We gritted our teeth and watched that whole charade. We came to the exact same conclusions as you, though I also realised I couldn't bear to live with te sound of his voice around me.

I never understood what they meant with "stay alert". Stay alert how? Always be ready to duck and cover if you hear someone cough? Always remember the route to nearest bomb-shelter if you see the virus rearing its ugly head?

It doesn’t mean anything, it’s just supposed to make it look as if it’s not the government’s fault if it all goes wrong, it’s just the plebs’ fault for not being alert enough.

Stay alert for drivers testing their eyesight.

Really?

I'd have thought, 'Send us your sons, and even if they're as thick, lazy, unpleasant and unlikeable as Cameron, Osborne, Rees-Mogg or Johnson we can still get them to the top of UK politics' would be a pretty good selling point to have.:)

There’s a word that perfectly describes it, but the ******* autocensor won’t allow me to post it.

Apparently 'Alert' was going to be an acronym but they couldn't get it to work so just went with 'Stay Alert'

Unless your name is Cummings and then do what you want.

Not at all, it has always specialised in turning out posh sounding entitled gits, Johnson is a great marketing tool for them. “Your kid has no morals, is a bit thick and lazy? Well send him to Eton and choose the PM pack!”

Every day in every way he gets Trumpier and Trumpier...

Really?

"No matter how much of a ****-wit your child is we can ensure he's on the path to no. 10. See how little wit, intellect or backbone you need if you just pay the readies and send your child here. We will also ensure your child will proceed to Oxbridge who too will disregard your child's lack of talent in return for sufficient funding. Come to Eaton"

I've been beaten to it by miles.

She's a woman.

He's the British Government.
Think Mycroft Holmes without the wit, ability, dedication, work ethic or intelligence.

And be as confusing and twisted.

I'm sure many of the 14,000-odd people fined for breaches of the regulations had similar justification.

We have the Great Shirtless Picnic crisis here.

Warning: following links or searching for more information may lead to pictures of a topless forty-something male politician.

And if in doubt throw in that questioning him about his chief advisor committing an offence is politically motivated.

I've been listening to LBC and every commercial break I've listened to has had a Government advert saying that if you have Corona symptoms you shouldn't leave home for any reason other than for a covid test. I can only assume that it is only due to cost cutting measures and that if it weren't for editing for a cheaper advert it would say-:

"If you have symptoms of corona virus you should not leave your home for any reason except to have a corona virus test or if you're a mate of Boris and would prefer to stay in a relative's spare house in a nicer part of the country. "


Of course Ian Duncan Smith is a mate of Boris who can stay at home and stay at a relative's spare house in a nicer part of the country at the same time.

He's wearing a shirt and tie in the picture when I click on it. Maybe you've set some preferences??:D

In the USA admission to elite schools is based on a simple, fair math formula:

Applicant’s score =
Prior grade point average + admission test score + net worth parents in millions + rank of parents among the powerful (1 to 1000 with 1000 being highest)

You missed out "Likelyhood of paying for a library/wing/tenured chair".

And "Number of ancestors who are alumni." How do you think W Bush got into Yale?

Search around and you'll find them...
After the initial "Oh no he's breaking the rules" was debunked the mantra changed to "He's lowering the dignity of the office by taking his shirt off in public".

Oh well we'll try for a better controversy in future.

Here it's done strictly on scores in a State run exam.

Brewdog have a commemorative ale https://www.brewdog.com/uk/barnard-castle-eye-test

Profits to the NHS

There's a four lane road here, major artery from points west across the state to the beach which, as it enters the outskirts of a middlin' sized town, passes a municipal airport. One of those general aviation type places for small private aircraft.

Signs are posted conspicuously on the highway. "CAUTION. Low flying aircraft."

I've never been quite sure what they expect the drivers to do if they get buzzed by someone's Cessna, but at least they've got the signs up. I guess that makes somebody feel safer.

Pubs and restaurants could reopen next month. Boris says the 'roadmap' is moving 'faster than previously thought' and orders a review of the six-foot rule.

