430 Responses to Start the Week Thread 6 April 2020

  1. Oldspeaker says:

    BBC News – Coronavirus: Tech firms summoned over ‘crackpot’ 5G conspiracies
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52172570

    Had no idea people were so, er, fired up about 5g.

    1st? Wish I had more than that lame line.

       27 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Backlinks to previous thread “The Weekend”
      (Everyone is losing count of what day it is
      This Start The week thread started 6pm Sunday )
      page 5 started 10am Sunday
      page 4 started 1pm Saturday
      … And it’s a bank holiday this Friday .. isn’t it ?

         11 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        For alternative layouts
        on your tablet select DESKTOP view in your browser settings
        .. Inoreader.com is a useful tool as well.

           2 likes

  2. Lord Blagger says:

    Time to axe the BBC. Their repeated lies have create a situation where they are always lying

       43 likes

  3. Alex Feltham says:

    Great video on BBC demands for new payment method by Sargon of Akkad:

       41 likes

    • NCBBC says:

      The Guardian reading and Trump hating propaganda organisation of the world.

         2 likes

  4. Fedup2 says:

    Sunny Sunday afternoon in Londonistan . You look up – and you see a black helicopter GNPTV 1500 feet above you . What could it be ? Air ambulance ? Rescue helicopter ? No – it’s a BBC Eurcopter with a flight plan from Gatwick to London City -.

    What’s it doing ? It’s spying on people for being outside . Why arnt they applauding something like they are required to do under the Emergency Regulations ? Why are the outside ? I wonder if the BBC will present images of people being outside at the forthcoming press conference ?
    Go on BBC – you want everyone locked inside – nailed to the television watching BBC News – for the full propaganda package . Clapping every hour …..

    Next thing they’ll be doing is moaning about a shortage of shortages …..

       76 likes

    • Dave S says:

      If this is so it is a clear breach of the BBC’s duty to report the news and not create it. Cliff Richards had them for that.

         55 likes

  5. Emmanuel Goldstein says:

    Does anyone know if the number of deaths per day/week/month for the last 6-8 weeks is any different from the usual or normal numbers or deaths when compared with the last few years.

    The numbers I am seeing seem to be a normal number for this time of year, no surge or big jump but maybe I’m seeing the wrong numbers.

    I’m asking because we see and hear of huge hospitals (nightingales) being built with git big add on mortuaries and every Country is taking severe actions against this virus.

    The figures that appear now and again (UK) even suggest fewer deaths compared to last year. Some people (ha ha) are saying the hospitals are looking more empty than usual.

    Is there any comparisons with the yearly flu deaths, 17,000 average each year I believe since 2015.
    Will this year have a higher average death rate per month than the last 5 years.

    I’m on the skeptical side of this outbreak and although there’s no doubt it’s a nasty virus is it as big as is being made out.
    Is the sum of corona plus flu deaths any different from a normal year of flu deaths only.

    I feel so out of touch with the whole world and all the drastic measures being taken when the numbers seem to be the same as a normal year or maybe a bit worse than normal year.
    I’ve heard nobody on tv saying that on average, 17,000 die from flu related illnesses each year so 5,000-10,000 from covid 19 (or having it in their system when they die) looks like a bad flu year.
    How many have got flu on their death certificates this year. Is it a lot less than normal. Does it, when added to the covid deaths, come to somewhere around 17,000. I really don’t know but surely, every Country in the World can’t be in some sort of conspiracy, could they?

    Spanish flu returned for a second year then vanished.
    Hong Kong flu and Asian flu also went away quickly.
    Mers and Sars had little effect here.
    Will this be gone the same way, my guess is yes.

    After Hancocks half hour on his tv update, why don’t the questioners ask why we still get flights arriving from the virus hot spots.
    Why don’t they ask if we are, or are going to be using, chloroquine (?) as it seems to be having lots of positive results.

       61 likes

    • Lord Blagger says:

      https://www.euromomo.eu/

      This is for the EU. I expect the same in the EU.

      The graph to look at is the pooled number of deaths, all ages. You then compare it to the same period in previous years.

      The reason is that deaths show seasonality. More in winter, fewer in summer. It’s one of the reasons why global warming is a good thing.

      So the answer to your question. The restrictions have reduced the number of deaths.

      So here’s the question. NICE/NHS state that there is a cost per life QALY that has to be applied for treatments.

      Do you think they applied that before destroying the economy?

      Did they follow their own rules?

      Next, why is it that celebs and politicians are going down quickly? They are the super spreaders. They are the ones that have created the mess.

         26 likes

    • Dave S says:

      In the end the oddities and the strange events will be investigated But don’t expect the BBc to be in the van. There was a virulent outbreak of a flu type virus in Highbridge Somerset around the 14th December. School closed and deep cleaned. That went down the memory hole quickly.
      Since January I have taken a keen interest in this virus. Mainly because I fell very ill with a virus mid January that flattened me for a month. It was pretty close to the Covid 19 in the effects.
      This virus is incredibly infectious and that is the root of the panic measures. It spreads like wildfire and will overwhelm any health system anywhere in the world .Hence the lockdowns. Whether it has a greater mortality rate seems to me to be as yet unknown. That is about all i think we really know at the moment.
      Soon we will have to face up the effects it is having on our economies. In my shire town my three sons and partners are now out of work or on the edge. All their friends are in the same boat. State employees and a few others are OK. This is going to destabalise society. It is inevitable. This will make 1929 look like a picnic. The BBC is spreading fear and alarm in my country. It has shown no sense of responsibility to us the people. In the coming economic destruction of our way of life it will be a casualty. Along with many other news media.

         72 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Dave – very powerful thank you . I was musing – in the 45 minute queue to get into Tesco’s – how will it all be paid for .

        I’m guessing the likes of National Insurance , income tax and VAT will be heading upwards across coming years .

        And in the short term the levels of unemployment and company failures will be hideous .

        It may still be early days but I’m sure the sums are being done somewhere . In a balanced world the Chinese should pick up the tab -but it seems to be needed to much to be punished .

           40 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          Fed, the problem with increasing National Insurance is that it doesn’t half wack the NHS, especially the employers’ bit. Same with Fuel Duties and VAT thereon. Tax on electricity bills. Insurance Premium Tax. Other indirects, perhaps, TV Licence maybe? Also Landfill Levy? What else have I missed that the NHS has to pay? VED on ambulances.

          If I was Rishi Sunak, I would start with a clean slate on taxation for everyone plus legislation to make all UK earners complete a tax return. Get rid of indirect taxes. Move tax take to the productive end of the cycle instead of the destructive end of the cycle. Could be our only way out of this mess.

          A drastically simplified tax code will be bad news for the accountancy profession but they could divert keen youngsters from their Articles to a life working for HMRC instead.

