Westminstenders: The Tunnel or Bridge

[RedToothBrush]

Apparently negotiations are in the black hole of the EU tunnel or should that be on the back of the fantasy of the Boris Bridge?

Another week closer to complete meltdown.

I'm guessing that our world beating customs solution will be based on blackboard and chalk.

What is the long term plan? Is it simply grab the money and run? Or will most of them grab the money and run, while some enjoy experimenting?

hospital email

We have now had 2 teams at the Trust completely wiped out due to Track and Trace

Sending love to you and yours squid
💜

@ListeningQuietly

Hi there Prettybird I guess you'll cope with the lockdown changes round your way but presumably a lot of borderline restaurants and cafes and pubs will shut up shop now. Sturgeon screwing business pretty badly.

You and I aren't going to agree on how to deal with Covid

I don't really see what else she could have done and at least she had the courage to make the tough decisions - and to do so in front of the Scottish Parliament rather than a press conference like BJ (and without his bluster and obfuscation ) .

I'd not like to be the one having to make the tough decisions It's such a horrible balancing act.

France shutting restaurants in Paris and Ireland shutting pubs in Dublin shows how seriously other countries are trying to deal with the second spike.

squid
We have now had 2 teams at the Trust completely wiped out due to Track and Trace
Are they not doing antibody testing
and regular COVID testing of all staff
To see who is in fact safe to work ?

I was chatting to a vicar friend today who caught COVID earlier in the year and has enough antibodies that she and her husband are donating for the serum project.

She is therefore happily visiting the sick and the elderly knowing that she cannot catch it and will not pass it on.

It would make sense for all medics to get the same level of "cover"

@mathanxiety - the hot buttons of class and privilege would not play out in Ireland's algorithm issue

The hot buttons of class and privilege did play out in Ireland's algorithm issue, except it was the reverse of the UK's so the media and opposition politicians didn't care. After the UK debacle, they decided to remove the school history element of the algorithm, which resulted in traditionally higher achieving schools (not just private ones though) doing worse than they normally would. There are a number of court cases waiting to be heard, some taken by individuals and at least one by a school (private).

Basically, they decided to throw the middle class kids under the bus so they wouldn't be accused of doing the same to disadvantaged kids. However, this is not the solution to disadvantage.

There is a process (HEAR) within the CAO system that allows kids from disadvantaged backgrounds get into third level on lower points and then Access programs to help them within the universities. It's a start but really, educational disadvantage needs to be addressed from pre-school up.

Prettybird
The principle of a lockdown is bearable
but the way that the UK does it - on the back of ten years of Public underfunding
and with Brexit brewing
means that it will not work.

Germany has set curfews on bars and clubs in Berlin - but they are also properly funding support and healthcare

The UK is just driving millions into the choice of poverty or breaking the law or both

No regular testing at work at all.
I have had one antibody test, back in June (was negative)
Have never had a swab test

squid
That is frankly criminal.

I stupidly assumed that my local hospital was not that unusual in having extensive testing and checking for all staff

(I knew that the unusual part was the two Universities staff and students and many staff from local schools being tracked as well)

our hospital was told it was not allowed to test staff and staff had to use central gov system. people were being sent to scotland

I don't think this is outing my hospital because I was reading story in the guardian few weeks ago saying this was happening all over the country

I think they have backtracked on this now, but only this week

But that is still only for sympatomatic staff

now someone tested positive and whole team off (we then get blamed for PPE, because we are supposed to never eat or drink or get changed at work apparently? no space in our tiny staff rooms to socially distance)

Morale is pretty fucking low!!

^I was chatting to a vicar friend today who caught COVID earlier in the year and has enough antibodies that she and her husband are donating for the serum project.

She is therefore happily visiting the sick and the elderly knowing that she cannot catch it and will not pass it on.^

Well that's plainly been proven wrong - as you can catch it more than once - and from discussions I have been following - they do know what immunity confers - quite possibly means a milder case , but that means she can pass it on.

MrsL
Well that's plainly been proven wrong - as you can catch it more than once
That is not what she and her husband were told by the team taking samples for the serum thingy

squid
our hospital was told it was not allowed to test staff and staff had to use central gov system
But several of the London teaching hospitals are using the Crick for their tests .....
Interesting that your hospital SLT did not bypass the failed system.

When I had my antibody test, I was told very clearly that positive or negative should not change my behaviours in any way and it was for research purposes (and my own interest).

LQ I am employed by one trust and currently work for another (that's not unusual in medical training) so the one that employs me I got my daughter tested at no problem when she had symptoms (it's a big teaching hospital, I work at a smaller district general)

Anyway, the DGH hospital I work at is testing again now, but staff were travelling long distances for tests a couple weeks back, or just not getting tests at all and self isolating. it was incredibly stupid.

