Friday’s announcement of 504 new deaths and 16,298 new COVID cases must make us wonder whether lockdown has worked, although many believe it’s never been a ‘proper’ lockdown. This week Boris Johnson had his work cut out trying to quell the threatened rebellion to the post-lockdown restrictions regulations, Tory rebels demanding to see the evidenceContinue reading “Saturday 5 December”
Tag Archives: lockdown
Saturday 14 November
Of all the eventful weeks we’ve had recently, this one must be a record, including the aftermath of Biden’s victory, Trump’s ongoing refusal to concede amid allegations of fraud, the second predictable government U-turn on free school meals, the relief (despite the hard work to come) of the Pfizer vaccine announcement, the defeat of theContinue reading “Saturday 14 November”
Saturday 7 November
Here we are in the first few days of England’s second lockdown and some are already asking ‘what lockdown’? At least in London we’re still seeing heavy traffic on the roads, numerous people walking around and on public transport, non-essential shops open and not a single police officer in sight, let alone the COVID marshallsContinue reading “Saturday 7 November”
Saturday 17 October
With a week like this, during which COVID cases have risen by 50% (now about one in 160 according to the Office for National Statistics) and the government has imposed its much-trailed Three Tier strategy, it could be easy to overlook other important news, such has been the resulting outcry. Under the new rules, nearlyContinue reading “Saturday 17 October”
Saturday 10 October
I seem to be saying this most weeks but it has indeed been another eventful week, some developments proving quite shocking when we thought it couldn’t get any worse. Leaving aside the drama across the Atlantic, the main one here must be being the loss under the aegis of Public Health England and the discreditedContinue reading “Saturday 10 October”
Sunday 27 September
During a week when the Support for Jobs scheme pushed the descriptors ‘viable’ and ‘non-viable’ to the fore, with robust debates about how ‘viable’ jobs should be defined, using the terms in other contexts has been too tempting for some to resist. John Crace has written about ‘our semi-viable leader’, whose position is looking increasinglyContinue reading “Sunday 27 September”
Sunday 5 July
As we enter the second half of 2020 and the UK COVID 19 death toll passes 44,000, it’s been another busy and dispiriting news week, dominated by the dithering and lack of consultation experienced by the other three UK nations around the ‘air bridges’ and quarantine policy. It makes a nonsense of the alleged ‘fourContinue reading “Sunday 5 July”
Tuesday 30 June
Another week into less than quasi-lockdown and, ahead of significant easing of restrictions, eg pubs, restaurants, museums and galleries allowed to open from Saturday (badged Independence Day in Cummingsese), government gaffes and errors of judgement continue to come thick and fast. The first of these is choosing Saturday as the day people can finally goContinue reading “Tuesday 30 June”
Thursday 25 June
As the COVID 19 death toll in the UK exceeds 43,000, several issues jostle for the top news slot, one being the further easing of restrictions scheduled for 4 July, enabling pubs, restaurants, museums, galleries and hairdressers etc to reopen. While some consumers and business owners will be jubilant about this, many remain very concernedContinue reading “Thursday 25 June”
Sunday 21 June
Following hot on the heels of the school meals U-turn came the news that the centralised contact tracing app, trialled and then apparently muted in the Isle of Wight, has been abandoned in favour of the Apple/Google decentralised model. How many lives could have been saved if, rather than wasting time on the foolish, ideologicalContinue reading “Sunday 21 June”
Politics and mental health - the missing link? 