[mrjonathanr]

Basically agree with you TT but - the self employed are in real difficulty. About 3 million unsupported I think.

I emailed Mary Robinson, my MP about this. She did not reply. Mind you, she did not reply when I emailed that my father and uncle died with Covid, so she is, at least, consistent in her contempt for her constituents.

[tomtom]

Mind you, she did not reply when I emailed that my father and uncle died with Covid, so she is, at least, consistent in her contempt for her constituents.

Sorry to hear about your Dad and Uncle Jon... thats horrible.

[Oldmanmatt]

Basically agree with you TT but - the self employed are in real difficulty. About 3 million unsupported I think.

I emailed Mary Robinson, my MP about this. She did not reply. Mind you, she did not reply when I emailed that my father and uncle died with Covid, so she is, at least, consistent in her contempt for her constituents.

May you and yours find the strength you need.

[mrjonathanr]

Thank you for your kind words, Matt and Tom. I am okay thanks, not looking for sympathy, others have far worse to deal with (they were unwell already; Covid simply accelerated something which was slowly happening naturally) but I mention it to illustrate what a thoroughly unimpressive constituency MP Mary R really is.

[seankenny]

I emailed Mary Robinson, my MP about this. She did not reply. Mind you, she did not reply when I emailed that my father and uncle died with Covid, so she is, at least, consistent in her contempt for her constituents.

Really sorry to hear that.

We have worked with two MPs, one for our constituency and one for my late father-in-law's, one was good and the other excellent. The case has been raised in the House of Commons, with the Ministry of Transport and so on. Not to much actual positive end, but that's having a Tory government for you.

[teestub]

I emailed Mary Robinson, my MP about this. She did not reply. Mind you, she did not reply when I emailed that my father and uncle died with Covid, so she is, at least, consistent in her contempt for her constituents.

It really pisses me off when I hear this, I had assumed MP’s had a duty to reply to correspondence from their constituents, even if it’s just pro forma but this doesn’t seem to be the case.

[SA Chris]

If they have an obligation they don't comply with it. I have send correspondence to our local Tory (Andrew Bowie) and never has he bothered replying.

[mrjonathanr]

It varies lots. Andrew Gwynne (Labour, a nearby constituency) has been amazing at getting back, on one occasion with a detailed response (why he disagreed with me) in a matter of minutes.

To be exact Mary Robinson did send me an email post Cummings, but a generic round-robin, and 2 months after I had emailed her. so not what you'd call a reply to my email.

I do not want my MP to spend all her time fielding emails, but an occasional acknowledgement seems reasonable!

edit - to clarify rely was a mass email, not personal response.

[tomtom]

Vaccinations around the 250k mark today - third day in a row. Target is 400k +

[Duma]

no update on the gov website - where are you getting figures TT?

[tomtom]

no update on the gov website - where are you getting figures TT?

Rolling news pages. Sky in this case I think. Happy to be wrong!

[Duma]

311k - better than your number, but still not great.

[tomtom]

311k - better than your number, but still not great.

260 in the guardian - from the official site. https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/

[spidermonkey09]

311 will be the UK wide number. Will have to see how the rest of the week goes but I was expecting a bigger number today. Perhaps the snow effect? We are at 10.7% of the total population though which is good.

[tomtom]

Ah yes. Good - though that’s  c.430-440 a day needed now.

The number of deaths a day is truly terrible....

[spidermonkey09]

Yep, about the only thing that can be said about the death figures is at least the daily numbers seem to have levelled off. Imagine we will have to swallow at least another 30-50k deaths in the next few months. Hard to escape the feeling that the autumn decisions were a catastrophic failure of governance. Attempting to blame it all on the new variant doesn't cut it for me.

[IanP]

Yep, about the only thing that can be said about the death figures is at least the daily numbers seem to have levelled off. Imagine we will have to swallow at least another 30-50k deaths in the next few months. Hard to escape the feeling that the autumn decisions were a catastrophic failure of governance. Attempting to blame it all on the new variant doesn't cut it for me.

It does look like deaths has maybe hit peak at approx 1200 per days, together with cases 50% down and hospitalisations also significantly down there is hope that things are going to get better.  Have to agree that the Boris and co. completely messed up during Autumn and particularly in decisions made in December when it seems to have been obvious to everyone except them that rapid and radical action was needed.

[mrjonathanr]

i find it difficult to hear him and that homunculous Jenrick insisting that they always took the best decisions based on the science of the time when SAGe's advice for a circuit breaker was disregarded.

[SA Chris]

Of all the things they have done badly, delaying action has been their biggest shortcoming. Doing exactly the same things, only earlier, would have saved a lot of lives. 

[tomtom]

Of all the things they have done badly, delaying action has been their biggest shortcoming. Doing exactly the same things, only earlier, would have saved a lot of lives.

THREE TIMES they have done that.

[SA Chris]

not just lockdowns also closing borders, restricting travel, quarantining arrivals, restricting access to care homes, etc etc. All left until there was no option available.

[tomtom]

not just lockdowns also closing borders, restricting travel, quarantining arrivals, restricting access to care homes, etc etc. All left until there was no option available.

Starmers line today “he’s closing schools but opening borders” was simple but effective...

[mrjonathanr]

I believe it was Churchill who said

It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.

As his biographer, you might have thought Johnson had grasped this. By any stretch then, he has failed.

[tomtom]

He’s trying to please everyone. Tiers is to keep those rural Torys happy, March 8th for schools is because that’s when the covid research group wanted them open... Grow a pair Boris - you can’t make everyone happy but you can do the right thing.

[battery]

The problem with the government having been so ineffectual throughout this is that it has highlighted their utter incompetence which in turn can (and I think has) led to less compliance within the population.

Normally, compliance is not something that society relies on because we generally know and understand the rules having lived with them for all our lives and for the most part do the right thing, but this situation is something totally new. Understanding is only just emerging within science (which scientists are very good at pointing out as that is how science works) but politicians aren't programmed to say I don't know and the general public want certainty.

I suppose what I am getting at is that in normal times people choose to do the right thing but right now for many it feels.like they are being forced to do something and that creates resistance.

Sorry, I'm rambling. But I think a lot about the difference between positive behaviour and compliance in my work and it seemed relevant.