Topic: COVID19 - Political Bollocks & Conspiracy Twatishness In Here

[Red Beret]

So many topics but wasn't really sure which was suitable for dark humour memes.

[BarryCrocker]

Prophetic??

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/wnd1jKcfBRE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/wnd1jKcfBRE</a>

[Libertine]

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, 2007:

“The real hero of Jaws is the mayor, a wonderful politician. A gigantic fish is eating all your constituents and he decides to keep the beach open.”

"OK, in that instance, he was wrong but in principle we need more politicians like the mayor."

And the controversial MP for Henley said in an article: "There was one laudable thing about him, and that was his refusal to give way to hysteria.

"I loved his rationality. Of course, it turned out that he was wrong. But it remains that he was heroically right in principle."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/boris-callous-mayor-from-jaws-is-my-hero-491526.amp

[Peabee]

So many topics but wasn't really sure which was suitable for dark humour memes.

We’ll be sharing passwords for speakeasies soon.

[Ziltoid]

We’ll be sharing passwords for speakeasies soon.

Exactly, already have a secret knock worked out for the local just in case.  It'll be like stoppy backs back in the day.

[FlashGordon]

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, 2007:

“The real hero of Jaws is the mayor, a wonderful politician. A gigantic fish is eating all your constituents and he decides to keep the beach open.”

"OK, in that instance, he was wrong but in principle we need more politicians like the mayor."

And the controversial MP for Henley said in an article: "There was one laudable thing about him, and that was his refusal to give way to hysteria.

"I loved his rationality. Of course, it turned out that he was wrong. But it remains that he was heroically right in principle."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/boris-callous-mayor-from-jaws-is-my-hero-491526.amp

This is what you get when you elect right wing c*nts like this fella. It's all just a political debate back in the halls of whichever university he went to. Doesn't matter the outcome once you were right in 'principle'.

[Lush is the best medicine...]

This is what you get when you elect right wing c*nts like this fella. It's all just a political debate back in the halls of whichever university he went to. Doesn't matter the outcome once you were right in 'principle'.

the problem was us was the alternative was sixth form student politicians

[FlashGordon]

No fan of Corbyn but it's better than that.

[Peabee]

the problem was us was the alternative was sixth form student politicians

That’s pretty much what Cummings is with his pseudo bollocks perpetuated by a man reading books on subjects he doesn’t actually understand. His stuff on his blog about maths, AI, machine learning etc is very rudimentary and naive. He’s a history graduate who wishes he studied maths.

[McrRed]

That’s pretty much what Cummings is with his pseudo bollocks perpetuated by a man reading books on subjects he doesn’t actually understand. His stuff on his blog about maths, AI, machine learning etc is very rudimentary and naive. He’s a history graduate who wishes he studied maths.

And our de facto Leader

[Lush is the best medicine...]

That’s pretty much what Cummings is with his pseudo bollocks perpetuated by a man reading books on subjects he doesn’t actually understand. His stuff on his blog about maths, AI, machine learning etc is very rudimentary and naive. He’s a history graduate who wishes he studied maths.

nah Cummings is more the very bright oxbridge student who doesn’t quite realise that theory doesn’t always equal reality

[The North Bank]

An Orthodox Israeli rabbi has claimed the spread of the deadly coronavirus in Israel and around the world is divine retribution for gay pride parades.

On Saturday night he gave a talk at the yeshiva, during which, according to the report, he said a pride parade is “a parade against nature, and when someone goes against nature, the one who created nature takes revenge on him.”

The outbreak in Iran, one of the most serious in any country, he explained as being due to the wicked ways of Iranians and “their hatred of Israel.”

[Trada]

M-K
🌹

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson has confirmed in a video that he has tested positive for Coronavirus he told us that he has mild symptoms & a persistent cough, he talked non stop for nearly 3 minutes with no cough.. wonder if he’s gone into hiding again?

