Coronavirus

[gej]

Full pay is a clear moral hazard

Nobody should be furloughed on full pay, as is much of the public sector.
There has to be a tangible benefit to working, and a tangible loss for not working.

Otherwise you also get unions demanding safety for employees essentially designed to male it harder for employers to return to work.

But There is no way to make it safe. Corona is now a fact of life.
It is not part of workplace safety to eliminate risks in the environment.

Otherwise the unions will then start proceedings against employers if their members get covid!

To me one of the oddest aspects is that furloughed employees continue to accrue annual leave, so if someone was furloughed for 3 months they would be entitled to a week off when they come back. I suspect in the public sector they will get days off in lieu of the bank holidays.

[Muddy Retriever]

Thank goodness Corbyn and Co aren't running the show!

I find a good trick when you’re feeling dissatisfied with the way the Government is handling the pandemic is to imagine Diane Abbott, Richard Burgon or Rebecca Long-Bailey giving the daily briefing. You realise then that things could be worse.

[Mike T]

I find a good trick when you’re feeling dissatisfied with the way the Government is handling the pandemic is to imagine Diane Abbott, Richard Burgon or Rebecca Long-Bailey giving the daily briefing. You realise then that things could be worse.

You must admit Priti Patel is - er - pretty dire. No idea of numbers, and, it would seem, no idea that she has no idea.

[Mike T]

From Chris Whitty at the Downing Street briefing yesterday: about 10% of London and about 4% of the rest of the UK are thought to have had Covid - so around three to three and a half million people. At a cost of probably 50,000 deaths. So we have a long way to go, in many respects, before we achieve herd immunity, with a resistant population of around 60-70%, plus any overshoot that takes place.

[Graham Breeze]

You must admit Priti Patel is - er - pretty dire. No idea of numbers, and, it would seem, no idea that she has no idea.

Something like President Macron giving a TV talk to the nation on inequality - sitting behind a gold desk?

[Graham Breeze]

I find a good trick when you’re feeling dissatisfied with the way the Government is handling the pandemic is to imagine Diane Abbott, Richard Burgon or Rebecca Long-Bailey giving the daily briefing. You realise then that things could be worse.

You mean you might be one of the extra 200,000 people already dead?

[Witton Park]

You must admit Priti Patel is - er - pretty dire. No idea of numbers, and, it would seem, no idea that she has no idea.

I've often asked Labour supporting friends to name me a few muppets amongst their ranks. Predictably they've mostly given me a few Brexiteers, or rebs or centrists who stood up to Corbyn such as Ian Austin.

It seems they have a real reluctance to try and find fault among their own side.

From my perspective, I've never liked Priti Patel. Alok Sharma as business secretary is like an automaton, much like Nadhim Zahawi.

There's a common thread developing, but perhaps that shows you shouldn't promote to try and hit a particular quota.

But just to counter that I do like Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman and one to watch for the future, Kemi Badenoch.

Don't likes, I can chuck in recent ones like Hammond, Grayling, Fox, Damian Green... and who can forget Soubry - but she probably never was a Tory

[Witton Park]

From Chris Whitty at the Downing Street briefing yesterday: about 10% of London and about 4% of the rest of the UK are thought to have had Covid - so around three to three and a half million people. At a cost of probably 50,000 deaths. So we have a long way to go, in many respects, before we achieve herd immunity, with a resistant population of around 60-70%, plus any overshoot that takes place.

Mike - it was Patrick Valance hat gave those numbers, and he also qualified that the numbers were from around 5 weeks ago and very much an estimate.

[Graham Breeze]

Mike - it was Patrick Valance hat gave those numbers, and he also qualified that the numbers were from around 5 weeks ago and very much an estimate.

Even so the 4% includes Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester etc so I am quizzical how many in Ilkley (to choose a town at random) have had it when there have been no cases reported in the Ilkley Gazette, even though Ilkley is full of care homes (charity shops, fashion shops, restaurants and coffee bars - or at least was).

[Mike T]

Mike - it was Patrick Valance hat gave those numbers, and he also qualified that the numbers were from around 5 weeks ago and very much an estimate.

Yes - estimate - hence the "about", "thought" and "around". Sorry to mix up the experts. The 50,000 deaths is also out of date. We have a long long way to go. Have a guess at how many deaths - I do not think it will be the good side of 250,000.