Pompous TV presenters knocking the government.

[Ram59]

Before I go any further, I'm not pretending the government are perfect and have done everything right. But our situation is unique and everyone should be pulling together rather than just picking on every government minister ala badger baiting style.

I've switched off the TV this morning after listening to so much crap on all news bulletins.

I've listened to kay Burley, sympathising with a nurse and her paramedic partner, trapped in Sydney, desperate to get back and help their colleagues. They've been there for THREE MONTHS, nice job to be able to do that and when their colleagues started to need them 3 weeks ago, why didn't they come back then? For what it's worth I returned from New Zealand 9 days ago, but I investigated coming back 2 days early when things looked like they were getting serious. Had I not been due to come back for another week or so then I would have taken that flight. People need to take some responsibility for themselves.

Pierce Morgan and his colleague sitting next to him slagging off building sites being allowed to stay open as not necessary, is necessary that we have TWO presenters to host these breakfast shows?

Lorraine then comes on knocking the government, stating that Singapore is doing right with a proper lock down and in the next breath, tells us thar they're closing all their bars, clubs, etc, from NEXT WEEKEND.

The BBC are just as bad, picking on every little problem that arises. Bloody hell, they say 12 months isn't long enough to do a trade agreement, but expect the government to fully implement a unique strategy, to run the country, in days.

Sorry, rant over, need some football to moan at.

Stay safe everyone.

[Geoff Parkstone]

I agree whole heartedly with the sentiments above. Not everything is perfect but the government is largely operating with a minimal blueprint and what is not needed is negativity now of all times. If Piers Morgan was around in 1944 he would have been moaning about the colour of the uniforms for the D Day landings! Sadly its trivia and bollox like this that means noone will listen when there are important issues to raise over government policy.

[swaledale]

I agree whole heartedly with the sentiments above. Not everything is perfect but the government is largely operating with a minimal blueprint and what is not needed is negativity now of all times. If Piers Morgan was around in 1944 he would have been moaning about the colour of the uniforms for the D Day landings! Sadly its trivia and bollox like this that means noone will listen when there are important issues to raise over government policy.

Whilst I agree that a lot of the media is repeated babble by people who know nothing themselves and some of the criticism is OTT. The government could have acted more decisively and had more plans in place sooner, they did after all have the luxury of watching what was happening in Italy and elsewhere.

The original policy if it can be called that was to allow the virus to spread and create "herd immunity" and if a few old and vulnerable people died in the process so be it. This changed when it was realised that the NHS would be overwhelmed with cases as per Italy, which could well result in greater deaths of people from other illnesses.

The lack of protective equipment for front line staff is scandalous, again they have had a couple of months to prepare for this! The lack of testing is leading to NHS staff having to self isolate without knowing whether they have it, leading to staff shortages which are unnecessary.

As per usual Johnson has flipped from one direction to the next, saying zero chance of a lock down on friday and then doing exactly that on Tuesday - it was obvious on Thursday this would be required and again they have other countries to take heed from.

Communication to the public is confused and inconsistent, it shouldn't be! Government s job is to handle these things and get clear consistent messages out to people and take decisive action. Johnsons problem is he doesn't like messages or actions that he knows will be unpopular or actually dealing with stuff rather than throwing out meaningless sound bites.

[MadAmster]

Piers Morgan is a pillock IMO. However, some of his rants are spot on. For instance the one where he said, and I paraphrase, "FFS, all you have to do is stay home and watch telly. Is that really so difficult?"

Johnson? IMO he's a puppet. Cummings is the one calling the shots. He's the one that didn't trust the science and the actual experiences elsewhere in the world and the puppet went along with him. He has had the country one or more steps behid what was needed all the way thus far.

How on earth are they allowing the Underground to run with trains almost as full as they normally are? Does social distancing not count on public transport? London is, after all, the epicentre of the virus in the UK. This lack of sensible action is going to exacerbate things in the capital.

It's a difficult time for everybody. We shouldn't be making it even more difficult by allowing situations which put even more peoplein danger.

[ramAnag]

Agree with much of what you’re both saying but I think it’s fair to be critical of the mixed messages that are being delivered.

There appears to be complete confusion over certain things such as the London Underground and who is eligible to still be going to school.

I watched people merrily going into my local Homebase this morning to buy such ‘essentials’ as compost and plant pots while the B&Q in the next, bigger, town is completely shuttered up.

At Waitrose this morning they were - wisely and correctly - restricting entry to the store to 35 people at any one time while half a mile away at Lidl there were no restrictions.

While waiting for my wife to leave the former, in the same radio programme, I heard Coronavirus described as a ‘mild illness in most cases’ or, ten minutes later, a ‘deadly disease’.

On the plus side...people appeared patient, rational and reasonable. The manager and staff at Waitrose were brilliantly organised and most things (not hand sanitiser) were available.

Communication is everything and our politicians aren’t very good at it, but certain sections of the media make things a lot harder.

[Geoff Parkstone]

The tube is an impossible dilemma

It is still overcrowded at peak times despite having got a much reduced commuter load. But essential, NHS etc workers still need to get to their places of work. Central London hospitals have to be accessed via public transport unless major changes are made to the traffic flows, and even then many key workers in London probably dont have cars anyway.

More buses could maybe laid on, but that is beset with the same problems of overcrowding and social proximity

One solution might be to give key workers free passage on the tubes and increase the fares to everyone else to a minimum of £ 20, but the infrastructure to achieve this is probably unachievable, although Oyster cards can no doubt be reprogrammed. It would thin out pointless/casual/non essential travellers.

