Students Could Be Told To Stay At University Over Christmas

According to the latest scientific advice, students could be told to stay away from their families over the Christmas holidays.

The warnings are expected to be published in the latest minutes from meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

And it was reported that larger outbreaks are anticipated at the end of the academic term as students move around the country to journey home during their two-week break.

It comes as the University of Liverpool this week confirmed 87 cases, while the University of Dundee told 500 students to isolate after an outbreak in a halls residence as students returned to the city for the new term.

Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Unit and former government special advisor to the universities minister, confirmed students could be asked to remain on campus over the holidays.

Nick Hillman said ministers will have to tell students that it’s best that they stay away from home this year.

Meanwhile, there were calls to discontinue lectures at Liverpool University after 80 students and seven staff caught coronavirus, while 500 undergraduates are now isolating at halls in Dundee after a single confirmed case.

NHS Tayside in Scotland contacted other students who had come into contact with the infected cases at Abertay University, with all residents of halls being told to self isolate until tracing was completed.

Dr Daniel Chandler, associate director of public health, said that they knew from outbreaks in other university settings across Scotland that the virus could spread extremely fast in student accommodation.

Therefore, as a precautionary measure, they were contacting all residents of Parker House and advising them to self isolate immediately, and that further investigation and contact tracing were continuing and that they would review the advice in the coming days.

Union members in Liverpool were seeking assurances they will not have vulnerable staff arrive on the campus and Martyn Moss, a UCU regional official, said Liverpool’s universities have to immediately heed the call from the staff and have halted unnecessary in-person teaching and that the safety of staff, students and the local community has to be the number one focus.

More widely, the university sector and the Government must address this public health crisis immediately. It’s just not enough to plan to manage COVID outbreaks when they need to work to stop them.

It would have been a better idea to have told them to remain at home and to access courses via the internet, but of course, universities would have lost millions so they filled up the halls of residence and now they want to keep them captive so that they can charge them rent.

The majority of courses are entirely online with zero on-campus learning and all they’re offering is access to the library, but as you have to study with a mask on it’s not going to be the most favoured place to spend time.

Perhaps this year it would be best to just cancel Christmas and focus on dealing with this virus – it’s over-commercialised anyhow and if we can’t even get together with our loved ones then what’s the point.

Maybe we can kill the turkey and have 15 over for the funeral – but on a more sober note, UK students largely get a raw deal anyhow. Currently, distance learning, then tuition from educators who often don’t turn up and the final reward, a degree to stack shelves in supermarkets because there are no jobs.

What people don’t realise is that lockdown after lockdown and compulsory mask-wearing will deplete our immune system, but it’s a pretty good way to paving the way for a cashless and controlled society with scared mask-wearing sheep who are walking straight into the quagmire.

Trump Says He’s Not A Fan Of Meghan Markle

President Donald Trump attacked Meghan Markle from the White House platform after she and Prince Harry videoed a message urging Americans to vote, implying they support Democrat Joe Biden.

Donald Trump said that he wasn’t a fan of hers and said that he wished Harry a lot of luck because he was going to need it.

Harry and Meghan, are now ensconced in their Los Angeles mansion as Election Day approaches after renouncing their royal titles, made their comments only weeks before the November 3 elections, with Americans in some states already going to the polls.

And the President’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski teed off on the couple and he said that they made Britain great again by leaving and he hoped that they do the same for them.

Corey Lewandowski, now a senior 2020 advisor to the Trump campaign told a news outlet that Harry and Meghan’s remarks via the video they made, made mad waves on both sides of the Atlantic.

Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller indicated, however, he saw no such intention in Prince Harry’s comments.

Meghan Markle told Marie Claire in August that she intended to vote, saying that she knew what it’s like to have a voice, and also what it’s like to feel voiceless. She continued that she also knew that so many men and women have put their lives on the line for us to be heard.

And that it was an opportunity and a basic right, and that it was a person’s ability to exercise their right to vote and to make all voices heard.

Before marrying Harry but after Donald Trump’s election, Meghan Markle called Donald Trump misogynistic and divisive in a TV appearance, but Prince Harry and Meghan Markle crossed the line by speaking out about the US election and effectively telling Americans to vote against Trump, royal insiders believe.

