Now we all know what to do ...

Florence Nightingale was born 200 years ago today.

I think she would be proud of the nurses of today. 

No I am not. How on earth does being critical of the present government's approach imply that? 

[Pulled across from the last thread.] 

But But But Brain, remember any criticism of the government is not allowed in any shape or form. Apparently it’s doesn’t reflect the mood of the country.

Seems we just need to accept that they have done a great job in difficult circumstances. 

IMO Starmer is a refreshing change in thinking and manner, but Labour has yet to prove itself as a coherent and credible opposition. If he can get them singing from the same hymn sheet they just might come through the CO-19 crisis looking a possible future government. Talking is easy. Now is the moment to show they can do more than carp, moan and whine - a tactic which had them hemorrhaging a pool of traditional Labour voters. Many of these voted Tory at the last election for the first time in their lives.

R.

The last election was the first in my life where I didn't seriously consider voting Conservative. That had nothing to do with my view of Labour. I voted independent. 

Hard to believe class sizes of 15 with SD in mind

Parents who choose to keep their children at home will not face fines.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52618187

Roger

Still confused about when to apply rules and when to apply common sense. Rules say we can't go and visit friends for a chat, even though they have a large garden which can be approached from the road and not through their house. Common sense says we should ignore Hancock's justification for the rule (meet one person in a park) and thus ignore the rule itself, as the 2m. separation is easily arranged and we wouldn't leave traces of virus in their house.

Gosh! I thought you had no time for him?

As you know I was in the same position, given there wasn’t a proper Conservative party (the Johnson NBP isn’t). For all the good it did I voted LibDem.

Have you even bothered to look at the Shadow Cabinet and NEC? Corbynites have been purged and Jenny Formby has resigned as Chair.

Labour is now back to what it was pre-Corbyn, but perhaps the right wing papers you read feed you with lies

Its the opposite here, everyone is up for it. We are a small village school though with 150 pupils so perhaps that settles the mind more.

I will be speaking with the head of my daughters school before I decide to send her in.

Why particularly? Children have a miniscule risk from COVID-19.

Well, the head of my school said this in her briefing today. There's been nothing given to the schools by the government in terms of advice...

"My advice to the Strategy team this morning was simple.  We all need to take a moment and wait.  Wait to see exactly what guidance the government publish, wait to see what happens with our primary school colleagues and wait to see what scientific advice we are given.  I don't think there is any point in rushing to make decisions that we don't yet have to make about challenges that we don't yet have to face."

No justification for this unpleasantness, Beast. 

Just try behaving decently for a change, eh? 

On the subject of schools re-opening,i personally think June is too early,has anyone thought `outside the box` and suggested the idea of reducing the summer holidays to say just 2 weeks especially for secondary schools, and kids go back during stage 3 of the govts roadmap? This would also give some opportunity for lost education to be caught up with. 

But they may be able to carry it, though conflicting science on that. 

Personally, I wouldn't open any schools until Sept

The primary reason for getting primary schools back is for the sake of the economy - so parents are freed up to return to work. Otherwise, they would simply keep schools closed until September.

I think Starmer is playing a shrewd tactical waiting game at the moment. He could have come in all guns blazing and announced himself, but knows then more focus would be put on him and his colleagues and one slip up from them sets them back further, if that's possible. He is also stuck at the moment as much favour is still with the PM (despite some of the comments you read on here) and until that changes he has to bide his time. Any bitching and moaning as seen on here would not be favourable at the moment. Also, he knows trying to sort this mess out is a thankless task.

I can see him being more vocal when discussions about the transition extension resume. Kustom Keir will certainly be up for that one!

from the BBC news ticker:

"This year's summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge in southern England have been cancelled because of the ban on mass gatherings prompted by the coronavirus.

Traditionally about 10,000 people gather at the Neolithic monument in Wiltshire, on or around 21 June, to mark midsummer.

English Heritage said it was cancelling the event "for the safety and wellbeing of attendees, volunteers and staff".

Good luck with that one police. I suspect many of those that attend this 'just don't get it'.

Yesterday Valance said antibody testing has been taking place in the UK. The results suggest the infection rates are:

London 10%

The rest of the UK 4%

Assuming the UK's population is 66,650000, London's is 8,982000 and there have been 50000 C19 deaths in the UK. 

Total number of infections: (London 898200, Rest of UK 2306720) 320492

Total number of deaths: 50000

Mortality rate: (100/3204920) * 50000 = 1.56%

Ouch! That's utterly horrendous. No wonder people are so scared. It's early in the morning so my calculation must be wrong. Please correct me.  

How's his gardening business going?

Not according to The Times - take a look at my post in the EU thread.