U.K. Covid-19: Jan 2021

Covid: Women on exercise trip 'surrounded by police'


Two women have described how they were surrounded by police, read their rights and fined £200 each after driving five miles to take a walk.

The women were also told the hot drinks they had brought along were not allowed as they were "classed as a picnic".

Guidance for the current lockdown says people can travel for exercise as long as it is in their "local area".

The police force involved, Derbyshire Police, said driving for exercise was "not in the spirit" of lockdown.

One of the would-be walkers, Jessica Allen, assumed "someone had been murdered" when she arrived at Foremark Reservoir on Wednesday afternoon.

"As we drove in there was a police van, a police car, and there were loads of police there," said Ms Allen, who lives in Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire.

"I genuinely thought someone had been murdered; the place is normally so quiet. The next thing, my car is surrounded. I got out of my car thinking 'There's no way they're coming to speak to us'. Straight away they start questioning us.

"One of them started reading my rights and I was looking at my friend thinking 'This must be a joke'.

"I said we had come in separate cars, even parked two spaces away and even brought our own drinks with us. He said 'You can't do that as it's classed as a picnic'."


Her friend, Eliza Moore, said she was "stunned at the time" so did not challenge police and gave her details so they could send a fixed penalty notice.

"Just seeing a police officer anyway is quite scary for some people and we were really not expecting to be approached and to be told we were doing something wrong," she said.

"We don't want to get away with it if we have broken the rule, but it seems a bit unfair that you can be fined on something that's so vague."

 

So what is the difference between the Derbyshire Women case and this ?

Coronavirus: Boris Johnson criticised over bike ride seven miles from home

Boris Johnson has been criticised for travelling seven miles from Downing Street to go cycling during lockdown.

The Evening Standard reported the prime minister had been spotted in the Olympic Park in East London on Sunday.

Government advice allows people to exercise outside, but says you should not travel outside your local area.

A No 10 spokesman would not confirm if Mr Johnson had been driven to the park or cycled there, but said the PM had complied with Covid-19 guidelines.

Labour's Andy Slaughter said: "Once again it is do as I say, not as I do, from the prime minister.

The Hammersmith MP added: "London has some of the highest infection rates in the country. Boris Johnson should be leading by example."

In response to the criticism, a Downing Street source told the BBC: "The PM has exercised within the Covid rules and any suggestion to the contrary is wrong."

A woman told the PA news agency she had seen the prime minister in the park: "He was leisurely cycling with another guy with a beanie hat and chatting, while around four security guys, possibly more, cycled behind them.

"Considering the current situation with Covid I was shocked to see him cycling around looking so care-free.

"Also, considering he's advising everyone to stay at home and not leave their area, shouldn't he stay in Westminster and not travel to other boroughs?"

Health Secretary Matt Hancock was asked at Monday's Downing Street press conference whether travelling seven miles for a cycle ride was within the rules.

Mr Hancock said: "It is OK, if you went for a long walk and ended up seven miles from home, that is OK, but you should stay local.

"It is OK to go for a long walk or a cycle ride or to exercise, but stay local."

 

The big question is,

Did ol’ bojo have a drink bottle on him at the time, the crafty little picknicker!

 

Talk about mix messages!

Mr Hancock said: "It is OK, if you went for a long walk and ended up seven miles from home, that is OK, but you should stay local.

 

Well it appears they make up rules as they go along to suit their own situation but expect us to comply with a rigid set..

 

That's always been the case, never been any different. How many MP's got a criminal record or even went to court for stealing in the expense scandal. Nick a pair of trainers in the London riots and they throw the book at you.

 

UK mistakes cost lives, says health charity


The Covid pandemic has caused excess deaths to rise to their highest level since World War Two. There were close to 697,000 deaths in the UK in 2020 - nearly 91,000 more than the average in the previous five years.

Richard Murray, chief executive of health charity The King's Fund, said the UK "has one of the highest rates of excess deaths in the world" and the picture was likely to worsen following the surge in infections over recent weeks.

"It will take a public inquiry to determine exactly what went wrong, but mistakes have been made," he said.

"In a pandemic, mistakes cost lives. Decisions to enter lockdown have consistently come late, with the government failing to learn from past mistakes or the experiences of other countries.

He added: "Like many countries, the UK was poorly prepared for this type of pandemic."