[۩ Imperator ۩]

Johnson's "diagnosis" is the biggest load of bollocks I've seen on the news for a long time, and there's been a pretty high bar set lately. There is absolutely fuck all wrong with the prick. It's just part of the propaganda effort. Same for Prince Charles and that awful Dorries woman.

[24/7]

Johnson's "diagnosis" is the biggest load of bollocks I've seen on the news for a long time, and there's been a pretty high bar set lately. There is absolutely fuck all wrong with the prick. It's just part of the propaganda effort. Same for Prince Charles and that awful Dorries woman.

Blimey that's a bit of a leap! Still, wouldn't surprise me if it was true.......

[killer-heels]

https://twitter.com/Today__China/status/1243452815290150912

Hubei residents confronting cops as they attempt to leave Hubei province

*might actually be Hubei residents + cops protesting actions by the neighboring police.....but still, i doubt this occurs regularly in China

Xi’s reputation took a bigger hit than anything else due to this. Thats one positive when there is talk about wild markets being shut down there.

[Felch Aid]

Blimey that's a bit of a leap! Still, wouldn't surprise me if it was true.......

Suspect all that will be unavoidable with the Tory propaganda machine when this is all over. It's his Churchill moment with victory on the beaches

[Eeyore]

Johnson's "diagnosis" is the biggest load of bollocks I've seen on the news for a long time, and there's been a pretty high bar set lately. There is absolutely fuck all wrong with the prick. It's just part of the propaganda effort. Same for Prince Charles and that awful Dorries woman.

I did wonder how someone with a persistent cough could do a video that lasted over two minutes without coughing or even pausing to suppress a cough. I suppose we will never know.

[Thepooloflife]

Following Gove's address on tv........the latest from Downing Street is that the PM receives 50 million 'Get well soon' cards

[12C]

Suspect all that will be unavoidable with the Tory propaganda machine when this is all over. It's his Churchill moment with victory on the beaches

My missus had Classic FM on the other day. Playing patriotic airs, (hope and glory etc) along with sound bites of Johnson trying  to make him out to be Churchill.

All those home counties arl arses who voted Brexit will lap it up

[ShakaHislop]

My missus had Classic FM on the other day. Playing patriotic airs, (hope and glory etc) along with sound bites of Johnson trying  to make him out to be Churchill.

All those home counties arl arses who voted Brexit will lap it up

That "clap for the NHS" thing will help in that regard too. The country supposedly coming together after Brexit etc etc.

[AlphaDelta]

I did wonder how someone with a persistent cough could do a video that lasted over two minutes without coughing or even pausing to suppress a cough. I suppose we will never know.

That crossed my mind, thought persistent cough meant constantly hacking and barking, not so much as a tickle out him during that video.

[Trada]

My missus had Classic FM on the other day. Playing patriotic airs, (hope and glory etc) along with sound bites of Johnson trying  to make him out to be Churchill.

All those home counties arl arses who voted Brexit will lap it up

When Skynews did a report on Johnson earlier they used lots of words like "War room" and "In his bunker"

[Peabee]

Johnson's "diagnosis" is the biggest load of bollocks I've seen on the news for a long time, and there's been a pretty high bar set lately. There is absolutely fuck all wrong with the prick. It's just part of the propaganda effort. Same for Prince Charles and that awful Dorries woman.

My bro still lives in London and I have mates there still. They all know people with the virus. It’s more likely that Johnson does have it.

[Gnurglan]

I decided to post in here and not in the main thread. I respect the virus causes problems and I hope people and friends of you are safe. So I thought this is the more appropriate thread.

I wonder how many are worried? If we were to list how you would go about to take control over a country, overthrow the leadership and laws and seize power, we have a pretty good script now.

