Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Press conference tomorrow

122 replies

Bluebellwoodsinjune · 29/09/2020 12:41

BJ to hold press conference with Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance tomorrow - new restrictions to be announced perhaps?

OP posts:
JKRowlingIsMyQueen · 29/09/2020 15:32

@ILikeTrains

I know this is all speculative but what is likely to happen with the transport system in London if they do go into lockdown? Did it still run during the last lockdown?
Yes.
MrsShelton · 29/09/2020 15:37

maybe they will be setting the scene for christmas expectations and giving us the likely scenario with regards to mixing

xmas decs are now hitting the shops.....a few words from no 10 regarding a scaled down xmas might help families plan better to enjoy something which resembles 'xmas'

i'm probs very wrong here but its important at this time of year

dontcallmelen · 29/09/2020 15:43

@ILikeTrains

I know this is all speculative but what is likely to happen with the transport system in London if they do go into lockdown? Did it still run during the last lockdown?
Transport continued to run, albeit with reduced services that mad thing was it was probably the most safest time to use the transport as barely anyone using it, they now have school/non school buses & trains still pretty empty during the day, car traffic has dramatically increased in my area of London.
ChicCroissant · 29/09/2020 15:46

Maybe Vallance and Whitty just want the PM as back up, instead of taking all the heat themselves as they did last time. BJ showed today that he doesn't have a clue what the restrictions actually mean for people.

Is it a press conference where journos can ask questions? That could be interesting, if they raise the shares issue with Vallance (still has a small number of shares in a company involved in vaccine trials/manufacture as he was the chief exec there).

dontcallmelen · 29/09/2020 15:49

Be nice if they asked about all the other contracts that have been dished out to other cronies without being scrutinised by Parliament as well.

hamstersarse · 29/09/2020 15:53

@ChicCroissant

Maybe Vallance and Whitty just want the PM as back up, instead of taking all the heat themselves as they did last time. BJ showed today that he doesn't have a clue what the restrictions actually mean for people.

Is it a press conference where journos can ask questions? That could be interesting, if they raise the shares issue with Vallance (still has a small number of shares in a company involved in vaccine trials/manufacture as he was the chief exec there).

Valance and Whitty didn't take any heat last week for their appalling scare mongering?

Also 'small amount' of shares is £600,000. Not small to most people and that would be set to rise should GSK 'get' the vaccine first.

Browneyesbigbum · 29/09/2020 15:54

Probably telling us that the virus is most dangerous after 10 pm at night so be extra alert then. However, it really doesn't bother us in various other places that I cannot be bothered to say.

Of they may announce that they haven't got a bloody clue how to run the country whilst attempting to limit infections and help the economy tick over so will all resign tomorrow.

Hmm
Doginabandana · 29/09/2020 15:55

It’s a good idea to hold one. Boris Johnson might have a bit of an idea what the latest regulations are if he’s in attendance.

Cripesitsthegasman19 · 29/09/2020 15:55

Please not more fecking restrictions

dumbeddown · 29/09/2020 15:56

its most probably just to announce another new sloganHmm

hamstersarse · 29/09/2020 15:57

Valance has a clear conflict of interest.

Have you ever held shares in a company?

If you have, you will know that it is impossible not to have a vested interest in the performance of that company. It is human nature and Valance is not beyond this, despite the protestations.

He should have declared this and should not be in a post which influences the performance of a company that he has shares in. It is very straightforward. He cannot claim to be immune from this bias.

DominaShantotto · 29/09/2020 16:01

Boris is going to demonstrate that he can actually count to 6. Needs two escorts to guide him past the number 5 by the light of the magical science.

That's why we can't gather in groups more than 6 - he needs another few months to master numbers up to double digits.

Hullabaloo31 · 29/09/2020 16:06

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The purpose of that is to provide an update on the latest statistics. It is not because there is some specific set of new announcements to make."

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 29/09/2020 16:10

@Hullabaloo31

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The purpose of that is to provide an update on the latest statistics. It is not because there is some specific set of new announcements to make."
So there’s a specific set of new announcements to be made then.
SheepandCow · 29/09/2020 16:11

@Fyzz

Why on earth would they lock London down when there are many, many parts of the UK with much higher rates that are not locked down?
No test = no official case...

