Why is Boris actively advising people to go against his own government’s official message?

[Ethelfleda]

From PMQs:

“The prime minister also told the nation to go back to work, emphasising that the message to stay at home had outlived its usefulness and “people should try to lead their lives more normally”

From Govt website:

stay at home as much as possible
work from home if you can

So... are we expecting them to change the ‘stay alert’ message now??
Did he mean get back to work if furloughed or back to your place of work if you’ve been WFH?

I really wish the message was clearer

[drinkstoomuchwine]

Agree OP, its bonkers messaging!

[Babs709]

I’d assume “back to work” wouldn’t include anyone working from home. I think the government would like to see less people furloughed all I’d assume that? The government also have adverts on the telly encouraging people to go out and have fun etc. So it seems like the website is out of date.

[killerofmen]

He probably doesn't know what the government advice is. I'm so embarrassed that he's prime minister.

[Anniegetyourgun]

I think we should all have realised by now that waiting for Waffly Boris to make sense is a waste of time. Let's go with the most sensible sounding messages from the rest of government and the top health bods who stand a slightly better chance of knowing what they're talking about.

I must say whenever he starts on a different tack I wonder what we're about to discover he needed to justify, as in l'affair Cummings. Something like "Prime Minister, one of the papers has photos of your girlfriend getting her nails done and say they're going to publish them tomorrow." "Quick, open the nail bars!" A very reactive sort of premier, our Boris.

[Ethelfleda]

I’ve just been reading the more in depth guidance and on the topic of WFH, it says this:

People who can work from home should continue to do so. Employers should decide, in consultation with their employees, whether it is viable for them to continue working from home. Where it is decided that workers should come into their place of work then this will need to be reflected in the risk assessment and actions taken to manage the risks of transmission in line with this guidance

I’m sure this used to be something along the lines of ‘employers must make every effort to ensure that you can work from home’ - was that quietly dropped?

They’re really sending out such mixed messages!

[StoneofDestiny]

Almost 45,000 deaths in the UK from Covid speaks volumes about Johnson's mishandling of this crisis, his mixed messages, delayed action and inability to take decisive action to control the spread of a killer virus. Can't imagine why anybody is surprised by any mix messages now.

[labyrinthloafer]

I was asking about this last night in the coronavirus board - not what worries me is:

'Get back to normal'
+
'Lose weight because we're worried about likely second wave death toll'
=
shitshow????

[IrenetheQuaint]

Boris inconsistent and unclear? I simply can't believe this

[wanderings]

Because Project Fear "you're all going to die if you don't do as you're told" worked too well aided and abetted by Mumsnet ; some people got used to the lockdown lifestyle; and now many people are too afraid to go out and spend the money they don't have, so he's trying to undo Project Fear, to get the economy going again, after he and his men stopped it dead.

I knew this would happen, and that he'd have to back-pedal once he saw the unintended consequences, i.e. people not spending money. By the time the real consequences kick in (deaths from lockdown), he'll most likely be out of office.

[labyrinthloafer]

But the reason he wants people to lose weight according to the article is he is worried about the likely death toll in the second wave!

Why are they encouraging us out, which will cause a second wave, if they are so worried about the number of people the second wave will kill . Wouldn't it be easier to just try to avoid the second wave?

I mean, we do have a national weight call ncern, I agree, but not sure we've time to make real progress before, oooh, October??

I'm so tired of them.

[ShebaShimmyShake]

Because he's unfit for purpose and hasn't got a clue what he's doing.

[PerkingFaintly]

Because giving mixed messages works for him.

He can say, "See, we told you," however things turn out.

Or indeed, "We told you not to, and you did, so it's your fault."

[Ethelfleda]

You are of course, correct. I did know how useless he was I guess I managed to momentarily forget

[dudsville]

Isn't it about money? Many parts of the NHS and local Councils aren't going back to normal yet. They are government funded, run on a shoe string and can't afford any wastage. If they aren't going back to normal neither am I!

[Goosefoot]

I'm not in the UK, and don't have to deal with BJ, but I've noticed a lot of similar contradictory messages here.

Part of it seems to be that they want people to begin to move back to normal, but no necessarily all at once, and they are trying to prepare people to begin to think differently.

For a while our premier was very "stay at home" and trying to be scary, now it seems like they are trying to get people to become more confident again.

I think it's a real messaging challenge for the government, but at the same time, it's making people question them, they feel like they are bing treated inconsistently.

[PerkingFaintly]

What are the figures like in your country, Goosefoot?

Still going down, or pretty level? (Or god forbid going up?)

[SophieB100]

Mixed messages indeed: Lose weight, lose weight, lose weight but eat out a lot in August and let Rishi pay half your bill!

[LondonJax]

DH and I assumed he meant he wanted people to get back to work as, if you're working from home, you're not buying your morning coffee/sandwich/breakfast pastry or whatever. Because a lot of those town centre shops aren't getting the footfall they used to get. Then there's the after work drink on a Friday.

What he isn't counting on is that some people will want to hold on to their cash just in case things get tighter as this goes on. So that won't help the economy.

[Nat6999]

Several areas including Sheffield & Kirklees are in danger of going back into lockdown because of the number of cases, the only reason the government have released lockdown is for economic reasons, telling us to wear masks on public transport & in shops now makes no sense when we didn't at the height of the infection.

[SophieB100]

What he isn't counting on is that some people will want to hold on to their cash just in case things get tighter as this goes on. So that won't help the economy.

This ^

A lot of people are very worried about whether they'll have jobs in the Autumn and beyond - so naturally are cautious about spending any more than they need to. The uncertainty about money is more worrying for many than the threat of contracting the virus is.

[LondonJax]

Agree @Nat6999. The sudden 'masks may become mandatory in shops' thing in England is blatantly a prelude to cutting or dropping social distancing in shops. If people return to work rather than work from home etc., the last thing they'll want to do is queue to get into shops. If you make masks mandatory, you can cut the social distancing space and people can pop into a shop on the way to or from work again. Then the economy starts normalising again.

Of course, the gamble is on Covid being controlled by masks alone...

[BarbaraofSeville]

Like London says, without office workers commuting, trade in coffee and lunch shops is massively down and threatens the viability of those businesses.

The top brass at Costa, Pret, Greggs, Subway etc are probably bending his ear.

But people have realised they can live without all this and have saved a fortune so many now prefer to work from home and make their own coffee and sandwiches.

[SillyUnMurphy]

@LondonJax

DH and I assumed he meant he wanted people to get back to work as, if you're working from home, you're not buying your morning coffee/sandwich/breakfast pastry or whatever. Because a lot of those town centre shops aren't getting the footfall they used to get. Then there's the after work drink on a Friday.

What he isn't counting on is that some people will want to hold on to their cash just in case things get tighter as this goes on. So that won't help the economy.

This is also how I’ve interpreted his message.

I was perplexed at reading that Boris and Rishi were aghast at how dire the situation was on the high street - well yes; it’s been closed for four months FFS!

[beatrixpotterspencil]

last I heard he was telling people they'd become too comfortable with lockdown, too cozy on their furlough.

I see a new assault via 'scrounging lazy fuckers' tabloid headlines coming up!