the problem labour have got at the moment is that they,d be criticised no matter how they managed this situation.would have liked more criticism from them using many experts with opposing views to the tory ones with equal validity to show another way through the virus problem. they will get no thanks from the tories for their support come the next general election. the accusations of em having no answers themselves will quickly brought forward at every opportunity.

Yep realise that. To enact change, you need to be in power, to get into power you need to be electable. So we are faced with Hobsons Choice, either a party who will get into power but won't carry out the radical changes needed to get this country back on its feet and narrow the North/South divide and basically save the North East from going over the cliff edge, or a party that would do all those things when in power, and hold the government to account when out of power ,but who are unelectable , in the main, due to lies and untruths spread by the tory owned media in the UK, who are shit scared of that type of Labour Party emptying their bank accounts,

Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Stockton all hoyed into Tier 3 from 2nd December.

First time in my life I won't be able to share a drink with family and friends in the boozer over christmas, however Gyms and churches are allowed to reopen. This year can fucking do one.

oh and seconded regards Tory votes

Gyms should be open, i'd put them as essential and more important than a pub.

Drink and build you muscles up at home.
Life goes on.
Soon be Spring n with the good news with the vaccine the majority of living life won't be far off getting back to normal.
Whatever that is.
UTP.

There's a review on 16th December, so if the infection rate in the NE drops significantly by then there's a chance of going into Tier 2. It'd be great to see the Boxing Day game with Halifax if that happens - weather willing!

Here's hoping.

Sure BB did a post in between Mommers opinions.
Why did it get deleted.

Winners haha

If it was that easy gyms wouldnt exist.

Life does go on i agree but at considerable hardship for those working in industries effected by these bizarre rules that as always favour the south and not the north.

Can't go to a socially distanced clean exercise class with 5 people, spacious, air con, all apart...

But you can to go the asda amongst hundreds of people, all touching the same stuff etc etc

"The weekly shop" is classed as essential. Exercise is also essential I would agree. We shop once a week at Morrisons and get our exercise by walking or cycling. Other than that we stick to our bubble. We've also been put into tier three. We haven't had a drink in any of our watering holes since February. We won't change that until we get a vaccine, not even at Xmas.

Jetting off for a turkey and tinsel break in the Scilly isles looks as about as good as you'll get this year..

I will be very surprised if pubs here will be open at all over Xmas. Best keep an eye on Camerons brewery to see what activity is a few weeks before Xmas.
As and aside has anyone tried to buy a laptop? Only cheap or expensive ones available.......rocking horse shit comes to mind.

Earlier in the week the Oxford Covid protection was signalled at around 90% efficacy. Today they are saying there was an error and now it is around 62%.

What will that figure be in another couple of weeks - under 50% or less?

Thats how you get your exercise but others get exercise in other ways.

A gym is much more than just exercise.

I apologize for what I said earlier. I said it in the heat of the moment and I must admit not every Tory MP is for this idiocy. In fact, I'd say the only one enjoying this is that awful sycophant Matt Hancock.

I've seen posts showing how the R rate in parts of london is worse than in Northumberland and Newcastle.

This isn't about saving lives at all . If it was, they'd of put London in tier 3. It's about making the poor poorer.

Think of it like this. Almost Every club in the land is now going to get 2000 fans. We'll be getting zero.

8 clubs out of the 23 in the NL are in Tier 3 and can't have any fans in for matches. The is the list - Pools, Halifax Town, Notts County, Chesterfield, Solihull Moors, Altrincham, Stockport County and Dover Athletic.

The Guardian regularly updates a map of the UK showing Covid rates across the country. Yesterday's version is here:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... rus-uk-map
Tells it's own story. London is still mostly pale pink, the North-East is still various shades of crimson.

And all of a sudden footballers stop testing positive for Covid or they don't test them anymore.
As for the general public the governments goin on like the vaccine has already kicked in.
Sure they will blame the people bubbling didn't show enuf safety common sense over Xmas when the death rate hits the 900/1000 mark.
Stay safe and behave yourselfs over Xmas.

That's another problem with the pubs been closed

I have said this from the start, that map shows its largely the old industrial areas , Altrincham bless em, get dragged into it, because of their proximity to Manchester. Its either the people in those areas are largely uneducated and disobedient or it's their lifestyles , poor, poverty, low paid jobs , community orientated, or maybe a bit of both.

Looking like there won't even be any Northern League to watch either, FFS !

thats if halifax isn,t still in tier 3 that is. boxing day is a funny one anyway. thought the restrictions were going to be slackened over christmas so would we be able to see a game no matter what tier we are in. does anyone actually know anything at the moment including the government. i for one are just lost.

[quote="Brasil Brush"]I apologize for what I said earlier. I said it in the heat of the moment and I must admit not every Tory MP is for this idiocy. In fact, I'd say the only one enjoying this is that awful sycophant Matt Hancock.

