People have suggested that the correct way of doing things would be to have had debate and questions in parliament, publication of the 50 page document, and then Johnson to do the speech this evening. That would have seemed better to me. Regarding people's reactions, I think part of the problem is that the speech had been built up as the big answer to everyone's questions and it didn't. Also agree with Chidog, acting as normal is easy to understand, lockdown is easy to understand, places in between the two are more complicated but it is an area which you are going to have to venture into at some point.

Originally Posted by: JHutch 

People have suggested that the correct way of doing things would be to have had debate and questions in parliament, publication of the 50 page document, and then Johnson to do the speech this evening. That would have seemed better to me. Regarding people's reactions, I think part of the problem is that the speech had been built up as the big answer to everyone's questions and it didn't. Also agree with Chidog, acting as normal is easy to understand, lockdown is easy to understand, places in between the two are more complicated but it is an area which you are going to have to venture into at some point.

Originally Posted by: JHutch 

The political divisions of the UK are becoming more apparent. We seem to have a Prime Minister just for England , who of which is leading the country to disaster without justifiable measures of more testing and tracing as the confusing, anxiety inducing steps of a lighter lockdown emerge..brilliant !!!

Originally Posted by: marco 79 

Indeed.

The problems  though are apparent contradictions in :-

• People who cannot work from home should return to the workplace - but avoid public transport


• People should try to stay at home as much as possible

If Public Transport is your only mode of transport, which takes precedence ?

Additionally, by all accounts even a fully up and running Public Transport system  will only  have circa 10% of its  usual capacity.  In an area like  Greater London (the countries economic power house)  commuting is overwhelmingly by Public Transport.  This implies  some kind of rationing   will have to be implemented but on what basis ?  Economic importance of your activity ?  First come, first served ? 

Walking and bicycle use are all very well, but not practical for a lot of people.

Originally Posted by: Bugglesgate 

Had Prime Minister Gaze made the speech last night it would have been very short and to the point. Highlights below:

Nothing is changing. Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives. We will review again in 3 weeks time.

The reasons for this are that scaling up contact tracing and antibody testing are both taking longer than we expected. However, progress is being made on both fronts. In addition we will be implementing a national randomised antigen testing programme to establish the current rate of infection.

The number of infections is falling but it is not yet at a manageable level. Therefore, to crush this virus to a level we can control the same rules must continue to apply. The economic cost is huge but it will be even higher if we ease now and have to slam on the brakes again in a few weeks or months.  

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

Had Prime Minister Gaze made the speech last night it would have been very short and to the point. Highlights below:

Nothing is changing. Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives. We will review again in 3 weeks time.

The reasons for this are that scaling up contact tracing and antibody testing are both taking longer than we expected. However, progress is being made on both fronts. In addition we will be implementing a national randomised antigen testing programme to establish the current rate of infection.

The number of infections is falling but it is not yet at a manageable level. Therefore, to crush this virus to a level we can control the same rules must continue to apply. The economic cost is huge but it will be even higher if we ease now and have to slam on the brakes again in a few weeks or months.  

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

Fwiw agree with all of this but then the same clarity problems with easing the lockdown are revisited in three weeks time. The lockdown message is easy; it's what comes after that is hard

Originally Posted by: Chidog 

Precisely!

“There was no detail but people won’t read the details”

There in a nutshell is the problem: there’s a bandwagon rolling to suit every negative interpretation.

It was not a great effort and the timing was abysmal: why a Sunday evening? But there’s no pleasing some folk.

Originally Posted by: Gandalf The White 

Well this is the nub of the problem isn't it. Boris's task was to summarise an incredibly complex scientific and social problem, one which normally involve lots of complicated calculations of R, movement of people, transport loads, mixing in shops, etc etc, and crystallise it into a 400-500 word message that would reassure Trev from Clacton that he wouldn't lose his job whilst showing some possible tentative way out of lockdown.

The previous message was clear, the question has always been what should follow that. No one, including the government or anyone on here has come up with an effective exit plan. Particularly in London it is virtually impossible to co-ordinate a valid response for getting people back to work and maintain distancing whilst not shutting down for probably close to a year at best. I'm not sure anyone else has worked it out in similarly laid out cities either which is why Madrid, Paris etc remain closed. So what is the way out? 

Originally Posted by: Chidog 

Raab spent much of the interview saying that the relaxations announced last night would not come into effect until Wednesday. I suspect a reverse ferret is being prepared.

Originally Posted by: Justin W 

This shouldn’t be a political row that divides us, it’s a national emergency that we’re all fighting and someone has to lead in that.

I think everyone on here is intelligent enough to comprehend the speech.  There will be idiots who flout the rules but that’s up to them. If they pick up the virus, they should be no threat to those of us who are vigilant, wash hands, stay 2 metres away etc. 

Originally Posted by: Caz 

I despair, Gandalf! Many folks don't heed the existing messages on food ingredients/Traffic Light scores, or the warning notices on tobacco or alcohol. What chance they will get the small print in the cov-exit strategy? The statistics below tell the story.

Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons 

However, the tools to manage the easing need to be in place. 1) More data to determine the current level of infection (randomised antigen and antibody testing) 2) Testing and mass contact tracing. Without them a very difficult task becomes an impossible one. 

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze