Lockup/ lockdown. How to end it?

[Nick Riviera]

...........Or is my logic awry here?

You are leaving out the fact that things change...new tech that makes home working more available has come to the fore due largely the pandemic and a big re-assesment is being made by companies
It might not have been a consideration to out source before the recent events and the pressure it has put on companies to adapt and accept that home work is a viable alternative.

I doubt it wil happen wholesale, but some jobs will inevtably move........we all know what the bottom line is.

I accept that to a certain degree but home working has been on the increase for many years now and the tech has been available to facilitate that. Perhaps 10 years ago the jobs would be outsourced in this scenario but I don't think it will happen these days in the nightmare scenarios that many have predicted.

[om15]

If people work from home on a formal basis does this mean that their house rates become business rates, and will this up the insurance premiums, I bet that if this becomes a more permanent arrangement matters like this will become an issue.
My accountant discussed this with me, had I used my home address as a business address I would have been liable for additional rates, also had I made claims against tax for using my house I could have incurred capital gains tax liability when selling the house in due course.

[barkingmad]

"also had I made claims against tax for using my house I could have incurred capital gains tax liability when selling the house in due course."

A good accountant is like a successful serial killer, they're very good at hiding the evidence (not necessarily in the freezer) which might indict one on the home move...

[Nick Riviera]

If people work from home on a formal basis does this mean that their house rates become business rates, and will this up the insurance premiums, I bet that if this becomes a more permanent arrangement matters like this will become an issue.
My accountant discussed this with me, had I used my home address as a business address I would have been liable for additional rates, also had I made claims against tax for using my house I could have incurred capital gains tax liability when selling the house in due course.

I may be wrong but I think that would only apply if you ran your own business from home. If you work for a company that doesn't supply you with an office then you don't have to pay business rates. Plenty of sales people have been home based for many years.

[barkingmad]

“ Plenty of sales people have been home based for many years.”

As have plenty of contract pilots, classed as consultants, of whom I was one until I grew up and retired.

[om15]

Yes Nick you are correct, I was thinking of people who are contract staff working for companies, a number which might well increase in these changing times.

[Nick Riviera]

Yes Nick you are correct, I was thinking of people who are contract staff working for companies, a number which might well increase in these changing times.

Agreed, OM, as you are then essentially self-employed and thus running your own business from home.

[barkingmad]

Food for thought as we cower under the stairs gasping through our face nappies and waiting for the end;

https://unlockthelockdown.com/comparing ... the-logic/

[barkingmad]

Just out from under the stairs and fell across this, so I thought it might be worth perusing before going to bed, wearing a face nappy and Tenna for Men, in case I turn into a bedwetter;

https://evidencenotfear.com/.

[PHXPhlyer]

I fear these guys' evidence.

PP

[Undried Plum]

The first attempt at ending the lockdown was a disaster.

It more or less guaranteed a second wave in the winter. Now it's clear the second wave has started earlier than predicted.

Now the British government, for England, has imposed a prohibition of social gatherings of more than six people either indoors or outdoors.

And still the Jockistani administration is allowing, ie encouraging, the Weegie pubs to open.

And still there is the unmonitored inflow of passengers from overseas countries known to be more heavily infect than the UK.

Both Boris and Wee Jimmy Krankie need to get a grip!

[barkingmad]

Here is a very spry wry dry look at the lockdown panic from an articulate speaker who seems to know his stuff and IIRC has even been seen on MSM.
Audio with neither text nor graphs, you may listen and eat and while away that hour which might be wasted on national local ‘news’.
One curious thing occurs at 56’ 36”, the video stops as he expands on his theory of the origin of the plague...! It’s your call!

[barkingmad]

Here is a long read about how the lockdown madness is affecting some unfortunate folks, coincidental with the latest figures being published about the collateral damage, in the UK alone, caused by shutting down normal NHS services for exclusive use in the pan(dem)ic;

“It is always encouraging when readers send us copies of the letters they’ve sent to their MPs explaining why the Government’s Covid suppression strategy in all its lamentable manifestations is so misguided. Writing to MPs is great way of doing something to make sure our political representatives are aware of the facts and counter-arguments and that not all their constituents have been brainwashed by Project Fear on Steroids.

We can’t publish them all, though they are all a delight to read. Here’s one we received today, which is worth quoting at length.

My feelings towards the policy the Government has taken over COVID-19 are the same as they were in March. I am totally against Lockdown and the effect it has on the population, and especially the younger generations.