"The roadmap is moving"? Is that similar to how the goalposts are moving? :confused:

Have to distract people somehow.

Implement a tracking and tracing system where few of the major components are in place. Open up far too early, trigger a second wave and then blame the public for being insufficiently alert.

I heard on a podcast that "Alert" was originally intended to be an acronym. Then that was abandoned for one reason or another, but they were committed by that point.

How true that is, I can't say, but it's an interesting idea.

Probably true. Bit of a race to be first (or at least not second) Scotland brought forward contact tracing to start today (same day as England), originally planned for Monday, so none of the plans were in place for the weekend, training not completed (due to complete this week). Also unclear how contacts will be tested in rural areas. At this point probably better to ensure system works so people do not lose confidence in it rather than trying to hurry it into place.

I was looking at something else, and the sidebar was all coronavirus, so...

Emily Maitlis found to have breached impartiality rules for monologue about Cummings

Mary Wakefield's Spectator article has been reported to press regulators

61 Tory MPs have now criticised Cummings, with 44 calling for him to resugn

It's like sheep saying that if the wolf doesn't stop eating them, they'll send a strongly worded letter to Countryfile.

I doubt anything will come of it. Boris Johnson is "all in" with Dominic Cummings and there's no-one to challenge Boris Johnson as leader PLUS he's guaranteeing them the no-deal Brexit they want.

Could be worse,he could be wearing a tan suit.

It was originally billed as a World Class test, track and trace system. We have lost the world class and the track and it is now test and trace, where people testing positive will get a phone call asking where they have been and who they have been in contact with. Therefore it is important that you get the phone number of everyone you come into contact with and more importantly you need to give them your phone number.

Unfortunately the automated track part, due to be released mid-May has been a cluster **** . Search 'UK Covid tracking app' on Google for details. The UK decided to go our own way on tracking and friends of Handcock were given the contract. Once they cocked up and failed to deliver they were given another contract to find some else to build it. The last launch date from the Government was 1 June but that appears to have been scrapped and they are no longer talking dates. This app which 2 months ago was described as a necessity for us to leave lock down in the absence of a cure is now an unnecessary 'icing on the cake'.

The person Handcock put in charge of the app is Dido Harding wife of a Tory MP and the person who was running Talktalk until she lost her job after a hack cost the company £60m and 95,000 customers. Our data and health could not be in better hands.

Oh yeah, I agree. But it is worth noting that Johnson's message for a couple of days now has been "shut up and **** off", and MPs and the papers aren't.

I suspect that Sajid Javid's enduring legacy will be that his sudden resignation lead to Boris Johnson making a fatal mistake, promoting someone competent and without a massive black mark on their career. If he can keep from being drawn into Boris' misadventures I would not be at all surprised if we're looking at the next leader of the Conservative Party. He's already managed to 'accidentally' vote against the destruction of British agriculture contrary to Johnson's wishes.

Also: Johnson admits that the reason the country did not "test, track, and trace" is that they didn't have enough tests

And: Johnson says he has been "forbidden" from announcing target dates for government policy

Isn't he the leader of the government? Doesn't everybody other than the queen answer to him?

Sounds like every trip outside the house will be a series of exchanging details like having had a car accident every five minutes - which is appropriate given that the whole thing has been a giant car crash.

It's like a lot of UK government procurement processes. The UK doesn't buy an "off the shelf" solution because our requirements are unique. The UK tries to develop its own solution while the requirements are constantly changing and often mutually incompatible.

The cost and time overruns are huge and we either end up with something expensive and late (which cannot be exported to defray the development cost due to the unique way it's come about); nothing at all or ending up having to buy a generic solution after all.

It does highlight (if there was any doubt) that the government isn't being driven, or even guided, by the science. They're driven by a dogmatic insistence that we'll be "back to normal" ASAP (or at least the proles will be, the elite will still be working from home and their children will be carefully sheltered :mad:) and they pick and choose the science to back it up.

I've had limited personal dealings with Dido Harding (my Talktalk experience was so poor, it made the local press and I ended up being able to contact her directly) and IMO she is absolutely the wrong person for the job.