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  1. There was a bloke on Question Time citing State Enforced Lockdown, and why we should just take the risk.
    Brought down by Theo Pamphlet who said it wasn’t State enforced, it was designed to keep us safe. And then a woman asked him if it was fine to take the risk and infect others.
    I would’ve liked a shot of him looking sheepish about his dumb statement.
    I bet he went to Bournemouth …

  3. I really hope I am not judgemental about Americans as a group, but the elderly woman who is simpering on about “God’s wonderful breathing system” pretty much confirmed what I already suspected. These people are from another planet to me, not just another nation, and I don’t get them at all. The angry woman in red at the start seems to be threatening people with detainment…is there no law against this?

      • If those were wearing masks and practising social distancing then they are allowed to be there, right? If movement is allowed then these things are bound to happen. If others went to an isolated beach and there was nobody there would that be acceptable? Either you are allowed to go somewhere or you are not.

          • Yes, but how do you know it’s stupid until you get there? It is allowed. Unless the authorities limit people going there things can get overcrowded.

            If you go anywhere in theory you could meet many many others who have the same idea, whatever you are doing. Parks, beaches, countryside walks, shopping centres etc. If something is allowed don’t throw up your arms when people take you up on it.

            It’s like people who complain about being in a traffic jam. They are part of the problem.

            • 100 percent correct @dai. Doesnt excuse them leaving rubbish there though- that is a big problem in this country before Covid – no one has any pride in their environment.

            • There’s a serious flaw in the statement “how do you know it’s stupid until you get there?” It was always a stupid idea, and it became even more stupid when they saw what it was like but went down on the beach anyway instead of turning back.
              Or better still they could have used their common sense before even setting out and realised that it was bound to be like that.

          • But if people were 2 metres apart and wearing masks n the beach would that be ok? If I went to an isolated beach for a walk/swim with my daughter is that ok?

            And photos from some distance away can be deceptive. Mostly when I am on a beach I am further than 2 metres away from anybody that I don’t love. And if you are swimming or running about there is a very low risk to catch anything. I would say taking a packed train or plane anywhere at this time is a far greater risk than being on a beach in the open air. And you still have much more room than being in a sporting crowd or at a concert or cinema.

            At the moment I believe there is little proof until now that the anti racism rallies with people way closer caused spikes. Of course many were wearing masks. Unless it is obligatory to wear masks, enforced with large penalties, people won’t bother. If large gatherings are unavoidable and you will be less than 2 meters apart then maybe they should be handed out to people.

              • Not quite yet. My pal who is the landlord of a successful (and very good) boozer, is dreading the first couple of days. He’s been inundated with telephone calls already asking when the pub’s going to re-open, but fears that they will be swamped on Day 1. And if they are swamped with people like those on the beaches of Dorset recently, he’ll be in deep shit. Like the litter pickers were on the beaches.

                • The littering is indeed a disgrace.

                  Outside patios opened here 2 weeks ago, no uptick in numbers since. Have been to my local a couple of times and was able to sit about 5 metres from anybody outside my family. This pub survives mainly on lunchtime trade for the many workers in the area (who are now nearly all working from home), never too busy evenings or weekends. Hope it can survive.

                • Best of luck to him – I get the feeling first day of re-opening will be an absolute nightmare.
                  We need some sort of Governmental guidelines:
                  Only go to the pub if it is essential drinking, and you can’t drink from home.

                  There are a couple of pubs near me that are sending out messages about booking tables, and controlling entry. A sensible move, but not sure how it will be enforced when the doors are descended upon by the hordes.
                  I just hope pub’s don’t fall fowl of twats – they need the income, but don’t need the aggro
                  A thought: open Wetherspoons, let as many in as they like, and then lock the doors again – like an elongated lock in. I’m sure they’d be happy – Fosters for £1.50, and and 2 Meals for a tenner.

                  • I have a couple of questions on this.

                    One, what arsehole decided that the best day to try opening the pubs to trade again was a Saturday?

                    Two, will there be any beer, by which I mean cask ale – the usp of pubs?

                    Wouldn’t the brewers need a clearer idea ahead of time how much beer was required to be ready on a specific date? A cousin of mine runs a brewery and some pubs/hotels, and I would ask him but I guess he has all he can cope with at the moment already.

                    • I don’t know if take out real ale has been happening, though I would be heartened if anyone can tell me it has. Nor do I know if it would be economic for them to make small enough batched for such drastically reduced trade.

                    • The Breweries had asked for clear guidance when pubs are opening to make sure they restarted brewing to ensure supply.
                      A lot of smaller breweries have bee (just about) surviving on retail trades (which have never been a big bit of their business).
                      One near me has maintained it’s brewing (although not a full capacity) as the retail bit has increased, and some of the local pubs have requested stocks that they can sell direct too.
                      I do think there may be a gap in supply of decent beer (probably loads of mass produced stuff available), but cask ales may be in short supply initially

                    • There are 3 places near me doing take out ale: but 2 of them are fairly niche places for people like me, preferring quality over volume and of little interest to a lager lager lager crowd.

