Lockdown Easing Prompts Surge In The Number Of People Going To Parks

There’s been a surge in the number of people going to parks as lockdown relaxed.

Footfall in UK parks shot up in recent days and is now higher than it was on some days just before lockdown started on March 23.

More people also went to grocery stores and drugstores in recent days, as well as stations, but the rises were far less climactic, and overall, mobility data revealed park use has gone down from 24 per cent since late February, up to 4 per cent, on a seven-day rolling average.

It comes after the lockdown was eased in England from Wednesday this week, and it’s estimated to rise further on a sunny weekend, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock said this weekend with the good weather and the new rules, that he hopes people can enjoy being outside, but that we must adhere to the rules, keep an eye on our families and to not take chances.

There is, of course, an increase in the use of parks coming forward now and it’s expected that within social distancing measures, that will increase, and since Wednesday, people in England can now exercise infinite times per day and relax in the park or other open areas.

One person may now also meet one person from another household, as long as the group is only two people and they stay two metres apart, but constraints continue in Scotland and Wales and the government is entangled in a dispute over its policies to ease more lockdown restrictions from June 1.

Teaching unions say the date is too early to send the first children back to primary schools in England, and Liverpool has ordered schools to oppose the government and stay shut to most schoolchildren.

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock maintained that we’re beyond the peak of the virus, as it emerged that more than 12,500 people living in care homes have now died from COVID 19, with the preponderance dying in their care home.

And we have a Prime Minister who sends out mixed messages, why? Because when the death rate goes up again, the government don’t want to take responsibility.

The problem with people is that they can’t seem to think outside of the box. Most of them are like sheep and they have to have pictures drawn for them, particularly when they fail to understand, and so now you have a nanny state.

But the government’s policies are not there to protect you, they’re there to hinder excessively with the personal choices that you make, down to the food that you eat, inadequate diet and unrestricted smoking.

Now we live in a deranged world of calorie counting, banning energy drinks for under 18s because our government are full of great ideas on how to protect people from themselves, and one of the earliest uses of the idiom in Parliament came in 1980 during a discussion on strategies to make the wearing of car seatbelts, for drivers and front-seat passengers, mandatory.

But former World War one fight ace, and Conservative peer, Lord Balfour of Inchrye contended with an unrivalled enthusiasm that seatbelts can kill, but his principal objection to the idea was that it was yet another state narrowing of individual freedom and individual responsibility, and where would it all end?

There are numerous deaths a year from lung cancer but there was no medical compulsion on the matter at the time, and regarding alcohol, there was legislation to restrict the amount and conditions in which alcohol was taken, which of course would conquer the misfortune of bones being broken and constitutions impaired by alcohol, but I can’t remember any medical people having lobbied for constraint there either.

Therefore, if we’re to have the term nanny state, why don’t we also go for compulsory wearing of life jackets for people who swim, sail and row in boats?

It’s clear that times have changed and also transformed us as human beings, and too frequently we hear about not drinking too much or eating too many doughnuts or enjoy the warm glow of our wood-burning Goves, I mean stoves.

And it appears that the mood of the public has been misread and who are getting increasingly fed up with being told what to do and how to live their lives, and the people’s backlash has never been reflected enough in the media.

And it’s mostly the underprivileged and marginalised who don’t get a voice and bear the brunt of food, alcohol and tobacco taxes, and banning things is a really simple thing to do, and it’s something that makes an immediate impact on people’s lives as politicians make a name for themselves.

Surprisingly few people choose to be overweight, but their options can be defined by their economic circumstances, with economic forces having made it more accessible and more affordable to consume high energy, palatable, affordable foods and have allowed us to be increasingly idle at work, at home and in between.

A typical junk food meal contains approximately twice as many calories as a traditional British meal, whether its pasties, pizza or pop, junk food is on the rise, and so are our waistlines, and remarkable investigation has revealed that junk food affects the brain in a comparable way to cocaine or heroin, commandeering the dopamine system in the brain that is associated with feelings of reward and satisfaction.

And that’s why we crave junk food, eating more until we’ve eaten too many calories, and chocoholics do exist and food companies know exactly the right combination of fat, sugar and salt to maximise the dopamine effect.

Some medications, such as those for Parkinson’s disease, alter dopamine levels, and dopamine levels decline as we age, affecting appetite, but dopamine does determine our passion for food.

And junk food appears to affect the bowels as well as the brain, and junk food significantly affects the bacterial population in our stomach – ten days of a junk food diet kills over 1,000 of the 3,500 species of stomach bacteria.

By the age of five, children in poverty are twice as likely to be overweight as their least deprived peers, and by the age of 11, they’re three times as likely. They’re also more likely to live in an area with more takeaway and fast food outlets, more likely to live in inadequate, unsuitable or overcrowded housing, and more likely to encounter a combination of family collapse, stress, mental health problems and financial difficulties, all factors which can weaken a parent’s capacity to make reasonable and compassionate choices.

In Britain today we have the highest taxes on cigarettes, the highest taxes on wine, and the second-highest levied on beer. Then tax in sugar came in and sugar was phased out of hospitals and stripped from confectionary and sports drinks, and what was it they called it? Health by Stealth.

England, if not Britain as a whole, was once a land where unless something was explicitly prohibited, it was allowed, but as time has carried on, government enthusiasm for banning, controlling and nannying has led us down a pretty shady path, where legislation exists at every turn and supposedly for our own welfare, but what I’d like to know is, when did the British people come to think that this was acceptable?

