Westminstenders: All bets are off

[RedToothBrush]

We are seeking an extension. Apparently. No prizes for guessing why.

There is no news but COVID news. And that's all there will be for a long time.

Enjoy your stockpile and your sunny uplands it brought.

Keep safe.

Can we just rename Covid Dunning Kruger disease
as the bulk of people doing dumb shit will get it

A Phoenix couple in their 60s took chloroquine - which they'd used to clean a fish tank - with disastrous results

At least my joking suggestion the numbnuts should confuse Quinoa with quinine wouldn't have killed anyone

Korona not the beer.
She can always claim in 10 years' time that she had a Hungarian grandma who wore a crown, or summat...

Coronavirus: Man dies after drinking fish tank cleaner to prevent virus

Oh dear. Darwin award, there.

Oh dear. Darwin award, there.

sadly, at the age of 60, it's more than likely those genes are out there still ... especially if they were native Arizonans (?)

'Confused, dangerous, flippant': rest of world pans PM's handling of coronavirus

How other countries see BJ & the UK Government: making the UK drink out of the fishtank

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/24/confused-dangerous-flippant-worlds-media-pans-pms-handling-of-coronavirus-boris-johnson

Did any of you see Matt Hancocks performance at the press conference.....
It was appalling and no wonder people are ignoring what they should be doing.....

Oh dear. Darwin award, there.

Covid-19 is bringing the best out of the Darwin Awards it has to be said.

The government strategy appears to be 'don't be a dick' which the government seem to be surprised when it's failing more than it should. This is even more funny when you consider political strategies for the last 3 years.

Glad to hear about your aunt yoikes.

This is a very weird experience, knowing that the epidemic is accelerating but it feels so distant.

Very few cases where I live, but the town is nevertheless deathly quiet and seems to be getting quieter.

DD in Paris went shopping for the first time in 10 days this morning. No one on the streets, her local Franprix was quiet and well stocked. She doesn't know anyone who has been ill among her Sorbonne friends and teachers.

Seems in my little uk town that we're all bunkring and adjusting and so far, so good - although, quite naturally, I think - give it a week and a lot of people will be really grumpy.

My main measure of resilience/success will be how much people/communiies get over the 'grumpy times' - the words said/written through frustration - which is an attitude completely within the remit of the understanding of most of Humanity - including mst of the UK population.

This is going to be like Brexit in some ways ... you'll either know loads of people who've had CV or none (just like people tend to be either surrounded by leavers or know none)

BCF your link

When even the mayor of Bergamot flew his daughters out of the UK back home, is any more proof needed of how badly this has been handled in the UK.

I do wonder what Johnson is going to do about Brexit.
The clock is still ticking due to legislation that has already been passed by both parties

• Accept the EU deal and have effectively soft Brexit at the end of this year
• extend the transition period by as long as the EU offer
• leave with no deal

Bearing in mind the state the country will be in by the end of the summer ........ goodness knows

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/24/covid-coalition-government-considered-by-senior-conservatives

Senior Conservatives are questioning whether Boris Johnson will need a national unity government or emergency cross-party council to share responsibility for the coronavirus crisis if the situation worsens.

George Freeman, a former minister in Johnson’s government, was the first to break cover to say a “Covid coalition” government may be “unavoidable” and some other Tory MPs privately believe the prime minister will need cross-party governing consensus if emergency measures are to continue for months.

(contd)

"to share responsibility for the coronavirus crisis"

i.e. to share the blame

I've been expecting this once the Tories realised how godawful this is going to be,
both wrt lives lost & the economic damage

Normally, I would want a GNU, just because it's - usually - unfair for a govt to get all the blame for an epidemic or other natural disaster

However, the Opposition should probably refuse,
because what would they bring other than polical skirts to hide behind and sharing the blame - when the major mistakes have already been made ?

At this late stage, it is basically the NHS & the professionals doing the important stuff.
Politicians are just mouthpieces, to sound reassuring.

"one Tory MP said they already fear that even if Johnson comes to be regarded favourably like a Churchill,
then the public could still be ready for a postwar Attlee-type figure – such as Starmer – if they want to see public services properly funded and rebuilt after the crisis is over."

Yep, I suggested this a couple of weeks ago on another thread, when old copy & paste was mooning over BJ

Anyway, the Tories have until December 2024 to get the economy back on track etc
If they want to share the blame, they probably expect things will still be grim then,
even if they do the usual "look, shiny new leader" trick

It's looking increasingly likely that we'll suffer a Depression for several years,
instead of the V-form of a quick bounce back that some analysts are touting

Hence Trump wanting to restart the US economy before the election

.... and hence the sudden flood of posters thread here and on other forums
trying to convince people that lockdowns around the world are all a scheme by Mumsnet, or people who want to stay home on 80% pay

Does Donald Trump have a brain cell at all? According to him Americans aren't built to be locked inside it's not in their nature. He's not willing to lockdown country " we lose thousands to flu each year......" My goodness he certainly doesn't value American lives!

Webchat with Dr Jenny Harries, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England,
Wednesday 25 March at 11.30

https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnetlivee_events/3859464-Webchat-with-Dr-Jenny-Harries-Deputy-Chief-Medical-Officer-for-England-Wednesday-25-March-at-11-30?msgid=94995354

We had an Apache gunship flying and hovering above our town yesterday. I thought wtf!? Turns out a school in town 10 miles away is now home for Army troops and an old WW2 airfield is now home for RAF helicopters!!! What's next I wonder

Hannah White @drhannahwhite
Parliament to close tonight provided emergency coronavirus legislation passes. With the rest of the country in lockdown this has to be right decision - for the safety of Members and staff and to model the behaviour the govt is asking of the rest of the population...

... this now raises questions about government accountability during this crisis, as they set about using the various powers they have been given by MPs and Peers.

21st April

Parliament would have been in recess 31/3 to 21/4 for Easter anyway?

With such emergency measures giving wartime powers, the govt need to bring in people from other parties into COBRA

Not just for political balance, but to make use of all the talents

Not to make them government ministers though

• I see no advantage is having new ministers replace the old,

as it generally takes weeks & months for a new minister to find their feet in a new department

Also bring back retired politicians of all parties
(analagous to the NHS bringing in their retired !)

• Gordon Brown, Tony Blair would be useful

• John Major too, so all the recent PMs

(If Mrs T were still around, I'd definitely want her on COBRA too)

With such emergency measures giving wartime powers, the govt need to bring in people from other parties into COBRA

In theory, the privy council is pretty much the poster boy for such a move. It's members are all former ministers, there's already a protocol, and it's existed for just this purpose for centuries.

Which is why it must not - cannot - be allowed to happen. Far too sensible.