Sadiq Khan declares major incident in London

[Ohbabybab]

www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-55588163

Yes people are taking the piss with school places

Racism and Islamophobia is the reason Sadiq Khan is disliked.

So anyone who criticises our mayor is now a racist? Don’t be ridiculous. FWIW I thought Ken Livingstone was a dreadful mayor too. Boris has been the best of a bad lot so far.

@MajesticWhine

Sadiq Khan is an attention seeking nitwit without the intelligence required for high office. He calls for others to take action but does nothing himself. He has achieved very little with regards to main priorities for london like violent crime and transport.

Not much different to the PM then ?

@loulouljh
"This is the third lockdown..of course no-one is taking it seriously. There is a limit to people's endurance. We have passed that. Some time ago."

Are you serious?! Its Porton Down that advised on the 18th December about the increased rate of transmission of the new mutation - this explained the increases in certain areas - so we have new information - the cases are rising by the highest rate ever - and you think we should be taking this less seriously ?!

Its people like you that must make the doctors and nurses despair .

I cant believe some people on here - at all .

The position of London Mayor is always going to be a target for haters. We had it with Livingston, Johnson and Khan. All in their time have been accused of mismanagement. The mayor blames the government and the government blames the mayor. It goes around in circles. I don't see the point in the position.

@MutantNinjaCovid

But everyone is a precious snowflake for whom the rules can be bent.

Its only a trip to Starbucks or MacDonalds (cars need petrol, takeaway staff need to get to work and mix on public transport and whilst at work etc)

We only met by accident the other 6 families in the park (large groups in our park yesterday, footballs in hand)

But I am a critical worker and my child needs to be in school (honestly? Deliveroo driver? MacDonalds worker? Admin for a luxury good retailer who is working from home?)

I need 17 bubbles for my wellbeing

A couple of weeks ago large groups of 20 -30 year old son the tube with no masks. One group here shouting they had asthma as they downed wine from the mini bottles.etc etc

Basically as a country we have no community spirit, no sense of doing the right thing even if it isnt the easiest thing.

It is every person for themselves and sod the rest.

This.

Selfish society.

The mayor blames the government and the government blames the mayor. It goes around in circles.

That is true.

@dahliaaa We’re in Zone 2 and it’s heaving. Lots of employers aren’t complying this time so their employees are being called in. Same with schools - everyone’s a keyworker now, but last time people I knew were spending £1500 a month on nursery fees while electing to keep their kid at home.

@Dongdingdong

The mayor blames the government and the government blames the mayor. It goes around in circles.

That is true.

This is very true! No wonder the government like having city mayors. Takes the focus off how bad they are.

Lets face facts - nearly every politician splits opinion .

Every single one .

I just don't see that in the middle of a pandemic it serves any purpose to be personal and vitriolic about any other human being who is dealing with this situation.

Its easy being a keyboard warrior - it probably not so easy dealing with a worldwide pandemic.

you should all just look on the bright side - we are a democracy - just vote them out when the time comes . And if you feel so strongly about things just put your money where you mouth is and stand for office .

@XVmama

what sort of employers are you talking about ?

Its hard because we have furloughed more ( thank goodness for the scheme ) but we also have to think about the MH of those not working .
Every solution has downsides.

Boris has been the best of a bad lot so far.

Perhaps in your opinion. Civil servants who have actually worked with him, and have to work with whichever mayor is in office, hated his guts and knew about his intransigence and incompetence long before Covid unmasked him.

@Cornettoninja

I really think there’s an argument to concentrate the vaccine on areas with high case numbers. I realise that’s an increasingly redundant argument at the numbers we’re seeing increasing nationally but if we have a steady supply ordered then the direction of the supply could be adjusted.

If they decide to prioritise vaccinations for London and the SE there would be riots. The North already feels sidelined. When our numbers were sky high in October/November the government did very little, the second it hits London they take action. This has happened repeatedly throughout the pandemic.

So how is the mayor going to stop young people stubbing each other?
I get the point that his voted in to do a job but even the mayor can't be everywhere and he isn't in control of police budgets either. He can't ask for anymore money as that has all gone on trying to contain a pandemic.
What is he meant to do?

@whittystitties and @billysboy parking enforcement is done by each London borough independently. My London borough was one of the last to mention they weren't enforcing parking during the first lockdown.

I think this is multi layered.

What should we have done
What could we have done
What can we do now.

The major problem in all those decisions being the impact on society and the economy.

What should we have done?

Think that's easy. Locked down earlier when we knew about this new strain and could see transmission rates rising exponentially. Tier 2 London was a major mistake.

What could we have done?

