Has Boris got the balls to cancel Xmas for London?

[Gobacktothe90s]

Obviously the answer is no, but the huge increase in cases in London should tell anyone it's not a good idea for Xmas mixing. How high will the rates go before he has to step in?

I think rather than cancel Xmas for the worst hit areas the only thing he would do is cancel Xmas mixing for everyone and do a complete u turn rather than single London out.
If however the North west still had high rates he would have no hesitation In stopping the north west mixing at Xmas but allowed other areas to mix.

67 councils getting Mass testing starting from Monday. Most of them look like Northern cities to me? Manchester included so that should please all the Mancunians on this thread

@TheGremlinsAreComing

Topically of rapid testing is only just available it's London that gets it first. How about Manchester? Bradford? Birmingham? Places that have been struggling with high cases for months instead of somewhere that has only just spiked? Oh that's right, because only London matters.

You’ll be pleased to see quite a lot of northern places getting rapid testing starting from Monday including Manchester. Good news! 67 places according to the Guardian. Link was in another PP so you can have a read.

@nancy75 notice they're only doing it now cases have risen in London though, can you not see what a kick in the teeth that is for cities like mine that have been struggling and in lockdown practically the entire time since March?? It's only important to roll out testing now London needs it.

[quote TheGremlinsAreComing]@nancy75 notice they're only doing it now cases have risen in London though, can you not see what a kick in the teeth that is for cities like mine that have been struggling and in lockdown practically the entire time since March?? It's only important to roll out testing now London needs it. [/quote]
It hasn’t been around very long I don’t think. Liverpool as pilot was first big city. Then schools in 7/8 boroughs London.

But yes I’m pleased more testing, anywhere high, is very good. I’m glad there’s 67 on that list.

[quote timeforanewstart]@Gobacktothe90s i don't remember them promising it then first it was mentioned was when they did it liverpool , then again when they announced new tiers they said tier 3 areas would access it
But it the capacity is only just ready for rapid testing then Its just timing that london is getting then
Lots on this post are saying only london is getting the testing ? [/quote]
I don’t think rapid testing was a thing back in September was it? We only had the pcr tests back then iirc. I think rapid testing is a fairly recent innovation and seems to have quite a lot of capacity now hence the 67 areas being offered it. I think Liverpool was the trial if you like and that was only a few weeks ago. Early November time?
I think some people are determined to make this a London v rest of country / north thing however but not sure that is that is the case.

Thank you OP for making me think about Boris’s balls.
Happy Christmas!
🤯😱🤪🧐🤮

[quote TheGremlinsAreComing]@nancy75 notice they're only doing it now cases have risen in London though, can you not see what a kick in the teeth that is for cities like mine that have been struggling and in lockdown practically the entire time since March?? It's only important to roll out testing now London needs it. [/quote]
It’s only a small part of London that needs it though. 7 out of 32 boroughs only and actually they seem to be Essex / Kent more than London to me.
My London borough isn’t getting mass testing and I am ok with that. Not in the least bit resentful of Manchester or any other place that will benefit.

Sasha If you read the link from Manchester evening news further down the page Salford was promised saliva tests which are faster turnaround but it didn't happen.

Are they the saliva tests developed in Southampton? I remember reading that they showed promise initially but ultimately were unreliable for mass testing in the end. Sounds like they were ditched?
It’s better to ditch some thing than role it out to major city anyway in case they accuse you of some sort of conspiracy?
These rapid teats are pretty new - I really think it’s unreasonable for everyone in this thread screaming as to why they didn’t have them in September as some sort of proof that Boris hates the north when they literally did not exist then. People have such short memories!

I can’t see he will do a u turn on this. London needs to go to Tier 3 and really, people need to stick with their tier rules for Christmas is they can do.

Numbers in the SE are about to go beyond what’s sensible if you’re allowing any degree of mixing. I don’t live there but if I did, I wouldn’t be out doing my Christmas shopping right now. It’s brutal that this particular spike is around Christmas. I really don’t envy anyone in charge, they have a truly difficult job right now.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

I do feel that the North/South divide is now toppling over into anger and more in the north. I’m not sure how much the government know or even care about this.

