Covid-19 discussion thread

[Lencoboy]

I bet had the opposite happened (undercounting of death stats), we would all be up in arms just the same, and accusing our govts the world over of 'cover-ups' and 'playing down' the impacts of the pandemic.

Sometimes I think it's better for the authorities to 'play it safe' by overestimating stuff like this rather than underestimating, even if they may inadvertently be accused of 'scare-mongering', etc.

[Pamplemousse]

Nigel could never be anti establishment from such a background just as most MPs couldn't. All 'man of the people' millionaires.

I suppose our current government could be "of the people" if your "people" just happened to have attended a public school and went up to Oxford...

[Pamplemousse]

I bet had the opposite happened (undercounting of death stats), we would all be up in arms just the same, and accusing our govts the world over of 'cover-ups' and 'playing down' the impacts of the pandemic.

Sometimes I think it's better for the authorities to 'play it safe' by overestimating stuff like this rather than underestimating, even if they may inadvertently be accused of 'scare-mongering', etc.

I think the UK has been undercounting the death toll to be fair, and only revises it when they get found out. I thought it interesting that Johnson stumbled for words when he was asked at PMQs (which has been quite civilised when it hasn't got hundreds of braying idiots around!) why we shouldn't use international comparisons, only for Starmer to say "well, you've been using these slides of international death tolls for weeks in your daily briefings" and pulled one out on him. Oddly enough, they disappeared when they showed we were the worst in Europe.

In my profession we were taught to give the worst-case figures on measurements, not the best.

[Pamplemousse]

Yes, thanks for that. I have a feeling this uptick is going to become a political weapon for some. They will jump to shut it all back down again when it may not even be connected. The same can be seen in Germany right now.

As a lover of the English language in all its majesty, I'm more angry at the use of that ugly word 'uptick' - what's wrong with the perfectly acceptable 'increase'?

I blame the BBC for adopting that one...

[Lencoboy]

When did Nigel Farage become anti-establishment? He's been propped up by the establishment and MSM for years. UKIP was a controlled operation by the powers that be to crush genuine nationalism in Britain.

I personally think it was just another 'passing fad' at the time. Like over the past decade or so we have seen the likes of the English Defence League (EDL)/Britain First, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vesters), Extinction Rebellion (XR) to name but a few, and most of those 'movements' now barely seem to get the intense media attention they received during their respective heydays.

[Lencoboy]

I think the UK has been undercounting the death toll to be fair, and only revises it when they get found out. I thought it interesting that Johnson stumbled for words when he was asked at PMQs (which has been quite civilised when it hasn't got hundreds of braying idiots around!) why we shouldn't use international comparisons, only for Starmer to say "well, you've been using these slides of international death tolls for weeks in your daily briefings" and pulled one out on him. Oddly enough, they disappeared when they showed we were the worst in Europe.

In my profession we were taught to give the worst-case figures on measurements, not the best.

Surely we've been there before with say, the crime and unemployment stats, especially when the ways that the stats for those things are compiled also get chopped and changed every so often. And in fairness, that's been known to be happening for ages, under both the Tories and Labour.

[Pamplemousse]

Surely we've been there before with say, the crime and unemployment stats, especially when the ways that the stats for those things are compiled also get chopped and changed every so often. And in fairness, that's been known to be happening for ages, under both the Tories and Labour.

Definitely. In the 80s during the Thatcher era there was a concerted effort to massage the runaway employment figures by putting people onto sickness benefits which of course led to its own problems in years to come. My father, then made redundant at 64, went for his usual check-up with his GP and he told him he'd been made redundant. To which the doctor replied "I'll sign you off sick, the money's better and you won't have to queue up to sign on every two weeks either". I still remember my father coming home and telling us that with quite a smile on his face!

Later of course we had 'New' Labour tackling the sickness benefits mess in a way that led to the disabled chaining themselves to railings. Was that before Blair got God? Can't remember but I remember the distress and upset it caused my late wife, who was indeed disabled - there were many sleepless nights for both of us as I tried to comfort her at her most distressed. I learned from experience to hate 'New' Labour even more than I hated the Tories.

[Pamplemousse]

I personally think it was just another 'passing fad' at the time. Like over the past decade or so we have seen the likes of the English Defence League (EDL)/Britain First, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vesters), Extinction Rebellion (XR) to name but a few, and most of those 'movements' now barely seem to get the intense media attention they received during their respective heydays.

Only because Coronavirus has pushed them off the front pages.

[fishman65]

Definitely. In the 80s during the Thatcher era there was a concerted effort to massage the runaway employment figures by putting people onto sickness benefits which of course led to its own problems in years to come. My father, then made redundant at 64, went for his usual check-up with his GP and he told him he'd been made redundant. To which the doctor replied "I'll sign you off sick, the money's better and you won't have to queue up to sign on every two weeks either". I still remember my father coming home and telling us that with quite a smile on his face!

Later of course we had 'New' Labour tackling the sickness benefits mess in a way that led to the disabled chaining themselves to railings. Was that before Blair got God? Can't remember but I remember the distress and upset it caused my late wife, who was indeed disabled - there were many sleepless nights for both of us as I tried to comfort her at her most distressed. I learned from experience to hate 'New' Labour even more than I hated the Tories.

I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your wife Pamplemousse. Reading that struck a chord with me as my own wife is beset with health problems and is being shielded upstairs. Look after yourself mate.

[Pamplemousse]

I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your wife Pamplemousse. Reading that struck a chord with me as my own wife is beset with health problems and is being shielded upstairs. Look after yourself mate.

Thank you. It was ten years ago now, but it has defined me; at no point is she ever out of my thoughts.

Likewise, you look after your wife and yourself too.