Because state interference in these matters proves that those in government consider themselves to be better than others, and control of sin products are there for our own good, but this betrays a supreme disdain and hatred for ordinary people’s freedom.

Because as far as our government are concerned, people need to be told, and they need to be educated, but that suggests that those they talk about are uneducated, and this is really not true, because there’s no way that smokers, drinkers and overeaters aren’t conscious of the dangers of what they do, as one can’t move for being reminded of it.

What many fail, or possibly refuse to acknowledge is that smokers and drinkers continue their habits because they really enjoy them, and believe the risk is worth taking, and I would think that a nation that recently voted to take back control could possibly be of a mind to cede personal responsibility for the amount of cake and fine wine it consumes to a bureaucracy, having just fought so hard to leave one.

Encroachment by government breeds discontent amongst people who simply want the freedom to live their own lives, and now we have our Loony Tune government telling people they can go to work and people cramming themselves onto buses, trains and tubes.

And then we have Boris Johnson clapping for our NHS, wondering if the cameraman has enough propaganda footage, but they won’t pay for those same heroes, but then that’s the typical Tories wanting something for nothing.

Cabinet Minister Branded Irresponsible

A millionaire Cabinet minister has maintained he’d board a packed bus or train to travel to work, even if he couldn’t stay 2 metres apart.

Robert Jenrick acknowledged overcrowding was a problem but stated he would even get on a busy bus because we have given guidance on how to protect ourselves but the cabinet minister was slammed for being irresponsible and dangerous by shadow housing secretary Steve Reed, who accused him of being negligent.

Robert Jenrick was further slammed soon after the UK lockdown when it emerged he’d driven 40 miles to visit his elderly parents, while the remainder of the country was not able to do so, and the Housing Secretary, who owns numerous homes, sustained critique for moving around between them.

Despite serving the Nottingham electorate of Newark, he drove from London, where he’d been working, to his family residence in Hereford and then on to see his parents too deliver essentials including medication.

Meanwhile, images of packed tubes and buses have sparked concerns that passengers could be putting themselves in jeopardy by commuting to work, and there was a 10 per cent rise in London Underground journeys early on Thursday compared with the same period last week.

It comes after the Prime Minister asked Brits to return to work but urged them to avoid public transport where feasible, which seemed somewhat confusing for numerous people and what we needed from the Prime Minister was transparency about travelling to work safely, not mixed messages that could end up spreading the virus and costing lives.

And this is a dangerous absurdity from our Government Minister and confirms that they couldn’t care less about keeping their safety guidelines on buses, tubes and trains and transport workers have died throughout this crisis in excessive numbers and it’s horrifying that Ministers seem ready to condemn others to the same fate.

And it seems to be one rule for MPs in parliament and another for transport workers and passengers, and this is merely another Tory minister that needs to pull his trousers up and give his mouth a chance, and this is more evidence that we have a government that contains not just nincompoops but unstable and neurotic fools.

Maybe it’s our government that should be showing real leadership, and they should go back to work first, then we can be a little more confident on going back to work ourselves, and then if they start falling like bugs that they are, we’ll know it’s not safe to go back to work.

And then, meanwhile, over in the other room, his fellow cabinet member Grant Shapps is saying that it’s our public duty not to get on public transport, so it’s crystal clear that our government doesn’t know what it’s doing.

Using public transport is torture at the best of times, even without a virus with people crowding onto trains like sardines, with enough bacteria to sink a ship, but now we have the virus, it’s even more so, and then we have a most elite MP who’s securely ensconced in his home, what does he actually know about living with coronavirus? And it makes me question when he last had to use public transport.

Yep, we’ve all be given this guidance, but you actually can’t keep a 2-metre safe distance on public transport because if you face one way you’re facing someone or another, and to think our government gets paid for this drivel.

I guess if everyone wore a face mask that might help, but that’s a face covering that for the last 6 weeks they’ve been telling us has no effect, so that’s not inspiring trust, and it’s easy for this MP to spew utter baloney when he’ll probably never be in a position to mount a bus, and he’s probably only seen a bus from the outside and never had to travel squashed up next to a stranger’s sweaty body, and to be fair would he even know where his nearest bus stop or train station was?

And he certainly doesn’t care about the well-being of others, unless, of course, they’re fellow Tory cohorts, and this fool and the rest of those incompetent government will have blood on their hands when the inevitable second wave comes as a result of Boris Johnson’s imbecility of easing the lockdown when we’re nowhere ready.

Heartbroken Grandmother Braves Tory Minister

A heartbroken grandmother faced a Tory minister for playing with her grandchildren’s lives, while she’s still prohibited from seeing them.

Lyn from Redditch, Worcestershire, sounded close to tears as she asked Robert Jenrick why he was sending children back to school, but not letting them see their family, but the Communities Secretary denied playing with anyone’s lives.

This grandmother has a 60-foot garden full of children’s toys where they can play, but she’s not allowed to do that and it’s tearing her heart apart.

Primary schools are expected to resume in a social distanced way from June 1 at the earliest, starting with Years R, 1 and 6 and with other primary years due to follow by July, but everyone must still stay two metres away from each other for the foreseeable future unless they live in the same home, even close family.

The government are looking to let two households join in a permanent bubble, but there’s no date or definite plan for this yet, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned people may not be able to hug each other hello until there’s a vaccine.

