients in Wales who tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19).

    This takes the number of deaths in Wales to 12.

    My thoughts are with their families and friends, and I ask that their privacy is respected at this very sad time.

    The Welsh Government said five people had died in the Royal Gwent Hospital, one in Nevill Hall and one in Prince Charles Hospital.

    All were in the high-risk category, either over 70 or with underlying health conditions, it added.

    1. Our deepest sympathies to those who have lost relatives.

      However we would like to point out that Government’s own figures show that in winter 2017/18 some 26,408 people died of ‘flu.

  40. is there any evidence that having a lock down will reduce the covid death rate? I suspect that it has been around for a lot longer than is being admitted to. Most of us may have already had it.
    If 10,000 people in New York have got it because they have more test available, then a lock down won’t make any difference.
    The death rate appears to be rising just as fast in countries that have lock down.

    2. As I’ve said before, many friends and family had the usual Christmas/New Year bug.
      It just didn’t have a name.

        1. I can remember comments from about the time the clocks went back, on the lines of ‘can’t shake it off’, ‘as soon as the clocks change’, ‘hope it goes before Christmas’ and so on.

        1. I’ve had sinus and respiratory problems since last November, still coughing now and then.
          I don’t want to bother my GP he’s probably got enough on his plate.
          One of our neighbours daughter’s came home from Uni with a bad cough. Another of our neighbours has been in hospital for nearly two weeks with pneumonia. Not sure if it’s corona or how he is I daren’t go across to ask his son.
          And the saddest thing was today, we heard this morning that one of my sisters son in-law’s has died from terminal cancer. Mid forties.

          2. Very sad times for the family.
            He was such a lovey easy going Chap, they could do no more for him.

      4. We had a horrible bug after Christmas, we came down with it on the same day. It started with extreme fatigue. Pd had the coughing, we both had the sore throat and I had the streaming snot. Stomach upset, labyrinthitis, the shivers but not fever. I have noticed my sense of taste has become extremely reduced.

    3. It’s just to slow the numberrs for the NHS. Nothing to do with protecting people from illness.

      1. It does protect them because it slows down the rate of infection, which allows more time for NHS facilities to be available. And it moves the peak to summer where there is more opportunity for the droplet borne and surface virus to be destroyed naturally by higher UV levels.

    4. As they’re not locking down our borders, and still allowing flights from Iran, Italy, China, I’d say that they’re not really serious about getting the virus under control.

      https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/03/22/flights-from-coronavirus-epicentres-china-iran-italy-still-landing-in-uk/

      Flights From Coronavirus Epicentres China, Iran, Italy STILL Landing In UK

      The British government is still allowing flights to arrive at the nation’s airports from the countries where coronavirus infection is most widespread.

      The British government has refused to ban air travel from coronavirus hotspots, allowing thousands of people to enter the country from coronavirus stricken countries including China, Iran, and Italy, despite the local lockdown measures imposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
      Flights from Rome and Beijing are still being permitted to arrive in London every day. Iran Air flights from Tehran arrive in the British capital three times a week as well, even though the country has the third-highest death toll from the virus in the world.

      On Saturday, two flights from Beijing and a flight from Shanghai arrived at Heathrow airport and a fourth landed at Gatwick airport.

      Another flight from Iran is due to arrive in the capital this afternoon, according to The Times.
      A spokesman for the government defended the decision to forego travel bans on inflected countries, claiming: “There is no evidence that interventions like closing borders or travel bans would have any effect on the spread of infection. Those who return to the UK would be advised to reduce their social contact by following the same social distancing measures as the rest of the country.”
      The United Kingdom has refused to follow the lead of the United States and even the European Union, which have enacted travel bans during the coronavirus outbreak.

      People arriving in the United Kingdom are being asked to self-isolate– yet there is no way for the government to ensure that they do.

      The director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the United States, infectious disease expert Dr Anthony S. Fauci, has said that President Donald Trump’s decision to ban travel from China and Europe was a key element in reducing the spread of the virus in America.

      “The two pillars, the two elements of our capability to contain the infection and the surge of infections in this country rely on two things: keeping infections from coming from without in. We’ve been very successful in doing that with China and with Europe,” Dr Fauci explained.

      “Our shutting off travel from China and, more recently, travel from Europe, has gone a long way to not seeding very, very intensively the virus in our country,” he added.

      1. How ironic.

        UK electorate voted to leave a union that insisted on freedom of movement amongst its members. The NI border was always a stumbling block.

        Now that the EU is closing its borders and France has started requisitioning goods destined for the UK, clearly the EU finds that the border should be shifted from the Irish Sea to the Channel.

        In the meantime the UK is going global.

        Well I suppose someone has got to use all this unused fossil fuel that can’t be offloaded from the tankers and we certainly don’t want Buncefield going up again through overstocking jet fuel.

        Keep the home fires burning then –
        good Old King Coal

        https://youtu.be/_5SYZeA9cxQ

    5. Hello there,

      No evicence at all Bob, the lockdown, to me, is not about suppressing the virus – just pushing the peak futher down the road towards summer when the NHS is under less strain and will be better prepared.

    1. I used the 111 web-based checker and unless you have a high temperature and are coughing it doesn’t want to know. So much for some medics saying they aren’t always present with CV.

  42. The Fred Olsen Braemar passengers are home via Cuba after difficulties in getting a port & airport to accept the 600.
    Article today about a Professor Jeffery & his wife ” feeling almost blackmailed” into going on the cruise or they would have lost their £6,000 – to me I would have cancelled – better in my own home than in a potential “steel coffin”

    Then I thought about it – 2 x in my life I needed an operation which the time moved on but no sign of the NHS operation.
    Gall bladder was £7,000 & 2 years later inguinal hernia was just under £3,000. I was effectively blackmailed – suffer months more or spend the ££s. That said 10 years ago the NHS came good when the big C arrived on the scene.

    I think Professor Jeffery & his wife might regret going on the cruise more than I miss the £10K.

    1. You are absolutely right about the blackmailing re the NHS – suffer months more, or quit our system and stop trying to get the benefits for which you have paid.
      This will only get worse if they introduce euthanasia – it won’t be quite the free choice that people are saying, because proper, timely treatments won’t be an offered alternative. Euthanasia is going to save the NHS billions!
      As for the cruise, well I have never been so glad in my life that expensive holidays are not on my radar!

      1. The alternative to saving the nhs billions is to pay billions more in tax, if you want the same service. Money has to come from somewhere.

        1. 317337+ up ticks,
          O,
          All the time you have fools supporting / voting for mass uncontrolled immigration parties and NO
          turn back / send back policies regarding illegals there will never ever be enough money in the NHS,all the time you have an orifice & use toilet paper.

        2. Or remove 8 million unnecessary people. Oh, hang on. That’s what is happening, except that they have chosen to remove the wrong 8m.

        3. We may be about to see how health systems funded at approximately UK levels i.e. Spain and Italy, perform compared to the better funded French German and Dutch systems.

        4. Don’t get me started on the NHS!
          A more wasteful system could scarcely be dreamed up.
          The layers of bureaucracy, the translators, the treatment handed out for free to health tourists with “addresses” in the UK etc etc.
          The true alternative would be having a properly run healthcare system.

        5. Money has to be managed better.
          I would imagine every NOTTLer has had repeated letters and watched staff wandering around hospitals with bits of paper.
          That is the tip of the iceberg. Here is a BTL comment from the DT: it is long, but the core message is correct.

          “In partial defence of the NHS. I have had 21 operations in my life so far, one in the RAF, many in private hospitals when my Company paid, and about 8 in the NHS. I have had many many out patient appointments for X Rays, MRI scans, Consultant appointments and so much else. Over the years I have seen a big improvement in the NHS, so when you get an appointment for a blood test or Xray, the treatment you receive is on a par with the private sector. The Consultant has time for you, it is not rushed, and it is free. The Wards are not the same as your private room, but you have company. Where once I noticed an indifference in the nurses, I now see most have a good work ethic and motivation. They big difference is they are very busy, while in the private hospital they are not.

          The big difference is demand over supply are not close together. It takes over a year to get a joint replacement. I recently had a simple flow check, and I had to wait 3 months. I was the only person waiting for it! How is that possible? It can only be because the work load of the clerks sorting this out is to great, or the system is wrong headed.

          Whenever I bring up waste, every nurse believes the NHS is right up their. Undoubtedly there is huge waste, and the cost of everything is absurd. This is where the NHS can do, must do better. In particular the model favoured by Tony Blair needs to be abandoned, where even a simple light bulb cannot be changed from internal maintenance. The DD paid to these hospitals are a sick joke, and if possible they should be bought out. The Ward Sister needs to be brought back, and the Management Levels reduced, and the quality of them improved. It seems to me the NHS and the BBC have much in common at the top table. They protect when changes are needed, they cannot possibly listen to the staff because the staff know much can be improved, but is anyone listening?

          Having said that, the NHS resembles the private sector in many ways. It has changed, but not fast enough. Another reason for this is the Trade Union. A few years ago I went to the picket line outside our local hospital and talked to the young doctors outside on strike. I gave them my best shot and I did not lose even though I was outnumbered 15 to 1. I saw a line of “ left wing” Dr’s and this shocked me. Those that we not left wing were probably inside the Hospital doing the work of those outside. The power of the Union must not be underestimated. They are dead against change, they want a soft life in a demanding role. These people knew what they wanted when they joined the NHS, but many inside the hospital have now forgotten what it was. This virus is testing everyone of them today, and we need them like crazy and the vital support of our nurses.

          A fine example for everyone is our Health Minister and Chancellor. They are doing an outstanding job.”

    2. That was my thought. £6,000 v. your life.
      No contest. Just put it down to experience.

  43. First Essex Buses

    From the 30th March most Monday to Friday Services will operate to a Saturday timetable

  44. First Norlfolk & Suffolk

    From Monday 23rd March, we will operate a revised timetable on Network Norwich Blue Line services 25|26. The timetable will be in operation from Monday to Saturday. Sunday and Public holiday timetables will remain unchanged.

    From Monday 30th March it is expected that further timetable changes across other services will be implemented. Details and timetables will be available on this page as soon as they are available.

    1. Thankyou BJ transport newsfeed. As we’re not going anywhere now, perhaps you can move to other news?

  46. It’s easy to find the deaths figures for say the last three months, most of which were possibly imminent irrespecive of CV..and the previous year’s figures for comparison.
    Does anyone have the same comparative figures for births ?

  47. Latest e-mail from Sainsbury’s explaining how they are helping the aged and infirm, just arrived.

    They are trying………
    When they stock up with toilet rolls (Andrex £5 in Sainsbury’s were £4 in Tesco) we might go round, if we are allowed out.

    1. Local Aldi in Norwich was reasonably well stocked with essentials, apparently, i.e. chicken, potatoes, onions. Don’t know about bog rolls as I didn’t go to the store, and MOH didn’t check.

  48. Who is probably making billions shorting markets ?

    Is it by coincidence the same individual who largely controls the UN and therefore the World Health Organization which advises governments ?

    Is it the same individual who is highly influential with the MSM and who admits to “leveraging legislation and policy” ?

