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

I used to know her when she lived like a pig/with Taylor Parkes in a flat around the corner from me, I pity her cleaner tbh (and her lovely husband shouldn’t have to clean up after her).

worst. flatshare. ever.

What she didn't mention in her Times column: she has two cleaners

I keep getting Kevin Gates earworms!

Depends on the cleaner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7K3RL-BuSY

I read somewhere that it was the biggest combined fall in both seat numbers and vote share in any single election so it probably was a historical defeat

Surely the Tories in 1997 were worse?

I was only really talking about Labour results but yeah the Tories in 97 were probably worse.

Wtf has happened in Reading?

3 fatalities from stabbing attacks, one arrest is all I've heard so far.

jeesus

It's a spot we know well, we're usually in there most evenings as part of our daily stroll. We almost did, last night but decided to get some stuff from co-op instead, and found out just before getting home. We had seen an ambulance and a police car, but the latter was driving crazy around traffic etc..

I dare say we'd recognise some of the victims, there was often a bunch of blokes drinking together around the bandstand, singing, arguing and that.

Shocking, to say the least.

Blimey, Mark.

Ken Livingstone as "one of the more interesting and intelligent people from the UK left of the 70's/80's"

Ken Livingstone was, indeed, one of the more interesting and intelligent people from the UK left of the 70's/80's -- certainly among people who were actually elected to office, rather than intellectuals, commentators, etc.

This was a given at the time.

Blimey. He's alright is D Edgerton and I've enjoyed some of his books, but his twitter presence has become quite annoying .. kind of a history professor FBPE ultra at times, but often his observations are interesting and correct and he's good at weeding out the propagandist bullshit of 20th c history.

The Observer today reporting that a load of Red Wall Tory MPs are absolutely furious about having to go on TV to argue against free school meals (highly popular in their constituencies) only for the government to then u-turn against them. If Labour are smart they will be taking note of every single one of these occurances because there will almost certainly be more of them and they are almost perfectly designed wedge issue moments.

Book club with Ben. https://t.co/7UFxvFvQcP

— Frances Ryan (@DrFrancesRyan) June 21, 2020

lol, Ben Bradley, a portrait of a young tory mp as an autodidact whose uncomplicated brain has been blown broken by Orwell!

it'd be funny if

Not sure if that thread is hilarious or terrifying (in that this cunt is within reach of decision-making positions in goverment)

it's irony all the way down

frequently shit seems to be rolling uphill at an alarming speed these days

http://agendapublica.elpais.com/decay-in-government-quality-and-its-cost-in-covid-19-lives/

Hence, the reaction by these four countries has been slower than that of many others in Europe. They have struggled to adopt decisions to prepare and respond to the pandemic, as well as when trying to garner the necessary political consensus leading to taking tough decisions. At least in the cases of Spain, Belgium, and the UK, which had additional time than Italy to prepare for the hit of the pandemic, it also limited the capacity to learn from and react to what was happening in Italy. Additional consequences of weaker governments and bureaucracies have been frequent changes of direction and criteria in the policies adopted, the chronic lack of personal protective equipment for health and social workers, and a manifest incapacity to coordinate effectively the public procurement of medical and protective equipment. This has resulted in an every man/woman for himself/herself type of strategy that has not only undermined an effective and co-ordinated response when the virus struck, but has also failed to instil the necessary trust to bring the population on board. The results are well known: higher infection rates, higher level of infections among front-line health workers, and, sadly, a far higher share of excess deaths.

Quite.