I've seen posts showing how the R rate in parts of london is worse than in Northumberland and Newcastle.

This isn't about saving lives at all . If it was, they'd of put London in tier 3. It's about making the poor poorer.

my partner who is a london lass always goes on about us northerners having a sack of maris pipers on our shoulders regarding the south and london in particular. after recent events even she realizes that we have a point. more chance of pools signing a 30 goal a season striker than london will ever be in tier 3 and the figures will be manipulated to make sure it does not.

unless you live in a bungalow or flat then your house could be your gym. run up and down your stairs for however long you want to do. there is always something you can lift if thats your thing. there is actually no need to go out of your house to keep fit and everything is free.

Away fans still aren't allowed to attend games (officially, no doubt some will find a way) so it doesn't matter if Halifax are still in Tier 3 if Hartlepool moves to Tier2.

As things stand the Christmas relaxation is all about being allowed to meet in bigger groups ('bubbles') in homes over the holiday. Officially these bigger bubbles can't even go the pub or a restaurant together - again, good luck enforcing that one. The chances of a free for all at sporting events over Xmas look non-existent at the minute, but the papers are giving Johnson a good kicking over the new regulations and he's already flip flopped more times than a performing dolphin, so it's anyone's guess where we'll be in a couple of weeks time.

Well I’m a ST holder and over 80yrs whilst I’d love to go to the match I don’t think I’ll risk it. On the other hand I’ll be joining my family ‘bubble’ on Xmas day. Hopefully I’ll be near the top of the list for the ‘jab’.

See this
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... ollout-nhs

Charlton have just announced that 2,000 fans can attend the next few home matches, 4,861 season tickets were sold before being taken off sale. People living in Kent which is in tier 3 will not be entered in a ballot to select who can attend matches, this will be quite interesting because a significant amount of our fans travel from Kent.
https://www.cafc.co.uk/news/view/5fc146 ... st-mk-dons

What's the guardian suggest we do with the Anti-Vaxxers??

Plenty of money in Kent.and they're in Tier 3? ...mr horden wont like this.

It was on the local news yesterday that some council leader heard a rumour that the 14 day review in mid December won't be happening in the North East.
Livestreams till March IMO.

Plenty of parts not that well off as well I would imagine.

Not so well off Hastings has the lowest rates of Covid in East Sussex.

remember going to gillingham a few years ago. was really surprised how poverty stricken the place looked. made hartlepool look like somewhere in the cotswolds.

Gillingham is very bleak & Gravesend, Northfleet are just as bad, for those that have travelled to Ebsfleet's ground will probably confirm. It is these places plus the Isle of Sheppey where the covid rate is very high.

its another explanation of what the postcode lottery really means. unless they work in these places i imagine there will be people who have lived their whole lives in kent who have no interest in football or friends and family living there have never been to these places. there actually is no reason other than them to go there anyway.

My experience of Gillingham consists of walking from the railway station to the football ground and back again. It is not a long walk but it is through an area which can only be described as run down. There doesn't seem to be any pride in the area and the people living there don't seem to want to tidy it up. Household goods get discarded but only out to the front of the house. Luton is a bit like that around the football ground. You can readily see why a pandemic could take over.
Talking of postcodes. My house and Grimsby Town football club start with the postcode DN and we're just short of 60 miles apart. My daughter lives in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire and her postcode is also DN. It's like Hartlepool and Wetherby sharing the same postcode. In the DN postcode there are examples of rich areas and poor areas, affluent areas and run down areas, people who take pride in their area and people who don't, slums and mansions and, in my experience, that scenario is common to most areas, including Kent.

The Independents take on who gets the jab.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... r3z-addoor

Seems the biggest problem is going to be storing the Pfizer vaccine, which is why hospitals will probably get it first as care homes can't cope with the deep temperature required to handle it. Maybe they might look at getting care home residents into hospitals where possible to get the vaccine. The easier option will be the Oxford one as the temperature problem isn't as acute.
Glad it's not me who has to decide but I have no doubt whichever way public health go, the media will criticise them. Damned if they do and damned if they don't. Maybe we should let the Guardian et al make the decision, with the proviso that if the knowalls get it wrong the newspaper closes down.
It really is a sad state of affairs that the experts have to continuously be subjected to intense scrutiny by journalists hell bent on point scoring, who would be the first to squeal if people like J Van Tam abandoned the fight, not to mention Sarah Gilbert of Oxford University who has devoted every waking moment since February pitting her wits and every fibre to find the vaccine answer while the media has spent every minute of every day finding fault.
I haven't bought newspapers for years and am so pleased that I made the right decision.
They haven't had a useful purpose since fish shops were stopped from serving the chips in them. Public health deemed it was poisoning our bodies, maybe they should look at the effect they are having on our minds. It's no wonder that circulation is declining and thousands are cancelling their TV licence.