             17 likes

        • tarien says:

          A possible re-vamping of the Bradbury pound, might do to stall the vast amount of interest the Elitist Bankers & owners of the Central Banks will impose on the UK. The Euro should be scrapped and each nation return to its own money with the level taken as a measure of that ntaions wealth. Perhaps impractical but Britian did it once in 1914 and it overnight reduced the country’s debt which made the lenders mad.

             3 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        @DaveS a lot of points there
        – I don’t agree that the virus is incredibly infectious.
        – The Somerset Flu ..not just one school, 2 in Bridgewater had outbreaks as well
        I guess it is just coincidence and nothing to do with Covid19

        “Highbridge’s King Alfred School re-opens today after two-day closure due to flu ”
        https://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/highbridges-king-alfred-school-re-opens-today-after-two-day-closure-due-to-flu/

           8 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          Thing is, Stew, with Covid-19 we are learning as we go. The news this morning, if true, that big cats in a NY Zoo have tested positive, assuming an accurate & ‘pure’ test, is worrying.

          Just as a mutating virus might make a jump and mutate itself out of existence, Covid-19 might make all sorts of jumps and spread itself any and which way.

          It could be that Covid-19 settles down and becomes no worse than ‘flu’ for everyone who doesn’t have existing respiratory problems. It is why I am so annoyed at the BBC. When they should be on top form, educating and informing the public with carefully thought out questions for virologists and other scientists the BBC are absent without leave.

             11 likes

      • tarien says:

        Absolutely correct Dave S, the BBC have no conception so it would appear as to the panic their second rate journalitic interviews produce. It is not possible unfortunately but I would like to see all Newspapers shut down for a few months-however this would lead to more folk out of work. Indeed Dave it is incomparable with 1929.

           5 likes

      • Emmanuel Goldstein says:

        Thanks for that Jagman and your Lordship.
        One piece I picked up on is that the graph showing number of deaths this year shows the same as last year, they are at the same point.

           18 likes

        • StewGreen says:

          Emmanuel Goldstein see ONS graph and explanation I posted Saturday 2:49pm

          Bottomlines
          #1 The daily deaths reported today always reflect the daily positive tests from 7 days ago
          .. they’ll be about 20%
          So on that we are heading for 800-1000 deaths per day ..and 5,000 week will be a huge blip up on the graph vs 1,000/day of other respiratory infections and flu etc

          #2 Doctors/nurses don’t normally die of flu
          ..their deaths from Covid will impact down the line

          #3 There will be a blip down in deaths for a year after this
          cos people can’t die twice

             10 likes

    • Deborah says:

      A cousin, whose son is a doctor in a London hospital, tells me that on the ward things are dreadful. But what I cannot understand is why this is worse for the medical staff (or indeed the patients) than ordinary flu.

      We are told that Lord Bath and Eddie Large (not two names I would usually put into one sentence) have both died of/with the virus. If this had been a normal year and they had both died of ‘ordinary’ flu, would the same sort of connections be made? I don’t know.

         46 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        Deborah, can you get your cousin to ask his son? The more insight we can get, the better.

           13 likes

      • richardofkent says:

        Prof Neil Ferguson of Imperial College stated that 2/3 of the people dying of Covid-19 would have died of underling health problems within the next 9 months.

        As a second point no one knows how deadly this virus is because they need to calculate the number of deaths due to coronavirus divided by the number of people who get the virus. Firstly the authorities are increasing the numerator by including everyone who they think may have the virus . Secondly the denominator can only be calculated by testing a large enough pool of people to see who has the antibodies which prove they have had the virus.

           17 likes

        • StewGreen says:

          @RichardOfKent counting raw deaths and the death rate is just for trendspotting
          You have to think about the QALYs that the victims have lost

          @UptoStuff asked where the BBC experts were
          “It could be that Covid-19 settles down and becomes no worse than ‘flu’ for everyone who doesn’t have existing respiratory problems.”
          I think that he means herd immunity, when for a society the effect is not so bad. Cos when loads of people have had it, there are loads of dead ends when the virus is active, so the case count goes down, and the NHS can keep on top of those that do .

             3 likes

      • Doublethinker says:

        Deborah,
        I too am totally confused about whether this virus is deadlier or more contagious than a strain of flu. In the final analysis the fate of Sweden will reveal the truth, provided of course it keeps to its herd immunity strategy. Have all politicians been panicked into lockdown by social media storms?
        The weekly cost of the lockdown around the world is staggering the thought this continuing for months boggles the mind. If it turns out that the Swedish strategy was just as effective at limiting deaths as the lockdown pursued by almost every other country , it may wake people up enough to question other modern so called global issues such as the climate change ‘crisis’, the benefits or other wise of mass migration, the widespread use of global supply chains by industry.

           14 likes

    • Khaa2091 says:

      I can only speak for my home counties hospital.

      We have currently opened a second ITU with an additional 20 patients. “Cold” ITU is running at about 2/3 of usual capacity, mainly because of the cancellation of surgeries (including cancer). We have about 100 patients (I haven’t seen todays figures as only just heading into work).

      A significant proportion of the ITU patients are young – i.e. everybody is going in all guns blazing – whereas many of the older patients would usually be palliated and not treated as aggressively.

      We are being told that next weekend is likely to be bad and trying to get everything in readiness for that. Watford had an emergency yesterday where they were losing oxygen pressure because of the demands of the system, implying very heavy use of ventilatory support.

         33 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      See the ONS graph and explanation I posted yesterday

      #2 Doctors/nurses don’t normally die of flu
      ..their deaths from Covid will impact down the line

         4 likes

  6. Fedup2 says:

    EG
    I share your frustration about the lack of relevant information about the ‘normal ‘ number of people who die for various reasons on the same day / week / month in previous years –

    To at least give an intelligent sight of what the effect of the Chinese virus really is .

    The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that the reason this information isn’t readily out there is that there is a ‘marginal ‘increase in numbers of people dying because they get the Chinese virus and may or may not have existing medical conditions .

    Your last question about the press conferences not being worth the questions is that the journos are the ego based political ones such as beff rigby and the idiot Peston – and the medical journos who might be expected to have a clue – whereas the poltical journos just want a gotcha moment …

       49 likes

    • Emmanuel Goldstein says:

      Fed up,
      I think she should stick to picking up the rice in the Church where a wedding has been.

         27 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        EG
        She always looks like she should be wearing the face that she keeps In a jar by the door…

           29 likes

  7. Zelazek says:

    EG,
    You are asking the right questions and have said almost exactly what I have been thinking.

    I am no scientist and I haven’t felt qualified to express an opinion in recent weeks. But from my reading I also get the feeling that this whole thing has been hyped up to absurd levels. The important figures, as Sucharit Bhakdi has said, are the figures of those who have died FROM the coronavirus and those who have died WITH the coronavirus but from other primary causes. And what the true comparison with deaths from flu in previous years really is.

    I can’t help but think we are destroying many of our businesses unnecessarily, we are wrecking the economy and passing on a monumental debt to future generations. A collapsed economy will cause much more harm in the long run than this virus, whatever the true figures are. Our leaders don’t seem to have the imagination to realise this.