I am a fit retiree of 65 years, and Lockdown has not affected my life particularly, as indeed it hasn’t with many other retirees I know. However, I would like to illustrate some close personal cases:

– My cousin of 68 years, who lives on her own, was due a double hip replacement in May. It was delayed because the hospitals in her area (Midlands) were closed to all elective surgery in preparation for Covid. She is in pain, and can barely walk despite using crutches. She still has no date for her much needed surgery.

– My daughter, aged 34, a lawyer with a charity in London, has recently been made redundant because of redundancies within the organisation. She and her husband, who also has job insecurities as he is a Theatre Manager in London, have been working from their small home in London since March. Their plans to move, with mortgage now impossible, have put their lives on hold.

– My father in law’s funeral is taking place tomorrow in north Norfolk. Many of us, in the 20 strong group, are travelling 100s of miles for the ceremony, and yet because of the ridiculous and arbitrary rule of six are not able to have a reception afterwards.

– An elderly friend of mine, in her 80s, living on her own, is suffering with isolation. She does not have family living nearby and relies on the game of bridge for her connection with others. This is not possible now because so many of her friends are terrified of socialising over cards etc. The successful online bridge is not easy for many elderly folk, and they are suffering.

– Yesterday I met with a young single friend in her 40s who is in despair as she says it feels like her life is imploding. She works in the finance sector in London, and her job is insecure and now she is unable to proceed with the mortgage for the purchase of her first home, which she had set her heart on.

– Last week, my husband and I were up in London. We caught a rush hour train from Surrey, which was all but empty, and it was utterly dispiriting, in walking from Leicester Square to Piccadilly, to see the empty restaurants and tourist shops open, but with the staff pleading with us to come in. London life is totally unsustainable in its current state.

And yet the Government persists in this collision course. What don’t you get? Why don’t you listen to the increasing evidence that says that Lockdowns don’t work?

As far as I can see, this Government’s only success has been in scaring much of the British population witless. I am appalled at the way the Government and the BBC revel in figures of pending doom.

I quote Professor Carl Heneghan from the Spectator, in today’s online version: “Admissions for Covid, critical care bed occupancies and deaths are now at an all-time low. There are currently 600 patients in hospital with Covid compared to over 17,000 at the height of the epidemic. An average of ten patients a day die with Covid registered on their death certificate, compared to over 1,000 at the peak.”

At the start of Lockdown in March, I registered as an NHS volunteer responder. Like many in our area, I logged on every day for 2 months, and was never called. I also joined a local Scrubs sewing group to “help”, and it was farcical (pattern drafting, fabric selection etc… and was akin to “Dad’s army”) and this has since closed, as the demand for scrubs and gowns is not required.

I quickly became a very disillusioned but caring and concerned citizen of Elmbridge.

When I received a recent email from NHS volunteer “ we urgently need your help Louise “ I despair. Who is funding this campaign and how much is it costing the taxpayer?

Given the personal cases I have noted and the misery this Government’s policy is causing you should be ashamed of yourselves.

I joined the Conservative Party under Theresa May, and whilst not a Brexiteer wanted to help and supported you. I met you briefly at a local function a few years ago and liked what you said. Like many, I wanted things to work for you and for the country.

However, I can never support this Government who appear intent on complete destruction of the fabric of our society. I suspect I am not alone.
Indeed you are not.”

Food for thought as our MPs gaze into the abyss of the Brexit shambles to the exclusion of all else this week.

[barkingmad]

As the UK lurches unsteadily towards another damaging lockdown, here is some food for thought on the lockdown topic, incorporating some news about Belgium, Sweden and Priti Patel’s ignorance of her own imposed restrictions.
The lockdown item lasts until 14’ 30” into the podcast, therefore audio only so one might be able to multi-task whilst listening;

https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-e ... kdown-2-0/

Coming on top of the BBC item on living with Covid-1984 posted in Coronabollocks by OFSO, I get the impression of a blindfolded BoJo and team playing pin the tail on the donkey in a desperate attempt to ‘control the virus’.
And these items indicate some commonsense is beginning to be detected in the middle of the smoke and mirrors show to which we have been subjected since March 2020.
King Canute was king of the English, Danes and Norwegians but also failed miserably to hold back the tide so maybe it’s time the arrogant ‘civilised world’ accepted nature usually wins over mankind.

https://www.firstclasssailing.com/blog/ ... e-dispute/

[Boac]

"King Canute was king of the English, Danes and Norwegians but also failed miserably to hold back the tide " As far as I know that is a fundamental misunderstanding of history.