    Is it therefore the individual recommending crashing economies who gains from crashing economies ?

    Who is really telling you to stay indoors ?

    1. Soros nearly destroyed our business in the early 1990’s. He’s still trying but we have the consolation of knowing that he will, undoubtedly, rot in Hell for eternity.

        1. Interest rates soaring to about 17% put several of my friends out of business as a consequence of the ERM. We lost 20% of our income at a stroke.

          This year it looks as if we shall lose 85% +

          1. Those high interest rates were a consequence of the Major government’s Europe-at-any-cost policy.

        2. The Law of Unintended Consequences.
          Like Brown keeping us out of the Euro to spite Blair, rather than from any noble principle.
          (Thinking about; does spiting Blair count as a noble principle? Discus.)

  49. Russian army to send coronavirus help to Italy after Putin phone call. MARCH 22, 2020

    MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian military will start sending medical help to Italy from Sunday to help it to battle the new coronavirus after receiving an order from President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

    Putin spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday, the Kremlin said, adding that the Russian leader had offered his support and help in the form of mobile disinfection vehicles and specialists to aid the worst hit Italian regions.

    That’s our Vlad! Is there no limit to this man’s abilities?

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-russia-italy/russian-army-to-send-coronavirus-help-to-italy-after-putin-phone-call-idUSKBN219081

    2. When I read this I thought of you. Had the report been of EU troops being sent to help the UK, you’d have a view focused on some conspiracy or other.

      1. There are as yet no EU troops and if there were you would be correct since it’s a fascist organisation that cannot be trusted!

          1. No. Neither can be trusted.

            That’s why we should be living as an independent nation with the power to choose our friends (and enemies?)

          3. No. Neither can be trusted.

            That’s why we should be living as an independent nation with the power to choose our friends (and enemies?)

          4. Possibly there are enough tough cynics to realise that Russian help will have strings attached.
            This offer may be on a par with calendars featuring a bare chested Vlad riding a bear, but it does contrast somewhat with rich EU countries snatching all the facemasks and telling the rest to go away and drown in their own body fluids.
            The EU is ‘a Colossus stuffed with clouts’ and is ripe for picking. Putin has recognised that fact.

    4. If true, you have to hand it to Putin for not letting a crisis go to waste. No doubt the Russian have their own version of ‘you don’t get owt for nowt’, but many Italians will notice the difference between Russia’s response and that of their masters in Brussels.
      Morning, Minty.

      2. Judging from those motorbike pictures, Putin has nothing to fear from Covid-19.

      3. Italy was already going soft over sanctions on Russia. Putin has seen the opportunity to get Italian support in ending EU sanctions. Clever move, especially when you consider the lack of equivalent support from NATO allies.

        2. Thinking about it, the Communists were a real force in Italy and Greece after WWII.
          The west won that battle by a whisker – and some very dubious treatment of refugees.
          Has anyone here read the ‘Don Camillo’ books?

          1. Another of my favourites, I was disappointed then when the TV adaptation cast Brian Blessed as Comrade Peppone, I’d always imagined him to be a small weasely character

          2. I rarely watch adaptations of books for that very reason.
            I know how people look and sound.
            I don’t want some bloody luvvie or auteur buggering up my impressions.

      1. They have it but far fewer cases and the deaths reported are still in single figures. I’m assuming RT have no reason to lie about that of course. Russia was swift to close her borders not her churches.

    1. I fail to understand why some people are getting their knickers in a twist about others going out for a drive and then getting out to walk in the open air, be it on a hill or on a beach. The people are spread out. It’s not as if they are gathering in a huddle to lick each other’s faces.

      1. Back in the early 70s my mate and I toured North-ish Wales, we stopped over in Caernarvon, went into busy pub in the evening and we were met with a sudden stunning silence. We ordered our pints and I said to my mate on the count of three we will turn around and say loudly
        “good evening everybody” ! Which we did to the surprise of the natives, and we were met with a murmured and reluctant response.
        It didn’t stop raining looking for some sunshine ended up in Preston with the thought of a choice of sandy beaches. Still raining we then drove to Sheffield, had a steak and went back to north London. Made a few phone calls and ended up staying with relatives near Hastings in the sunshine.

        On another ‘tour’ we went to the Mumbles went for a Saturday lunch time pint and started playing darts. The locals soon joined in and the scenario was put you name on the board to play, if you lose you buy the winners a pint, they stay on until beaten. We were soon a few pints up and doing well. My mate played in our local pub dart team I played socially. At one stage Pat was marking I was throwing he said you have a three dart finish ! I didn’t have a clue, he told me what I needed I threw and Bang Bang Bang ! it was all over,…….. most of the locals walked out. We slept it off on the beach in the shade of The Mumbles pier.

      2. I just walked in a National Trust forest. Keep apart from the other people walking their dogs, but smiled and said good morning. Probably the only exercise and face-to-face contact I will have all day. It’s these little things which keep us healthy and sane.

        1. Our middle son his wife and baby in pram, my wife me and doggo, went for a walk yesterday arternoon in the newly planted Heartwood Forest.
          There were hundreds of people enjoying the sunshine although the wind was cold. Unfortunately all the local pubs were closed but we sat in their garden on return the chaps had a Guinness each and the ladies had a white wine, the baby had his bottle of milk and the dog after much running bringing back the ball, had a well earned bowl of water.

      3. If you’d seen the pictures of the number of cars parked cheek by jowl, you’d find it hard to think that people had the space to be spread out.

        1. Plenty of room for them to be more than six feet separation at less than 15 minutes duration.

  51. Any cryptic crosswords out there?I’m doing a quiz, answers must have some connection to trees. Can I run a few past you that I’m stuck on?

    Squiffy last day of year with brandy and water (8)
    Big jazz fan found in front of clubs. What a swinger (5,5)
    Knowledge found in most uncommon jungle (10)

    Any thoughts greatly appreciated

      2. I’ll give you some more I have done some myself, promise. There are 100 clues and I’ve managed about 60 of them.

        Many a shipwreck provided thin, wooden strips for making boxes (5)
        The problem sounds complete in a tree (8)
        His standard of work is poor but the pedlar turns beechwood into furniture (6)

      3. My goodness that is impressive, Harry. A good weekend to you both.

        I have been sewing a multi-layered mask for D, as we cannot buy one, and he might be seeing people in their homes (if they let him in).

        It does strike me that, with churches empty, but mosques given special treatment (surprise surprise) a particular part of the population may succumb rather more. Unless coronavirus can’t be transmitted by f*arts….?

          1. I thought it maybe the name for it so I looked up mahogany as a drink but its gin and treacle

      1. We notice that the authoritarian lefties are demanding that food rationing be introduced.

        Just the first step in completely controlling the plebs.

      2. We notice that the authoritarian lefties are demanding that food rationing be introduced.

        Just the first step in completely controlling the plebs.

  53. For those offspring constantly “thinking about their inheritance” (see BlackBox below) this crisis presents a tempting opportunity …. [BTW this is a positive – what IS – rather than a normative -what SHOULD – statement]. Mother might be safer in a care home where visiting is disallowed for the next couple of months.

    1. Except that the authorities will snabble Mother’s house where she has lived for half a century, scatter her precious possessions, and sell the house and beloved garden, leaving Mother, who is extremely introverted at the best of times, with nothing except a small room and the ministrations of underpaid, reluctant foreigners with no shared history or cultural connection while she waits to die!
      At all costs, alerting the authorities is the last thing to do.

      1. Very true …. it also helps to ensure that mother’s liquid financial assets and shareholdings are kept under a certain level – they are much safer being held by her loving children ….

  54. Watching Macron on TV. Excuse me being vulgar but for him having this much control over people’s lives is one big wank. He’s relishing the power.

      2. I hope she hasn’t caught Tourettes. Is a vaccination available, and can it be effective post lady-lapse?

    2. As you have mentioned it and as we are advised not to touch partners, a period of self amusement may be necessary.

  55. Will we get a million phone calls next year asking if we were missold PPE?

  57. If you are old and doddery, perhaps with no access to transport except the now reduced public service, you might have some trouble finding somewhere to buy food. Many septuagenarians might find it physically impossible to traipse from empty supermarket to empty supermarket looking for something to eat.
    Many such people can fall through the grid in a normal winter. Now is the time when we are at our most vulnerable, at the end of winter.
    Perhaps a charity such as “Help the Aged” might set up a phone service that people could call, just like the former “Meals on Wheels”?.

    1. Despite my Avatar, I am fit and healthy enough to get the essentials to get through this. In my street there are people who are not that lucky. Neighbours have already rallied round to ensure they will be looked after. Good neighbours should ensure charities are not overloaded by helping out where they can.
      If such kindness is so lacking amongst us in this country, it is in my opinion not worth saving.

      1. There is plenty kindness in this country.
        The media – says she, getting back to her hobby horse – reflect the worst of human nature. Whether this reflects the sort of people they mix with, we cannot say.
        Their behaviour has been a disgrace and they are too stupid and venal to realise that they will have few friends when the government has another bash at censorship.

    2. There have been various community groups set up here to provide what help can be given. Family and friends have a responsibility as well.

    3. My 77-year-old stepfather-in-law, who is in the vulnerable category, has had several neighbours knocking on his door asking if he needs anything, including shopping. Although we live only a 5-minute drive away, we can’t help him as we are ‘self-isolating’ because my wife is herself in a vulnerable category. Times like this bring out the best, and the worst, in people.

      1. Add in the cost of the CEO’s pension provision. I’m afraid I give nothing to outfits like that.

  58. Primark UK stores ‘expected to close doors’

    Primark’s 189 UK stores are expected to close Sunday and not reopen Monday, as demand drops due to social-distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

    Its parent company has temporarily closed shops in Europe and cancelled all future orders from suppliers.

    Primark boss Paul Marchant said it faces “unprecedented, and frankly unimaginable times”.

  59. Arcadia Group: The group, which includes Topshop and Miss Selfridge, closed all of its stores on Friday until further notice

    New Look: The clothing store shut its 500 UK stores on Saturday

    Kurt Geiger: Its 55 shoe shops across the UK and Ireland stopped trading on Saturday

    River Island: All of its clothing stores across the UK and Ireland are closed until further notice

  60. Lack of exercise could be a killer amid coronavirus crisis, says top Doctor

    THOUSANDS of people will put their lives at risk if they do not exercise during the coronavirus pandemic, a health expert warned last night.

    A walk of just 10 minutes reduces stress, improves mental health and boosts the immune system.

    “And, if correct safety precautions and social distancing are observed, walking outdoors is safe even for those who are self-isolating.”

    Under new Government guidance issued by Public Health England, people over 70 and people with pre-existing conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and lung diseases, should avoid going out “even to buy food or other essentials other than exercise, and in that case at a safe distance from others”.

    1. Is Maude very Yappy PT our neighbours little dog Eric who is the image of yours, is very yappy. He’s quiet with a ball in his mouth :-))

      1. No not at all she’s a bit bossy, typical German and will come to heel but in her own good time!

    2. I have been in the garden. Fritilleries and rununculus planted. Herb garden sorted. Few more plants to go but i’m running out of pots.

