Blah Blah

Boris U-turned, and it WAS a U-turn, because of pressure from a good chunk of his own MPs. Obfuscating about that, instead of calling it what it is, is part of the problem with political discourse.

As usual, Uncle doesn't address a single point being made but goes on another predictable 'everyone is a lefty' rant.

Being offered advice by science and choosing whether to take it, are two different things. Government is engaged in balancing public health vs economy and given that different political parties have different views on what matters most within an economy, it is only logical to argue that a different party or different leadership for that matter, may have had a different approach. Whether or not that would have led to different outcomes is unknowable. Boris himself said in an interview that he did not take the virus seriously enough in the beginning. HE said that. He also said that getting in and almost dying is what made him realise he was wrong. That is pretty clear for everyone to comprehend. We have the highest death toll in Europe for a reason. We need to understand why. My view is this. We have been impacted in exactly the same ways as every country that failed to respond fast enough in the beginning. We are seeing the same trajectories as everywhere else, with the same spread of age and demographic impact. There is only one differential. The speed and extent of response between countries. Lives absolutely could have been saved with an earlier response and better preparation. At the same time, lives absolutely were saved by the speed with which the NHS was geared up. But that all should have happened earlier. Lack of national stocks of PPE (something that should be in place at all times) absolutely lies at this government's door. They directed funding away from maintaining those supplies into no deal Brexit preparations. There is no getting away from that.

Again,. it just boils down to consideration doesn't it? When we last did noisy DIY, we liaised with our neighbours to find time slots that least impacted them. One had just had a new baby, the other worked shifts. It was not hard to do and we were able to find times when both were out. We even were given some nice wine for our consideration, and then invited them round to drink it :D. Life is much better when you get along with people, it really is.

Even with PPE, conditions won't be ideal. Dentists often never stop, esp if treating NHS patients where they are time limited, and PPE is hot and uncomfortable to work in. This is why tests that deliver results in minutes (be they antigen or viral) are needed asap. It is the ability of asymptomatic and incubating infected people to shed the virus that makes all of this very complicated. I think there needs to be some expert guidance on this to develop a policy for moving forward. We need dental treatment, even just the six month checkups, for good reason.

Boris has a track record of being poor on detail, so he finds any scenario where his is not controlling the narrative difficult. He will never be a match for Starmer at PMQ's for example because of that. The reason why a British woman is languishing in a prison term in Iran is also because he can not grasp details. He is invisible for the same reason any leader is invisible, because he is a liability who is prone to making stuff up on the hoof. He was no more visible before he got ill btw. Fundamentally, Boris is lazy, has never worked full time at anything and has winged it for most of his life. I personally thinks he finds the reality of being PM challenging and that is worrying because it invariably leads to an over reliance on advisors and ministers. Fine if you are surrounded by genuine talent. Bad if you are surrounded by mediocrity and narcissism.

If I were you I would call Guys and see if you can see an emergency dentist. If a filling is out, it risks exposing the nerve which will be far worse for pain than a sharp edge (probably caused by the filling taking a piece of the tooth with it). They may at the very least be able to get a dentist to call you back and discuss it. And edited to add that NHS services are still open for advice and emergencies. So do not worry about giving Guys a call. It is just a call and hopefully someone qualified will be able to assess you over the phone.

The London Mayors Office is a bit like a devolved government. So it has a limited range to set local policy, some of which regards how it spends the funding that comes from central government, and other monies it receives from taxpayers. Do we need it? Well the idea is to have a layer between local authorities and central government, in the same was as we used to have regional and metropolitan elected bodies. For me it makes sense in a city with 8 million residents to have an elected office that oversees the infrastructure and policies that pull all that together. That is what the London Assembly is also for. To hold the Mayor and his advisers to account. And just as we elect the Mayor, we also elect the Assembly Members.

What bothers me about the government strategy, is easing lockdown before they have an intensive test, track and trace system in place. By the time we get to that, the virus could already be on its way to another peak. We also need to understand why BAME people are disproportionately impacted. It is very easy for the public to have a false sense of security while that curve is flattened but if that R number rises above 1 again, we'll be back in lockdown. On enforcement, we just do not have enough police officers and wardens etc to do that effectively.

I have seen quite a few cars deliberately go through red lights lately, and the usual run of cyclists doing the same. I even had one car pull out of a stop line right in front of me, with no excuse for not having seen me. He actually continued moving as I was passing in front of his bonnet! My opinion is that the same people who think lock down rules don't apply to them, are the same people who think rules of the road don't apply to them. It's a attitude problem.

first mate Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Malumbu, fairly sure fox poo a whole lot nastier > in terms of pathogens than is dog poo! Not actually true. Both foxes and dogs originate from the same animal family, called canidae. Both dogs and foxes are carnivores and are susceptible to worms. Both also get fleas. Foxes can be treated for those things in the same way domestic dogs are.

Is that B&Q on Old Kent Road?

Maybe try giving Sopers a ring on Nunhead lane KK. They have the 2m rule on queuing in effect and even if they don't have it in, I am sure they can get what you want in. They are an old style fishmonger, so go to the fish market every morning. This is their phone number 020 7639 9729 Give them a call and tell them what you want. I am sure they can get it for you.

