Prime Minister to hold press conference at 16.00

Knowing the situation, shouldn't people use their own brains. We don't need telling.
Boris did say that we could have 5 days of Christmas but just because we could, didn't mean we had to.
Mad panic now for Londer's and surroundong areas to get out of tier 4 areas. Is Boris to be blamed for that too?
Selfish people are to be blamed.

The appearance of the new strain is a get out of jail free card for Boris when the science always said no to Christmas gatherings. He doesn't follow the science.
I would have liked to see one of the well paid advisors to have resigned over their advice not been taken many times this year. Instead they stand their with him.

All too easy to snipe from the sidelines. This is an awful situation for any government to deal with. We all should follow the rules which aren't difficult to understand then we'd be in a better position right now.

"Mad panic now for Londer's and surroundong areas to get out of tier 4 areas. Is Boris to be blamed for that too? "

Is that what they're doing? Selfish sods. I'm one of those who should have been going away - to my own house in Cornwall but don't want to be one of those entitled numpties who think I can do what I please and to hell with the rest. My OH is already there, which is a bit of a complication but he'll come back home to Tier 4.

May I suggest something? I was supposed to be at my DDs house on the 25th and 26th so can only participate in a small way. If you have bought a lot of food because you were expecting visitors could you consider giving any unneeded items to your local food bank? We have donated some nuts and chocolates which we no longer need.

It's all very well putting tier 4 in place but judging by the mass exodus from London after his announcement it's not going to make much difference. He needs to get tougher and enforce the rules, with the help of the military if necessary. This virus is not a game!

It is easy to snipe from the sidelines when you are not being paid 6 figure sums to run the country or advise.
All those jolly times they have had this year handing money out to buddies to fail providing track and trace services or useable PPE. Not so easy to feel sorry for the people running this shitshow when you have losr large parts of your income over the last few months and you're trying to hold families and businesses together and generally stay sane for those around you.

Didnt even know it was on tbh- why cant they advertise it more- by putting on a 'public announcement' that it is going to be on at 'such & such a time' in between programmes etc- or repeat it throughout day so weve more chance of seeing it (maybe after the news programmes at early morning, lunchtime and teatime then after night time news?) They only seem to last up to half an hour now so we could all get a chance to see it! (Maybe thats where hes going wrong- not enough are seeing it!!! Or start putting it on daily again or every other day at a set time-till we get it back under control again at least!

Boris will be damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.
Party politics shouldn't come into this - take responsibility for your own actions!

@Theoddbird
I was amazed to see people rushing to get out of London too. Apparently they had to relax the 2m rule on the trains because they were absolutely jam packed.
We're almost under the Heathrow flightpath and have had far fewer planes coming in recently, but this morning they started early and just keep coming. I'm guessing that they're going out at the same rate though we can't see them from here.
I can never understand why these rule changes and Tier changes aren't made with immediate effect, otherwise you get idiots rushing around potentially spreading the virus in every direction.

aonk- great idea but not sure what much help nuts & chocs are going to be to starving people who need a proper meal- well, maybe as a xmas present i guess? But perhaps you can consider giving real food as well, all who are left with 'extra food'??

@25Avalon
You and I said the same - sorry, had not made it down to your post!

Whatdayisit

The virus isn't polticised it is the handling of it that is political.
Had the Government acted sooner in February/March eg Cheltenham Festival we wouldn't have gad the amount of deaths we have had. Their attitude was survival of the fittest - too little always too late.
Why promise the 5 day 3 household mixing when it was already out of control.
Why did London go into Tier 2 from the second lockdown big mistake.
Let's get the virus done. And that is why we are justified at feeling angry with Baffoon Johnson.
He has treated the pandemic like his Brexit campaign - lies, bluff, bolshy nonsense and incompetence.
He promised Christmas unnecessarily. Personally i always expected it to be cancelled and that the 5 days was just to get us spending on the frills and extras.