Today I read the solutions to the virus can include a world government and tracking people's phones. Out of nowhere, how about those two? It's an emergency, so anything goes?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/26/gordon-brown-calls-for-global-government-to-tackle-coronavirus

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-telecoms-eu/vodafone-deutsche-telekom-6-other-telcos-to-help-eu-track-virus-idUSKBN21C36G

We are already in a situation where borders are locked down. We are not allowed to meet in any larger groups. We are told to stay at home. We see military on the streets in some countries. Switch on any news channel and it's talks about the virus. 24/7 in some cases. You couldn't ask for a better propaganda machine. Yet the question seems to be - are we doing enough? It's likely that it will take a year to find a virus. The world economy is of course crashing. Why don't we have our leaders answer for how they contribute to future mass unemployment? Why is no-one in the press challenging this? For how long will we be locked up? You and I may disagree, we may even think they handle things great, but someone should be asking these questions every day. If they are not, then they are not doing their jobs.

We have all seen the problems, we know people are dying. It's not about that. According to the WHO the normal flu kills a minimum of 290k per year, but the range is 290-650k.
https://www.who.int/influenza/surveillance_monitoring/bod/en/

As of now we have 23k deaths from the Corona virus.

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd

It's been 2-3 months. Even if we were at 150k, it wouldn't be outside of the normal range. I want to make it clear that this is terrible, but if we zoom out and look at the numbers then we should lock down the world every year.

As for the phones, imagine the situation with the phone tracking and they find you as a person who has spread the virus. What do you think they will do? They will try and find you. It makes no sense to just look at data. They will lock you away and blame the virus. Who will care? People will applaud the decision. So what if they just don't like you? Blame the virus and lock you away. Oh, and now that we are in a lockdown, the courts are closed too.

We are not there yet, but we are rapidly building the foundation for a totalitarian state. And people seem to demand it too, which is scary.

[Crosby Nick]

That crossed my mind, thought persistent cough meant constantly hacking and barking, not so much as a tickle out him during that video.

I’ve no strong opinion either way but not every one who has it has a persistent cough do they?

[Yosser0_0]

I’ve no strong opinion either way but not every one who has it has a persistent cough do they?

He specifically states in the video that he has 'a persistent cough'. I mean it may be that some people are barking up the wrong tree about this, but then again he is proven liar.

[Lush is the best medicine...]

I did wonder how someone with a persistent cough could do a video that lasted over two minutes without coughing or even pausing to suppress a cough. I suppose we will never know.

mild symptoms, not as if he’s going to be hooked up to a ventilator

My bro still lives in London and I have mates there still. They all know people with the virus. It’s more likely that Johnson does have it.

A lot in Westminster have it and he meets a lot of people regularly so there’s a good chance he could always get it

[Eeyore]

mild symptoms, not as if he’s going to be hooked up to a ventilator
A lot in Westminster have it and he meets a lot of people regularly so there’s a good chance he could always get it

Perhaps that is why no one mentioned a ventilator, not sure why you did.

As I said earlier he is an irresponsible buffoon who has not been following social distancing rules so there is a good chance he could of become infected. However he is also a proven liar with a penchant for tacky public relations stunts so I wouldn't rule out the possibility that this is a stunt.

He didn't cough during the 2:12 minute video and despite claiming he had symptoms for the previous carried on regardless even venturing at 8pm so he could be pictured clapping for the NHS.

The likelihood is that he is just a half wit and an irresponsible clown. However we must also keep open the possibility that he is a half wit, irresponsible clown performing a PR stunt.

[12C]

Perhaps that is why no one mentioned a ventilator, not sure why you did.

As I said earlier he is an irresponsible buffoon who has not been following social distancing rules so there is a good chance he could of become infected. However he is also a proven liar with a penchant for tacky public relations stunts so I wouldn't rule out the possibility that this is a stunt.

He didn't cough during the 2:12 minute video and despite claiming he had symptoms for the previous carried on regardless even venturing at 8pm so he could be pictured clapping for the NHS.

