IOM Covid removing restrictions

[Nom de plume]

U.K. figures appear to be dropping like a stone.

Fantastic opportunity to have our borders opened earlier than planned & bring some visitors & much needed spend here.

We’ve vaxed our high risk groups, the NHS has been protected.

 

 

[Gladys]

Just now, Nom de plume said:

U.K. figures appear to be dropping like a stone.

Fantastic opportunity to have our borders opened earlier than planned & bring some visitors & much needed spend here.

We’ve vaxed our high risk groups, the NHS has been protected.

 

 

Do you think we are ready?  I couldn't buy a deck chair for love nor money this weekend!

[WindJammer]

2 minutes ago, Nom de plume said:

U.K. figures appear to be dropping like a stone.

Fantastic opportunity to have our borders opened earlier than planned & bring some visitors & much needed spend here.

There is simply no reason why travel cannot recommence this summer at the latest the way the vaccination programmes are rolling out here and in the UK. The Europeans will have to decide whether they want the Brits this summer but the whole of the UK Common Travel Area should be opened up for ‘UK’ staycations especially which Jersey and Guernsey already seem to be preparing for. Although we’ll likely be closed for another year just to be sure.

[finlo]

1 minute ago, WindJammer said:

Although we’ll likely be closed for another year just to be sure.

Just the one?

[NoTail]

2 minutes ago, finlo said:

Just the one?

Maybe 2, to get the promenade finished 

[Utah 01]

3 hours ago, Out of the blue said:

The Telegraph article is behind a paywall

I apologise; I wasn't aware that the link was restricted. And for the record, I have never alleged 'conspiracy', rather gross incompetence, obfuscation, deceit and manipulation of the population by media and the closing down of open debate (defined as 'dictatorship' - check it out).  If that is 'conspiracy' in your minds then so be it.

I shan't reproduce the article in full but here is the gist:

'Failures in the UK’s pandemic response are not hard to identify, but on one front the Government’s success is undeniable: persuading a fearful nation to stay locked indoors for much of the past year.  The daily diet of statistics on deaths, hospitalisations and Covid cases has been so effective that compliance with lockdown has gone far beyond
what ministers expected.'

'Whether frightening the public was a deliberate – or honest – tactic has become the subject of intense debate, and dozens of psychologists have now accused ministers of using “covert psychological strategies” to manipulate the public’s behaviour.'

'They believe the Government, acting on the advice of behavioural experts, has emphasised the threat from Covid without putting the risks in sufficient context, leaving the country in “a state of heightened anxiety”.'

'They also claim that “inflated fear levels will be responsible for the‘collateral’ deaths of many thousands of people
with non-Covid illnesses” who are “too frightened to attend hospital”.

They are so concerned that the British public has been the subject of a mass experiment in the use of strategies that operate “below their level of awareness” that they have made a formal complaint to their professional body, which will now rule on whether government advisers have been guilty of a breach of ethics.

One of the key pieces of evidence cited by those who have complained about “covert” tactics comes from a document prepared for the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) at the beginning of the pandemic a year ago.

Dated March 22, the paper written by the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B) stated: “A substantial number of people still do not feel sufficiently personally threatened; it could be that they are reassured by the low death rate in their demographic group, although levels of concern may be rising … the perceived level of
personal threat needs to be increased among those who are complacent, using hard-hitting emotional messaging. To be effective this must alsoempower people by making clear the actions they can take to reduce the
threat.”

The same document presented a grid of 14 options for increasing compliance which included “use media to increase sense of personal threat”, a tactic which was seen as having a “high” effectiveness though
spill-over effects “could be negative”.

Some Sage participants now admit to feeling “embarrassed” by such advice.

One regular Sage attendee said: “The British people have been subjected
to an unevaluated psychological experiment without being told that is
what’s happening.

Laura Dodsworth, who has spent the past year researching this subject
for a forthcoming book called A State of Fear: How the UK Government
Weaponised Fear During the Covid-19 Pandemic, said: “I have interviewed
people who have been undone by fear, people who have had to be talked
down from suicide and people who have developed agoraphobia.

“The problem with fear is that it clouds rational thinking. You become
more reliant on government messaging, which makes you more frightened,
which makes you even more reliant on their messaging, creating a doom
loop. We have forgotten how to analyse risk.”

.........and so it goes on. It's not 'conspiracy theory' - it is fact - if only you would open your eyes and ears beyond this afternoon's number of cases.

If you believe that this is an honourable and trustworthy way for a supposedly liberal and 'democratic' western government to act: then you deserve whatever comes your way.  These are the methods of totalitarian dictatorships - period - and we, the sheep, have lapped it up.

[Cambon]

32 minutes ago, Nom de plume said:

U.K. figures appear to be dropping like a stone.

Fantastic opportunity to have our borders opened earlier than planned & bring some visitors & much needed spend here.

We’ve vaxed our high risk groups, the NHS has been protected.

 

 

Two things. Firstly, we need to see what effect this weekend has had both here and in uk. Secondly, because uk had been in lockdown for 3 months, we have been 1 month, our figures are actually worse than theirs. Are you sure the uk want their citizens travelling here without 14 days isolation on their return? 

[pongo]

22 minutes ago, Utah 01 said:

I apologise; I wasn't aware that the link was restricted.d we, the sheep, have lapped it up.

I used to read The Telegraph but gave up a few years ago as it went increasinly C2 - UKIP. And seemingly now written by twenty - something freelancers rather than the excellent established correspondents they were once known for. Also the awful click-bait.

Lately I get a couple of emails a week from them trying to tempt me back. For seemingly less and less money. Like some kind of reverse Dutch auction. The latest being £1 per month. They seem ever more desperate since the sale was announced. I guess that's down to them hemorrhaging their intelligent broad-church readership to The Times, Guardian and FT.