Absolutely. It was always obvious that the 5 day hiatus was a bad idea, and that Johnson should never have offered it in the first place, but it's all very well for people on here to gloat about how it won't affect them and how they always knew better. There will be lots of people stuck with food they can't eat, in a year when children in the UK are getting Unicef donations. Other people will have presents that can't be delivered because the timing of the announcement was left until the last minute, and some of those presents may be perishable, too. As has been said, trains have been packed - and not just with selfish people, but with people trying to get to their actual homes, not necessarily visiting others - so there will have been more viral spread. Businesses will close, education will suffer, more people will die. It just goes on and on.

And the 'What would the Labour Party have done better?' refrain is just tedious. It's become the Godwin's Law for the 21st century. Whatever anyone says they might have done is only ever going to be supposition, risks being shouted down by the same people who ask the question, and doesn't matter anyway, as they are not in power. It always smacks of a diversionary tactic to avoid accepting that this government has made an unholy mess of everything from the get go.

Whilst I'm on a roll, the behaviour of Johnson at the press conference yesterday was appalling. A woman asked what he felt about the fact that people in Tier 3 were being forced to go to work, and said that she had lost two members of her family as a result of this. Without so much as a 'sorry for your loss', he bumbled on about how people who needed to go to work should take special precautions, then passed over to Chris Whitty, as though it was a scientific question. No empathy whatsoever, either for the woman who had lost loved ones, or for those who still have to go to work and risk catching the virus. If the SE hadn't had to go into lockdown, people in the north wouldn't even be getting the furlough payments that Andy Burnham was refused.

as soon as tier 4 was mentioned, what do the selfish idiots. do ?? all get to train stations or buses to get out of London, no masks and definitely no social distancing, so so sad the way some behave, its only one day for gods sake

I thought people must not travel from tiers to other ones- (higher to lower) so why are they rushing to get to other places??&what other places?aren't these people who already live/work in those areas anyway?where are they going to exactly? If we (most of rest of country) are tier3 then we cant do much anyway- plus they are not supposed to mix TILL XMAS DAY ONLY- so who, exactly is going to take them in??This is as clear as mud!

I’m glad you like the idea Nannan2. Because I wasn’t planning to be at home the nuts and chocolates were all I had. Some families will appreciate a treat. My DD is doing a big shop today and will buy some other more suitable items for me to donate.

Why rush straight to trains& buses to leave london?where are they going to go?(unless they live somewhere else then they're Not allowed to stay anywhere else anyway are they?!)

Aw thats kind aonk.?

Unless you're a properly
qualified epidemiologist, please don't spout your personal thoughts as gospel.

Absolutely Doodledog. Giving Christmas then snatching it away - after so many have spread the virus doing extra shopping. Having something to look forward to then it disappearing is so much more damaging for mental health than if it had never been on the table in the first place.

Nannan2

Why rush straight to trains& buses to leave london?where are they going to go?(unless they live somewhere else then they're Not allowed to stay anywhere else anyway are they?!)

Lots of people work in London and live outside because of the expense.

earnshaw how do people socially distance on a packed train? It's not being a selfish idiot to want to go home. It is, on the other hand fairly selfish to only see the world as it impacts on you.

My son and his family are keeping their Xmas plans households travelling from east Midlands to Scotland but changing to one day early to keep within the law as if the law will keep them safe. There is nothing I can do .

4 households

Dont talk to me about education! The bloody spread of this virus is in schools, colleges,& universities- but are they closing them? No-its 'staggering' returns in january while medically vulnerable kids are used as cannon fodder- and i dont think teachers are happy to be on the frontline either! My GC caught covid in school& it spread to rest of their household- (younger siblings & parents) my youngest sons forced to go college(he's got underlying health issues) whilst his 'personal mentor' is hiding at home (working from home) ?safe as houses!!!

Usual too late, poorly timed. He kept the schools open to avoid fallout and half the staff got sick. Then he tells people they can have a day or two at Christmas, so they make plans. Excited to see their children after almost a year in many cases. Then a few days before, it’s no. Both my children will now be completely alone over the holidays. Totally gutted. The effects on people’s mental health and well-being are huge. I know there is a virus- I’ve had it. It’s his bumbling, crass timing that gets me.