Penguin68

You'd hope there was some communication between the various bodies involved? You'd also hope that after all this time sites had been identified and some sort of provisional plan was in place. The lists I referred to were pharmacies and GP Practices that would be providing vaccinations to the broader population, when the time comes; not sectors. But why, unless they happen to control a resource that has been identified as useful, would a council be one of the 'various bodies involved'. They have no responsibility for health care, that is the responsibility of the various trusts, primary and secondary, that deliver services, together with NHS England etc. I love to beat the council up, but not for something that doesn't lie in their remit. Indeed the healthcare trusts are not council based (for instance we come under a Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark consortium, I believe). Which is not to say that lists of GP practices, pharmacies and others offering vaccines wouldn't be useful - just not the responsibility of Southwark Council to produce one.

the council actually has no plan? Why would the council have a plan? Vaccine roll-out is a function of the NHS/ primary care commissioners surely? The council's only involvement would be where a site (owned or run by the Council) was identified as a suitable location for mass vaccination. The council have no 'lists' of those in each of the first 4 categories to be vaccinated (health care people, over 80s, those in care homes and vulnerable, over 70s etc.) and no role thus in planning for these to be vaccinated.

Such closures are, sadly, inevitably under a privatised model. Sylvester Road was closed (according to both the PO and the unions) because working conditions there were 19th century which is when it, (broadly) dated back to. Additionally it had been built to handle mail, rather than parcels, which have become the mainstay of the Post Office. It would have been ideal, of course, for another local site to have been found for the distribution office. However, to suggest that closing a building which was unfit for commercial purpose, and which offered very poor standards of accommodation for staff was 'inevitable under a privatised model' would suggest that nationalised industries should be marked by their use of inappropriate buildings which fail to meet modern and accepted standards for staff accommodation. A strange viewpoint for a labour councillor, I would have thought. Or perhaps not.

I think Ms Hayes was very much between a rock and a hard place. At the referendum, and subsequently at the last General Election, her constituents have been pretty clear about what they support, and a Johnsonian Brexit isn't it. To have voted for the bill would have been a very unsympathetic gesture towards her constituents who voted to remain, and subsequently voted for her to be re-elected. By abstaining and immediately resigning her front-bench position she is, at the very least, demonstrating integrity and solidarity with her constituents. It is, of course, a futile gesture which achieves nothing save her own peace of mind (and her reputation for integrity) - but with this constituency I don't think she could do anything else. HOWEVER, I hope now that she works not just to represent her constituents, but towards making a success of where we are now, which is outside the EU and with the deal she abstained from approving. I hope she now looks forward, and not back to what could have been (but wasn't). That she isn't stuck in the last decade, but moves on. Or she will end up as stranded as her former leader, still fighting the battles of yesteryear. And I hope that by doing so she will be invited, soon, to re-join the front bench.

I should say that, despite clear gaps, we have had (Underhill) a regular postman who works Monday to Saturday (with Thursday off, I think) - but when he is missing he is often not substituted for, as there are clear staff shortages. Before Christmas they were concentrating on parcel delivery (for obvious reasons) and letters, including cards, weren't leaving the depot (much). I expect (hope for) some bumper deliveries over the next days of cards, but I ma not missing much of the 'expected' non-card post. Some walks are clearly much better staffed than others. We certainly had 2 or 3 weeks last year (perhaps more) when our regular guy was off sick or on holiday and didn't get cover. But most things have got through, eventually. This isn't the service which we should be getting, of course, but for us it hasn't been no service at all, even though others in ED haven't been so lucky.

They are very careful - booked slots, limited numbers allowed on site at any time - a lot of opportunity for proper distancing.

Yes I'm sorry to say that the selfish or stupid behaviour of some has lead to us all being in tier 4. I don't think that's quite right. We all learned how to handle ourselves relatively safely with the old variant of Covid-19, hence London numbers were coming down, particularly in the SE quadrant.- this new one which accounts for 60% of London cases appears to be much more catching, so what we were doing safely isn't any longer. So we weren't being selfish or stupid, just acting what had become 'normally' for the conditions we knew about. And not the new conditions imposed by the mutated virus.