I’m in S. Yorks. I remember the miners strike which was seismic in N/S divide. And the bankrupting of Liverpool. The levels of anger are similar to those times.

I'm in a Tier 3 part of Yorks where cases have gone down really dramatically since the start of lockdown. If London gets away with Tier 2 while we're stuck in Tier 3 people will absolutely lose their shit. And our area hasn't been in Tier 3 that long - I can't imagine the frustration in Manchester. I completely understand Londoners' anxiety about the horrible impact of Tier 3, but that impact isn't any less in northern areas, which often have so much less hope of bouncing back quickly or at all.

@sashagabadon

Are they the saliva tests developed in Southampton? I remember reading that they showed promise initially but ultimately were unreliable for mass testing in the end. Sounds like they were ditched? It’s better to ditch some thing than role it out to major city anyway in case they accuse you of some sort of conspiracy? These rapid teats are pretty new - I really think it’s unreasonable for everyone in this thread screaming as to why they didn’t have them in September as some sort of proof that Boris hates the north when they literally did not exist then. People have such short memories!

I don't have that short a memory to remember Manchester got put into tier 3 at much much lower case numbers whilst London is tier 2

Anyway its a pretty obvious point that Boris doesn't have the power to "cancel" Christmas in any meaningful way, because it would be absolutely impossible to enforce. We're not China, for which I am mostly very grateful . I think we're at a point with popular disengagement and fatigue where many people would go ahead with their plans anyway.

No he can’t reverse it now. Just talking to be people and hearing their plans makes me think not. And these are people who generally follow all the restrictions.

So did poor old leciester! Remember when we were making people quarantine when returning from some Spanish islands in the summer that had 25 per 100,000 cases. Seems like nothing now with hindsight

Yes I agree Leicester has been thrown under a bus as well which is why you must be able to see London should be in tier 3 with their rising cases and other places have been treated less equal

I’m in London, most people I’ve spoken to here think we should be in tier three as it’s clearly the right thing to do. Why government haven’t done this is baffling to us all. What’s more worrying is what everyone then does for Christmas - surely they can’t put a region in tier 3 and then say it’s still fine to have 5 days of travelling all over. We won’t be, but I know many who are.

It's the inequality of it that is pissing people off. In the north we've been shoved into tier 3 for so long now with cases far lower than London. If London doesn't get put into tier 3 soon then Boris risks making an enemy of a very large chunk of this country.

It's a piss take what Boris did putting London in Tier 2! Where I live he put us in Tier 3, yet our R rate is lower that London. I blame DC for this!

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

He has shat on the north throughout. When the first lockdown started the North east had a nominal amount of cases. Yet we all duly locked down bevaise London.

Exactly, he wants to remember the red wall up here can be rebuilt!

My understanding of the tiers is that it is a combination of things. So not just rate per 100,000 or r but also hospital capacity too and London does have a lot of hospitals. Must be more than any other region plus private hospitals too and still plenty of capacity.
I think that explains London in tier 2.

@sashagabadon

My understanding of the tiers is that it is a combination of things. So not just rate per 100,000 or r but also hospital capacity too and London does have a lot of hospitals. Must be more than any other region plus private hospitals too and still plenty of capacity. I think that explains London in tier 2.

To a degree. But the only thing London has on anywhere else is the number of hospital beds. The R rate is dreadful considering a full lockdown and subsequent restrictions and if its dreadful things spiral very quickly...

The hospital bed situation in Manchester and the NW generally is much improved (as of the day the new tiers came into effect).

So the arguments going into next week don't stack up.

Especially ahead of people moving around the country ahead of christmas.

Exactly, he wants to remember the red wall up here can be rebuilt!

Well at least that would be a positive that comes from this. Hopefully all those ‘red wall’ voters that lent Boris their vote will take it back next time.

Dh was just reading something to me today about how the Red Wall are seriously pissed off and mooching back to Labour🤞🏻