Observe the social distance – or else!

 

Today in Parliament the legislation, to ‘fight the deadly virus’, will be voted on. You can watch this on Parliament TV from 2.30pm. This legislation gives government powers to limit our liberties which are unthinkable in our Western democracy. They are however what our Westminster Media have been clamouring for. A long time ago, during the cold war, there was that saying ‘better dead than red’. Now, it seems, our opinion makers would rather we all be red than dead. 

To that end, they’ve been keeping the Panic Fires well stoked up. There is for example ‘a graph’ which was published by the Financial Times and has been picked up across the MSM (link). According to that graph we’re now ‘overtaking Italy’ in that despicable race to the death. It’s a handy cosh to make Johnson and the MPs vote for that legislation later today, and is extremely useful to Johnson who is threatening measures akin to those taken by Italy because ‘people didn’t do what we told them to’. They didn’t observe ‘social distancing’ nor were they staying at home this weekend (paywalled links here and here) and thus must be punished, by a general curfew.

Meanwhile, the Army is on standby (link), to ‘shield’ the vulnerable and to help organise a scheme of volunteers, to get food delivered to those in isolation:

“Volunteers will be asked to band together in a national effort to support people whose health conditions make them highly vulnerable to the virus. A network of local hubs covering the whole country will take groceries, essential items and medicines to the doorsteps of people staying inside for at least 12 weeks to protect themselves.” (link, paywalled)

Presumably all those involved in this proposed scheme are immune to the virus, being permitted to congregate … Next, there’s a report that, while Italy has now banned ‘international travel’ – I assume that means closing down their international airports (link) – the government here is doing no such thing:

“Flights carrying thousands of passengers from coronavirus hotspots are still landing in Britain. Passengers from Italy, China, Iran and Spain continue to arrive at Gatwick and Heathrow as the Home Office has allowed planes to carry on flying. Planes arrived in London from Rome, Beijing and Shanghai every day last week. Direct flights from Rome are still due to arrive this week despite British Airways, Easyjet and Ryanair having cancelled all flights between Italy and Britain.” (link, paywalled)

Are these really all ‘returning Brits’? Who knows! Reading the bland advice from the Foreign Office, I don’t know if I ought to cry because their rationale is the familiar EU mantra, or if I should laugh bitterly because the FO seems to think that passengers will all follow that ‘social distancing’ rule which the UK inmates, sorry: the people haven’t observed this weekend:

“The Foreign Office advised Britons last week not to travel anywhere abroad unless it was essential. A government spokesman said: “There is no evidence that interventions like closing borders or travel bans would have any effect on the spread of infection. Those who return to the UK would be advised to reduce their social contact by following the same social distancing measures as the rest of the country.” (link, paywalled)

Don’t close the borders  because it won’t have any effect?  How very reassuring! Then there are ‘jam tomorrow’ reports about ’new tests’, one being developed in the USA where results can be read immediately on-site – that’s hospitals – provided you have their test-strip reader (link). That should please those who demand ‘Our NHS’ must be protected first, as reported by ‘Our MSM’ who published alarming stories over the weekend, from single doctors and nurses. So what then to make of this:

“NHS chiefs say that there are no problems with national stock levels of items including masks, gowns and gloves and that local supply issues should have been resolved over the weekend. However, hospital staff say that they are still experiencing shortages, with nurses going to DIY shops to stock up or even refusing to work without the right equipment. One London doctor said: “Every time the government is asked they say the equipment is there, and it is just not true.” Many have also raised concerns about whether Public Health England guidelines on personal protective equipment (PPE) offer sufficient protection. Mr Hunt told the BBC: “I think the government has done a lot in the last week. I think they have unblocked the supply chains, but there is this question about whether it’s the right equipment.” (link, paywalled)

‘No equipment’  – ‘not the right equipment’ – and nurses ‘not working’ … oh dear!The clue is in that first sentence: issues should have been resolved over the weekend – but rather than taking this up with their own hospital managers, it’s easier to rush to the MSM! And isn’t it strange how ‘we’ must believe ‘Teh Authorities’ if it suits Project Panic, but must believe single people if that’s more suitable.

We’ve observed another  new phenomenon this weekend. It’s no longer ‘the hour of the experts’, it’s now ‘the hour of the people’. Every complaint gets rushed into print. We’re also ‘treated’ to individual reports on how ill or how not so ill a person is or was, or on how they cope with ‘self-isolation’. Since these stories are mostly written by those in the age group 24-34, it’s of huge informative value to those in the 70+ age group, right?

Meanwhile, there’s another ‘jam tomorrow’ report on another test being developed which aims to show if people have become immune, if they have had that virus:

“Millions of tests that can detect whether people have ever been infected with Covid-19 will be ordered, the government said yesterday. Robert Jenrick, the housing and communities secretary, told the BBC that the tests would be available within weeks. He said: “It will be a very simple one to use and it will be similar to taking a pregnancy test.” (link, paywalled)

Well, that’s nice! Will the whole nation be tested, and will those who have ‘passed’ be allowed out, waving that test strip, or with a suitable piece of paper to show to the police or other authorities that they’re ‘clean’?

What is it with this obsession about testing anyway? We’re given the shocking numbers of new cases detected, displayed in graphs meant to really scare us, but it seems to have escaped the attention of ‘Our MSM’ that, the more you test, the more cases you’ll find, nor that there’s a huge number of people without symptoms who are not tested at all.

Since Italy is the yardstick for Johnson’s experts, advising him about the next measures to be taken, our friends at facts4eu have taken a closer look at those Italian data, accompanying their impressive graph with disclaimers about us all please doing what government tells us and not become complacent. Me, I’m not complacent, I’m plain angry!

Please check out the graph for yourselves, here. This should inform Johnson, not the panic-driving reports in the MSM! As for more ‘Italian’ measures – their PM has now announced that all ‘non-essential’ productions have to stop as from this week. That was first reported in German papers yesterday  and early this morning (German link), but see also here. So far, this is only going to apply until the end of next week, but with the number of deaths ever climbing, who knows if this won’t be prolonged. How that is going to impact Italy’s and the EU’s economy – no answer. “Something” is being done and that’s what counts.

There are also reports that the draconian emergency measures will remain in place in Spain. The odd thing is though that, at the time of writing, ‘Our MSM’ have been very reticent reporting about France. So take a look at this report – in English – from yesterday evening. Looking at the Worldometer site is always instructive, but bear in mind that they have to rely on data published by the various governments. Why Germany has reported  so few deaths … who knows!

Perhaps there are other factors involved. Check out the graph in this other report by facts4eu, which again was issued with disclaimers about everybody please following government instructions. We can certainly ask why the numbers in that report – numbers accessible to any journalist worth their salary – are not being reported. We can certainly ask why we must be kept on Panic Stations, why or economy must be shredded when decisions are based on insufficient or questionable data.

I leave you with the news that one of the Labour leadership contestants, Ms Nandy, demanded that Johnson should ‘agree’ with the EU and extend the transition period, i.e. scupper Brexit, because of the CV-19 pandemic (link). I’m just waiting for Remainers to come out and declare that we’re all in this together and that getting even deeper into debt, to bail out the failing EU economies when this pandemic is over, is a very good thing!

Well, we’ll see how today’s legislation fares in the HoC. Meanwhile, be vigilant and question everything, prudently keep your ‘social distance’ and keep well. Step out into your back garden if you have one, to enjoy the spring weather, the budding trees, and the birdsong. Above all,

 

 

KBO!

 

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