To say please don't go to your second home

[Beesisabuzzin]

With talk of London going into lockdown tomorrow can I remind second home owners that Cornwall has one hospital. Devon has four hospitals. Where I live in Devon there is no food in any of the supermarkets. Please, please stay away, our communities cannot deal with an influx.

The highest number of cases are now in London

Guess what, the highest number of PEOPLE is in London. So it follows that there are more cases there.

We've cancelled our UK holidays, waiting to hear if we've lost our money. Ideally we're happy to have credit against the same holidays in a year's time.
Most of our holidays are to the Lake District. Earlier there was a message from the police up there imploring people not to travel to Cumbria.

I'm staying in. I'm asking Londoners to stay in too

So people from outside London can come to your area? You don't actually care about people from other parts of the UK coming to your area. It really is all about anti-Londoner ignorant prejudice. Seen this sort of thing many times before on threads way before Covid.

What Tomuchtrouble4me and Savechanges35 say. I do hope none of the insular people on this thread ever move to London - doing what they complain about, pricing out locals, contributing towards London's homelessness crisis, adding to the strain on it's under pressure hospitals. Plenty of non London folk were travelling to London from virus hotspots and didn't care about spreading it to London's elderly and ill. Didn't care about London's overburdened hospitals or empty supermarkets.

Concern over anyone travelling around unnecessarily right now is understandable. However many posts are coming across as not wanting people from London specifically (many of whom are not Londoners but actually originally from other parts of the UK). There's also a desperation to generalise. Two or three anecdotal rude people visiting the countryside apparently represent all 9 million inhabitants

Gwynfluff Sat 21-Mar-20 19:22:42
Toomuchtrouble4me

We have been asked not to undertake non essential travel and we know the Italian situation was worsened by people leaving cities and going to coastal areas. Why do you think you’re actions are somehow separate to this?

Because (again) I live in London, asthmatic with Asthmatic DC and DH is an essential worker.
My elderly dad lives alone with heart and lung issues.
DH cannot stop work and cannot leave London so every day he comes home and risks infecting us.
Dad is in tears at isolation for months all alone.
I loaded car with essentials, dad, and DC and got in our car in London - waved goodbye to DH and we drove to our country home, without stopping, and parked on our drive and have not been out since. We are all isolating - we came here to isolate, the locals, I can see, are NOT isolating and it saddens me because I've been in London and I know whats coming.
THAT is why my movements have no effect on locals but I believe that my actions have very probably saved dad's sanity and probably his life.

I'm staying in. I'm asking Londoners to stay in too

Why is all you anger on here just directed at Londoners though?

Some examples:

"the arrogance of many of them. It doesn't mean they're all bad people"

"please keep your infection in Kensington"

"well we don't want you at the best of times"

I wouldn't be surprised if some of these posters weren't being covertly racist. London is something like 55% non white British background. People on here can't all be unaware of that fact. Why else are they concerned not with anyone travelling anywhere unnecessarily but instead focused on wanting to Keep Londoners Out.

Not just Londoners, but anyone - don't travel!
I said London in reply to those who are going to second homes from London (following the thread). I don't care what race, gender etc. the travellers are.

I have tried to link to the Times, but subscribe and don't see how I can do it. For anyone who can search, an article 3 days ago showed estate agents reporting wealthy families from London being prepared to pay £50k to rent in areas like the lake district. Immuno-compromised and vulnerable locals were asking why travel was taking place as numbers around were increasing causing them genuine fear.

Trying to link. It's the same in France and Italy. Extra movement is going to spread the virus faster.

I’ve cancelled Easter travel plans. We stand to have something ridiculous like 200000 deaths in the uk. Why would you not stay at home

I totally understand the wish for people to stop travelling around. I wanted a UK wide lockdown weeks ago. What I don't like is the anti London prejudice. Not all second homeowners are from London. I also dislike the hypocrisy. Plenty of non Londoners were happy to put immunocompromised locals in London at risk. The past two months people from across the UK have been travelling into London - holidays abroad, commuters, leisure trips. They didn't spare a thought for vulnerable Londoners. As a PP said the first UK cases weren't in London.

