AIBU to think people will blame the PM for relaxing the rules rather than take personal responsibility if someone they see at Christmas is hospitalised with covid?

[PrincessNutNuts]

I think people will blame the government generally, and the Prime Minister personally, for relaxing the rules for five days at Christmas if the Christmas they had leads to a loved one being seriously ill with covid.

"The government shouldn't have let us do it if it wasn't safe." they'll say.

They won't take personal responsibility for it and admit they knew it wasn't safe - for instance - to mix school age children with elderly or Shielding people who don't see them regularly, and haven't seen people indoors for months.

What do you think? Will people hold their hands up and take responsibility for putting their loved ones at risk?

Or blame Boris?

Churchill - Boris’s role model - would have cancelled Christmas. Because that’s what leaders do. They make difficult decisions for the good of the populace.

Boris is like a shit XFactor judge. “Chico - you can’t sing and you forgot half the lyrics. But the people at home like you so....it’s a yes from me!”

So yes, if the infection rate shoots up after Xmas, it will because of the relaxing of the rules and it will be the govn responsibility.
It will be the responsibility of all the individuals in this country but particularly those who flout those rules. The rules aren't good enough to stop transmission of the virus, they are to help minimise transmission.

Just because we can doesn't mean we should mix with 2 other households. The PM said in his initial announcement about Christmas bubbles that the virus doesn't know it's Christmas. He was trying to put some laws/rules in place for the stupid people within our population who would do what the heck they wanted just because it was Christmas. He knows he doesn't have to address the sensible ones among us.

We, as have many other people we know, been in a childcare bubble with parents this year. If they catch it from our primary school children then of course I wouldn’t blame Boris, however I also wouldn’t blame myself - they have said themselves they can’t bear not seeing the kids and we can’t up the youngest days at nursery even if we wanted to - no places to be had. Christmas isn’t different to that in my eyes. I think people are overestimating the number of people that have not been seeing their families with small kids. Most people I know have a childcare bubble.

He knows he doesn't have to address the sensible ones among us

Very smug!
But the "stupid" can still infect you and your loved ones.

He has, once again, ignored scientific and medical advice, just so he can be popular.

I consider Mr Johnson by his inactions in early March and late response after the 21 September SAGE recommendations to be a mass killer. This just adds to it.

If I supported the death penalty (which I do not) I would be justified in calling for him to hang.

How come he was happy to cancel Eid but its unthinkable to cancel Christmas?

If course people will blame Boris, just like they have moaned because they can't see their loved ones.
He can't win because people whinge no matter what.
We're adults, we know the virus is here, we know there's a risk. Boris has not said you must go and see your family. Don't you dare stay at home. He has said see your family if you want to but be careful.
People will chose to see their family and blame Boris when it goes wrong because it's easier to blame someone else.
It's depressing to realise so many adults can't take responsibility for their own actions.

What do you think? Will people hold their hands up and take responsibility for putting their loved ones at risk?

Well i would blame myself and i assume OP would and i can see others do

So like absolutely everything in life some will blame themselves and some will blame this travesty of a government

SOME being the operative word

@Calmandmeasured1

So yes, if the infection rate shoots up after Xmas, it will because of the relaxing of the rules and it will be the govn responsibility. It will be the responsibility of all the individuals in this country but particularly those who flout those rules. The rules aren't good enough to stop transmission of the virus, they are to help minimise transmission.

Just because we can doesn't mean we should mix with 2 other households. The PM said in his initial announcement about Christmas bubbles that the virus doesn't know it's Christmas. He was trying to put some laws/rules in place for the stupid people within our population who would do what the heck they wanted just because it was Christmas. He knows he doesn't have to address the sensible ones among us.

If I go to my in-laws as planned, I will not be flouting the rules. The rules say we can do this. Today’s guidelines suggest we shouldn’t. But I would not be flouting rules if I ignored the guidelines. (For the record, we haven’t decided. Again.)

I’m seeing a divide between the cautious and the fuck-it it’s Christmas tribes.

The thing is, statistically, one group will come out better than the other. Regardless of who they blame.

Yup, totally agree with you! Absolutely madness to see elderly family this year if you hope to see them next year! We won’t be, as much as it breaks our hearts, who would risk that??

Possibly.

I do think the government were wrong and downright irresponsible to relax the rules at Christmas, and we’re not going to travel to see anyone, but many might have done so anyway, but the mixed messages from government really won’t have helped.

I’m seeing a divide between the cautious and the fuck-it it’s Christmas tribes.

Surely there's a middle ground. The people I know who are planning to mix are all still wfh & self isolating before meeting up.

Boris, (or his moles) is that you?

I would put those people in the cautious camp though midscram as they aren’t taking unnecessary risks.

The people who worry me are those who are going to carry on regardless.

People know the risk is there. It’s been very clear

I don’t know who they’ll blame but it doesn’t really matter

Boris could have let schools break up earlier. Some people with elderly or very ill relatives have to make heartbreaking choices as it is difficult to know how many more there may be.

That’s not to say that staying away or visiting is necessarily wrong (if everyone knows and accepts the risks). It’s just that some choices are v hard and the govt could have done more such that we are not in this bad situation.

If I had v ill relatives, if I were to see them, I would do a 14 day quarantine first I think

I'll blame him because it's an utterly stupid idea that will cause many people to die and months longer of misery for all of us.

I won't blame people like my friend, who is suicidal after the year she has had and was on the phone in tears because her one hope - seeing family over Christmas - was possibly being taken away again.

People have had to take a lot of bloody personal responsibility already, it's about time the government actually got blamed (with real consequences, not just 'oh no someone on the Internet was mean about Boris) for how they have destroyed this country and done one of the worst jobs in the world of handling the pandemic.

They only "agreed" to it because they knew the majority would ignore anything that would have been in place anyways, I was going to, and I know loads of people who were going to as well.

It's merely a face saving exercise, and an opportunity for them to at least get through in an official capacity to some people that; do it, but at least try and be safe and sensible about it. If they'd just said, Christmas is cancelled, I think more people would have just said, fuck you I'm doing what I want and went for a full blowout instead of hopefully a reasonable Christmas gathering of a few people.

If you have elderly relatives they may not live for long regardless of Covid. It's a risk to say I won't see you at Christmas but will meet up when it's safe (which will probably be at least another 6 months) because they might die before 6 months is up.
I think that's why he's relaxed the rules. It's pointless to say another PM would have done this or that, we don't know because it didn't happen to them.

@Pukkatea is there a country whose government has been worse in their response? Certainly I cannot think of one in Europe.

I’m seeing a divide between the cautious and the fuck-it it’s Christmas tribes
Most people I know are being reasonable so they're not taking the hardline approach that some have where seeing any relatives means you put them in hospital, but they're not doing what the fuck it groups are doing and trying to see how many people they can squeeze into one week.

He could have relaxed a little over christmas and then had a clear position from the start. Instead he's taken the mixed messages approach again and is ready to blame the public.