Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[peasy23]

Enforcing a national lockdown on Scotland just because furlough money is available would be overkill. If it was genuinely needed then every region of Scotland would be under Tier 4. 
But then, this is what Johnson's gone and done anyway isn't it? The regional approach has failed in the North of England because measures weren't taken quickly enough. Far as I can see, the regional approach in Scotland seems to be doing alright so far*. 
There's been a lot of press about the JRS being extended because the South of England needs it, and to be fair it's hard to defend that given the various refusals to extend it. What hasn't been covered is exactly why this area of England needs to be locked down given the rates of the virus are well below the national average. It isn't justified. 
*Give it a couple weeks of the schools being back and this may be revised. 

I phoned family in Exeter last night and they are astounded they are being put into full lockdown. Cases have been dropping and businesses were just starting to get back in their feet. They were fully expecting to be in Tier 1 for the foreseeable future, so pubs and restaurants especially were spending money on things to try and be as safe as they could be for the upcoming festive season. My uncle has a shopfitting business and they just finished building a set of mini chalets for a bar in town, they hold 6 people and are heated and each has their own music system so you can play your own music. Cost thousands to build, opened on Thursday night, and that will be them closed again this week. Boris's about turns will cost more jobs.

Exeter is a big university town, that was the main cause of the spike in cases in the graph below.

[ICTChris]

I don’t want to get into the whole “I’ve got a neck beard and everyone is stupid” thing but is it the case that the U.K. and England in particular, doesn’t really do regionalism very well. Boris Johnson going on the television and saying “we have to stay at home” is easy, everyone gets it. The leader of the Tees Valley Municipality announcing it in the local paper just doesn’t cut through to people.

[welshbairn]

19 minutes ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:

Call me picky, I like my women to have a soul.

Typo?

[Todd_is_God]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13082035/death-forecast-national-lockdown-four-times-too-high/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Classic UK Gov response tbh. Current data doesn't support your chosen path? No problem, use old data.

[mizfit]

More people have caught the virus on holiday in Blackpool than abroad before returning to Scotland.

[MuckleMoo]

The potential for a fatality would put Swain to the forefront, as he's not the healthiest looking specimen. Saying that, wee "struggle snuggle" Francois doesn't look like a Gym Bunny either.
Let's face it, the number of Tory MPs in this current crop who would leave the world poorer for their passing could be counted on the fingers of one foot. A Pistorius foot.
My vote goes to Patel, mind - if only because that cúnt Rees-Smug has been keeping out of the limelight recently, thereby not continually feeding the flames of my disdain.
Yeah, Patel. She'll do. Make it so.

Has Iain Duncan Smith had it yet?

[Michael W]

37 minutes ago, peasy23 said:

I phoned family in Exeter last night and they are astounded they are being put into full lockdown. Cases have been dropping and businesses were just starting to get back in their feet. They were fully expecting to be in Tier 1 for the foreseeable future, so pubs and restaurants especially were spending money on things to try and be as safe as they could be for the upcoming festive season. My uncle has a shopfitting business and they just finished building a set of mini chalets for a bar in town, they hold 6 people and are heated and each has their own music system so you can play your own music. Cost thousands to build, opened on Thursday night, and that will be them closed again this week. Boris's about turns will cost more jobs.

Exeter is a big university town, that was the main cause of the spike in cases in the graph below.

Notably, a rate of cases that never reached the threshold for Tier 2 at any point. Ridiculous. 

I expected to be put into Tier 2, which to be fair would be justified given the case rates. They've been rising steadily even if not rapidly. 

[Donathan]

Sturgeon drops a major hint that level 4 is incoming

[effeffsee_the2nd]

Sturgeon drops a major hint that level 4 is incoming

Level 4 becuase there’s money in the budget to pay people to sit at home doing f**k all, nothing to do with safety or case numbers
This is a fucking farce

[Caledonian1]

4 minutes ago, effeffsee_the2nd said:

Level 4 becuase there’s money in the budget to pay people to sit at home doing f**k all, nothing to do with safety or case numbers
This is a fucking farce

so what is your solution to this issue?  Do we continue to allow Westminster to spend Scottish, Welsh, N Irish and English tax income on an English only furlough scheme.  As things stand, this is the reality of life in an unequal union

Edited November 2, 2020 by Caledonian1

[ayrmad]

Just now, effeffsee_the2nd said:

Level 4 becuase there’s money in the budget to pay people to sit at home doing f**k all, nothing to do with safety or case numbers
This is a fucking farce

At least it would bring our case number down, what happens if Scotland gets absolutely battered with Covid over the coming months and we don't have the cash to fund a furlough scheme, who gets the blame for that other than the f**k wits that voted NO, she's not in a good position unless the Treasury comes up with the goods. 

