Coronavirus outbreak

[mjr]

The quote, attributed to Amanda, that she 'had to' break the rules tells us all we need to know.

The quote in the BBC link you gave is attributed to her agent.

It's the usual 'the law shouldn't apply to me because I'm more important than the rest of you' displayed by far too many entertainers and sports stars.

...but not politicians, eh?

She travelled with what an eye witness described as 'lots of luggage'.

Not in the link given.

Another indication the trip wasn't the unforeseen crisis response she claims it was.

Who cannot quickly grab a "go bag" and sling some stuff in a case?

What was her driver in the black Mercedes - an alien?

Not in the BBC report and who knows who it was?

As regards me being a perv, as a heterosexual male, I would be a perv if I didn't see the double entendre in Amanda 'dropping everything'.

No, you would not.

Best you stick to your laughable campaign to portray everything this government does with Covid as incompetent.

Yes, indeed: the argument is so weak that you need to resort to unrelated personal attacks.

 

[mjr]

I'm surprised by how much earlier France's infections peaked. Is it possible that the ''Kent'' variation was already widespread but undetected in France before it was discovered in Kent?

Yes, it is possible. I think I read that France was not genomic-testing as much as the UK.

Another aspect not to forget is that France tried to avoid locking down again with more regional restrictions for longer, but that did not work, so they had a bigger second wave than the UK followed by a smaller third one because they stayed locked down long enough, instead of having a UK-style Christmas craziness. https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-lockdowns/

 

[Pale Rider]

Yes, indeed: the argument is so weak that you need to resort to unrelated personal attacks.

Like calling me a perv?

Which you are now telling me I'm not.

Best to leave you in that little tangle.

The agent said 'Amanda is devastated to have had to break the rules', hence the 'had to' remark is attributable to her.

The eye witness said the driver got out, unloaded the 'large amount' of luggage, then drove off leaving Amanda and the bags on the pavement.

Is that the likely actions of her husband?

They also arrived just after dusk, leading the witness to make the reasonable speculation the arrival was timed to avoid being seen.

I agree Amanda has no responsibility to disclose her father's medical history, but that's irrelevant because she is not playing the medical card.

Had she said her father had fallen gravely ill it might have engendered some sympathy, although many law-abiding families have had to deal with serious illness of a loved one without being able to do any hand holding.

Plus were he properly ill, he would have been taken straight to hospital.

As regards politicians, yes, irrespective of what party they belong to they deserve the same shaming.

I was among the many on here who piled in on Cummings, who is a Tory politician for this purpose.

He thoroughly deserved all the slagging off he got from the public.

Holden is no different.

What would be unjust is if Holden is excused censure because she is a well-liked public figure, while Cummings is a widely disliked one.

 

[mjr]

Like calling me a perv?

No, that was related to your pervy post.

Which you are now telling me I'm not.

Best to leave you in that little tangle.

Huh?

The agent said 'Amanda is devastated to have had to break the rules', hence the 'had to' remark is attributable to her.

No, that does not make it a quote of her.

The eye witness said [...]

You are clearly reading lots of other articles about this, which I will not comment on, other to say that much of it seems to be what even you call "speculation" and it does not change the basics of my previous reply.

I was among the many on here who piled in on Cummings, who is a Tory politician for this purpose.

He thoroughly deserved all the slagging off he got from the public.

Holden is no different.

Blooming well is different: Holden did not help set the rules like Cummings did. Or Jenrick. Or Eustice. Or Johnson.

 

[PK99]

I'm surprised by how much earlier France's infections peaked. Is it possible that the ''Kent'' variation was already widespread but undetected in France before it was discovered in Kent? (France in dark blue, UK in light blue.)
View attachment 573887
The Guardian attributes the graph to John Hopkins but I'll be damned if I can find it!

this link for the FT is similar and searchable
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart...0&per100K=1&startDate=2020-09-01&values=cases

 

[Pale Rider]

No, that was related to your pervy post.

You either called me a perv or you didn't.

You did, so that's an end to it.

No, that does not make it a quote of her.

Like it or not, the quote is attributable to her.

It's the same as a government spokesman saying: "Mr Johnson does/does not accept blah blah."

You are clearly reading lots of other articles about this, which I will not comment on, other to say that much of it seems to be what even you call "speculation" and it does not change the basics of my previous reply.

The BBC has already done a rewrite of The Sun story.

Remains to be seen if the others try to take it on in the next few days.

That could go either way, the next stories could undermine The Sun's exclusive, or some more skeletons might fall out of Amanda's cupboard.