       63 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Sadly it appears that David Lammy hasn’t been elevated to the shadow labour Home Secretary – guido has the list which include s Lisa Nando’s ( spelling )at shadow foreign secretary ….. waiting in the wings for the top job …..

      It seems the BBC really don’t like the health secretary – today they cut off the first 10 minutes of the daily briefing ‘for technical reasons ‘ . ……

         29 likes

      • AndyDozefeet says:

        I know. Isn’t it rich!?

        The bbbc spends all its energies in criticising the government over its poor planning and lack of preparedness for a global flu pandemic but couldn’t get its own house in order to broadcast the daily briefing. One job it had and it failed.

           64 likes

  8. Fedup2 says:

    France 24 names the Sudanese’ refugee ‘/illegal who slaughtered 2 people yesterday in the name of allah as “Abdallah A.-O.“ – he was arrested without a fight because he was on his knees praying – according to that source .

    These Norwegians have funny practices don’t they ….. ?

       49 likes

  9. Zelazek says:

    Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, Catherine Calderwood, is warned by police after making an inessential journey to her second home. She has apologised. Classic case of do as I say, not as I do. She clearly understands the advice she has been giving out is codswallop.

       41 likes

    • Eddy Booth says:

      Wonder who provided the photo of Calderwood, out walking, some kindly neighbour maybe.
      Guess it’s ok to have multiple homes in a housing crisis, but not a health one.

         32 likes

      • Scroblene says:

        What about all those empty holiday homes in Tuscany then…

        Will any BBC autocue-reader ask Polly and Bliar that question?

        Answers on a chinese face-mask please.

           24 likes

    • JimS says:

      Second homes need looking after too. It doesn’t take long before an unused house becomes run-down, drips of water become floods, broken fences lead to break-ins, break-ins to arson etc.

         16 likes

  10. theleftwilleatitself says:

    Sorry if it’s been brought up, but have any al beeb presenters/journalists (activists) agreed to take a pay cut or donate a salary % at the moment, considering some of them are doing bugger all at the minute? ????
    I fear I know the answer and I’m also aware of what old jug-ears is doing ????

       54 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      theleft, there are claims that Premier League footballers (and I guess Beeboids) should not be forced to take pay cuts because that will stop much needed taxes going to the NHS.

      (Norfolk sceptic) ” Yeahherr, roightt!”

      PL footballers, ‘Luvvies’ and others, including BBC presenters on sports programmes (“Oh, hallo Gabby, didn’t see you there”) are famous for Service Company schemes, off-shoring and tax avoidance schemes that may be legal.

      Or not.

         39 likes

    • Scroblene says:

      I think Linekar has offered two months ‘wages’.

      But that’s only because I asked him to.

         21 likes

  11. Doobster78 says:

    Well well well. BBC news bulletin earlier. Reporter out in London park checking if lots of people out as per reports.

    Good news. Park quiet. Some people there , working out, exercising adhering to the rules. Well done them .

    And who better for the BBC to single out to speak too about this positivity…..

    A male, black , NHS worker !!!!!

    It’s that BBC random selector machine at work again !!!! The same used by Fiona Bruce on the antique roadshow !!!

    If this black, NHS worker was flouting the rules, would they have pulled him up ????? I think we know the answer.

       67 likes

  12. Halifax says:

    Channel 4 introducing news with a women in a hijab…..I’m screaming at the telly…..off it goes.

       64 likes

  13. LastChanceSaloon says:

    Not BBC related.
    Another special thank you to Fedup2 for his virtually round-the-clock moderating.
    Your unstinting efforts are noticed, are appreciated.
    I believe that whatever the disagreements, and they do exist, between the regulars on BBBC, it is next to never that the big picture is overlooked while dissecting the minutiae.
    The enemy is known to all, and, with very rare exceptions, is always in our sights.
    If required, and it probably will be, we need to add our names to those who ensured that our descendants might say “this was their finest hour”.

       48 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Hear, hear. Agreed.

         20 likes

      • Scroblene says:

        Fed has to put up with all sorts of dross, most from me, and he is an amiable chap.

        I know this site has to deviate from the awful BBC trash sometimes, but as they’re doing so little in W1AA these days, it begs the question – if they can’t hack it, hand it all over to a firm whch can, or maybe just try and do it all on subscription!

           24 likes

    • taffman says:

      And a job very well done !
      From the people of the West of these Great Islands .

         18 likes

    • Emmanuel Goldstein says:

      I think we should all go outside at 8 and clap for Fed.

         34 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        EG and others
        Very touched by your thoughts – I’d encourage every one – every hour – to spend 5 minutes clapping me . When your hands get tired pots and pans will do the job . ….
        Let’s just get the BBC finished . The Chinese virus will be gone in a while but the BBC will still be there … for a bit longer . Another common enemy .

           39 likes

  14. taffman says:

    “Government guidance says people should only exercise once a day – alone or with those they live with”.
    Do we really need to see Sophie Raworth going for a run around London. Did the cameraman need to be out with her ?
    From the horse’s mouth……………….
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-52155029

       36 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      taffman, was she running between her first and second homes?

         32 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Taffman – thanks for your comment . I saw the Sophie – pics – I think -,at the end – she slaps a copyright on them saying that she took them . The BBC droids tend to live ‘out west ‘ – the posh bit of Londonistan whilst plebs like me are in the East .

      Back in the day the air quality in the East – and life expectancy- was far worse in the East oh Londonistan . Add to that the town planning which the Luftwaffe achieved – leaving the west mainly untouched but flattening the East and you have a story …..

      As for the Chinese virus – I think the worst affected are 3 in the Northwest – but I’m sure the likes of Lambeth and Southwark will be catching up as ‘stay indoors’ disciple diminishes ….

         20 likes

      • taffman says:

        Fedup2
        Granted but how did she manage to toke the photograph of herself running ?

           13 likes

        • Fedup2 says:

          Taffman – it was me – you got me there ! On a serious note – twitter reports BoJo admitted to hospital for ‘tests’ – he looked – ….worn out …..

             12 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        North-east, please, Fed. 🙂 And a lovely part of London, too. Had a bit of a hankering for Epping Forest yesterday, while I was tapping in London Boroughs into the Covid Counter.

        Biology teacher asks pimply class of 14 year olds “How do you avoid acne?”

        Hands shoot up.

        “Change at Walthamstow, Miss.”

           16 likes

  15. Guest Who says:

    Sweeney! wants a second go.

    I’ll bet.

       9 likes

  16. taffman says:

    Just how serious is Matt Hancock and the government taking this coronavirus ‘lockdown’ ?
    While other EU countries close their borders our so called Border Force is bringing them in. “All were taken to Dover where they underwent medical checks and were passed to immigration officials, a government spokesman said” ……………………
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-52167277

    Its time the Royal Navy along with The Royal Marines were
    brought in to sink their illegal boats . Their job is to defend our shores .
    The previous Home Secretary called a similar incursion a “Major Incident”…………..
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46705128

    Lessons to be learned by our new tough Home Secretary ?

