NPR

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:26 am As I think was clear, my problem is passports being introduced before most people have been offered one. If someone is offered one and refuses it I have much less of an issue with the idea.

ASMO wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:14 am I see they have now released the detail of the foregn travel traffic light system, front and center is the requirement to get the really expensive Covid tests, i wonder who has shares/interests or has received donations from the companies who are selling them?

120 quid a pop, family of 4 returning from an amber country will need to pay an additional £1000.00, how is that sustainable?, even returning from a so called green country is another £500.00 for a family of 4. Yet the cheaper flow test is considered good enough for medical staff and care home workers, i smell a rat.

shaggy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:32 am

ASMO wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:14 am I see they have now released the detail of the foregn travel traffic light system, front and center is the requirement to get the really expensive Covid tests, i wonder who has shares/interests or has received donations from the companies who are selling them?

120 quid a pop, family of 4 returning from an amber country will need to pay an additional £1000.00, how is that sustainable?, even returning from a so called green country is another £500.00 for a family of 4. Yet the cheaper flow test is considered good enough for medical staff and care home workers, i smell a rat.

I think there is a difference between controlling what is already within and flow tests are pretty adequate for that. External travel has the potential for new variants so stepping up to a more complete test would appear logical.

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:15 am Don't fully get the obsession with getting abroad this year, or where the pressure on the government is coming from. Most people I talk to, even proper sun seekers, have accepted they're heading to the seaside this year.

ASMO wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:30 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:15 am Don't fully get the obsession with getting abroad this year, or where the pressure on the government is coming from. Most people I talk to, even proper sun seekers, have accepted they're heading to the seaside this year.

What about people who have family living abroad? You going to deny them the right to see their family?

ASMO wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:30 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:15 am Don't fully get the obsession with getting abroad this year, or where the pressure on the government is coming from. Most people I talk to, even proper sun seekers, have accepted they're heading to the seaside this year.

What about people who have family living abroad? You going to deny them the right to see their family?

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:38 am

ASMO wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:30 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:15 am Don't fully get the obsession with getting abroad this year, or where the pressure on the government is coming from. Most people I talk to, even proper sun seekers, have accepted they're heading to the seaside this year.

What about people who have family living abroad? You going to deny them the right to see their family?

Clearly I don't think that's the group the government are running scared of.

And whilst it's shit and I have family abroad myself, yes I would keep the borders closed this year. To go through all of this to have a mutation take us back to step 1 would be horrendous.

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:06 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:38 am

ASMO wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:30 am

What about people who have family living abroad? You going to deny them the right to see their family?

Clearly I don't think that's the group the government are running scared of.

And whilst it's shit and I have family abroad myself, yes I would keep the borders closed this year. To go through all of this to have a mutation take us back to step 1 would be horrendous.

The pressure is coming from the travel industry, not families with cousins in Portugal.

tabascoboy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:07 am

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:06 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:38 am
Clearly I don't think that's the group the government are running scared of.

And whilst it's shit and I have family abroad myself, yes I would keep the borders closed this year. To go through all of this to have a mutation take us back to step 1 would be horrendous.

The pressure is coming from the travel industry, not families with cousins in Portugal.

And the media.

shaggy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:32 am

ASMO wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:14 am I see they have now released the detail of the foregn travel traffic light system, front and center is the requirement to get the really expensive Covid tests, i wonder who has shares/interests or has received donations from the companies who are selling them?

120 quid a pop, family of 4 returning from an amber country will need to pay an additional £1000.00, how is that sustainable?, even returning from a so called green country is another £500.00 for a family of 4. Yet the cheaper flow test is considered good enough for medical staff and care home workers, i smell a rat.

I think there is a difference between controlling what is already within and flow tests are pretty adequate for that. External travel has the potential for new variants so stepping up to a more complete test would appear logical.

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:38 am And whilst it's shit and I have family abroad myself, yes I would keep the borders closed this year. To go through all of this to have a mutation take us back to step 1 would be horrendous.

