Are they really going to cancel Christmas?

[fedupfrances]

And if they do, will loads of people just break the rules anyway?

It’s sodding ridiculous - myself and DP have barely left the house last week and won’t be going out this week either, other than walks in our local park. My parents have also been at home pretty much constantly. None of us has Covid 19 and the risk of catching it if we get together at Christmas is practically zero. So fed up with this shite!

@lovelemoncurd

If people had really stopped to think 'is mixing households a good idea at the moment' instead of chucking all sense out of the window then they wouldn't be in a dilemma and upset.

It was never a good idea but Boris didn't have the balls to say so!

Boris rushed into the whole thing for his headlines over saving Christmas.

They could have waited to see what would happen when the lockdown eased, or waited to see what would happen after Thanksgiving in America.

Now he's backed himself into a corner.

I'd guess they'll compromise on 3 days (24th-26th) and possibly tier 3 areas traveling outside of tier 3.

@SantasBritchesSpelleas exactly and people forget some if these areas haven't seen people for ages whilst also forgetting that in tier one ( i know we only have one area ) people are allowed to meet indoors
We has one of lowest cases where i live before the last lockdown , we had that and have come out with higher numbers than ever. How does that work ?

@User158340 your forgetting that xmas was a devolved discussion and decision

[quote timeforanewstart]@User158340 your forgetting that xmas was a devolved discussion and decision [/quote]
Yes, but the restrictions in place now are different in the other nations. They've had harsher measures in place to account for Christmas and wanted uniformity. I agree they all got carried away with 5 days. 2 or 3 is enough in the reality of it.

@pattypan so 1.2 million members how many took part. ? Polls are often not that representative and if they are indeed true then we have no worries as such as more are not mixing than are and even with a blanket ban you will get many rule breakers
I don't hardly know a single person that hasn't broken a rule throughout all if this even if only a little bit , then there are plenty that haven't followed it in the slightest

@User158340 the stricter restrictions wales had haven't had much impact though ? And tier 3 in england is prob on par with higher restrictions, plus the devolved nations know people from england will visit so this ones not all on boris .

@User158340 but if you have mixed for 2/3 days how is 5 going to make a difference

* as a kid I loved big, chaotic family Christmases and thought the years we had it at home just the four of us were boring and anticlimatic.*

Same here.

That’s sad. Single parent here and honestly.... I can not imagine our Christmas being any better. We have so much fun. Not a whiff of any bickering or tension that I read dominates so many homes at this time of year. My children. Me. Our lovely home. Heaven

The grown ups in the world see Germany and Netherlands are imposing lockdown. The real professionals like china have the disease fully under control, can you imagine them caring about people visiting at Christmas? They took sharp (intolerable to many on here) pain and now the disease is low. They just get things done, this pandemic has shown me the power and discipline of china one i think we should consider moving towards and rowing back on the right of the individual and we in our excuses and moaning western world are unable to adapt as quickly and therefore will be weaker because of it.

[quote timeforanewstart]@User158340 the stricter restrictions wales had haven't had much impact though ? And tier 3 in england is prob on par with higher restrictions, plus the devolved nations know people from england will visit so this ones not all on boris .
[/quote]
I agree they all messed up. Boris boxed clever by getting them all to agree so if January is a disaster and he's blamed when the bodies are piling up and we're all locked down he can point out all the devolved nations agreed with it; and can also blame the public for not following advice around being sensible.

I would be absolutely stunned if they 'cancelled Christmas'. I think they will drip feed through the media, many reasons why it might be a bad idea at the moment though.

@Wherehavetheteletubbiesgone

The grown ups in the world see Germany and Netherlands are imposing lockdown. The real professionals like china have the disease fully under control, can you imagine them caring about people visiting at Christmas? They took sharp (intolerable to many on here) pain and now the disease is low. They just get things done, this pandemic has shown me the power and discipline of china one i think we should consider moving towards and rowing back on the right of the individual and we in our excuses and moaning western world are unable to adapt as quickly and therefore will be weaker because of it.

It comes down to leadership. Boris has dithered every step of the way because he doesn't want to deliver bad news, especially to his right wing base, and wants to 'save Christmas' instead.

Thatcher or Blair (or even May) wouldn't have cared about the headlines. They'd have done what they thought was right and been decisive. Same in America if it was Obama in charge.

Populist idiots are the worst possible leaders during a health crisis like this.