I don't know if it's widely available across the UK, but there was an excellent interview on BBC Radio Scotland's drive time programme with John Swinney (deputy FM).
Excellent because the interviewer asked detailed questions using a government document to refer to, and Swinney actually answered the questions, in detail and courteously.

I don't disagree with you on this LQ : The principle of a lockdown is bearable but the way that the UK does it - on the back of ten years of Public underfunding and with Brexit brewing means that it will not work.

But she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The health consequences are happening. Brexit is happening. The public underfunding has happened (although at Scotland didn't - even before the SNP - have governments that didn't value public services ) She can't just do nothing.

She doesn't have control over welfare and is legally not allowed to borrow, nor even vire from (underspent because of Covid ) capital budgets - unlike Sunak who can spend and increase the deficit as he sees fit.

But she is still trying to mitigate the impact with the budget she does have (extract from her speech):

I know that the measures we are proposing today, although they are temporary, will have a significant impact on many businesses and I am sorry for that. But since the^ Government is placing an obligation on businesses, we also have an obligation to help them financially.^

I can announce that we are making available an additional £40 million to support businesses that will be affected by these measures over the next two weeks. We will work with the affected sectors – obviously especially hospitality – in the coming days to ensure that this money provides the most help, to those who most need it and gets to them as quickly as possible.

For the rest of this month, businesses can also use the UK Government’s job retention scheme. However, that now requires a significant contribution from employers – so one of the things we will discuss with businesses, in relation to our own support package, is how we can mitigate some or all of that contribution.

As I have indicated, our intention is that these additional measures will be in place for just over two weeks, incorporating three weekends – from 6pm on Friday to Sunday, 25 October.

Not sure ds was even tested when he was admitted to hospital. Daren't ask him

But it's not routine up here to have to self-isolate after being in hospital - and he was in the "green" side of the hospital, with his Protect-Scot app on

UltimateFoole thanks for that - I had already seen it when you first posted but then passed it on to a friend by which time it had disappeared! Will pass the live one on to him

We are testing all patients admitted to hospital @prettybird, so he should have been

He's already getting irritated at me for asking too many questions so I may or may not ever find out if he was tested on admission

or I'll get dh to ask

Agree with your assessment of the algorithm and its problems, Ochon - but the CAO process and the promised extra places will go far toward remedying issues. I suspect the Sherry et al case will all be dismissed, as entertaining complaints related to decisions taken by the government that affected all 2020 LC students would mean all university admissions this year would be thrown into doubt, all ultimately to be decided by the High Court, whose business would be snarled up for years. The court would be opening the floodgates if it were to decide in favour of individual plaintiffs. It will be interesting to see what the court decides, and what weight it will accord to guarding against total chaos.

I suspect only those who end up not getting the places they feel they should despite the CAO/extra place remedy will continue, and it will all look a bit like entitled students/their parents throwing a tantrum.

I think the St Kilian's argument has merit specifically for German all the same - this is not a case of individual students essentially pressing the court to force universities to admit them though.

educational disadvantage needs to be addressed from pre-school up.
Couldn't agree more. Many children are lost very early on.

@mathanxiety - I think you're absolutely right about the likely outcome of the cases. The ramifications of them winning would be horrendous. If the majority get what they want either due to the error or by resitting, the cases will peter out. That said, I do think the likes of St. Kilian's have a very strong argument that will be hard to dismiss.

An awful lot of the students who get new offers will end up with deferrals as the extra places aren't that easy to provide. The universities have already provided loads of extra places to flatten the points increase. Anything lab based, in particular, won't have the capacity. They're going to have to increase places next year too to compensate for the deferred places from the exams in November and the places they can't provide for those impacted by the mistake.

My youngest is doing his leaving cert next year and I'm very worried about the implications for his cohort. Thankfully, while the course he wants tends to be high enough points (510-520 usually) it actually went down to 490 this year so it looks like it's not one of the high demand ones.

I tried to explain to a friend (ex military and pro-Brexit) how much paperwork there is for countries outside the single market: how a container full of mixed goods might need a sheaf of invoices a few inches thick as, back in my day as a courier working at a depot that focused on international packages, 3 copies of invoices are required, and all delivery vehicles entering and leaving the UK would have to be checked, potentially adding days to delivery times. I'm not sure he got it.

Got an e mail from ds2s schol today re: remote online learning access and needs.
Now, you know I'm an optimist but No way the kids will still be in school by Xmas :(