Possible Confusion

[PakefieldBlue]

I suspect that tonight's "announcement" could come back to haunt Boris (and us) for a long time. Now isn't the moment to be vague and leave the interpretation to individuals.

[Sam_Brown]

I don’t get it. Where does the confusion come from? Everything is the same before apart from from Wednesday we can go out for unlimited exercise.

Everything else was dependent on what happens with the five tests with nothing confirmed. People have been bitching about there being no talk about ending lockdown and wanting to know the plan and we’ve always been told that it depends entirely on what the data says. Now the government have finally come out in public with next steps and making it clear it’s dependent on the data people are moaning. I don’t get it. I even rewatched to make sure I hadn’t missed anything but what is it exactly he said this evening that have gotten people so confused?

[PakefieldBlue]

The confusion is about work. He actively encouraged people to go back to work who are unable to work from home. But this is going to be left to individuals to interpret. Hairdressers can't work from home so can they go back tomorrow? Well technically no because they can't stay 2m away from customers - but people hear what they want to hear, so many might take it as a green light. This then leads to lots of people getting their hair cut, contact shoots up and then so does the infection rate. And that is just one example.
Plus the whole stay at home line being swapped for stay alert is confusing. It is hard to stay alert to an invisible killer.
I guess that the proof will be evident this week - if the roads, pavements, parks and shops are a whole lot busier this week then Boris has dropped a clanger.

[GreenBlue]

I guess that the proof will be evident this week - if the roads, pavements, parks and shops are a whole lot busier this week then Boris has dropped a clanger.

Stay home but you can go outside for an unlimited time and it doesn't just have to be for exercise. Everyone will interpret that differently. I have a horrible feeling we will start to see our Covid-19 rates start to climb again in 2 weeks though I hope I am wrong. Also, as mentioned above, there will be confusion over who can and can't return to work. I'm guessing the following must remain closed.

cinemas, gyms, tattoo parlours,bowling alleys. Swimming pools, saunas? hairdressers?, churches and stadiums

[phat_chris]

Mr D Nuts: Genuine question, how will you maintain social distancing guidelines in your line of work?

[Mr Dee]

Mr D Nuts: Genuine question, how will you maintain social distancing guidelines in your line of work?

I'll be able to start up the training side of things from Wednesday . There's also an outside area at the building I work from so I intend to use that as much as possible weather permitting but the majority of the injury treatment won't be possible yet .

[Thats Rich]

This is all set up to throw the scientists and Hancock under a bus in about 1 month.

Stay Alert....Fingers crossed....Blame someone else

[No Shot Sherlock]

One thing last night proved, no matter how much he might like to think otherwise - he's no Winston Churchill.

interesting from the comments above how differently people are interpreting what he said.

[just blue]

interesting from the comments above how differently people are interpreting what he said.

Yes, and that shows that his message was confusing and unclear, so that people will take it to mean whatever suits them.

[Pompey Penguin]

So, here's the question. To use the crudest possible metric, what death rate from covid-19 is acceptable for a continued ending of lockdown and a return to something close to normality? Given the offset of deaths caused by lockdown, I would suggest about 100/day, but I am sure there are a range of opinions.

Bear in mind that if you say zero, we could well be here for another year or longer. Also, if you say when a vaccine is developed, remember that there has never been a vaccine produced for any covid-type virus; although there has never been the need in the developed world before, so few resources have been applied to the problem.

I accept that this is all very heartless, but I am sure these conversations are being held both in government (and opposition) and between scientists. The problem is that no-one dares either acknowledge this or engage the public in any sort of consultation.

[GreenBlue]

One thing last night proved, no matter how much he might like to think otherwise - he's no Winston Churchill.

Churchill? No. Schrodinger? Yes and No.

[GreenBlue]

John Apter, the national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said the PM's plans risk being a set of "loose rules that are left open to interpretation" and difficult to enforce

[just blue]

One thing last night proved, no matter how much he might like to think otherwise - he's no Winston Churchill.

Yes that's true, but I wonder whether any other politician could do a better job. Certainly not Mrs May or Cameron. Would Blair or Brown have done any better? What about Keir Stammer or any other Labour, Lib/Dem or Conservative MP? Perhaps it's an impossible job and Boris has drawn the short straw?

[GreenBlue]

One thing last night proved, no matter how much he might like to think otherwise - he's no Winston Churchill.

Yes that's true, but I wonder whether any other politician could do a better job.

I personally think that plenty of others would have done better, at least they wouldn't have left the nation in confusion. I think he has been deliberately ambiguous so that people can read into it what they want. I also think he is appeasing the right wing of his party, some of whom put their own interests above those of the country.

There are also some clear 'untruths'...

Mr Johnson said he had consulted "across the political spectrum, across all four nations of the UK" and that his plan was a "a general consensus on what we could do".

But the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have refused to adopt England's new message of "stay alert, control the virus, save lives".

Wales' health minister said there had not been a "four-nations agreement" on the new "stay alert" message and that the advice to "stay at home" in Wales was unchanged.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said there should be a "simpler" message and stressed the "stay at home" slogan would continue to apply in Scotland.

[Pompey Penguin]

One thing last night proved, no matter how much he might like to think otherwise - he's no Winston Churchill.

Yes that's true, but I wonder whether any other politician could do a better job. Certainly not Mrs May or Cameron. Would Blair or Brown have done any better? What about Keir Stammer or any other Labour, Lib/Dem or Conservative MP? Perhaps it's an impossible job and Boris has drawn the short straw?

There is evidence that countries run by women leaders have done better than those run by men, and certainly countries with more dictatorial leaders have fared the worst. Close to home, Mrs Krankie north of the border has totally out-performed Boris.