And for those that have seen the movie Hunger Games, what will our punishment be for our failed rebellion? Because you only have to look at our political establishment to see their new and deceptive targets, local planning and zoning commissions and the trample on our freedoms, forcing citizens into Orwellian human habitation zones.

And the coronavirus crisis has brought new life to an old conspiracy theory about a dictatorial world government endeavouring to destroy most of the world’s population as part of a UN plot dating back to 1992.

And Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram reveals a definite uptick in posts discussing Agenda 21 in recent weeks as the coronavirus crisis has taken hold around the world, although posts are usually removed for breaching the platform rules.

Agenda 21 was a nonbinding UN declaration signed in 1992 that presents an action plan for governments about sustainable development, but in the 22 years since it was signed, radicals have recast it as a dark plan to inflict a dictatorial world government and a nefarious attempt to crush freedom in the name of environmentalism.

And fears are now running rife that the coronavirus is some part of that conspiracy, maybe by the Chinese government, or other global players, and it’s not surprising that Agenda 21 would pop up again in that environment.

Agenda 21 content is rife on YouTube, which has long had an issue with conspiracy theories, and one YouTube video, which has been seen more than 200,000 times since being uploaded by the Atlantis Report said that Agenda 21 will decrease the human population from approximately 8 billion to about 750 million.

This suggests that the UN is preparing on annihilating just over 90 per cent of the global population, and a YouTube spokesperson informed BuzzFeed News that the video doesn’t infringe the platform’s policies and that harmful misinformation linked to health gets excluded, but general conspiracy theories don’t, although some other videos were withdrawn after being flagged.

Another post shared several hundreds of times on Facebook through a page called the United States of Africa, maintains that the coronavirus is part of a Western biological plan to force vaccinations that would systematically diminish the population of Africa.

Opposition to vaccines is a constant topic of posts mentioning Agenda 21, as is the belief that the new coronavirus is a conspiracy to overturn the economy to generate the conditions for greater government control of businesses and people’s lives, although when you think about it, it’s not actually out of the question.

And it’s fair to say that none of us has been resistant to the impact of COVID 19, and we’re all feeling the uncertainty of these times that it brings.

Nevertheless, while some industries are struggling in this environment, there are some marketers out there questioning how to sensitively and smartly use their digital marketing efforts to keep their businesses afloat.

But humankind is facing an immense challenge and coronavirus has impacted in all dimensions of our lives. Public health, labour systems, social interaction, political debate, the use of public spaces, the economy, the environment and cultural life.

COVID 19 is hitting the social life of our communities very seriously.

Libraries, memorials, community centres, museums and all cultural venues have suffered many weeks of the lockdown, some of them still open and some getting ready to reopen with physical distancing measures.

Concerts, carnivals, displays, fairs and intangible heritage events have been cancelled, and there’s still doubt on how those performances will take place again, and the online presence of cultural institutions and organisations has exponentially increased.

And artisans in these areas, who are frequently in an already precarious position, who are self-employed or freelancers may be left for months without any income because the ongoing involvement of all cultural life in the community has been seriously damaged by COVID 19, and so has the health and the condition of our freedoms.

And as the novel coronavirus proceeds to spread throughout the globe, with new cases being reported all the time. Spreading just as quick, it appears, are conspiracy arguments that maintain great actors are planning something sinister to do with the virus.

And this implies that medical conspiracy theories show that this has the potential to be just as deadly for communities as the outbreak itself.

One conspiracy theory suggests that the coronavirus is a bio-weapon masterminded by the CIA as a way to wage war on China but others are convinced that the United Kingdom and US governments introduced the coronavirus as a way to make money from a possible vaccine.

And even though many of these conspiracy theories seem far fetched, the belief is that sinister powers are seeking a widespread hidden plan on every sector of society, and usually these relate to health.

And it was found that 16 per cent of respondents in Spain believe that the HIV was created and circulated the world on purpose by a clandestine organisation and that 27 per cent and 12 per cent of British respondents were convinced that the truth about the adverse effects of vaccines is being intentionally concealed from the people.

And it seems that the spread of bogus news and conspiracy theories around the coronavirus is such a significant problem that the World Health Organisation has built a myth busters webpage to try to tackle it.

But conspiracy theories have a tendency to occur when there are moments of crisis in our community, like terrorist attacks, rapid political changes or economic pressure.

Conspiracy theories flourish in times of difficulty and peril where we try to make sense of the turbulent environment that we live in.

Now just take immunisation which seems to be a global health and development success story, which protects millions of lives every year.

Now we have vaccines to prevent more than 20 life-threatening diseases, helping people of all ages to live longer, healthier lives, yet we don’t have one to stop COVID 19 from spreading, but immunisation is the foundation of the primary health care system and an undeniable human right, it’s also one of the largest health investments money can buy because folks it’s all about money and profit.

In the 1990s, the United Nations drafted ‘Agenda 21’, their strategy for defeating climate change but by 2015, it was rebranded by socialists into ‘Agenda 30’, but neither had anything to do with global warming and everything to do with using it to reshape our political world.

Then last year, the push for Agenda 30 wasn’t only about climate change, but about fighting future global pandemics as well, and in October 2019, some of the world’s most powerful business and political leaders gathered to discuss how to plan for such a crisis.

Now, the coronavirus outbreak has touched every corner of the globe and it becomes more apparent every day that socialists are going to use this pandemic to accomplish their ultimate goal: GLOBAL CONTROL.