@Lovemusic33

I don’t think it will be cancelled as such but restrictions could be tightened so the 5 days maybe reduced to 3 days and the number of households maybe reduced to 2.

I personally think that it should be reduce to 2 households so those who live alone don’t spend Christmas on their own. I know we all want to see our families and we have spent most of the year apart from them but in a few months time we can do that safety. People need to be sensible however depressing it is.

We will be spending Christmas alone (me and 2 dc’s), I’m looking forward to seeing my family in a few months when the vaccine has been rolled out to the vulnerable.

They will end up spending it alone though. Hubby and I were in a bubble with his sister & family and his mum & dad. If the reduce it down to two families someone is going to have to choose.

I would be absolutely stunned if they 'cancelled Christmas'. I think they will drip feed through the media, many reasons why it might be a bad idea at the moment though

I don't know what they're trying to do to people at the moment. In the last few days alone:

• 'Prepare now for No Deal which looks likely'
• the virus has mutated and is spreading really fast, we have to shut London down again
• we will have to look again at the Christmas plans

It's a wonder anyone is in the mood for Christmas.

@wherehavetheteletubbiesgone
Did you see the chinese lockdown? And germany haven't cancelled xmas at all they have restrictions in place in different areas from what i read

@Hellotheresweet. It’s just me and DD and we have brilliant Christmas’s on our own too! I would hate a large do!

People alone can do a support bubble anyway.

@wherehavetheteletubbiesgone netherlands also appear to have a break over xmas period on stricter rules

@Hellotheresweet

* as a kid I loved big, chaotic family Christmases and thought the years we had it at home just the four of us were boring and anticlimatic.*

Same here.

That’s sad. Single parent here and honestly.... I can not imagine our Christmas being any better. We have so much fun. Not a whiff of any bickering or tension that I read dominates so many homes at this time of year. My children. Me. Our lovely home. Heaven

It's obviously horses for courses but I don't think it's at all sad. I have lots of lovely happy memories of just the four of us - holidays, lots of fun days throughout the year - but also of big Christmases surrounded by other children to play with and lots of adults indulging us, it was brilliant. I think 'little family Christmasses' are for adults, really; I think my mum preferred not doing the big family thing (which I understand) but my brother and I thought it was great.

he grown ups in the world see Germany and Netherlands are imposing lockdown.

With reduced restrictions for Christmas... Netherlands you can have three visitors a day, Germany it's up to five and under-14s don't count in that number.

It comes down to leadership. Boris has dithered every step of the way because he doesn't want to deliver bad news, especially to his right wing base, and wants to 'save Christmas' instead

Populist idiots are the worst possible leaders during a health crisis like this

Agree. At any time, tbf, but yes - catastrophically incompetent during a crisis. Christmas will be like every other major turn in the COVID road: Johnson sees which way the crowd is headed, then runs in front and shouts 'follow me!'

The day they announced a 5-day free-for-all (not literally, but bloody close), it was pretty obvious that it was a fucking stupid idea. Small rooms, shared bathrooms, alcohol, lack of ventilation on cold days etc. There was always going to be a U-turn.

He's weak and bloody awful at his job.

Apparently they are to discuss it today and tomorrow and make an announcement on Thursday

Just listening to Radio 4

So it seems there will be a change.

they were talking about less days as a PP says, however that may increase amount of people travelling...

@tootyfruitypickle and thats fine but some people hate that , my mum loves an xmas with at least 15 that for her is xmas , this year cutting down to our household and theirs 6 in total so a huge step down from normal , if she has to have just xmas her and my dad I honestly think mentally she will struggle , we are all different
I would say im in an at risk group from covid but realistically my mh is a bigger risk to how I feel about life at the moment , so getting to spend a couple days at my parents will help me a lot but others who
Don't feel like I don, won't understand as they are ok

@User158340

I would be absolutely stunned if they 'cancelled Christmas'. I think they will drip feed through the media, many reasons why it might be a bad idea at the moment though

I don't know what they're trying to do to people at the moment. In the last few days alone:

• 'Prepare now for No Deal which looks likely'
• the virus has mutated and is spreading really fast, we have to shut London down again
• we will have to look again at the Christmas plans

It's a wonder anyone is in the mood for Christmas.

Ah well people at least have lots of Christmas lights to look at this year. Every other house has gone overboard roynd here.

Didn’t China deliberately go into lockdown just before everyone was going to travel for Chinese New Year?

Is it worth having a big family gathering for Christmas dinner if one of you dies in January because hospitals have no capacity?