We haven't had these circumstances before (and that's not a free pass to do a below-par job either).

I suggest you take a look at that timeline showing Boris's negligence since the turn of the year. Funnily enough his negligence peaked a few weeks before the virus did!

Your suggestion is noted; I suggest you make another suggestion: what exactly should have been done?

I'm not surprised at your view of him.

Personally, I think he's great.

No doubt you equally won't be surprised at that.

Morrisons is cutting the price of unleaded to 99.7p per litre and diesel to 104.7p per litre from tomorrow morning as a thank you to key workers and other motorists making essential journeys.

Don't bother. So many are bedazzled by his posh voice and Eton history.

Off the top of my head, lockdown earlier, close borders, actually accept offers of PPE given we have a worrying shortage, contact tracing to contain the virus...

sorry Saint 

I presume that's not just a preempt on the fact that oil prices are heading towards their true value?

You can only play sport with a family member he said. I don't really get that because social distancing is social distancing. WHy does it have to be a relative?

"Such circumstances"? We have never had these circumstances.

That ought to be in the running for most bizarre question ever asked.

Are solitary outdoor activities, like fishing, or telescope observing/photography on an open field?

Yes; just what Blenheim did for Winnie.

Glad you enjoyed it; added a hue to your rainbow.

I do wonder what advice Boris sought from people with practical knowledge of education before this announcement was made. My wife(primary school principal) couldn't understand the rationale behind the proposal either. It seems that nobody who actually knows something about education would recommend this.

Meanwhile Ecuador reported a huge 410 deaths today from Covid.

I reported on this a few days back saying that the health system was being overwhelmed but few cases were being reported.

This may simply be an adjustment but only the US will report higher numbers today 

Nobody on here that has read anything I've ever said will accuse me of being either a Tory or a Brexit fan! But I do like to see things from all possible angles. Firstly, Boris Johnson is a good orator. This is why he and Nicola Sturgeon are at the forefront as they are both good speakers. He is the only one in the Tory Party who could have delivered that speech. It takes a fair bit of thought to see that it is flawed in a few ways. Generally people won't see that and certainly not to the extent if Hancock or Raab had been delivering it. Yes it was confusing with "stay alert" thing. He can't change the early mistakes but I thought he was accepting some were made with what he said about Care Homes and PPE.

He also emphasised that lives came before the economy which cannot have been popular in his Party and to me it was very clear that he was saying the social distancing rules must continue. He also said something about more caring and sharing in society after it was over. 

The problem is of course that talking the talk is this Government's strong point and Johnson excels at that in my opinion. He is good with words.  But delivery is the thing. Like the testing, (and I would have especially liked to have seen something on anti-body tests) like the PPE - in the end I will judge how good the speech was by the actions that follow and the benefits it leads to.

That is the point I was making fairweather- judging PMs ability to deal with this issue, would be fairly done if it was measured against others' performance, as well as the failings currently. My view is that it would be impossible to say how anyone else would have done better. There is no doubt whatever that mistakes have been made but given the unpredictable explosion of this condition worldwide, it would have been hard for any leader to have a guaranteed successful outcome. Some nations seem to have done better than others in terms of preventing deaths, and containing outbreaks, amongst some speculation about how they've done it. Mostly, it has been a massive unknown and I simply felt that I wouldn't have coped as well as PM after himself suffering a hit from this thing.

Not Me

I thought it was well delivered but I take major issue with the slogan and the definition of "alert" and also think he would have been better off adopting the NI/Scots/Wales approach of keeping the Stay At Home mantra

What he was thinking of telling people to go back to work tomorrow and not use public transport is anyone's guess and complete nonsense

For once I thought Starmer's comments sounded much more apposite

( I haven't turned into a Lefty though !)

Where did I say it would be easy ?, I don't agree with any schools going back but if they are half a school is better than a full school

I'm just so glad that Scotland has its own government!

So you wouldn't utilise the empty class rooms that would be available ? Surely to god you aren't going to lob them into one room ????

It was members of your household not family. 

To be honest having 3 three year olds in the same room it could be hard to enforce social distancing.

Probably true on both counts