 

 

Countries Should Be Bracing For A Second And Third Surge Of Coronavirus

It’s been warned that countries need to plan for a second or third surge of coronavirus until a vaccine is developed, with Europe remaining pretty much in the grip of the pandemic despite a plateau or decline in new cases since most countries went into lockdown.

COVID 19 isn’t going away anytime soon, and scientists around the globe are rushing to produce a vaccine which would turn the tide against the virus, but it’s expected to be several months away at least, and countries need to plan for future outbreaks once the first peak has been reached.

The important issue is to be prepared, whether it’s for a second surge or another explosion of another likely contagious agent, and this will need the collaboration and understanding of everyone.

Parts of Europe are beginning to move towards a post-lockdown life, with schools now open in some countries and shops in others. Nevertheless, Britain remains under strict lockdown with no expiry date in sight, as the death toll proceeds to rise.

There are certain signs Europe is reaching its peak of the virus but it remains pretty much in the grip of the pandemic, with the continent still accounting for approximately half (46 per cent) of all cases globally, and almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of all deaths.

And even now we’re seeing evidence of a plateau or decline in new cases, its growth must be monitored extremely closely.

In Britain, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is making plans with Oxford University to distribute a vaccine if trials prove successful, and the university’s Jenner Institute began human trials last week, with some results anticipated by the middle of June.

It was also said that they want to make sure the rest of the world can make the vaccine at scale.

Dozens of vaccines are currently in progress but it will probably take 12 to 18 months to obtain one that works, but the public health policy will have to remain at the top of the agenda even after the crisis comes to a standstill.

And the one thing that’s apparent in different countries is the speed in which even the best health systems can be defeated and destroyed, so the most important lesson overall at this stage would be that health deserves to be at the peak of the political program.

Health is the driver of the economy and what we see now is that without health, there’s no economy. Without health, there’s no national security, and that once we get out of this pandemic, through combined efforts, this is a lesson that should never be forgotten.

Lockdown Changes

Now people in England will be able to exercise greater freedoms as lockdown constraints are relaxed, and despite the number of UK deaths exceeding 40,000, the variations allow exercising more than once a day, relaxing and sunbathing in parks and on beaches, and going for a drive.

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Nevertheless, the vast majority of the measures forced on March 23 still apply, with Boris Johnson previously warning it was not the time to just end the lockdown this week.

You can now meet up with someone from another household in the park, as long as you keep a 2-metre distance from each other, and those who can’t work from home are also being asked to return to work.

Schools and all non-essential stores will remain closed until at least June, with pubs expected to be closed past July, and with the chance that the virus could run wild again, the penalty for breaching remaining rules has been nearly doubled to £100, up to a cap of £3,200.

And the overall message has shifted from ‘stay at home’ to ‘stay alert’, a situation that has provoked fear and rage, with many saying that the restricted easing has come far too soon, with England still seeing thousands of new COVID 19 infections and hundreds of losses per day.

And Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all stopped short of easing the lockdown in the way Boris Johnson has, and it was previously warned by Keir Starmer that this fosters more questions than answers, and now we’re seeing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland leaning in different directions.

Boris Johnson seems to be effectively telling millions of people to go back to work without a definite plan for safety or clear guidance as to how to get there without using public transport, and the Police Federation of England and Wales warned of excessive stress being laid on the officers it represents by the relaxation of rules.

What we require from Boris Johnson and the government now is clear and unambiguous messaging and direction, defining what precisely is expected of the people, and Boris Johnson has acted as an absolute clown, and his head is in a noose now, and I’m sure there would be numerous people out there that would be delighted to pull it tight.

And now it’s been suggested that our government are going to put our taxes up to cover the money they’re having to spend whilst the country is in lockdown.

But if this is true that the coronavirus originated in China, then can our government possibly sue China for all the pain and deaths they’ve caused all over the world? Plus if it’s a man-made virus like it’s been proposed, created to cull populations, then can’t they be charged with willful murder?

And every time Boris Johnson opens his mouth he contradicts himself and his aides are no better. We need people with good common sense addressing this COVID 19 pandemic.

We need definite effective rules and decisive leadership to get through this and Boris Johnson and his cohorts must stop confusing us all and get a handle on the situation, and now more than ever we need a robust government to help us.

And Londoners who will be using public transport won’t pay heed to the 2-metre rule, especially now that they’re working on a reduced service, and I honestly don’t know what the Prime Minister was thinking because evidently he’s had the virus and knows the risks, and the virus is still very much out there with precious few people wearing face protection.

It will be near on impossible to carry out the 2-metre rule on any public transport in London or anywhere else, and I’ve noticed they say to use a face covering, not a mask because masks are extremely difficult to get, yet other more impoverished countries than us are giving them out free, the United Kingdom, on the other hand, get ripped off and have to wait a month to buy them on the internet.

And elsewhere in the country, there wasn’t a parking space to be seen on the seafront, and the ice cream man was out, and numerous people had to shuffle past people to get to work, and Boris Johnson had the temerity to say stay alert, perhaps we should report all coughing to the intelligence services.

And watch this space, everywhere will be packed out now, but this easing has come way too early and the numbers will go through the roof, and then Boris Johnson can say back to lockdown and that it’s our fault and that we should have stayed alert.

What’s The Point?

It’s always the same and it’s too disheartening. What’s the point in finding out how many more hundreds of people have died today? And I don’t need the Prime Minister telling me that I can’t go to see my family or friends, I already know that.

