Westminstenders: Events...

[RedToothBrush]

Events have taken over. EU / UK negotiation have been put on ice due to covid-19.

The US has banned all travel from Europe - apart from to the uk and Ireland - in a manner which is highly political to drive wedges.

The effects of leaving the European Medicines Agency may be much more serious than anyone could have anticipated.

There's a oil price war going on between Saudi Arabia and Russia which has further driven market fears led by covid-19.

There the crisis in Turkey with Syrian refugees which is also distracting the EU.

We are facing lockdown and economic turmoil over the next weeks and months.

Johnson is having his leadership moment with deaths projected to possibly exceed UK WW2 deaths.

We are desperately trying to recruit negotiators as it's suddenly become apparent we don't have enough to carry out all the trade deals we want.

The civil service will be stretched to its limited by covid-19. Yet we also have Brexit to consider.

Where next? How bad are things going to get?

'literally thousands'

is that "literally" or "litrally" ? Either way, it's a bad day for truth when that word shows up.

"Presumably there is work being done on the diseases and disorders likely to increase as a result of lockdown ? 2

DG There is advice on coping for those who have to self-isolate because of testing positive, especially with kids

However, the rest of us can go to food shops, walk, jog, cycle, just not in clubs or groups of more than a few people
So noone should be feeling stircrazy, unless they need outside entertainment, rather than exercise.

Personally, I've been enjoying my twice daily Rhine walks (my flat is literally above the Rhine path, so no journey) in lovely sunny weather
I'll break into a jog if the paths continues to dry out

We're all hoping for another 40C summer, June - August
Every little helps

He’s so vague it’s like nothing exists.

Rishi's put the Baby Bio in the watering can and is off to tend the Magic Money Tree.

"BJ says British Industry is going to build 'literally thousands' of ventilators in the next few weeks"

Like those thousands of nurses and the new hospitals, will they be ventilators we already have ?

Oh dear, I hope BJ doesn't reject this obvious hint from the EU that we can source our CV kit with them:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2020/mar/17/markets-covid-19-ftse-government-rescue-packages-airlines-pubs-compass-airbus-business-live

the UK has been told it is eligible to take part in a European Union wide-scheme on buying ventilators and other medical equipment needed in the coronavirus crisis.

A European commission spokesperson confirmed the UK was “eligible to participate in these joint procedures” despite leaving the EU on 31 January.

Under David Cameron, the British government in 2014 signed a voluntary “joint procurement agreement”,
which was drawn up after the H1N1 pandemic of 2009 showed some countries found it difficult to get medical supplies on the open market.

The agreement allows EU countries to band together to use their combined purchasing power to get a good deal on vaccines and other medical supplies.

The EU executive is currently organising joint procurement of protective clothing for medics, including masks, as well as ventilators.

The commission spokesperson said “a very big majority of member states [were] interested” in taking part in the joint procurement on ventilators.

The British government has not revealed whether it intends to take part in any of the procurement schemes.
< cos Rolls Royce, JCB and Laura Ashley will be building our own >

Oh, Laura Ashley going into administration

Well no ventilators from there

(I think maybe he's thinking of extractor fans.)

That’s Boris. Abandoned a love of tractors for buses.

This had better be over soon, or it'll take 10 years to get back to where we were
Hang on, some people still haven't caught up after the 2008 crash
Make that 20 years for the UK

www.theguardian.com/business/live/2020/mar/17/markets-covid-19-ftse-government-rescue-packages-airlines-pubs-compass-airbus-business-live?page=with:block-5e70b6618f085e564ad85a13#block-5e70b6618f085e564ad85a13

Capital Economics have predicted that the UK economy could shrink by around 15% in the next three months, as Covid-19 triggers a “big recession”.

That would be a staggering drop in economic activity, inflicting real pain on millions of people.

For comparison, the UK shrank by 6% during and after the 2008 financial crisis

• and that was spread across more than a year.

"I think maybe he's thinking of extractor fans."

