shurlock

I wonder how consistent it is with the political declaration

Bread and circuses for the halfwits and life’s perennial victims. I wish Trump had ‘balls of steel’ to take responsibility for once in his life.

Apologies. Needless to say other experts would disagree with him - see the recent German study (and you could present them too). Highly unlikely is very strong language in the context of relative risk -that is, if he’s saying is that it’s highly unlikely that children could pose an additional risk to teachers rather than say the likelihood of actual cases of transmission from children to teachers.

It might be unlikely -and my own view is that schools are not the main or riskiest site for transmission and there are powerful reasons to get some kids back into a classroom but there is research that should nonetheless give pause for thought. Cherrypicking studies, ignoring potentially conflicting findings, failing to acknowledge limitations in studies only to conclude its highly unlikely might be OK for a football forum and the pub but it’s not a sound basis for policy.

It has dropped sharply but we'll learn more tomorrow given weekends and mondays tend to be slow days. I wouldn't be surprised if it hits 350-400 tomorrow but the downwards trend is clear. Lead indicators such as change in new infections will give some sense of the impact of relaxing lockdown rules, even after taking increased testing into account, so will be particularly worth monitoring.

Where’s my passport and the nearest lifeboat...

We’re talking Les here remember. Maybe he’s got the day of the week confused. Verity, the current editor of the MoS, is Dacre’s little protege and they are as politically aligned as they come.

So have you cited Politicalite on here before? Yes or no.

Simple question (as it was the first time I asked it never mind the second time); yet still no answer.

Are you saying you’ve never cited Politicalite on here before to make a point?

That makes no sense Les. You’ve quoted approvingly from that site in the past despite its extreme politics and prejudices; so wonder whether you will in the future? I'll let others unpack various charges of antisemitism and you invoking antisemitic tropes

Given that millions have hypertension (considered a preexisting condition for covid-19), there's a misguided belief that only the very sickest or weakest have underlying health conditions. Only 34% of adults aged 20–79 years and 49% of adults aged 20–39 years in the UK are considered to have a normal blood pressure. Or maybe they just think the great British public are like the extras in Sparta 300.

Are you still in a habit of quoting from Politicalite Les?

Exactly. Even as a piece of whataboutery, it’s a pîss poor effort on lots of counts.

It is part of the Withdrawal Agreement, which is now fully binding under international law, so will apply regardless whether the UK and EU agree a trade deal. The Irish border was always a top priority for the EU given it’s potential to undermine the integrity of the single market.

The Irish border pal -how the UK intends to apply post-Brexit checks to trade with Northern Ireland and honour its commitments in the NI Protocol.

Why call things off Les? I thought the UK had the EU over a barrel and the EU was going to cave at any moment. That’s all we’ve heard for the past few years. If the talks fall apart, the UK will still have a legal obligation to implement the Withdrawal Agreement in full which was the most important thing for the EU going into negotiations.

I liked the boys, though I couldn't make my mind up whether watching a kiwi impersonate an english geezer was grating or funny in an intentionally/unintentionally wooden way. Season 2 of what we do in the shadows is good in places, though it has to work pretty hard to stretch out a storyline from an ingenious premise. Still it features a guest appearance from Craig Robinson. Brooker's 45min special on the pandemic was excellent.

Admiration for Adonis? Do I agree with his position on the EU? No. That’s patently clear from my posting history. Do I respect his life story - someone who grew up in a care home, overcame significant odds and has had an important impact on public life e.g. Academy schools that is genuinely bipartisan and has been applauded by Conservatives and Labour alike. Yes. You seemingly don’t and count it against me but as others point out that says more about your fanaticism, tribalism and lack of generosity pal.

Of course, when isn't Les hot under the collar and flustered?

Les laughed at me for wanting Sir Keir Smarmy as Labour leader - I must say I'm very happy with the choice #playingablinder

Unions are calling for the scientific evidence to be published; some teachers, rightly or wrongly, want PPE; councils want stronger powers to close schools if testing reveals new cases. And frankly much depends on a fully operational testing and tracing system that can identify clusters and their proximity to schools - until that’s up and running and demonstrated to be effective commensurate with the level of transmission in the population (which is not yet the case), there’s going to be a degree of wariness which is not unjustified.

It depends - with such young children, I can’t see how it’s possible to maintain social distancing even with reduced numbers etc. Guidance is one thing - making sure it’s properly observed and implemented is quite another, especially given the relative flexibilities and freedoms with which many educational establishments operate. Are the authorities in Scotland, Wales and NI planning to reopen on June 1? Do you have any real evidence that some teachers won’t return until a vaccine is found, at least in the numbers that could explain the opposition we’re seeing?

Thanks for the clarification. There are limitations to observational studies which might explain why index cases involve adults and children are underrepresented. It appears that children have similarly high viral loads as adults (see evidence from Germany/Cambridge) which if the case would counsel caution until the science is more firmly established and understood.

Sounds like you’re repeating a line that FullFact recently investigated. Hopefully you’re not taking findings out of context and drawing the wrong conclusions (I’m not saying you necessarily are). https://fullfact.org/health/children-transmitting-coronavirus/