      1. I’m doing away with some of my pots. …if you want some!
        I’ve too many and the geraniums become straggly after the season

  62. Where are Grizzly and Peddy?

    Peddy upset Grizzly a couple of days ago by saying he was being repetitive; Grizzly took umbrage and threatened to leave us. Since then neither has been seen here.

      1. Sad – I always enjoyed exchanging views with both of them even though I did not always agree with them.

        Having said that this site is diminished if we cannot tolerate views other than our own but I must own up to a certain degree of hypocrisy as BJ’s humourless and omnipresent banalities stretch my tolerance to its very limits!

        3. ‘Morning, Richard (just), it’s the carrot and the pockroach that give me the pip and I’ve blocked both as their content just ain’t worth wasting brain-power on.

        4. BJ saves me from looking at the news sites. I’m not bothered by his posts. It gives us something to discuss.
          😸

  63. Someone has just told me that the hospitals in Bavaria are turning away elderly people (not confirmed).

  64. Hi NoTTlers ….

    With so much time on our hands during incarceration would it be an opportune time to set up a computer help line? There are some pretty savvy operators on this site always eager to help the less techy advantaged …like me!
    Recipes and cookery skills are popular looking at the interest shown yesterday and we have a Happy Hour, other threads always welcome.Music/art etc would be a welcome diversion….

    We will be at our wits end if we have to endure weeks/months of politics, no disrespect to BJ!

    I welcome your ideas.

    PS That’s if social media isn’t shut down….

    2. There are thousands of ‘How to do stuff’ vids on You tube. as well as countless ‘How to’ recipes.

      If you want to see how to make Japanese Ramen you can watch an elderly Japanese lady make it from scratch.

      Same with authentic Cornish Pasties.

      I hardly ever follow a recipe but it’s good to watch someone born to it.

      1. There’s a couple of videos called “Quarantine (Lockdown) Munchies” which I started watching. Trouble is, they’re from America, and use ingredients we don’t really have here, e.g. Cheese Whizz.
        And you have to have the ingredients in your pantry, e.g. tortilla chips, and ground beef…

        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2ypk0-zH8Oc
        QUARANTINE (LOCKDOWN) MUNCHIES – PART 2 | SAM THE COOKING GUY 4K

        1. Good afternoon, Ims.

          Sam the cooking Guy!
          I found his site several months ago,
          his new videos are posted on Monday,
          Wednesday and Friday .I enjoy his
          irreverent and very non-PC comments.
          I think there is something similar to
          Cheese Whizz available, have you
          looked on Amazon?
          I now use Japanese mayo and avocado oil,
          [both favourite items of his.]
          Have you come across ‘Almazankitchen’?
          …..stunning scenery, excellent photography
          and authentic sound effects.

        2. No Cheese Whizz? Just mash up some marshmallows and add a dash of birds eye custard powder. About as close to cheese as cheese whizz and probably no less healthy.

      2. Yes I know.

        I’m trying to get Nottlers personally involved with their ideas and skills to share with us.Far more interesting than watching Youtube..

    3. Trouble is with recipes is whether people have the right ingredients already in stock. They probably won’t be able to get them for a while until the supermarkets re-stock.
      But yes, something other than politics would be nice.

      I’m going out to do some gardening. Everything is growing rapidly now, especially the weeds…..

      1. You’re my Man/Woman
        …you have the Gardening Slot …..’This Blessed Earth’…

    3. International aid should also be cut to the bare essentials. The UK must come first.

        1. “Any chance XR will run out of funds ?”

          Any chance the wider public will run out of patience and chuck a few of them into the Thames? Please!

  67. Butlin’s has announced it is closing its Skegness resort as well as its sites in Bognor Regis and Minehead.

  68. Now doctors say people should be stopped from moving around within Britain ‘without delay’ and London MUST be locked down completely

    A group of academics has urged the government to ‘implement’ social distancing by stopping people from moving around different regions of the UK amid the coronavirus pandemic.

    Six health experts warned Britain is losing a ‘very small window of opportunity’ to help prevent the spread of the disease and a ‘health system collapse’.

    The appeal to ministers was made in a letter signed by six professors, including Julian Peto, Nisreen Alwan, David McCoy, Helen Ward, Martin McKee and Elio Riboli

  69. NHS doctor fights for life: Ear, nose and throat consultant, 52, is on life support amid fears many more medics will catch coronavirus

    A senior NHS doctor is fighting for life after being infected with coronavirus, which may have happened during a routine appointment with a patient.

    The 52-year-old ear, nose and throat consultant from the Midlands had been ‘fit and well’ but was last night on a life-support machine.

    News of the medic’s plight came as NHS colleagues warned many more staff will fall ill – or even die – from coronavirus because of a chronic shortage of protective equipment.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9ad69873bfd597b6f36f3986ba29930f8d657ae97cab704e800b1f379ba2da7d.jpg

  70. Emirates Airline announces it will cancel all commercial flights from Wednesday amid worsening global coronavirus crisis

  71. Coronation Street and Emmerdale to cease filming due to coronavirus outbreak

    ITV has sadly taken the decision to suspend production of the soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale with effect from Monday March 23.

    2. I’ve never seen Emmerdale, and the last time I saw Coronation Street I was still at school.

      What will I do with my evenings?

    5. Oh no! What will Ena Sharples, Martha Longhurst and Minnie Caldwell do of an evening now that the Rover’s Return has been forced to close?!?!?

        1. That’s not a problem, issyagain, Sonny Jim (Kenneth Cope) is looking after him.

  72. Just back from w/rose – they had everything I wanted. It looked a though the shelves had been restocked after a possible morning rush.

    Beautiful day, plenty of blossom, My Choisyas are bursting out, scenting the area around the front door. Lots of Dandelions & Celandines, magnificent Magnolias.

    3. You gave Grizzly the Hump and like Bill Thomas he took umbrage and he has buggered off.

      You caused him offence by saying he was being repetitive. I am less easy to offend and you have often criticised my posts when I have made the same point before but I enjoy our exchange of views; however I m very pissed off that Grizzly has gone – I was exchanging posts with him on the DT before this Nottlers site even existed and many of us will miss him as we miss Bill Thomas.

      1. To paraphrase the children’s chant: ‘Step on a crack, break your Mother’s back’:

        ‘Step on a crack, give your Mother Corona virus’.

  74. Disqus, also known as amateur night. Just had to go through their login process for unknown reasons. Then when I typed this in, it just sat their for about a minute before the “Post as..” showed up.

    1. It’s obviously feeling under the weather. Good afternoon jack, hope both you and Jill are keeping well.

      1. We are both fine, we usually stay well stocked with food, vino and other essentials, so have not had to go and fight over food yet. Seems that the “locust syndrome” has eased off. I assume all those who were unprepared and suddenly found family at home instead of school and/or work are adjusting to the new circumstances and the supermarkets will start to have stock again. Daughter ended up with hubby working from home, herself working severely reduced hours in the office and their oldest sent home from University.

        None of which spoiled Jill’s provision of Eggs Benedict for breakfast this a.m. Waiting to see what she does to top that one!

          1. I could never get away with beans on toast.

            Beans, fine. Toast, fine.

            Put the two together and you have a monstrosity. The butter on the toast makes the beans taste strange and the beans turn the toast into something like a dishcloth.

          3. Can’t stand burnt toast. The smell turns my stomach.

            Light golden for me, and no char, even if it’s scraped off.

          4. Can’t stand burnt toast. The smell turns my stomach.

            Light golden for me, and no char, even if it’s scraped off.

          5. I don’t like that happening either. Which is why i put the buttered toast on the side of the plate.

          8. I always add a knob of butter to baked beans when warming them in a saucepan, + plenty of fresh black pepper. I don’t eat them often.

          9. A staple for us back in the ’60’s – it was cheap and cheerful, as they say. Nowadays, it makes me antisocial…

          10. Same for us. I think the Brits eat more baked beans than the yanks, is that right?

          11. No chance, Alf – foul tasting things. For me the best thing on toast is Marmite but even that has become thinner and lacking in ‘bite’. Probably trying to pander to snowflakes.

      1. Used the stuff for years on West African trips until resistance got too high and switched to Malarone

    2. Is it “just” a treatment or can it act as a long term preventative, like a ‘flu vaccine?

      1. It won’t do that but the fact that you have the infection will produce antibodies and these will immunise you for the future.

      2. All these things are “just treatments” – for the symptoms not the disease. We have no actual cure for any viral disease – the best that can be done to prop up the body’s defence mechanisms and control temperature and assistance – like Oxygen, ventilators, etc.

        Prior vaccinations build up immunity but are not 100% – modern flu vaccines and more like 50-60% effective, but they do reduce the severity.

          1. Wholesale vaccinations produced “herd immunity”.

            There used to be a form in the passport to report vaccination history. When we first started going to the US in the early ’70’s, an up to date vaccination certificate was required for entry. I know mine was renewed a couple of times before the requirement was lifted. In fact there was a clinic at Heathrow that you could nip in and get a quick smallpox shot if necessary.

          2. I first went to the US in 1970 and still have the scar from the smallpox vaccination. I remember my mother having to write a letter explaining why we would definitely be returning to the UK, to get our visas. When she went to collect the visas, the clerk got the giggles because Dads name was Edison and Mums maiden name was Bell.

          3. Two inventive geniuses as parents!

            I remember having to go to the embassy to get visas – a had a business visa and family had visitors. They would give you 6 months at a time, and wanted proof (like return tickets) that you would not stay on illegally. In our case a letter from my employer (large US company) did the trick.

          4. I still have an open mind on that claim.
            These past few weeks of lies and obfuscation have merely increased my cynicism.
            I’m not necessarily expecting an upsurge in small pox – just that we are well aware that governments and news outlets have a flexible attitude to the truth.

          5. Vaccinating enough people so the virus had nowhere to go.
            It’s still around in a few labs, but not in the population anywhere that I know of.

            It’s the only case where the disease was eradicated, I believe.
            Viruses can’t be treated in the same way as bacteria, i.e. with antibiotics, but you can be vaccinated against some of them to stop you getting it. Anti-viral drugs usually alleviate the symptoms until you develop antibodies and recover from the infection.

          6. If there are still samples in labs (and I believe that there will be) then the WHO and other centres for disease control have been lying through their teeth.

          7. When we excavated bodies from the crypt at Christ Church Spitalfields, late seventies early eighties, the archaeologists found corpses in lead covered coffins with pustules on the skin. Samples of skin were taken to Porton Down and a lab in the States. Nobody thought Smallpox could survive in that environment for 250 years and presumably it did not survive.

            Then later I recall some laboratory technician dying after contracting Smallpox evidently from the air conditioning system (or a fume cupboard) in the University of Birmingham.

            I think we have to assume that places like Porton Down and Wuhan hold every disease and virus known to man for research purposes and possible deployment as chemical weapons’ components when things get nasty.

          8. I read some years ago that bodies from the Spanish flu epidemic were disinterred in somewhere like Finland or Norway. The bio-hazard controls were very strict.

          9. I think that the woman in question was a close relaive of a chap I was at college with.

            If I recall correctly it was a direct escape of the virus and nothing more sinister.

            It was just before the WHO claimed that all samples had been destroyed as a result of that particular episode but after the last “live, in the wild case.”

