love* in the time of plague (and by love* i mean brexit* and other dreary matters of uk politics)

Johnson was insultingly dismissive about this yesterday. And I'm not quite sure why. Since when has investing in the arts been a Tory vote-loser?

shit, I completely missed that this "end of quarantine 75 countries you can visit hooray" bonaza is almost entirely without reciprocation. There will be quarantines for Brits arriving in most of them. Top work, chaps.

the arts are probably too close to 'the elite' in the cummings megabrane xp

Manchester's Royal Exchange theatre has cut 65% of employees. The Theatre Royal in Plymouth has cut all creative staff.

socially distanced theatre would be a loss-maker and they can't bullshit their way through it like the pubs will, if they don't want subsidise them then they will die for now, simple as.

Black British people didn’t support Corbyn because loads of us are left wing socialists, on an average day you’ll see Black people complain about taxation! Most supported Corbyn because he actually seemed to “get it” with regard to race and for once a leader cared about us

— Jase (@jasebyjason) July 2, 2020

I think the plan is to just let theatres die and wait for them to be bought up dirt cheap when this over.

In smaller and medium sized towns in particular lots of people, particularly older people, who otherwise never go out will go to the theatre, and they'll go for lunch or dinner afterwards or for a drink with family or whatever. The knock-on effect of losing a successful theatre is likely to be substantial for a lot of local economies.

Theatre is completely impossible at the moment but things are this are going to be essential in making sure that town centres retain some actual life to them, especially as High Street retail is unlikely to come back in the same way.

Post end of furlough there is no support to businesses. There was, what, 20k let go yesterday across a number of big companies.

And the pressure will be on pubs to crack the whip, but beyond any madness this weekend how many people will spend. Many staff are being let go.

My BF works in a pub and they've asked him to do an 11 hour shift this Saturday. He's told them he's not comfortable going back this weekend as he's diabetic. This is their response.

Oh, and the pub is owned by millionaires @IanMcKellen, @mrevgenylebedev and Sean Mathias. pic.twitter.com/iSQNmgQkVJ

— Cassie (@Cassiesmyth) July 2, 2020

And with universal credit sanctions restored too it's a toxic environment. So many ppl will be fucked now that the high, daily mortality days are past.

That's the Grapes in Limehouse and it's so pokey it would be almost impossible to open in a socially-distanced way.

the grapes is basically a wardrobe, its one of those pubs that people claim is great bc its a pain in the ass to get to (i used to work in limehouse btw)

Can't believe millionaires are treating employees like shit

My guess is that the text comes from some middle manager but yeah.

A guy who lives across the road from me is diabetic and works in the structural steel side of construction which usually requires a fair bit of van sharing for long journeys. I was completely sympathetic towards him telling me his fears about going back to work until he proffered that the UK hasn't got the worse Rona death/infection rates in Europe because of a bungling tory govt, no it is because "we've already got got every foreign cunt in this country spreading it about".

xp aye I assume it's a jobsworth employee, presumably their bosses are now aware and they will intervene appropriately

Would assume Australia but they've not had it anywhere near as bad with the rona.

― Matt DC, Friday, 3 July 2020 12:38 AM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Pubs in Victoria still limited to 20 people, can only drink with a meal and all table service. But then we’re putting some postcodes into lockdown again safer a surge back into double figures of new cases a day.

Other states have fully opened pubs but they all went through a table service and limited numbers phase. This is in states that haven’t had a case for weeks.

Queensland is opening clubs this weekend but with limited numbers and you have to sit down.

It's seven months since the Sun's Tom Newton Dunn promoted "Hijacked Labour", a far-right hit-list based on neo-Nazi sources, and the British media is still maintaining near-complete omerta about it. The HL website now has an interesting message: 1/https://t.co/x9nNMFoxgj pic.twitter.com/XPGHW04Cdf

— Daniel Finn (@DanFinn95) July 2, 2020

it's not enough for these bastards to help turn the Labour party into a more centre-right version of Milibandism, but now they come to troll you when you are already lying dead in the ground.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eb8-UJGXYAAD_jh?format=jpg&name=900x900

People will ask me why am a medieval historian all the time and then still be surprised about escheat property law. Like yeah, I have information on this trash "system" feel free to ask at any time. https://t.co/69SSRxXIK0

— Dr Eleanor Janega (@GoingMedieval) July 3, 2020

Prince C definitely has that look of someone harbouring dark secrets, his head is like a cavernous purple turnip full of murder, thievery + marauding pedophils!

