Will Boris keep us locked down for longer because he was so sick?

[Teddypops]

Do you think that the fact Boris Johnson was so poorly will mean he will be against an early lockdown release.

If he hadn't have caught COVID would this be different?

[LilacTree1]

“ Boris is in no fit state to be running the country right now.“

We need to look at how the country is run. This is a disaster. Surely we need someone to take over, properly, the minute the PM is admitted to ICU.

[LimitIsUp]

I seem to have an echo

[DeRigueurMortis]

It's not all about Boris.

In fact it's got less to do with Boris that most of the population think.

Why after an election does the country not fall apart because we have an influx of new "leaders"?

It's because we have a civil service that advise our new chancellor, PM and cabinet who provide expertise and continuity.

Boris isn't a law unto himself (and if he's done his research he'd see that former PM's who took this approach fell foul of it).

Besides, Boris is basically a lazy self indulgent fucker. He wants the place in history, but is shy of a actually doing anything and being responsible.

Frankly (though I didn't/wouldn't wish it on him) getting Covid will be his political saviour.

All the many, many mistakes by the govt in this crisis he will blame on anyone other than him because he was ill and the public will fall for this image of an embattled PM sacrificing his health to sane the nation.

They'll forget the number of Cobra meetings he missed, the fact he was ignoring social distancing, the missed opportunity to buy PPE through sheer incompetence, the fact lockdown should have happened sooner, not getting testing supplies etc etc

He's good for fluffy sound bites but that's about it.....and he will do it again but it will all be about getting the economy moving.

So he gets to avoid the shit bits and and come back with the press conferences as a Covid survivor and all the positive messages about flattening the curve and opening the economy.

He's an absolute tool.

[RingtheBells]

There is a news article in the Daily Mail online today which says this - I won't link as I know the Mail is disliked here.

I suspect you are right OP

[LimitIsUp]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-politics-52351982

[DdraigGoch]

Why are so many people wanting lockdown to end so soon? Nearly 20,000 people have died (more than 20,000 if you include care homes). This number is still rising. About 500 people died today. That's like an entire village being wiped out in 1 day. An ex colleague has lost both parents to this, children have died, medics have died. Lockdown is shit, loss of jobs is shit but is ot shitter than your mum dying or your child?

How many people will die as a result of the recession this will cause?

[FliesandPies]

The PM is understood to have had a video call with his deputy, Dominic Raab, on Friday to discuss the crisis. He is thought to have told Mr Raab and other officials that stopping a second peak was his priority.

That article is so mealy-mouthed it's pointless. He 'is understood' to have done something and he 'is thought' to have said something. i.e. it's just been fed to the press to make it look as if Johnson is still invested. Cringeworthy.

[Makeitgoaway]

"Bigger issue is delaying the lockdown has a disproportionate lengthening of the lockdown.
So, a 2 week delay to start adds 6 weeks to the lockdown."

Can you explain the science there please? Surely an earlier lockdown would have slowed the spread more than necessary for the NHS to cope and would only have lengthened the whole thing?

I think Boris having been so ill will make him more likely to listen to the actual scientists rather than dismissing it as a mild illness but I don't think it will make him go for more stringent measures than the scientists are recommending.

[FliesandPies]

How many people will die as a result of the recession this will cause?

This is becoming the two sides of the argument for and against continued lockdown but it's the wrong language - people have been dying in their thousands and (even though the figures are false) it's something immediately visible and quantifiable. The devastation of a deep recession is more varied, not just about numbers dead.

[noblegiraffe]

Be aware that the main papers who were heavily pushing ‘schools to open in 3 weeks’ (which was such bollocks it shouldn’t have even been reported let alone front page headline) are keen to lift lockdown and their agenda is to push the narrative that anyone who doesn’t want to is ‘weak’ (hence ‘Boris has been poorly and it’s affecting his judgement’ rather than ‘Boris has seen exactly what we’re up against and is clear-eyed for the first time’).
It’s also why they have the knives out for his leadership as they perceive him as a blockage and want to install someone more gung-ho with public safety.

[generalh]

Hell no. The economy will dictate sadly. Already in other European countries [who are ahead of us] have begun to open up certain shops below a certain M squared, plus car garages and bike shops.

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

Avoiding the second peak has been there all the time. But as they have been modifying and expanding their explanations as the situations changes (and journalists remain in that learned helplessness phase of critical thinking) it has appeared as a pahse, rather than one of the overriding objectives - flatten the curve, avoid further peaks!

