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?

Hate I’d love plane fares to rise a lot after this to stem all the cheap holidays and demand

People are not being sensible and Boris pretty much says go for it. Well that’s what they heard

However I don’t think places can stay open too long
Won’t be able to afford it

They can’t get on with cracking lockdown fast enough

Finding a silver lining to COVID is close to finding one to the Haulocaust, imo

There is no silver lining to all the people dying of COVID,
going bankrupt, losing their homes, all their savings,
countries becoming poorer for the next 10-20 years,
benefits and public services being cut for lack of money

A pandemic does NOT help the planet,
Even wrt population, the births will almost certainly still outnumber the deaths

If Green supporters push that line, then any actions on climate change will be KILLED

I’d love plane fares to rise a lot after this to stem all the cheap holidays and demand

That will happen anyway. The lack of planes and pilots. Capitalism at its' purest.

We need to bear in mind that whilst this virus originated in China, it's our (hopefully former) globetrotting insouciance that created a pandemic.

It sure did

This crisis has shown that when the great brains in the UK decide to take a completely different view to nearly every expert in the world

the UK is shown to be wrong and has to do a desperate U-turn

and anything but the softest of Brexits is going to kill off many businesses that COVID will leave on life support

The crisis has shown how inter-dependent countries are
and that going it alone is dangerous

Finding a silver lining to COVID is close to finding one to the Holocaust, imo

The stomach churning medical data ?

Now who is going to be optimistic and say that the super-wealthy are going to foot the bill for rebuilding our shattered economies and bsuinesses

... instead of ordinary working stiffs like happened after the 2008 crisis

Now who donates the most to political parties .... 🤔

Imagine being Farage and wanting to shout about the dangers of Brexit backsliding and for the first time in a decade not only being ignored, but made to feel slightly unwelcome in the room ?

I note QT is going "audience free", so the BBC will have to come up with some wheeze to pack twitter with tory shills.

"I regret I have but one like to give ..."

"The stomach churning medical data ?"

The potentially huge loss of life

the callousness and the othering,
that makes people keep saying that it's "only" the old and unhealthy dying,
so we should just lock them away and let the healthy young things continue having fun

That we shouldn't damage the economy by a lockdown to save lives

(the healthy young things are getting v ill too and dying sometimes)

So now we know who is really essential, we'll be reversing the pay of nurses vs bankers etc

Being essential has attained the value it should have, a big wake up to how this society is running

Merkel:
"It's serious; let us take it seriously too"

Strong hint that lockdown may be further ramped up ?

https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/merkel-rede-109.html

It's going to shine a spotlight on care work, too, especially for visiting carers.

USA & Canada closing their border

Sterling now at a 35 year $ low.

Domestos chicken too expensive.

BREAKING - Britain faces a "massive" shortfall of ventilators as #COVID19 advances and failed to adequately invest in intensive care infrastructure, says the CEO of the Swiss ventilator maker Hamilton Medical.

(Reuters)

No shit sherlock moment

UK: schools, colleges and nurseries to close

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/coronavirus-school-colleges-nurseries-england-close-uk-friday

Education secretary announces schools will close from Friday ‘until further notice’

We're in self isolation. Me and kids at home, DH WFH. I'm still terrified. My brother has carers on two week rotations. His carer who just left has gone to spend his two weeks off in a 8 person house share in central London. I'm absolutely terrified his carers will bring it in to his house. He won't survive it, I'm 99.9% sure. I'm out of my mind with stress about it.

"GCSE and A-level exams will also not now take place in May and June, but pupils will still get qualifications,
Boris Johnson said,
without giving details on how this would happen."

< BJ does NOT do detail >

Honeysuckle 💐
So far, most of even the very old & sick who have contracted the virus have survived.
Their risk is clearly increased, but a large majority of those with pre-existing conditions will survive

Y13s are going to get A Levels based on teacher assessment, which is hilarious when you think how Gove worked so hard to take the continuous assessment out of the exams.

Also, Eurovision Song Contest cancelled. Silver linings....

BCF I hope so. He's survived pneumonia before but he's incredibly vulnerable. I'm high risk too but I'm holed up and I take hydroxychloroquine daily which is currently being used as a treatment regimen in Asia so I'm a bit more relaxed about myself than others. So many people are dying, it's horrifying.