General Chat

... at Boris's latest ideas!

I am left wondering whether Boris is really as empty-headed as he appears to me to be. He has great difficulty in responding to questions - I can almost see the speech bubbles shrinking as he searches his brain for answers.

Good job he has the likes of Dom to put those novel ideas that he spouts when talking to us into his head, isn't it? ;-) 'Novel'' not 'good'.

Will the second Grand Northern Tour be this weekend, I wonder? :-D

Incidentally, I have not seen J Van-Tam on telly this week. He may have upset Dom just a teensy bit, do you think?

The Accidental PM :-(

:-D Island.

The nation's chief cheerleader - peoving that everyone is good at something. :-D

I'm not surprised it's been suggested families can now visit elderly grandparents living alone. It's:
1) A way to find elderly people who have died at home, alone.
2) A way to get people back to work - grandparents can look after their grandchildren.
3) A way to pass on Covid (apparently children are carriers) to pesky old people, thus enabling the Government to claw back their state pensions.

Apparently, 68,956 died in the London Plague of 1666 - though some say the 'true' number is nearer 100,00.
It won't take long for 'Modern Britain' to catch up. So much for progression and technology :-|

3 is exactly what one of my brothers and I laughingly spoke about, Maggie.

i have to say, though, that I think the furlough scheme was more generous than what was on offer elsewhere. It must have been someone with a bit of a heart to think that scheme up, someone with some empathy for people. Will we ever know whose 'baby' that really was, I wonder? A

The only problem is, many of those who were furloughed have now lost their jobs :-|

It is a shame, Maggie. I can understand that some companies have had to go into administration but I find it hard to understand why companies who plan to re-open eventually have laid off staff rather than leaving them furloughed.

I am not privvy to employers' ruminations, but my thoughts are that some companies are either:

finding it difficult even to cover the NI of furloughed staff;
reducing staff numbers;
getting rid of unsatisfactory workers; or
aiming to re-employ workers on reduced salaries.

It is rather mean, though, as there is a substantial difference between furlough salary and dole for the unemployed.

In my opinion when businesses re-open it will be dire for some people and those who have left school or uni during the lockdown are going to face a terrific struggle to find work.

I feel heartily sorry thinking of them already. <3

My eldest grand daughter was due to take her 'A' levels :-(
The irony is, she wants to work for the NHS.

I hope she's successful, Maggie, in both endeavours.

A level results are being judged on a mix of mocks and coursework, I believe.

My older grandson awaits his results in August too. He does not seem perturbed so I am guessing (hoping) his work method was different from that of his dad and aunt, and that he worked steadily throughout his A level years rather than leave it all to exam time to do any work.

Things have changed utterly. I shall wait and see but there is zero chance of many firms reopening until PP daft quarantine regime is over.

For employers it has been a tricky bet largely resting on how far you feel that Johnson's junta can be trusted and how far cash liquidity will support not only the 20% cost of furloughed staff but also other overheads.

Moreover many employers are thinking of the opportunities to get better people in what will be very much a buyer's market. Young graduates with shiny new degrees driven hard could be a good bet - certainly Google and Amazon think so. It is their mums and dads 40+ who are heading into the unkown unknowns at pace.

We own our somewhat decrepit office building so no rent to worry about. The insurance claim for loss of business has been accepted albeit only after some legal showing of teeth by Great White Sharks & Partners. We have of course introduced our tenants to GWS & Co. in case they had ideas about not paying the rent.

In any event we closed the offices well before the PlaySkool Kids got into the act preferring alertness to staying safe on the sofa. A core now work from home inc y.t. The rest were laid off no furlough and I sleep ok at night.

I am very bored and increasingly paranoid. I keep watching "Years and Years" ...

A great many firms of all shapes and sizes are going to go to the wall. That includes some public sector orgs. Those that survive will be scrapping around for business forcing wages sharply down. Landlords are going to take a bath and then some. There will be disaster sales of assets and stock. Even before corvid there was a steady flow of SMEs looking at moving all or part of their business to the EU. That has accelerated driven by a likely no deal brexit.

Even where there is a job many people will be unable to take it if the schools issues are not sorted out. The possibility of an autumn virus second wave is not a business encouragement. It will be a good year for carpet baggers though.

The media & tourist industry - which earns more money for the country in normal times than all mfg. - if flat on its back.