       57 likes

    • taffman says:

      Question: Are Tory MPs in touch with their constituents . Do they communicate with the man in the street and take heed of what the public opinion is?

         33 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      taffman

      I am afraid I have given up hope with regard to our tough Home Secretary.

         31 likes

      • taffman says:

        G.W.F.
        Time for The Brexit Party to tool-up and mobilise again !
        What more could we ask , they are Anti Al Beeb , Anti The EU and pro the people of Great Britain.

           29 likes

    • G says:

      Taffman, (Oh! he of short memory), Treason May signed us up to the UN Migration Compact and I’ve not heard that its principles have been suspended – by any country. Not that I would expect to hear anything from our, Worlds Most Trusted “Beauty”.

         15 likes

  17. G.W.F. says:

    Just heard the Queen’s Speech. Shame the media revealed the contents first, as if they could not rely on her to communicate. Perfect delivery. If only the many celebrities who have been bombarding us with advice on the virus could match her clarity and pronunciation.

       58 likes

    • JimS says:

      I was disappointed to hear that she had been given a virtue signaller’s message to read out, complete with dubbed-in BBC sound clip with Corbyn cans.

      I have no sense of unity with can-bangers, rainbow-painters, tea light-lighters, traffic light florists and Imagine pianists.

      It has been nice though to exchange greetings and have a conversation or two with fellow inmates as we tramp along the trip wire, expecting at any moment to hear ‘Achtung’ and the rattle of machine gun fire from one of the Health Secretary’s fleet of ‘drones’.

         34 likes

    • Zelazek says:

      G.W.F.
      I agree with all of that.

      At moments like these, the monarch plays an important role in the life of the nation. In this speech the Queen has given expression to the feelings of the people and become a focus for their resolve. She did a great job.

      Contrast Her Majesty with Harry and Meghan. The Sussexes could have found a fulfilling function for themselves rallying the country during the coronavirus crisis. But now when the British people need the kind of compassion, reassurance and encouragement that royals are in a unique position to bring, these two self-centred twits are nowhere to be seen. They deserve to be forgotten about.

         42 likes

      • BRISSLES says:

        I had the same thoughts as GWF, the media decided to publish and relay most of the speech before we heard it first hand from her Maj herself. WHY ?? These sort of messages should have remained under wraps for maximum impact.

        Also I’ve noticed that most of the journos who appear on press reviews are not fans of the monarchy or are downright republicans. Strangely its mainly the females ie Sonia Sodha, Rachel Shabi, Christina Patterson, Yasmin Alibaba, have all admitted to being anti-monarchy. I wonder, is it a requisite to be of this mindset to become a writer/author/journalist ? Or is it their ‘uni’ background where the republican seeds were sown.

           27 likes

  18. Deborah says:

    Antiques Roadshow Sunday evening, fragrant Fiona guessing which brooch was good, which better and which best. Like every programme this season there was one black man placed strategically in the centre of the group. She asked the opinion of two other people first but then to the black guy. So as usual this series, a large number of people in a virtually all white crowd and she asks a black person every time.

       83 likes

    • taffman says:

      Deborah
      Perhaps she has some kind of fetish ?

         41 likes

      • john in cheshire says:

        Perhaps she’s been taking lessons from the wife of the diminutive ex-speaker of the HoC.

           18 likes

    • Oldspeaker says:

      Agreed D, personally couldn’t care less about the person with the ‘antique’ (parameters stretched these days). It’s being continually spoon fed obviously contrived charades that is objectionable. Antiques Roadshow much to highbrow for me, prefer Flog It.

         21 likes

    • BRISSLES says:

      Is it the same black guy ? perhaps he travels around with them like a placement product.

         44 likes

    • Foscari says:

      Deborah-I wouldn’t be surprised that BIG BROTHER from
      the diversity dept of the BBC has instructed the
      Antiques Roadshow and every outside broadcasting with
      the general public has got to adhere to this “identity”
      diversity.
      Call me paranoid , but I could swear that the BBC have hired
      a “burka” lady to answer topical questions in the street,
      outside train stations. Even on the beach. But honestly
      the things we see week after week on the Antiques Roadshow
      start to make you paranoid.Then there are the internet pictures.
      As far as the BBC is concerned that song about the melting
      pot has completely come into fruition in the UK so far as
      the BBC is concerned. Maybe it’s a good thing and we
      Deborah are just a load of paranoid racists? But we are not
      say the Domenican Republic yet where only about 13%
      of the population are white. But watching BBC is very similar to watching presentation on TV in the Domenican Republic.

         38 likes

      • G says:

        Fos,

        Most sensible people have an inbuilt sense of when something, ‘goes against the grain’. So it must be with the Black & Asian Broadcasting Corporations ubiquitous efforts to suggest that the black and asian population of this country constitutes > than 50% of the population. They must feel pretty helpless in that realisation. So, as they intensify the viewers/listeners exposure to their propaganda, even more people will resent them.

           29 likes

  19. Foscari says:

    Let’s wait for the next facetious comment about
    Boris Johnson from Laura Kuensberg.

       40 likes

  20. Doobster78 says:

    So, Boris is in hospital (get well soon Boris).

    However, only 15 minutes after the news has broke, this fella on BBC news channel, is DESPERATE to make this into a story about potential confusion in the top ranks as too how the Government will function.

    It’s clear, Dominic Raab takes over. Simple.

    That doesn’t stop this shower of lefty charlatans trying to muddy the waters , completely unnecessarily . Wouldn’t be surprised to see the BBC pushing the idea of a government of national unity on the back of this.

    They won’t miss a trick , not now their new darling Kier is in the picture. Watch this space.

       61 likes

    • taffman says:

      Doobster78
      The Labour Party can’t unify themselves let alone form a government of unity. They are a troop of clowns and fools totally out of touch with the working people of this nation, eg Brexit.

         38 likes

    • BRISSLES says:

      Oh yes, Kier. The politician who is to politics what Steve Davis was to snooker. Able, but boring, with the personality of a fence post.

         41 likes

    • G says:

      Doob,
      ‘A Government of National Unity’? That would make extending the Transition Period easy peasy.

         12 likes

  21. taffman says:

    Some stabbings going on in Liverpool that Al Beeb is not telling us about ?
    Anyone ?

