Boris briefing at 11am today

[Scottishgirl85]

More easing? Please 3 households indoor at a time so our holiday can go ahead!

I've already received an email stating that there is no need to work from home and everyone is expected back in the office from the 1st August no exceptions including those with health issues

At the moment (could change) my employers are restricting the numbers in the office. Those who can wfh are expected to do so, and this is anticipated to last until at least Christmas. I'm happy with this, reduces the risk.

I think the government is under pressure from owners of commercial property who do not want to see the drop in the value of their assets which would result from a widespread shift to home working

I agree with this. Also the realisation that if people don't return to work then businesses that serve this working population will also fall by the wayside. Personally, I think this ship has sailed. My family and friends who work for corporations have all been told there are no plans to have them back in the office full-time and they are welcome to carry on working from home til 2021! Clearly these companies have decided they will be downsizing their offices. Another friend has just got a new job, again corporate and it's working from home full-time. Regardless of what the Government want, things are going to change. I don't believe everyone will end up working from home but I think things will be more flexible and that can't be a bad thing.

All they are just inept
I don't think it's even that, I think it's more that the common people are just not important enough for Boris to bother fully engaging his intellectual capacities
We are minions who don't matter so we can be fobbed off with blather
in his mind the real people, the ones who matter are the wealthy powerful people and his overarching aim is to maintain existing power structures

@Velvian

I'm so lucky that I work for a responsible employer who have said that we will be WFH until 'well into 2021'.

So many others will be at the mercy of the employer's whims.

Yes, I think mine will be ok too. Tbh, I don't see how a good employer can afford the sick pay or the disruption everytime someone coughs and has to go home!

At least if staff are WFH they can just continue in isolation whilst waiting for results.

I work for a local authority and I think they will be very cautious about being people back. There is also talk of selling off estate to help fund a deficit.

@Rainbow12e

Very pleased about going back to normal by Christmas. Sad about the going back to the office and not wfh any longer. 😢

They hope to be back to normal- not quite we will be back to normal. Honestly can’t see it myself unless it is decided that we are no longer prioritising keeping the death rate down. (I know about other consequences of lockdowns, Cancer treatments etc being missed but there is a difference to living in a way as to enable these to go ahead, and complete normal)

@Crankley

Chloemol Very sensible advice but on here no-one allows the facts to get in the way of Boris bashing.

Some of you appear to think that the information given by the PM and other Ministers in their briefings is something they made up on a whim whereas it's actually provided by the Chief Scientific and Medical Officers.

This is incorrect. The CSA and CMO give briefings but that speech is a political speech and DIRECTLY CONTRADICTS some opinions of the scientific/medical advisers.

He got the Bubble/hugging grandparents answer wrong didn’t he? I didn’t think you could drop social distancing unless one party was single/live alone? (I’m aware we can do what we want - I’m talking about the guidelines)

Ie I am married and live with my husband and my MIL/FIL are married/live together - I didn’t think we could bubble with them yet?

Unless I’ve got it wrong?

Back to normal....sounds fab

@Dobbyssoc

I've already received an email stating that there is no need to work from home and everyone is expected back in the office from the 1st August no exceptions including those with health issues

Oh goodness, are you ok with that or concerned? So much for consultation!

Did anyone notice that Ice Rinks have been 'opened' twice? They were initially announced as to open on 25th July, but earlier this week they went 'oops' and revoked it.
www.iceskating.org.uk/post/information-on-ice-rinks-reopening-16-07-2020

On today's speech it went to 1 August.

Everyone get back into their (rented) offices before lease contracts slow down and lose value, eh?

It's almost like 1 in 5 MPs are landlords, with the majority of those being Tory MPs and one of those being Boris Johnson...

Oh, hang on...

@Dobbyssoc

I've already received an email stating that there is no need to work from home and everyone is expected back in the office from the 1st August no exceptions including those with health issues

That might work until someone has symptoms and has to self-isolate until the test has come back. If someone is diagnosed with Covid, a lot of people in the office will have to self-isolate which could be very disruptive for business.

@Crankley

Chloemol Very sensible advice but on here no-one allows the facts to get in the way of Boris bashing.

Some of you appear to think that the information given by the PM and other Ministers in their briefings is something they made up on a whim whereas it's actually provided by the Chief Scientific and Medical Officers.

They are no longer following the science, but making the decisions themselves, did you not listen to what Johnson said?

@KayEngel

Back to normal....sounds fab

It really won't be normal. Won't you still be concerned for your elderly relatives?

Johnson said: “The chief scientific adviser and the chief medical officer give us advice, which we of course take very, very seriously. But in the end decisions are taken by the elected politicians, we have to weigh the advice that we get.”

LondonJax has it spot on, that's my thinking too.

As it is I have no summer childcare available (my usual provider is open to key workers children only) and I'm not paying through the nose for an expensive camp just so I can then spend even more money on petrol to get to work. We've proved we are more than capable of doing our jobs from home (while homeschooling may I add) so that will have to stay that way until schools go back in September. This is ridiculous.

Fortunately for me my employer thinks the same way I do, but I know the majority will not. There will be some very unhappy people being forced back to the office soon.

@Crankley

Chloemol Very sensible advice but on here no-one allows the facts to get in the way of Boris bashing.

Some of you appear to think that the information given by the PM and other Ministers in their briefings is something they made up on a whim whereas it's actually provided by the Chief Scientific and Medical Officers.

Except yesterday the CSO said that we’re not at a point where there’s any need to change the advice on working from home.

There’s a reason Beth Rigby asked the question she did and a reason why the answer wasn’t the CMO and CSO advised cabinet this morning and we are following the advice given.

Is the chief scientific Officer pathetic too GetOffYourHighHorse? When he said only yesterday that SAGE advised the Government to lockdown from 16 March?

Public Health England is an executive agency of the Government, they have oversight of it. Have you seen the ONS figures that show the number of extra deaths this year? One way or another they relate to COVID-19 and the handling of the pandemic.

There are a couple of interesting documentaries on Corona Virus on Netflix - they say the main obstacle to a vaccine being rolled out is how long it takes to safely test the vaccine which doesn't allow for short-cuts even if they are confident the vaccine is effective, unfortunately it will take time.

Every step of the way we have failed to learn from other countries experience. IMHO this is the time to be cautious. And I have been fairly relaxed about COVID within the rules so far.

There is also talk of selling off estate to help fund a deficit
this will be happening all over, I think we will see it a crash in commercial property values and a repurposing of commercial property into affordable residential property

"back to normal by Christmas"

What could possibly go wrong?

@crosseyedMary the old tower block I work in isn’t fit for purpose. It’s boiling hot in the summer, no air con, windows can only open a fraction and freezing cold in the winter. It’s right in the centre of the centre, surrounded by new build apartment blocks. The council could sell it and make a fortune