Johnson in Hospital

[Ram59]

A tad unfair Ram. Everyone on here who follows the threads knows ‘my colours’ to be centre Left and that I’m a supporter of Kier Starmer. That doesn’t mean that I’m incapable of fairness and objectivity any more than one would expect you to show blind support for the government regardless of performance.

In actual fact it was you who drew comparison with other countries, namely France, Italy and Spain. I note you didn’t choose Germany and Denmark.

All the reports I read/hear/see suggest that we’re likely to have the most deaths from Covid-19 in Europe. I very, very much hope they’re wrong. Maybe we should wait a while longer to judge. You may not believe this but, in a crisis like this as opposed to Brexit, I’d love this government to suddenly become competent and lead the World in the fight to overcome Coronavirus.

'all the reports' I have seen, are about 1 person saying that the UK MAY have the highest total. I was pointing out the countries that the ACTUAL current figures show the UK to be less than.

Can you list any other of these reports, other than ones referring to this one person's statement?

You're the promoting the UK to be at the top of the list, whereas I'm in no way pretending that the UK is competing with the likes of Germany and Denmark, unfortunately.

[MadAmster]

Slightly different rules over here. I have kept to them pretty well.

Used to shop once a day. That's down to 3 times a week. I walk there and back rather than take the car. Shoppng trolleys are compulsory and there are sufficient available to give everybody 10m2 of space. Behaviour in the supermarket is immaculate as opposed the usual "why should I look where I'm going" attitude. You arrive, get given a trolley, do the shop and on the way out a member of staff relievs yo of said trolley and cleans it before giving it to the next customer. No trolleys? You waut in line, suitably distanced.

Been out twice for a bike ride of around 1 hour. Allowed. On my own and keeping my distance from others, although there hasn't been many other cyclists out and I have yet to see any large groups of lycra louts out there.

My one "lapse" was going to the music shop to pick up the 2 lighting units I had ordered weeks ago yet even that fell within the rules. Security guard at the door, you disinfect your hands before going in, one way traffic in the shop (as it is in almost every shop in NL at the moment) and everybody mindful of the distancing. I call it a lapse as it wasn't strictly necessary but it did save me 200 notes. If I hadn't picked them up, they were going to cancel the sale and I wouldn't get that deal again.

[ramAnag]

'all the reports' I have seen, are about 1 person saying that the UK MAY have the highest total. I was pointing out the countries that the ACTUAL current figures show the UK to be less than.

Can you list any other of these reports, other than ones referring to this one person's statement?

You're the promoting the UK to be at the top of the list, whereas I'm in no way pretending that the UK is competing with the likes of Germany and Denmark, unfortunately.

Sorry Ram, suddenly plagued by ‘pop ups’.

Not sure what you mean by ‘one person’.
My main sources of news are the BBC, Sky, the Guardian and the Independent and they all appear to be in agreement that we are on target to possibly have the worst Coronavirus figures in Europe.

I very much hope they are wrong and that we don’t get near the figures in Spain and Italy in particular.

Perhaps we should leave this argument now to see what unfolds in the coming days, weeks or months. If things progress the way you anticipate I’ll share your delight and give credit where it’s due. If things progress the way the media I have quoted suggests then maybe you’ll have to have a rethink.

I’m not ‘promoting the UK to be top of the list’. I would hate it to be the case...I do however think we have far more in common with Germany and Denmark than the Mediterranean countries and thus comparison with those two named countries is more meaningful.

[Geoff Parkstone]

... and convenient for your anti government campaign 😘

[ramAnag]

... and convenient for your anti government campaign ��

Oh do give it a rest, GP. You’ve sounded more and more like Tricky ever since you started working from home.

I don’t have an ‘anti government campaign’ but I do have the right to criticise and question.
As I’ve said before...I think some things that have been achieved are laudable and others have been shambolic.
If you believe everything in the garden of governance is rosy then good for you. I don’t happen to agree, but please don’t confuse the questioning of a response with an ‘anti government campaign’.

[Andy_Faber]

Oh do give it a rest, GP. You’ve sounded more and more like Tricky ever since you started working from home.

I don’t have an ‘anti government campaign’ but I do have the right to criticise and question.
As I’ve said before...I think some things that have been achieved are laudable and others have been shambolic.
If you believe everything in the garden of governance is rosy then good for you. I don’t happen to agree, but please don’t confuse the questioning of a response with an ‘anti government campaign’.

Without going as far as TTR or GP, I do think that the media are creating their own headlines, whether it is genuinely to undermine the government or just to whip up airtime or lines of copy. 'The BBC has learned', 'people have said', 'there are reports that', stories that begin with that sort of speil reek of lack of provenance, exaggeration and supposition, blown up and repeated ad nauseum.

[ramAnag]

I agree Andy, the role of the media needs questioning and sometimes I think I’m better off not listening.
Unfortunately when it snows they’ll find the biggest drifts, when it rains they’ll find the worst of the floods and now, one can’t help but feel, they find the most drastic pictures of overflowing wards and the most heartbreaking stories.
Such is, unfortunately, the nature of news gathering these days but it doesn’t, imo, apply to the BBC anymore than Sky, and they can hardly be described as ‘anti government’...even by Tricky.
Ultimately I’m afraid I still have to trust (some) news reporters and experts more than (most) ministers.

[Trickytreesreds]

Without going as far as TTR or GP, I do think that the media are creating their own headlines, whether it is genuinely to undermine the government or just to whip up airtime or lines of copy. 'The BBC has learned', 'people have said', 'there are reports that', stories that begin with that sort of speil reek of lack of provenance, exaggeration and supposition, blown up and repeated ad nauseum.

Of course the BBC lies to make the government look bad.
It always will, if it goes against its agenda. It did the same with the Brexit campaign( not apologising for that either), caught pants down.

It's no coincidence that the Tories want to remove the BBC's license to print money and they aren't happy about it.

David Icke told me this at my Hitler youth camping trip. BBC is running a story on it next week.

[ramAnag]

Of course the BBC lies to make the government look bad.
It always will, if it goes against its agenda. It did the same with the Brexit campaign( not apologising for that either), caught pants down.

It's no coincidence that the Tories want to remove the BBC's license to print money and they aren't happy about it.

David Icke told me this at my Hitler youth camping trip. BBC is running a story on it next week.

Perhaps you could explain to us all what you believe the BBC’s ‘agenda’ to be and why you believe it’s okay for one particular political Party to seek to make such major changes to its make up and funding?

[Andy_Faber]

I agree Andy, the role of the media needs questioning and sometimes I think I’m better off not listening.
Unfortunately when it snows they’ll find the biggest drifts, when it rains they’ll find the worst of the floods and now, one can’t help but feel, they find the most drastic pictures of overflowing wards and the most heartbreaking stories.
Such is, unfortunately, the nature of news gathering these days but it doesn’t, imo, apply to the BBC anymore than Sky, and they can hardly be described as ‘anti government’...even by Tricky.
Ultimately I’m afraid I still have to trust (some) news reporters and experts more than (most) ministers.

Agree they are for the most part all as bad as one another, I just expect better from The BBC. We've briefly discussed this by PM and my view remains the same, not going to go back there in public as I don't want to switch TTR's afterburners on