                    • The landlady of a pub I went to regularly before the lockdown announced on her FB that she’d just (Friday morning) received her first beer delivery since March. Getting her pub ready for opening next Saturday.

                      A friend up in Sheffield has been getting occasional home beer deliveries from an independent brewer he knows in the area. They haven’t stopped brewing, just reduced their output. No doubt they are ramping back up now.

            • My brother in law lives a short walk from Lulworth Cove. He’ll tell you the reality of what was happening on those beaches last week. No amount of dithering about “photos from a distance” and imaginary face masks will cut any ice I’m afraid. These were largely crowds of boorish, ignorant, selfish people who don’t give a flying one for anyone other than themselves. How do you think NHS staff felt when they saw those scenes?

  6. Unfortunately common f*cking sense is something that these morons seem to lack.
    Personally speaking I know that on a hot summer weekend the seaside anywhere is going to be crowded so I don’t go – there is zero pleasure in sitting an a car for hours , trying to find a parking space, then edging your way on to an already overcrowded beach only to spend an hour there just to turn round and do it all in reverse. Going by train is just as bad (if not worse) these days. To go on a scorching hot weekday when people have just been allowed out after three months sitting at home watching “Tipping Point” is the very height of folly.

  7. And he Americans referenced in the original post are indeed incredibly stupid. But blame Trump for making it a political thing, and also scientists who dithered and couldn’t make up their minds for months as to whether wearing a mask was a necessary thing or not.

  8. I went to the beach on Friday. It was a beautiful, hot day, I wanted to swim and I live 10 minutes walk from it. I kept my distance from everyone (it was very crowded but everyone kept about 2m distance) and left no litter behind. I hope that’s okay with everyone? I do hope so because I’m not gonna stop.

    • It’s not the act of going to the Beach that’s an issue – it’s the going to the Beach when it’s packed to the rafters, after driving 40+ miles for a day out. And then leaving all your sh*t behind.
      I’m sure most people would respect the social distancing, and other sensible precautions – but those pictures from Bournemouth didn’t show that.

      • Who decides when people are “fucking stupid”? 500 on the beach? 10,000 on the beach or 50,000 or 100,000? And how do you know how packed it is going to be in advance? Surely affected by tides as well. Probably everyone thinks their visit is fine, it is all the other oiks who spoil it.

        • The point is to stop the spread. You do this by maintaining social distancing of 2 metres. I didn’t realise this was so complicated. You don’t necessarily know in advance how crowded somewhere is going to be, but if you go somewhere that you can’t social distance then leave.

          • I honestly don’t know where you are going with this, Dai. It’s ok to drive for 4 hours, drink some lager on the beach, have a shit in a hamburger box and then blame The Government for not giving clear instructions?

            • British people will behave in drunken and moronic ways, it has been going on for centuries. I am not condoning that. I guess I just get tired of holier than thou attitudes condemning anybody they think is 1.9 metres away from the next person instead of 2, which may not even be the case anyway.

              Loutish behaviour and littering is not cool, but we will see if there are any serious repercussions regarding an increase in Covid-19 cases. I do practice social distancing myself and wear a mask if I think it is beneficial

              * isn’t the guidance 1 metre now?

        • I think your hair-splitting on this is getting a bit silly.
          It’s bloody obvious beaches in major coastal resorts are going to be crowded on a hot sunny day when restrictions have just been eased. They’re not thinking at all beyond “We can go, let’s go.” They’re not thinking about whether toilets are going to be available either on the way there and back or when they are there. And when they get there they’re seemingly not thinking “Fuck, this is dangerously crowded.”

  9. Here in Brighton, in 2001 and 2002, Fatboy Slim did his Big Beach Boutique events, ie club nights on the beach. 60,000 came to the first, and around 250 000 for the second. I remember the morning after the first one, having to console an Australian mate who couldn’t believe the amount of litter that covered the beach, roads, pavements all the way up to the train station. It wasn’t so much the tonnage, but the not-giving-a-fuck that upset him. They could have stacked it next to the many bins along the seafront, if said bins were full, or they could’ve taken it away with them. The following year, with a crowd four times the size, it was carnage.
    Last week, the same thing (not Norman Cook playing records, but you get my point). Packed trains arrived at the station, and mask-less passengers peeled out and rolled down the hill to the sea. I wouldn’t get on a full train regardless of where it was going, but maybe that’s because I’m a liberal metropolitan elite ponce. For all the talk and hope that we might learn from lockdown, that we might have a greater sense of what matters, it was the same pissed up nonsense, that apparent confirmation that the mammalian craving for community only gets met when people are off their heads and therefore less socially anxious. I fully accept that I’m speaking from a privileged position, accompanied by a hell of a lot of work, and I’m very aware of the grim time many have had during lockdown, I’m cognisant that Brighton has always been a town that looks like it’s helping the police with their inquiries, and yes, the world’s in a parlous state and voila, here’re the symptoms to be expected, and don’t get me started on the cuts in mental health provision at precisely the time when ‘going mad’ seems like a sane response to what’s going on, but I do feel like a very low bar has just been lowered a bit more.

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