News Round-Up
- “The backlash against Boris’s ‘lockdown by stealth’ begins” – Boris Johnson is facing a mounting backlash against a “lockdown by stealth”, MailOnline says, amid claims that millions could be told to self-isolate by the time the rule finally comes to an end on August 16th
- “U.K. health chiefs sneak out warnings on Pfizer’s Covid vaccine” – The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has quietly released a warning that Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid vaccines may cause heart damage, MailOnline reports
- “Nicola Sturgeon admits Freedom Day could be postponed as health boards hit ‘breaking point’” – Scotland’s First Minister has said that the timetable for easing rules is “not set in stone” after almost 4,000 daily cases were reported, the Telegraph reports
- “NHS staff deleting Covid app as calls grow for doctors to be exempt from self-isolation” – Some members of staff at the NHS are privately leaving the contact tracing app off at all times or deleting it, the Telegraph reports, because they fear being forced into quarantine
- “Vaccinated travellers still face costly Covid tests on return from amber list nations after July 19th” – Quarantine for double-jabbed Britons coming from amber countries is expected to end from July 19th, the Telegraph says. But holidaymakers will still be required to take a PCR test on day two of their return
- “Rock legend Richard Ashcroft pulls out of vaccine-restricted festival, says he won’t take part in ‘Government experiment’” – Singer Richard Ashcroft has pulled out of an upcoming festival in Sheffield, RT says, due to its vaccination requirement and participation in Government coronavirus research
- “What happened to ‘irreversible’?” – Covid Recovery Group Chair Mark Harper MP pinpoints an item in a Government document released on Monday confirming the intention to renew Coronavirus Act powers through the Winter
- “Global experts urge Boris Johnson to delay ‘dangerous’ Covid reopening” – More than 100 scientists and doctors have written to the Lancet to argue that lifting the remaining Covid restrictions is “dangerous and premature”, the Guardian reports
- “The comedians snidely bashing pre-pandemic life in their pro-NHS song should be ashamed” – “Comedians including David Baddiel and Miranda Hart have released a song more insufferable than Gal Gadot’s Imagine and twice as tone-deaf,” writes Marianka Swain in the Telegraph
- “The mask row is in danger of descending into a very British culture war” – “The almost Stockholm-syndrome-like clinging to mask-wearing reveals something peculiar about the British response to the pandemic,” writes Ella Whelan in the Telegraph
- “Follow the science – it’s time to unlock” – “It’s right that we end the COVID-19 lockdown on July 19th,” says the Spectator’s Kate Andrews, “given what the antibody and vaccine data is telling us”
- “The new mask regime: a legal guide” – Barrister Steven Barrett warns readers of the Spectator that “just because the Government stops making mask wearing a legal requirement, that doesn’t mean that mask wearing stops being a legal requirement”
- “Is Covid a danger to children?” – Sebastian Rushworth examines the Swedish data and finds that “Children are 500 times less likely to die of Covid than adults”
- “Covid Vax, Kids & Consent: A Red line to the Rubicon” – The Covid Physicians sets out the case against vaccinating children in an open letter addressed to the Prime Minister and other relevant ministers, officials and regulatory bodies
- “Lockdown Effectiveness: Much More Than You Wanted To Know” – A deep-dive into the data from Scott Alexander on Astral Codex Ten, concluding that lockdown measures reduced the “R rate” but that “full-blown stay-at home orders were less important than targeted policies”
- “Why won’t the Lancet admit it was wrong?” – Ian Birrell responds in UnHerd to the recent article by Peter Daszak and co. in the Lancet, defending their initial rubbishing of the lab-leak theory in February last year. Someone needs to tell the journal “the most basic tenet of crisis management: when in a hole, stop digging”
- “Morrissey vs the New Normal” – The former Smiths frontman has a characteristically forthright take on lockdowns, reports Spiked. “The Government acts like Chinese emperors,” he says. “We will allow you to live as we do if you behave yourself”
- “Why shouldn’t we ask scientists about their political beliefs?” – “You might debate whether this is relevant to the question of Covid restrictions in the UK,” writes Stuart Ritchie in CAPX, commenting on the Susan Michie/Richard Madeley row. “But to be so surprised that a journalist would be curious about such an unusual set of political views… is stupendously naïve”
