Chris Whitty & Patrick Vallance @ 11.00 - what will follow?

I'm aware that many of you have a low opinion of the Journalists and their questions, e.g.
no journalists asking inane questions that usually do not relate to the information being given

The problem is that there should be well-informed Science Journalists to ask relevant questions. My feeling is that the Govt. is scared of having their carefully chosen Scientists put to the test. They know that there are more ways than one "to skin a cat" as the awful saying goes, and they do not want their Scientists to have to justify themselves. This is terrible! In the Scientific world all Scientists' work is held up to scrutiny, tested, discussed and out in the open.

It is wrong that the Government cherry-picks their own Scientists and that these people are not held to account for themselves. You only have to look at Ferguson to see how disastrous that is.

as for the Government's policies "following the science". I dread to think what kind of science they used to create th rules which left us with the following:

It’s illegal to have more than 6 people at home,
but you, and many more, can all mix in the pub!
You can also take a flight with 200 strangers.
7 children cannot gather to feed the ducks,
but 30+ men can gather together to shoot to kill ducks!

..and why report anything to grans net...we are all entitled to our opinions.?

‘Facts’ without the politics, apparently today...after that...it’s anyone’s guess. If more of the population had truly socially distanced since March, I don’t think the virus would have transmitted to this point. I can’t believe, that some people can’t understand the rules, when they seem clear to me.. They’re all there online in black and white, to read over. Shielding isn’t compulsory now. There’s no such thing as a family bubble, only a support bubble if you are alone. Groups of six, mean just that. Families of more, obviously stay as they are and everyone else doesn’t socialise to make a group of more than six....just to clarify stuff in above posts.

Tillybelle People need to stop posting conspiracy theories and scaremongering about vaccines, its getting ridiculous. I've reported you to GNHQ.

We are back in a situation where we need a daily communication and whilst the scientists are the people we need to hear from, we also need to see the PM and members of the cabinet and to have the opportunity to question them. Without our journalists in the first wave of this pandemic the government would never have been held to account for their incompetence. There is no doubt that this is being stage managed - and the only reason it has to be is because people began to stick two fingers up to the lockdown when Dominc Cummings flouted the rules he engineered in the first place and our lazy inattentive PM did nothing about it. So if there was ever any doubt about why people have become complacent, look no further than those at the top. The very thought that now we are in sixes and families separated again when the landed gentry can go on grouse shoots in very large numbers is preposterous.

I guess Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance will deliver the facts this morning, so people have the chance to absorb them, and the Prime Minister will set out action tomorrow. Sounds like a sensible plan.

Oh, not conspiracy theories about Bill Gates etc etc
?

EllanVannin

Same old, same old I suspect.

It doesn't sound as if it will be EllanVannin
It sounds more like an informative announcement instead of waffle.

I may even watch it!

I would rather listen to Whitty than Hancock who l fear is making it up as he goes along. I find it difficult to believe that thousands of people are trying to get tested for no reason at all thereby overwhelming the system, the system which is failing anyway. As for the second wave that is coming l am fairly certain we didn’t actually get rid of the first. What a complete and utter fiasco.

I think the daily briefing was really useful to keep everyone focused.
It the daily briefing were to be reinstated I feel that it should be shorter and without the questions, we just need facts.
Boris does muddy the waters and waffles and splutters which is not very easy to understand what he is saying. He doesn’t like to give bad news ! Nicola Sturgeon is direct and to the point which is easier to understand and know what we should be doing.

The question sessions that took place following the initial Covid daily updates on TV made me want to scream. Laura Kuenssberg, for example, who appeared to have not listened at all on a daily basis, persistently launched into sniping and pointless carping, asking questions that had already been answered in the statment.

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Agree Grannygrumps1 I would watch the daily announcements with questions from journalists - who all seemed to ask the same question or a variation of it. They did nothing to help the public understand the situation, usually just pushing their own political agenda. Leave it to the scientists.

Local radio has a regular phone in with a virologist who answers questions clearly and has done more to help my understanding of the situation than any question asked by a journalist at the briefings.

He threatened to resign this is what has made them take action.Johnston to concern about Brexit

I'm wondering about shielding being 'unpaused'.
I'm appalled that previously shielding teachers are now back in schools.

More scare mongering and more hysteria ...7people will die in car accidents today and thousands from other illnesses...where is that blasted 24/7over in the media.

Any measures proposed should be debated in parliament.

On BBC the transport minister said PM would follow it up with announcement later.

The questions that are asked are all staged and usually all ready been discussed. They in my opinion are a complete waste of time and the information given is better off with out them which causes repetition.

I agree that we're being 'softened up' with the science, the 'facts' before the next round of restrictions are announced.
Trouble is, not all scientists agree with each other...

Am I the only person who is getting more and more confused by the rules? Sheilding - that's over isn't it? Self-isolating - that is when you have been in contact with someone who has the virus? Quarantine - when you come home from abroad? Social distancing - what we are all supposed to do? Bubble - with one other family? Rule of 6 - for indoors and out but what if you are a family of 7? My poor old brain would just like to see it set out nice and clearly.

I agree lemongrove, and not all of us have or want to look at YouTube

It is a bit odd. Why not have the Prime Minister as well, so that the scientists can explain the science, and the PM can set out the action being taken in the light of that science?

My hackles rise a bit when I hear the phrase "the science", sorry. I'm sure Whitty and Valance will state the facts and show us the statistics, and I'm pretty sure that what they show us will be true. But "the science" is more than just facts, its drawing reasonable conclusions from what has been demonstrated and measured, and right now that is a bit of a black art as far as Covid is concerned.
Governments will use the numbers to decide what happens next, and I am glad its not me who has to make those decisions. But we shouldn't delude ourselves that "the science" is always the driver behind these decisions.

Keir Starmer was calling for the daily briefings to be re-introduced.