       25 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Actually bbc local radio did
      Here’s info from commercial @RadioCityNews
      #UPDATE on #TOXTETH #Liverpool shooting and stabbings Saturday night.
      Three people have been arrested following 3 assaults in 20 minutes.
      19yo man stabbed in head
      20yo man shot in hip
      17yo boy stabbed in buttocks

         11 likes

  22. Jeff says:

    I can’t quite believe the attitude of some media commentators regarding the Chinese virus.
    Okay, Piers Morgan, a podgy gobster with illusions of adequacy ranting about people daring to walk in public is hardly shocking. This boring buffoon just loves the sound of his own voice. But it’s some of the others that worry me.
    I had LBC radio on earlier and it was very disquieting experience. The presenter was interviewing a spokesman from the NHS (come on, applaud!) and kept asking questions about even more infringements upon our liberties. “In Italy they need a pass to go shopping, do you think we’re too soft here?” And “What sort of penalties should there be?” He really sounded as though he relished people being punished for walking their dogs or snoozing on the grass. The whole tone of the questioning was completely unBritish. It made me, as I often do these days, think of East Germany.
    Yesterday across the media there has been vociferous and unanimous condemnation because there were a few people enjoying the sunshine in Brockwell Park. I’ve seen the photos and nearly everyone was obeying the two metre separation rule.
    However, also yesterday, a few miles away in Stockwell, two people were stabbed to death.
    Where’s the outrage?

       55 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Jeff the Stockwell murders were not on Saturday
      but on on the afternoon of Wednesday 1 April.

      “Daniel Briceno-Garcia, 44, of Dorset Road, SW8 has been charged with the murder of a 59 year old man and a 56 year old woman.
      Both of the victims were stabbed to death at an address on Dorset Road, #Stockwell “

         12 likes

      • Jeff says:

        Blimey, that’s shocking. I know Dorset Road really well. As a boy I used to live in the next street.
        It was a “rough and ready” sort of place when I was a lad. We’d see the occasional scrap outside a pub, but murder!!
        The times they are a-changing…

           18 likes

  23. Nibor says:

    I really don’t think these illega…. migrants in Calais are taking our government seriously .
    They’re not keeping two metres apart . Look at those boats , packed all in . Surely the BBC could send a helicopter to video this breach of rules .

    Antifa are a bit disconcerted about USA scientists saying everyone should wear face masks . How can they tell each other apart from the normal people if everyone looks like them ?
    Dave Cameron , a former Social Democrat leader of the Conservative party has cancelled his Hug a Hoody retro party and is keeping two metres away from everyone else by taking a husky sleigh to look at ice in the Arctic .

    The police want more guidance from the government . Should they enforce the new lockdown laws with the vigour of hate crimes , or allow a lot of laxity as with burglary and shoplifting ?
    The Home Office thought it would make things clearer about how serious the emergency situation is by letting criminals out of jail .
    Kia Starmer ( sir IKEA ) has announced he will work with the government to get over this crisis by sniping at the government’s actions to date . He wants to modernise the Labour party’s attitude to Jews , so he’s denounced the Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion .
    The LibDems hope that the lockdown will last past the conference season , so they will look as popular as the rest .
    There are murmurings from some of the population that they want the lockdown to continue indefinitely , at least until the virus , Greta , Extinction Rebbellion and Anna Soubry are finally done away with on the BBC .

       47 likes

    • G says:

      Nibor,
      “Antifa are a bit disconcerted about USA scientists saying everyone should wear face masks . How can they tell each other apart from the normal people if everyone looks like them ?”

      Wait for it! Wait for it!
      Only 3/4 weeks ago, our ‘Worlds Most Trusted’ embarked on a campaign for plasters (medical) to be both brown and pink. Its only a matter of time before our own, ‘Beauty’ starts banging on about the inbuilt discrimination for a good proportion of NHS staff and the colour of their masks. What about gowns etc, I say.
      I hope I’ve not inadvertently given the BBC another dross idea in this contribution…………..

         22 likes

  24. Dystopian says:

    Not the BBC, but a lefty rag.
    The Mirror website reports on a temporary morgue being made available by the RAF Upper Hayford “with shelves for children’s bodies”.
    I find that pretty damn disgusting reporting, especially when we are told that only a handful of children have died from Covid19 thus far.

       49 likes

  25. Nibor says:

    Theresa May on her acceptance speech – if you are black , you are more likely to go to jail !

    So Therasa , if you are black , are you more likely to be let out of jail now ?
    And what do the Black ” community ” make of these criminals released early to join them ?
    White Woke or normal realist ?

       24 likes

  26. Celtic_Mist says:

    I wonder what Reuters is trying to tell us?

       15 likes

  27. Celtic_Mist says:

    For the conspiracy theorists

       10 likes

  28. vlad says:

    “Coronavirus: India doctors ‘spat at and attacked'”

    “One video, which has gone viral, showed a mob throwing stones at two female doctors wearing personal protective equipment in the central city of Indore…”

    I wonder who did the spitting and stoning?

    Only far down into the report is it mentioned that one such incident happened ‘in a Muslim-dominated area’, as Al-beeb delicately puts it.

    And further down the article states that “meanwhile, a hospital in the northern city of Ghaziabad also witnessed unruly scenes on Thursday… Some were walking naked in the hospital ward and harassing women doctors and nurses.

    The hospital put at least 21 people in quarantine after they attended a religious event that has been linked to hundreds of positive cases across the country.”

    Mmm, I wonder what that ‘religious event’ might be?

    Oh look: “Thousands who attended the gathering in Delhi, organised by Islamic preaching group Tablighi Jamaat, have been put in quarantine, and authorities are still tracing others. It is believed that the infections were caused by preachers who attended the event from Indonesia.”

    So we learn that muslims have been spreading the disease by attending large gatherings despite the lockdown, AND then attacking medical staff who try to help them.

    More on Tablighi Jamaat in the vid below.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-52151141

       29 likes

  29. Guest Who says:

    BBC Moaning Emole

    ****

    Families in lockdown feel the psychological tension

    We may never forget the coronavirus lockdown. But are we still going to be talking to each other at the end of it? Because apart from worries about the virus, there are likely to be rising tensions in some families having to live on top of one another at home. In ordinary times, couples spend on average two-and-a-half hours together each day, says researcher into relationships Prof Jacqui Gabb of the Open University. But that was in the BC era (before coronavirus).

    Read full analysis >

    Sean Coughlan
    BBC family and education correspondent

    ***
    The BBC has a correspondent for everything, and a speaking for the nation ‘take’ in complement. At least the ‘some’ creeps in in the copy.

    Sean is a tool. A BBC one (broadcasting bollux constantly).

    Jacquie has quite the gift. Given Professors from Oxbridge aired on Aunty appear mostly vile, nuts or both, securing one from the OU shows real progress.

    Maybe she was researching bbc sack of rats relationships, where understandably partners try to limit exposure to a minimum?

       21 likes

  30. Fedup2 says:

    Now that a wealthy Remainer QC ( is there a poor one ?) has become leader of the Labour Party – will it push to rejoin the EU – together with its friends in the media ?
    There are two arguments –

    1.more borders and less EU is necessary to safeguard National Populations – free movement is too dangerous

    2 more EU is necessary to provide aid to nations badly hit and the virus doesn’t recognise national borders .

    Take yer pick . We know which one the BBC would favour . Views about the EU are so entrenched that perhaps even Chinese pandemics won’t affect beliefs .