- “Bishop’s feeble welcome for freedom” – Julian Mann is unimpressed by the Bishop of London’s response to the return of hymn singing in places of worship. It reveals, he says in the Conservative Woman, “the deep spiritual malaise in the Church of England”
- “Furlough is causing more problems than it solves” – Writing for the Conservative Woman, Ewen Stewart considers how history might view the Treasury’s response to COVID-19
- “Science does not tolerate dissent” – In the latest episode of Lockdown TV, Freddie Sayers speaks to author and biologist Rupert Sheldrake about the dogma of “scientism”. It is “nothing new”, says Sheldrake
- “Covid masks forever, guys” – Comedian Andrew Lawrence with some advice for life beyond July 19th. Masks forever, and get vaccinated every week
- “Dr. Michael Yeadon on the Awakening” – An interview with former Pfizer Vice-President and Chief Scientific Officer of Pfizer Dr. Michael Yeadon about PCR tests, vaccines and all things Covid on Awakening
- “France fears fourth COVID-19 wave as Delta variant doubles in one week” – Euronews reports that the French Government has warned that the country may soon face a fourth wave of coronavirus
- “Nightclubs told to close in Catalonia as cases soar” – Catalonia has re-imposed restrictions on nightlife, the Times reports, because of “soaring rates of coronavirus infection”
- “Germany eases travel restrictions” – Germany is easing entry restrictions for anyone travelling from Britain, Portugal, Russia, India and Nepal, Deutsche Welle reports. Travellers who can show that they have been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 will no longer have to quarantine
- “Eriksen’s cardiac arrest: ‘No comment’” – Danish soccer player Christian Eriksen collapsed and almost died while playing against Finland but neither he or his doctors have confirmed or denied his vaccination, the Swiss Doctor says. The CDC has “confirmed that mRNA Covid vaccines increase the risk of heart muscle inflammation”
- “No new COVID-19 deaths as Ontarians answer call to arms” – The province of Ontario reported 194 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to the Toronto Sun, but, for the first time since October 14th, no deaths
- “Ontario’s never-ending restrictions have become a joke compared to other provinces” – “While much of Canada is evolving its response to COVID-19 and reopening society, Ontario is in a perpetual state of fear,” says Anton Furey in the Toronto Sun
- “Tokyo Olympics set to be forced behind closed doors” – The Japanese Government is set to declare another state of emergency in Tokyo covering the duration of the Olympics, MailOnline reports, increasing the prospect of all spectators being banned. A decision is expected on Friday
- “Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan threatens to create a Permanent hard border” – West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has said he is considering a permanent hard border with New South Wales if the state does not does not “crush and kill” its Covid outbreak, the Daily Mail reports
- “The facts on COVID-19 that politicians won’t tell you” – “The average age of COVID-19 deaths in Australia is 85 years,” says John Kehoe in the Financial Review. “Yet our scare-mongering politicians and bureaucrats have terrified millions of relatively healthy and non-elderly people to believe they are at serious risk”
- “WHO urges countries ‘not to lose gains’ by prematurely lifting COVID-19 measures” – World Health Organisation emergencies head Michael Ryan has urged countries to use extreme caution when lifting COVID-19 restrictions, Reuters reports, so as “not to lose the gains you’ve made”
- “A Conversation on Monetary Policy During the Covid Era” – In the latest episode of AIER’s Authors Corner, Ethan Yang is joined by Dr. Tom Hogan to discuss the monetary response to COVID-19 – quantitative easing and low interest rates – and the idea that this can be continued
- “True Story: 22 Days Inside a New Zealand Quarantine Facility” – The story of Mary Jane Newman’s experience inside a New Zealand Managed Isolation Quarantine facility, as told on Dr. Sam Bailey’s YouTube channel
- “Freedom Day has been delayed to August 16th” – “That’s the only way to read the Government’s maddening decision to force anyone who has come into contact with a Covid carrier to isolate for ten days,” says Dan Wootton
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“MHRA release warning on Pfizer/Moderna heart damage”.