            But who (ho ho) knows.

          10. I suppose the question remains that if as claimed Smallpox was an ‘eradicated disease’ then what was the virus doing in a Birmingham Laboratory.

            Curiously the University of Birmingham received the bones from the Christ Church Spitalfields crypt in order to conduct analysis of the diet of folk around in 1726. Little was known about this early C18 diet whereas we knew everything about the diet of Ancient Egyptians.

            A parallel study was undertaken by the V&A into funerary techniques, especially the engraved lead coffin casings and even coffin handles.

            Another surprise was the analysis of dental evidence. Dental fillings were judged to have been effective and palette dentures made of hammered silver or copper were also judged to have been effective.

            An important woman ancestor of the Courtaulds was discovered and there was a promise that the bones would eventually be returned for family burial in I assume either Braintree or Halstead.

          11. I may be wrong but I seem to recall similar archaeological works in and around Eyam, where the black death/plague virus was still technically viable on the samples.

        2. 40 years ago I had meningococcal septicaemia and the treatment was purely about managing the symptoms. Draining the fluid, administering painkillers and reducing the swelling. The hospital doctor in charge of my case told me when he discharged me that he didn’t know how I’d survived.

      3. It stops the virus getting into the lungs, I believe.
        Africa has a low rate of infection so far as we know. One reason might be the prevalence of malaria, and the drugs that are used to treat it.

    4. Probably not, but more to the point, why isn’t this being raised by all the media, or being taken up by the government and health service??

  78. “You couldn’t make it up files”
    Pubs/ Clubs / Restaurants Shut . Millions of people told to stay indoors for 4 Months , but…………

    The

    British government is still allowing flights to arrive at the nation’s

    airports from the countries where coronavirus infection is most

    widespread.

    The British government has refused to ban air travel

    from coronavirus hotspots, allowing thousands of people to enter the

    country from coronavirus stricken countries including China, Iran, and

    Italy, despite the local lockdown measures imposed by Prime Minister

    Boris Johnson.

    Flights from Rome and Beijing are still being

    permitted to arrive in London every day. Iran Air flights from Tehran

    arrive in the British capital three times a week as well, even though

    the country has the third-highest death toll from the virus in the

    world.

    On Saturday, two flights from Beijing and a flight from

    Shanghai arrived at Heathrow airport and a fourth landed at Gatwick

    airport.

    Another flight from Iran is due to arrive in the capital this afternoon, according to The Times.

    A

    spokesman for the government defended the decision to forego travel

    bans on inflected countries, claiming: “There is no evidence that

    interventions like closing borders or travel bans would have any effect

    on the spread of infection. Those who return to the UK would be advised

    to reduce their social contact by following the same social distancing

    measures as the rest of the country.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/03/22/flights-from-coronavirus-epicentres-china-iran-italy-still-landing-in-uk/

    3. I mentioned this earlier, but it’s worth repeating. Just to drive home how nuts it is.

    1. The MSM seriously think that if they’re honest about the origins of the virus, the indigenous British will go out in packs to play hunt the Chink. They really do believe we’re that stupid.

      2. Some people are.

        Sad, but true. Look at those thugs who murdered that paediatrician.

        Heck, even know we have Khan’s people roaring up and down London’s streets despite the request to stay in doors.

        1. It’s more about covering up the racism of other groups, and finding a convenient scapegoat, like the Jews in Nazi Germany, or the Kulaks in Russia. It’s what the far Left do. Currently it’s our turn. We know how this goes.

      4. No. They’re just far left Communist shills, doing the dirty work of the Chinese Communist Party. It’s about deflecting blame from where it belongs, i.e. in China and the CCP.

      5. Whereas everyone knos dat chinks hide viruses and hunt the chink would be counter-productive?

      2. You did , but I think you got away with it…(Someone had to take your feeder line)

      1. More to the point of that article, why aren’t the usual suspects screaming blue murder about the dreadful hunting and eating of wild animals, plus cats and dogs, instead of constantly blaming Western countries for damaging the environment and endangering wildlife?

        1. I have a feeling that the Doom Goblin, PETA and XR would not be allowed to block Beijing; I suspect Chinese policemen do not engage in light badinage with people occupying bridges.

      1. Good video.
        I must be insufficiently brainwashed, because I saw nothing wrong with the ad – it’s just cute and bit silly. Makes you remember Mexican avocadoes though.

  83. After the Covid-19 crisis passed by end-2021, many governments in Western Europe sharply revised downwards their estimated pensions outgoings for 2022, and there were substantial gains for some companies specialising in pensions, such as Legal & General.

    Stamp duty receipts were, however, lower than expected due to the 10% fall in house prices…

    1. Legal and General? Ah, that’s the company that thinks it’s advertising to a TV network in Africa, isn’t it?

  84. Balls.

    It’s Mother’s day. I don’t get on with my mother – she’s a very difficult person who manages to upset everyone around her.

    Yet I did get her a card to send to her. I could have gone out to get the stamp I need but I simply forgot.

    Now I’ll never – metaphorically of course, Mother never deigns to actually call me (last time she did she set the war queen in tears) – hear the end of it.

    2. Tell her you definitely posted it. You can’t understand what happened. It must be because of the virus and problems with the Royal Mail.

    3. I sympathise because I had the same sort of relationship with my mother; nothing I could do was right and should I forget the service due (Mothering Sunday, for example) because I was busy, my name was mud.

      1. I always sent my mother a Mother’s Day card and she always told me I’d forgotten and she’d had to put out the one from last year. Still, I’d give a lot to be annoyed by her doing that today.

        1. We’ve never really celebrated Mother’s Day here. I emailed both my sons yesterday and they are still alive. I do miss my mother.

      2. I lost my dear Mama (The Mother) back in 1980 to septicaemia. Born in 1903, I was a ‘mistake’ in 1944. In her later life we would enjoy each other’s company in the pubs in London’s West End while she was working for the Spiritualist Society of GB in Belgrave Square.

        At one time in the 70s, my brother was in the company of The Billy Cotton Band, one of whom, Alan Breeze, had the ‘Buck Inn’ at Flixton just down the road from Bungay and, during the course of conversation, Kenneth remarked on the King’s Head in Bungay. Some wag asked him, “Oh yes, that’s the pub with the old lady that sits up at the bar and lords it over the peasants, do you know her?” To which Kenneth quite quietly answered, “Yes, she happens to be my Mother.” Collapse of stout party.

        She was a character and I loved her – this is her in 1921, painted by Oswald Birley:

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3de71ca589425026d5a203435e133fc4a46ce1ec9a583992f34feafe68cab837.jpg

    5. I’ve not sent my mother a card. She has advanced Alzheimer’s, and it wouldn’t mean a thing to her.
      I’ve also not visited since February. The day we were going to go and see her was the day I woke up w a 100+F temperature. It’s lucky I didn’t go a few days earlier, as I’d probably have been infectious. Now with the whole covid-19, I may not be able to see her for weeks…
      At the moment, I think she sort of recognises my face as being someone vaguely familiar, but I have no idea whether she still will in a month or so’s time.

    6. Yes, it’s such a relief to me that there are no more Mothers Days. Indeed, I have a Sort-Code 14-09-17 … the day my sister rang me to tell me that she’d gone …. I was in an Oxfam Bookshop …. Isn’t new technology marvellous …

  85. Afternoon, everyone. What a glorious day it’s been as far as the weather is concerned. I have done some hard landscaping, re-potted several plants and then got the chaise longue out and chilled in the sun with a book and a pot of tea. I certainly needed a break after yesterday when MOH escaped and had to be brought back by someone who knew us. My stress levels were through the roof! This morning, when I took the dog for a walk, they were queueing round the car park at Lidl five minutes before it opened and every single one of them had a trolley! When will this madness end?

    2. I sat in a chair in the sunshine next to my wife, at the bottom of our garden and I must admit, I dozed off for a few moments.
      Until the dog started to bark when our eldest and our little grandson came in through the back gate.

      1. My dog stretched out at the foot of the chaise longue and fell asleep. Then he turned over and fell off the raised patio!

    3. Our local Norwich Aldi car park was half empty, and the store reasonably well stocked. It even had chicken!! MOH came back with a good amount of supplies, but no overbuying.

      1. Not being in Surrey must help. Do you ever frequent Sainsbury’s, Pound Lane? ‘Twas one of my contributions to the ‘built environment’.

        1. Whatever, Cori’ they are definitely small-minded. I will forgive those shopping for others but…

  86. I just been watching a news bulletin and under the picture they have been posting quotes by that repulsive Stinking Pile of Dung Corbyn, who has been making the most of the Crisis by scoring political points about the lack of funding to the NHS. Wasn’t it the last useless labour government that left a note saying there is no money left in the kitty.

    1. Given that Labour opened the floodgates and actively went out to dredge the rivers of effluent for immigrants as well as “reorganising” it and setting up PFIs, he needs to be reminded that one of the main problems with the NHS is the drain on its resources.

      1. Apparently Conners if people like us spotlight the dreadful errors of their ways we are far right racists.

        But unfortunately our NHS has been subjected financial abuse from foreigners for decades.

        One of my nieces was once a Physio at a London hospital, nearly 30 years a man flew in from Nigeria took a cab to the A&E were she worked. In a well rehearsed and dramatic scene ‘collapsed ‘ in agony on the floor and was rushed to theatre, he had some sort of long standing stomach problem.
        He then spent around 6 weeks in hospital his ‘wife and children’ visited often, then one day he got out of bed dressed and disappeared, never to be seen again. No address or next of kin could be found, he vanished.
        This has been happening somewhere in an NHS department, somewhere in the country nearly every day since. And probably long before.
        Ill bet you’ll find now, that around 50% of people treated in any shape or form by the NHS, have never a paid a penny towards the costs.

      2. 317337+ up ticks,
        Evening C,
        Myself being no lover of any of the toxic trio let us not forget the wretch cameron, who pledged to reduce the numbers then promptly raised them.

        2. “And the bed closures under Blair”

          We’ve been closing hospital beds for more than 50 years. In 1971 we had something like 8 beds per 1k people now we have about 2 beds per 1k people. The most destructive PM for hospital beds was Thatcher.

          1. I do love to hear from those who leap to the defence of Blair and denigrate all things, Thatcher.

          2. The facts don’t lie. Under her time as PM we lost something like 40% of all hospital beds. The downward trend has been in place for my entire lifetime but there have been some pretty severe cuts along the way and the eighties were the worst.

          3. Could it be that, as a committed anti-socialist, Thatcher had the NHS and it’s contemptible unions in her sights to be dealt with after the miners were sorted out? Unfortunately some pseudo-Tories stabbed her in the back before proper action could be taken.

            Then after Major minor, we got the Bliar.

  87. – Could the problem with the rise in pneumonia be down to the reluctance of the NHS and health services around the world to give antibiotics to people with lung infections, Back in the 1990’s they adopted this same strategy and I ended up with pneumonia and pleurisy myself after a couple of visits to the doctor who said I didn’t need them.

    It wasn’t until I paid for an x-ray that the doctor said that my you’ve had quite an illness, you better have an antibiotic.