    But I get the feeling that the sheer volume of victims in Italy and Spain will have an effect on their continued membership having witnessed Germany blocking financial aid and EU support .

    However the respective nations ‘ political class will be ‘ alright ‘ and well aboard the EU gravy train so maybe not much will change .

       29 likes

    • Doublethinker says:

      Of course it will but it may not articulate it in public, just as Blair kept secret his plot to import millions of third worlders. The BBC will praise Sir Keir at every turn , so wise, so clever, so genuine , so respected by other leaders, so decisive etc etc. In the absence of his own, the BBC will even create a personality for Sir Keir .All the time the plotting to get us back in the EU will continue in the bastions of Remainerdom, the civil service, the legal profession, MSM, universities and large sections of the financial sector.
      The pandemic couldn’t have happened at a worse time regarding Brexit , I’m afraid the Remainer elite may still win the war, it isn’t over yet.

         39 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Fed, third argument:

      With massive debts after the Covid-19 thing is over, can we afford to pay an annual sum of £22/23/24/25 billion to have our trade restricted, our imports increased in price and our lives – including our tax system – regulated from outside the UK?

      Think the answer on that one is easy.

         24 likes

  31. Sluff says:

    Kate Silverton on BBC news yesterday was noticeably smiling when she announced Keir Starmer as the New Dear Leader.

       39 likes

    • Deborah says:

      As I switched on, I think Radio 4 news at 1pm yesterday, the female in the studio was discussing the Labour leader with, I thought someone from the Party, until at the end she closed off her interview with ‘Caroline “ and I realised it was another BBC bod. They think the Party has returned to their liberal fold.

         24 likes

  32. Sluff says:

    The esteemed editor of this esteemed website, having allowed me to so comment many times, decided to censor my description of the BBC as s***stirring yesterday. Problem is that such a description so aptly describes the BBC, and especially Toady’s, whole raison d’être.
    Knob Rickinson was at it again this morning but in the Mayor of Birmingham, Andy Street, he met his match. Mr. Street was nominally on to talk about coronavirus preparations in Birmingham, but straight after a doctor had done the same. Clearly The Knob was hoping to identify some discrepancies in order to embarrass but could not. Then The Knob moved on in the usual tactical way to ‘something else’ – which was Boris Johnson’s health. Street batted away the questions calmly and efficiently leaving The Knob’ s transparent tactics in tatters.
    A rather pleasing interview but not for the reasons desired by the (description of excrement deleted)- stirring BBC.

       42 likes

    • JamesArthur says:

      Sluff
      I switched on Breakfast this morning ( for a short while – as much as I can stand) and can only agree with your description…not a positive comment..
      But they have welcomed the new Labour team with open arms – the new shadow chancellor seems nice but from her bio she seems to have only worked 7 years (in education) before becoming an MEP in 2014 then an MP in 2017 …so brings a wide experience with her….

         22 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Sluff
      The reason I edit language is not because I am offended by any word and also think that many readers are robust enough not to swoon at the sight of a word with 4 letters .
      The word you used was quite mild in my opinion . But as I understand it some search engines have filters which prevent wider access to sites like this if they find particular language .

      And part of the campaign to end the BBC is to make sites like this and others like ‘ is the BBC biased ‘ more well known so that many more people can see the BBC for what it is – and hence revolt against it .

      In my own life I am exceptionally fond of the most nasty of ‘bad’ words but I withhold them on the internet – this site .

      If I owned my own blog I would let users F and C and B and this and that to their hearts’ content – but I dont – and never will .
      Hope this helps . As far as the internet is concerned nothing is personal my name isn’t Fedup . Yours isn’t sluff . But it’s easy to take it that way – something which I sometimes do but then step away and think “how ridiculous “ because to those of a certain age – it is possible to live without the internet – I’m my views…

         38 likes

  33. StewGreen says:

    9am R4 Kirsty Wark discusses the genetic superiority of women with the scientists
    Sharon Moalem (he’s a man) talks about women having better immunity and longer lives

    and Gina Rippon saying it’s a myth brains are different
    … hmm most people I know who cannot read a map are female. etc.

       26 likes

  34. Doobster78 says:

    Laura showing why we pay her the big bucks.

       46 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Takes one back to the days when her talents were first recognised on twitter, announcing Ed Miliband leaving rooms to the dismay of all present, entering rooms like a god, and taking trains.

      Wicked skills, both.

         23 likes

  35. JamesArthur says:

    Wow….R4…a discussion on why women are superior to men….
    so they have a manow ( a woke man) and a female neuroscientist – and their first logic is that more women are surviving CV19 than men.. ergo they are right ( duh..I can list conditions to which women are more susceptible )

    I wonder if they would have a programme that espouses men are superior to women? I doubt it..
    why can’t these knobs just accept we are different – not better or worse just different…

    BBC narrative at its best…
    Sorry Stew just seen your earlier post

       37 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      JA, historically women have been weaker than men – at something that men just cannot do – and have needed the intervention of men [and women 🙂 ] in science & medicine, to improve that fatal weakness in women: death during or following childbirth.

      Thereafter a wise creator (OK, let’s call him God) would ensure that built into a woman would be slightly better survival for offspring. Hence, different body fat (against cold – can keep baby warm), different emotional response (hungry baby – that only women can feed naturally) different other emotions (patience, as children grow up!) and a natural ability to teach (essential for those early years). It is interesting what the Bible has to say on that matter, especially at the start of a 40 year odyssey throughout a bit of the Middle East.

         12 likes

    • JimS says:

      This interview with ‘feminist’ and some-time promoter of women, Dr Warren Farell on ‘The Boy Crisis’ is well worth watching.

      He now believes that boys and girls need the presence of fathers and even if the parents don’t live together they should live near enough for the children to easily see both.

      Men and women naturally behave differently in their treatment of children, fathers will encourage ‘rough play’ and only intervene when it becomes too extreme, Children learn that there are consequences to their actions and that they negotiate their place with others – they don’t get to have their own way all the time!

      Another interesting observation: Fathers set later bed-times than mothers but children go to bed earlier under the father’s regime than the mother’s – Dad says you can play a computer game but you will go to bed at 9:30, Mum says you will go to bed at 9:00, the child says, “I just need to finish this level”, and Mum says, “OK”, and the child thinks, “Maybe I can negotiate another level?”.

      The child that did’t go to bed under Dad’s 9:30 rule gets told the following day, “You broke our agreement so tonight you go to bed now and you don’t get to play any computer games” Mum’s child learns that there are no limits to what it can ask for; Dad’s child learns about obligations to others.

         12 likes

  36. JamesArthur says:

    Sorry to hog but R4 on why women are better than men…The chap is okay, actually using science in his arguments, quite balanced but the neuroscientist is clearly a misandrist…

    She can only see negative examples to suit her argument..used X-Files as an example but completely incorrectly…I am guessing she is a psychologist by initial training – her rhetoric is consistent with most I know – and they all wanted to become neuroscientists…I may be wrong…
    I can see why she is a favourite on BBC

       14 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      JA, you have piqued my interest now – I may have to listen to the repeat. Until now I have, apart from about 35 minutes, had a BBC free morning.