Oh blimey, they’re admitting (some of) it at last! Who’s the conspiracy theorist now? And what about that lying twit who told BBC Newsround that these “vaccines” are 100% safe when he/she/they could not possibly know that? He/she/they must never be interviewed by the BBC again.
You mean dim diversity-hire Devi, the social anthropologist given free rein to pontificate on crucial matters of health?
She will be the first person the Boob call for an opinion.
that would be the one.
“Christian Eriksen ‘vaccinated’? No comment”.
Yes, I thought it strange at the time that a condition that could result in a cardiac arrest would not be spotted prior to playing these days. I never thought of the obvious explanation at the time. I suppose they’ll never tell us when Prince Phillip was vaccinated either. (Or Captain Tom Moore).
That’s the first thing I thought. A young, fit, healthy man suddenly has a heart attack on the pitch? My mind immediately went to ‘Did he get the vax’?
It does happen. But since Fabrice Muamba in 2012 heart screening has been much more rigourous. Erikson would have had that screening whilst he was playing in the Premiership. I doubt we’ll ever know if covid or the vaxx were involved, unless the player himself wants to talk about it. I agree it’s not for others to talk about in press conferences unless asked to by the player.
Yeah it does happen. But Occam’s Razor. We’ve got this ‘vaccine’ that’s known to cause heart problems in young, healthy people and this young, healthy footballer suddenly up and has a heart attack on the pitch. If this had happened in say, 2019, I would have thought it was just one of those things. But in 2021 with this going around it’s sensible to at least ask the question
As for Eriksen speaking out about the vaccine, no doubt they’ll have put him under a gag order. They pay these celebrities to promote the vaccine, they do not want them talking if something goes wrong
It has happened before. I remember a Bolton Wanderers player having a heart attack on the pitch a few years ago.
What is interesting though is that I’m pretty sure Uefa said everyone playing in this tournament had been vaccinated…
“What is interesting though is that I’m pretty sure Uefa said everyone playing in this tournament had been vaccinated…“
Apparently not. A quick check around suggests some players were and some weren’t and it was left up to national teams. The Danes, apparently, left it up to their players, but it’s interesting to note that the Danish team manager was very much an advocate of vaccination:
“Denmark, like the majority of countries competing in the tournament, has refused to vaccinate its players before it is their turn for their group old, although some have been inoculated in the countries where they compete with their respective clubs.”
The Danish coach criticizes that UEFA has not vaccinated all the teams
So it will depend if Eriksen got it in Italy, it seems.
https://www.lancelambert.org/prophetic-word-for-great-britain-saturday-6-august/
“The way of the transgressor is hard and terrible”.
Oh, absolutely. All the problems we see today could have been avoided. Be in no doubt, it is man’s venality that has landed us in this mess, fallen man, poor, bare forked animal.
” ‘Freedom’ day delayed to August 16th”.
Oh Good-oh! Another four weeks – who would have thought it? When are they announcing the next extension then? And when is the real freedom day? Lying b’s..
This will never end.
“NHS staff deleting Covid app as calls grow for doctors to be exempt from self-isolation”
I agree with the NHS staff – delete the stupid thing. But how even more ridiculous and not fit for purpose would the app be if segments of the population were exempt?
Just another piece of pointless theatre to go along with masks and lock downs and social distancing etc. Pointless that is, if there isn’t actually a serious purpose behind all this insanity.
A neighbour is an NHS nurse and tells me they have been instructed to turn off their phones and not to self isolate.
I have been told the same thing by a paramedic for the ambulance service.
Supposing you want to go to Merkelhunland, how do you ‘prove’ that you’ve recovered from covvie?
Good question. I suppose a positive test from some time in the past, and that you’re still alive!