And while Harry and Meghan did not name their preferred contender, numerous viewers thought it was evident they were backing Joe Biden over Donald Trump, although a source close to Harry repudiated this.

Royal experts told a news outlet that the couple should give up their titles and sever their ties to the monarchy for good if they wanted to remark on US politics, while insiders told the Times that palace aides would be concerned about their intervention.

I must admit though President Trump’s comment that he made was quite restrained because usually he only has admiration for himself and the rest of the world that he only tolerates, so Harry and Meghan should reflect on that.

And who cares what Donald Trump thinks, although I’m certainly not a royalist, but if it gets up Donald Trump’s nose, then Harry and Meghan are doing something right.

Although I do find it amusing how everyone wanted Trump in the beginning and now they’re not so sure and it just demonstrates how inconsistent people can actually be.

Perhaps Meghan Markle believes she could be the next President and perhaps that’s where she believes she’s going. Sadly though Meghan Markle latches on to any cause that’s trending, hops on to any bandwagon that’s thriving, uses anybody that’s popular and parrots anyone that’s succeeded and she rides on other peoples coat tails – and Harry, well, he’s just a disappointment.

And now we have one self-serving narcissist who’s not a fan of another self-serving narcissist – what a surprise, but then Donald Trump has always been a male macho oinker who always blames the women in the story, making out that men have lost their free will.

Government’s Coronavirus Tracing App Finally Launches

Millions of Britons will be encouraged to download the mobile tracing app which is finally being launched nationwide today, four months late.

Health officials hope it will play a vital role in containing the virus at a critical point when cases are on the rise again, but the app is likely to create even more demands for tests at a time when labs are already under tremendous pressure and thousands of patients have been unable to book slots.

The Department of Health will launch a major TV advertising drive to increase uptake by urging the public to protect their loved ones and get the app, and officials hope that between 15 and 50 per cent of the population in England and Wales will use it.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have already launched their own versions.

The app uses Bluetooth technology to warn users if they have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus such as on public transport, in a shop or among their friends and family.

They will then receive a message telling them to self-isolate for 14 days and book a test, although only if they develop symptoms. The device will also allow users to check their symptoms online if they’re worried they might have the virus and to book a test if necessary.

Also, they will be encouraged to use their apps to scan the QR code at any pub, restaurant or leisure centres they visit in case there’s a virus outbreak related to that venue. Their contact details will then be accessible for tracing efforts.

The app, which uses a system developed by Apple and Google, has been tested on the Isle of Wight and in the London borough of Newham.

The app was meant to have been launched in the middle of May but Health Secretary Matt Hancock was forced to ditch the technology after it failed to work on the majority of smartphones.

Yesterday Matt Hancock said that they were at a tipping point in their efforts to control the spread of the virus and that with infection rates increasing they must use every means at their disposal to stop transmission, including the latest technology.

He said that today’s launch marks an important step forward in their fight against this invisible killer and he urged everyone who could download and use the app to protect themselves and their loved ones.

But what use is this app if as few as 15 per cent and no more than 50 per cent will use it?

The more the general population is tested the more positives will show up and the more stringent containment measures will become, irrespective of hospital admissions and deaths.

Testing by GP’s, in hospitals and in care homes regularly is the key and let the elderly and those with co-morbid conditions shield with whatever support is necessary, but let the rest of the population go free because we’re in danger of creating a tsunami of Munchausen that will overwhelm testing facilities.

For the worried and hypochondriacs, a positive test will end up being the badge of the ‘in’ thing to have, but to no good end. And seeing as we’re about to be given the annual round of flu jabs, why can’t GP surgeries test for the virus at the same time, if necessary?

Matt Lucas Imitates A Blundering Boris Johnson

The Great British Bake-off made a political statement as it returned for its 11th season on Tuesday night.

Making his show debut, co-host Matt Lucas mimicked a blundering Boris Johnson as he recreated a spoof press conference with the tagline ‘Stay Alert, Protect Cake, Save Loaves’.

