The Dominic Cummings file

[Badgers]

 

[Steel Icarus]

How can this possibly be acceptable?

 

[brogdale]

Lengths people will go to defend idiots. Surely people have some responsibility for their actions.

Have to say I find some of the last couple of pages uncomfortable reading. I really think it is understandable that folk want to get out to the beach etc. after the last months, especially in weather like this. Also worth remembering that not everyone is as 'switched on' to the news cycle etc as some of us on here may be? And, it has to be said that much of the state messaging has been less than clear.

What worries me about the (entirely understandable) tendency to judge the beach-goers is that Johnson deliberately fore-warned of his Monday changes to lockdown, pretty much ensuring that such scenes & reactions (?) would occur. It does help them to paint the second spike as the fault of the people.

 

[Raheem]

Lengths people will go to defend idiots. Surely people have some responsibility for their actions.

Nothing false about that, but we let the government off the hook by focusing on ill-mannered pleasure-seeking furlough-scroungers. People have been told they can go to the seaside, so it's not really surprising that that's what they're doing.

 

[Steel Icarus]

I'm well aware that the slippery bastards have consistently engineered avenues along which to channel blame away from themselves, I just find it a very frustrating situation, and I think the gen. public are being let off the hook by blaming the gov as well. It's too busy to properly maintain social distancing at the beach and the park, why can't people see that? My in-laws are coming round to sit in the back garden Tuesday and staying 2m away and bringing their own food. This stuff isn't over just because it's sunny and the government have said it's ok to sunbathe

 

[keybored]

I'm well aware that the slippery bastards have consistently engineered avenues along which to channel blame away from themselves, I just find it a very frustrating situation, and I think the gen. public are being let off the hook by blaming the gov as well. It's too busy to properly maintain social distancing at the beach and the park, why can't people see that? My in-laws are coming round to sit in the back garden Tuesday and staying 2m away and bringing their own food. This stuff isn't over just because it's sunny and the government have said it's ok to sunbathe

People won't know how busy it is till they get there and if they've just spent a long time in a hot car with excited kids going "are we there yet?" then it's difficult to blame them for not turning round and going home.

Or for throwing themselves off a rock.

 

[Steel Icarus]

If only there was some choice in where to go

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I'm well aware that the slippery bastards have consistently engineered avenues along which to channel blame away from themselves, I just find it a very frustrating situation, and I think the gen. public are being let off the hook by blaming the gov as well. It's too busy to properly maintain social distancing at the beach and the park, why can't people see that? My in-laws are coming round to sit in the back garden Tuesday and staying 2m away and bringing their own food. This stuff isn't over just because it's sunny and the government have said it's ok to sunbathe

Can't speak to beaches, but in parks, I don't agree. I've been in really quite busy parks where it is still totally possible to find yourself a spot. (And the foreshortening of zoom lenses in many photos of parks makes them look much more crowded than they really are.) Yes, you might pass by someone when walking around at less than two metres, but are you going to catch the virus just from walking past someone in a park or in the street? Has that ever been an issue really?

Plus, of course, not everybody has a garden.

 

[not a trot]

At the moment I'm just happy sitting in the garden admiring the half finished patio.

 

[tim]

People won't know how busy it is till they get there and if they've just spent a long time in a hot car with excited kids going "are we there yet?" then it's difficult to blame them for not turning round and going home.

Or for throwing themselves off a rock.

Of course they knew what it was going to be like, most of them are photographers. They know that an idyllic cove surrounded by cliffs is a perfect location for beach crowd tabloid pictures. The only none media professionals there were the lemmings they paid to toss themselves off.

 

[maomao]

If only there was some choice in where to go

Well, it's beaches and parks or nothing cause all the pubs etc. are closed. Kids playparks in parks still taped off. I doubt the next two beaches along were much better.

 

[Thora]

The PM literally said to people go wherever you like outside, spend as much time out as you like, didn't he even say he encouraged it?

We're too far from the beach to go but we've been to forest and park recently and it's been busy - because everyone's been stuck at home for weeks with their kids and there's no where else to go.

The main responsibility for this is the government's.

 

[Badgers]

The PM literally said to people go wherever you like outside, spend as much time out as you like, didn't he even say he encouraged it?

We're too far from the beach to go but we've been to forest and park recently and it's been busy - because everyone's been stuck at home for weeks with their kids and there's no where else to go.

The main responsibility for this is the government's.

I half agree.

On the other hand our government are self serving liars and corrupt crooks. Anyone who is too stupid to realise that deserves to die.

 

[gentlegreen]

I try to avoid shopping and spending much time in the park at weekends to leave room for those who are still working - though controlled exposure to other human beings is an important part of getting outside - pretty much how it was when I was working...

 

[Raheem]

I half agree.

On the other hand our government are self serving liars and corrupt crooks. Anyone who is too stupid to realise that deserves to die.

That's quite a large section of the public, though, even if it's starting to shrink a little.

 

[existentialist]

I'm well aware that the slippery bastards have consistently engineered avenues along which to channel blame away from themselves, I just find it a very frustrating situation, and I think the gen. public are being let off the hook by blaming the gov as well. It's too busy to properly maintain social distancing at the beach and the park, why can't people see that? My in-laws are coming round to sit in the back garden Tuesday and staying 2m away and bringing their own food. This stuff isn't over just because it's sunny and the government have said it's ok to sunbathe

If I thought that this government was actually competent enough to be operating in such a Machiavellian way, I might think that some insight has dawned, they realise they've screwed the pooch and invited a second wave, so are setting things up nicely so as to be able to blame the public rather than be blamed themselves.