Agreed Amazon is a dirty word. Not agreed by me. In general they offer a wide range (at reasonable prices) and good delivery. There are many things I can't buy locally, or can't find (and I do try) - often Amazon is my only realistic source. Their delivery people seem well trained to leave things at doorways and retreat quickly. It is fortuitous that their business model has so chimed with the current situation, but I don't despise luck in business, if coupled with good management. I have very good local stores, and I buy from them what I can. I used to drive out to find not-so-local stores, but Covid and nightmare drives now limit that. As someone over 70, alternatives to driving are not appealing, once things are beyond my easy walking distance (and back, carrying stuff).

But, Jeff at friendly Amazon has made 100bn so somethings at least working... Unless you can demonstrate that Amazon was behind the Coronavirus spread, or the new variant, then they were both lucky and had invested in the right business model for the time. They are employing for delivery many people who would otherwise be out of work because of Covid-19. It is hugely sad that many very worthy local outlets, both retail and in hospitality, have suffered - but it is not Jeff Bezos' fault.

You can only leave / enter tier 4 for very limited purposes. Considering the extent of Tier 4 - I'd have to drive a bunch to get out of it. Driving East I'd have to be in France before I was, driving West in Oxfordshire!

Unless and until Southwark measures pollution on the roads it has pushed traffic into, and has sound measures 'before' as well, then we can assume that any figure quoted as to changes or improvements will be rubbish. So no changes here, then. What I will expect to be told is that the measures have improved conditions for the roads which have been closed and then told 'job done'.

A number of the staff in WR (this isn't unreasonable) are not trained butchers but effectively shop assistants. So you might expect differences in skills and knowledge levels.

Yes, agreed - delivery and sorting are handled differently (although there is a second sort in delivery offices into walks for delivery). Sicknesses and staff shortages mainly impact delivery - and that's our problem. There's been no evidence of posting problems locally that I know of.

It is one year and ask yourself, unless you can be absolutely sure you and those you plan to spend xmas with are not infected, if one Christmas is worth someone's life. Maybe if you are the one who's elderly and sick and may not expect to live to the next Christmas the answer is yes. When it's your life and otherwise you won't see, perhaps ever again, your loved ones.

In that case, it restricts the air too much and so you are actually breathing air that comes in round the edges of the mask, ie air that is not filtered. I would not (I do not) wear a mask to protect myself, but to protect others, should I be an asymptomatic carrier. Outside of hospital conditions I would not expect 'normal' PPE to be doubling as a hazmat suit. It appears you are advocating wearing masks as a protection to you - not to others. I would not do that - and if people believe that their masks will be protecting them (again, outside a hospital situation with full PPE) then they are misleading themselves. Remember if you are going down that route that you should change and dispose of your mask every 4 hours for it to offer you any safety, wear disposable aprons or gowns so your clothes aren't contaminated etc. Your derided candle test at least shows that the mask you are wearing will help stop, or at least diminish, the contaminated spray from your nose and mouth. Frankly I would not be relying on any mask, but social distancing, short contact times and others wearing masks, for my own protection.

I believe that it also shouldn't be 'habitable' (in the sense that someone could move in and live there).

I have just checked and the whole of Southwark and Lambeth postcodes are clearly still in Tier 2, so it does not seem the rules are relaxed as far as Christmas holidays are concerned, aren't they? The relaxion of rules over the 5 days of Christmas (3 households, indoors - no 'rule of 6') is generally applicable I believe across Tiers 1-3. Although I doubt London will be separated as regards Tier level, it is worth noting that London boroughs south of the river are generally scoring lower levels of infection - so it is possible that the review on 16th December may acknowledge this. Don't hold your breaths. The Zoe app (which gives the most up-to-date figures) has been shown to be consistent with the other major measures, but more timely - and that is taking a very positive spin on London generally. Its algorithms have been pronounced sound.