The comic, 46, who has superseded Sandi Toksvig as host, was a spitting image of the Prime Minister in the show opener, which was delayed by 15 minutes after Boris Johnson preached to the nation with the new lockdown measures in the war against coronavirus.

In the act, Matt, who donned a platinum blond hairpiece and stood in front of a Union Jack flag, said: ‘I’ve talked about this, you know, the printer is upside down again. And oh no.. well… how? Ah, yes well that works actually, I can read that fine.

‘Um, right, let’s err… yeah. Good evening, let’s get straight to it. We are now approaching Phase 46.

‘Which means that from Tuesday morning, or Wednesday evening depending on your height. We are, we are, we are saying with regards to baking if you must bake in a tent, bake in a tent.

‘But please don’t bake in a tent. And we are asking people to use common sense with regards to the distribution of hundreds and thousands.’

Matt then said he was going to take a question from ‘the lady in the funky dress, Noelle’.

Little Britain’s star’s co-host Noel Fielding then said: ‘Hello Prime Minister. Just one question: ‘Is it sc-oh-ne or sc-on?’.

Matt said he was going to hand over the query to the ‘experts’ – a spoof of Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Valance – Prue Whitty (Prue Leith) and Professor Paul Hollywood.

After Prue and Paul gave alternate answers, Matt said: Right well I hope that clears things up for you,’ before he ripped off his wig to say: ‘All that remains is for me to say…. Welcome to The Great British Bake Off’.

Viewers soon bombarded Twitter to praise Matt on the innovative parody, with one of the fans of the show writing: ‘I’m loving Matt Lucas on Bake Off already’, while another added: ‘Sensational. #mattlucas #boris #BakeOff’.

A third chimed: ‘Matt Lucas is already a fabulous addition to #GBBO’, and a fourth viewer gushed: ‘Matt Lucas makes a better Boris Johnson than Boris Johnson does.’

Some people might not have found it that amusing but people need a bit of a giggle now and again even if there is a crisis going on and it simply demonstrates that we’re all human beings at the end of the day.

Matt wasn’t actually laughing at the coronavirus, he was stabbing an inept and foolish Prime Minister who has bumbled and blundered his way through this entire pandemic defending the indefensible and ignoring the right thing to do.

And thank goodness for Bake Off with people stressing over crumpling cakes was actually what was needed after such a tragic year and the Prime Minister needs to realise that he’s not so much parodied, but ridiculed.

Spitting Image did it all the time in the 1980s and it was so brilliant but it was never really political, it was just tongue in cheek humour, and just to remind everyone that comedy is still alive and TV doesn’t just have to be all about political garbage.

Meghan and Harry’s Bold Indifference For Royal Impartiality Rules

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle want Joe Biden to become the next President of the United States, although they haven’t actually said that in so many words.

But it’s extremely evident from a video message they released via Time magazine which way they want the outcome of the election to go and it’s not in Donald Trump’s direction.

Meghan Markle, a US citizen and well known Trump hater and she’s called him divisive and a misogynist and once said that she loathed him.

She said that they’re only six weeks out from Election Day and that now it was National Voter Registration Day and that every four years we’re told the same thing, that it’s the most important election of their lifetime and that this is the one.

She added that when people vote, their values are put into motion and their voices are heard, and she said that your voice is a reminder that you matter, because you do, and you deserve to be heard.

Harry, of course, can’t vote in the United States, and like other royals, doesn’t have to vote in UK elections, encouraged Americans to vote and said that as they approach this November, that it’s important that people reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity.

And he said that when the bad overshadows the good, for many, whether they realise it or not, it erodes their ability to have empathy and their ability to put themselves in someone else’s shoes.

And that when one person buys into negativity online, the consequences are felt exponentially and it’s time to not only reflect but to act, and although they never mentioned Biden’s name, it’s crystal clear whose side they’re on and it’s not the dude sitting in the White House tweeting malicious dishonest rhetoric 24/7.

By expressing themselves in such a brazenly partisan way, they’ve crossed a gigantic line which should now have severe consequences for the couple who specialise in wanting their royal cake and the freedom to eat it because the Royals don’t do politics, not publicly, anyhow.

