[Nigredo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59711474

London in a state of emergency and it's looking more and more likely to be a fractured Christmas for my family now.

[Bones McCoy]

Looks like the National Association of Twats are having their annual march in London today.

If only the national association of road-roller souper-uppers were rallying in the opposite direction.

[Cyclist]

Bones McCoy in That London, this afternoon

[Bones McCoy]

Bones McCoy in That London, this afternoon

Stick a F-ing Merlin under the bonnet and point me at Corbyn-P.

[Boiler]

Keep with the technology - 450psi boiler as fitted to the Gresley "Hush-Hush", surely?

[Cyclist]

I would probably have been safer taking a train to Yorkshire than staying in the plague pit that is Central Bedfordshire

The local authority has a case rate of 746.7 per 100,000 people, but in some areas like Ampthill and Stotfold case rates are over 1,200.

https://www.bedfordshirelive.co.uk/news ... 364916.amp

Stotfold, four miles east, and Ampthill / Flitwick, seven miles west, have just about the highest infection rates in the country.

[Boiler]

Do f*****g what, @Cyclist ??!!

Yes, you probably would have been better heading up North with numbers like that; round here it's 1051/100k...

Where my mate lives in Yorkshire (Malton) it's 403/100k, below the national average.

[The All New KevS]

COBRA meeting held with heads of the devolved governments this afternoon chaired by.......

Steve Barclay.

So where was bollockbrain? I suppose you could be generous and say he was trying to sort out who should replace Frost, but it's a push.

And if he was unavailable, why not Raab, he is Deputy PM after all. Or Sunak, to see over any potential financial assistance. Or Javid, considering he is the Health Secretary after all.

How many did they go through before Barclay said "Yep, I've got nothing on. I'll do it"

[The All New KevS]

And now there has to be an announcement tomorrow. We're now six days from Christmas.

People need to know if they need to alter their plans - I'm supposed to be heading off to Ipswich to see the family on Thursday, but I still don't know if that's going to happen. I got jabbed last Tuesday, I'm near enough isolating to avoid the chance of infection beforehand, I'm testing daily. There's nothing more I can do.

Just want the uncertainty eliminated one way or the other.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I had a conversation with Spike this afternoon, I remind you she is 13. We chatted about Christmas and she came up with a plan in which everyone does Lateral Flow tests and we can meet up, then it's into full lockdown.

The kids know better than the old twats like Piers.

[Boiler]

I do a LFT before I meet any friends or family - luckily, I have some, unlike a friend and colleague who can't seem to get any where she lives and wants some to test herself, her husband and daughter before they visit a relative in a care home. If there's none here and she can't get any I am minded to get in the car, drive round hers and shove one of my two boxes through her letterbox - sod this code system.

[The All New KevS]

I can understand, although I don't agree with, the feeling of "well, if they don't bother following the rules, why should I?"

The answer is simple.

You and I will follow the rules because we are better than them.

We give a damn about other people.

[The All New KevS]

The Telegraph claiming a "cabinet minister" has told them that the cold hard facts presented to them by Whitty did not go down well.

"Their data was just trashed by the cabinet. We tore them apart."

Which is ironic really, because if we don't bring in sufficient restrictions because you're worried about donor's commercial property portfolio, and someone I care about falls seriously ill or worse, I'll be looking to fucking tear you apart.

[mattomac]

Yeah seems across the papers tomorrow.

Of course the Mo journalists with degrees in PPE and other such shite know best.

Anyhow I went to Cornwall last Tuesday after several days of isolation and testing, not sure when I’ll return to London.

[Cyclist]

First two headlines in my newsfeed this morning

Grauniad

The science is clear: the case for more Covid restrictions is overwhelming

https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... erwhelming

Daily Fail

Cabinet minister threatens to quit and MPs say letters of no-confidence 'will go in' if new Christmas crackdown is introduced - as PM 'clears his diary and considers THREE scenarios up to immediate lockdown to tackle Omicron'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... d-out.html

This country is now split into two alternative realities. It was ever thus, but now it's worse than ever.

[The All New KevS]

A third of the cabinet is apparently against further restrictions. That's a minority.

A third of the Parliamentary Conservative Party is apparently against further restrictions. That's a minority.

All polls show a minority of the public are against further restrictions.

How many times over the last five years has Johnson said we must follow the will of the majority?

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Your point is unassailable.

But Daily Mail...

[Bones McCoy]

Your point is unassailable.

But Daily Mail...

Daily Mail: Two million readers, if you include the website.
That's a tiny minority.

[Boiler]

I get the impression - from some forums I read, and speaking to family, friends and colleagues - that most, if not all, are adopting their own very cautious approach and limiting their exposure to others, taking LF tests regularly (when they can get them) and taking all necessary precautions when out and about.

Few, if any, read the Mail or listen to Johnson though.

[The All New KevS]