    When they started going on about not giving out antibiotics last year I thought that there may be trouble ahead.

    1. Antibiotics don’t work on viruses and over-use just strengthens the bacteria that they do work on, making them antibiotic-resistant.

      I remember them saying in the 70s that doctors were prescribing too many antibiotics and giving them for illnesses that were viral. They said the same in the 80s, 90s and ever since, and still the message doesn’t get through.

      And patients just aren’t happy unless they come out with a tub of pills.

      1. It’s surely down to doctors whether they prescribe antibiotics? The public keep being told that ABs aren’t necessarily the right treatment so anyone who just asks for them should be told “no”.

      2. A parallel cause of antibiotic-resistance is/ was massive prophylactic prescribing of antibiotics in the livestock industry … we are breeding antibiotic-resistance in the fields of veterinary as well as human medicine.

      3. But some people do need them, a doctor doesn’t know if it is viral or not, they just guess.

        1. Mostly they know. Patients just don’t want to be told there is not a magic pill, so they complain if they are not prescribed something.

    1. He’s keeping well.
      He’s probably right but what he thinks ain’t goin’ anywhere.
      I doubt if ‘this cult’ has the collective intelligence to see this through.

    2. Mr Icke claims/claimed that the world is controlled by lizard people. Lizards have long noses. Can you see where I am heading?

    3. I listened and I have been saying exactly as he said except for the AI part. Event 201 – heard that a few days ago, someone put a link on here, and I have said all along that the western world particularly has totally over reacted to a virus like never before. What he says has credibility for me and it is extremely scary.

      1. Maybe this is how it works, let someone that doesn’t have much / any credibility say it how it is, it creates more division among those that are just understanding what is happening and anyone that says anything similar is dismssed as a lunatic, clever people these globalists ( lizards ) always one step ahead of the game. But not that clever.

      3. Fencing positions and then,…………. Two newly discovered clause’s in the post arrangement.

  90. Down to 30F in my tomato greenhouse last night, fortunately the seedlings are still resting on a sunny window ledge. Damned Maunder Minimum.

  92. The most terrifying phrase in the English language

    I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.

    1. Ronald Reagan – The most terrifying words in the English…
      https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ronald_reagan_128358

      The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy. One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don’t go into government.

      1. Thanks. Didn’t know it was him but he obviously had both hindsight and foresight.

        1. At the time Europeans in general thought of him as ridiculous. We were in Holland for part of his presidency and there he was referred to as Ronald Raygun because of his believe in sci fi weaponry.

    2. Indeed. A lot of brainwashed people who vote for the Conservative Party have been demanding to know why the government hasn’t done this or that to help them lately.
      They would do well to remember this salient fact.

      1. 317337+ up ticks,
        Afternoon AA,
        Personally I would define “over” as and when the peoples are allowed once again to dance.

    2. Perhaps all those cross-party MPs can pop round to the senior NHS doctor in critical condition and tell him it is all under control, they are objecting to proposed emergency legislation. Perhaps they can then spend 24, 48 or 72 hrs on the front line in the hospitals before they waltz into Westminster full of their own self importance.
      I did not see any of them making the headlines trying to stop the silent takeover of our country or culture.
      What a bunch of w@nkers we have.

      https://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-8138763/NHS-doctor-52-life-support-amid-fears-medics-catch-coronavirus.html

      1. 317337+ up ticks.
        Afternoon VVOF,
        In this instance it is what is required at this instant, by the same token they must be repealed once they have served their purpose, there is no trust amongst the sane for the lab/lib/con coalition party, that has yet to be earned once again, if ever.

      1. 317337+ up ticks,
        Afternoon BB2,
        The man that made it also warned back in 2005 rhetorically & book form of the dangers of islamic ideology to be promptly tagged as a far right racist, one Gerard Batten.

    4. Every piece of legislation should have a sunset clause.
      Particularly emergency legislation that can become repressive and permanent.

  94. Scotland closing down pubs that are defy the shutdown for 24 hours using existing powers, The Corina virus Emergency Powers Act has not get been fully enacted. That is likely to happen on Money. There are then general powers to shut down any premises if need be

  95. When this came to light a few weeks ago I think it was Maggie who posted the link I ordered this book through my wife a volunteer librarian at out local library.
    Irony of ironies, she had a message on Friday the book had arrived ……….but the library was closed down because of the threat of the virus spreading through human contact. Now the book is in lockdown !!!

    Claims that author Dean Koontz predicted the coronavirus pandemic in his 1981 novel, titled The Eyes of Darkness, have gone viral on social media.
    After the coronavirus outbreak started recently, some Twitter users who read Koontz’s 1981 novel, The Eyes of Darkness, recalled a reference in the book.

    The story included a biological weapon they thought was similar to COVID-19, the virus that causes the coronavirus disease.
    Some took to social media to post images of passages in Koontz’s novel that they claimed predicted the emergence of the coronavirus disease pathogen.

      1. Available on Kindle Anne, £1.99. Though it’s probably become a best-seller at £12.99!

    5. I have just read two more Dean Koontz books. He really goes for conspiracies in a big way. We should invite him to join.

    6. Eyes of Darkness is available on Kindle @£1.99 when I bought it on 15th February – sometimes e-readers have an advantage over books that are up for burning.

  96. In Scotland only local will be able to travel on the ferries. Once the emergency powers act is place they intend to shut down Camp sites and caravan parks

    1. What about all the Syrian refugees dumped resettled on one of the Hebrides?
      Does this mean they can’t escape to the mainland?

      1. keep up, that was at least five minutes ago, they are locals now and how dare anyone say otherwise – the racists!

  97. UK could enforce Italy-style lockdown if people fail to stay at home, minister suggests

    This could come as soon as next week

    The government would consider an Italian-style lockdown if people fail to follow advice to stay at home during the coronavirus crisis, a senior minister has said.

    Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, failed to rule out bringing in stricter enforcement measures to keep the public at home amid reports of crowds in parks and at seaside resorts.

    It comes as Boris Johnson urged the public to resist visiting their parents on Mother’s Day, warning that the Covid-19 outbreak is “accelerating” in the UK.

    1. Covid-19 will soon pass

      Beware that the authoritarian tendency of Government is accelerating, and will remain long after ‘flu time is finished.

    2. Covid-19 will soon pass

      Beware that the authoritarian tendency of Government is accelerating, and will remain long after ‘flu time is finished.

    3. Covid-19 will soon pass

      Beware that the authoritarian tendency of Government is accelerating, and will remain long after ‘flu time is finished.

  98. Oh dear… looks like Boris has got it all wrong……….

    At last some detailed examination of the statistics in Italy………..

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/have-many-coronavirus-patients-died-italy/

    ”“On re-evaluation by the National Institute of Health, only 12 per cent of death certificates have shown a direct causality from coronavirus, while 88 per cent of patients who have died have at least one pre-morbidity – many had two or three,” he says.”

    …and sensible opinion from Conservative Woman……..

    https://conservativewoman.co.uk/its-not-just-about-the-nhs-its-about-all-of-us/

    ”The government is introducing emergency legislation that looks to be unnecessary and gives unprecedented powers to the police to arrest people and forcibly isolate them. It’s what you do in wartime. But whatever your views on the right course of action, we are not at war.”

  99. Julie Burchill cooking on gas:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/22/easy-imagine-world-celebrities-irrelevant/

    “It’s easy to Imagine a world where celebrities are irrelevant

    Soon, we will look back in wonder that we called dress designers ‘visionaries’ and DJs ‘superstars’

    Pity poor Sam Smith. The non-binary singer who insists on gender-neutral pronouns (“They/them”) posted a video clip of themselves having what my dad would have called “the ab-dabs” on social media this week. Having selflessly entered self-isolation at their £12 million home on Thursday, by Friday they were weeping like a girl (sorry, like an assigned at birth cis female) because they were already bored with their own company.

    “I hate reading!”, they confessed, suggesting that if you have no life of the mind you’ll always be a bad friend to yourself – even if you do refer yourself in the plural.

    But it could be worse; Smith could have joined the other celebrities treating us to their own stardust-sprinkled version of the ghastly John Lennon song Imagine.

    I’ve had “issues” with this song forever, summing up perfectly as it does Lennon’s weapons-grade hypocrisy. While encouraging the hoi polloi to “imagine no possessions”, he and his consort kept a whole apartment in the Dakota building where they lived in New York for the exclusive occupation of their fur coats, just to keep them at the right temperature.

    Elton John nailed it in his autobiography: “The various apartments the Lennons owned … were so full of priceless artworks, antiques and clothes that I once sent them a card, rewriting the lyrics to Imagine: Imagine six apartments, it isn’t hard to do, one is full of fur coats, another’s full of shoes.’’

    In fact, Lennon was forever ready to take his non-specific rage out on someone, provided, of course, that person was powerless. In his actions – as opposed to his statements and his songs – he exhibited largely selfishness and spite. To be fair, the new Imagineers aren’t in the same camp as Lennon. They’re lovely to look at (Wonder Women from Lynda Carter to Gal Gadot, actresses Natalie Portman and Cara Delevingne) and extremely accomplished (songwriter Sia, singer Norah Jones, comic Will Ferrell) and they mean well.

    But scratch a showboating altruist and you’ll often find an attention whore; I know, because I’m one. I get to show off in print and I’m good at it, but performers in other areas can’t do their thing alone. It’s driving them nuts that no one’s looking at them, hence Michele Pfeiffer posted a video of herself working out while Bob Geldof rang up a TV show to announce his own self-isolation.

    It’s touching to look at celebrities and see how unconscious they are of their vulnerability; George Michael, who knew about these things, once defined a star as “someone with a little something missing rather than a little something extra”.

    They need their fans – but their fans do not need them although they may momentarily enjoy their singing voices or good looks. When the famous attempt to parlay this passing fancy into actual power, it falls flat; each time a celebrity urged people not to vote for Trump or Brexit, it seems they caused another thousand to do so.

    And they will be heeded less than ever as we plunge deeper into the plague year. Gadot said that she had been inspired by the Italian videos of neighbours singing to each other on their balconies; ironically it’s this development that shows how superfluous stars are.

    Transcendence was just around the corner all along – and we don’t need to pay for it. Like the tree falling in the metaphorical forest, when a star smiles and no “civilian” watches, does the star still feel happiness?

    I’m sure we will see much more of them getting their flashing-fix in the guise of giving something to the Little People before we’re out from under lockdown.

    But eventually even these most unrealistic of beings will realise that the achievements of the rich and famous count for nothing in a new world in which those who do the most arduous and thankless labour are – at long last – the most honoured. We will look back in wonder that we once called dress designers ‘visionaries’ and disc jockeys ‘superstars.’

    At a time singularly short of silver linings, this must be one.”

    1. “But scratch a showboating altruist and you’ll often find an attention whore”.

      Burchill has definitely earned her pay with that comment.

    3. A lot of luvies etc will be out of work as most arrange to be self employed. Some talk of local papers being told to shut down as well as local radio stations

      1. “local radio stations…”
        The reason FM radio was introduced was to give the Government control, area by area. This dates to the Cold War when there were designated Regional Seats of Government which would have administered martially over a district.