It’s one of the cast-iron rules of being a member of the Royal Family, that you don’t spout off your own political views for public consumption because it would damage the integrity of the Monarchy – mind you, that was damaged many years ago, they just haven’t realised it yet!

On the Queen’s official website, it says: ‘As Head of State, The Queen has to remain strictly neutral with respect to political matters.’

This is because Her Majesty has to negotiate with Governments of all political persuasion, both at home and abroad, and must be seen to be scrupulously neutral to them all.

Harry, of course, didn’t have to say a thing, but he did, although he didn’t mention his political leaning or any names.

As for Meghan Markle, she’s still a US citizen and has the right to vote as well as speak up and Harry should be supporting her, that’s what marriage is all about, not bailing at the last moment because you have Royal blood coursing through your veins.

And of course, there will be lots of people out there with empty platitudes of hate speech, negative comments online, and if it was something meaningful, it would matter, but it does make me wonder how long before Harry will disappear like his mother – poof, now you see him, now you don’t.

New Mask Rules In Pubs Will Be Impossible To Police

Pub managers and punters wrestling with new coronavirus rules which make masks mandatory have cautioned Boris Johnson that enforcement will be difficult.

The Prime Minister has now tightened constraints on the hospitality sector for six months by inflicting a 10 pm curfew across England from Thursday and limiting business exclusively to table service.

Speaking in the House of Commons, he also said face coverings will be compulsory for all staff and patrons unless they’re seated.

The raft of measures was met with an instant backlash from the pub trade which said the devastating curbs would torpedo sales and sink some businesses.

Greg Mulholland, campaign director for the Campaign for Pubs, said that it seemed questionable asking people to wear face masks not yet at a table and that there’s fear that the need to have a mask will put people off going to pubs which could see levels of trade fall even further.

Calling on the Government to deliver financial aid for pubs, he added that the confirmation of a curfew of 10 pm and other constraints for up to six months was crushing for numerous pubs and publicans.

He said, that as it is, most pubs were only getting back on their feet and many were not yet trading profitably and this latest news would make it impossible for some publicans to carry on.

Jake Laing, 30, who manages a pub in Notting Hill, told a news outlet that the movement of people around the pub with a face mask would be hard to police. Emphasizing that he would implement the rules but that it would be a challenge but that they had to do it if they were to stay open.

Speaking to MPs, the Prime Minister stated that from Thursday all pubs, bars and restaurants must operate table service only, besides takeaways, and he continued that together with all hospitality outlets, they must shut at 10 pm.

And that to help the police to implement this rule, Boris Johnson said that means closing, not just calling for last orders and that clarity was essential, and that the same will apply to takeaways, although deliveries could continue thereafter.

Boris Johnson said that he was sorry that this would damage numerous businesses just getting back on their feet, but that they must act to prevent the virus from being transmitted in bars and restaurants.

But maybe these rules are here to bully the populace into thinking that there’s no point leaving their houses, but the fact is if people now need to be off work, the Government shouldn’t be demolishing their livelihood and future pensions, they should be supporting them financially.

It looks like we’re going to be in for a formidable winter, and this is utterly absurd and excessive. You must wear a face mask to step into an establishment, such as a restaurant or cafe, but you can take it off when you sit down to eat and drink – what does this virus know to clear off when we’re eating and drinking?

This is insane and our Government are acting as though this is the bubonic plague and the fate of mankind is at risk, but then all futures are now at risk, not because of COVID 19, but because of the melodramatic overreaction of our politicians in destroying the economy, society and peoples chances in life.

This is getting completely out of hand and there are a bunch of extremely irate and frustrated people including some in the vulnerable group who would prefer to take their chances, rather than be dictated to for the remainder of their time and they feel that Boris Johnson is now causing more harm than good.

Raab Warns Second National Shutdown Is On The Cards

Angry Tory MPs have turned on authoritarian Boris Johnson as he ordered the British people to obey his draconian new coronavirus restrictions or face an economically devastating second national lockdown.

The panicking Prime Minister warned Britons last night they face a long difficult winter of police implemented curbs on their freedoms, saying the alternative was many more families losing loved ones before their time.

In a melodramatic televised speech to the country, Boris Johnson flanked by a Union Jack, said he was extremely, spiritually reluctant to make new impositions or violate anyone’s freedom after unveiling new measures in the House of Commons.

