Ok, but then the government would need to provide a prescribed list of allowed and forbidden items, which would be a collosal waste of effort.
Ok, but then the government would need to provide a prescribed list of allowed and forbidden items, which would be a collosal waste of effort.
But supermarkets can already do that of they choose. The fact they don't suggests that they would self certify all items as essential.
" it wouldn't have hurt for them to have done this again bearing in mind the harm they will be doing to local small shops and their staff"
safer than spending two hours meandering up the high street, in and out of fifteen shops browsing for bits and bobs.
The whole point of this Lockdown is to reduce the amount of contact that we are all having with others. Therefore going into one supermarket, getting everything we need in half an hour is safer than spending two hours meandering up the high street, in and out of fifteen shops browsing for bits and bobs.
Is it fair to the smaller retailers? No
Will it save lives? Yes
I don't know the answer but it all seems to be ill thought out at the moment.
I suppose you have almost answered your own question there; it's probably ill thought out because setting out a sensible policy is near on impossible (i.e. one that satisfies all aspects including lockdown, people's continued requirements, the large shop / small shop fairness thing, and so on).
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to announce an extra £3bn for the NHS - but has warned that people will soon see an "economic shock laid bare" as the country deals with the Covid pandemic.
The one-year funding will be pledged in the Spending Review on Wednesday.
But Mr Sunak said Covid's impact on the economy must be paid for - and high levels of borrowing could not go on indefinitely.
Borrowing in October hit £22.3bn, with public sector debt over £2 trillion.
The NHS usually gets extra money to tide it through the winter months but on a much more modest scale, with £700m in 2014/15 the highest payout of the last 10 years.
The Treasury said the £3bn package for the NHS would help tackle backlogs in the health service, with thousands of treatments and operations delayed because of the pandemic.
The number of people waiting a year for treatment has risen from about 1,500 in February to 140,000 in September.
The extra funding only applies to England but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive equivalent funding.
NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said the extra cash would take the weight off the NHS, allowing "one million extra checks, scans and additional operations" to be carried out.
"And because Covid takes a mental as well as physical toll, it's particularly important that we will be able to continue to expand mental health services too," he said.
However, the chancellor warned of hard times ahead.
Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr show, he said: "We know that three quarters of a million people have tragically already lost their jobs, with forecasts of more to come. Borrowing is at record peacetime levels already.
"It is not just numbers on a chart, it is people's lives and livelihoods, it's their security being impacted. And it is something that we are going to grapple with for a while to come, sadly."
Earlier, he told the Sunday Times people would soon see "the scale of the economic shock laid bare" , indicating taxes might have to start rising next year and there could be spending cuts.
Full article - Coronavirus: £3bn for NHS but Sunak warns of 'economic shock' to come
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They know nobody will comply if they cancel Christmas and are hoping that they can maintain some level of control with a limited relaxation of the rules.I just don't see the point of a months lock down then opening all the shops pubs till later and familys mixing at christmas, its total ********, can some one explain please
Jesus I love a conspiracy theory but this is far out.There are more cases because the Government have added ALL seasonal Flu into the figures for Covid 19. There have been NO seasonal flu cases reported across the world since WEEK 15!!! All governments are screwing the figures to make us all fearful. They are LYING to us - to force us to take the vaccine. The vaccine is laced with Polyethylene Glycol that WILL kill a lot of people - far mare than Covid will. This is part of the big Reset. Read up about Agenda 21/30. DO NOT ACCEPT THE VACCINE - IT WILL KILL YOU.
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