I'm not sure what the problem with this is.

I assume the staff are still being paid.

Given the situation there's hardly likely to a rush for new passports so fewer staff will be needed. It will mostly be renewals I expect.

They are not asking all staff to go in so they can use social distancing rules.

It says "Passport Office staff have to handle documents and passports sent in from all over the world." But if they are quarantined for 3 days before handling what's the problem?

It seems to me just one of many possible sensible moves to to help get the country rolling again once restrictions are eased.

Why hasn't Chichester got these queues? I've done two lots of weekly shopping, one Sainbury's, one Waitrose, and walked straight in to an empty store both times. Maybe time of day is important - mid to early afternoon. 

OED has added some new words or definitions of words which have found everyday use as a result of the corona virus pandemic.

From the BBC:

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-52219841

MPs to receive up to £10,000 expenses for working from home. They already receive an office budget of £26,000 a year #Covid19 #coronavirus https://t.co/EXcqSjzqwM

— David Jack (@DJack_Journo) April 9, 2020

Extraordinary. Guaranteed to wind up people who are already fed up with the lockdown and worried stiff about money. Beggars belief.

Slightly connected to this, I thought that the term “social distancing” was a new one until I heard it mentioned in the film Contagion. By the look of things the WHO have used it since (at least) 2009.

https://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/swineflu/PI_summary_low_resource_02_05_2009.pdf?ua=1 

This is breathtaking if true.

Ordinary mortals can claim a £6/week tax allowance - amounting to the princely sum of £62/year for a basic rate taxpayer.

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

Read about it in The Times this morning. It does beggar belief and shows how out of touch many of them are. 

If people want to distribute the following article around their social media, it would serve as a timely reminder. It's one of the best I've read on the topic of contagion and how it works and might stop a few folk in their tracks (and sorry if someone's already linked to it - I'm limiting my time on forums at the moment):

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/the-cluster-effect-how-social-gatherings-were-rocket-fuel-for-coronavirus

Any offers for the best new word to describe the MP's £10000 'expenses' payment? Corocushion? I'm sure someone can come up with something pithy.

Anyway, this has most exceptionally prompted an email to my MP, particularly as our daughter has been expected to work from home with no extra expenses offered.

It beggars belief, doesn't it?

A bit like the professional footballers. They really don't help themselves do they.

Greater Manchester Police reporting that they had to break up 660 parties in Gtr Manc alone between last Saturday and Tuesday, plus a further 295 gatherings in parks or to play sports.

One woman has been charged, after police had repeatedly shut down her party. 

Some parties have had DJs, bouncey castles and fireworks. 

I'm sure Gtr Manchester isn't unique here.

WHAT THE F*** IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? THEY ARE UTTER SCUM.

I'd round all of them up - and include the rich arseholes having a nice Easter break in their second homes - knfect them all with CV19, and use them as guinea pigs to test new/experimental CV19 treatments and medicines.

Utter, utter scum.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-52221688#comment_138812292

Too many people think that MPs just lord it on fat pay topped up with expenses used to enrich themselves, most who rant the most have no idea off the extent of back offices and staffing required to support MPs in dealing with the many varied issues constituents go to their MP for help with.

I've along with several others have had meetings with several MPs and MSPs of all parties over the last few years about a regional issue in this part of the world, sometimes the meetings were easier to arrange as part of an open surgery in the constituency rather than at their office, and the number of people turning up to these was something of an eye opener. The office space, the IT equipment, the numerous staff all have to be paid for or the MP / MSPs can't provide that assistance in their constituencies.

Indeed my understanding is in quite a few cases far from enriching themselves on expenses, they are actually subsidising their office functions from their own salary to try and deal with the volume of casework, something which has been rising hugely since the roll-out of Universal Credit and will undoubtedly be on a steep upwards trajectory with many people facing hardship at this time. 

Uh-huh. When you get people like my former MP, Derek Wyatt, claiming every penny they can because "they don't get paid enough", people's perceptions aren't going to improve. (He also famously claimed 79p for Scotch eggs from Tesco - odd, I can't claim for my lunch from work!)

Yes, there's a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes but my goodness, they really don't help their public image!

In news that will surprise nobody, with over 100 deaths and rising, Liverpool is emerging as a CV19 hotspot.

The UEFA decision to force the club to host 3000+ Madrid fans as CV19 infections in Spain (especially in Madrid) were beginning to surge was and is a disgrace. And the city is now paying the price.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/coronavirus-tracker-shows-liverpool-hotspot-18065093

This is so sad and stupid. As I said at the time, future historians and TV documentaries will probably be using that together with images from Cheltenham and the Stereophonics gigs as typical of how Britain got it wrong.

Spain is also paying a heavy price for this stupidity

There is a lot of evidence in the scientific literature that mass events during epidemics accelerate them significantly. A lot of people might be dying now prematurely because of those events.

Yes and a number of us said so at the time. It was the same with the Stereophonics and Cheltenham Festival. The latter resulted in the Jockey Club apparently giving out medical advice. In normal times it would be funny but sadly in this instance it could have cost lives. 

who is giving her stick for saying what is quite self evident?