But he said it was essential to reintroduce working from home rules and a swathe of social measures in order to evade a dramatic wave in deaths, overwhelming the NHS and spark a second, economically devastating total lockdown.

The beleaguered premier encountered fire from all sides as he U turned on his push to reopen workplaces. He also encountered taunts for introducing other swingeing new measures including a 10 pm pub curfew and £200 penalties for mask rule breakers in England, with the Army potentially drafted in to assist police, in the face of a wave of coronavirus infections sweeping the country.

But speaking from Downing Street, he warned that iron laws of geometrical progression are screaming at us from the graphs that we risk numerous more deaths and many more families losing loved ones before their time.

He even lashed out at his critics – Tories and business leaders who fear his restriction will further thrash Britain’s flailing economy, adding that those who say we don’t need this stuff, and that we should leave people to take their own risks. He said that the risks were not our own and that the sad reality of COVID is that someone’s mild cough could be someone else’s death knell.

He continued that as for the suggestion that we should just lock up the elderly and the vulnerable, with all the suffering that would entail, he said that this was just not practical because if they were to let the virus tear through the rest of the population it would inevitably find its way through to the elderly as well and in much more lavish numbers.

Reacting to the Prime Minister’s grim address, Telford MP Lucy Allan questioned on Twitter whether the UK’s collective health was actually at risk and that efforts to tackle COVID should be proportional to the risk and that the virus is a serious threat to certain vulnerable groups.

And she said that we must protect these groups with targeted measures and that shutting down society causes immense damage to health, lives and livelihoods of the entire population.

I can comprehend why people don’t want more constraints and question if some of them are essential but find it hard to comprehend the outbreak of madness over the last couple of days.

And I’ve read many paranoid conspiracy theories from people making outlandish accusations, with some of them believing they have superior knowledge and I understand that the Government only want the public to be alert and to take the spread of this virus extremely seriously, but I still wonder if there’s an odious plan for permanent totalitarianism.

There has been a wide outbreak of the virus in the week up to September 23, with 5 per cent contracted in bars and restaurants. Eight per cent in workplaces, 21 per cent in schools, 45 per cent in care homes, yet children are going to be crammed into overcrowded, poorly ventilated classrooms in the depth of winter.

Then of course it will be home to mum and dad, rather contradicts the work from home plan. Factor in little or no PPE for teaching staff, so invariably no social distancing can be accomplished. Oh, and no testing for staff or children, what could conceivably go wrong this winter?

And I resent being told by this seedy Churchill impersonator that it’s our fault that the infection rate has risen.

Boris Johnson advised people to return back to work, he urged people to eat out. He reopened schools and now all that advise has gone into reverse.

But I didn’t drive to Durham to test my eyesight. I didn’t tell people they were whining too much and I didn’t quarrel with my scientific advisers, but this man seems to be dangerously incompetent and there’s little sign of a coherent plan to deal with this pandemic, so why should we listen to what he says?

Has Sweden beaten coronavirus?

According to an expert, Sweden has defeated coronavirus by refusing to close the country down and achieving herd immunity.

The Scandinavian nation was the only country in Europe not to introduce stringent lockdown measures at the beginning of the pandemic, but scientists think that this may have helped it sidestep a second wave of COVID 19 as it continues to record its lowest number of cases since March, with only 28 infections per 100,000 people.

This figure is less than half of the UK’s own infection rate of 69 per 100,000 people.

Professor Kim Sneppen, an expert in the spread of coronavirus at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, said that Sweden might have defeated the pandemic. He told Denmark’s Politiken newspaper that there was some evidence that the Swedes have built up a degree of immunity to the virus which, along with what else they’re doing to prevent the spread, is enough to contain the disease, and he said that the virus may now have run out of steam.

Sweden was originally criticised at the beginning of the outbreak after recording a spike in its mortality rates which was five times that of Denmark and ten times that of Norway and Finland.

The number of deaths per 24 hours peaked in April at 115 with more than half in care homes, but its seven day average for coronavirus related deaths is now zero.

