This press conference is bullshit

[Poetrypatty]

They're telling us it's really dangerous but nothing will change
I don't see the point except for making everyone more stressed than they already are.

Not dangerous, just a lot of it.

True, not sure the purpose of it.

Seems pretty pointless.
Just caused stress and concern for some people when they read there was another briefing, coming as record figures were released,
And turns out, it's nothing to add bar reiterating exactly the same as before.

The only interesting bit is Prof Whitty as usual.

The only interesting bit is Prof Whitty as usual

I feel sorry for him. He's like a loyal best friend whose friend is an asshole.

Some Prof on Radio 4 just now saying it's more like a cold.

Numbers are doubling but there’s no rules changing just do what you think best to limit contacts. Well yes that’s going work then they will wait until it’s 22nd Dec then be forced change something. People will ignore because we did all that last year when Government didn’t.

Rather than wasting all those billions giving it to Dido Harding they should have given that to the NHS and seen if any provisions could be expanded. Absolute shambles.

The point of it was that they're trying to get as many people to have their boosters as possible.

They’re laying the ground for when they do decide to put more restrictions into place imo

They want people to "lockdown" by compliance as opposed to been ordered too

@ginnig same as Scotland then. Ask nicely and just hope people do it.

It kind of works though, if you think back to March 2020 people were almost desperate to be ordered into a lockdown & loads said it was too late. You can only control 66m people by fear really.

Look at the uptake in boosters & cancellations across hospitality & entertainment

Don’t think Boris realises his hairdresser is still open

Don’t think Boris realises his hairdresser is still open

I think he's growing it into a bob

I genuinely agree with Boris, we need to ride the wave not hide from it. I agree that daily testing is better than 10 days of SI. Booster rollout is brilliant. No more lockdowns.

@ginnig

They want people to "lockdown" by compliance as opposed to been ordered too

This, basically. Also to show they've 'tried' without actually doing anything. I feel so sorry for NHS workers.

@ginnig

They want people to "lockdown" by compliance as opposed to been ordered too

It's not a bad approach from a psychology perspective. It's different to how we dealt with previous waves and makes people feel they still have agency, rather than being ordered what to do.

I feel so sorry for NHS workers

Same. They have been through so much.

@Shoxfordian

Don’t think Boris realises his hairdresser is still open

Job centre is probably staying open late especially for him

I don’t know, I think asking people to prioritise only what’s important to them is a good message. People have different levels of risk and different versions of what’s important in their lives. I’d rather this than a blanket lockdown.

The only point is to distract from the bad press of recent weeks, and give the impression that the government are doing everything they can. Which involves pleading with the public to do all they can to save the NHS, as they have done everything but over the years. Utter shambles.

makes people feel they still have agency, rather than being ordered what to do.

Yes that’s a good explanation of how I feel about it.

Why do people wait to be told what to do? Did people routinely listen to the government before 2020? Agree with PP he has planted the seed if doubt into enough people and given just the statistics he wants to make enough people scared. For some reason people are making their own lockdown and because he didn't do it he doesn't need to support the businesses that will suffer as a result.