Downing Street has warned people not to 'overdo it' when the #coronavirus #lockdown is eased this weekend https://t.co/GsU2rllvDr

— SkyNews (@SkyNews) July 2, 2020

fuck off it's super saturday oy oy

booze is back baby

does flying to greece count as overdoing it?

This is odd - "indefinitely" just means we don't know the end date, which we don't. They should have said no to extending it "infinitely" https://t.co/okqCscl2I9

— Dan Davies (@dsquareddigest) July 3, 2020

This is after thousands have been let go this week.

they need to keep their rich donors happy now they are a Tory party again

Yesterday there were as many Covid-19 deaths recorded in the UK as in the entire European Union. pic.twitter.com/XjT4LB6pf5

— Nicolas Veron (@nicolas_veron) July 2, 2020

stop being a killjoy I want to get rat-arsed in the pub and get into a jolly old ruck with the rona!

did a straw poll with my youngish team and literally nobody is up for the pub this weekend, except a few who will do takeout beers for the park

The worst-hit EU countries are two weeks ahead of us in the curve so it's not a straight comparison but still highly unflattering to say the least, I don't think anywhere in the EU had a really bad outbreak after we did?

The spikes in the US this week have mostly come in states that didn't have a real spike the first time round (rather than, say, New York) and there's a nagging sense that some countries have still got spikes to come, particularly those opening up in a big way for tourists - thinking Greece, Portugal etc here.

I wonder how many younger people would be hitting the gym this weekend if they were reopening?

Kinda curious if anyone here is planning on going to the pub this weekend - not in a judgmental way I just want to hear what it's like as an experience.

my two regulars aren't opening tomorrow, this is making the decision a bit easier. i dunno, i'm in a sad spell, there's football on, i might still end up having a look round but i'm thinking it's probably going to be shit enough to give me pause. best bet probably to get pished today and hope the hangover is a sufficient deterrent.

My gut feeling is that a lot of people will take one look at the queues and go and get some cans instead. The weather looks bad for tomorrow so it might have the effect of pushing people into in-home gatherings and that's probably worse than a socially-distanced pub would be.

Anecdotally it seems like most places are being smart enough to wait until Monday at least, which kind of highlights how stupid the decision to reopen on Saturday is. Will make the ones that do open tomorrow even worse tho

*I could do with a pint but going to a pub is not an enticing prospect.

(*just as I would writing that Jack Regan said 'I could do with a pint' on the Sweeney)

who among us

I'll be queuing at the Spoons at 9am. No I won't, but I would happily sit in an uncrowded beer garden, although I doubt there's much chance of that.

Yeah I mean it's a logistical nightmare for staff anyway, there's a lot for them to get used to, so opening on Monday is much more sensible regardless of anything else. Think my local is doing that as well.

speaks to something that the prospect of a pub being any good in the near future relies on a failure to observe the guidance/rules

that said 2020 is a near-perfect petri dish for drunky nihilism

I went to the pub a little before lockdown and I remember saying to my friend that I felt uneasy & that it felt like we were all in denial, but I still managed to have a good time. I think if I went now I would just be stressed out. Just enough safety measures to make it a shit ersatz experience, nowhere near enough to make it actually safe

just cutting a straw hole in my facemask, i'm sure it's gonna be brill

Apparently bingo halls across the country are planning to re-open in the near future - which doesn't strike me as particularly sensible for long-term customer retention.

one-way systems, reduced capacity, rigid time slots, partition screens, staff in PPE... mmmmmmm pub

No pub or (and this is the one that really hurts) cinema (whenever is that they open) for the summer, I think.

Last time I was in a pub was March 11th, which in London infection level terms might have been more dangerous than it is now, and I don't remember taking an enormous amount of care. Shit started to get real the following day.

Thing is, you don't go to a pub out of an altruistic desire to help a struggling business (or a struggling economy). You don't even go for booze alone really, you go because it's fun, for a bit of community, just to feel among people and talk shit. If pubs can't provide that under the new restrictions then they're in real trouble after the initial novelty has worn off.

I suppose 'getting out of the house' is a huge motivation in its own right at this stage.

Honest question: how many of you guys have a Local that you'd go to without first arranging with friends to meet up there? This is part of the mystique of the British pub to me but after moving here I've never seen it in action (London probably not the best place for it).

I do