Coronavirus

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

Now, I must admit to liking a good conspiracy theory - the dafter the better.

Mt latest fav is that the Coronavirus is pictured on the reverse of the new £20 note and old Queenie’s TV broadcast was dated 3rd of March.

[pauld]

Cambridge police, following up on the success of their online "Grass a neigbour" website at stasi.com, have now taken to deciding what people can and cannot buy in their groceries

https://twitter.com/CambridgeCops/status/1248527425379713025

[Jimmy HaveHave]

Cambridge police, following up on the success of their online "Grass a neigbour" website at stasi.com, have now taken to deciding what people can and cannot buy in their groceries

https://twitter.com/CambridgeCops/status/1248527425379713025

Outside Lidl in Swindon this morning lots of bags of compost so was wondering what the Cambridge police would make of that!

[pauld]

Outside Lidl in Swindon this morning lots of bags of compost so was wondering what the Cambridge police would make of that!

You chatting shit?

[Jimmy HaveHave]

You chatting shit?

Nah but it's hardly essential items!

[StfcRusty]

Cambridge police, following up on the success of their online "Grass a neigbour" website at stasi.com, have now taken to deciding what people can and cannot buy in their groceries

https://twitter.com/CambridgeCops/status/1248527425379713025

Think it’s been deleted.

It’s easy to criticise the Police but, in my opinion, they have been put in a very difficult position by the Government’s often confusing/conflicting messaging. People confusing the guidance with the law doesn’t help.
The law allows you to leave your home for several reasons including to buy “basic necessities”.  There’s no definition of what that term means. But the law also allows off licences to stay open when they essentially just sell alcohol. Is alcohol a basic necessity? Many would say yes. Others would disagree.

To my mind, every time we leave our house and, especially when we go into a busy shop, we buy a ticket to the coronavirus lottery. The more tickets we buy, the more chance we have of contracting the virus. Common sense says to minimise the amount of times you buy a ticket as that helps you, your family, your community and the NHS.

But it’s impossible to write common sense into law and so you get the grey areas of interpretation. The police will get criticised for both non-action and over-reaction.

[mexico red]

Love the fact people are moaning about showing support to key workers for 5 minutes a week 😀

Thank god you don’t live in spain! We do it every night at 8

[pauld]

Think it’s been deleted.

It’s easy to criticise the Police but, in my opinion, they have been put in a very difficult position by the Government’s often confusing/conflicting messaging. People confusing the guidance with the law doesn’t help.

I completely agree, but some common sense on all sides (police as well as public) will greatly help. Overreach, such as this and yesterday the Chief Constable of Northants threatening to search shopping trolleys for "non-essential" items (a "shop and search" tactic?), doesn't help anyone. It actually just increases people's resistance to already stringent guidance we are necessarily being asked to follow.

David Allen Green (@davidallengreen), a constitutional law specialist, put it extremely well when he said that the fundamental problem is that some (far from all) police forces are treating this as a public order issue when it is a public health issue. Approach it from the standpoint of a public health emergency in which the police have been asked to play a vital role and some of this silliness can be avoided, ensuring officers retain the support of the > 99% of the public who are willingly complying with guidelines and freeing them up to deal with the <1% of idiots who are endangering themselves and others. And I'd emphasise again, seems most officers are doing that. So perhaps unfair to highlight the few examples of silliness in much the same way as it's unrepresentative to highlight the few people still insisting on having BBQs in parks (and rightly being moved on by police)

EDIT: tbf, the tweet has been pulled and replaced with a clarification that this is not Cambs police policy. Still demonstrates the broader problem of guidance being misunderstood/over-interpreted, as you rightly pointed out

[Dr Pierre Chang]

Fuck me, get a grip DV.

I hope you can have a couple of beers this weekend and enjoy the sun.

[Arriba]

Your personal experience and extrapolation seems a bit of a stretch to persuade people not to let off fireworks, when at the same time people are banging saucepans, and making other unusual and sudden noises.
However, it heartens me that the shared passion for STFC brings people from diverse ways of thinking. I embrace that.

Er, it isn't. It is a well known fact that many pets are terrified of fireworks. There was something issued yesterday asking people not to let them off. My own dog isn't scared of them at all so for me personally it is of no concern. I said it because of others. Loud bangs are not the same as pots banged with spoons. A huge difference for animals due to their hearing sensitivity.

[Abrahammer]

Love the fact people are moaning about showing support to key workers for 5 minutes a week 😀

Thank god you don’t live in spain! We do it every night at 8

It will only be the case in Britain, it’s a wonder how we have a reputation for moaning!

[RobertT]

Er, it isn't. It is a well known fact that many pets are terrified of fireworks. There was something issued yesterday asking people not to let them off. My own dog isn't scared of them at all so for me personally it is of no concern. I said it because of others. Loud bangs are not the same as pots banged with spoons. A huge difference for animals due to their hearing sensitivity.

I think the poster is attempting to be "internet funny"

[Arriba]

I think the poster is attempting to be "internet funny"

Yeah i thought so too. Still easy enough to explain myself so fuck it. Not fussed.

[StfcRusty]

953 deaths announced for last 24 hours

[Banker]

953 deaths announced for last 24 hours

Throughout Europe, only Spain has ever had a bigger one day total...961 on 2 April.