Four inhabits his own weird universe where reality is simply ignored if it doesn’t fit his fixed opinions. Then he goes to his usual preferred sources to cherry pick and bias confirmation.

And you believe them? Your Tory govt has cut the police so much that they cant even investigate burglaries and muggings anymore. They are overwhelmed and this is going to be low priority. Are they going to break down the door to check a person is in, if they don't answer the doorbell?

In China, they bus you straight from the airport to hotels, and make sure you dont leave for 14 days.

Looks like they are opening on Wednesday. I'm sure that toilet facilities will be open but cafes won't.

"A senior government source told the BBC centres can reopen from Wednesday, if they comply with social distancing".

Garden centres will immediately become absolute hell holes. For hundreds of thousands of people they will be the only option for a "nice day out" while others will be desperate to buy up as many plants as possible. I imagine that social distancing will immediately go out of the window in the scrum at these places. Big mistake allowing them to reopen now, IMO.

I would imagine they would be required to by H & S legislation, and disabled ones too

Though a public loo is the last place I would want to go near at the moment, let alone in normal times!

She would be better off using a pad

Taking addresses does not constitute enforcement. Without active enforcement, the measures are ineffective.

The repeating pattern which we see from this government is that there are plenty of rules but enforcement only occurs sporadically and then only against out-groups. Those unfortunates whom the law binds but does not protect.

It is irrelevant to my point whether I believe them or not.

Ulric seems to have ignored the proposed enforcement measures totally. Perhaps he can’t work out if having them is “Libertarian” or not.

Steady, that's just the 'proof' the lockdown isn't working four needs...

And they are hubs for old people anyway, who stand around chatting. I feel sorry for the staff. Even though they are mostly young people who may not be affected, I would rather they were kept on furlough for as long as needed

​ Garden centres in England will be allowed to open from Wednesday

Quote

 

Garden centres in England will be allowed to open from Wednesday as part of first-step measures to gradually ease the coronavirus-related lockdown. The prime minister will announce on Sunday that garden centres will be allowed to open their doors to customers from 13 May.

Bosses will have to make sure visitors stick to strict social distancing measures, such as keeping two metres away from others, and will be expected to put restrictions in place to control shop numbers in a similar way to supermarkets. UK supermarkets have introduced queuing systems and one-way aisles to limit the interaction customers and staff have with one another, while also creating cleaning stations where trolley and basket handles can be disinfected. 

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-garden-centres-to-reopen-as-first-steps-to-ease-lockdown-revealed-11985532

​

From the BBC:

Coronavirus: How they tried to curb Spanish flu pandemic in 1918

"It is dangerous to draw too many parallels between coronavirus and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, that killed at least 50 million people around the world.

Covid-19 is an entirely new disease, which disproportionately affects older people. The deadly strain of influenza that swept the globe in 1918 tended to strike those aged between 20 and 30, with strong immune systems.

But the actions taken by governments and individuals to prevent the spread of infection have a familiar ring to them.

Public Health England studied the Spanish flu outbreak to draw up its initial contingency plan for coronavirus, the key lesson being that the second wave of the disease, in the autumn of 1918, proved to be far more deadly than the first."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-52564371

Isn't it the garden centre cafe that often seems to be the centre of those days out? 

I didn't explain "voluntary" very well. What I mean is that if there is no way of following up on people coming into the country and checking whether they really are self isolating, then any rules on self isolation will in effect be voluntary. Fair enough, if there are enough spot checks and a system of fines, that's ok.

At virtually every step, HMG has either dithered or made the wrong decision:

• Not closing our borders in January/February when it was clear that a highly infectious new virus was on the march

• Allowing major sporting events to go ahead in mid March

• Not locking down society two weeks earlier

• The ongoing PPE fiasco

• The care homes disaster

• The briefing about relaxing lockdown from Monday

• And now the forthcoming garden centres disaster

On the plus side, Sunak's furlough scheme, business interruption loans and grants and for the self-employed were timely and well conceived at pace. But the messaging on this has been soured by the very poorly advised comments about people becoming "addicted to state aid". And if Sunak withdraws these measures too soon (as he is threatening), there will be a far worse economic and social disaster.

There is no election anyway for years, and Bozo I suspect will not serve a second term. He is already bored of this and has achieved what he wanted - Brexit glory and his name up on the Old Etonians Hall of Fame

But Trump could easily use this as a pretext to suspend the US election and keep himself in power. It would go to the Supreme Court, but he has now installed his right wing stooges, including Maunder's hero - the sex pervert Kavanaugh

US death toll running at 1000 a day and fast approaching 80,000

The problem with that last line is that we don't have enough resources to effectively carry it out. It's a token gesture.

Agreed, but the people going back to work in Garden centres etc, do they automatically come off the furlough? What happens if some are not required. Will they just be sacked and have to go on Universal credit?

This is a recipe for mass unemployment

Gesture politics is what Vote Leave and the New Brexit party is all about. 

And the plebs are so gaslit by 40 years of media lies that they fall for it

Yes but even if not everyone is actually spot checked, the majority will follow the rules if there is a reasonable possibility of being checked. Hopefully, your lot will do it better than ours so far. Apparently, a third of people coming into Irish ports and airports didn't even leave an address. Which will make spot checks rather hard to carry out. 

Even Brillo is not impressed

Despite allowing people to arrive in UK throughout height of pandemic without the slightest check for Covid, The Times reports that, as the pandemic now abates, all arrivals from June 1 must self-isolate for 14 days. As they say across the pond, go figure.

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) May 9, 2020

Neil has been savaging HMG throughout this. He has been forensic. Unlike the droning Peston, vapid Kuenssberg etc.

Four linked an article by Brenden O Neill who I find very difficult to read these days but there has actually been a couple of really interesting (and evidence based) articles on Spiked by Professor Wilfred Reilly. They are primarily US focussed but they raise some important questions about the effectiveness of lockdowns. 

https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/05/08/the-lockdowns-still-arent-working/

The data is a bit technical for me but I'm sure Q/Lanky and others would be able to get to grips with it!

Again, I'm not saying this is right, I just think we need to look at different sides to the debate and keep an open mind.