        1. Our beloved Canadian broadcasting corporation has closed local TV programming. Instead of local news we now get a centrally coordinated rehash of todays covid19 horror stories.

          Oh good, here is the weather forecast for Winnipeg, which is as useful for me as it is for you.

          If you are not depressed when you turn the TV on, you soon will be.

      2. Saturday Kitchen live went ahead yesterday morning. In the interests of safety they social distanced themselves from each other.

        A side effect of this was for a lot of the prog they talked over each other.

        Quite comical really.

    1. Perhaps they should include social media in the social exclusion policy…

        2. In all honesty I have just had an anti social moment.
          I understand why BT packed it in with idiots always bleating on!

          1. Its shame, isn’t it, how one person can be so pig headed (or should that be bird brained?) and selfish as to not care about spoiling things for everyone else..

          4. I welcome all different views and comments but just a couple of posters seem to have nothing to say bar one subject. They spoil it for so many.

  101. Timpson announced that all 2,150 of its stores – including its cobblers and locksmiths, and Johnsons – will ‘go into hibernation’ at 5pm tomorrow.

  102. Pret A Manger chose to close all 400 of its UK stores last night, following a similar decision by coffee chain Starbucks, which has around 1,000 UK outlets.

    Meanwhile Caffe Nero and Costa Coffee moved to takeaway-only.

    1. Meanwhile Caffe Nero and Costa Coffee moved to takeaway-only.

      Why can’t pubs with a garden on the premises follow that example ?

  103. I am to be confined to the house for 3 months. If I break the rules I will be sent to prison. There will be space in the prison because the Government has illegally released hundreds of illegal immigrants from detention.
    If I stay at home the food will run out. I will starve to death or become so weak a virus will easily kill me.

    1. No you will be alright you will get basic rations from th government. THey will be left on your doorstep

      2. Erm, is that a guarantee? For some reason I have little confidence in this. Has the Government started to pay wages to the workers yet?

        1. It is a guarantee with the same validity as your guaranteed treatment from the NHS.

      3. If they don’t and I die will i be able to claim compensation from the grave?

        Bill, this is sarcasm and you don’t have to reply.

    2. It makes sense then to go outside, when you shouldn’t, be arrested and banged up. Free meals, free telly, no washing or washing up – what’s not to like!

  104. COVID-19

    One of the reason this has been such a massive problem in Europe has been the totally uncontrolled movement of people both legal and illegal, Slowly all the health checks we used yo have , have been droped so it was able to spread unimpeded

  105. Coronavirus: Stay at home to stay safe, 1.5 million advised

    Letters are being sent to 1.5 million people most at risk of coronavirus, urging them to stay at home.

    Those most at risk will receive letters or text messages strongly advising them not to go out for 12 weeks to protect themselves, the government said.

    It comes as the PM asked the UK not to visit loved ones on Mother’s Day, and follow social distancing guidelines.

    1. Bet he gets done again – for affray, or Islamophobia, or whatever they can think of.

    2. And of course, all the smug little virtue-signalling Telegraph and Guardian readers who condemn Tommy will never see anything like this happening.
      No wonder the government hates Tommy, he keeps showing up those nasty little secrets that they prefer to be brushed under the carpet.

  107. Having stayed in last night, I’m still a bit confused about what day it is and where I am.

    I’ve just visited the DT Letters page and seen the picture of the lady with an overloaded trolley. Did the photographer ask the lady if she was doing the shopping for herself, her family or for the latter plus some elderly neighbours? I bet not.

    In other matters, I went for a long walk yesterday, avoiding people as best I could but taking the benefits of fresh air, sunshine and exercise. Although the Aldi and Sainsbury’s car parks indicated a lack of panic buying, I walked past and called in the market instead for a few things. With what I’ve got in stock, that’ll do me for next week. Weather permitting, I’ll still be going for walks.

    On that last point, I saw my neighbour’s daughter escorting her mum home from a little walk this morning. I opened the door and shouted across. Her mum’s 91 and very fragile but wanted to get out of the house for a few minutes. A standing ovation was in order.

    Finally, there was plenty of stuff on the market yesterday, except for plastic cups. Seems someone’s discovered that with two cups and a piece of string, you can speak to the neighbours over the street without running up your phone bill.

    1. I thought that. How many people was she shopping for?
      Was the picture even taken within the last few days? Or even this winter?

      1. The only reason I thought about it was that I’d seen a comment recently from a lady who was shopping for her neighbours as well as herself.

        Unfortunately, Anne, much of what we see and hear in today’s media has the context removed (the reporting of JRM’s comment on Grenfell Tower being a prime example). Sadly, and I include myself, we often believe the version we’re presented with.

        1. Yes. You do need to stop and think.
          The media are dishonest at the best of times, and over the past couple of weeks they have surpassed themselves in sheer mendacity and scaremongering.

  108. Here we go…….

    Franco and Salazar live………….

    ”The PM used his daily press conference to warn there was ‘no doubt’ he would act to close open spaces and limit all movement outside homes if people continued to act foolishly, but stopped short of immediate action”.

  109. Coronavirus: London parks closing as areas urge tourists to stay away

    Parks in part of London are being shut after criticism of large numbers of tourists visiting beaches and beauty spots.

    Mayor of London Sadiq Khan urged people to “stop social mixing”, saying “people will die” if they don’t.

    Authorities in the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District asked people to stay away, saying “now is not the time for tourism”.

    Mr Khan said people should not leave home “unless you really have to”.

    Hammersmith and Fulham council will close parks from Sunday night while the Royal Parks, responsible for Hyde, Regent’s and St James’ Parks, are closing kiosks and cafes.

    Roads to outer parks – including Richmond, Bushy and Greenwich Parks – will be closed, with the Royals Parks calling social distancing “absolutely crucial”.

    “If people do not follow social distancing guidelines, we will have no choice but to consider closing the parks,” the body said.

    1. So why are we still letting people in from very high-risk countries? For goodness sake, government, be consistent.

    2. I expect Khan is very keen on the pub ban and stopping social interaction, but mosques will remain open should you wish to make use of that spare time. Maybe ladies need to cover their faces in the street and stay at home. Not sure where his inspiration comes from. Better than supermarkets, why not go directly to the field and slaughter new born lambs (in the approved manner).

      1. Mosques still open, slammers still going to prayers = ? (Answers on a postcard, please).

  110. In these trying times, we all have to keep ourselves occupied. I’m thinking of re-growing the beard which I shaved off 12 years ago, after having it for over 25 years. Trouble is, I’m out of practice, and can’t remember how one goes about these things. Any tips would be appreciated.

      2. Good advice. Trouble is, shaving has become a habit, so I’m going to have to find a way to overcome the addiction.

    2. Getting past the itchy stage is the biggest hurdle. It’s always done in my attempts.

    5. I have regrown my full beard after maintaining short stubble for twenty five years. It needs a trim but the barber is now a potential Coronavirus Petri dish so I just let it grow and my wife tidies it up every fortnight or so.

      You need to apply oil after washing and in my case shaving cheeks and neck. I use a ‘Brisk’ citrus or lemon-scented oil but others might prefer the more usual wood-scented oils. L’Oreal do this type.

      These oils soften the beard and soothe the underlying skin.

      2. So are they sending hairdressers house to house or is everyone about to go uncoiffed?

        Give it a few months and this will be quite an urgent matter.

    6. Is now the time to stop shaving? Anything to fill a few minutes in our quarantined existence. I suppose that you could wash your hands again.

      Quite a few comments on this subject in todays telegraph letters.

      1. There was an Old Man with a beard,

        Who said, “It is just as I feared!—

        Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren,

        Have all built their nests in my beard.
        Lear

        1. They gave me one when I had my flu jab, before this scenario hit the headlines. They must have seen it coming and just kept quiet about it.

          1. I know people who have had it in the past as well – I think you get it if they think you’re high risk of that particular bug.

    3. I suspect she is gravely ill as seen with her involuntary shaking before.

      As a human being, I hope she gets well.

      2. Forgotten about that. It all went very quiet.
        It’s probably sheer co-incidence that she’s been zapped now.

    1. One misses Giles but there is still Matt…. if only he wasn’t ensconced at the DT where I don’t get to see his work….

  115. Goodnight, everyone. I have enjoyed a home-cooked cottage pie, washed down with a couple of glasses of red. I’m awa’ to digest it like a python and catch up on my reading.

      1. If you depend on the government delivering a food parcel to your doorstep, a full week will be the shortest wait between meals.

    1. “….has gone into quarantine after being informed that a doctor who
      administered a vaccine to her has tested positive for coronavirus.,,,”
      Somebody, somewhere, is making all these stories up.

      1. 317337+ up ticks,
        Evening M,
        She has taken to the bunker, it is my belief that there are many politico’s within these isles that will be seeking the Odessa line if this turns out to be a nation wide stitch up.

    1. Why are they continuing with their appeals for shoppers to act reasonably? It is obvious by now that they don’t give a hoot about others.

      1. Perhaps it is the dividend for two generations of ‘comprehensive schooling’ – no sense of discipline or social responsibility …

        1. “Perhaps it is the dividend for two generations of ‘comprehensive Common Purpose schooling’

          Fixed it for you, lacoste.

        1. Well I suppose that Harrods shoppers don’t mob the store when it opens! Maybe they send cook to do the mobbing.

          1. You have not experienced the first day of a Harrods’ sale in the seventies. The place was full of aggressive foreigners and Arabs and Spanish women spring to mind. If you took a shirt from the box in order to check the collar size some greasy woman would tear it from your grasp.

            The China department was a fiasco with wogs and waps fighting over cups, saucers and plates, destroying stock in the process. Bloody mayhem it was.

    2. My new fridge freezer has broken again. I couldn’t stock pile even if I wanted to. 🙁

    4. Why don’t they have security guards at the door checking people’s ID?
      Diversity is NOT strength.
      Diversity is stuff you, you’re not from my “community” so I don’t give flying fk about you.
      The BBC will never admit it of course.

  119. So here’s another thing not to do…….

    Vaping !

    https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/e-cigarette-vapour-disables-key-immune-cells-in-the-lung-and-boosts-inflammation/

    From the British Medical Journal…………

    ”E-cigarette vapour boosts the production of inflammatory chemicals and disables key protective cells in the lung that keep the air spaces clear of potentially harmful particles, reveals a small experimental study, published online in the journal Thorax.

    The vapour impairs the activity of alveolar macrophages, which engulf and remove dust particles, bacteria, and allergens that have evaded the other mechanical defences of the respiratory tract.

    The findings prompt the researchers to suggest that while further research is needed to better understand the long term health impact of vaping on people, e-cigarettes may be more harmful than we think, as some of the effects were similar to those seen in regular smokers and people with chronic lung disease.”

    2. I don’t think anyone in their right mind vapes anyway. Same goes for e-cigarettes.

      2. They look as if they are sucking on the grown up version of a baby’s dummy.

        They would like to stop smoking, but haven’t the balls to go the whole hog.

        It’s 35 years and 35 minutes precisely since I stopped smoking. It was hard and I swore to myself that I wouldn’t do it twice.

        1. Yep, Bassett, they do say that ex-smokers are the worst virtue-signallers.

          Despite Peddy’s comment, I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for my e-cigarettes. Don’t knock what hasn’t been effectively tested.

