Raab keeps saying "we've been very clear"!

Mishail Husain eviscerating him 

Originally Posted by: Justin W 

You are always on the gloomy side wrt vaccines, it seems. If you're right and it's hopeless, should we just let it rip and have done with it?

(OTOH, given that we can vaccinate monkeys, I still can't see any reason why we can't get a human vaccine sorted).

Originally Posted by: Retron 

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 

Russia is now the 2nd worst country in the world by new infections after the USA

Russia has also gone above Italy and the UK to the 3rd most infected country in the world for total cases with 221,344 Spain remains 2nd with 264,663 with the USA top on 1,367,638 cases

Originally Posted by: Gavin D 

Hopefully there will be clarity come 14:00 however, I expect some people would pick holes whatever had been done/said.

Originally Posted by: westv 

The real problem is that the govt has trusted people to exert their own personal responsibility in dealing with this virus.

Trouble is most people don't have any.

Let's just go full police state, I've had enough of this dragging on. Labour complains about the Tories being fascist all the time, I think its time for some real fascism to put things in perspective.

Originally Posted by: Quantum 

Some debate on here this morning and no surprise the same boring protagonists at work who whatever the PM said would have been chomping at the bit putting the knife in. Multiple posts by the same people, so boring. I know
I go on about China responsibility and Russian stats, but at least I pause and come up for air.
Look, some 14 hours after the announcement with all the detail still to come later some are just too desperate to rubbish this govt down.
Yes even after the release of the 50 page document there will still be questions, it won't answer everything, but even here IF things go according to plan, then next phases and relaxations will solve and sort out many of these problems. It can't all happen in one go!
Until then, I think some of you need to have a good look at yourselves. You are not idiots and there are some very knowledgeable contributors on here but you also let yourselves down by your constant bitching and moaning. It's boring, very boring!
Any govt in charge would be under fire. Any govt would be in a no win situation. What a thankless task.
You should grow up a little, cut them some slack, don't be the boo boys all the time, you belittle yourselves when all the time we know you just like pantomine villains.
Yes this govt has mucked up like many of govt's have in hindsight, but every now and again it would be good if there was some support.

Originally Posted by: Phil G 

Look at the photos of packed London Tubes this morning as people are called back into work! Well done Boris

Originally Posted by: The Beast from the East 

Great post! What the hell were people expecting him to say in the speech last night.It was just an outline of the roadmap to get things moving again with conditions of certain critera being met,nothing was set in stone!!I thought his speech was clear concise easy to understand and delivered excellently.The petty political point scoring on here is tiresome.No matter what the govt is doing or going to do all the anti tory lot are going to be critical.If those of you are that bothered and so upset by what was announced then don`t go to work don`t go out and stay at home.Just wait for the details today before criticising.Boris was hardly going to read out a 50 page document on tv was he!

Originally Posted by: springsunshine 

Scientists concerned that coronavirus is adapting to humans

Researchers have observed mutations in some strains that may help the virus spread

Scientists have found evidence for mutations in some strains of the coronavirus that suggest the pathogen may be adapting to humans after spilling over from bats.

The analysis of more than 5,300 coronavirus genomes from 62 countries shows that while the virus is fairly stable, some have gained mutations, including two genetic changes that alter the critical “spike protein” the virus uses to infect human cells.

....

“This is exactly what we need to look out for,” Hibberd [LSHTM] said. “People are making vaccines and other therapies against this spike protein because it seems a very good target. We need to keep an eye on it and make sure that any mutations don’t invalidate any of these approaches.”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/10/scientists-concerned-that-coronavirus-is-adapting-to-humans

Hibberd says the mutations are rare at the moment. However, this is exactly the sort of thing which could blow up many of the vaccines on the launchpad. 

Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze 

He should have published the document first, then made his TV address. Its chaos in London this morning with poor people being called into work

Even the most tribal Tory should be able to agree with that?

Originally Posted by: The Beast from the East 

Grim....

Originally Posted by: Retron 

Coronavirus: Male security guards, chefs and taxi drivers among those most likely to die from COVID-19, says ONS https://t.co/VOZ5NPWYyf

— SkyNews (@SkyNews) May 11, 2020

Originally Posted by: Gavin D 

Some debate on here this morning and no surprise the same boring protagonists at work who whatever the PM said would have been chomping at the bit putting the knife in. Multiple posts by the same people, so boring. I know
I go on about China responsibility and Russian stats, but at least I pause and come up for air.
Look, some 14 hours after the announcement with all the detail still to come later some are just too desperate to rubbish this govt down.
Yes even after the release of the 50 page document there will still be questions, it won't answer everything, but even here IF things go according to plan, then next phases and relaxations will solve and sort out many of these problems. It can't all happen in one go!
Until then, I think some of you need to have a good look at yourselves. You are not idiots and there are some very knowledgeable contributors on here but you also let yourselves down by your constant bitching and moaning. It's boring, very boring!
Any govt in charge would be under fire. Any govt would be in a no win situation. What a thankless task.
You should grow up a little, cut them some slack, don't be the boo boys all the time, you belittle yourselves when all the time we know you just like pantomine villains.
Yes this govt has mucked up like many of govt's have in hindsight, but every now and again it would be good if there was some support.

Originally Posted by: Phil G 

Great post! What the hell were people expecting him to say in the speech last night.It was just an outline of the roadmap to get things moving again with conditions of certain critera being met,nothing was set in stone!!I thought his speech was clear concise easy to understand and delivered excellently.The petty political point scoring on here is tiresome.No matter what the govt is doing or going to do all the anti tory lot are going to be critical.If those of you are that bothered and so upset by what was announced then don`t go to work don`t go out and stay at home.Just wait for the details today before criticising.Boris was hardly going to read out a 50 page document on tv was he!

Originally Posted by: springsunshine 

It is chaos by the looks of it and no wonder - totally confusing messages from the PM last night and then contradicted by his deputy this morning. At least we can rely upon the usual suspects in here to lap up whatever they are told unquestioningly and condemn those who point out the confusion as "idiots".

The sycophancy is reassuring in a way.

Originally Posted by: Justin W 

If this was me I said you were NOT idiots, a bit different to calling you idiots or are you putting words in my mouth as well!

Originally Posted by: Phil G 

That is the point. Why choose a Sunday night to make such a critical announcement, not have the absolutely vital details available and then leave absolutely no room or time for questions and clarification?

There was little wrong with the speech per se but absolutely everything wrong with the timing and the lack of proper planning and communication that was absolutely essential to ensure clear and effective messaging.

I'm astonished that even the most timid of docile supporters can't see that as an exercise in clear communication it was a failure.  

"I want you to prepare for a long journey and the specific details are really important but I'm not telling you any of the details."

Originally Posted by: Gandalf The White 

That is the point. Why choose a Sunday night to make such a critical announcement, not have the absolutely vital details available and then leave absolutely no room or time for questions and clarification?

There was little wrong with the speech per se but absolutely everything wrong with the timing and the lack of proper planning and communication that was absolutely essential to ensure clear and effective messaging.

I'm astonished that even the most timid of docile supporters can't see that as an exercise in clear communication it was a failure.  

"I want you to prepare for a long journey and the specific details are really important but I'm not telling you any of the details."

Originally Posted by: Gandalf The White 

Porterpedia would have read exactly the same, Brian.

Originally Posted by: David M Porter 

If everyone had done what they were told during the lockdown we would be virtually back to normal by now.

Originally Posted by: Quantum