I’ve got friends and family there but no real interest in going – sadly they are all covidians.
I think you need to show your “green pass” (jab, recovered or recent negative test) to be able to access various places and activities, I think this is true in Italy too. I believe they’ve dropped outdoor masks in Italy though you are meant to carry one with you at all times. However shit things got here, the worst countries in Europe were worse than us.
To make it simpler I think those who do not qualify should wear armbands, say a pink one or a star would work historically.
Simple solution to that. Stop wanting to go there and go somewhere else.
Believe me, I don’t want to go there. I’ve read a lot of books about the Nazis and I don’t want to meet their true descendants.
My friends and relatives are all jolly nice people but it has astonished me how they’ve all bought into this 100% and absolutely support all the measures, and see no parallels between that and what happened in Germany in the last century, including in their living memories the regime in the DDR. They get very upset when I use words like fascist and totalitarian.
No different to over here then…
Terrific comment in CW about the Bedwetter Bishop of London:
Never has rendering unto Caesar been done so enthusiastically and proactively.
“Bishop” Mullally would have slathered up in BBQ sauce and tenderised herself with a mallet before being fed to the lions.
Here’s a beautiful (hah! Not!) quote from Prof Spector in The Times this morning:
“The Zoe data still shows that the number of daily new cases in the UK continues to climb. The good news is that I think we are seeing cases and acute hospitalisation rates now largely uncoupled but we are still seeing a correlation between new cases and long Covid.” (paywalled: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jabs-have-not-broken-link-with-long-covid-qd60pnsgl)
How can he see a correlation between ‘Long Covid’ (the clue is in the name!) and the ‘new cases’ they see now? I am puzzled, very puzzled indeed.
Something else to add to the list of impossible things.
I am not puzzled. I will call it complete horseshit.
In the post COVID New-Normal you can test long term in 3 months.
When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”
― Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
This guy is just peddling the line that young people should be jabbed to stop them getting ‘long covid’ ( whatever the hell that is!). He is just the same as the rest of the contributors to the psyop.
Spector has been playing both ends against the middle – promoting the Zoe app as an objective measure (it isn’t), whilst retaining funding.
I was persuaded to download the Zoe app but quite soon something felt a bit fishy about so uninstalled it! A wise decision I think
Interesting article on masks in The Spectator by the barrister.
It looks as if wearing these disgusting things will be less of a “culture war” and much more a matter of “mask apartheid”. Premises requiring them will attract one bunch, and those that don’t, another. Will the twain ever meet again?
It will certainly result in a considerable realignment of loyalties.
Ultimately the market will decide. Much as it does with those waving rainbow flags.
If the marketeers think this is another of those “vegan friendly” add ons that the majority will just put up with then they have made a terrible miscalculation.
Mask wearing is the seven pointed star tattooed on your forehead, and Machie is the High Sparrow.
Exactly. The vast majority of people I know will ditch them immediately, judging by comments. Sure, there will be some that are wedded to the sniffy blanket, but if the majority ditch them, then businesses will quietly remove the signs.
Fantastic description (Sniffy blanket),PP.
Best, I can come up with is a “Num,num”, the name Mrs FP (Now 72) called her dummy or “Comforter” if you’re posh.
Think it’s an Aussie expression. Dummy or pacifier are also pretty accurate 👍
Remember Get-Woke Go Broke is a real thing,.marketing is a bubble like politics and marketeers regularly ruin companies.
Good point. Even if somewhere decides to require “face coverings”, I think that the aggravation in trying to impose it will eventually prove too much for many, and people will take their trade elsewhere. No doubt there will be some klutz who advertises as being “mask-friendly” or “mask-secure”, but it will turn out as per your second paragraph.
Problem is, if pretty much every shop stipulates face-coverings (what a shit term, btw), then _where_ do you take your custom?
It will be just another marketing decision for them: they do not give one iota of a shit about race/gender/disability/equality etc; they simply could not give a toss – it is all just marketing, just another way of trying to make themselves/their brand more appealing/worthy than their competitors. And it is all so despicable; exploiting the very people they profess to care about.
