Chat about Novel Coronavirus - 2019-nCoV - COVID-19

If we were charting the activity on this thread would 10 hours without activity be the longest lull since pre lockdown? This is surely significant! An apex into the New Normal.

Onto the next scandal / unherd post! ;)

The local FB group is mostly talking litter and dogpoo ATM, it feels like a new normal ATM.

Until the second wave hits...let's hope it won't :/

I saw this on Twitter, which I thought put it well (if you believe Dom ever had C19, or ever thought he did):

Cummings did what he thought was best for his family, the rest of us did what we thought was best for the country, that's why we're angry.

I hate the Tories for what they do and stand for, not for what they demonstrably didn't say in a press conference. (Although what he did say still annoys me but you don't expect much else in politics.)

I quite like the fact the media misinterpreted it and ran with the other story, as it will make it seem like the Tories are backing down when they eventually say "no, we're not going to review the existing fines", or make them look even more evasive than they actually are.

I listened to Hancock's answer and thought "typical Tory and typical politicians answer, make it sound positive, don't commit on the spot, defer answering properly and move on." But, heh, that's just never-voted-Tory me.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Tories use it as a way of getting out of the Cummings problem by:-
a) Eventually saying they won't review the existing fines
b) Get Durham Police to fine Cummings for his trip
c) Cummings to release a statement saying he's been shown the error of his ways
d) Johnson et al to continue to support him staying in his role and all, one by one, slowly back down on supporting him.

But still don't see how they can do (d) since so many have nailed their colours to the mast so equivocally, especially on utterly bonkers shit like driving for 30 minutes if you're worried about your eyesight.

Hopefully they'll be more ministerial resignations. One isn't enough to destabilise a Government.

Saw a picture of Macron wearing a mask on the bbc and it got me thinking about the 2011 French ban on wearing veils/ face coverings in public. Will the law need to be changed?

No, you are permitted to wear a face covering for health reasons so mandating the country on health grounds seems legit. If however you were not in a place where wearing one is mandated and you were only wearing one for religious reasons, you’re breaking the ban.

It has not yet. As has been pointed out, for some women it is currently illegal to both wear a mask and not wear a mask.

How about going back to work with idea he probably had virus and was surrounded by people who probably did. Boxing them up in a Covid car for half a day. Potentially transmitting / willing to transmit it to his wider family Oop north. Risking them when he didn't know it was safe to drive. Etc. Now using them publically in defence of his actions. This is if we even believe the account.

I don't think it is necessary in this thread to defend yourself as not being a Tory voter, not sure if there are any on this board are there?

Think we can both agree he fumbled the answer given how widely it was misinterpreted and all the media training he must of had was forgotten, think he panicked being questioned by a vicar.

Think people were excited because it wasn't the usual, simple "the fines have been imposed because it is crucial to stay alert... Yada yada." That was expected. He was caught on the hop by a man of the cloth. Peston took the brunt of this with his snappy exchange just after. Every cloud.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/gqzlzl/alistair_campbells_bbc_interview_for_anyone_who/

Flight to Munich mid-July has been cancelled this morning with BA - quelle surprise.

That stag do and wedding now firmly pushed into 2021.

c) Cummings to release a statement saying he's been shown the error of his ways

I think this is why they can't do this - Cummings is a narcissist who has never been told no in a way that is meaningful, he'll refuse any mea culpa just as he did at the press conference.

David Allen Green doing a guided tour of Cummings statement and they have chosen to not put it behind a paywall:
https://www.ft.com/video/e82b5a00-3ad5-4d2c-9703-ff14942aa5b1

https://www.thesocial.com/rasputin-goes-to-castle-barnard/

Good read.

"Rasputin had a massive cock, Cummings is a massive cock."

Loved it! People mistaking Cummings’ amorality for genius has really pissed me off the most

Amusing to see Alistair Campbell pontificating about all this, given that he was the Cummings of the Blair era. I don’t disagree with what he says at all however.

Inversely, flights to Munich from here (Luxembourg) start again any day now (Friday I think)

IMO there isn't really a conflict between the banning of niqabs (in public?) and mandatory face masks. If niqabs were a once in a while thing that believers would put on for special occasions or when visiting particular places, I'd have no issue with it. It's the persistency, i.e. must wear it at all times, that makes me support a ban. We will still have plenty of chances to see Macron's mug, just not in public places during the C19 crisis.
For argument's sake, if a politician stood for office and insisted on a medical face mask permanently, regardless of whether there was an epidemic or not, and we couldn't even find photos of them without a mask, then I'd say they were unsuited for public office.

There is similar in Austria as well who have made it mandatory to wear a mask in certain circumstances. Always thought it odd when I'll completely cover my face when snowboarding over there and have no issue. Though I do imagine this is really just a nuance of the law and nothing more.

I don't actually support the ban on niqabs but then I'm not in France so maybe I'm just too removed from the situation to understand.

Rishi now trolling people or this what his constituents been emailing him about?
https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1265592505724256257