The likelihood is that he is just a half wit and an irresponsible clown. However we must also keep open the possibility that he is a half wit, irresponsible clown performing a PR stunt.

Chances are, he pre-recorded this just in case. There is precedent for that sort of thing.
Last thing you need is the PM coughing and spluttering trying to make a serious announcement. All bias and jokes aside. He may well be quite ill, but they ain’t going to show him hooked up to a ventilator.

[Crosby Nick]

He specifically states in the video that he has 'a persistent cough'. I mean it may be that some people are barking up the wrong tree about this, but then again he is proven liar.

Fair enough, apologies, just read that he had mild symptoms, didn’t read beyond that!

[Caligula?]

I decided to post in here and not in the main thread. I respect the virus causes problems and I hope people and friends of you are safe. So I thought this is the more appropriate thread.

I wonder how many are worried? If we were to list how you would go about to take control over a country, overthrow the leadership and laws and seize power, we have a pretty good script now.

Today I read the solutions to the virus can include a world government and tracking people's phones. Out of nowhere, how about those two? It's an emergency, so anything goes?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/26/gordon-brown-calls-for-global-government-to-tackle-coronavirus

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-telecoms-eu/vodafone-deutsche-telekom-6-other-telcos-to-help-eu-track-virus-idUSKBN21C36G

We are already in a situation where borders are locked down. We are not allowed to meet in any larger groups. We are told to stay at home. We see military on the streets in some countries. Switch on any news channel and it's talks about the virus. 24/7 in some cases. You couldn't ask for a better propaganda machine. Yet the question seems to be - are we doing enough? It's likely that it will take a year to find a virus. The world economy is of course crashing. Why don't we have our leaders answer for how they contribute to future mass unemployment? Why is no-one in the press challenging this? For how long will we be locked up? You and I may disagree, we may even think they handle things great, but someone should be asking these questions every day. If they are not, then they are not doing their jobs.

We have all seen the problems, we know people are dying. It's not about that. According to the WHO the normal flu kills a minimum of 290k per year, but the range is 290-650k.
https://www.who.int/influenza/surveillance_monitoring/bod/en/

As of now we have 23k deaths from the Corona virus.

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd

It's been 2-3 months. Even if we were at 150k, it wouldn't be outside of the normal range. I want to make it clear that this is terrible, but if we zoom out and look at the numbers then we should lock down the world every year.

As for the phones, imagine the situation with the phone tracking and they find you as a person who has spread the virus. What do you think they will do? They will try and find you. It makes no sense to just look at data. They will lock you away and blame the virus. Who will care? People will applaud the decision. So what if they just don't like you? Blame the virus and lock you away. Oh, and now that we are in a lockdown, the courts are closed too.

We are not there yet, but we are rapidly building the foundation for a totalitarian state. And people seem to demand it too, which is scary.

I'm not worried about getting the virus myself per se. Just my elderly family members. Although young people can die as well. What will be will be, and I've accepted that along with taking every necessary precaution to try and stay healthy both for my sake and for the sake of others.

But without further expanding on your points or trying to dig up some conspiracy theories because I'm not one for those at all, what worries me most is how and in what way will society go back to functioning after this subsides. And it will eventually subside. Will laws be changed? Will constitutions be amended? Will we hand over more of our privacy to governments around the world in order to trust that they can use that information in order to try and stop something like this from ever happening again? All interesting points to consider.

[Alan_X]

I decided to post in here and not in the main thread. I respect the virus causes problems and I hope people and friends of you are safe. So I thought this is the more appropriate thread.

I wonder how many are worried? If we were to list how you would go about to take control over a country, overthrow the leadership and laws and seize power, we have a pretty good script now.