          1. My former chain smoking chum is a top-notch tut-tutter and dramatic hand waver whenever a smoker comes within a hundred paces.

  120. 317337+ up ticks,
    Could it be that these Isles are building up to, “there is safety in numbers
    so after a brief snake pit meeting we have invited an eu force to help out
    on our streets, and as a temporary measure we will return to the shelter of the brussels umbrella.”
    Keep in mind that we the people stuck a bloody great political lifestyle
    changing stick into a pro eu political wasp nest.

    1. There is already talks about extending the transition period, something i said would happen on the day Boris signed with the EU.

      1. 317337+ up ticks,
        Evening T,
        That has been on the cards for near four years
        everything regarding brussels smacks of
        damage limitations.

      2. Boris has stated time and again that the Transition Period will not be extended.

        I should have thought that the costs of containing the Coronavirus contagion would make it impossible for this country to continue to subsidise the 27 member states of the EU. The UK will need to retain its own money to pay for the immense costs of disruption caused by China.

        Whether HS2 or other grand plans have be to be shelved is for the UK government to decide.

        It is not clever to constantly knock Boris Johnson and the present government for every perceived problem in society. We live in strange times. Nobody could have predicted this latest disaster and anyone claiming otherwise is a liar.

        1. 317337+ up ticks,
          Four decades of treachery laid upon the decent peoples of these Isles by the
          alternating governance parties.
          They deserve to be knocked alright, knocked completely out of politics.
          This latest disaster could be the trigger
          for MORE odious treachery concerning
          pro eu actions.
          Anyone seeing trust in these current parties are themselves a danger to this country.

        2. “Boris has stated time and again that the Transition Period will not be extended.”

          And you believed him? Get real. December 2020 was never happening, it was electorate appeasement. They will ask for the full two years.

          “I should have thought that the costs of containing the Coronavirus contagion would make it impossible for this country to continue to subsidise the 27 member states of the EU. The UK will need to retain its own money to pay for the immense costs of disruption caused by China.”

          You thought wrong. What costs? It’s all in pounds, we can spend those freely as and when we really have to.

          “It is not clever to constantly knock Boris Johnson and the present government for every perceived problem in society. We live in strange times. Nobody could have predicted this latest disaster and anyone claiming otherwise is a liar.”

          Where did I do that? So far he’s been a hopeless PM. He’s so far out of his depth all he can do is read out the muddled jumble that Cummings gives him to read out.

          1. Just carry on being a socialist troll. You’re sure that Corbyn and/or his Marxist followers could do better.

            This is my last response to you – any future will be ignored.

          2. No of course they couldn’t do better and that’s the bloody issue. We have no politicians of substance, none at all. Instead of doing something about that, we keep on electing totally unsuitable people to the job.
            I don’t know where you get this idea from that I’m a socialist, i am a capitalist but am fully aware of the problems of capitalism and how the system should be run to keep it healthy, something for 40 years we’ve failed to do.

  121. 1.5M to be ordered to not leave their homes for 12 Weeks. They will be written to and also contacted by phone and text. They will not be allowed to leave their homes at all

    1. Ordered or advised? How would the authorities enforce such a ban? Is there going to a be a policeman outside each of these households 24 hours a day?

      B*llocks.

      1. As seen on the other site, if you want to go out and take your chances go ahead. Now punk, I know what yr thinking…..

    2. Where does the 12 week figure come from. Do they expect the virus to be in decline by then?

    3. Good luck with that. How many illegals have sneaked/are sneaking into the UK undetected? Mind you, if you are unlucky enough to be caught I am sure the punishment will be severe as you will be held to a high standard of behaviour.

      2. Well not ‘refugees’ with multiple heath issues.
        That would go against their human rights.

      4. Jenrick: Major national effort to support the shielded

        Mr Jenrick says people living with one of the 1.5 million most vulnerable will not have to follow the same strict guidelines.

        Carers – formal and informal – can continue to visit but must follow guidelines from Public Health England.

        For those without a care network close by, a major national effort will create a support system – including pharmacists, supermarkets and local authorities.

        Food parcels, for example, will be left on the doorstep.

      5. posted 20 minutes ago………..

        Apparently the NHS are about to write to the 1.5 million people who are considered to be in the danger zone.
        I feel they just might need to get a bit of a move on.
        People who are considered to most at risk are being told to stay in for 12 weeks !!!

        1. Judging by the NHS letter writing record, that will mean a minimum of 3 identical letters arriving for each vulnerable person; so at least 4.5 million going out.
          The PO will be relieved to have so much extra business.

          1. Wednesday morning, had a text reminding me that I have a Diabetes Nurse appointment next week. Wednesday afternoon, had a phone call saying don’t attend the appointment – expect a telephone call from the nurse instead. Friday, received a letter saying the same thing. Efficient, what?

            I’ve an appointment at the Eye Clinic on 2nd Apr. No doubt I’ll be asked to scan my own retinas, and inject Lucentis into my eyeball if I think it’s necessary. Maybe there’s an app for that.

          2. It wasn6 the lucentis that hurt, it was the nail gun that they called laser surgery that brought tears to my other eye.

            There again a do it yourself jab could be a new experience.

          3. Good old Hilti. Truth is, the injections are scary. Till you’ve had one. By the time they’ve dribbled several gallons of anaesthetic into your ear, you’re good to go.

          4. That first injection was really scary but then when you realised that it wasn’t even uncomfortable it got easier (apart from the $1700 price tag because it wasn’t covered by the provincial insurance). The only scare was one week when the doctor said that Denise could finish the prep for the injection. He meant the nurse, I took it as my wife doing the work and that scared me.

            I hoped they dribbled anaesthetic into your eye, not your ear!

          1. Food parcels and pharmacy drops are being arranged. These will be left on the door step apparently although possibly the pharmacy drop would be through the letter box as leaving drugs on the door step does not seem a good idea

          5. Had never heard of it but just read a synopsis. Seems spookily similar to current happenings.

          6. ‘Afternoon, Alf, No chance, every time I get a hospital appointment they want me to fill out a form describing all previous illness, operations and medication.

            I’ve made my own Excel spreadsheet that details all this from birth to date but, by their own admission, the NHS doesn’t have joined up computer systems and, generally, it’s the Unions that are blocking progress towards unity.

            There are powerful Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems available, not least SAP but to try and get these accepted is too difficult for organisations with strong union representation.

            The Post Office is another one.

          7. I know. I went to A&E last week. Triaged at the UTC (urgent treatment centre) all info taken onto computer and printed off for me to take 20 yards across the road to A&E. Handed in form to reception who typed details into their computer, put the paper in a folder and through the ‘serving hatch’ for the triage nurse again. 10 minutes later called into see Triage nurse who asked me all the same questions again. Had to explain two conditions I have but asked why she didn’t look at the previous notes from across the road. Different computer systems. I managed to get out 4 hours later, alive. Phew!

          11. Got sent to our local hospital for out patient treatment last year. Gave them my name, and all my history and prescription details popped up. It’s not difficult. There are plenty of health care IT systems to choose from.

          13. As you probably know they spent £12 billion on a new NHS a few years ago before cancelling it because was a mess and useless. Undoubtedly the head of that project got a large bonus and was promoted. Am I cynical?

          15. Every hospital let alone Health Board tend to have its own unique often largely paper based system. Almost every country in Europe has proper joined up system but not the NHS

          16. Our local hospital has done away with paper apart from the immediate visit then it’s all on computer but would appear that it’s not easy to access the associated items.

          17. Medical records will give info on allergies. The food parcels are likely to be generic initially. Only those with out anyone to get food and medicines will need them most probably will not. Local councils , charities and army will be involved

          19. They could always use those new-fangled thingummies called ‘door bells’.

          20. Probably will. I should imagine the leave them on the door step ring the door bell and retreat by 2M

          21. That’s what delivery drivers have been doing for a while now. Of course, Royal Mail have been doing it for years, leaving cards saying ‘Sorry you were out’, when you were actually in, and then expecting you to go to the local sorting office to retrieve your parcel.

      1. A lot already do. They call it bush meat. I believe it’s a cultural thing. Vibrancy, they call it.

        1. We are all going stir-crazy after just a week or so of incarceration. Spare a thought for those animals in zoos, imprisoned for life, who have done nothing to deserve the loss of their freedom.

          3. Apparently the NHS are about to write to the 1.5 million people who are considered to be in the danger zone.
            I feel they just might need to get a bit of a move on.
            People who are considered to most at risk are being told to stay in for 12 weeks !!!

    3. In a few days time the hoarders will be at the gates with their shopping trolleys, hoping to get a few dozen kilos of prime meat.

  124. Ahem

    “Nice collection of Western Treasury Bonds you have there President XI.
    Would be a shame if they were defaulted on as part reparation for the damage you have wrought.”

    2. Ada “You want us to do a runner from the care-home? I can barely toddle you bloody fool.”

    3. “Nee naw …. Nee naw …… ‘
      Pop. Pop.
      “Do they count in the coronavirus stats, Sarge?”

    5. Good evening PT

      Is this photo in Cornwall? Reminds me a bit of Helford River.

      1. I recall canoeing up the Fal from St Mawes and the Carricks towards the King Harry in the 1960’s

        The size of the ships berthed alongside the river bank was absolutely staggering from the perspective of water-level

    7. We’ll have to stick it out Bert, I’m waiting for the tide to come in, I haven’t had a pee today.

  126. Essentials for Boris –
    1. No extension for the EU
    2. No 5G for China
    3. No HS2 – it’s unaffordable.
    Got it ?

    1. The transition period will be extended. A lack of a trade agreement due to Coronavirus will be blamed.

      Huawei will provide 5G antennae. There is no alternative.

      HS2 will go ahead, will finish late and well overbudget and no normal people will ever be able to afford it.

      But other than that he’s been first class supposedly.

  128. Men in sheds

    “Gtech have switched their focus from vacuum cleaners and garden

    machinery to producing ventilators and have a prototype that they

    believe is very close to production.

    “My understanding is that we could need 30,000 (ventilators),” its founder Nick Grey told Sky News.

    His

    team of engineers has developed a prototype in their Worcestershire

    workshops which they presented to the government on Friday.

    “I’m confident we can build them in a short time and in quite high volume… I’d estimate at a thousand a day,” Mr Grey added.

    “We

    think we have solved all the difficult bits, we are just making the

    last bits of a pneumatic timer now which hopefully will be ready in a

    few hours. If that works we can take all the electronics off it and it

    will just run on oxygen supply so it is very simple.”

    https://www.eagleradio.co.uk/news/uk-news/3066939/coronavirus-extraordinary-uk-effort-to-produce-thousands-more-ventilators/
    Now all we need is the bureaucrats and lawyers to get the hell out of the way

    2. Now all we need is the bureaucrats and lawyers to get the hell out of the way

      How true.