Therefore, I can see this as a wonderful marketing opportunity for the shops etc., to really go to town trying to out-care their competitors.
Where? Well, I can think about one trader called Axxxxn, that does quite well out of it. Incidentally, the use of the term ‘face covering’ is a get around because there are proper BSI standards for proper medical masks, while the junk on sale doesn’t comply with it, so can’t be called ‘masks’ on the labels. Look up bsi-guide-for-personal-safety-equipment-0520 V1.4 June 2020 .
It’s much more complex than that. There will be many factors influencing how the mask thing plays out. Public opinion, culture wars, personal agendas, safety-conscious groups in public health, compliance, HR, political agendas, insurers, unions. Sceptics are a small market. Areas with virtual monopoly providers or small numbers of providers with high barriers to entry offer little real consumer choice unless someone breaks ranks.
My prediction – large retail chains will strongly encourage but not enforce. TFL will mandate them, and many TOCs may follow suit. All airlines will mandate them and enforce it strongly. Leisure and hospitality might be more mixed as there is more competition and people are probably less enthused about mask-wearing in leisure settings. Small businesses will be the most lax, save for bedwetting proprietors. Compliance will remain high.
“Compliance will remain high.”
You describe the nightmare scenario.
It’s up to us (or those of us with access to influence platforms) to ensure that no effort is spared to demonise and delegitimise mask wearing and mask mandates in any and all contexts.
I’m sure we’ll do our best. Where I live compliance is very high. Other places I’ve seen, primarily parts of North London with large ethnic minority communities and a lot of small businesses, it’s pretty lax outside of the big chains. There may be a domino effect – let’s hope so. I remember last winter I was doing an indoor activity in a school with an assortment of adults, kids and their parents. Most of the adults started off muzzled, but the activity leader, a hardcore sceptic, and myself and one other adult didn’t bother. Slowly but surely the other adults lost their masks, just one or two kept them on.
That, imo, is the natural result where it is not backed by coercion.
But the point is that we need to build cultural buffers against the inevitable return of coercion. Not just relax because we can avoid it for the moment.
That’s pretty much how I see it. I suspect compliance will initially remain high but hopefully it will diminish over time (assuming the government do not bring it back). However, the airlines will not drop masks on flights because as we have seen from other rules imposed when flying that once they are in, they are in for good. I cannot see myself flying ever again under those conditions but plenty will and the airlines know it.
“Compliance will remain high”
I think not, I visited a theme park yesterday, masks were worn at the entrance, but during the day most “forgot” to put them on.
I hope in leisure settings where people want to enjoy themselves, this will be the case.
“Ultimately the market will decide.”
… following the usual pattern of he who bends the bulk of the market towards self-interest will make the profit
It’s interesting that those that consider themselves “globalists” are the ones who seem to get turned on most by border closures, movement restrictions and quarantine camps. It’s almost as if they like the idea of jetting around the world themselves, but don’t want to risk encountering any of the dirty classes.
Yes, they don’t want EVERYONE to be able to afford the same things as this devalues their goods.
There’s an economic term for goods that are valued because they are rare because they are expensive, it’s not conspicious consumption
I think there’s a big overlap between NPD and the nu-Left/Globalists
Yeads. What a man. I hang on his every word.
Seeing Johnson and the rest of the monied at the football, reminded me of the Hunger Games
The political salutes at the beginning put me more in mind of the 1936 Olympics.
If you get wealthy from QE or benefit from those who make get wealthy from QE, by having privileged access to inflation then you’re going to support measures to keep QE going.
Without QE the neo-feudalists go bankrupt.