ASMO wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:14 am I see they have now released the detail of the foregn travel traffic light system, front and center is the requirement to get the really expensive Covid tests, i wonder who has shares/interests or has received donations from the companies who are selling them?

120 quid a pop, family of 4 returning from an amber country will need to pay an additional £1000.00, how is that sustainable?, even returning from a so called green country is another £500.00 for a family of 4. Yet the cheaper flow test is considered good enough for medical staff and care home workers, i smell a rat.

Torquemada 1420 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:18 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:38 am And whilst it's shit and I have family abroad myself, yes I would keep the borders closed this year. To go through all of this to have a mutation take us back to step 1 would be horrendous.

This makes me laugh. When COVID was first announced in back end of 2019, my comment was
- the UK is an island
- close ALL the borders now
- anyone coming back, shove in the RItz for a month if necessary: damned cheaper than the costs of letting loose infection

These useless c**ts took almost a year to the day after the first COVID case arrived to implement any kind of immigration control.

Listen, if any mutation arises that circumvents the vaccine regime, all bets are off. You then face the choice of either
- letting 0.03% of people die
- or f**king up the economy forever (assuming that's not already the case)

BTW, it still seems likely MORE people will die as a result of delayed diagnosis and/or treatment for cancers and heart attacks than will have died with (WITH: not because of) COVID.

Torquemada 1420 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:18 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:38 am And whilst it's shit and I have family abroad myself, yes I would keep the borders closed this year. To go through all of this to have a mutation take us back to step 1 would be horrendous.

This makes me laugh. When COVID was first announced in back end of 2019, my comment was
- the UK is an island
- close ALL the borders now
- anyone coming back, shove in the RItz for a month if necessary: damned cheaper than the costs of letting loose infection

These useless c**ts took almost a year to the day after the first COVID case arrived to implement any kind of immigration control.

Listen, if any mutation arises that circumvents the vaccine regime, all bets are off. You then face the choice of either
- letting 0.03% of people die
- or f**king up the economy forever (assuming that's not already the case)

BTW, it still seems likely MORE people will die as a result of delayed diagnosis and/or treatment for cancers and heart attacks than will have died with (WITH: not because of) COVID.

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 2:21 pm

Torquemada 1420 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:18 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:38 am And whilst it's shit and I have family abroad myself, yes I would keep the borders closed this year. To go through all of this to have a mutation take us back to step 1 would be horrendous.

This makes me laugh. When COVID was first announced in back end of 2019, my comment was
- the UK is an island
- close ALL the borders now
- anyone coming back, shove in the RItz for a month if necessary: damned cheaper than the costs of letting loose infection

These useless c**ts took almost a year to the day after the first COVID case arrived to implement any kind of immigration control.

Listen, if any mutation arises that circumvents the vaccine regime, all bets are off. You then face the choice of either
- letting 0.03% of people die
- or f**king up the economy forever (assuming that's not already the case)

BTW, it still seems likely MORE people will die as a result of delayed diagnosis and/or treatment for cancers and heart attacks than will have died with (WITH: not because of) COVID.

The next variant could kill 25000 7 year olds a week

Torquemada 1420 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:18 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:38 am And whilst it's shit and I have family abroad myself, yes I would keep the borders closed this year. To go through all of this to have a mutation take us back to step 1 would be horrendous.

This makes me laugh. When COVID was first announced in back end of 2019, my comment was
- the UK is an island
- close ALL the borders now
- anyone coming back, shove in the RItz for a month if necessary: damned cheaper than the costs of letting loose infection

These useless c**ts took almost a year to the day after the first COVID case arrived to implement any kind of immigration control.

Listen, if any mutation arises that circumvents the vaccine regime, all bets are off. You then face the choice of either
- letting 0.03% of people die
- or f**king up the economy forever (assuming that's not already the case)

BTW, it still seems likely MORE people will die as a result of delayed diagnosis and/or treatment for cancers and heart attacks than will have died with (WITH: not because of) COVID.