Really it shouldn't be about othering. Everyone should be social distancing. Selfish people exist everywhere but so do decent people. I think also people should understand that everyone is scared and yes will put their families first. I don't begrudge the poster who moved to get holiday home with her ill dad and asthmatic dc. They're self isolating and not putting others at risk.

West Wittering in Sussex has a beautiful beach ; caravan parks and sites rammed already with second homes also being filled with family and kids ...very limited food supply locally...one hospital already under stress..message being sent out locally. ..Go home and stay home
WEST WITTERING BEACH NOW CLOSED for foreseeable future

People going through London for holidays were not told by the government to distance themselves. I agree this should have been stopped earlier.

The message is now loud and clear. If people were now rushing into London I would say stop the movement into London. In reality as with France and Italy the movement has been to the countryside. All movement around the UK should stop.

SamSeabornforPresident - you are mistaken in your maths, figures are produced as a percentage of inhabitants and the penetration in London is way higher than elsewhere - for now...

People shouldn't need to be told. You're complaining about people being selfish and putting lives at risk in your area. Understandably. The same applies to any area. People shouldn't need to wait for an order (which hasn't happened and so far it's still advice). Double standards. The situation was apparent long before our government made a half hearted attempt to do anything.

This is because the UK government failed (and contines to fail) act soon enough. Strong proactive measures should have been taken weeks ago.

Most second home owners are Londoners where I live. I am an ex-Londoner so I really don't have anything against you! And I was travelling in to work 2 weeks ago.

But the advice has changed. Stay at home. Everyone, wherever you are, stay at home.

I have not travelled into London for 3 years and my DC are not going on holiday in Easter to a beach location.

If apologising to you @16tryingtoprep for everyone that did go through means you'll discourage travel now I will do it - I am sorry it didn't stop before.

We have the same message now though - travel everywhere should stop?

"please keep your infection in Kensington"

For me it is just the sheer arrogance of implying this is a virus spread by Londoners. It has been in every community for months & the hot spots didn't even start in London. Stop blaming London.

It's arrogant to notice that most second home owners around here live in London?

Really?

If I was in London and thought it was going to lockdown, going to lock down because it's a virus ridden metropolis whose inhabitants need to be corralled, and if I had a bolt hole out in the country I wonder if I would have the moral fibre...?
of course we will never know because I am but a poor person who can only afford one dwelling (and a meagre modest one at that)
maybe that's why the country is having trouble pulling together as one, we don't identify as a single group because of the high gini coefficient /high inequality?

I think we want the same thing Enough4me I don't think people should be travelling unless essential workers or emergencies. There should have been lockdown weeks ago before things got this bad in the first place. I don't think it's right that people are putting others at risk by travelling to second homes but I understand why they're doing it. They want to protect themselves and their families. People are scared. If they're self isolating at least they're trying to protect others too. The selfish people are those - from anywhere be they local or not, who are still gathering in groups.

I hope you and your family stay safe.

Thanks tryingtoprep, you too, let's hope the general public across the UK get some common sense and act responsibly wherever they are.

@ UYScuti

“City dwellers with bolt holes in the country appear to have been a significant vector in this pandemic”

You didn’t trigger anything in me poppet - you just made a statement that was incomplete and this inaccurate and I pointed it out. Do be more careful.

You maybe should be said:
“ City dwellers with bolt holes in the country and country dwellers visiting the city (ie. all people who travel) appear to have been a significant vector in this pandemic”

And no I don’t have a second home.

Still not one person saying they have cancelled their holidays and lost all the money within the UK.

Yep, already given up on our holiday down south at Easter. Have filled out a form to request moving it to another date but not heard back yet. Duly prepared to take the hit though.

I also live near Southwold. It was so heaving full of second home owners it made the main BBC news. So irresponsible to travel round the country at the moment. We’ll be in lockdown before we know it.

@ Enough4me

“16MMN123 seriously!?

The same thing has happened in France and Italy. People in the UK asking Londoners to not follow suit are trying to appeal to common sense. Stop travelling it will spread it!“

Yes seriously. I think everyone should not travel. City to country, country to city.
I was replying to someone who accused solely Londoners of being vectors which was an idiotic statement