SHOCKING MOMENT DAILY TABLOID GIVES INTENTIONALLY MISLEADING PROPAGANDA ACCOUNT SMEARING PEACEFUL DISSENTER DEFENDING HIMSELF AS “AGGRESSIVE” The appropriate response to the Daily Mail’s nasty front page (online) propaganda piece (with video), showing a man sitting harmlessly on the tube being harassed and assaulted by a uniformed state thug, and falsely accusing the man of aggressive violence for mildly and reasonably defending himself. Shocking moment man punches a police officer in the face as he is arrested on London tube after becoming aggressive when confronted over failing to wear a face mask It will undoubtedly be argued by authoritarians that this uniformed enforcement thug (no distinction need be made between regular police forces and transport police in this regard) was “just doing his job”. Well, it’s amazing how hard it is to get them to “just do their job” when you suffer some genuine street or household crime. The real blame undoubtedly rests with the authorities creating these laws and regulations, but this officer had plenty of choices to avoid the situation he found himself in, and the passenger did nothing wrong, morally. Practically speaking, his error was in being too rigid in his resistance to these wrongful rules. Better imo… Read more »
Where is the video?
Just the clip on the front page. As far as I’m aware. Might be a longer one around somewhere.
Apparently the correct thing to ask is whether one is lawfully required to give one’s details, as there may be a legal requirement, but not a lawful one. Some sceptic retired police officer explained this. Useful to know
LOL! at the idea that the likes of these virtue signallers would ever feel shame at cynically exploiting an issue to boost their image with the gullible, and thereby boosting both their own careers and their political causes.
Have we reached peak virtue signalling yet?
Unfortunately, I suspect not – by a long way.
Sadly, I tend to agree with you.
The new mask regime: a legal guide Can Steven Barrett answer a question what would happen if a supermarket would openly ban women, black people, jews, muslims, gays, etc. from entering? Would it be a case of discrimination or “the owner(s) of the supermarket can do what they want”? If it is discrimination then how does it also not apply to mask wearing and covid19 vaccination status? If it is the later, then what would happen in a country where almost everything is privatized, including production, processing and selling of the food, and every single owner of the food store decided to ban… for example people taller or shorter than 170cm? What would these people do then in order to eat and survive? They would have to move out of town. But what if every town in country is like this? Of course I’m not into law but what makes sense implicitly is that private business is not private home or private club (not all private property is the same), and owners of private business cannot set the rules that would discriminate against people. If they want to do that than they should register as a private club which has… Read more »
Indeed.
The understanding of that law by lawyers and the ruling class is but a sick joke in that regard.
Businesses are NOT above the law.
They can NOT do what they want.
If they implement pilicies that aren’t mandated by law, they risk running foul of anti-discrimination laws and they incur responsibilities and liabilities in conjunction with them, for example the need to provide for exemptions or undertake professional efficiency, proportionality and safety assessments.
Even as a house owner, I cannot do whatever I want to do on or even in (crimes) my property.
For example, I can’t extend as much as I want, I can’t plant or fell a tree wherever or whenever I want, I can’t let my hedge grow as high as I want or cut it when the birds are nesting in it.
This is just a wrong, likely corrupted by fascist oligarchs and CEOs demanding it, cowardish and irresponsible deliberate mis-interpretation of the law.
Sceptics are not a protected minority.
No, but many people don’t wear masks as a result of a disability which is a protected characteristic.
I’m sure they will continue to be recognised as exempt. But the govts list of exemptions was vague and generous. I doubt many private businesses will feel quite as magnanimous, though in practice a lot of them will probably not want the hassle of enforcing it too vigorously.
If they start demanding medical details from anyone who claims to be exempt, they are on dodgy ground.
I think ultimately the courts would back them, if they took it that far.
The difference is that everyone can wear a mask, except people with some specific medical or psychological reason, who I am sure will be considered exempt, and that it’s relevant to a proper concern of the venue e.g. customer and staff safety. These are the arguments that will be used and IMO they will stand up in court because it’s now widely accepted that masks work.
“it’s now widely accepted that masks work“
There will need to be test cases with high level expert evidence, but the problem is that the courts are openly biased towards assuming that they do work, in slavish support of elite dogma. Only the slightest evidential suggestion that they might have some marginal effect in some circumstances will likely be accepted as sufficient, in practice.