 

Deaths rates a lot lower in Africa in countries with supposedly worse infrastructure, healthcare and living conditions than the UK. How's that possible?

 

Nigeria population 200 Mil, Covid deaths 1,361.

 

Poor policies . Late in most cases like shutting the airports down . Reluctance to tackle the schools problem . Considered as vectors for Covid in many countries. Not encouraging the vulnerable to shield . Many more weak or stupid policies ,like have a beer in a bar get Covid, Add a Scotch Egg don't get Covid.
And now we have a carton of coffee counting as a picnic !

If the vaccines don't work then there is no hope !

 

Below is a sample departure board for Manchester Airport .

I don't get it . I am breaking the law if I travel to my next town which is a 15 minutes drive but people can still travel overseas on an aircraft .

Am I missing something here ?



..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Departures 0)">Show all departures
TIME FLIGHT TO AIRLINE AIRCRAFT STATUS
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Sorry, we don't have any information about flights for this airport
Scheduled
8:20 AM
BY2468
Lanzarote(ACE)
73H
TUI Airways -
Scheduled
8:25 AM
BY366
Boa Vista(BVC)
76W
TUI Airways -
Scheduled
8:25 AM
BY2404
Gran Canaria(LPA)
75W
TUI Airways -
Canceled
9:15 AM
FR4096
Riga(RIX)
73H
Ryanair -
Scheduled
9:40 AM
LS917
Tenerife(TFS)
738
Jet2 -
Scheduled
9:55 AM
BY104
Vieux Fort(UVF)
789
TUI Airways -
Scheduled
10:15 AM
BA1389
London(LHR)
32N
British Airways -
Scheduled
10:15 AM
LS891
Lanzarote(ACE)
321
Jet2 -
8:20 AM BY2468
Lanzarote (ACE)
-
TUI Airways - 73H ()

Scheduled
8:25 AM BY366
Boa Vista (BVC)
-
TUI Airways - 76W ()

Scheduled
8:25 AM BY2404
Gran Canaria (LPA)
-
TUI Airways - 75W ()

Scheduled
9:15 AM FR4096
Riga (RIX)
-
Ryanair - 73H ()

Canceled
9:40 AM LS917
Tenerife (TFS)
-
Jet2 - 738 ()

Scheduled
9:55 AM BY104
Vieux Fort (UVF)
-
TUI Airways - 789 ()

Scheduled
10:15 AM BA1389
London (LHR)
-
British Airways - 32N ()

Scheduled
10:15 AM LS891
Lanzarote (ACE)
-
Jet2 - 321 ()

Scheduled

 

It get even more pathetic matey. Notwithstanding there is now another variant of the Virus emanating from Brazil, in addition to allowing people to fly out, this stupid government are allowing people into the country from anywhere in the world until next week when they will attempt to impose some restriction and test those for the virus when they arrive. Talk about bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted, these restrictions should have been imposed 10 MONTHS AGO !!!

 

Yes I saw that myself

Is this Government really serious about preventing COVID coming in ?

If they can close the hospitality industry down why cant they shut the airports and get rid of any potential Covid import risk at the press of a button ?
At the moment with Technology like Zoom there is now no real need for anyone to travel overseas with the exception of freight.

And then they wonder why people are getting fed up and not following guidelines .

 

Another thing that has driven me nuts

We do all our vehicle taxing on line and pay online .

We sold one of the older vans as we have just replaced it.

The refund of the vehicle tax from the Department of Transport DVLA comes in the form of a cheque .

So now I have to make a non essential journey to the Bank or Post Office to pay this into our account . Yet I am told by you know who I should be making such a journey !

Absolute nuts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

One has to Smile

 

Where's the picnic cup of coffee lol

 

I've said it before. If the government is serious about bringing covid under control shut the borders. As a small island we should be in the best possible position to manage it.
But we have the circus clowns in charge so that rules out that argument.

 

Apparently Priti Patel (the scumbag 'nasty party Home Secretary) advocated that last March but was over-ruled by the blond khazi mop-head !!!

 

And we have paid for that dearly with many lost lives ,lost businesses ,lost economy and many job losses. Its all our fault of course for "Flexing the Rules "

 

You speak for yourself matey, I've been 'shielded' and quarantined for the past 10 months and suffering badly with Cabin fever !!!