Sweden’s state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, who has become the face of the no lockdown strategy, said in a recent interview that voluntary hygiene measures had been just as effective as complete shutdowns.

Sweden kept schools open for children under 16, prohibited groups of more than 50 people and told over the 70s and vulnerable groups to self isolate.

Shops, bars and restaurants remained open throughout the pandemic and the wearing of masks had not been advised by the Government and he said that the rapidly declining cases they’ve seen in Sweden is another indication that you can get the number of cases down quite a lot in a country without having a complete lockdown.

Tegnell added that deaths are not so closely connected to the number of cases you have in a country, stating that the death rate was more closely linked to whether older people were being infected and how well the health system could manage. And he said that these things would influence mortality a lot more than the actual spread of the disease.

Well done to Sweden, but Sweden has only 10,099,265 people living in a huge country and they have a lot of one-person households and practice social distancing et cetera -they’re also not a moaning abundance of self-entitled whingers.

All these lockdowns will crumple the economy and more people will starve to death. So, at the moment it’s a balancing act.

Sweden did have social distancing from the start but the Swedes do what they like, unlike a big part of UK society, and the Swedes seem to have a completely separate mentality to the remainder of the world.

And it seems that Boris Johnson and his circus troupe learnt absolutely nothing from Sweden. Instead, Boris continues to panic and take facile, draconian measures, while they run the British economy into the ground, which has obliterated the morale and mental health of a nation.

In short, our Government have persisted in making all the wrong decisions and have brought themselves into disrepute and some people out there might think that they don’t actually care.

Sweden, of course, had the survival of the fittest mindset and had enough faith in their people to do what needed to be done, but England made it political and told everyone to pick a side and that’s where it really went wrong.

Boris Johnson Hits Reverse

Boris Johnson has unveiled a major crackdown on normal life in a bid to stop a second surge of the coronavirus.

He will drop his back to work drive, announce constraints on socialising and levy a 10 pm curfew on bars and restaurants from Thursday.

Pubs and other outlets will be permitted to serve seated patrons only and drinkers will be prohibited from assembling in groups.

Chief medical officer Chris Whitty said it was crucial to break unnecessary links between households.

Northern Ireland announced a prohibition on families visiting other households and there was conjecture England could follow suit.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned COVID transmission tended to be in social settings – people coming round to your house, or you going out and socialising.

The limitation on guests at weddings may also be cut from the present limit of 30 and a senior Government source last night acknowledged the Prime Minister’s back to work drive would be paused after scientific advisers warned that workplace transmission was a problem.

In July, Boris Johnson urged staff to go back to work if they could in a bid to stop city centres becoming ghost towns, but a source told a news outlet that workers will be urged to work from home if they can during the coming weeks.

Ministers for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove confirmed the U-turn as he told Sky News that there was going to be a shift in emphasis and one of the things that they were going to highlight, that if it was feasible for people to work from home then they would urge them to do so.

The Prime Minister was reportedly ready to shut down the whole hospitality sector after the Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Michael Gove and the Government’s scientists started pushing hard for more draconian measures, but it’s understood that the Cabinet’s economic hawks, guided by Chancellor Rishi Sunak hauled him back from that threshold.

The constraints have divided the Cabinet, with Rishi Sunak and Business Secretary Alok Sharma both warning about the possible impact on the economy, but a senior Government source insisted all ministers accepted the move was needed to bring the R rate, which calculates how quickly the disease is circulating, back under control.

The source said the aim is to cause maximum damage to the R and minimum damage to the economy and that unless they act now, there will be greater economic damage later on.

Businesses and schools will be permitted to stay open, with Government sources insisting the measures don’t amount to a second lockdown, but the prospect of a 10 pm curfew has sparked outrage from the hospitality sector with the UK Hospitality group describing it as another crushing disappointment amid worries it will lead to a wave of unregulated events and house parties.

So, here we go again – it’s like a recall back into the 1980s when pubs had limited hours and it was difficult then to purchase beer and to take it away. What this Government should be doing is treating people like grown-ups, and apprehend those that misbehave.

But it also makes you wonder if Rishi Sunak’s Eat out to Help out has caused this in part, and now that Boris Johnson’s having this crackdown, does this include all MP’s or are they excused?