Something a friend of mine heard this morning is however interesting, and this draws on experience in New York. It seems like (and statistics always lie) experience there is that only one person in a thousand ever interacts with someone with the virus, and then obviously not all develop the condition. I would have expected a much higher number, maybe one in a hundred

[swaledale]

Agree with much of what you’re both saying but I think it’s fair to be critical of the mixed messages that are being delivered.

There appears to be complete confusion over certain things such as the London Underground and who is eligible to still be going to school.

I watched people merrily going into my local Homebase this morning to buy such ‘essentials’ as compost and plant pots while the B&Q in the next, bigger, town is completely shuttered up.

At Waitrose this morning they were - wisely and correctly - restricting entry to the store to 35 people at any one time while half a mile away at Lidl there were no restrictions.

While waiting for my wife to leave the former, in the same radio programme, I heard Coronavirus described as a ‘mild illness in most cases’ or, ten minutes later, a ‘deadly disease’.

On the plus side...people appeared patient, rational and reasonable. The manager and staff at Waitrose were brilliantly organised and most things (not hand sanitiser) were available.

Communication is everything and our politicians aren’t very good at it, but certain sections of the media make things a lot harder.

Waitrose eh? Proper posh (and minted!)

[ramAnag]

The tube is an impossible dilemma

It is still overcrowded at peak times despite having got a much reduced commuter load. But essential, NHS etc workers still need to get to their places of work. Central London hospitals have to be accessed via public transport unless major changes are made to the traffic flows, and even then many key workers in London probably dont have cars anyway.

More buses could maybe laid on, but that is beset with the same problems of overcrowding and social proximity

One solution might be to give key workers free passage on the tubes and increase the fares to everyone else to a minimum of £ 20, but the infrastructure to achieve this is probably unachievable, although Oyster cards can no doubt be reprogrammed. It would thin out pointless/casual/non essential travellers.

Something a friend of mine heard this morning is however interesting, and this draws on experience in New York. It seems like (and statistics always lie) experience there is that only one person in a thousand ever interacts with someone with the virus, and then obviously not all develop the condition. I would have expected a much higher number, maybe one in a hundred

Is it an impossible dilemma? I don’t know...I last travelled on it 16 days ago, admittedly between 9.40 and 16.30, and there were none of the scenes witnessed recently in the press. Maybe staggered journey times, more carriages on the busiest routes, greater clarity on who should be using it and the system of waiting and entry that some supermarkets have recently adopted might be helpful.

On the subject of New York...I have a son with an office on the outskirts who has been working from home for over three weeks now. In comparison my other son and son in law in the UK were only told to work from home towards the end of last week.

P.S. The queue at Tesco was much longer, Swale...but I’ve still never actually been in Waitrose. I got dispatched to Lidl when the manager very politely and sensibly explained that the queue would move more quickly if people shopped singly. Her lady ship continued with the posh shop.

[Trickytreesreds]

Before I go any further, I'm not pretending the government are perfect and have done everything right. But our situation is unique and everyone should be pulling together rather than just picking on every government minister ala badger baiting style.

I've switched off the TV this morning after listening to so much crap on all news bulletins.

I've listened to kay Burley, sympathising with a nurse and her paramedic partner, trapped in Sydney, desperate to get back and help their colleagues. They've been there for THREE MONTHS, nice job to be able to do that and when their colleagues started to need them 3 weeks ago, why didn't they come back then? For what it's worth I returned from New Zealand 9 days ago, but I investigated coming back 2 days early when things looked like they were getting serious. Had I not been due to come back for another week or so then I would have taken that flight. People need to take some responsibility for themselves.

Pierce Morgan and his colleague sitting next to him slagging off building sites being allowed to stay open as not necessary, is necessary that we have TWO presenters to host these breakfast shows?

Lorraine then comes on knocking the government, stating that Singapore is doing right with a proper lock down and in the next breath, tells us thar they're closing all their bars, clubs, etc, from NEXT WEEKEND.

The BBC are just as bad, picking on every little problem that arises. Bloody hell, they say 12 months isn't long enough to do a trade agreement, but expect the government to fully implement a unique strategy, to run the country, in days.

Sorry, rant over, need some football to moan at.

Stay safe everyone.

Hooray, top post and spot on.

[Ram59]

The trouble is that there is so much different 'expert' advice, little of which is proven at this stage.

TFL has reduced tube services, which seems crazy and has made the tube more crowded imo. But someone must have thought it was a good idea. The same thing happened with Waitrose checkouts.

WHO says we should test, test, test, but that only works on the day of the test. The following day you could contract the virus. So is it better to spend your money and energies on this new test which let's you know wether you've had it and therefor immune to it?

The herd theory is best for the country in the long term, but socially unacceptable. If everyone was exposed to the virus today, then in 2 months we would be dead or back to normal and back to work. But the death toll would be greater and the stress to the NHS would be over whelming.

So, our actions and those of the authorities and businesses, are taken with good intent after listening to 'expert' advice.

But then you have the idiots who take no notice of any of the advice and cause further trouble for us all. The so called mixed message from the government about going out and get exercise but keep 2m apart. Any sensible person would have gone to the park, beach etc and on arrival seeing the crowds, would have realised that the 2m safety distance was not possible. They would then have turned round and gone home. I don't see how the message could be misinterpreted. More likely the attitude of the selfish few, which has ruined the opportunity for us all to take regular exercise.