How do you know the numbers in London?
So many people couldn't get a test particularly home test. London has more non drivers than elsewhere.

Also, there are nine million people living in London, over one million being The Elderly aka The Vulnerable, plus several million younger people with preexisting conditions. Many Londoners are crammed together in high density housing and crowded public transport).

So basically ideal conditions for fast and easy virus spread.

I've made a prediction on several other threads. I'll do the same here. It's February/March all over again. Lots of downplaying re London right up until the thousands of deaths made it impossible to pretend. London was so badly hit during the first wave precisely because of the denial - because it meant the (insufficient) restrictions came too late.

My prediction is deja vu. London will again be very badly hit. And again there will be downplaying and denial until impossible to hide the reality.

Really we need preventative restrictions asap not only in London but also Merseyside and the North East. Unfortunately like last time round the government's dragging it's feet. Shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Doginabandana · 29/09/2020 16:12

Domina. Doesn’t his Wikipedia page say he has ‘at least’ 6 kids? He doesn’t seem to be able to count at all.

bigchris · 29/09/2020 16:13

I think it's weekly press conferences now , there was one last week wasn't there ?

ineedaholidaynow · 29/09/2020 16:14

Do you know he hasn't declared them @hamstersarse?

ChicCroissant · 29/09/2020 16:14

hamstersarse Vallance has already sold some five million pounds worth of other shares, so that's probably a small holding for him! Also, I said that they did take the heat (rather than the PM) last week, not that they didn't.

QuimReaper · 29/09/2020 16:16

There are only 3 boroughs in London with problematic numbers (of a total 32) and those are about a quarter as bad as the numbers in places under local lockdown like Llanelli. It would be mental to put London under local lockdown.

However, I do think it'll be clarifying the current lockdown measures after today's debacle with nobody knowing what they were (Gillian Keegan got into hot water on the Today Prog this morning for not being able to answer any questions about them too), and possibly reiterating the working from home thing to prevent the spread into London (and then of course out again). I don't think further restrictions on household mixing would be a politically wise step right now as others have said, with the confusion about the current state of restrictions.

SheepandCow · 29/09/2020 16:16

Fwiw I don't think it's especially such a big deal re Vallance and his shares. It's no surprising a scientist holds shares in a pharmaceutical company. He'll know these companies are generally good investments.

What would people have him do? Immediately sell all those shares?

Or overlook a promising vaccine - despite it being one of the leading candidates?

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 29/09/2020 16:22

Pointing the finger at vallance, who doesn’t actually make the decisions, while ignoring the £3.8 billion that went into ‘companies’ run by close contacts of the government is rather missing the point. Even for critics of vallance.

If we’re going to get rid of vallance, then we should get rid of Cummings, Johnson & almost the entire cabinet as well. And Dido Harding.

DumplingsAndStew · 29/09/2020 16:24

Unbalance and Whitless lost all credibility at their last outing

Slightly more credible than Jenny on Facebook Hmm

SheepandCow · 29/09/2020 16:29

There're only 3 boroughs in London with problematic numbers
So we should expect a potential lockdown in just 3 boroughs...? Oh no, wait - like the government has said, London is very interlinked and so any lockdown or restrictions would be city-wide.

How do you know the true figures? The testing shortage means we can't know. Particularly as home tests were mostly unavailable - in a city with large numbers of non-drivers.
We do know hospital admissions are on the rise again.

Still your post is exactly to he sort of thing I'm talking about. It's deja vu. Rich people make money out of London and so often (as with the failure to protect against Covid) at the expense of Londoners. They'll want to put (short-term) greed before protecting the longer term economy and lives.

Yes. It's deja vu. Like in February and March, people desperately insisting London's cases weren't high. Right up until there were thousands of deaths. Then they just shrugged and said well of course it's bad in a densely populated city of millions.

everythingthelighttouches · 29/09/2020 16:30

They know the daily cases before the rest of us. Let’s see what today’s numbers bring. That should give us a clue....