If Johnson wants to survive without a meltdown then he should accept a year extension for brexit and stop following the diktats of the scorched earthers. As it is the Waitrose Tories are in a majority and might be tempted into making common cause with Keir Starmer rather than Dominic Cummings.

We have been here before of course. Quite likely it is all too late. The game is up.

From the drag to the chase, from the chase to the view
From a view to the death in the morning
For the sound of his horn brought me from my bed,
And the cry of his hounds which he oft time led,
Peel's "View, Halloo!" could awaken the dead,
Or the fox from his lair in the morning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRoBCQ_F3Ho

It's a weird world.

I volunteer for a local organisation that is a charity. I'm still 'working', my choice of course but I deal with one of the bits that brings money in, plus it gives me something to do! However my (paid) manager has been furloughed.

I ken John Peel, but not sure what a 'Waitrose Tory' is :-D

Sheiks, I think that is whoever has the audacity to shop in Waitrose ;-)

Never mind that it might be your nearest supermarket.

Oh - a reference to Supermarket snobs!
Well, I buy my small tomatoes from Tesco's - because they sell the variety I like.
I've tried them from M&S, Waitrose, Lidl etc etc. but none are as good as those from Tesco's.
Morrisons do really tasty pies - If I go in there, I'll buy a few and freeze them.
Basically, if a supermarket sells something I like, and I can get to that supermarket - that's where I'll buy it from!

So what handy derogatory name can I be called???

it is not anything to do with "snobs"
the Tory hard liners (not me) are openly calling the traditionalists "Waitrose Tories" because they think the countryside, emvironment and real chicken are something worth conserving. SEE "The Spectator"
please MW try and post without all your usual idees fixees.

IMHO the whole lot of them are a a bunch of mostly-not-bames but that is for another day. Soon hopefully.

fwiw we mostly shop in the co-op and independent street traders in normal times.

Nothing wrong with what Maggie said.
I shop at the little coop if they sell what I need. My nearest larger supermarket is Waitrose, so I shop there too. Somethings I need only Tesco’s sell, so I shop there.
Before lockdown I used to do a big shop at the huge Sainsbury as I was over that way once a week. On that day I might go a different way and pop into Aldi or Lidl beforehand. If I go to B&q or curry’s I may go into Morrisons.

So there must be a handy derogatory name for me too.

Independent street traders - that would mean a long car ride plus car parking fees.

Oh, so sorry RTR, I thought this was a genealogical site - admittedly this thread is voicing views on how the PM is doing - but it's not delving politically into the whys and wherefores.
As for my alleged fixed ideas (that's English - just fixed it for you) I'm not on a political site - I save my political jargon and rants for there.
That's also where I suggest, rather than insist (SEE 'The Spectator') people may want to read more about the politics of the subject.

There's a funny website called 'Overheard in Waitrose' which isn't so much a take down of people who shop there - more a mickey take of 'Very British Problems' , because, if you 'overheard it in Waitrose' - it suggests you were shopping there!
:-D :-D

???

I usually shop wherever I am near at the time. Sainsburys, Coop, Lidl, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, M & S and Waitrose have all been on my rounds in the past year or so.

I usually ignore nametags fastened on to people through the whim of a beholder and I can say I am no Tory - but neither am I of any other persuasion as I have never been anything other than a swinging voter and sometimes not even a voter but I have to say it was Waitrose who contacted me offering me delivery slots immediately upon lockdown because of my age. Although there is a nearer small store and we lost the one in our town several years ago, they deliver to me from a huge store 33 to 34 miles away so I was pleasantly surprised. That is service for you - and always with a smile!

I am still waiting for one of the other stores to contact me because of my age but I doubt that any will do so now and anyway Aldi, M & S and Lidl do not deliver your choice of groceries - useless if one in the household has a special diet.

I have, however, managed to get a couple of deliveries from Sainsburys but it was three or four weeks after lockdown before I got a delivery slot and I am still waiting for them to realise my age.

The evidence of collapse, corruption and incompetence is all around.
Those that have ears let them hear.
Those that have eyes let them see.
Those that have tongues let them speak out.


https://tinyurl.com/y7jjjad9

She's not trying to tell us that Jeremy Corbyn ain't a Waitrose shopper, surely! :-0

Nametags - are they really one size fits all?