They could have listened to those on the ground telling them the RL situation. They could have realised when schools in SE were seeing mass transmission in schools and wanted to remote learn that they could have had a valid point - rather than say no and go as far as legal threats.
And in light of a document printed 4 days after term ended saying under 17's are up to 7 times more likely to be index case in a household (knowing christmas would see households in closer contact) they knew there must have been truth and decided instead to ignore it.
They also had idea of new strain.

What should we do now?

Lockdown harder. All completely non essential business needs to close and furlough provided. For example - I have a sofa on order and ordered months ago. I am getting emails it's still in manufacture although shops are shut but may be small delay.
It doesn't need to be being manufactured in a busy factory. It's not essential. Shut all the coffee shops etc that entice people out into queues. Again it's nice but not essential. Stricter measures if take out shops remain open. I've been to takeout places and you wait inside and the delivery drivers all wait inside. Unnecessary. I've stopped going. Curfew. 8pm until 6am. Those working in shops etc get a special letter printed by employee that can be accessed from government website but on company paper so it's legit.

There's absolutely no underestimating the impact of all these options but I think we are at the point it's necessary. I think 4 weeks of absolute hard lockdown would make much more difference than 2-3 months of this current situation.

I think it's nonsense to say that voters don't like Khan because he is Muslim and from an ethnic minority. Yes, some people are racist but holding someone to a lower standard because of race/religion is also prejudiced, just in the other direction.

I voted for him but Khan hasn't performed as well as I hoped, there are some major issues that he has not managed to sort out (knife crime, more cycling lanes, air pollution). On the whole, he has been too keen on empty sloganeering instead of real change. I did not care for his BLM New Year's Eve display - really, we're in a fucking pandemic, and all he can think about is virtue-signalling? He must know that some of the BLM aims are pretty controversial. I also thought he is way out of line on trans issues. Not his policy area, very complicated, please shut up and sort out the things you were asked to sort out.

Boris' garden bridge was a disaster, I can only hope that the next Mayor will be better. Will be voting for Shaun Bailey.

What is he meant to do?

See my comment on page 4.

Opportunist chancer.
He should have been out last year-at only another couple of months of him.

I quite liked Sadiq Khan (well up for more cycle lanes) but went off him after his misguided pledge a few years ago to make most London public loos mixed sex.

Re London virus levels, I think a big problem is that many people are behaving in ways which were fairly safe with the old strain. Careful, with the odd bit of rule bending. I see this with my neighbours - no huge Xmas parties but having one or two family members over. Virtually everyone I know with older teens seems to just shrug & let them out to socialise (my kids are little, perhaps it's impossible to stop this?). Lots of people meeting up for outdoor exercise in larger groups and clumps of parents in the playground.

But judging by the number of infections linked to recent positive cases I know of, this new strain really does spread.

@openallthetime

I don't mean to derail the thread or sound clueless, but why all the hate for Sadiq Khan? Could someone fill me in quickly? Is he really that bad?

We have elections coming up in Lindon.

There's no face to face canvassing, it's all in-line or by phone.

The Tories have a stunningly crap candidate for Mayor. They'll probably be hammered in the GLA elections too.

But, still, there ar bots and shills all over social media

Also, Khan is Muslim and progressive.

So that is a dog whistle for the deranged.

Lastly, London is a capital city and the Mayor was targeted by Trump - so he gets an international band of the demented in social media.

🤷‍♀️

@mrshoho

The position of London Mayor is always going to be a target for haters. We had it with Livingston, Johnson and Khan. All in their time have been accused of mismanagement. The mayor blames the government and the government blames the mayor. It goes around in circles. I don't see the point in the position.

City Mayors control very little of anything apart from transport and some roads in their area.

They can only blame Central government or the local councils.

As they have to work with local councils to get City-wide local policies implemented they can't blame them.

why all the hate for Sadiq Khan? Could someone fill me in quickly? Is he really that bad?

No, he's just a bit too brown and Muslim for many.

Well maybe he will get the push this year if the elections do go ahead ; thank goodness for democracy if people are unhappy at how his handled things as mayor.
I wonder how many people will moan on but not bother to vote ? Apathy is another thing brits are good at too!
Still, his declared an emergency and he can only do what he can do regards to the pandemic. He can't make people stick to the rules unfortunately.

@Russellbrandshair

The only way to sort this is to get the fcking vaccine out quicker.

I'm getting sick and tired of being told we arent doing enough. I wear a mask every bloody where, I only go out for food and I havent met or seen anyone. I cannot do any more than that - if I could order food I would but there are no slots so unless myself and my family starve to death, there is NOTHING more I can do,

This is the governments job now so they need to take responsibility for this shit show.

Yes.

Completely agree.

Perhaps it's me but I've seen strong compliance with the regulations - and it hasn't been enough.

And that should worry everyone, really. Because what you're seeing in Lindon is going to roll out across the U.K.