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 2:21 pm The next variant could kill 25000 7 year olds a week

robmatic wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:17 am

shaggy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:32 am

ASMO wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:14 am I see they have now released the detail of the foregn travel traffic light system, front and center is the requirement to get the really expensive Covid tests, i wonder who has shares/interests or has received donations from the companies who are selling them?

120 quid a pop, family of 4 returning from an amber country will need to pay an additional £1000.00, how is that sustainable?, even returning from a so called green country is another £500.00 for a family of 4. Yet the cheaper flow test is considered good enough for medical staff and care home workers, i smell a rat.

I think there is a difference between controlling what is already within and flow tests are pretty adequate for that. External travel has the potential for new variants so stepping up to a more complete test would appear logical.

Does it really have to be so expensive though? I haven't been back to the UK for over a year and at the moment my Mum has little chance of seeing her youngest grandson in the flesh because just testing the whole family will cost me about a month of my wages in Turkish Lira.

dpedin wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:20 pm

robmatic wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:17 am

shaggy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:32 am

I think there is a difference between controlling what is already within and flow tests are pretty adequate for that. External travel has the potential for new variants so stepping up to a more complete test would appear logical.

Does it really have to be so expensive though? I haven't been back to the UK for over a year and at the moment my Mum has little chance of seeing her youngest grandson in the flesh because just testing the whole family will cost me about a month of my wages in Turkish Lira.

Why the feck are we being asked to pay for a test when we go on holiday when we have already all paid £33b for a feckin useless Test, Track and Trace system? The current public funded testing facilities have tons of spare capacity and a lot of the testing sites are based around airports anyway. Prof on Radio 5 this morning reckons couldn't believe the £120 price, reckons he could set up a testing facility in airport for c£10k and would run a test at less than £5 cost. He did say he had been in touch with UK Gov to discuss some weeks ago but got nowhere with them - I suspect because he wasn't one of their mates and would have ruined their 'get rich quick scheme'. £120 for a PCR test is daylight robbery - they really are taking the piss now!

dpedin wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:20 pm

robmatic wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:17 am

shaggy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:32 am

I think there is a difference between controlling what is already within and flow tests are pretty adequate for that. External travel has the potential for new variants so stepping up to a more complete test would appear logical.

Does it really have to be so expensive though? I haven't been back to the UK for over a year and at the moment my Mum has little chance of seeing her youngest grandson in the flesh because just testing the whole family will cost me about a month of my wages in Turkish Lira.

Why the feck are we being asked to pay for a test when we go on holiday when we have already all paid £33b for a feckin useless Test, Track and Trace system? The current public funded testing facilities have tons of spare capacity and a lot of the testing sites are based around airports anyway. Prof on Radio 5 this morning reckons couldn't believe the £120 price, reckons he could set up a testing facility in airport for c£10k and would run a test at less than £5 cost. He did say he had been in touch with UK Gov to discuss some weeks ago but got nowhere with them - I suspect because he wasn't one of their mates and would have ruined their 'get rich quick scheme'. £120 for a PCR test is daylight robbery - they really are taking the piss now!

Calculon wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 5:45 am

dpedin wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:20 pm

robmatic wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:17 am

Does it really have to be so expensive though? I haven't been back to the UK for over a year and at the moment my Mum has little chance of seeing her youngest grandson in the flesh because just testing the whole family will cost me about a month of my wages in Turkish Lira.

Why the feck are we being asked to pay for a test when we go on holiday when we have already all paid £33b for a feckin useless Test, Track and Trace system? The current public funded testing facilities have tons of spare capacity and a lot of the testing sites are based around airports anyway. Prof on Radio 5 this morning reckons couldn't believe the £120 price, reckons he could set up a testing facility in airport for c£10k and would run a test at less than £5 cost. He did say he had been in touch with UK Gov to discuss some weeks ago but got nowhere with them - I suspect because he wasn't one of their mates and would have ruined their 'get rich quick scheme'. £120 for a PCR test is daylight robbery - they really are taking the piss now!