CLAIM warning ;)

PnB please give it up. You are neither funny nor clever. FYI I grew up on a farm, that my parents still own and farm. Foxes are neither vermin nor a pain in the ass if farmers take the right protective measures (as most farmers do). They have moved into urban areas because commercial farming has destroyed the hedgerows where the could find the small rodents they could live off. The biggest risk on farms is to chickens and guess what? Most farmers (if not all) have fox proof barns to keep their chickens safe. Have a chat with farmers dealing with mink....you'll soon see who the biggest predators are. Most people moaning about foxes in urban areas are more worried about fox poo in their gardens (as most townies do not keep chickens). Shooting a mother fox is cruel as her cubs may well be left to starve in their set. THAT is why it is illegal.

Deregulation of transport systems is another debate and one on which we would probably agree on a lot of things. Changes to concessionary travel is something government demanded in return for the ?1.6bn bailout they have just given to Tfl. Ultimately it will be tax payers who pay for that. The point here though is that it is the government who have forced this change, not the Mayor. Would a Labour government have made the same demands? Probably not. Life is going to get a bit more costly for all of us and sadly we have a government with a track record of making the poorest pay most. We shall see what happens.

seenbeen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > There are enough passengers on TFL to fund the > service if many people did not evade fares. Also > the free travel for kids has encouraged them to > hop on for 1 or 2 stops and their parents to > choose schools miles away.....does nothing to > combat obesity or cut down air pollution. > TFL fund the 60+ pass How about you provide the data that proves that instead of making stuff up because you want it to be true. Tfl were operating with a ?968 million deficit last year and an overall debt of ?11.7 billion. That just got a whole lot worse because of this pandemic. Some details here. Declining passenger numbers combined with increased running costs have been the trend for some years. https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2019/03/21/tfl-outlines-its-budget-for-2020-focusing-on-more-cost-cutting/

DulwichFox Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Khan has always claimed credit for the 'Freedom > Pass' Even if HE did not bring it in originally. > > But now.. All of a Sudden, The Freedom Pass has > Nothing to do with Him.. Out of His control. > > Hypocrite .. > > Need to get him out. Has too much Power. So your issue is that you just don't like Khan. Now answer the question I asked. How would any Mayor resolve the cost for a huge drop in passengers? Others have pointed out to you that government ordered concessions to stop (so they do not have to bail out Tfl too). It would help if you actually read replies to you and acknowledge the facts over your determination to have a go at Khan.

Tfl was already operating with a subsidy before the pandemic. Now that passenger numbers have dropped significantly, who has the means to fund the shortfall DF? It wouldn't matter who was Mayor, they would face the same issues.

I grew up on a farm that my parents still own. Even in the countryside, there is no need for animal cruelty. Foxes are a pest to chickens, so country folk build cages that protect them at night. Shooting a fox family in an urban area because they simply annoy you is unforgivable. There is always another way, hence my link to an organisation that can trap and relocate the fox family if necessary. Edited to add; The success of urban foxes is entirely down to the available of food vs diminishing country hedgerows. As a child, I learned to shoot a shotgun to deter wildlife threat to the livestock my family reared, but we never shot anything dead. There is always a way to protect wildlife and close off their access to livestock. Country people know this better than anyone. Being humane is easy. Being an impatient urban tw@t however.....

Hsve a chat with the London Wildlife Protection organisation. If he is intent on killing them, they may be able to offer to trap and relocate them. That might be the only way to reason with him sadly. They would also know the law of what is permitted and the RSPCA are the best organisation for prosecuting animal cruelty (if not the best organisation for animal rescue). https://www.londonwildlifeprotection.org/ And let him know asap that they can do that (if they say they can) so that he gives them the chance to get them and relocate them.

Three words.... Game of Thrones! Totally addicted....

Nothing like someone trying to derail a civil conversation Sephiroth ;)

This is going to be the same dilemma for many adults and children alike. I did read a news article this morning reporting that many parents are going to refuse to send their children back to school in June. Overcoming the genuine founded fear is perhaps going to be a bigger hurdle for the economy than anything government now says perhaps. It may also be that government is predicting a significant fall in infection and deaths by then. And thank you for the kind comments above. In truth everyone has a point, from those too scared to go back to work, to those who must, and those who just don't see a problem. My reading of government thinking at this point is that people should be able to determine their own fate on the level of risk. But if that is the way the government want to play it, then people really must be free to decide and not be penalised if they err on the side of caution. And of course, this could all go very wrong if the infection rate picks up again. It could be as much as two weeks after new infections before we see if it does, and by then it is too late. Hence my confusion at doing this before a comprehensive test, track and trace programme is in place. We shall see.

Indeed they have Siousxiesue and to support Malumbu here too, what people think and believe depends on who they choose to listen to. Some people have been jailed for deliberately spitting on others abusing the fear that exists around this virus. Where was their common sense? Depending on the public to uniformly make the right choices and behave in the right way all of the time is a pipe dream. It is indeed complex. In my opinion, it is extremely important that we have the right emphasis on and enforcement of behaviour within enclosed spaces. But here is the word of warning. Come the Autumn, when all the seasonal flu and cold viruses emerge, people are going to be coughing and sneezing everywhere. If we do not get mass testing sorted out by then, we are heading for the disaster of a second peak that may be far worse through the ease of spread from those other seasonal viruses and bacteria. The more we do now to prepare, and change the behaviour we need to change to navigate this virus, the better it will be in the longer term for everyone.