Today I read the solutions to the virus can include a world government and tracking people's phones. Out of nowhere, how about those two? It's an emergency, so anything goes?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/26/gordon-brown-calls-for-global-government-to-tackle-coronavirus

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-telecoms-eu/vodafone-deutsche-telekom-6-other-telcos-to-help-eu-track-virus-idUSKBN21C36G

We are already in a situation where borders are locked down. We are not allowed to meet in any larger groups. We are told to stay at home. We see military on the streets in some countries. Switch on any news channel and it's talks about the virus. 24/7 in some cases. You couldn't ask for a better propaganda machine. Yet the question seems to be - are we doing enough? It's likely that it will take a year to find a virus. The world economy is of course crashing. Why don't we have our leaders answer for how they contribute to future mass unemployment? Why is no-one in the press challenging this? For how long will we be locked up? You and I may disagree, we may even think they handle things great, but someone should be asking these questions every day. If they are not, then they are not doing their jobs.

We have all seen the problems, we know people are dying. It's not about that. According to the WHO the normal flu kills a minimum of 290k per year, but the range is 290-650k.
https://www.who.int/influenza/surveillance_monitoring/bod/en/

As of now we have 23k deaths from the Corona virus.

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd

It's been 2-3 months. Even if we were at 150k, it wouldn't be outside of the normal range. I want to make it clear that this is terrible, but if we zoom out and look at the numbers then we should lock down the world every year.

As for the phones, imagine the situation with the phone tracking and they find you as a person who has spread the virus. What do you think they will do? They will try and find you. It makes no sense to just look at data. They will lock you away and blame the virus. Who will care? People will applaud the decision. So what if they just don't like you? Blame the virus and lock you away. Oh, and now that we are in a lockdown, the courts are closed too.

We are not there yet, but we are rapidly building the foundation for a totalitarian state. And people seem to demand it too, which is scary.

In the numbers - I suggest you read up on what doctors on the frontline are saying. It’s not just about the number of deaths. It’s about a virus that has no cure and no vaccine which spreads exponentially and creates a massive load on medical services.

I saw Andrew Neil saying the same kind of bollocks this morning and there was a good response within the thread that followed from a doctor on the front line in one of the London hospitals.

We don’t build massive temporary hospitals every year for seasonal flu and there’s a reason for that.

If this was allowed to spread the devastation to the health service would be horrific. Ignore politicians. Ignore the smart arses on the internet. Listen to the medical professionals.

And if a country wants to impose martial law. They err... impose martial law. Where is the sense in devastating economies, spending billions on health measures just to do something you could do by mobilising the army? 

I’ve no doubt some of the worst governments will take advantage of this in some way. But they are the worst governments anyway.

As for the totalitarian world domination you’re worried about - it’s fucking bizarre I have to say. A world where almost no one is economically active and millions have their wages paid for by the state while they stay in and watch Netflix. A world where the majority of resources are spent on an enormous emergency healthcare system.

Step away from the internet mate.

[Alan_X]

Perhaps that is why no one mentioned a ventilator, not sure why you did.

As I said earlier he is an irresponsible buffoon who has not been following social distancing rules so there is a good chance he could of become infected. However he is also a proven liar with a penchant for tacky public relations stunts so I wouldn't rule out the possibility that this is a stunt.

He didn't cough during the 2:12 minute video and despite claiming he had symptoms for the previous carried on regardless even venturing at 8pm so he could be pictured clapping for the NHS.

The likelihood is that he is just a half wit and an irresponsible clown. However we must also keep open the possibility that he is a half wit, irresponsible clown performing a PR stunt.

Al - what would you call someone who spreads rumours without a shred of evidence?

[Eeyore]

Al - what would you call someone who spreads rumours without a shred of evidence?

That isn't the case though Al.

Another poster gave their opinion that Johnson was blagging. What I did was look at the evidence for and against that argument. I think that is entirely rational and the sensible thing to do. Unless you believe that you should automatically believe absolutely everything a politician like Johnson tells you until you have irrefutable evidence that it isn't the case.

