Westministenders: Peak something

[BigChocFrenzy]

Westministenders: Peak something

The story so far

COVID has changed the world for the next few years, like a slowly exploding nuke:

• killed well over 100,000 people
• made many people afraid to leave their home
• caused a Global Depression

Countries locked down because they needed the extra time to

Raise the Line while Flattening the Curve:

1. Flatten the curve of the numbers needing healthcare to a level the system can manage

2. Raise the capacity of their health services and public health systems - their testing and tracking process

Also, scientists desperately needed time to find out more about COVID:
how to avoid it, how to treat it

What happens next ?

Research teams around the world are working to produce a vaccine,
will become hopefully available within the next couple of years

In the meantime, treatment procedures are being developed to better treat COVID sufferers.

Also in the meantime, countries will need to gradually exit lockdown to rescue their economies from complete catastrophe.

Timing & measures for each country will be dependent on:

Death rate after peak,
health service capacity,
testing & tracing capacity etc

....and also what their govt and public deem an "acceptable" level of extra deaths & serious illness.

Possibly some countries will need to cycle in and out of lockdown,
whereas others will be able to accept the death toll with lesser social distancing measures.

The first few countries are already relaxing lockdown,
so the UK will watch, wait and hopefully learn what works and what doesn't

..... then copy these the correct way round

Aren't they still able to (or have voted to?) claim their £322 daily allowance by logging in remotely?

When the MPs extra £10,000 allowance was flagged up recently, it was pointed out that it was intended to go on their staff ...

DGR To be fair on the MPs, the £10,000 wasn't an allowance per se: it was an extra amount that IPSA decided (without consultation): that they could claim up to £10,000 for additional costs (eg secure laptops, phones, phone calls by their staff who were now having to work from home rather than the office) and would need to be supported by receipts (although they would be given longer than the normal 90 days to supply the receipts).

Very different to how it was presented (and not helped by numpties like Corbyn who supposedly said that he would "give his £10,000" to the NHS ) and many MPs have said that they are unlikely to claim anywhere near that amount as they themselves were already set up for remote working, but where it was likely to be used was for the benefit of their staff who are doing work on behalf of their constituents.

Unlike an allowance simply for turning up - virtually in this case - in the case of the HoL -

The daily allowance is for Their Lordships, who receive no salary and no other allowances. Heard M'Lord Fowler the other day strongly hinting that this would be frowned upon if they do not turn up for work.

Sneering at MPs pay and allowances is a cheap shot. When MPs were not paid, they depended on their private incomes or spent most of their time on their paid jobs in the law or business.

In every other tier of government, virtual attendance at meetings is now permitted
on condition that the video is broadcast live.

What are the peers so scared of
that parish, district, borough and county councillors should not be ?

If the Lords do not want to be accountable
they do not deserve their money

Sneering at MPs pay and allowances is a cheap shot.

I beg to differ. It's necessary to keep them in line. Remember what happened when we weren't ?

I know it's unpopular and "not helpful" and "now is not the time" etc etc, but I have a really quaint and old-fashioned view that if taxpayers fund something, then they have a right to know where it goes and that it's not abused. Which places me squarely on the revolutionary side of the battle lines I guess.

If the Lords do not want to be accountable they do not deserve our money

fixed that for you

You are correct. I should have typed it your way

Hello all, been lurking regularly.

I was reading the thread about whether or not holidays in Spain are a goer for Brits and the Brexit word wasn't mentioned, at least to where I read. If the UK is not in Schengen and not in the EU, when movement across borders is relaxed at an EU level, logically that would mean the UK will be treated as a third country. Might be one of the first impacts of the implication of Brexit on people if the Germans can bag their sunchairs with no competition from the Brits (I realise the chances of anyone on holliers this summer is very debatable...)

And what does that mean for the island of Ireland, and what will the combined effect of Brexit and COVID be? As DGRosetti showed, there are two strategies on the island (although family tell me it has following sectarian lines to a certain extent...). Would RoI citizens accept that they have to accept restricted travel because of the Common Travel Agreement and a lack of border in the North? Or would they bring down a health border in a similar way to during Foot and Mouth. ttps://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/want-to-know-what-a-hard-border-looks-like-the-2001-foot-and-mouth-crisis-holds-the-key-37824268.html

Would the North look to push for the border in the sea for health reasons, to allow movement across the island and into the EU? Will be interesting to see how it works out or doesn't.

I was reading the thread about whether or not holidays in Spain are a goer for Brits and the Brexit word wasn't mentioned, at least to where I read. If the UK is not in Schengen and not in the EU, when movement across borders is relaxed at an EU level, logically that would mean the UK will be treated as a third country. Might be one of the first impacts of the implication of Brexit on people if the Germans can bag their sunchairs with no competition from the Brits (I realise the chances of anyone on holliers this summer is very debatable...)