    3. What a load of bs. To go from a first off prototype to a full volume production model in a few weeks is simply not possible. You would need to meet tall the regulatory standards which will take months. It may need NHS approval as well. Even getting production tooling made takes months. Most of the parts will probably have a lead time of at least 6 weeks

      2. Ever read how quickly they got stuff into production in WWII? Just need to get all that CYA stuff out of the way.

  129. Question for NHS Executive – how come South Korea can test all health workers and perform n0000 tests per day and get same-day results and we still can’t even test front-line workers and have to wait days for the test results (you may refer to the equal opportunity/diversity and translator budgets if you wish). The next question will be on PPE …

    1. Common Purpose hasn’t made in-roads into South Korea. A can-do/do the right thing attitude is anathema to the CP creed. There can’t be sufficient natural born incompetents to infect our services this badly at all levels, can there? The serial failures we experience have to be deliberate.

      1. Speaking of Common Purpose, it occurred to me as I unlocked the church this morning, on the first Sunday in 1000 plus years that it hasn’t hosted any form of worship, that the CofE is very closely tied up with that organisation.

    3. You really want to know? About twenty (plus) years ago some female NHS bureaucrat decided that to computerise medical records in the UK would be an invasion of privacy (perhaps she had paid several visits too many to the GUM clinic) and then under Mr Bliar and his cronies, the NHS wasted billions on a computer system that didn’t work. I remember a programmer friend of a friend was paid to do nothing for months. On top of that, the morons in power, especially Mrs May, have consistently refused to introduce a practical ID scheme. And of course the data protection act(s) (thank you, Slimeballs of Brussels) can be used as a convenient shroud to cover up for government incompetence.

        1. The US Veterans Administration is a mini NHS. It doesn’t work very well as a result. Medicare (for us old folks) is just insurance cover with the government paying – out of our contributions over the years.

  131. Who is almost certainly making billions of dollars shorting markets thanks to the crisis ?

    Is it by coincidence the same individual who largely controls the UN and consequently the World Health Organization which is telling governments what to do ?

    Is it the same individual who is highly influential with the MSM and who boasts about “leveraging legislation and policy” and having ”strong relationships with politicians and officials” ?

    Is it therefore an individual recommending crashing economies who gains billions from crashing economies ?

    Who, according to Nigel Farage, has spent ”billions to undermine nation states” ?

    Who said… ”I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do” ?

    Who is really telling you to stay indoors and stop working ?

    Is it Soros ?

    Obviously this is purely speculation and nothing more than an entirely innocent and random series of unrelated coincidences, because there’s nothing to see here at all….

    ….is there ?

      1. Hope he hasn’t got Clinton Flu.

        I’m slightly worried I might get it one day !

    2. Can you please STFU about Uncle George.
      Find another topic to post about or SHUT THE FLUCK UP!

          1. Be fair, she sometimes posts stuff that is both new and relevant. Admittedly it’s a rarity.

          1. VVOF, JFDI – you’ll feel better – and while you’re about it, apply the same cleansing to the cockroach.

          3. So glad to hear it. I’ve run out of whisky and the beer machine is taking for ever to cool the Affligem so, I raise a glass of my own distilled Sloe Gin to your freedom.

  132. I’ve just had a glimpse of a different world. A world where cars are made by Vauxhall and BMW. Where warm North Face clothes are needed to spend time exploring in the open air. Where P&O run cruises to exotic places. Where supermarket groups advertise full shelves of wonderful things at reduced prices. Where tyre companies and estate agents show their support for the UK team at the Olympics.

    All advertised in the space of a few minutes during a programme on C4 this evening. A lost world that I fear has now gone the way of the dinosaurs. The car factories are now shut. The cruise liners are tied up in dock. The supermarkets are empty of things to buy. The Olympic Games will not take place.

  134. From ”Market Watch”…….

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/soros-among-firms-that-made-money-in-08-and-09-2010-01-13

    Hedge funds had a great year in 2009. But which managers passed the tougher test of making money in both 2008 and 2009 ?

    Among a handful….. Soros Fund Management,

    Perhaps thanks to collusion with President Obama and US Treasury officials if the allegations by Peter Schweizer are true (and he hasn’t been sued yet !)

    Please scroll…………

    https://politicalarena.org/2012/01/14/democrats-sugar-daddy-george-soros-helped-craft-stimulus-then-invested-in-companies-benefiting/

    1. Schweizer and his off-the-edge views just are not taken seriously here. Nor are flat earthers and sundry other conspiracy theorists.

    1. Charge them with ‘reckless endangerment of life’. The morons who punctured the ambulance tyres, that is.

  136. How strange are our governments priorities. Illegal Migrants get COVID-19 tests , NHS staff do not. Work that one out if you can

    1. Illegal migrants tend to disappear. Catch ’em while you can, if they’ve got something nasty.

  137. Very interestingly indeed, two senior British politicians were in DC visiting President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton approximately at the same time that Soros is alleged by Schweizer to have linked up with Obama and Treasury officials in early 2009 to plan the fiscal expansion in which Soros is alleged to have heavily invested….. and one of them subsequently landed a very highly paid job with a Soros funded organization.

    But of course this is only a completely innocent random coincidence and there’s nothing to see here at all.

  138. 317337+ up ticks,
    This johnson governance MUST fast track those disabling ambulances
    & other anti society acts, mandatory 5 year sentence NOW, action not more bloody rhetoric.

      1. 317337+ up ticks,
        T,
        They caught Tommy Robinson in a set up lets see their worth on real criminal acts, they, the police have a great deal to prove to have respect returned.

      2. Not too hard to catch the XR idiots and fit them up for a conspiracy charge, having instructed the pliant judges that 7 years each would be considered lenient.

        2. XR, like AntiFa, are another mob of unofficial thugs operating at the behest of the elite. Of course they’re not going to be targeted for any serious punishment.

          1. Thanks, Copy!

            It’s morning over there, right? Have a great week and keep fighting the good fight. I greatly admire your work. 👍

      1. 317337+ up ticks,
        Evening AA,
        Would cause offence and be totally against
        submissive,PCism & Appeasement.

  139. If the stockpiling of toilet rolls doesn’t stop the Government says it will have to restrict our movements 😄😄

  140. “Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Sunday blocked legislation that would
    pump well over $1 trillion into the American economy on programs to help
    companies losing business during the coronavirus outbreak and
    unemployed workers.”
    Bloody-minded loons.

    1. Unless the bill really ignored workers rights and only focused on Trumps ideas of business relief.

      Really stupid though, it does nothing to help the peasants view of politicians.

    1. Comes from the same school of logic as giving illegals a virus test while denying it to taxpaying Britons or NHS frontline workers.

      Do you somehow get the impression…we’re not that important to the government?

      1. This sort of thing does really worry me, surely the sensible thing would be to stop infected people coming into the country? And I do think the strategy of shutting down 100% of the economy to protect the 1% of the population which is actually at risk is crazy too. I can imagine a lot of people in government being very excited about all their new powers and the ability to keep the population cowering at home until they are ‘rescued’ by the State.

        Scary times, not just because of the virus.

        1. Absolutely right JK. And the powers they will be seizing tomorrow are to last two years! I understand. Interesting times.

          1. Once governments seize powers, they never give them up without a fight. For instance, if the Government is offering loans to businesses, isn’t this effectively nationalisation by the back door? If every private business is only kept afloat with government money that they have to pay back, will they not be beholden to the State forever?

            I hope that this situation is more cock-up than consipiracy. The alternative is truly frightening.

        2. Well, seriously, probably for the first time in their lives, they have had to actually THINK.

        3. I share your concerns. So many competing interests, so many wrong paths.
          Stay healthy!

        1. What really annoys me, is that if any of them had tested positive, they would have been whisked off to hospital, and as a young person, given priority over an elderly person who has paid into the NHS all their life!

    2. It would seem so. Clever, isn’t it. I’ve emailed our MP this afternoon with several pithy remarks and questions about what’s going on, the overreaction of western governments and the total destruction of business and jobs. He will probably send a “there, there” kind of reply.

    1. We were told that terrorists would release some pathogen onto the world one day. We did not consider that tycoons would do so as a nice little earner.

      I hear the footballers are insisting on maintaining their incomes by excusing the Premier League from any lockdown regulations.

      The money we pay people reflect the reality of what we as a people value. As long as tycoons and footballers ringfence their fortunes legally watertight, the rest of us can go to h*ll.

  144. Is Boris barmy ?

    Net Zero, Huawei, HS2, two Boris bridges one of which became a tunnel, Boris airport, total economic destruction…

    2. Destroying the economy far more quickly than one Gordon Brown…… I could go along with the closures, confinement etc etc etc etc if it were not for aircraft still allegedly landing from China, Iran and Italy. Why, why, why? It quite simply does not compute.

    3. He’s a well proven fruitcake. I guess that’s why we elected him with a massive majority. The electorate does love a moron, we keep electing them.

      1. But he was the best moron fruitcake of the bunch, although I did not vote for his party.

        1. If all politicians are useless then we need new politicians not just picking one of the useless ones with the nicest colour tie.

          1. What’s all this about ? He has been pretty well first class ever since he was accidentally electred.

          3. They don’t exist. They are too busy currently sat on their asses moaning about the way the country is run by the idiots they bleeding well elected.

      2. It wasn’t so much we wanted Boris nor trust him…. it was just that Corbyn was so totally totally bananas that we had no choice…….he may think he is popular but time will disabuse him of that notion. Especially if he keeps up the greenie rubbish, bridges (two? is one to Denmark or something?) etc.

  145. I thought Boris came over very well this afternoon, explaining the unexplainable without having to consult his notes, and making clear that he did not want us confined to our homes, but that it would be very irresponsible of us to leave them. And if too many drug dealers went out on a night in London with their wives and knives, he would lock everybody up if they got too close.
    There is a prize of a free cruise off the coast of East Africa for any over-70 who is clear what he has or has not to do. Answers on the back of a postage stamp – one of those Chinese ones with a junk on them.

    1. Answers on the back of a postage stamp – one of those Chinese ones with a junk on them.

      Nowadays it’s ships coming from China bringing junk.

  146. Thought of a suitable first punishment for China:

    Banned from Football World Cup and Olympic Games (including their drug-enhanced swimmers) for 50 years.

    1. Just confiscate their investments in the UK and explain politely that the Chinese have cost us an arm and a leg by inflicting their virus on us. We do the same with dodgy Russians.

      In future we need to call China and other countries eating every form of wildlife to account. Everyone by now knows that the crossover between animals and humans arises in societies that have poor hygiene standards and in those which consume other species, whether bats, Pangolins, songbirds, apes and monkeys, koalas or exotic species such as tigers, lions, elephants and rhinoceros and poisonous snakes.

      No further appeasement of these vile societies and their corrupt political systems. No further investment in their industry at the expense of our own. Time to put the clock back where we survived perfectly well without outsourcing everything to China and made far superior stuff here in Blighty.

      Time also to take positive action against the cretins panic buying from our stores. These selfish bastards need some sort of correction. I personally would advocate the return of the birch or else the stocks. The requirement for thousands of traditional stocks would reinvigorate the carpentry industry. (Gibbets could be added as necessary for serial offenders).

      1. D’y’know, Cori, that just, kinda, makes sense.

        Boris! Lend an ear here, Oh, and tell Mr Trumpington about it.

        Make sure all the Trident thingies are on 2 minutes readiness.

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