To think that Mark Drakeford is a power mad dictator?

[LittleLapwing]

Half the shops covered in plastic. Can’t buy clothes, duvets, books, DVDs, tins but not tin openers.
All the Halloween and bonfire night stuff that’s just been stocked is behind a cordon. Presumably now destined for landfill.

Autumn half term after a shitty year and I can’t even do a few seasonal treats for the kids.

AIBU to think that Mark Drakeford is a power mad dictator, and that his ridiculous game of Covid oneupmanship with Nicola and Boris needs to stop!?

Some people on this thread are actually bonkers

He’s also suggesting that you can call on neighbours/friends to sort out our essential non essentials, which surely puts you in contact with people you’re not supposed to see. It’d be easier to let supermarkets sell them.

Amazon is fine if you have money and tech, but there will be elderly/vulnerable people who don’t have this option.

I think Drakeford is a decent man and trying to do his best, but I know some people really despise him and can’t stand the fact that Wales can go its own way on this.

I understand the thinking behind it (fairness and a desire to stop people going to the shops as much as possible). But I think he's made the wrong decision here. Although someone on here said that in NI people are flocking to the supermarkets because there is nothing else to do. Maybe he is trying to prevent that happening.

I do believe it that it will be only 17 days for this set of restrictions. I think they also might do a u turn on all this before the end of the firebreak.

As for alcohol, well there are people who are alcohol dependent and it would be dangerous for them if the supply was cut off. Plus people would REALLY be up in arms about that!

Some people on this thread are actually bonkers

For me this is the most surprising thing about 2020. The way other people think & see nothing wrong with it.

Really “ I thought it was all about the free market capitalism these days anyway”

Not for the next few decades.

He’s a knobhead. He does thing differently to England and Scotland just to be awkward and for political gain (England Tory government, Scotland SNP).

@jesusinthecabbagevan

I think you must be the only person in Wales that believes it'll only be for 17 days, maybe because Scotland's 16 days is due to end on Monday..oh wait it's been extended though hasn't it just like Wales will be.

@Orangeblossom7777

Oh, I see, the BBC is saying more about the police, it makes more sense now. It's more about stopping people escaping Wales into Glos..(understandable)

"Meanwhile, Wales entered the first full day of a national lockdown amid border patrols to stop non-essential travel.
Gloucestershire Constabulary said it will patrol routes into the Forest of Dean area and pull over vehicles suspected of making unnecessary journeys out of Wales.
Drivers without a valid excuse will be advised to turn around and, if they do not, will be reported to police in Wales who can issue fines, the force added."

I find this terrifying. How the hell is this happening in 2020 and some people are just accepting this.

I find this terrifying. How the hell is this happening in 2020 and some people are just accepting this.

What do you suggest to try and slow the spread of the virus then?

@headstrong27

Some people on this thread are actually bonkers

For me this is the most surprising thing about 2020. The way other people think & see nothing wrong with it.

It's quite frightening how people are so willing to give up their freedoms little by little.

*Well us 'conspiracy theorists' who've been saying this virus is allowing governments and politicians to take away our freedoms and control us where called all sorts of names 🙄 you laughed at us but looks whose laughing now

Enjoy your new normal, being dictated to what you can or can't do, what you can or can't buy, where you can go or cant go*

I'm still laughing at you, sorry (and yes, I do live in Wales). We've always been 'dictated to' about what we can and can't do for safety, just because you disagree with where the line is drawn now, which is your right, doesn't mean it's suddenly a terrible thing to have rules at all ffs. You can't nip in the well of a courtroom, punch someone in the street or buy booze without ID if you look under 103 but suddenly this is the first time there's been restrictions on freedom?

Fine disagree with where the line is drawn but putting rules in place doesn't mean the illuminati have suddenly risen and we're two shakes away from the concentration camps, grow up.

They're just trying to stop some people dying, it might be overkill to you and maybe different/less restrictions would have been better (the number of people running to the pubs around Cardiff at 5pm yesterday for their last chance doesn't fill me with hope for people using common sense though) but is it ok with all of you for it at least to be ok to want to stop people being seriously ill or dying? Even if it's only very old people dying (it's not) even getting quite ill for months with this virus can be devastating to say a vulnerable family, a key worker or a lone parent relying on their job to pay the bills.

@KrakowDawn - the problem is that then you'll have people hanging around waiting in a shop with reduced floor space. Much better to nip up and grab it than create another queuing system.

