Random Stuff!!

[paully]

Yes there are too many who think they are above the rules...Honestly ring the Police they will take it seriously and arrive to disperse them..That makes it safer for all of us because you cant fix stupid

 

[Jerry]

Press rumours that the PM would announce a significant lifting of the restrictions (at least for England) when he speaks on Sunday appear to have been denied by various cabinet ministers, but most people know that such leaks are often deliberate on the part of governments to get an idea of press and public reaction beforehand. It might be that they now realise there is not a public appetite for lifting restrictions just yet, hence the government denial that substantial easing was planned.

It maybe that the press rumours have prompted the WG and SG to announce the lockdown is extending in Wales and Scotland because they fear that the UK government may well lift it in England but that if they act first then it may make UK government think again and keep the restrictions in place. There's a big fear online that any lockdown lifted in England whether its lifted in Wales or not would lead to a flood of people heading over the border.

 

[superking]

It maybe that the press rumours have prompted the WG and SG to announce the lockdown is extending in Wales and Scotland because they fear that the UK government may well lift it in England but that if they act first then it may make UK government think again and keep the restrictions in place. There's a big fear online that any lockdown lifted in England whether its lifted in Wales or not would lead to a flood of people heading over the border.

Its expected to be announced today that the exercise rule to be relaxed. Like other things in other countries that have relaxed things,that it comes with other rules of what you can or not do. In the end I think it will be better to leave lockdown as it is.
I was reading today that all pax that arrive in the UK will have to go into quarentene for 14 days. That will stop airlines flying into the UK as people wont bother to come to the UK.

 

[Jerry]

Its expected to be announced today that the exercise rule to be relaxed. Like other things in other countries that have relaxed things,that it comes with other rules of what you can or not do. In the end I think it will be better to leave lockdown as it is.
I was reading today that all pax that arrive in the UK will have to go into quarentene for 14 days. That will stop airlines flying into the UK as people wont bother to come to the UK.

Exercise rule has already changed in Wales and it now specifies it must start and end at your home and you have 2 a day I believe.
As for the 14 day thing bit to late now as the whole herd has bolted not just the horse!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Exercise rule has already changed in Wales and it now specifies it must start and end at your home and you have 2 a day I believe.

The exercise thing has probably been the most confusing part of the entire lockdown. Initially different police forces around the UK were interpreting the regulations in a widely varied way. In mid-April the National Police Chiefs' Council (for UK forces) in collaboration with the College of Policing and the Crown Prosecution Service issued guidelines for all police forces in an attempt to establish a common approach to enforcement.

The walking aspect became more confusing as the new advice stated that people could drive somewhere to exercise as long as the driving did not take longer than the actual exercise.

After a few days the chied constable of the force in my area of England said that advice was unhelpful and impossible to properly carry out so he had instructed his officers to use a 'reasonableness' interpretation. The trouble with that is what is reasonable to one force might not be to another, or even between individual police officers in the same force.

Only a court can decide on 'reasonableness' if there is a dispute about it, but how many people would take a lockdown police fixed penalty fine to a court for a decision which is their right? If the court decided the police interpretation was correct it could cost the person more than the fixed penalty fine.

Mark Drakeford said today that he acknowledges the lockdown is damaging people's 'sense of mental well-being' and we should all be 'anxious' about how long it can be sustained.

It is ridiculous that different countries within the UK could be operating different lockdown regimes. A minor example, but from Monday garden centres in Wales can reopen but those in England have to wait until Wednesday.

 

[Jerry]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1259769984018001920

 

[aviatorconcorde]

There should be one centralised task force heading up lockdown changes. With Equal representatives From each UK nation. This is just silly.

 

[Jerry]

There should be one centralised task force heading up lockdown changes. With Equal representatives From each UK nation. This is just silly.

It's a health matter so the decision is up to the devolved government. It's not just Wales but Scotland and Northern Ireland as well. All the UK gov had to do was keep England in step with the rest of the country. I'm told that this morning on Radio Wales a lot of people were extremely angry with the UK PM for not doing so. It'll be interesting to see how it effects the Welsh Parliament elections next May.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

It's a health matter so the decision is up to the devolved government. It's not just Wales but Scotland and Northern Ireland as well. All the UK gov had to do was keep England in step with the rest of the country. I'm told that this morning on Radio Wales a lot of people were extremely angry with the UK PM for not doing so. It'll be interesting to see how it effects the Welsh Parliament elections next May.

Why should England keep in step with Wales and Scotland if just like the devolved governments they’re doing their best for their population?

If Wales or a Scotland wanted to do their own thing, Would you be most accepting of that?

For the record, I don’t agree with the English (Uk governments) decision (and there should be a centralised approach to this as we are all contained inside one border) but they reserve the right to do whats best for their population much like Scotland, Wales and NI does.

 

[Jerry]

Why should England keep in step with Wales and Scotland if just like the devolved governments they’re doing their best for their population?

England can do what it feels is best but obviously the Welsh, Scottish and Irish governments don't feel it's the best thing for their people but the problem is that it seems like many commentators online think that the devolved governments should be doing whatever the UK government tells them.
As for not having borders, we do have them, the UK is made up of 4 countries and England of many counties and regions it's just that the UK government has refused to acknowledge that and while only been in control of England has acted as if they are in charge of the whole response to the crisis leading to the Welsh and Scottish First ministers telling their citizens to ignore the PMs speech because it only applied to England but the UK government never mentioned that.