Good points Mr D

To be fair , their readership is dying off and they are not being replaced by young people. I agree newspapers these days are shit, but it could be another one of those , be careful what you wished for scenarios , when they finally disappear and are replaced by soundbite , bite sized chunks news on mobile phones, time will tell, but we probably won't be around to find out.

i,m actually not bothered if national and local newspapers did die out. can get the information i need on line anyway on the subjects that interest me. how many others actually read a paper from front to back anyway. i for one skip anything to do with the royal family in the nationals or articles about a new school for dance and performing arts in a local one. thats on top of many others i,d just read the headlines and pass on. too much already in the re cycling bin.

I see we have a group of tory MPs trying to undermine the public health message.
Despicable t.wats.

Every time I see a group, any group, stirring up against the team fighting this pandemic, the first thing I think of is well what is your alternative. If they are so clever and have the knowledge to question, rebel against and subsequently defeat the current team then fine BUT only if they have something better to offer. Put up or shut up.
This is a Global problem that virtually every country and the people in those countries are in danger from. Political in fighting and internal squabbling have to be put aside. By all means generate discussion and scrutiny but do it sensibly and in a grown up fashion with the sole purpose of improving the situation. Hindsight is something most of us can apply but I prefer those with foresight.

[quote="derwent"][

Every time I see a group, any group, stirring up against the team fighting this pandemic, the first thing I think of is well what is your alternative. If they are so clever and have the knowledge to question, rebel against and subsequently defeat the current team then fine BUT only if they have something better to offer.
you need people to highlight all these anomolese that are abounding with these restriction. supermarkets and chain stores like w e smiths seem to be doing what they wish whilst small local shops having to close. many have spent good money on making their premisis totally safe to what the government recommended. on top of this all the other contradictions that come up all the time. remember the one that the NHS is open. well it bloody isn,t. all this muzzle wearing in a one in one out shop, thats if they are still open anyway, really does make a lot of sense. if everyone did just put up and shut up the restrictions could get possibly worse and more people with real influence rail against the government our lives may improve.

Tier 2 after mid-December looking more likely - this is in the Guardian today:

"North-east England

This is the only region in England to be entirely in tier 3. Rates are dropping in all local areas. The biggest week-on-week fall is for Hartlepool, down sharply from 523.2 cases per 100,000 people to 265.8."

That Boxing Day game home to Halifax would be a great way to get fans back in the Vic.

They are not just highlighting anomalies are they though. They want no restrictions or very few restrictions, without explaining why their wishes will do anything to restrict the pandemic. The bottom line is there are lives at risk, the NHS is at risk ( and, at the moment, it is open in my area),and the NHS staff are at risk, schoolchildren are at risk if they are at school but are also facing another risk if they are not educated, not to mention the people teaching them, businesses are at risk, care homes residents are at risk as are their staff, everybody at work is at risk, everybody who crosses their front door are at risk.
The problem is the team who have to address these risks have to address all of them at once and take a balanced view in an ever changing scenario and whatever they do is, at best, not enough but all us experts and the media knowalls merrily dance around the problem, searching in every corner for ways to criticise the team without offering a scrap of encouragement or help or a better route out of the problem.
England is struggling. Scotland is struggling. Wales is struggling and N Ireland is struggling. What they are struggling with is finding the best possible answer. We have Tories in England, Labour in Wales, SNP in Scotland and a coalition in Ireland. Just about every political scenario possible. They all say they are responding to advice and they all say restrictions are necessary so they all have anomalies, don't they not. Are they all wrong. Most other countries have restrictions, are they all wrong as well. Would the 80 or so Tory MP's who are against the restrictions like to stand up and enlighten us to why and show us a better route. I'm sure the whole world would stand with bated breath awaiting their enlightening revelations. They could bring THEIR team of medical and scientific experts along to back up their way out of this mess and guess what the rest of us and the world could produce our respective anomalies within their plan.
The truth is that everybody is frustrated and want this bloody pandemic to end and because nobody has the answer, until the vaccine is rolled out, we have to have scapegoats. It is also the truth that just about every part of the world wide spectrum is trying to find the answer on how to fight it, every political colour under the sun is involved so the answer doesn't just lie with politicians does it.
The answer lies with all of us as it stands, at least until we get the vaccines in operation.
Unless any of us has a better idea on how to restrict the spread of the virus I would suggest we leave the job to those who have the job.
I'm not saying there shouldn't be scrutiny or criticism but let's do it from a positive position and not based on who we voted for.
It is not written in any manifesto, in this country anyway, the right way to deal with Covid 19, which is why I have shied away from picking on any of them. They need our help and a good place to start would be to follow the guidelines.

I think it is fair comment to give some credit to the restrictions used in November and to also credit the North East folk and Hartlepool folk in particular.
The answer truly lies in our ability to endorse disciplined behaviour/
Well done to the responsible within the community.

On the BBC website that Obesity has fuelled the covid death rate.
Go easy on the Xmas pud this year.
.