In a former life I did thousands of PCR test for a living. I was also responsible for buying the equipment and ingredients, they are not remotely expensive. In South Africa to get the coronavirus pcr test done privately cost me the equivalent of about 35 pounds, which I thought was taking the piss. 120 pounds is absolutely crazy

Un Pilier wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:41 pm

dpedin wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:20 pm

robmatic wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:17 am

Does it really have to be so expensive though? I haven't been back to the UK for over a year and at the moment my Mum has little chance of seeing her youngest grandson in the flesh because just testing the whole family will cost me about a month of my wages in Turkish Lira.

Why the feck are we being asked to pay for a test when we go on holiday when we have already all paid £33b for a feckin useless Test, Track and Trace system? The current public funded testing facilities have tons of spare capacity and a lot of the testing sites are based around airports anyway. Prof on Radio 5 this morning reckons couldn't believe the £120 price, reckons he could set up a testing facility in airport for c£10k and would run a test at less than £5 cost. He did say he had been in touch with UK Gov to discuss some weeks ago but got nowhere with them - I suspect because he wasn't one of their mates and would have ruined their 'get rich quick scheme'. £120 for a PCR test is daylight robbery - they really are taking the piss now!

Then I anticipate and hope for loads of new entrants to the PCR testing market. I doubt the capital and unit costs are anywhere near as low as these claims.

Insane_Homer wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 4:26 pm

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 25516.html

Experts named in government’s ‘flawed’ race report ‘shocked’ to see names in evidence contributor list

S.I Martin, an author who specialises in the field of black British history and literature, who is named in the report, told The Independent: “I was never consulted, I don’t know what record they have of contacting me.”

“I just would not have agreed to have been consulted even if I had been asked, but I’ve not been asked. I have been invited to things in the past — not by this administration — I just don’t go, I just refuse. It’s just not something I do.”

Officials at Downing Street have been accused of rewriting much of its controversial report into racial and ethnic disparities, despite appointing an independent commission to conduct an honest investigation into inequality in the UK
One commissioner, who spoke out on condition of anonymity, accused the government of “bending” the work of its commission to fit “a more palatable” political narrative and denying the working group the autonomy it was promised.
A source involved in the commission told the Observer that “basic fundamentals in putting a document like this together were ignored. When you’re producing something so historic, you have to avoid unnecessary controversy, you don’t court it like this report did. And the comms was just shocking.”

SaintK wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:38 am

SaintK wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 9:07 am

SaintK wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 10:36 am Cameron's judgement still woeful. Though I'm sure he received a whacking great "consultancy" fee.

FT, Times and S Times well into this story over the weekend with Cameron laying very low indeed! All links behind paywalls.....sorry!!

The Times’ Steve Swinford says David Cameron told friends he stood to make $60 million from the listing of the Greensill firm at the center of his murky lobbying scandal. The Sunday Times’ Gabriel Pogrund had the definitive read on everything you need to know about Cameron and the “toxic banker” Lex Greensill. The FT’s Jim Pickard and co have been on the case for weeks. Perhaps the PM or Whitty can clarify at tonight’s presser when exactly journalists are allowed to doorstep Dave until he starts giving some answers on all this.

This doesn't appear to be going away for Cameron. Greensill even had his own No10 business card!!

David Cameron lobbied a senior Downing St aide and Matt Hancock, the health secretary, on behalf of a now collapsed company run by the scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, it has emerged.
In further revelations that show the lengths the former prime minister went to in his attempts to secure political access for Greensill Capital, which paid him as an adviser, Cameron emailed a No 10 adviser after the Treasury rejected his attempts to secure the company access to a Covid emergency loan scheme.

It also emerged on Saturday night that, in 2019, Cameron took Greensill along with him to a “private drink” with Hancock. They lobbied Hancock to introduce a payment scheme that was later introduced for NHS staff. There are no minutes of Hancock’s meeting with Cameron and Greensill.