The bottom line is whatever bollocks the Brexiteers were spouting, all countries in (and out) of the EU have total control over their borders in the current situation. Hence France seceding from Schengen at the moment. If a country wants to enforce an immigration policy that discriminates on travellers from a particular country, they are entirely free to do so.

It's lost in the mists of time now (and totally lost on the thread you mention) but I can remember the discussion that the only reason Boris finally decided to enforce some sort of lockdown ("latchdown" might be a more accurate description) was because President Macron was seriously considering shutting France to the UK on the basis we hadn't implemented any measures worth talking about. (Or, being accurate again, the only measures happening in the UK were talk ...).

So there is a very real possibility that travel into and out of countries could be governed by the numbers of cases from those countries - or more precisely the rate of increase in numbers of cases.

On a global scale, the US remains an interesting case, as I am pretty certain there is no mechanism for individual states to setup their own borders internally. So if it should so happen that Republican states lift their measures and see the predicted spike in cases, Democratic states will want to exclude people entering them ... but can't.

Parler de France ...

et parler des cunts

www.thenational.scot/news/18400160.trump-asks-ministers-aid-scottish-golf-courses/

BILLIONAIRE Donald Trump has asked the UK Government to bail out his golf courses in Scotland as they struggle to cope with the economic chaos of the coronavirus crisis.

(contd)

Tricky. If we want a US trade deal we’ll probably have to pay our dues.

twitter.com/LeighBoobyer/status/1253298630884241409

EXCLUSIVE: A leaked data map shows the highest number of confirmed coronavirus hospital admissions in Gloucestershire was a neighbouring postcode of Cheltenham Racecourse, as of April 3.

It amuses me that MPs might have to buy "secure" laptops, when the government is cheerfully holding cabinet meetings by Zoom, not renowned for its security settings.

But then, I stopped expecting joined-up thinking from them a while back.

Interesting slide on today’s Covid presentation. According to the data Sir Patrick Vallance has just presented ICU bed occupancy has not exceeded 60% of total ICU bed capacity in any area of the UK at any point during the pandemic?!

It amuses me that MPs might have to buy "secure" laptops, when the government is cheerfully holding cabinet meetings by Zoom, not renowned for its security settings.

One finds oneself wondering why they haven't already got "secure" laptops.

be curious to know what their definition of secure is ? For a start, what version of Linux are they going for ?

I suppose, in terms of ICU capacity the amount used needs to be fairly low to take into account hotpots?

Probably plenty of beds in some parts of the North, but problematic if London is full for example.

Still reassuring.

Coincidence, DGR, coincidence. More likely its down to the high numbers of obese BAME men over 60 with multiple comorbities that are such a feature of that area surely ?

"If we want a US trade deal we’ll probably have to pay our dues"

So we have to bribe the US President ? Shameful how low the US had sunk
Let's see if he's still POTUS when the US & UK have time to negotiate a trade deal.

What one of the MPs up here said was that while he already had a secure laptop (can't remember if he said with key fob remote access - that's certainly what I used to use in my old job), his staff didn't necessarily, as they worked in either his constituency office or his WM office. Nor did they necessarily have work phones - and didn't want to give out personal phone numbers to members of the public, nor run up massive phone bills on their own tab (example given was lots of lengthy calls overseas to help and sort out repatriating constituents).

Fair point, pretty. Still doesn't explain why they use Zoom though.

Still doesn't explain why they use Zoom though.

If they are using the postal system, and regular phone system, they are clearly happy with regular security.

Rule one of security should be to assume your communications are always in the clear. It why you have codes and codenames ...

THe "Cheltenham cluster" is gonna be NOTHING compared to this one
in.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-pakistan/pakistani-doctors-urge-government-to-reimpose-mosque-restrictions-idINKCN225099

Louise - but all wards have become icu beds - so I would read that as 60% of total beds in the nhs - it probably includes nightingale. So if we are happy for the nhs to be just about covid19 then that is all well and good.

..... and don't forget the people who were not bad enough to get a bed - and were sent home, even though they were struggling to breath (which is what happened to me friend) ...... and some of those died (fortunately not my friend)

Bloody Cheltenham festival. I'm a local. Money talks louder than health concerns.

The amount of people on that Twitter thread failing to understand it though - yes, people come to festival from all over UK and Ireland. But it's the staff working there, who live here, who are exposed to a potentially huge number of people. Cheltenham council waives it's car parking fees during the festival - locals who don't work in hospitality avoid the whole place like the in this case literal plague, so they throw sweeteners to try to bring us in to town. No fucking thank you.