This is one of the most important issues we face, imo. – the struggle to defeat this pseudoscience nonsense.
It’s vital not to let it slide as the heat goes off the issue, because it will come back with a vengeance in due course.
Those with tech knowledge and resources need to push an aggressive zero tolerance campaign on mask bullshit, while it’s still possible to do so.
No maskivist has yet managed to explain to me why, if masks work, if is impossible to tell from a graph of infections whether or when a country or state imposed a mask mandate. If they have no statistical effect on the infection rate, how can it be claimed that they work?
Of course, when challenged with this they fall back on the usual petty insults – Covid denier, conspiracy theorist, etc, etc.
“No maskivist has yet managed to explain to me why, if masks work, if is impossible to tell from a graph of infections whether or when a country or state imposed a mask mandate. If they have no statistic effect on the infection rate, how can it be claimed that they work?“
Indeed, but that’s common sense, which has little force in court, especially when up against strong bias or career self-interest on the part of the judge
I know this is a popular argument when discussing discrimination, that some things are a choice and some things are not (they are there from birth and unchangeable). But this shouldn’t make any difference. For example, being gay can be inborn or a choice (experimenting, heteroflexible people). Or imagine a situation: gay people don’t have to hold hands or kiss inside, so a supermarket owner(s) can ban gay people if they hold hands but choose not to ban heterosexuals if they hold hands. So gay people could enter if they conform to the rules, but this would still be discrimination against gay people. The same goes for religious groups, they can chose not to wear particular religious symbols (bracelets, neckless, clothing, hair and beard style, etc.) if they want to enter but this would still be discrimination against them. The article in the Spectator didn’t make a case on the public health basis but on the basis that private businesses can do what they want. As for public health, personal freedoms should trump public safety/health in liberal democracy. So, there shouldn’t be a case for banning unmasked based on the idea that masks work and public health measures. Of course,… Read more »
I don’t think the gay thing stands up as a parallel, sorry. Banning people from your shop on some arbitrary basis is discriminatory. Banning people for not complying with health and safety rules is not. In the US you might be able to make a case on disparate impact grounds, though sceptics are not a protected minority.
No court is going to accept a defence that you think masks don’t work and object to them on principle.
But the law is clear that muzzles as worn by the public are not officially PPE (hence any old bit of rag will do). Health and safety laws are therefore not applicable (which doesn’t mean that they won’t try to misuse them, of course).
I was using the gay thing to demonstrate that difference between inborn characteristics and choices should not matter when it comes to discrimination. Also, again, the Spectator article was making a claim based on “private business can do what they want” not on a public health basis.
Since on gay issue, it was considered a sickness not so long ago. Only in 1990s WHO unlisted it from sickness.
Back to present, criminalizing human body and breathing should have never been considered in the first place. Saying that your body and breathing is a public health hazard and you have to wear a mask… that’s not really the same as entering the store with a dog who then jumps on the counter spreading dirt. There should be a case for basic personal liberty when it comes to not wearing a mask (not restricting your breathing, even if you don’t have a disability).
I think discrimination on religious grounds is the most pertinent parallel. You don’t have to prove the correctness of a belief – and it is obviously a choice, not an unalterable characteristic.
This last point is a crucial test of the objectivity of the legal process, when the balance of evidence is clearly the reverse.
Based on my own empirical observations, I’ll be able to go just about anywhere without a mask because that is exactly what I’ve been doing throughout this whole ‘pandemic’ without issue.
Yup, I concur. I think things will be easier for the foreseeable future. Until the next lockdown of course, or the next super super scary variant. I have been keeping my
exemptionfreedom pass in my pocket the last 3 months. Only once was I asked, and that was half heartedly by a bus driver (who had the full mask, visor and gloves thing going on). other than the odd ‘stare of contempt’ nothing else has happened.Nothing has changed in that context. Ages ago, there have been legal claims against those that fall foul of discrimination, e.g. this one: https://disabilityrights.org.uk/first-face-mask-discrimination-case-nets-7-000 Probably many more, which don’t make publication if the culprits settle outside court – or even if they lose there, with even more costs etc.