Mark Drakeford: Trust me, I'm doing this because I care. It'll only be 17 days.
Also Mark Drakeford: Can't trust these Welsh people not to take the piss in Asda home aisle.
Trust is a 2 way street and he's seriously pissed on his chips if he's relying on people's goodwill to carry us through winter.

@SoupDragon

I find this terrifying. How the hell is this happening in 2020 and some people are just accepting this.

What do you suggest to try and slow the spread of the virus then?

I suggest deleting all social media, turning off the news and getting yourself a Nokia then you'd never know a global pandemic was on the rampage

I don't find the policing acceptable, I think it is all insane. I just thought previously it was about keeping the people of Glos out, rather than the Welsh escaping. I can see why they might want to..

I think not being able to buy kids clothes is mad. Sure adults probably have nothing that they need but babies and kids grow and if they need wellies then they need them!

Awful to think of all the Halloween stuff gone to landfill too.

Mathematically I think a 17 day strict lockdown makes perfect sense. But banning the sale of “non-essentials” in the supermarkets people will be going to anyway is unjustifiable. Nobody’s going to wait to buy Halloween decorations in their small local shops once the firebreak is over.

What I can’t get my head around is that apparently alcohol is ‘essential’. On what planet is alcohol essential? Yet stuff like books, yes really, books are not allowed to be sold.

I supported the firebreak, but this is ridiculous and badly thought out.

but is it ok with all of you for it at least to be ok to want to stop people being seriously ill or dying? Even if it's only very old people dying (it's not) even getting quite ill for months with this virus can be devastating to say a vulnerable family, a key worker or a lone parent relying on their job to pay the bills.

I'm a key worker working out of the home. A relative died during lockdown who was in a care home. Buying a kettle when you are shopping for other things will not increase deaths.

@Childrenofthestones whoever was on radio 4 last night (Welsh MP) said that a kettle was not a necessity as there were other ways you can boil water. I can't believe that we are now expecting the elderly who aren't online shopping to potentially boil water in a pan risking severe burns. And for those who can afford to have their heating on who rely on hot water bottles, how the hell do you fill one out of a pan?

I understand the vague idea behind it. But it should have been left in the initial brainstorming meeting as it is so obviously flawed. Amazon is a crappy company and many small retailers don't have an online presence. Many highstreets in small deprived towns are now mainly made up of bookies, charity shops and Poundland type shops, highstreet retails have been slowing dying for at least the last decade. Stopping people from buying non food items in supermarkets won't save the businesses that are left. Encouraging more people to buy off Amazon and rely on that service might be the final nail in the coffin.

Oh for god's sake, there is some hyperbole on this thread. None of this is fun and I wish it wasn't happening. But we can go out of Wales if we have a good reason to. We can buy food. We can go out of the house to exercise as much as we want. We can visit vulnerable relatives. We can go to work if we can't work at home.

England is watching closely. If this all has an effect on damping down the spread of the virus, you can bet it will do something similar. The whole of England will probably end up in tier three at the very least.

@epcot15 People are not even giving up their freedoms little by little, but BIG by HUGE. In March, there was barely a shred of protest; if Boris hadn't deliberately got the public terrified first, there would have been riots.

If your kettle breaks down, boil some water in a saucepan on the stove. If your tin opener breaks, buy tins with ring pulls or not buy tins

If your microwave breaks, don't eat?
If your duvet is wrecked, just wear a jumper to bed?
If your shoes get a hole in, go to work in your socks and get wet feet?
If your lightbulb blows, just sit in the dark?

Simple

*What I can’t get my head around is that apparently alcohol is ‘essential’. On what planet is alcohol essential? Yet stuff like books, yes really, books are not allowed to be sold.

I supported the firebreak, but this is ridiculous and badly thought out.*

I have alcoholic service users, I also have families as service users who have small children. If the small children don't get books in the next 2 weeks they will be bored, may not progress as well during that 2 weeks and may contribute a little more to poor mental health for their parents, we're helping with that. If the alcoholics don't get alcohol for the next 2 weeks they will suffer extreme withdrawal, become incredibly ill, take up masses of hospital resources that are needed in far better places - potentially for years as they can get medical conditions for life due to sudden detox, or may die - that nobody needs to be dealing with at the moment. That help clear it up?

@Rhine

What I can’t get my head around is that apparently alcohol is ‘essential’. On what planet is alcohol essential? Yet stuff like books, yes really, books are not allowed to be sold.

I supported the firebreak, but this is ridiculous and badly thought out.

Because some people would die or become extremely ill if they suddenly stopped drinking.

But I agree that this is a bit of a duff move.

Cachu Hwch