Edited April 5, 2021 by pongo

[Max Power]

17 minutes ago, Utah 01 said:

I apologise; I wasn't aware that the link was restricted. And for the record, I have never alleged 'conspiracy', rather gross incompetence, obfuscation, deceit and manipulation of the population by media and the closing down of open debate (defined as 'dictatorship' - check it out).  If that is 'conspiracy' in your minds then so be it.

I shan't reproduce the article in full but here is the gist:

'Failures in the UK’s pandemic response are not hard to identify, but on one front the Government’s success is undeniable: persuading a fearful nation to stay locked indoors for much of the past year.  The daily diet of statistics on deaths, hospitalisations and Covid cases has been so effective that compliance with lockdown has gone far beyond
what ministers expected.'

'Whether frightening the public was a deliberate – or honest – tactic has become the subject of intense debate, and dozens of psychologists have now accused ministers of using “covert psychological strategies” to manipulate the public’s behaviour.'

'They believe the Government, acting on the advice of behavioural experts, has emphasised the threat from Covid without putting the risks in sufficient context, leaving the country in “a state of heightened anxiety”.'

'They also claim that “inflated fear levels will be responsible for the‘collateral’ deaths of many thousands of people
with non-Covid illnesses” who are “too frightened to attend hospital”.

They are so concerned that the British public has been the subject of a mass experiment in the use of strategies that operate “below their level of awareness” that they have made a formal complaint to their professional body, which will now rule on whether government advisers have been guilty of a breach of ethics.

One of the key pieces of evidence cited by those who have complained about “covert” tactics comes from a document prepared for the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) at the beginning of the pandemic a year ago.

Dated March 22, the paper written by the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B) stated: “A substantial number of people still do not feel sufficiently personally threatened; it could be that they are reassured by the low death rate in their demographic group, although levels of concern may be rising … the perceived level of
personal threat needs to be increased among those who are complacent, using hard-hitting emotional messaging. To be effective this must alsoempower people by making clear the actions they can take to reduce the
threat.”

The same document presented a grid of 14 options for increasing compliance which included “use media to increase sense of personal threat”, a tactic which was seen as having a “high” effectiveness though
spill-over effects “could be negative”.

Some Sage participants now admit to feeling “embarrassed” by such advice.

One regular Sage attendee said: “The British people have been subjected
to an unevaluated psychological experiment without being told that is
what’s happening.

Laura Dodsworth, who has spent the past year researching this subject
for a forthcoming book called A State of Fear: How the UK Government
Weaponised Fear During the Covid-19 Pandemic, said: “I have interviewed
people who have been undone by fear, people who have had to be talked
down from suicide and people who have developed agoraphobia.

“The problem with fear is that it clouds rational thinking. You become
more reliant on government messaging, which makes you more frightened,
which makes you even more reliant on their messaging, creating a doom
loop. We have forgotten how to analyse risk.”

.........and so it goes on. It's not 'conspiracy theory' - it is fact - if only you would open your eyes and ears beyond this afternoon's number of cases.

If you believe that this is an honourable and trustworthy way for a supposedly liberal and 'democratic' western government to act: then you deserve whatever comes your way.  These are the methods of totalitarian dictatorships - period - and we, the sheep, have lapped it up.

The difficulty with the theory that the British government have behaved in this way for a particular reason is that almost every country has responded in a similar manner!

[Uhtred]

5 minutes ago, pongo said:

I used to read The Telegraph but gave up a few years ago as it went increasinly C2 - UKIP. And seemingly now written by twenty - something freelancers rather than the excellent established correspondents they were once known for. Also the awful click-bait.

Lately I get a couple of emails a week from them trying to tempt me back. For seemingly less and less money. Like some kind of reverse Dutch auction. The latest being £1 per month. They seem ever more desperate since the sale was announced. I guess that's down to them hemorrhaging their intelligent broad chuch readship to The Times, Guardian and FT.

That’s exactly what it is. The Telegraph is a simply appalling newspaper not merely haemorrhaging readers but also vast amounts of money.

Edited April 5, 2021 by Uhtred

[pongo]

7 minutes ago, Uhtred said:

The Telegraph is a simply appalling newspaper not merely haemorrhaging readers but also vast amounts of money.

I've often wondered how their lurch into C2 UKIP territory has affected the advertising. It's very difficult to imagine prestige brands wanting to be associated with much of their content today. Or seeing that readership as an attractive proposition worth paying for.

[John Wright]

34 minutes ago, Cambon said:

Two things. Firstly, we need to see what effect this weekend has had both here and in uk. Secondly, because uk had been in lockdown for 3 months, we have been 1 month, our figures are actually worse than theirs. Are you sure the uk want their citizens travelling here without 14 days isolation on their return? 

Our 7 day rolling figures per 100k (6.5 per 100k as of today ) are 25% of the UK. In other words prevalence there is 4 times here. If you think that makes us worse and the UK better - I don’t understand.

Our lockdown has been very successful, if too late in starting. 5 days earlier and we’d have exited before now.

[TheTeapot]

19 minutes ago, pongo said:

I've often wondered how their lurch into C2 UKIP territory has affected the advertising. It's very difficult to imagine prestige brands wanting to be associated with much of their content today. Or seeing that readership as an attractive proposition worth paying for.

The IoM gov had a big advert in it the other week

[Annoymouse]

1 hour ago, Gladys said:

Do you think we are ready?  I couldn't buy a deck chair for love nor money this weekend!

We need to ensure we blow that hole in our defences ASAP, what we really need is a new strain that Oxford Astra Zeneca isn’t particularly effect against.

[Uhtred]

5 minutes ago, TheTeapot said:

The IoM gov had a big advert in it the other week

Point about the Telegraph made!