I’m not disabled so I cannot use any kind of “discrimination” defence.
One does not have to be physically disabled for that to apply. All sorts of other problems, say in the neurology field, that are not immediately obvious to a third party. The published DHSC guidance and all the related ‘badges’ on their site also deals with the deaf, or partially so, so that it is possible to demand that the other party removes their nappy so that you can hear them properly/interpret their voice. The other side has no right to examine your medical history at all, either, as to the rationale behind exemption.
I believe that discrimination on grounds of ‘belief’ is illegal?
Well, I believe (on the basis of evidence) that mask wearing is futile and damaging.
Seriously, this might be the way it’s necessary to go.
Good move by Richard Ashcroft.
I did my part by boycotting the Festival of Speed.
Because: The first step is to refuse to participate in the lie.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 🙂
Here’s the list of signatories for anybody interested…
https://www.thelancet.com/cms/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01589-0/attachment/59e7c37f-2dbb-498e-a092-fc5be732603b/mmc1.pdf
Interesting how there are large numbers of signatories from a small number of institutions in the UK…
Of course it’s not a “private matter”! Does anyone honestly believe that the football authorities don’t know if Eriksen had the vaccine, or that if he had not had it they would not have simply said so, in fact trumpeted it as loudly as they could, in order to support the elite drive for mass vaccination? FFS!
If vaccination is a “private matter” then have they just announced they are opposed to the vaccine passport scheme?
Hypocrisy and dishonesty of the first order.
The only way to get freedom back is to take it back yourself, starting today. Ignore all the stupid Covid nonesense. There is nothing they can do.
Naive.
“Nicola Sturgeon on Wednesday night admitted Scotland’s Freedom Day could be postponed again, after two more major health boards were pushed to “breaking point” by a coronavirus surge and NHS staff shortages.”
Anyone who can’t recognise all this as part of the Big Con needs a brain transplant.
The ‘pressure’ is generated by continuing use of PCR testing to ramp up fear (‘cases’) and quarantining staff on that basis. Simple.
Then there is the ancillary question of – if there is pressure in a totally normal situation – why hasn’t the political nexus that is responsible for the under-resourcing dealt with it?
Your last question is an excellent one and another case where journalists have gone AWOL. It’s such an obvious question but the govt get a free pass on it.
Not in this list of news items but I am going to reiterate what I posted the other day. It seems food shortages are coming, and could well be the next step in the agenda.
I linked to this article in The Grocer:
https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/supermarkets/food-shortages-now-inevitable-due-to-labour-crisis-industry-warns/657227.article
Now The Guardian has this:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/25/uk-facing-summer-of-food-shortages-due-to-lack-of-lorry-drivers
And another insane Tory advisor wants a meat tax:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9724865/Boris-Johnsons-food-czar-says-Brits-pay-taxes-meat-future-sparks-RIOTS.html
From the last video I linked, we know that the UK will have a massive shortfall of beef for next year, to gie just one example. Here is the video again:
https://youtu.be/6a9wFLxA-E8
Please watch this new video:
https://youtu.be/SQytRAX0dg0
It includes the clip of a UK farmer talking about how there is plenty of food but it is all going to be left to rot, deliberately:
https://youtu.be/SQytRAX0dg0?t=247
I would urge everyone to take this extremely seriously. It appears that this is orchestrated and is all part of the Great Reset.
For anyone who hasn’t clocked it, this Spectator article is a worthwhile read :
“The new mask regime: a legal guide”
After all these months I was told yesterday that masks kept flu away, the counter argument that they didnt work on covid is apparently that it is more virulent
What happens if the England team get pinged by the covid app?
I have just had a vision of every one with a ticket for Sunday at Wembley and who was nitwit enough to have downloaded the NHS app all hitting the uninstall button!! And the same will apply to anyone with a table booked in a pub! Hehehe never will an England win mean so much well done Lads!