I don’t need to turn on the television to know that, at this unprecedented hour national emergency, that our nation is being led by a barbered chimpanzee who seems to be biologically inept of telling the truth.

And it may even be a rational psychological coping strategy to decide not to know how serious things are, or more precisely, how bad he is – it would even be tempting to label it as a national humiliation, like having the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe.

Stay alert, watch out, there’s a Boris about.

All his life Boris Johnson has fantasised about being the next Winston Churchill, the nation’s hero, but 75 years after Winston Churchill announced the end of the second world war in Europe, all Boris Johnson could manage to do in his pre-recorded television statement, was to divide the United Kingdom, with most of us seeking to distance ourselves from the Prime Minister’s central message even before it had been transmitted.

Forget the Churchill tribute act, these days Boris Johnson couldn’t even get a job as a Boris Johnson tribute act, and maybe it was never meant to be this way.

Boris Johnson was meant to be the man who could put a smile on the country’s face, the man who would get Brexit done with blind enthusiasm and a few white lies.

But this coronavirus has put pay to all that because it’s a virus that doggedly opposes any smooth-talking about taking back power, and deep down, Boris Johnson knows that he’s well out of his depth and that he’s just not up to the task.

You can see it in his eyes, which have shrunk to puffy pinpricks, and he’s lost the gift of language, at a time of crisis when a leader’s address is thought to be a source of motivation and reassurance.

Somehow all that Boris Johnson can manage to present now is a feeling of frenzy, but at least this time, Boris Johnson made an effort – sharp suit, brushed hair yet the speech was a mess.

A more worthy Prime Minister would have acknowledged that blunders had been made in the handling of the crisis, but Boris Johnson is deep down a coward and a man who runs from the first hint of personal accountability.

What we got was more waffle about following the science and being thankful that even more people had not yet died, and insinuation that the 65 more that had survived should be a tad more appreciative.

Not a word on why other countries were coping with the virus so much better than us. It must be a tremendous comfort to the families of those who have died that the government didn’t choose to follow the South Korean science.

No one could have prophesied the demand for more personal protective equipment in care homes unless they’d read the Exercise Cygnus report that foretold just that, and we would presently be carrying out hundreds of thousands of tests a day, yet Boris Johnson still clasps to the notion that just by saying something, he can make it come true.

Not only are we striving to attain a target of just 100K a day without some imaginative accounting, but we also don’t even have the means to process the results in under 10 days, and having got his excuses and disclaimers out of the way, Boris Johnson got down to the substance of his address, or rather the absence of substance.

So, meet the new messaging, or even the old messaging, which was even vaguer and more confusing, and following his fifteen minutes of TV fame was like watching someone have a breakdown in front of you.

And rather than saying this time ‘stay at home’, the new maxim was ‘stay alert’, which was less like a slogan and more like a piece of advice he would give to himself, given all the times he’s taken his eye off the ball over the past few months, and it was virtually as if what had been missing from the British war effort had been some blackout curtains and taking down road signs in an effort to distract and impede the growth of the coronavirus.

The best slogan that might have been more apt would have been ‘careless talk costs lives’ because Boris is a Zen master whose only goal is to get to the end of any one sentence, with no consideration for the outcomes for those that follow, and for Boris, there’s no past, no future and as things are, not much of a present.

What was most impressive was how little Boris Johnson had to say and his roadmap, or shape of a roadmap as he called it, making it sound disturbingly like a homoeopathic representation of a map, to a future which looked disturbingly like a map of the M25.

And there were five appealing colours of vigilance and the promise of a Captain Marvel bio-science centre, but the bottom line was it was still circular, with any number of still to be determined exit points, keeping alive the very real chance that we might find ourselves back at the beginning.

But much of what he said was the same, yet often conflicting advice.

Social distancing, staying at home wherever possible, going to work wherever possible but how people were supposed to get to work on public transport while staying 2 metres apart was not explained.

There would also be some easing of the lockdown by the end of June, aside from the bits that might come sooner, or later – it was all just a bit of a ramble and nothing on the questions that countless people wanted answers – at what stage might people be allowed to see their family and friends again?

This is our plan, Boris Johnson concluded, having forgotten he’d just said that he didn’t actually have a plan, other than to stay alert and keep buggering on, something that the rest of the country is increasingly wishing Boris Johnson might personally consider doing.

The only thing that I could really gather from his babbling bosh was that the Working classes, well, it was time for them to get back to work in precarious conditions, and the Prime Minister’s address must have been the most shameful performances ever to be viewed on TV.

Yes, let’s get all the working classes back to the factories and onto building sites – the first few moments of his address seemed moderately reasonable but the rest of it made me want to stab toothpicks under my toenails.

Boris Johnson’s address was more like a public danger announcement, and he was behaving more like a con man who’d just realised he’d been rumbled and no one was buying his routine anymore, but sadly there are some people around who will buy his snake oil wares regardless of how transparent his bunk is.

And his prose could not hide the hollowness of his words, and it was confusing and extremely conflicting, yet this was supposed to be an incredibly powerful address but after about five minutes I had no idea what the hell he was going on about, but funnily enough, I don’t think he did either!

   

  

Rip Off Britain!

A woman who’s 95 years old and bed-bound, and who regularly has her prescriptions delivered free of charge in dosset boxes phoned the woman’s daughter to say that her mother had to have antibiotics and could someone come and pick them up.