Blooming well is different: Holden did not help set the rules like Cummings did. Or Jenrick. Or Eustice. Or Johnson.

The responsibility to obey the rules applies equally to everyone.

Unless you think Amanda's transgression was out of some sort of misunderstanding.

But that's already ruled out by her admission she 'had to' break the rules.

I know she's a clothes horse, but does anyone really pack a large amount of luggage for an emergency family visit?

As ever with this type of story, there's more holes in the rule breakers' account than a Swiss cheese.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I'm sure many ordinary families have dealt with similar situations without resorting to breaking the law.

Just checking whether you mean "dealt with" as in 'just not travelling'. Edit: What other 'dealt with' mechanisms had you in minds? Others have suggested that this trip may or may not have 'broken the law' given there are various exemptions which may or may not be applicable in this incident. Not giving explanations to the media is an entirely reasonable approach: it just feeds the so-called story.
Will more people be tempted or actually make these sorts of trips (within or outwith one of the allowed exemptions) as a result of this story being publicised? If it is 'more' then actually this stuff serves to increase the travelling to and from places other than home/local/work which the restrictions seek to minimise.

 

[marinyork]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...workplaces-that-are-putting-employees-at-risk this is gravely worrying.

Not a single covid prohibition notice to a single workplace, yet other workplaces that have opened when they shouldn't have have had the council or police in some cases take action.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

this link for the FT is similar and searchable
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart...0&per100K=1&startDate=2020-09-01&values=cases

Thanks, that's much more manageable.

 

[Pale Rider]

Just checking whether you mean "dealt with" as in 'just not travelling'. Edit: What other 'dealt with' mechanisms had you in minds? Others have suggested that this trip may or may not have 'broken the law' given there are various exemptions which may or may not be applicable in this incident. Not giving explanations to the media is an entirely reasonable approach: it just feeds the so-called story.
Will more people be tempted or actually make these sorts of trips (within or outwith one of the allowed exemptions) as a result of this story being publicised? If it is 'more' then actually this stuff serves to increase the travelling to and from places other than home/local/work which the restrictions seek to minimise.

As I posted previously, by 'deal with' I meant not travelling and using some other method to communicate such as a video call.

It certainly is a story, not least because discretionary visits to Devon and Cornwall by non-residents is a big thing for the locals there.

The story is developing a little even as we speak.

It now appears one of the witnesses is a police officer, who is the person who reported her to Devon and Cornwall police.

Nothing may come of that, they may find no enforceable law has been broken.

The agent is now saying she took only one bag, which sounds better from her point of view, but is at odds with other witness statements reported earlier.

The agent also appears to be saying she drove herself, which is definitely at odds with the witness account of the car driving off leaving her and however much luggage she did have on the pavement.

Thus the truth remains obscured, but regrettably for Holden, in this instance the evidence of a police officer is likely to be preferred over her own account.

At the very least, there's an element of hypocrisy here.

Holden recorded an NHS charity single, and apparently has been a strong advocate of people sticking to the restrictions.

She's just the same as that Scottish doc who was on the telly lecturing people to stay at home before nipping off to visit her holiday caravan - twice.

The pair of them couldn't provide a better example of 'do as I say, not as I do' if they tried.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I trust your parents are both hale and hearty, Paley.
If my mother called in some distress, I think I would make the same decision as this broadcaster. Travel straight there. Interact with noone other than parents. Travel straight back.
My primary concern in the spring and the November onwards lockdowns would have been the risk of passing the virus to her (and the subsequent family opprobrium should she fall or heaven forbid die (in nineties)). She's now vaccinated (Pfizer, second one on 7 Jan) so I'd be much less concerned about the threat to her if I visited, which I'll not be till restrictions allow for 'normal' visits. I'm lucky: she is well and firing on all cylinders. Others are far less lucky.
I correctly assumed that by 'deal with' you meant just "deal with it".

 

[roubaixtuesday]

What would be unjust is if Holden is excused censure because she is a well-liked public figure, while Cummings is a widely disliked one

Random celeb is not in any way comparable to PMs most senior advisor.

PM has not attempted to justify Holden.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

As regards me being a perv, as a heterosexual male, I would be a perv if I didn't see the double entendre in Amanda 'dropping everything'.

As a heterosexual male, please don't presume you speak for anyone but yourself.

 

[numbnuts]

I've just got off the phone and Amanda parents Les and Judy are fine, how do I know that ...........

 

[mjr]

As a heterosexual male, please don't presume you speak for anyone but yourself.

Especially as there was no need to use the expression "dropped everything" which did not appear in the linked BBC report.