to think clapping obviously stops the virus spreading - scene from Westminster Bridge

[chomalungma]

twitter.com/d_rafi1/status/1250864574984867856

Great video near St.Thomas' Hospital. Lots of the public and police all gathered together clapping.

And for some reason, London has a lot more cases than elsewhere in the country.

Clapping is great. But I wonder how many people will catch it from others at this gathering?

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting superiority.
Yes, there are twats everywhere; French twats are as twatty as any other twats; twats who are not French but happen to live in France are also twatty; twats in the UK are twatty; non-twats in the UK are not twatty, just as non-twats worldwide are not twatty. Although perhaps everyone has a twatty moment now and then and I can tell you think this was mine. Or that I am a twat.

I could go on, lest I omitted any twats, twattery or twattishness, but I hope the general meaning is clear.

I just haven't seen any angst or accusations of virtue signalling here about the clapping, while in the UK it's become a really divisive issue, it's in the news today and I daren't mention to friends and family there that we do it, even though it's a really important moment in our day.

FWIW, I do think that is an interesting difference - not one of superiority/inferiority, just one that may reflect differing cultural attitudes to public displays, ongoing social tensions in the UK or a range of other issues.

That's ok, they are helping to make up the statistics, we'll all be out of lockdown soon, as these idiots will just keep killing themselves.
Stay in and wait until natural selection has finished.

British exceptionalism. In many countries lockdown means lockdown. In Britain it means standing next to your neighbours for a big weekly show (including the very people meant to be stopping pointless public wandering), it means the PM boasting in March about shaking hands in a hospital and spreading it throughout the cabinet, it means people continuing to attend mass events until mid March when the warnings had been dominating newspapers for weeks and we know that the first cases hit British shores at the end of January. Exceptionalism and stupidity.

Cam77 Sweden have never gone on lockdown and Paris had to ban people exercising between 10 - 7 due to people ignoring social distancing. I'm not sure we're quite as exceptional as you think.

There's no point in police or hospital staff practising social distancing during the clap when they're working side by side for up to 12 hours a day with no room for social distancing. The other bystanders on the bridge I am baffled by though

I don't think the eyebrow raising is at the police being there as a group, it's that they were there and didn't act, when previously theyve been breaking up small picnics and sending people home for being out unnecessarily.

Fucking idiots

Was so shocked when I saw this footage on twitter, what are people thinking? The Irony of clapping for carers and NHS when they are potentially putting more pressure on them. The police definitely should be pulled up for not doing anything to move people on .

The few always spoil it for the many - when you give people an inch they take a mile. The police at Westminster Bridge should have known better because now they are going to look like the bad guys for next week's clap when they start stopping people.

There has been a street party on my road on Thursdays since this clapping began. Yesterday's party started at 2pm with 4 families having a water fight. Throwing water bombs across the road at each other which escalated fast to buckets of water being carted over the road for a direct hit. Kids and dads running everywhere. I counted at least 18 people playing silly buggers. I don't get it, I really don't. These people aren't are stupid. One of the dads is a nurse in cardiology ffs.

Today there is a giant communal chalk skittles game in the middle of the road. But the good news is that it's started raining so they've all sloped back inside.
No doubt they would claim it's their daily exercise if challenged.

I know it's hard keeping kids entertained but - mums and dads too? They should bloody know better.

I didn't join them in my clap last night, we kept a good distance and clapped in the back garden instead.

I was really shocked to see the bridge scenes. The police are meant to disperse groups, not bloody join in!! Seriously?!!
I’m all for the clapping but enough already of fireworks etc. My bunnies get scared. It was quite amusing yesterday when I didn’t realise the time & emerged from Tesco Express to a round of applause & someone ringing a handbell!

Aparrently this was organised BY the police. There's a photo showing Cressida Dick there in person. Members of the public presumably were drawn in to see what was happening and ended up over rowing. A bizarrely misjudged stunt by the Met.

*overcrowding. They weren't in boats.

Same at a hospital near me, I'm a nurse (not at that hospital) and an old colleague posted the videos and pictures on Facebook. The local district nurse teams had rocked up, fire, police, hospital staff, all gathered around with absolutely no social distancing whatsoever.

Idiots.

Police tweet from last night

twitter.com/metpoliceuk/status/1250872208844611586

Metropolitan Police | #StayHomeSaveLives
@metpoliceuk
Thank you to the real heroes.

Thank you London.

#ClapForKeyWorkers #ClapForCarers

London is together.

The replies aren't very good

It's amazing that the Police don't seem to have seen anything wrong with it all. You'd think rather than tweeting about it someone (who works in PR no less!) could have predicted the likely response.

Notice the police tweet focuses on the view and the spaced officers and flits over the crowds...

Kind if unbelievable they tweeted it themselves though! Shows some lack of self awareness

When I saw the scenes on the news, I assumed those involved would get a bollocking. Listening to the Met's response, it doesn't seem so. The police really need to be careful about their public image at the moment. It looked like a 'mass gathering' last night.

I am curious how bad it really was. It's shocking how much difference the same photo from a slightly different angle or using a different can be but it's clear that there were an awful lot on people on that bridge who are highly unlikely to have an "essential" reason to be there at 8pm

Are there still tourists in London?

Or they are mainly the staff who have left work after 12 hours where they had no opportunity to social distance all day and are about to get the tube same issue.

Gosh but think of the children! Maybe they are the children of doctors and nurses who haven't seen their parents for days because they are asleep when they got to work and come home and Dad in maybe not his most glorious moment decided to take them.

I have seen two people bitch about this on Facebook. One went to her grans to say happy birthday with about 8 of her relatives "but we social distanced" not from each other you didn't cretin! Unless you have all moved into the same three bed terrace. And the other put some photos up on Saturday of her and her toddler playing clearly taken by a third person.... last time I checked she lives alone! I checked today!

Get off your high horses social distance is nothing to do with not getting the virus if it was, we would in a proper lockdown. We will all get it sooner or later.

Get off your high horses social distance is nothing to do with not getting the virus if it was, we would in a proper lockdown

So what do you think social distancing is to do with then?

Ah what people don’t understand is that is almost impossible to contract Coronavirus if you are banging a saucepan with a spoon.

Why aren't the police telling them to go home?!

Clapping on the doorstep for a couple of minutes = OK
Banging saucepans = just about OK
Letting of fireworks = not OK
Gathering in huge numbers in a public place = utterly moronic

Cressida Dick and her subordinates need to give their heads a wobble

No ferkin way will I feel guilty going out each day if the Emergency services condone
Virtue Signalling Hypocrisy

FUND THE NHS, NOT CLAP FOR IT

British exceptionalism Of course it is. Everything wrong with the UK is down to British (lets be honest here, English) exceptionalism.

Or it could just be that we're all human and don't get things right all the time. Like all countries and governments.

There are varying degrees of lockdown, and we don't know what models are the most successful long term yet. I suggest everyone withholds judgment for now. And stop the England/UK bashing, it is very tedious.