Boris announcing in House of Commons now

Well I understood it anyway.
It is a thankless task when all you are able to offer is bad news. I doubt anyone else would have done any better.
I have no problem with Boris. When I look back at some of the leaders we have had he comes out OK.
Imagine if Corbyn was in charge right now!!!!

It is so easy to criticize what Boris is trying to do. So why don't the opposition suggest a better plan instead of harping on about the wrong decisions the government are proposing. The truth is no one knows what will work.

I totally agree with the comments made by lemongrove.

All countries are in the same boat regarding the Covid pandemic. Rules aren't difficult to understand; trying to balance the economy while saving as many lives as possible, is an almost impossible task.

Too much political bias is being shown on this thread.

Who would want to be a decision maker. Health of nation vs health of economy!!!!!

It seems to me that there are many other areas that should have gone straight into the third tier. Only Liverpool agreed; and even then because ‘we were told even if we didn’t agree it would happen anyway’. Presumably leaders in other areas didn’t accept going into the third tier but Boris lacked the firm leadership qualities to get them to see sense. So we end up with some areas previously on local lockdown that are now in tier 2 and actually with lighter restrictions under the new tier arrangement. Hardly the needed outcome, unless these move to tier 3 in the coming days.

It doean t make a lot of sense.
You can sit in an enclosed restaurant with social distancing with god know how many people in there but can’t meet family or friends outside in your garden social distancing.
Kids can go to school but can’t have friends round.

I expect there will be the usual copy and pasting rather than the taking into account that people do accually read posts.

I see that this is another damned if he does, damned if he doesn't discussion....

In many respects the situation now is the same as it was right at the beginning in the Spring.

It’s a balancing act, pure and simple.

Why persist in this constant criticism of the government’s handling of the virus when we are all well aware that alongside the need to save lives where possible, there is also a vitally important need to protect the economy.

The government’s strategy of targeting those areas with the fastest growing numbers is something everyone can understand.

And yes of course the last lot of rules are easy to follow but that is not the point.

This latest wave was seeded in the summer when the decision was made by the government to lift restrictions throughout the country.

They were warned by the scientists at the time that the level of covid had not dropped sufficiently in some northern areas, but they ignored the advise, thus ensuring the level of covid we see now.

People don’t behave differently in one part if the country to any other, it has nothing to do with the disparity in levels but everything to do with poor management and clear concise messaging.

If you look around Europe ( let alone further afield) with the exception of Germany, no country seems happy with their government’s handling of the pandemic......
We and our families have all been affected in one way or another, depression, loss of job or whatever the reason but it isn’t the fault of any government, it is what it is, a worldwide
Pandemic which all of us have to accept and try and live
through.

I was going to write the same as lemon grove in each of her posts so won’t repeat.

I am yet to hear a Labour MP come up with an alternative plan

Lemongrove we thought the tier system was clear.

M0nica unfortunately there are a lot of folks of all ages who are/have flouted the rules (plenty of examples on GN since lockdown). If everyone had isolated and observed social distancing, wore masks and kept good hand hygiene perhaps we would not be seeing the rise of infections.

If the new restrictions don’t stop people from doing what they want to do ( if they continue being selfish) then yes, we will need another lockdown.These extra restrictions have to be tried first.

Of course the government faces demands from every quarter. I wanted to support the government in March, recognising we are indeed in unprecedented time.
The shambles since then has made me both sad and angry. The impact on my immediate family has been huge, as it has for everyone. I wish I had more confidence in the government but its actions continue to reduce confidence.

SAGE are thinking solely of health and Mayors and business leaders only thinking of the local economy.....both are right and both are wrong! It has to be balanced.

Oh yes, bumbling along like most other European countries are doing..hmmm.
As everybody knows, it’s a middle path between stopping the economy tanking and keeping the populace healthy, and a most horrendous choice for any government and any PM.
You get the ‘close it all down’ brigade and the ‘you mustn’t close any businesses’ brigade both shouting from the sidelines.

lemongrove, I agree with you, the rules are easy to understand. I had to check whether here in Their 2 I could meet friends for lunch in a cafe/restaurant but no, we can't. We can meet for a walk and have a coffee outside later, so that's the plan.

This morning I read the Mr J and his government refused a lock down 3 weeks ago, which was advised by SAGE. I imagine Whitewave is right, we'll have a panic lockdown imposed soon - far too late and resulting in more necessary deaths and the real problems caused by long covid.

We now know, that just like previously the government is not following the science, but bumbling along, and as usual failing on all fronts.

It won’t be long before a panic lockdown is imposed. This of course will be too late resulting in the lose of unnecessary deaths, and long covid sufferers.

I sometimes wonder about all the posters claiming to ‘not understand’ rules and restrictions to combat Covid.
It was quite clearly laid out, both in Parliament yesterday, then the press conference then on the tv news programmes.
The three tier system was explained, most of the country is in the medium range ( rules remain the same) then the high, then the really high, (like Liverpool).
It has been gone over with a fine tooth comb on every radio and tv programme since then, it’s easy to Google if all those attempts to understand have failed as well.

I honestly believe no one understands the new rules. Confusing and unenforceable.

The 'what is a café?' question actually had a sensible answer, which is that it's about reducing opportunities for transmission rather than saying a café is a safer place than a restaurant.

(I've no idea what Johnson has been saying, and I don't suppose he does either.)

I don't honestly understand whst I was listening to tonight.

And I still don't understand the overlap between bubbles, levels and areas when travelling. It's totally confused me. Between the three of us talking about it tonight, you would have thought we have enough brainpower to understand most things... but it seems not.

According to "The Nine " a news programme on STV ...dont let the name fool you...they're still biased against SNP and Independence Polls show that 70-74% of people aske d say they are satisfied with the way the Scottish government is handling the pandemic,feel the information given by the FM is clear and concise .I think that how the information is given is key to how its received ...Bojo appears to have no idea what he's talking about and is often missing ,Ms Sturgeon will answer all and any questions with apparent knowledge of the subject.That inspires confidence in the listener...even the daft questions about Jaffa cakes or what is a cafe ?