The daughter knew nothing about her mother being prescribed antibiotics and Boots in Basildon refused to deliver the antibiotics except if she paid £5 delivery. Her mother can’t get out of bed to answer the door to even pay them the £5 and she was in urgent need of the antibiotics.

And Boots stated that unless somebody could come in collect them her mother wouldn’t get the antibiotics. Her daughter explained that they were all on self-isolation and they said it wasn’t their problem.

The unfortunate woman lives on her own and has carers come in every day, but it’s not in their remit to pick up her medication. But normally Boots deliver her normal medication to her door and let themselves in with a key code, but they’re saying just for one item they won’t do it except if the lady pays £5 and it appears that Boots are money-mad and couldn’t care less about people and they should be ashamed of themselves.

This is a 95-year-old woman, who is bed-bound and has to rely on other people to do things for her, yet we were informed by the government that the elderly and disabled would be helped as much as possible, but it seems that our government has lied to us again.

You would, of course, think that the daughter would be able to go and get the medication for her mother, but her daughter is also disabled and is also in self-isolation, so this would be impracticable.

Her mother is elderly and can’t look after herself and this charge that Boots have brought in for existing customers is a disgrace.

Boots said that deliveries weren’t supported by the NHS but that free deliveries would be available for the most vulnerable. So, being bed-bound and having to wear a nappy is not the most vulnerable it seems.

Some people are fortunate enough to have their children come and deliver their medication but for other people like this lady, they’re not. But it’s not only that, it’s the bigger picture and it’s not only the older vulnerable people who can’t get to Boots and for some, it’s their only human contact.

And most community pharmacies don’t charge, and it’s not the case that they’re charging for £5, it’s the principle of the matter, and of course, if they want to charge people that can afford it, then that’s fine, but to charge the elderly or housebound, especially in this viral crisis is dreadful.

And it doesn’t look like they’re delivering free to the most vulnerable when a disabled 95-year-old woman has been told that she won’t get her medication if she doesn’t pay the charge.

Again it’s rip off Britain, which is putrid, and quite frankly, now we shouldn’t have our prescriptions filled at Boots because it’s big profit on dispensing medication.

Labour MP Nadia Whittome Fired

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A Labour MP who returned to work as a carer for the elderly to assist in the coronavirus pandemic says she’s been axed for speaking out about the shortage of PPE.

Nadia Whittome had been working at Lark Hill retirement village for about a month, but Extra Care Charitable Trust, which manages the site in Nottingham told her she had to go because of her comments.

Nadia Whittome, 23, who has never condemned the company for the shortage of PPE, said she was horrified and the Nottingham East MP added it was her duty, to be frank about the absence of PPE and testing, which is putting lives in danger.

And that there are so many in social care, who work for a poverty wage, speaking out isn’t an option, and that this is wrong and risky for residents, and in an email seen by the Mirror, Nadia Wittome was told she would no longer be required to do shifts at the care home because she had spoken to the media about her concerns over PPE curtailments and the safety of staff and residents in the retirement village in Nottinghamshire.

Nadia Whittome is now donating the wages she received as a carer to charity and is now inviting all care workers across the nation who’ve encountered intimidation, silencing or disciplinary action to speak up during the COVID 19 crisis to correspond with her with their experiences.

The MP openly talked about returning to care and highlighted some of the anxieties around staff safety but has never criticised the care provider.

Her concerns include staff having only one protective mask per day per worker, relying on homemade visors given by a member of the public and securing the storecupboard of PPE locked due to insufficient supply, and a fear that it was extremely valuable and could be sold for a lot of cash if staff had access.

She stated that staff were told by the onsite wellbeing nurse that masks don’t make a difference and that they could purchase masks from Screwfix if that would make them feel more comfortable.

Nadia Wittome said that she was horrified that ExtraCare has decided this course of action, without following any due process and without her ever having portrayed them negatively in the media.

She said that she will continue to deliver the truth about her frontline experiences and that she rebuked care companies who attempt to suppress staff for speaking out and raising concerns.

Nadia Whittome, who became the youngest MP in the House of Commons when she was selected in December, said it had been an honour to return to work in social care beside her former co-workers and many of the residents she used to care for.

A co-worker of Nadia Whittome said that Nadia didn’t come back as an MP, she came back as the same person she was when she left to become an MP, which was a caring, compassionate, grounded woman who never forgot where she came from, who cares for residents like a member of her family.

And that they were puzzled as to why an exceptional caring worker has been fired and that they’d been following Nadia’s interviews and that she hadn’t said anything other than the facts.

Nadia Whittome spoke of her concerns over how whistleblowers are being treated by the sector, and that she could survive being dramatically dismissed for speaking out because she has another revenue to live on, but for so many people in social care, who work a skilled, exhausting and now dangerous job for poverty pay, speaking out was not a choice.

This is wrong and dangerous for care home residents and patients, and care workers are at the frontline of defeating this virus and they warrant our complete admiration and support.

The GMB Regional Secretary for the Midlands and East Coast Martin Allen said that the GMB is the unions for all care workers and has been clear in demanding decent PPE provision in care since day one of the crisis, no ifs no buts.

And that Nadia has been doing excellent work holding the government to account on PPE and highlighting the issue of PPE in care homes as a matter of national concern. But the ExtraCare Charitable Trust has described news of a deficit of PPE at Lark Hill as incorrect.

