To think that the years of I'm alright jack are now coming home to roost

[eachtotheirownnow]

The tories have eroded public services and promoted self reliance heavily and this has made society into one where people look after themselves and it's every person out for themselves.

We are seeing the impact of this first hand more now as we all think more about me first and sod the rest

@SoupDragon
You think? Other countries seem to be reacting quite differently. Apparently our panic buying is much worse than countries that are more affected than us. There must be a reason for that.

Me neighbour dropped this off for me yesterday, and is teaching me via WhatsApp. The community spirit in our little area is really something.

We needed something to bring us back together after Brexit, I just wish it was a little less dramatic

I do think that British people are acting uniquely selfish in this situation
DD was in Belgium last friday when it went into lockdown and the shops were cleaned out by the time she got there.

I'm seeing the opposite, WhatsApp and Facebook are full of offers of people to go and fetch us supplies,
Happening in my street on borders of london as well, but then our area has voted tories forever as well.We have a whatsap group and people running around trying to get nappies for someone

The left are showing their true colours as always

Assuming they are the only people who care, while not actually doing a lot while others are quietly going around helping.
Almost salivating over this situation because they think this will be the downfall of the government, quite sickening really.

The trouble is the left have never understood that you can help other people without broadcasting it to the world.

"I think we have become quite self absorbed and materialistic in Western nations."
Think there's something in this. Increased materialism is showing with how the shops are being stripped bare, by people on top of each other.

One of the trappings of materialism is feeling good about owning something others don't and feeling jealous (or anxious) if you don't have what others do. Which is the main driver behind the panic buying. It starts off with a few people and quickly increases as stocks decrease.

In other words having lots of things in your procession is far more important than protecting yourself from the very thing you need the thing for.

In this situation the 'thing' is mostly food, so essential, but not usually essental in the volume people are buying. (Considering they are buying more than a standard weekly shop.) The 'essential' volume has shifted in people's mind, despite the fact that if everyone took precautions against spreading the virus the volume of food wouldn't be essential.

People continue needing to buy more and more because of Covid-19, whilst taking no precautions such as social distancing to decrease the spread of Covid-19.

Materialism outweighs critical thinking.

The Tories had to cut back drastically on public services to stop our country becoming bankrupt. You cannot have any political party borrowing to the hilt - eventually something has to give.

My nearest hospital, in a large city, was built under a labour govt to replace 2 hospitals which were close geographically. The new one has far fewer beds. It has sweet FA to do with the Tory government.
Successive governments have decided we can have less beds and shorter stays. They are all wrong.

In my small Norfolk town people are pulling together. I think people are still in a state of shock about it all.

I think there will be some permanent changes. My Doctors surgery has now implemented telephone triage for Doctors appointments. They talk to you and then decide if you need to come in. I don’t think there is a cats chance in hell of that changing back.

I do think that Labour policies, and too a degree Tory ones as well have been about the gradual erosion of personal responsibilities. People being seen as victims. Criminals for example. There is also an entitlement culture. Hopefully this will see a swing back.

I like travelling for example, I have had two trips next week cancelled. My holiday to Northumberland in June is almost certainly going to have to be cancelled. I don’t think there is any chance that I will make the cruise I have been saving hard for in August.

Yet, I am now facing losing the evening stroll round the park with a friend and our respective dogs, and that is the hardest thing to face. It’s a matter of perspective.

I do think there is going to be a resetting of people’s values, and that is no bad thing.

No-one could plan for this-it would cost us a fortune to have an NHS that could cope with this situation in place all the time. The government is doing ok, they are having to move at fast pace knowing they are doing things that are hurting everyone.

Around our area, Tory voting there are loads of groups helping each other. I have heard of different streets going out buying for their neighbours. Our street is doing this too, it is actually amazing.

I do think there are far more selfish people around, judging by the panic buying. Trouble is, no matter how hard you try, when everything is getting bought up, you can't stand back and hope there'll be sonething left for you. We all get carried along by it.

I'm astounded by the panic-buying but then became worried as I have a vulnerable family member I also need to buy for.

That's not how it is in the village I live in. We've set up a village support group and we're making sure that nobody is without food, help or somebody to talk to.

Yep completely agree

MasakaBuzz

Yet, I am now facing losing the evening stroll round the park with a friend and our respective dogs, and that is the hardest thing to face. It’s a matter of perspective.
Will you not be able to do that if you keep 2 metres apart or are you anticipating a total lockdown in your area?

I coordinate the local covid response and we had had literally hundreds of offers of support, help, volunteers doing food drop offs.

Anecdotally, when I have been to the shops, which do have depleted stocks, I haven't seen anyone buying madly. And I've looked for it.

But - if supermarkets are used to x loo rolls being sold per day and now each second person is buying one extra pack (which frankly is not an unreasonable response - we've been conditioned to buy what we like, and no one would call four extra bog rolls a stockpile) the supply will run down twice as fast. Repeat across all product categories.