         5 likes

      • JamesArthur says:

        Up2
        Glad to pique anything these days… 🙂

        Seems she was a psychologist who realised most of what she was doing was wrong or the fault of men so went down neuroscience path… yes I am cynical having studied it ….

           3 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Yes I was just coming to post
      The first is this prog broke BBC 2020 conventions that only groupthink scientists are allowed on.
      It was like the old days, the listener benefitted greatly from having opposite sides on and therefore clear informed challenges.

      Gina Rippon’s premise is that brainscience is rooted in those nasty prejudiced Victorian men that thought women were inferior (easy to say cos it’s plausible and those men are note here to defend themselves)
      She said things like “the difference in size of male and female brains is almost entirely to do with the physical size of their body)

      Sharon Moalem right from the beginning explained every cell in a male is XX and in a female is XY, thus men have one set of DNA and females have 2
      Thus when she got to her bit about the structure of female and male brains being the same, he was able to but in and say
      “at a cellular level the female brain and male brain are different .. there is no way of getting away from that”

      There is a heap of diseases that mostly only affect men.
      Lupus was an example of disease that mostly only affects women.
      They mentioned that female babies are generally more resilient than males.

      There has been a problem with some medicine testing, cos in the past they only used males.
      Now they just found out that for one disease, the medicine works for females, but not for males.
      It seems to imply that females may benefit as drugs corps go back and retest some old proposed medicines and see if they do work for women.

         14 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        Triggered ?

           9 likes

      • Piku says:

        “Sharon Moalem right from the beginning explained every cell in a male is XX and in a female is XY, thus men have one set of DNA and females have 2”

        No, that’s nonsense. In Homo sapiens, XY = male, XX = female.

           8 likes

        • StewGreen says:

          OK My error as.. I tried to explain quickly
          Sharon Moalem right from the beginning explained every cell in a male is XY and in a female is XX
          and thus men have one set of DNA
          and females have 2 cos they have 2 different sets of Xs

             7 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        Stew, someone on BBC R4 last week when discussing the higher male mortality to Covid-19 explained that women carry all the eggs (future babies, pre-menopause) that they can ever have. Men are locked and loaded rather differently.

           7 likes

      • Zelazek says:

        I was wondering if they would get on to the implications for men who think they are women. But I didn’t stay with it.

           9 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        One thing that came up
        was when someone in a dress turns up at a women’s hospital and says “I identify as a woman”
        The medics have to ask “No, are you a biological woman or not ? cos that makes a difference to the medicine we give you”

           21 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          Meds sometimes have to be matched to body weight & metabolic rate as well.

             5 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        Re Lupus : half a lot of medical problems are due to auto-immune attacks as your own body attacks itself
        Women cos they have stronger immune systems are particularly prone
        “Women have a higher incidence of autoimmune disease, particularly MS”

           11 likes

        • BRISSLES says:

          I have suffered with Lupus since 1993 – when it was initially thought to be ‘yuppy flu’ , remember that one ?

          Yes, it is amongst the auto immune family, and it is primarily females that are diagnosed with it. There is more awareness of it in the States, more so than when I was first diagnosed, but at least clinicians now are more up to speed with it here.

          As a sufferer, I have been prescribed Hydroxychloroquine for many years along with Methotrexate as part of a cocktail, to alleviate the inflammation of the joints, and because this drug has had much publicity in recent days in clinical trials (along with others) as a possible ‘cure’ for Covid19, then there has been a rush in private prescriptions by members of the public to purchase it. (I hope they were told that eye tests were necessary beforehand).

          Today I have experienced the results of this drug rush. My local pharmacy could not fill my script as they had none, and were unable to tell me when they could get new stocks. This sent me on a hunt around the pharmacies in the next town, where I eventually got some.

          Careless throwaway lines by heads of state – yes you Mr Trump when you first mentioned it, and the press in writing huge articles, have no idea the repercussions it can cause for those who are reliant and are regular users of a drug that can ease their symptoms.

             6 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Funny thing but I was thinking, during the time I wasn’t listening to TOADY (I missed most of it*), about someone who I haven’t heard on BBC R4 since, I think, 2018: Professor Steve Jones.

      I wonder if he has done something to become persona non grata to the BBC like Dr David Bellamy and some others?

      [ * Quite pleasant that was, missing most of it. 🙂 ]

         14 likes

  37. StewGreen says:

    Mike Yardley tweeted

    Blair just on @BBCRadio4 now.
    The carefully worded intro sounded as if he’d written it himself.
    Blair and Campbell have extraordinary access to the BBC – why?
    There are a dozen or so others of which the same might be said.
    The @BBC is not equally open to all. #StateBroadcster

       37 likes

  38. G says:

    “China got Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, to say that China’s response to the coronavirus showed the “superiority of the Chinese system and this experience is worthy of emulation by other countries.”

    Music to the ears of our Marxist State Broadcaster, aka, “The Worlds Most Trusted”.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15845/china-fake-news-coronavirus

    But, “…..a second wave”?

       22 likes

  39. StewGreen says:

    Diversity Radio 4
    .. would be not pushing the same narrow sets of agendas again and again

       14 likes

  40. Up2snuff says:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52125309

    The BBC will be saying we should keep Kosher, next!

       6 likes

  41. Foscari says:

    There is an amusing tweet on Paul Joseph Watson’s Twitter
    account. Maybe one of you who is more computer
    literate than me can download it.
    On it the Derbyshire police are driving around and singing
    a rap on their loudspeakers. It begins ” DON’T BE AFRAID
    WE ARE THE POLICE, WE COME IN PEACE!!!!” It’s hilarious.
    Well they don’t open their windows and start shooting at
    anybody who’s not two meters apart.

       23 likes

    • Doobster78 says:

         10 likes

  42. Up2snuff says:

    The mid-west and west coast USA numbers have been added overnight to the Johns Hopkins Uni chart: eastern approx 3,000, mid-west & west approx 11,000.

    Not mentioned on the BBC News at 7 a.m..

    I wonder why?

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-51235105

       7 likes

  43. StewGreen says:

    Talk Radio : 65 yo caller
    calls to say he was intimidated by 5 drunk Romanians
    He tried phoning 101 but after 10 mins couldn’t get through.
    (To be fair I expect they all live in the same house/hostel)

    He added that his friend saw a load of them playing football in the park .. and did get through to the police ..who said they might come down.

    The presenter completely ignored the fact he was talking about foreigners and started banging on about sunbathers.

       31 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Sheffield newspaper

         15 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        Page Hall in Sheffield seems well out of control
        And residents have received a letter from Royal Mail who say they are experiencing issues in delivering mail to the area as residents “congregating in the street”,
        are preventing staff from being able to maintain an appropriate social distance.