But then..."never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence" - and it is very, very hard not to take the incompetence option when it's sitting there right in front of us, obscuring the view of all the other possibilities.

 

[Struwwelpeter]

I half agree.

On the other hand our government are self serving liars and corrupt crooks. Anyone who is too stupid to realise that deserves to die.

The trouble with that approach is that they don't always die but even if they do, the live long enough to pass it on to others and increase the burden on healthcare. Also, the government is full of people who "deserve to die", but all have survived so far, in spite of getting it.

 

[NoXion]

It is understandable why people would want to hit the beach at a time like this. But understanding something is not the same thing as excusing it. Yes, people are allowed out to sunbathe and exercise, but social distancing is still in effect, yes? You might not be able to help the crowds at the beach, but you can certainly still avoid contributing to the situation by turning around and going somewhere else.

And if you are the kind of moron who promises their kids a beach trip at a time like this, then you are a fucking idiot parent who deserves every minute of the resulting aggro. Unless of course you just go to a crowded beach anyway and fuck social distancing, in which case you're a fucking selfish cunt to boot.

Incidents like what happened at Durdle Door show what can go wrong even if social distancing is in the picture. All it took was a handful of fuckwits with a deathwish, to negate whatever precautions the rest of the beach-goers took, since they all ended up getting mashed together in big groups while the emergency services attended to the fucking idiots before carting them away.

Of course it should go without saying, that most people in this country aren't so fucking thick, that they think think it's a good idea to start stripping off and heading down a narrow path onto a crowded beach in the middle of a pandemic. There are some genuinely ambiguous situations brought about by this pandemic, but this beach bullshit ain't one of them.

 

[Raheem]

It is understandable why people would want to hit the beach at a time like this. But understanding something is not the same thing as excusing it.

But bemoaning it is also pointless. There was an effective way of preventing it, but now there isn't.

 

[harpo]

People won't know how busy it is till they get there and if they've just spent a long time in a hot car with excited kids going "are we there yet?" then it's difficult to blame them for not turning round and going home.

Or for throwing themselves off a rock.

Plus, if I remember, getting to that particular beach is quite an undertaking. It involves a fairly long walk from the carpark/bus stop, a lot of which is uphill. To arrive and have to turn back and do the same walk without at least stopping for a breather would be dispiriting to say the least.

 

[planetgeli]

It's a bit weird that people who won't accept blanket anger at groups of people for, say, voting tory, are quite happy to direct their rage at some people who wanted to catch a bit of sun and go for a dip.

I don't think that Venn diagram looks like you think it does.

 

[NoXion]

But bemoaning it is also pointless. There was an effective way of preventing it, but now there isn't.

It's no more or less pointless than moaning about anything else. Otherwise we might as well delete half of this entire bloody forum.

 

[cupid_stunt]

It's no more or less pointless than moaning about anything else. Otherwise we might as well delete half of this entire bloody forum.

Only half?

 

[phillm]

It is understandable why people would want to hit the beach at a time like this. But understanding something is not the same thing as excusing it. Yes, people are allowed out to sunbathe and exercise, but social distancing is still in effect, yes? You might not be able to help the crowds at the beach, but you can certainly still avoid contributing to the situation by turning around and going somewhere else.

And if you are the kind of moron who promises their kids a beach trip at a time like this, then you are a fucking idiot parent who deserves every minute of the resulting aggro. Unless of course you just go to a crowded beach anyway and fuck social distancing, in which case you're a fucking selfish cunt to boot.

Incidents like what happened at Durdle Door show what can go wrong even if social distancing is in the picture. All it took was a handful of fuckwits with a deathwish, to negate whatever precautions the rest of the beach-goers took, since they all ended up getting mashed together in big groups while the emergency services attended to the fucking idiots before carting them away.

Of course it should go without saying, that most people in this country aren't so fucking thick, that they think think it's a good idea to start stripping off and heading down a narrow path onto a crowded beach in the middle of a pandemic. There are some genuinely ambiguous situations brought about by this pandemic, but this beach bullshit ain't one of them.

With a bit of clean up Whitty should use that at the next briefing.

DON'T BE A CUNT
AVOID CROWDS
SAVE LIVES

 

[gosub]

If there was a fight how do you do socially distanced fighting ffs.

Using your social distancing fighting stick aka rapier

 

[planetgeli]

If there was a fight how do you do socially distanced fighting ffs.

Jousting. The only sport in history where the upper class (nobility) lined up to try and kill each other for the benefit of the peasants. Whole blood lines were known to be wiped out at times.

They really need to bring it back.

 

[DexterTCN]

Using your social distancing fighting stick aka rapier

Nope because to strike them you will only be one sword-length apart, not two.

 

[phillm]

Jousting. The only sport in history where the upper class (nobility) lined up to try and kill each other for the benefit of the peasants. Whole blood lines were known to be wiped out at times.

They really need to bring it back.

Start with Harry and William for the Crown and when one wins finish off the winner with a revolution.

 

[Raheem]

They probably just have their manservants fight each other.

 

[phillm]

Nope because to strike them you will only be one sword-length apart, not two.

Pikes then or an appropriate lengthed mace.