 

[Jerry]

One thing about this crisis I have noticed is that the WG seem to be acting more and more like a national government than just a regional one and the profile of the Senedd and WG and what it does has been higher which I can only think is good for Welsh democracy.

 

[TOM100]

Yes but it also shows how inept they are and how Uninspirational and dynamic Mark Drippy Drakeford is...

 

[Jerry]

Yes but it also shows how inept they are and how Uninspirational and dynamic Mark Drippy Drakeford is...

I'm not is biggest fan but i think he's come across ok, better than Boris Johnson in my opinion.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

We’ve discussed many times what I describe as a thoroughly unsatisfactory quasi federal system in the UK with only three of the Home countries having ‘federal powers’, and the devolved governments not all having identical powers. In the past the subject has usually cropped up in connection with APD devolution. This time it’s more serious as it potentially relates to people’s lives.

In such a situation as this it’s madness that each of the four constituent countries is doing its own thing. The devolved governments are not reacting to the crisis entirely as one either. For example, in Northern Ireland it’s possible to drive somewhere in order to exercise whereas in Wales the exercise must be commenced and ended at the person’s home. England’s new approach (as imposed by the UK Government, not the English Government because there isn’t one) to exercise is an extension of the Northern Ireland scheme. In England from Wednesday people can drive to an open space 'irrespective of distance' which means that someone living in England on the Welsh border cannot drive half a mile into Wales but can drive half way across England looking for that particular cherished open space.

The devolved governments seem more cautious in their approach than the UK government on behalf of England, yet Welsh gardening centres can reopen from today whereas England’s have to wait until Wednesday this week, and Northern Ireland’s won’t open until 18 May.

Some are blaming the ‘English Government’ and the English for arrogance and knowing what’s best for the UK as a whole. It’s worth remembering that today’s strictures for England announced by Westminster was a Cabinet collective decision because that’s the form of government we have there. Two members of the Cabinet represent constituencies outside England (one in Wales and one in Scotland) yet would have had an input on a purely English matter. MPs from all over the UK will have the chance to question the government and make their own views known on this ‘English’ matter. There is no reciprocal right of elected representatives in England to have an input on deliberations of the devolved governments.

For the first three-quarters of my life I was very much a supporter of the United Kingdom concept. I’m not any more. In the past 15 years I’ve increasingly come to the belief that the system is broken and it would be better for all the Home countries if they went their separate ways, although how the Northern Ireland situation would be resolved is anyone’s guess.

 

[Cambrian]

Mark Drakeford, in my opinion, is a party place man promoted over his level of ability. He does not inspire me in any way. His background in academia and social work means he has little experience of the real work place and this come over in things such as his decision not to go ahead with the M4 relief road around Newport.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

England can do what it feels is best but obviously the Welsh, Scottish and Irish governments don't feel it's the best thing for their people but the problem is that it seems like many commentators online think that the devolved governments should be doing whatever the UK government tells them.
As for not having borders, we do have them, the UK is made up of 4 countries and England of many counties and regions it's just that the UK government has refused to acknowledge that and while only been in control of England has acted as if they are in charge of the whole response to the crisis leading to the Welsh and Scottish First ministers telling their citizens to ignore the PMs speech because it only applied to England but the UK government never mentioned that.

I actually agree with you.

It should of been all (UK government runs everything) or nothing (Devolved government runs everything) in my opinion.

 

[Jerry]

Mark Drakeford, in my opinion, is a party place man promoted over his level of ability. He does not inspire me in any way. His background in academia and social work means he has little experience of the real work place and this come over in things such as his decision not to go ahead with the M4 relief road around Newport.

A decision that he's recieved a lot of criticism for but actually took guts to make and personally I think was the right one. The environmental impact would have been too great and the financial impact of being landed with £1.5 billion of debt during a time of uncertainty with Brexit and now the virus. The reality is we need less cars on the road not more.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

With the UK Government's wish to get more people back to work in England from tomorrow in those industries that are open and where social distancing can be maintained, it strikes me that in recent years an increasing number of people have moved from the West Country to South Wales, particularly to the Newport/Chepstow districts, in order to find less expensive housing.

Many of these people have still been working in the Bristol area via a daily commute from their new home.

It would seem likely that some of them will be amongst those looking to return to work from tomorrow. Has the WG made any comment or has it a policy regarding such people who will drive to England to work then return home to Wales each day.

My wife watched the BBC West local tv news this evening and the chief constable of Gloucestershire was asked about people living in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire who want to drive into England to the Bristol area re the newly permitted exercise regime there who find the quickest route is via south-east Wales (Chepstow area). He neatly dodged that one and rightly said it was a matter for the authorities in Wales.

 

[Jerry]

I'd have thought that the Welsh government advice of stay home unless they are key workers are applies.
Whether people will abide by that is anyones guess especially if they aren't listening to the Welsh government.

The Welsh health minister was asked about locking down the border but said that even if they wanted to do it they weren't sure they'd have the power so there's not much to stop people going to work in Bristol but I'd imagine that unless they are a key worker if they did get caught they could risk a fine I'd have thought.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Coronavirus: Holiday park booking requests surge

It says the rise follows the easing of restrictions in England, which do not apply in Wales.

www.bbc.co.uk

Coronavirus: Closing Wales-England border not a 'real option'

Welsh Government minister "not sure" it has powers to erect border controls to enforce its lockdown.

www.bbc.co.uk