So the great plan may be to raid everyone's kitchen,
like his hero Churchill ordering the seizing of railings during WW2 to melt down

Is it so different to Macron? Not sure who’s in the best place to just pump money in.

I feel like they spent more time on ‘the line’ than the do on actually building stuff we need.

If the German Army is in the process of building a 1,000 bed hospital for Corona patients (which presumably will be completed soon), why hasn't BJ already started building one of the 40 hospitals he promised?

It’s all words and so slow. It’s unbearable in comparison to other countries

Laura Ashley has been in trouble for years. Too frumpy for the Boden yummy mummies.

Nissan's Sunderland factory stops production, like Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port and Luton sites:

"“Further measures are currently under study as we assess supply chain disruption and the sudden drop in market demand caused by the COVID-19 emergency,”

Yep, transition must be extended - they don't need supply chain disruption from 1 January as well

The ultimate insult would be if they propped up Laura Ashley.

Am I right the airlines get a bail out rather than a loan?

I think civilian building of hospitals is going on too,
but German military is set up for v quick builds, because of its relief work in developing countries

Hence I'd expect UK military could too, if they were ordered by the govt ?
Have the govt asked ?

I*ve just read that there are now many "drive-through" testing setups at German hospitals,
sounds a very clean efficient setup
Hence probably why 100,000 weekly tests are now possible

How widespread was the virus in China? Was it concentrated in particular areas and do people in rural areas (40%) travel that much?

I think it was the guy from the British Chambers of Commerce I saw on SKY News saying that they still believed that the economy would just grow this year.

I think that he/they is/are deluded and/or in denial about the seriousness of the impact of CV.

He was probably talking about this....

https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/news/2020/03/bcc-forecast-coronavirus-could-further-weaken-uk-economy-3

Sounds positive, but a lot of French engineering in there too, don't tell BJ ...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/17/uk-manufacturers-regear-factories-build-ventilators-nhs

UK manufacturers such as Vauxhall and Airbus are planning to 3D-print parts for ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, as part of a “wartime” effort to build thousands of medical devices.
...
“We’ve offered our services as an assembly plant
and we have 3D-printing capability at Ellesmere Port [car factory] too.”

The plant is due to shut down until 27 March anyway due to coronavirus concerns
and Vauxhall said this would free up capacity to make ventilators.

Production could involve using the car factory’s paint shops because, unlike the vehicle assembly lines, they have similar controlled-environment conditions to those required for the manufacture of medical equipment.

So the Chancellor's announcement of £330billion of Coronavirus triggered loans to businesses guaranteed by the government is equivalent to 15 per cent of GDP.

I know we have more important things on our minds... but I didn't know we had 15% to play with. You see I once dreamed that Boggis Bunce and Bean * insisted we needed 0.7% of GDP the EU membership fee for the NHS.

(* Boris, Gove and Nige)

Laura Ashley Ventilators would come in a range of attractive floral shades.

Toyota started with sewing machines. Samsung made light bulbs. It could be the break they've been needing.

Too little, too late ?

tbh, if I needed a ventilator, I would hope for one made by specialists, not one knocked off during downtime in the Vauxhall paintshop

https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/johnson-s-ventilator-plan-puzzles-u-k-firms-wanting-to-help

“They will not be able to get as many as they want,”
said Craig Thompson, head of products and marketing at Penlon Ltd, which makes anesthesia machines that perform some of the functions of intensive care ventilators.

“It’s out of the question that anybody who doesn’t normally make medical equipment will supply medical equipment in the next two months,”
he said, citing challenges such as safety testing and regulatory approval.

Most people in China didn't get the virus because they got on top of the spread very quickly in all except Hubei province and Wuhan in particular.
My understanding was that the stats about 0.5% of people being infected were from the Hubei area before the restrictions were in place and people were going to the ‘fever’ hospitals to be checked.

But yes, the propagation of the virus was linked to their quick reactivity in putting all the measures in place to stop it from spreading.