Boris saves Christmas

[User135644]

There's the headlines for tomorrow.

Plan your Christmas now. No restrictions.

@LittleRoundRobin

Fuck that. I will be a lot happier when he announces here will be NO LOCKDOWN in 2022.

Apparently Rishi Sunak has already said if we have a lockdown that there will be no furlough, but people can claim sick pay. Marvellous! My DH bringing in £400 a fucking MONTH will be just dandy! I mean that's fucking PLENTY to live on isn't it?!

Good job I can work from home and get paid in full, but a £1500 a month drop in our joint salary is going to fucking burn. How in the name of FUCK are people meant to survive on a cunty amount like £400 a month?

If there is no furlough then there cannot be any lockdowns, they can't possibly do that to people!

@Waxonwaxoff0 I 100% agree. Me and DH could sustain several months at only £400 a month from him, but then our savings would be shot. They HAVE to pay furlough IMO, but DH just said he heard Rishi saying he will only provide sick pay. I hope DH heard him wrong! If people have employment contracts, surely they have to be paid if they are being TOLD to stay home? Very few people can live on sick pay for more than one or two months.

If there is no furlough then there cannot be any lockdowns, they can't possibly do that to people!

They can and they will if another lockdown becomes a reality.

19th March 202 'we'll turn the tide of COVID in 12 weeks'
23rd March 'lockdown'

16 December: “I want to be clear, we don’t want to ban Christmas, to cancel it … I think that would be frankly inhuman and against the instincts of many people in this country … Nor do we want to criminalise plans people may have made for some time.”

19th December makes it illegal to leave tier 4 or gather more than 6 people

4th Jan 2021: 'children should return to school'
6th Jan : lockdown

Clueless clowns.

@KurtWildesChristmasNamechange

If there is no furlough then there cannot be any lockdowns, they can't possibly do that to people!

They can and they will if another lockdown becomes a reality.

I do have my doubts at this point, purely because lockdown only reduces contacts if enough people are paid enough to stay out of the way. The ethics of the issue are things that can be argued about, and Rishi doesn't appear to have any, but there's no denying that furlough is a vital part of making a lockdown 'work'. Not offering it increases the incentives for businesses that have been told to close carrying on illegally where they can and for parents who need it for childcare reasons to use ad hoc solutions that involve kids being looked after by a network.

@KurtWildesChristmasNamechange

If there is no furlough then there cannot be any lockdowns, they can't possibly do that to people!

They can and they will if another lockdown becomes a reality.

People won't do it though. They will continue to work illegally. I know hairdressers who did during first lockdown.

How in the name of FUCK are people meant to survive on a cunty amount like £400 a month? confused

That will be the (potentially more long-term than lockdown) fate of many Long Covid disabled.

Radical idea, I know, but maybe just maybe we should bring back the welfare benefits safety net... It's not as if it isn't needed pandemic or not. Many many people pre Covid got sick or made redundant through no fault of their own. They, just like anybody else, need enough to survive on.

What a precarious position we are in with a PM unable to make decisions in our best interests in a time of national crisis because he needs to appease those in his own party who want him out.

@SilverGlitterBaubles

What a precarious position we are in with a PM unable to make decisions in our best interests in a time of national crisis because he needs to appease those in his own party who want him out.

Absolutely. However the fact that most of his own party are increasingly reluctant to support him and his position is open to a leadership challenge is the result of his chickens coming home to roost.

Uneasy is the head that wears the crown. Perhaps the amoral, lazy self serving twat should have thought about that.

The theory is that people are being super careful off their own backs this week so they don’t get it and screw up their own plans. But the worry is that as soon as Christmas is over people will resume previous behaviour. So on balance “let them have their Christmas and then they might be more willin to comply” seems to be the tactic.

We are having a quiet Christmas and are then supposed to be going away with 3 other families to Devon for new year- thinking that’s looking a bit unlikely now

He hasn't saved Christmas. It's bloody Christmas, how is it normal for a prime minister to have the power to make seeing your family illegal. Especially when we all know the rules don't apply to him.

People would rightfully have gone ahead with Christmas plans anyway. Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

@Fairylights25 Glad you said this. I’m so tired of people acting as if somehow the government are causing the virus instead of trying to juggle what the science says vs what people are willing to do. It’s a horrible position for the government — any government — to be in, and the media are having a whale of a time stitching them up every which way. More fool people for falling for the bullshit.

@HeartGoesLast not such a horrible position to be in, happily parrying with family and colleges while the rest of the country misses new babies, weddings, funerals, final days with loved ones.

Only because he knows no one will listen anyway.

January will be fun 👍

He's trying to save his own arse not Christmas

He definitely hasn’t ‘saved’ Christmas 🤣 he’s basically had to ignore the scientific advice for a few days because his public image is at an all time low - can you imagine the uproar this week if he now imposed any restrictions over Xmas??! He literally wouldn’t survive in his job. And no one would respect it anyway so he’s decided to save his arse with a glimmer of potentially better-than-shit PR about ‘allowing Xmas’, at the cost of lives in January. He will likely announce restrictions 27th/28th Dec I expect. The SAGE minutes from 16/12 were damming.. January will be very very tough for the NHS & general infrastructure if their modelling comes true. Xo

My dad is one of the 90,629 people who tested positive for Covid today. For my family, and hundreds of thousands of others, Boris has very much not saved Christmas.

@Thewiseoneincognito

He hasn’t saved Christmas, he’s saved his job- for now. The fall out from Christmas mixing would be catastrophic regardless of whether he says it’s right or wrong to do so. The majority of those who would have listened to the guidance will no doubt be avoiding mixing anyway or will at the very least follow his recommendation to test before events and have good ventilation..

Remember this is what happened last year. Then the day before NYE we locked down…

Agree with this. Plan the New Year lockdown now.

And if you have elderly relatives and are seeing them for Christmas - be careful and test.

He might have "saved" Christmas but it means we are all truly fucked in January.

Honestly he really cannot win. The scientists want us in lockdown until they get enough stats. Labour would have us in lockdown time and time again and can you imagine Corbyn trying to run this.

@Franklin12

Honestly he really cannot win. The scientists want us in lockdown until they get enough stats. Labour would have us in lockdown time and time again and can you imagine Corbyn trying to run this.

Maybe you were not aware but Corbyn has not been the Labour leader for some time now

The leader is called Keir Starmer.

Being in an unwinnable position is a risk you take when you decide to try and become PM. You also increase that possibility by continually behaving as though the rules don't apply to you, both wrt covid and in other areas. See the Owen Paterson fiasco for a perfect example. Eventually the public tire of it. Self inflicted, and if he doesn't like it he's free to fuck off.

I'm sick of hearing my older relatives - who seem to hang on the PM's every word - talk about "Boris" cancelling Christmas. It makes me cringe every time I hear it. Not because they refer to him on first name terms like a jolly uncle, but just the phrasse "cancelling/saving Christmas" give me the rage because of how ludicrous this is.
Yet, so many parrot these vomit inducing phrases.

On balance, from what I've seen of the data, there isn't much justification for further measures at the moment I don't think. We aren't seeing the sorts of increases that I think were expected.

It could all well change but at the moment I think it was probably the right call based on the information available. I'm keeping everything crossed that the data continues to look positive and we avoid the need for much more in the way of restrictions.