           20 likes

        • StewGreen says:

          resident.., claims it is the area’s Roma Slovak population who are causing issues and are putting others at risk of contracting coronavirus by not adhering to the government’s rules as set out by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

          He said: “All the Roma Slovak community are just carrying on as normal; driving round in their cars, going into different properties and visiting friends, they’re out on the street, and the kids are playing on the street.

          “All you have to do is drive around Page Hall, especially at the shops, there’ll be about 30 people stood there ignoring social distancing.

             31 likes

      • G says:

        Yorkshire Police?
        That’s the country’s main, proactive force isn’t it?

           16 likes

  44. Up2snuff says:

    I know nothing about the capabilities of Dr Catherine Calderwood, Scotland’s erstwhile CMO, but could it be possible that Scotland has lost a very good CMO at a time of great medical need, purely because of media attention?

       21 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Up2 – once upon a time I’d have adopted the ‘instant dismissal ‘ approach which the kidult media now screams – and achieved .

      But now – as this isn’t the worst sin in the world – I’d say keep the character doing what she is doing – but obviously not public facing any more for her benefit as anyone’s …..

      I say that knowing that the media would just keep screaming at crankie – which in normal times would be fun – but times are to serious for that now –

      With clear evidence that elderly folk in care homes are at severe risk . The media would prefer a ‘gotcha ‘ though .

         20 likes

    • Lord Blagger says:

      No they lost her because of her hypocrisy. The elites view that the rules only apply to the plebs.

         17 likes

    • Lord Blagger says:

      No they lost her because of her hypocrisy. The elites view that the rules only apply to the plebs.

         7 likes

    • JamesArthur says:

      Cant agree on this one Up2

      I doubt she was doing any front line work and as such she above all had to not only do what she is recommending but beeb seen to do it.
      If she had gone to check on the house by herself then maybe I could say ok but she took the family and did it twice and lied about it.

      So this time a hypocrite gets her comeuppance – but we all know that she will be given a similar job behind the scenes…

         17 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        LB & JA, sure agree with both but was just pointing out a downside. I also think it may not be helpful to have media scrutiny following you in an hours drive (or was it a local stringer?) to get a photo.

        We are seeing the dangers of media (incl. BBC) now ruling UK:
        Feb: Why isn’t UK locked down
        Mar: Why is UK locked down, damage to economy will follow
        Apr: If people don’t obey lockdown increasing restrictions/penalties to follow

           13 likes

    • Van Helsing says:

      I rather doubt it, Up2. Her expertise lies not in the fields of epidmiology and virology but as an obstetrician and gynaecologist.

      Scotland does have a world-class expert (Hugh Pennington) in the relevant fields, but I understand that he’s not favoured by the SNP.

         16 likes

  45. AsISeeIt says:

    Received my corona virus leaflet from the Government this morning.

    That’s the first such letter from HM Govt since the one prior to the EU Referendum. You remember, the one that suggested the sky would fall in if we voted to Leave.

    Just saying….

       31 likes

    • G says:

      Asl,

      No post for > a week. Neither collections. I think the Post Office have given up. Shame it will deprive many employees of their joy in destroying the contents of parcels.

         15 likes

    • JimS says:

      Me too.

      ‘Stay in the house’, does that mean the garden is off-limits?

      One would think that this sort of leaflet would also reference the legal authority, what is ‘law’ and what is ‘advice’?

      Peter Hitchens has been saying much the same. The ‘Gov.UK’ website, as always, is very good at telling us what we should do but useless at telling us the must and why?

      It is almost as if they don’t actually want us to know the law or go to the trouble of actually making it.

      On my walk in the park a young lad was riding a motorbike with an even younger lad on the tank, neither was wearing a helmet.

      It is said that we all think that we would have joined the French resistance if we had been in that place and time. In reality it is probably only the ‘rule-breakers’, like those lads, that step up to the mark.

         6 likes

  46. G says:

    “….China has officially stated that it believes the peak of the current outbreak is over, its top scientists are still struggling to predict how the virus will behave from here.

    “No one knows whether the virus will disappear ultimately, or will it persist like flu and become prevalent intermittently, or will it be like hepatitis B that resides in people without sufficient immunity and spreads to others in that way?” said Wang Chen, the dean of Peking Union Medical College, in an interview with Xinhua on Friday.
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-18/as-china-virus-cases-near-zero-experts-warn-of-second-wave

    So, Sir Keir, what of your plan to demand the Government achieve, “transparency” and disclose their plans for the future in relation to this chinese virus and in particular, when the isolation is coming to an end.
    He’s not very bright is he?

       19 likes

    • Northern Dreamer says:

      The media all love a plan. However, in this case many different scenarios need to be looked at, taking into account new knowledge of the virus, social tensions, the economy etc, and this is a very fluid situation, plans must be flexible. There is no way a single plan can be put forward just yet, if the advice changes and the plan changes the government will be accused of not knowing what it’s doing and/or making U-turns. U-turns, a gift to journalists and opposition parties.
      Expect the bBBC on behalf of the Labour Party to ramp up the pressure for ‘A Plan’…….NOW!!

         17 likes

  47. Square-Eyed says:

    Not the BBC News

    At a White House news conference yesterday it was announced that President Trump had ordered 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).

    This is the anti-malaria drug that’s been around for fifty years. Although it’s been successful in combating Covid-19 in small-scale US scientific studies the NHS might be considering the possibility of conducting rigorous laboratory tests to see whether it has any usefulness. Or perhaps they aren’t.

    Isn’t it good that in Britain we have a world class health service to take care of us?

       31 likes

  48. Up2snuff says:

    I intended to, but forgot to wish everyone a happy New Tax Year.

    While it lasts.

    May not be so happy in October or November.

       16 likes

  49. countryblues says:

    News yesterday at lunchtime : 80% of UK children are suffering ‘mental health issues’ due to the lockdown.

    I was quite impressed that someone had managed to contact all the children in the UK AND managed to analyse their mental state…

       46 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      cb, Mum AND Dad home together (if a ‘conventional’ family), playing games with their children, watching videos, listening to music, occasional bursts of schoolwork with tea and biccies constantly supplied but no need for uniforms?

      They ought to be loving it.

      Maybe if a father is absent, then children will be having worries if they are well. Or if one or both parents work in the NHS and the children listen to too much BBC News.

         13 likes

  50. JamesArthur says:

    TWATO
    Could the BBC be any more blatant in their desire to see Boris taken from office?
    The same question to everyone using a variety of words – shouldn’t Boris stand down, how can he carry on, he has a lot to do how is it possible? Blah Blah..fortunately none of interviewees took the bait so they run out of ways to rearrange the same words
    BBC enemy of the State

       42 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      I switched off when Laura Part-time got going on her piece.

         17 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      The divine Ms. K is at it like a trooper. I wonder if she also overhears 3yo’s discussing the Lisbon Treaty like many sporting the ‘FBPE’ tag appear to.

         10 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Guessing Laura would see this a stateswomanship of the highest order.

           2 likes