A spokeswoman for the Trust said that Lark Hill is the largest retirement villages in the United Kingdom and home to 419 older people with an average age of 82 years old and that their charities staff are working day and night to guarantee the safety and well-being of its residents who are particularly vulnerable during the COVID 19 outbreak.

And that as a result of meticulous infection control measures which include a sufficient supply of Personal Protective Equipment, they’re relieved to announce that no deaths have happened inside the Lark Hill community as a consequence of COVID 19 and that their diligence, attention and care continues.

The spokeswoman maintained that they value their relationship with Nadia Whittome, as they do with all MPs associated with their retirement communities, and that Nadia joined them as a casual worker, to help their care team and they welcomed her contribution, giving support to eight care shifts during March and April.

And that now their in house care team are meeting their needs at this time and Nadia Whittome’s help is no longer required, and that at Lark Hill, they have over three months supply of Personal Protective Equipment, including over 25,000 pairs of gloves, 7,700 aprons and approximately 6,000 masks and that they have access to further equipment should they require it.

They further said that reports that they have a PPE deficit is incorrect and that it’s caused concerns amongst their residents, and that they’ve had to spend a notable amount of staff time consoling their residents as a result.

But we also need to look at the way our NHS workers are being treated and while most of us clap on Thursday evenings, there are loonies out there that believe it’s okay to slash their tyres, leave ominous notes and sometimes actually attack them, and at least one of them has been slain in this enemy we call coronavirus.

And whilst this government might not be responsible for private care homes, COVID 19 is sweeping through them and into our community and when there’s a pandemic, a competent government should act everywhere, including prisons and care homes.

Because our government has had a dereliction of responsibility, and if you defend them, you defend every needless death.

We’ve already had more than 30,000 deaths and we’re still getting hundreds more, which tells us that there are countless more deaths to come before we get through this, which means this is a failure on a grand scale.

But also remember that this virus didn’t decimate care homes on its own. The harm was done a long time ago when the government expected private patients to meet a premium to meet the shortfall of money that they had made councils cut from their care budget needed to pay for the most basic and cheapest care packages available.

And most were not fit for purpose, solely because they couldn’t afford to pay for what is required to be an alternative to a geriatric ward with a hospital setting attached to it, to back them up with all the patient’s medical records, but it simply can’t be done properly on the cheap.

There’s a marked distinction between lying and speaking out, but there are numerous people who don’t like others speaking out, particularly a young woman like Nadia Whittome, and it seems that anyone who gives their view, whether it be through the media or social media, swiftly that opinion disappears or even that person disappears.

The thing with all MPs, they like to be centre of attention, so that they can get themselves noticed in the tabloids, like ordering lockdown and then ordering PPE that’s not fit for purpose or ignoring UK companies making PPE for our front line workers, then sending it abroad – oh, and then refusing to adhere to safety measures and going round shaking hands with all and sundry and then needing ICU because they got the virus.

Lark Hill is not a care home, it’s an independent living village for older people. Some of whom own their own homes and some there that rent. It does have facilities, and about a third of the residents within the Village get some care or support, depending on their circumstances. The Village is a throbbing community, well, it was once. With residents involved in numerous clubs, classes and social events.

As for people speaking out, no one should be quelled for speaking out about things, or the government’s ineptitude with PPE, and it’s a shame that Nadia Whittome was dismissed for speaking out.

Nadia Whittome comes from a humble background, and contrary to the opinion of the media, her sincerity of the PPE deficits at the Extra Care Lark Hill retirement village, in all likelihood is possibly an unbiased appraisal of the actual situation.

Furthermore, speaking to the media about her work is certainly not a sackable offence, which leads to the retirement village having something to hide, and in due course, when a public inquiry is eventually conducted of the government’s inappropriate response to COVID 19, the need of PPE and its shortcomings within care homes to address COVID 19 deaths, it shall be analysed with the truth and revealed of the actual deficit of PPE.

And some people don’t like anything which shows this country for what it is with over 30,000 people dead, thanks to the ineptitude of those some of us support.

What this confirms is that the private sector will never be able to be completely nullified from its financial obligations, even when it’s attempting to run its charitable firm, just like private schools that need funding from the parents of the children they educate.

The spokeswoman for the Trust, whom I’m guessing is paid to address responses to bad news said that there was sufficient safety equipment, and yet they’re firing staff at a time when any one of us could get ill, which looks a tad suspect because there’s always work to be done or care to give.

And it only needs one death there to start the ball rolling and before you know it people will be dropping like flies, and any weaknesses have to be disclosed because it’s a life or death matter and like it or not, the time to report shortcomings is before you’ve got any deaths.

It’s no use waiting until five or so are dead because then the tipping point has been reached and then you’re on your way to way more deaths, but it appears that they’d sooner carry on putting patients and staff in danger and that’s simply sickening and reprehensible behaviour, and how dare they suppress people like this because this then displays their total hatred for our front line workers.

And it now seems that we’re living in a put up and shut-up country where bully’s reign and people are too frightened to speak up about unbearable work conditions for fear of losing their jobs.

 

The Professor Who Breached Lockdown

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Professor Neil Ferguson will not face additional action by the police after admitting he made an error of judgment by breaching social distancing rules despite being an important figure in shaping the lockdown.

Scotland Yard reprimanded his performance as visibly disappointing but ruled out issuing a fine because he had taken responsibility after quitting as an important Government authority in the coronavirus response.