I then came to the conclusion that Johnson probably has COVID19 but there is still a possibility it is one of his PR stunts. Hancock has been rumbled for telling QT we had agreed to join the EU ventilator procurement plan. Whilst Johnson would of had advance notice of how the figures were likely to spike. As your fellow mod Jim said I wouldn't put it past him. Would you ?

[oldfordie]

That isn't the case though Al.

Another poster gave their opinion that Johnson was blagging. What I did was look at the evidence for and against that argument. I think that is entirely rational and the sensible thing to do. Unless you believe that you should automatically believe absolutely everything a politician like Johnson tells you until you have irrefutable evidence that it isn't the case.

I then came to the conclusion that Johnson probably has COVID19 but there is still a possibility it is one of his PR stunts. Hancock has been rumbled for telling QT we had agreed to join the EU ventilator procurement plan. Whilst Johnson would of had advance notice of how the figures were likely to spike. As your fellow mod Jim said I wouldn't put it past him. Would you ?

How would he look if he did catch the virus in weeks to come. Johnsons a born liar but their is no reason to suspect he's not got the virus as he knows he would be leaving himself open to horrendous abuse if he did catch it in the next few months.

[Gnurglan]

I'm not worried about getting the virus myself per se. Just my elderly family members. Although young people can die as well. What will be will be, and I've accepted that along with taking every necessary precaution to try and stay healthy both for my sake and for the sake of others.

But without further expanding on your points or trying to dig up some conspiracy theories because I'm not one for those at all, what worries me most is how and in what way will society go back to functioning after this subsides. And it will eventually subside. Will laws be changed? Will constitutions be amended? Will we hand over more of our privacy to governments around the world in order to trust that they can use that information in order to try and stop something like this from ever happening again? All interesting points to consider.

Maybe we have changed already? Borders have closed rapidly. Each country has its own approach. But everyone has managed to take control over their population. Watch CNN (I guess your local news is similar, Swedish tv is) and it's pretty much turned into a propaganda machine where it's all about the virus. People may react to my choice of words, but my point is not so much what we witness today, it's the learnings from this. If it becomes accepted to monitor people's phones, lock down society and pump a message to the population during a crisis like this, why not try it again when you feel you need it?

Let's just say the right wing party near you win the next local election and decide it's better to be safe than sorry when next year's virus is about to hit. It doesn't even have to he dangerous, they'll say it's about safety. Why shouldn't they be allowed to close borders, lock people inside their homes and take control over the news media?

[Caligula?]

Maybe we have changed already? Borders have closed rapidly. Each country has its own approach. But everyone has managed to take control over their population. Watch CNN (I guess your local news is similar, Swedish tv is) and it's pretty much turned into a propaganda machine where it's all about the virus. People may react to my choice of words, but my point is not so much what we witness today, it's the learnings from this. If it becomes accepted to monitor people's phones, lock down society and pump a message to the population during a crisis like this, why not try it again when you feel you need it?

Let's just say the right wing party near you win the next local election and decide it's better to be safe than sorry when next year's virus is about to hit. It doesn't even have to he dangerous, they'll say it's about safety. Why shouldn't they be allowed to close borders, lock people inside their homes and take control over the news media?

I get what you're trying to say but it's a bit out there mate. Yes, turn to all news stations at the moment and it's all about the virus. But that's just what the media is like. They latch onto something and just can't let go. In 2016, I don't remember hearing anything other than Trump/Clinton. Having lived through 9/11 close to New York City, there was probably a good 6+ months coverage of absolutely everything to do with the event non-stop. Nothing else was reported other than the weather. But I mean, we're living through unprecedented times during a global pandemic. You'd sort of expect news coverage to be heavily saturated with that, wouldn't you?