[Bob]

"Here is a very spry wry dry look at the lockdown panic from an articulate speaker who seems to know his stuff"

Theres loads of these types crawling out of the woodwork giving their opinions and claiming expertise, they just want their 15 minutes...... look at the Data
FFS, This twonk doesn't even know what this disease is called and compares it to living with the common cold
The scary thing is Youtube, twatter and fakebook are now full of these people and out here apparently intelligent adults lap it up

...we are ****

[barkingmad]

More from the Branch Covidian Sect, looking on in horror as the UK slowly but surely self-destructs;

“ Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance’s apocalyptic press conference.

Sitting 6ft apart behind a newsreader-style desk, The Two Ronnies of Doom delivered an alarmist prognosis of a rising death toll, backed up by speculative graphs based on ‘the science’ — what most of us would call ‘guesswork’.

They could have looked at another graph, from Monday’s Daily Mail, which showed that cancer kills around 450 people a day, compared to just 21 from – or should that be with? – coronavirus.

Five people die daily in traffic accidents. In fact, for those under 50, you’re more likely to be hit by a bus than contract a fatal dose of Covid.

But using the Government’s better-safe-than-sorry approach to the corona pandemic, that would be enough to justify closing every road in Britain.

Hang on. Come to think of it, that’s exactly what they are doing.

During Monday’s dismal YOU’RE ALL GOING TO DIE! diatribe, Vallance and Whitty even managed to invert the language, talking about Britain ‘turning the corner’ – and not in a good way. When normal folk speak of turning the corner, it usually means things are getting better.

Everyone I know is completely baffled by the smoke-and-mirrors press conference conducted by Whitty and Valance – and, of course, they refused to take any questions so no journalist was permitted to interrogate their data. Do they believe the nonsense they’re peddling or have they been put up to it by the Triumvirate? 49,000 cases a day would put the UK right at the top of the list of world’s countries affected by COVID-19. David Paton, Professor of Industrial Economics at Nottingham University Businesses School, told the Telegraph he would “take a dim view” if his students presented similar data.

So what’s going on? Why have they embarrassed themselves in the way?

If they’re just stooges for Caesar, Pompey and Crassus (Boris, Dom and Gove), what’s their agenda? Why does a Tory Government want to completely destroy the British economy – predicted to lose £250 million a day while the 10pm curfew remains in place? Won’t that just propel Mr Woodentop into Downing Street?”

We’re all going to die...!

[barkingmad]

Only heretics and blasphemers need to read this article, all others who are conformists had better avoid it lest they choke on whichever meal is being consumed in your local time zone!

https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/10/0 ... xperiment/

As the physical, mental and economical health damage assessments continue to pour in, is it not time for a fundamental long hard look at what has been done so far, a lot of it ineffective, and to explore more sensible options which exclude a North Korean or Soviet style in persuading the peasants of the validity or otherwise of the lockdown case?

Alternatively, carry on throwing the working classes under a bus, ‘cos when they die they’ll only be classified as a Covid-1984 death anyway which helps to boost the shock-horror raw death figures regularly spouted by MSM.

[barkingmad]

In 3 or 4 years time, these youngsters in house arrest will hopefully be out in the world earning a crust, worrying about rent, mortgages and the impending birth of whichever child comes along next.

Will their memories be so short that they will have forgotten the UK political party which caused them so much grief early on or will the revenge finally strike in 2024 at the next GE? A lot will depend on what Charmer Starmer gets up to but the “Red Wall” could be rapidly rebuilt once again to its former ‘glory’ following the realisation that the Tories don’t give a toss about the North.

Charlotte Kirkham, an enterprising fresher at Keele University, has carried out a survey of her fellow freshers to see how they’re coping with life in a not-so-luxurious prison. She asked 38 first year students whether they’ve found it more difficult to make new friends at university whilst obeying current COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines? Eight-seven per cent said yes, with only 13 saying no. Charlotte then asked them to give reasons. The most common were:

You can’t socialise in person outside your bubble unless it’s socially distanced with six people.
Being a commuter student who can’t meet anyone in person.
No freshers, cancelled social events and opportunities.
No parties/clubs/nights out.
Fear of repercussions.
Online lectures stopping you meet people you sit next to, there’s no chatter or opportunity to stop for a quick chat afterwards.
Scared of the virus.
Everyone’s in their own rooms.
Everything shuts at 10pm.
The SU and other large social spaces are restricted and the one way system means you can’t walk up and talk to people.

[AtomKraft]

Here in Bulgaria, 800 deed.

No panic or worry anywhere.

Face nappies in shops are required.

Compares well to the ****, near panic situation in the mighty U.K.