Here’s a test for you...

100% agree. Apparently Labour and a few Tories are challenging the two year time scale. I heard David Davis (I can't believe I'm quoting this waste of space, strange times) say this morning that it needs to be around 6 months then go back to parliament and re-evaluate and keep doing that untill we're clear. He said as a libertarian he could not agree to unlimited powers for such a long time and that's something I have to agree with. As a libertarian I have got to admit that at certain times of national emergency short term authoritarianismis needed but with sensible checks and balances in place.

 

By making a wildly absurd comparison.

 

We only have laws because people do things most of us wouldn’t.

Are you a parent?

I ask because all parents have gone through this.
We set boundaries, if they aren’t adhered to we set rules, and again if they’re broken we end up with punishment.

I’m disgusted that the government may end up forcing people to stay home. But blaming them isn’t the answer, it’s the scrotes who think they can do whatever they like who are to blame.

 

Lanzarote live

 

I don't think anyone would be over the moon with the introduction of these measures but most of us understand that they are now needed. The government advice has been ignored by too many people so they are now in a position where advice has to become an order. From what I have seen and heard the government have tried to strike a balance between public safety and keeping liberties in place but too many people are just being dicks and taking the attitude that 'they will continue to do what they want'.

Apparently despite advice the underground was packed to the rafters again this morning, just like a normal working day. The scenes from up and down the country over the weekend underlined the problems that the government are facing.

If people took personal responsibility for ensuring that the advice is followed we might not need to move to a lockdown. The blame for any further loss of liberties lays squarely with the selfsh few.

 

I am more fearful of the denial of civil liberties and the break down of the economy/society than I am of the virus as I believe it will lead to many many more deaths. That's what I believe. Strongly.

 

Let's debate it for several weeks, wait until hospitals are all overwhelmed, then think about maybe doing something. Nothing too drastic though, because of civil liberties.

 

Many on here are being remarkably patient and polite about the OP. If the poster genuinely believes what he is typing i.e. the Aids scenario is an accurate analogy then I am afraid I have no such patience. Living in Italy I can confirm that reference to Right wing Govts and media shows it (and him) up to making political point.
He is talking absolute nonsense and it is not the time to be berating Governments. As other have said blame the idiots ignoring advice. It is idiotic to suggest measures that create huge problems for the economy are being carried out by a Government in order to subjugate the population and create a North Korea state.

I could make a better analogy: As a former DoT ADI with many years of experience driving in UK and in Europe having done high speed driving courses & studied the Police Roadcraft manual, I consider myself capable of driving safely and defenmsively to the conditions taking into account, time of day, weather conditions, amount of traffic. pedestrians various hazards both real and potential etc and not fixed road signs telling me what speed limit should be adhered to. Treating everyone else as an idiot and also being aware that everyone, including myself is capable of making errors behind the wheels and legislating for them. Therefore we all should stck to the rules.

However, many drivers, particularly young and or inexperienced newly qualified, those who were not taught by professionals and picked up bad habits from a friend or relative or over confident and merely passed the basic test NEED rules and regulations.

The lowest common denominator is where ALL restrictive legislation is aimed at. This package of legislation is no different except it is temporary and in place due to a Global situation we have never experienced

As I said, I have no idea why anyone on here would give the OPoster credence!!!

 

It’s called having a reasonable and sensible debate and respecting opposing views.

 

I believe that the idiots who keep shouting ‘it’s only old and frail people who’ll die and they were gonna die anyway’ are 100% responsible for the masses of people ignoring ‘advice’ and therefore 100% responsible for any draconian laws enforcing adherence.

 

There’s nothing ‘reasonable’ about your analogy.

 

Reasonable sensible debates only apply if the original argument is worthy of a counter argument. Yours is NOT!! Your analogy is nonsense.

 

Thanks - appreciate it. Clearly I don’t pretend I’ve got all the answers. My view has always been that more should have been done, and earlier, to target the vulnerable and those far more statistically likely to be affected - I think this set of ‘shielding’ measures go some way towards that but more should have been done with those people sooner. It’s clearly this population that are the ones most likely to be the vast majority of those generating the ‘flooding’ of NHS resources that people are likely concerned about.

I’d have liked much, much more widespread testing and earlier, though I appreciate some of the constraints that make this difficult.

If there’s genuinely the need to pass legislation to empower an executive to imprison the population, it should need review by an all party consensus every 14 days. It can’t be two years of totalitarian control.

 

But you’re a bright lad. A lot of the population is clearly not

 

A regular cross party review seems sensible to me.

 

In keeping with the theme of moronic analogies:

The people who are more concerned about their civil liberties than taking action are similar to those in the USA who blindly defend their right to have firearms despite the overwhelming evidence that it's leading to many deaths per year.

Sure you might be responsible enough to own an AK47 but look at the moron who's just shot all his classmates.

Yeh.....BUT FREEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!

 

Do you live in Italy? How come you’ve not mentioned it before?

 

I am finding all of this difficult to wrap my head around. I'm trying my best from a personal perspective to find a way through this unchartered territory, trying to look after me and mine.

I'm quite clearly in the minority when I say that I'd have preferred less draconian measures. I don't know the correct plan, how could I? But I find it bloody weird having the world crashing to a halt like this. I am a massive detractor of anything Tory, but I was agreeing with Johnson last week when it seemed the course we were to take was one of carrying on. The 'herd immunity' thing seemed to make most sense to me. But again, I know far too little to be sure of it.

And so I've done as I'm told. I no longer go to the office to work, I can do it from home so I'm lucky. But for how long? Chuff knows.
We haven't bought anything above what we usually do. Not a thing more than normal. I've saved money the last week or so, definitely. But I'll probably need all the money I can get if this continues beyond the summer.

But I tell you what, yesterday was tough. My missus' mother is 80 years old. You'd not think so looking at her. If there's a more active 80-year-old I'm yet to see them. And because my missus works at the hospital and is helping with this virus, she feels we have to stay away from her mother. So yesterday we visited, but left her card on the garden wall, spoke from the gate to her at her doorway etc. It was awful.

And then we drove by the supermarket and there were hundreds and hundreds outside with trollies, queuing to get in.

It's bloody strange all this, obviously, and I already miss my workplace, my mates, family. I'm a creative chap so I'm capable of occupying myself but I do feel like I'm kind of imprisoned a little bit. Which doesn't sit well.

None of this will have made much sense. I re-signed back up to the BBS purely to be able to speak to folk I know again. Football talk is off the agenda and I'm sure folk will respect that. But genuinely. if anybody fancies a chat, I'm here. So I hope debate continues, but let's all get along during this, eh?