As for the rest, I don't think closing borders, limiting movement and locking people inside their homes under false pretenses would do anyone any good. Not even for the right wing parties/governments and/or authoritarian regimes. If anything, we're all reaping the consequences for not taking action sooner. Look at Trump. Weeks of downplaying the situation and now the US has the most cases worldwide. And he's still saying absolute garbage like "We expect things to be open for Easter or even before that, we'll be totally open for business" etc, etc. Countries that have mandated total lock downs have done so because bodies are literally piling up. What choice do they have? When all this is done and over with, do you really think Sweden will enact martial law one day because they expect a very heavy flu season that year? I highly doubt it.

[Eeyore]

How would he look if he did catch the virus in weeks to come. Johnsons a born liar but their is no reason to suspect he's not got the virus as he knows he would be leaving himself open to horrendous abuse if he did catch it in the next few months.

That is a really good point mate and does add to the pretty overwhelming probability that he does have it. There are a few things politicians aren't really that bothered about being caught lying any more. Look at Hancock he brazenly states on Question Time that the UK had joined the EU procurement of ventilators. Then a government spokesman stated we had not joined because we were no longer part of the EU. When that was challenged it was changed to the email going missing. Trump has shown that by the time a lie has been exposed every one has moved on.

There are ways out for Jonson even if he did test positive later. He could just spin the first test as a false positive, use it show that most people have an illness that is so mild it is easily confused with every day illnesses. They could then say they knew the test wasn't 100% accurate in terms of specificity and sensitivity that was why they were pioneering the antibody test.

From the start I have always said based on probabilities then the likelihood is that he has it. However there are two possible scenarios either he was stupid enough not to follow social distancing advice and caught it or there is the small possibility that he is lying about it. He is stupid an arrogant for either scenario to be possible.

[Gnurglan]

In the numbers - I suggest you read up on what doctors on the frontline are saying. It’s not just about the number of deaths. It’s about a virus that has no cure and no vaccine which spreads exponentially and creates a massive load on medical services.

I saw Andrew Neil saying the same kind of bollocks this morning and there was a good response within the thread that followed from a doctor on the front line in one of the London hospitals.

We don’t build massive temporary hospitals every year for seasonal flu and there’s a reason for that.

If this was allowed to spread the devastation to the health service would be horrific. Ignore politicians. Ignore the smart arses on the internet. Listen to the medical professionals.

And if a country wants to impose martial law. They err... impose martial law. Where is the sense in devastating economies, spending billions on health measures just to do something you could do by mobilising the army? 

I’ve no doubt some of the worst governments will take advantage of this in some way. But they are the worst governments anyway.

As for the totalitarian world domination you’re worried about - it’s fucking bizarre I have to say. A world where almost no one is economically active and millions have their wages paid for by the state while they stay in and watch Netflix. A world where the majority of resources are spent on an enormous emergency healthcare system.

Step away from the internet mate.

Everyone knows our healthcare workers are having a nightmare. It doesn't matter where you are and it's impossible to miss it. I have the greatest of sympathy and respect for them and what they do. That has not changed with this crisis.

What I wanted to do was compare, to give a different view. During times when you get death counts pretty much every hour on tv, it can be important to know what a ’normal’ year looks like. I was surprised when I saw those numbers because I expected this one to be killing many more people than the normal flu. Which is why the number of deaths perhaps is the wrong focus. So let's change.

Maybe the right approach is to focus on how many get infected or treated. How many do hospitals normally have to treat vs how many they have to treat now? I honestly don't know.

My point about becoming totalitarian is not so much about Johnson or Macron or my own Prime Minister going for it. I honestly don't believe that. My view is his: It's only a month ago that I watched a program about how China dealt with the virus. They were making sure people couldn't go out. The streets were empty. Hospitals were overloaded and people were found dead on the floor/street. My reaction was that's the evil China, the totalitarian China, showing its face. My reaction now, when it happens closer to home? I think it's fair to at least ask if our actions are correct.

The problem is not that there's some great evil plan, it's that everyone can spot it's alright to take extreme measures. It's not just some crazy country that can do it. It can be done everywhere and it opens the door for other types of leaders in the future to do the same.