Yes, the economy will dictate, to quite a large extent. And thise self same journalists, who can't help themselves but chase an inaccurate soundbite, will be crowing about capitalists making money of the dead backs of the working classes etc.

But the truth will be, for every country in the world, a balancing act between the economy and health. We can't forget that last December (and every month before it) one strong health message was Poverty Kills. It still does, there has to be a fine line walked there. We will hear a lot more unbridled Tory bashing before this is over.

Hopefully some good journalists will stand up and be counted soon. I just want to get very, very stabby with some of them at the moment (doesn't help that I am currently watching Killing Eve, from the beginning )

[Makeitgoaway]

generalh, garages and bike shops never closed here.

[FliesandPies]

their agenda is to push the narrative that anyone who doesn’t want to is ‘weak’ (hence ‘Boris has been poorly and it’s affecting his judgement’ rather than ‘Boris has seen exactly what we’re up against and is clear-eyed for the first time’)

Jesus, are we really going to start pushing the line of Boris the clear-eyed, defiant saviour? Do me a favour! The man didn't give a shit in the build up and the Times article has shone a bright spotlight on that - there is absolutely no evidence that he cares any more about this mess since he caught the virus than before.

[SerendipityJane]

It’s also why they have the knives out for his leadership as they perceive him as a blockage and want to install someone more gung-ho with public safety.

How many leaders a year does the Tory party need ?

If now is not the time to be asking questions (which, by the way it is) then why is now the time for a 6-week Tory leadership campaign ?

[jasjas1973]

The economy will dictate sadly. Already in other European countries [who are ahead of us] have begun to open up certain shops below a certain M squared, plus car garages and bike shops

Our lockdown allowed for many shops to stay open inc bicycle shops and garages, building supply merchants have stayed open as have farm supply shops, selling everything from cloths to fencing.
Local builders are still trading too, indeed, my neighbour is now having his garden landscaped and a balcony finished.

Our lockdown is "lockdown lite"

[GetOffYourHighHorse]

'The government is advised by the scientists. I doubt the PMs illness will reflect on their decisions regarding lock down softening'

Yes they will do what they done since the start and follow the advice of scientists and medical experts.

These next couple of weeks will see deaths continue to fall and then restrictions will be lifted gradually.

[noblegiraffe]

The man didn't give a shit in the build up and the Times article has shone a bright spotlight on that

I think that Boris is as shit a PM as anyone. But the Times paired their ‘Boris is shit’ investigation with that stupid ‘schools open in 3 weeks’ front page splash. They’re not suddenly doing investigative journalism in the public interest.

[SerendipityJane]

Yes they will do what they done since the start and follow the advice of scientists and medical experts.

Nice try to slide that in there as a truth, but as we all know that's bollocks. Sorry you can't say "everyone agrees" now ...

[MorrisZapp]

Random anecdote but a colleague of mine was hospitalised a few years back for pneumonia. She was treated and made a good recovery but says it took literally a year to get over the exhaustion.

Boris might not be fighting fit for many months, plus he's going to have a newborn in the mix shortly.

We have to assume that we'll be governed by committee. Surely in these circumstances we should really have cross party consensus. An 'opposition' seems pointless and crass.

[FliesandPies]

They’re not suddenly doing investigative journalism in the public interest

Actually, as a lefty, i've had a lot of respect for the Times over recent years. If i wasn't broke I would definitely subscribe as they seem to be far more even-handed on the whole than the other papers. Even if they've got an agenda, it may just be that they believe - as many others do - that an indefinite lockdown with no proper exit strategy will ultimately do more harm than good.

[GetOffYourHighHorse]

'The man didn't give a shit in the build up and the Times article has shone a bright spotlight on that - there is absolutely no evidence that he cares any more about this mess since he caught the virus than before.'

You see this has been a problem throughout, people using this awful situation to score political points.

It was China who 'didnt give a shit' and how they downplayed the whole thing will be investigated and they will be held to account.

Johnson did the same as any other leader would have and followed the advice of SAGE, PHE, CMO and CSA. Our strategy hasn't been different to most other countries. The NHS hasn't been overwhelmed, it has not been the disaster that we saw in Italy.

[noblegiraffe]

that an indefinite lockdown with no proper exit strategy will ultimately do more harm than good.

That’s just blindingly obvious.

And it’s very different to the shit they’ve been reporting about schools.

[SerendipityJane]

Johnson did the same as any other leader would have and followed the advice of SAGE, PHE, CMO and CSA.

No he didn't.

[GetOffYourHighHorse]

'No he didn't.'

Ok. What didn't he do that SAGE advised?