[renton]

6 minutes ago, effeffsee_the2nd said:

Level 4 becuase there’s money in the budget to pay people to sit at home doing f**k all, nothing to do with safety or case numbers
This is a fucking farce

You think they wouldn't have bundled Glasgow and Lanarkshire in there already if the money had been there to do it for the length of time they would need to impose it?

Edited November 2, 2020 by renton

[Todd_is_God]

1 minute ago, Caledonian1 said:

so what is your solution to this issue?  Do we continue to allow Westminster to spend Scottish, Welsh, N Irish and English tax income on an English only furlough scheme.  As things stand, this is the reality of life in an unequal union

The JRS being extended till end of November means it can be used up here by those businesses that need it anyway.

The idea that we should actively close a business just so that the government can pay the wages of the staff is bizarre.

If there is a genuine need to go to Level 4 in a particular area, and the only reason she hasn't done so already is because the JRS was not going to be available, then by all means do so. But don't just do it because "oh we can get more money"

[101]

What a shambles the UK government are Us, Wales and N.Ireland should just declare independence and GTF out of this shit show

[ayrmad]

1 minute ago, Todd_is_God said:

The JRS being extended till end of November means it can be used up here by those businesses that need it anyway.

The idea that we should actively close a business just so that the government can pay the wages of the staff is bizarre.

If there is a genuine need to go to Level 4 in a particular area, and the only reason she hasn't done so already is because the JRS was not going to be available, then by all means do so. But don't just do it because "oh we can get more money"

It's more of a gamble than you're leading people to believe. 

[Todd_is_God]

2 minutes ago, ayrmad said:

It's more of a gamble than you're leading people to believe. 

In what way?

[Billy Jean King]

What a shambles the UK government are Us, Wales and N.Ireland should just declare independence and GTF out of this shit show

Absolutely ridiculous that UK taxpayers money can be used only to provide furlough when it suits England, it's beyond contempt that Scotland may be forced into tighter restrictions when they might not be most needed simply because the keeper of the purse strings says you can only access what our tax payers are contributing to when it suits England.
This is real rock and a hard place stuff for the SG.

[effeffsee_the2nd]

You think they wouldn't have bundled Glasgow and Lanarkshire in there already if the money had been there to do it for the length of time they would need to impose it?

For the third fuckin time today, a business does NOT have to be closed in order to furlough workers. Nor does it require to be affected by government restrictions. My workplace was deemed an essential service yet we furloughed staff even tho the place was operating right the way through . They done it to mitigate heavy losses due to lack of demand . If a business in rural Scotland cant justify a full compliment of staff becuase people from restricted areas can’t come and spend money and there’s not enough demand locally, then they can if they want, furlough 60% of staff whilst keeping trading. You do not have to make everycunt stay in their house just so we compensate struggling businesses. I stand by my comments. This is a farce

[101]

3 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said:

Absolutely ridiculous that UK taxpayers money can be used only to provide furlough when it suits England, it's beyond contempt that Scotland may be forced into tighter restrictions when they might not be most needed simply because the keeper of the purse strings says you can only access what our tax payers are contributing to when it suits England.
This is real rock and a hard place stuff for the SG.

Spot on complete waste of our money. I seriously hope people watching think if THIS is the best Scotland can hope for. 

I would upgrade the marginals to 4 and downgrade the islands to 0

[Scosha]

I voted no in the Independence referendum back in 2014, not because I don’t want us to be independent, but because I felt we wouldn’t have been able to manage on our own and wasn’t convinced about the SNP party leading us into the unknown. The past few years I’ve sometimes regretted the decision but this whole furlough fiasco is the final straw for me. Get us out this ‘Union’. What a fucking shambles.