On many occasions in the general ED issue/ gossip section, police or related activity is picked up and commentated on, often in a fairy speculative way. These posts, which I find informative and interesting will not infrequently also bell the cat of rumour. I would agree that they are not, at the moment, Covid related - so maybe the section is wrong, but I do think that they are of value to your normal readership (well, to me, anyway) and I would welcome their continuance somewhere. Not in the Lounge however, which would understate their importance. Knowing what's actually going on locally, as opposed as I have said to speculation, guesswork or worse does fit into a general issues section, and gives good local background. People often ask 'what's ED like?" - this gives a feel from an authoritative source of one element of that. And no (or little) news on this front is generally good news!

If this isn't the sort of case that a local councillor should get involved with - then there seems no point in them at all.

I find WR meat does not taste any better than supermarket meat but Liberetto?s produce tastes like something I remember eating fifty years ago. I couldn't agree more.

yeah, that's Liberetto, sorry to criticise but never has any meats for sale in the window and no clear pricing. Always wondered how it survived or if it was run as a hobby. Libretto. (J & K Libretto & daughters). And meat isn't in the window, to dry out and catch flies - it's cut to order - although there is some meat prepared in the chilled cabinet inside. In the 32 years I've shopped there the prices have always been fair, the quality (and range) exceptional. Kim (the very experienced butcher and owner) makes amazing sausages and sources excellent quality (and value) meat. He buys directly from Smithfield and has built up excellent dealers. His eggs are delivered weekly, from the farm, he has good game (but shooting is only restarting this weekend following lock-down) and he is a main South London stockist of Tiptree (Wilkinson) Jams. He is certainly somewhat eccentric - his shop is almost an antiques haven - but for excellent quality and good value he cannot be beaten. He is a hobbyist on lots of things (classic cars, for instance) but on butchery he is a top professional.

As above the traffic on LL is terrible, this is likely related to those being unable to go to the village/HH and beyond via court lane and turney road, so all having head along LL to S circular. Which also explains why Underhill Road now has standing traffic through the evening rush hour, as people try to get to the A205. Until these closures standing traffic was only caused by skip deliveries, and was quite rare - it's now a daily occurrence Monday to Friday. So my air quality has plummeted - but there's no Southwark maven measuring around me!

"The (completely mad) suggestion that it is in any way related to Covid-19 is promulgated by the same people who believe we are ruled by lizards" If 5G spread lizards, I would be strongly in favour. But secret lizards, ruling over you...? And it's the Lizards using 5G to spread Covid (for that group) I believe.

The others you mention are all quite inaccessible from East Dulwich due to lack of parking There are no parking restrictions in Wood Vale, Underhill or (normally, when half the road isn't being used for waste by Thames Water) Langton Rise, so Libretto's (K&J Libretto & daughters, In Wood Vale) is very accessible, although I know he has closed his Christmas order book to new customers now.

The tower will be within 10 mts from us as we live across the road, so we will be constantly exposed to whatever risk it poses as well as having to look at it everyday. I don't understand why you would want to belittle any such concerns but that is besides the point. The point of this post was to raise awareness. If you are in favour of a new 17.5mt 5g mast being... Your distance is on the hypotenuse - so if the tower is 17.5m high, and you are 10m away from its base, then you are 20m away from the top of the tower, where the microwave transmitter is. Inside your house you will be further protected, by e.g. brickwork. I grant you its an aesthetic assault, but not, I again suggest, an assault on your physical health. Complain for valid reasons (the look of it, which at least has face validity) and not less valid reasons (impact on your health, which is moot). I don't, personally, like the applications and usages 5G enables (internet of everything etc.) - but then I'm old and stuck in my ways. But I don't think it's going to hurt me. From my house I can see (very visibly) 2 huge TV transmitters (including Crystal Palace) - now those are Towers!