This “phased reopening” is so fucked up. It is so busy out there now! I went to an independent bookshop in Ely, expecting something like: only x customers in at a time, limited stock on display but more could be fetched out on request, staff have protective gear &c. Nope, it’s exactly the same as pre-pandemic except they have a hand sanitiser station. This is what happens when the guidance is nil and the ppl issuing it have no credibility. Anecdotally social distancing has gone out the window where ppl seemed mainly onside until as recently as a couple of weeks ago. Almost nobody masking up (even on the bus). If we go from 2m to 1m it will be over because most already think 1m is 2m. Phase 3 and pubageddon are looming. Sleepwalking into catastrophe

The first weekend the pubs reopen but it’s narrated by Werner Herzog

— Challenge Man (@tom_usher_) June 21, 2020

i keep seeing groups of tourists in london and i'm very confused about what their holiday is and where they're staying.

like obvious tourist groups with the shorts and backpacks and cameras in areas like near buckingham palace etc.

maybe cosplaying as tourists has become a thing in the post-lockdown era

About a month ago I was chilling with a beer on kings parade (it was still nice and quiet then) and this American woman asked some ppl to take her photo in front of kings college & she was saying “I just arrived yesterday, I’ve always wanted to visit Cambridge” and I was sitting there thinking wtf where did you come from, how did you get here

i don't think i'm being paranoid, there's definitely different 'types' that you can spot: south american early retirement couples that holiday together (lost, dehydrated, fighting), german family with matching backpacks (visiting something weird in the square mile, like an elizabethan execution site), etc.

i guess its airbnb or something

it was a lot busier at the beach today than last time I went, a couple of weeks ago. the car parks were busy and did seem like there were probably tourists as well as locals.

I went to the more secluded bit where you aren't supposed to go because the cliffs are prone to collapse, but there was about 15-20 people on that bit when I got there

reopening pubs on the first Saturday in July would be a masterstroke

Are you Dominic Cummings in disguise?

if they bring in a draconian license to drink system, on top of the widespread lack of trust for anything the uk govt says rn, I predict a complete flop.

i'd take that bet, what i find hardest to imagine is this shower setting out any system more detailed than Johnson mumbling about Britain for 10 minutes and telling people to stay alert when they're pissed

Stay Upright.

Having to give your name and address when you pop into the pub for a swift one, yeah, like that's going to happen.

at least when you have a license to get drunk they can only charge you for being disorderly when you get caught stood on a top of a skip shouting death threats at your neighbours!

Not seeing a pub full of pissed-up geezers in Bromley adhering to social distancing rules after the 4th pint, tbh

I doubt I would be either tbf.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ea8er07XQAAOk51?format=jpg&name=900x900

so not happening

Well that sounds like fun

Brexit vote was 4 years ago today.

I like how they've illustrated that with a picture of a legendarily cramped and tiny pub.

it's also possibly the only pub in Britain that doesn't actually serve pints

Imagine beer garden patrol will be a really fun job

Bar Staff will clean bar tops, door handles and fruit machines at least every twenty minutes and there will be regular patrols of pub gardens to make sure inebriated guests continue to observe social-distancing rules. Children’s play areas are likely to remain out of action.

*Restaurants*

Owners will be required to place strict limits on the number of people they allow in to ensure social distancing is observed, with queues forming outside. They will be encouraged to use reservations to stagger bookings.

Upon arrival, tables, spaced widely apart, will appear surprisingly bare, as napkins and cutlery will only be brought out with food. Laminated menus will be replaced with single-use, disposable menus and condiments will be served in sachets on request.

Waiters may also make use of menu boards but there will be fewer options than usual as chefs will try to minimise cross-contamination of ingredients. Plates will be cleared by staff wearing gloves, or at the very least, waiters will be asked to wash their hands each time they serve a different table.

Payment with contactless card will be encouraged.

Does this come with any guidance about how many family members we're allowed to see at once yet? Or whether people in relationships can see their partners outside of a support bubble?

My guess is we'll know whether or not this has fucked up by the second half of July. If the weather stays like this for a while I'm happy to wait.

Family shmamily, the important thing is opening up Wetherspoon and getting cancer patients back to work

You can presumably see family members down the pub or at the National Gallery.

It's a free-for-all now. Even if there are technically rules in place, they're now completely impossible to enforce.

Will the restaurants and pubs who can't serve enough ever make enough to stay afloat?

I suspect there are going to be more taxpayer backed loans at the very least.