The researcher, whose work was pivotal in Boris Johnson’s move to impose stringent conditions, stood down from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) after letting a woman attend him at his London home.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Imperial College London professor had made the right decision to quit but that it was a matter for the police to determine whether to take further action and he said that it was just not possible for Professor Ferguson to continue advising the government.

Matt Hancock said that social distancing rules are there for everyone.

Scotland Yard said that they remain dedicated to their performance in maintaining adherence to Government guidance and have made it clear that their starting point is emphasising the necessity to follow the regulations with anyone who’s in breach in order to keep people safe and to protect the NHS.

They further stated that it’s clear in Professor Ferguson’s case, his behaviour was clearly disappointing but that he’s admitted he made an error of judgment and has taken responsibility for that, and because of that, they feel that they don’t need to take any additional action.

Professor Ferguson’s modelling of the virus’s transmission suggested 250,000 people could die without extreme action, and in a statement, made by Professor Ferguson, he stated that he believed he had made an error in judgment and took the wrong course of action.

Therefore he’s stepped back from his involvement in SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies), and he stated that he acted in the hope that he was immune, having tested positive for coronavirus and effectively quarantined himself for nearly two weeks after exhibiting symptoms.

He said that he sincerely regrets any undermining of the explicit messages around the continued call for social distancing, and he further called the government guidance on social distancing unequivocal, adding that it was there to protect all of us.

It was reported that Antonia Staats attended his home on at least two occasions during the lockdown.

Professor Ferguson, a mathematician and epidemiologist, led the Imperial team that modelled the spread and impact of COVID 19 in a Government-commissioned report.

The paper said merely reducing the spread of the virus, which had at that point been the plan, would have led to the NHS being overwhelmed by cases, and about 250,000 could have died in the United Kingdom in that scenario but research said more stringent measures would drastically decrease this.

The Prime Minister then announced the lockdown on March 23, ordering the public to stay at home as he shut most shops and gave police unprecedented enforcement powers.

The Prime Minister then announced the lockdown on March 23, requesting the public to stay at home as he shut most shops and gave police unprecedented enforcement restraints. Under those measures, partners who don’t live together were told they could no longer see each other.

Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that steps could be lifted from Monday, if possible, and the Imperial College London stated Professor Ferguson continues to concentrate on his important research.

The thing is, because Professor Ferguson got away with it, without any action from the police, and that this was the most blatant disregard of the lockdown rules, does that then mean that precludes the police from being able to fine any else that violates the rules.?

After all, what’s good for one, should be good for another, unless you’re a professor, of course.

Or is it, that the rules only pertain to us, commoners?

But then I don’t suppose we should be shocked, and if that was someone else that wasn’t in the public eye, they would have been punished to the full letter of the law.

Photographer Hits Back

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The photographer who shot Keir Starmer as he clapped for carers has hit back over allegations he was only doing it for the cameras.

The Labour leader met with social media assault over a clip of him, which showed him asking a cameraman if he got what he needed, after clapping beside his wife Victoria and critics on Twitter accused Keir Starmer of clapping solely for the cameras and of using the weekly celebration of the NHS for his political ends.

But the cameraman who was shooting the clip of Keir Starmer and his wife hit out on Twitter at the fraudulent claims.

Marc Ward spoke out after the misleading clip started to spread and he stated that he was that cameraman that Keir Starmer was talking to and that he simply asked Marc about a way to clear the path so that he could bring his daughter over from across the road.

He added the clip of a different angle stating that was the angle that Keir Starmer spoke to him and all that you could see was Keir Starmer heading over the road to get his daughter and then they cut.

And that it was a total non-story being whipped up online by people who choose to screech bogus news and now the tweet has been shared hundreds of times but the Labour leader asked the question because he wanted to bring his young daughter over from across the road as he didn’t want her to be on TV.

And as soon as the cameraman had enough footage the Starmer’s wanted their daughter to join them again for the rest of the clapping.

The Labour leader tweeted that it was another touching moment as the nation came together to cheer for our key workers, our carers and all those keeping our country going through this crisis with the crisis now in its seventh week, with Britons up and down the country stepping onto their doorsteps, balconies and front gardens to cheer front line workers at 8 pm every Thursday.

The Prime Minister tweeted a video of himself clapping, saying thank you to all of our carers, for their incredible work, day in, day out and that they were the pillars of society in the struggle against coronavirus.

Carrie Symonds, who gave birth to their son Wilfred last Wednesday, also participated in the clapping, posting on Twitter that she spotted this flower rainbow leaving UCLH with Wilfred last week and was cheering again for the fabulous carers.

The ironic thing is that they all seem to come up with this robotic Minister parroting, the same words and the same web of lies that nobody believes.

They’re just a gaggle of Ministers and advisers who infringe the rules and then we get a theatrical and patronising performance from their key spokespeople but then this bogus news is simply representative of Tory tactics.

And it seems that the more incompetent they get, the more desperate and mean they get and what we should be doing is telling it precisely how it is because you only see Boris Johnson clapping while on camera but then I suppose he has better things to do with his time than to bestow gratitude to the NHS.

But don’t worry about the virus, it only affects Bats, Pangolins and human beings, so there must have been some manner of human in Boris Johnson.

But so it begins, they can’t defeat Labour by attacking Jeremy Corbyn anymore, so will try to turn the most insignificant things into a scandal against Keir Starmer and they will do anything to cover up Boris Johnson’s ineptitude and it’s getting clearer and clearer that we’re being governed by a posh dishevelled comedian with less competence than Frank Spencer.

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