Tory MPs are putting their rent payments worth tens of thousands of pounds on taxpayer-funded expenses while cutting housing benefit for the poorest tenants – with many MPs renting out properties for profit, the Observer can reveal.
Between April and November 2020 – the most recent month for which figures have been published – Conservative MPs claimed almost £3m in housing rent on expenses.
The Observer has identified 42 Conservative MPs who claim their own rent on expenses while at the same time renting out other residential properties for at least £10,000 a year in income

The Tory MP claiming the highest rent expenses is Helen Whately, minister for social care. Despite earning £113,612 as an MP and minister, she claimed £3,250 in housing rent from the taxpayer each month between April and November 2020 – £26,000 in total during those eight months.

SaintK wrote: ↑Sun Apr 11, 2021 10:51 am Nice little earner for some and evidently not against the expenses rules!!

Tory MPs are putting their rent payments worth tens of thousands of pounds on taxpayer-funded expenses while cutting housing benefit for the poorest tenants – with many MPs renting out properties for profit, the Observer can reveal.
Between April and November 2020 – the most recent month for which figures have been published – Conservative MPs claimed almost £3m in housing rent on expenses.
The Observer has identified 42 Conservative MPs who claim their own rent on expenses while at the same time renting out other residential properties for at least £10,000 a year in income

The Tory MP claiming the highest rent expenses is Helen Whately, minister for social care. Despite earning £113,612 as an MP and minister, she claimed £3,250 in housing rent from the taxpayer each month between April and November 2020 – £26,000 in total during those eight months.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2 ... -expenses

SaintK wrote: ↑Sun Apr 11, 2021 10:51 am Nice little earner for some and evidently not against the expenses rules!!

Tory MPs are putting their rent payments worth tens of thousands of pounds on taxpayer-funded expenses while cutting housing benefit for the poorest tenants – with many MPs renting out properties for profit, the Observer can reveal.
Between April and November 2020 – the most recent month for which figures have been published – Conservative MPs claimed almost £3m in housing rent on expenses.
The Observer has identified 42 Conservative MPs who claim their own rent on expenses while at the same time renting out other residential properties for at least £10,000 a year in income

The Tory MP claiming the highest rent expenses is Helen Whately, minister for social care. Despite earning £113,612 as an MP and minister, she claimed £3,250 in housing rent from the taxpayer each month between April and November 2020 – £26,000 in total during those eight months.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2 ... -expenses

I like neeps wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:36 am

Bubble go pop soon.

Lobby wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:53 am

SaintK wrote: ↑Sun Apr 11, 2021 10:51 am Nice little earner for some and evidently not against the expenses rules!!

Tory MPs are putting their rent payments worth tens of thousands of pounds on taxpayer-funded expenses while cutting housing benefit for the poorest tenants – with many MPs renting out properties for profit, the Observer can reveal.
Between April and November 2020 – the most recent month for which figures have been published – Conservative MPs claimed almost £3m in housing rent on expenses.
The Observer has identified 42 Conservative MPs who claim their own rent on expenses while at the same time renting out other residential properties for at least £10,000 a year in income

The Tory MP claiming the highest rent expenses is Helen Whately, minister for social care. Despite earning £113,612 as an MP and minister, she claimed £3,250 in housing rent from the taxpayer each month between April and November 2020 – £26,000 in total during those eight months.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2 ... -expenses

MPs of all stripes have been doing this for years. There are outraged reports in newspapers going back at least 11 years of MPs renting out their properties in London, while claiming rent for other properties on expenses. In 2019 the Mirror reported on London-based MPs who were doing this, including Liam Fox, who had claimed £150,000 in rent expenses for a flat since 2012 but earned at least £10,000 a year renting out his own home, and Labour MP David Crausby, who had claimed £168,517 for renting a second London home since 2010, while also getting rental income from a flat he had bought with public help.

This follows on from the expenses scandals in 2009, when MPs from all parties were making huge profits from switching their various properties so that they could claim expenses on them.