YES!!!!!. I feel very hurt by the behaviours of those around me. Very hurt and disappointed. There is no community. I am sick and vulnerable, and have not been able to get a loaf of bread or even some eggs. I am not talking loads, I'm talking a few things. I am seeing those more fit and able and with more disposable incomes piling their trollies high.

I do not feel Britain is great anymore.

I'm seeing both the best and the worst of people, predictably, but more of the best - neighbours taking special care of one another, reaching out when we barely even spoke before. Up to us all individually to decide which group we want to belong to.

The fact is you could hand the British government a trillion pounds and they would only invest a few billion of it back into the country in terms of infrastructure and services as they are are ideologically opposed, many of them cultishly, to state intervention. There is no “Jerusalem” under the Tories: the rich man must always be in his castle and the poor man at his gate. People often, and sometimes correctly attack Labour for “hating” the rich, but forget that the reverse is also true.

A high earning, well rested, and well educated workforce is prone to ask lots of uncomfortable questions and make demands of the political and the financial elite (billionaires) - be it of the environment inequality etc. they don’t like being asked questions, they like giving orders.

So I say again, throw a trillion dollars into Britain and it would make hardly a jot of difference. A significant proportion of the Tory Party, and crucially, their donors, are ideologically opposed to you getting your small share of that. Recently in America, former mayor Bloomberg threw half a billion dollars at a pointless run for President. It was akin to me putting £5 quid in a slot machine. That’s the kind of world they value, a world where perhaps a few thousands or tens of thousands of people can do stuff like that.

Every country has seen the se behaviour regardless of which political wing is in power. It's human , unfortunately. The difference is which countries have spare capacity to deal with it, and that's where I think it comes down to political systems. Systems which result in a balance of power (i.e. not fptp) can never implement the sort of sweeping reforms Thatcher deployed even if they want to. Same in the US which has a form of fptp, it favours small state operations because conservative govts have the freedom to cut. And yet Germany manages to be both democratic and rich. So...my conclusion is change the system, not the politicians.

Agree here op, I said the same thing here a few days ago.
I'm Scottish hoping for independence, one day, and voted remain. This country needs to get away from the tories before they finish the working classes. Scotland has always been a more socialist country than others in the UK. We seen through the tories years ago,starting with Thatcher.
I've seen so many posts on here of 'we've worked hard for this, nothing will happen to us'.
Then this hits us all, not equally of course, we're still GB, nothing is equal here. This government of millionaires has convinced Joe Public they have their back and people were stupid enough to believe them. Now the country is on its knees due to years of cuts to the NHS and public services that didn't need to happen.

Just being listening to Gordon Brown on r4. So much more measured and insightful than the idiot currently 'leading' the country.

@Cheeserton

Anyone who thinks this situation would be different with a Labour Government in charge is deluded beyond belief.

With a Corbyn/momentum government in charge, there wouldn’t be any panic buying because there wouldn’t be anything in the shops to panic buy. There would be no medicines or working ventilators at all. When you are praising Labour think about how Venezuelans are going to cope.

You can also be damn sure that The Labour Politician’s will be as much “I am all right Jack as the Tory ones”.

I met a nurse in the shop yesterday. Hospitals have not been prepared. My sister and my cousin are also nurses and say the same. They are expecting them to work with CoVid patients without full protective gear. They do not have adequate supplies. This nurse said they do even have enough gloves she is torn between continuing as a nurse or putting her family first.

I blame both parties for not putting the NHS first for the last 2 decades and raising taxes to support it better, but yes the tories have been the worst.

Hopefully people will not moan the next time a leader suggests the NHS would benefit from us all paying a bit more tax.

Not sure it is just about the Tories. But I do hope our culture shifts massively when we get through this, and that appreciation and reward for public sector workers is lasting.

The financial hangover will be brutal and immense. I am mindful that through 'austerity' public services have been savaged and too many people are barely existing, while most of the rich got considerably richer without much consequence. Right now and over the years to come some will manipulate the markets and make millions and billions out of the chaos and recovery, leaving depleted government coffers, broken pension funds and the majority of the population in their wake. I would love to think that moral outrage on this will actually prevail and these parasites will suffer consequences.

I also think that its this financial inequity and the historic starving of the NHS that is going to fell the current government regardless of their perceived handling of the actual health crisis. Whatever, there will be a reckoning.

@NotEverythingIsBlackandwhite

Will you not be able to do that if you keep 2 metres apart or are you anticipating a total lockdown in your area?

I am deaf. Two metres apart will be the same as a total lock down to me. I sometimes struggle to hear walking next to someone. 2 metres apart no chance.

I am in rural norfolk, realistically the Park we both walk in is about 200 metres away from our respective homes, we will continue as usual until told otherwise. Non of us have been out of Norfolk since before Christmas.

@MasakaBuzz

When you are praising Labour

Interesting. Please quote anything of mine that does that. You can't, because I didn't.

People wouldn't have reacted any differently under a labour government.
The truth is, it's not actually down to the government. We have to take responsibility ourselves, and step up, and think of others as much as ourselves.