And it seems that having suffered COVID 19 Boris Johnson seems terrified to run this country. Sweden appears to have the right idea because we can’t keep shutting people away when so many more are dying of cancer, heart problems and depression.

But it seems that the British Government want to suppress our freedoms and I really don’t know how Boris Johnson has the brass nerve when his cabinet ministers don’t know how to follow the rules either.

And if you think about it logically, this virus derived from a country where people have worn masks for decades, so how do you explain that? Unless, of course, the masks cause illnesses and disease.

There is so much chaos and contradictory guidance it’s incredible, and I respect that as the situation alters so must the direction, but it seems that people just can’t keep up with the changing guidance.

And I fail to see how a 10 pm curfew will actually do anything. It might lower the numbers in late-night drinking places but does the virus actually know that it has to go home by 10 pm?

People will still come into close contact all day long transmitting the virus and when all said and done, there’s really no way of getting rid of this virus apart from a vaccine or simply letting the virus burn out by itself.

Once upon a time nations set sail across the seas to far off lands filled with unknown dangers and we left our mark, now all we’ll have to put on our gravestone is: “Here lies the United Kingdom – we followed the science”.

All Camouflage Has Gone – Harry And Meghan Have No Royal Future

For more than a year, it’s been the millstone around Prince Harry’s neck, a gold plated slice of taxpayers’ generosity that stank of privilege and entitlement, but to Harry and Meghan, the £2.4 million of public money, our money, that was lavished on remodelling Frogmore Cottage, only for it to be shattered and abandoned along with the rest of their royal lives, symbolised something far more intrinsic.

He saw it as a chain that shackled them to the land of his birth, hampering their efforts to be really free of the Royal Family and crucially of their media critics and in his eyes, the money was not a loan from a generous nation pleased to be helping this young royal couple find its feet after their joyous wedding, but instead a stick with which to beat them.

So, paying back every penny to the public purse, having previously offered to do so at the rate of £18,000 a month, a deal of such indulgence, it would have taken them 11 years to reimburse the deficit, which is highly significant.

In the short term, it’s designed to muffle the drumbeat of criticism to which they perceive they are subject, but will it actually end what they complain of as unjustified public interest in their new lives?

And surely by embarking on such a high profile life in the entertainment capital of the world, where every resource is choreographed for maximum publicity, such a move presents more questions than it answers?

It can be no coincidence that this amazing gesture comes only days after it was announced that the couple had signed a production deal with Netflix, calculated to be worth £75 million.

And many will wonder if this payment to the Sovereign Grant was part of the first instalment of that incredible deal, but while the royal officials were digesting the implications, another equally bold announcement was being released by the Duke and Duchess.

A source close to the couple confirmed that they were no longer receiving financial aid from Harry’s father, the Prince of Wales, either from the Duchy of Cornwall or his private income.

This, too, marks a fork in the road for Harry and Meghan, although insiders suggest they may already have received the total amount of the stipend they expected from Charles for this year anyhow.

What it does do, however, is signal that their divorce from Britain is permanent, while removing any facade that they might still have a future function in the Royal Family. Harry could, of course, have sidestepped this whole tragic saga before it ever became a problem, and with a calculated fortune of £20 million inherited from his mother’s estate and trust funds from the Queen Mother, he could have afforded to pay for the renovation himself.

The Queen gave them both an extremely run-down cottage and it was an extremely pricey affair that taxpayers had to pay to remodel it. It required a lot of tender loving care and heavy repair to bring it up to standard ahead of the Duke and Duchess moving in.

Perhaps Harry and Meghan breaking away from the Royal Family will give them both a chance to do their own thing and maybe they will be successful, that’s not a bad thing. It will give them both challenges, successes and failures.

That’s the foundation of maturing, as long as they’re willing to learn the hard lessons, but Harry has to realise that to become successful, he needs to be able to get real with people in need, rather than making shallow woke addresses to bored rich folk who would be more than willing to drag him down.

We’ll believe it when we see it, but I hope it happens for them both because it would be such a waste if all he becomes is a highly paid talking head – we’ve seen enough of those in the world.

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