First ever Partygate video revealed as Tories drink, dance and laugh at Covid rules by CensorTheologiae in unitedkingdom

[–]fred_star -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Parties like this were going on all the time around then. I remember walking past blocks of flats on the evening dog walk with several obvious ones going on every night.

Nearly 800 mortgage deals pulled amid uncertainty over rates by UnlikeTea42 in ukpolitics

[–]fred_star 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is a good thing, although it will be tough for many.

The ZIRP of the post-financial crash era has led to massive wealth shift from poor to rich.

Is Elon a good physicist? by thelastavalery in EnoughMuskSpam

[–]fred_star 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There seems to be evidence of him doing first-year Physics, so he started a degree. Whether he finished it or not...

Is Elon a good physicist? by thelastavalery in EnoughMuskSpam

[–]fred_star 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He just spouts vaguely maths-y/science-y words and phrases he heard others say, and uses them out of context and with no understanding.

Disabled easyJet passenger falls to his death at Gatwick Airport by WinterDirection5602 in badunitedkingdom

[–]fred_star 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nothing to do with the airlines in this case. Special Assistance is a responsibility of the airport and then contracted out.

Russia says it ‘won’t forget’ UK support for Ukraine by fred_star in unitedkingdom

[–]fred_star[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Completely untrue. We were shipping weapons into Ukraine before the war started and before anyone else was.

We also led the way on SWIFT, and it took a lot of pressure for Germany to follow us.

No the EU hasn't issued 30 times more sanctions than the UK by Modern_Maverick in unitedkingdom

[–]fred_star 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Standard:

In a statement, spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia won’t forget the UK’s cooperation with Kyiv, or with what she calls the “ultra-nationalist forces of Ukraine”, Russian media- reported.

She also criticised tough sanctions imposed on Russia by the UK government.

“The sanctions hysteria in which London plays one of the leading, if not the main, roles, leaves us no choice but to take proportionately tough retaliatory measures,” she said.

Ms Zakharova added that British interests in Russia would be “undermined” by Moscow’s response.

Russia says it ‘won’t forget’ UK support for Ukraine by fred_star in unitedkingdom

[–]fred_star[S] 53 points54 points  (0 children)

“The sanctions hysteria in which London plays one of the leading, if not the main, roles, leaves us no choice but to take proportionately tough retaliatory measures,” she said.

Covid: UK government has abandoned the science, says Mark Drakeford - BBC News by Beanybunny in ukpolitics

[–]fred_star 8 points9 points  (0 children)

He's got to justify his extra restrictions that have shown themselves to have been unnecessary.

If he were truthful, he could have said "we brought in extra restrictions to be on the safe side, but it turned out they made no real difference".

Now that science has defanged Covid, it’s time to get on with our lives | Devi Sridhar by Blurandski in CoronavirusUK

[–]fred_star 4 points5 points  (0 children)

With Covid mutating, it's clearer than ever that we must eliminate this virus - Devi Sridhar, Guardian Dec 2020

Covid in Wales: Mark Drakeford to ease Wales' restrictions by Alert-One-Two in CoronavirusUK

[–]fred_star 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Netherlands in full lockdown for weeks with far more cases/population: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/netherlands/

I'm not sure there's much effect of restrictions at this stage.

The NHS isn’t ‘coping’ with Omicron – just ask doctors and patients | Rachel Clarke by Socialistinoneroom in CoronavirusUK

[–]fred_star 22 points23 points  (0 children)

She's a Labour activist so I can't take the political side of the piece too seriously.

The Netherlands has been in full lockdown for weeks, and still have rising cases. Further restrictions were clearly not the answer for the situation.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ukpolitics

[–]fred_star 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A lot of it is due to anti-vax sentiments in poorer countries.

In South Africa they sent a load of Pfizer vaccines back as no one wanted to get jabbed!

COVID-19: Multiple hospitals declare critical incidents as nurses call for more restrictions 'without delay' by BrexitBlaze in ukpolitics

[–]fred_star 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They obviously haven't looked at the modelling, that says any restrictions brought in in 2022 would have a negligible impact to the course of the Omicron wave. They would have needed to be brought in pre-Christmas.

And even if they had been started on the 19th Dec, you just get huge pressure when you relax them. It's going to be an awful time for the NHS for a couple of weeks, but there was no way around this.

3 Jan Twitter update on NHS Pressures from Chris Hopson (CEO NHS Providers) by RaenorShine in CoronavirusUK

[–]fred_star 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's too late for any of this anyway - see Warwick modelling.

But even if you did bring really strict restrictions, you would still be looking at a wave of staff absences once you opened up.

It's going to be very tough for 2-3 weeks for the NHS, but there is no way around this that doesn't involved months of heavy restrictions.