A quick pandemic update from Britain: from the Department of We Told You So

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The Department of We Told You So has sent the government a bill for services rendered: 

Tuesday. The House of Commons begins meeting in person again. Its leader, Jacob Rees Mogg, wants it to set an example. 

Cue warnings about Covid-19 contagion and the impossibility of keeping a decent distance in that rabbit warren of a building. But Britons are made of sterner stuff and a majority votes to continue meeting in person.

Wednesday. Business Secretary Alok Sharma becomes visibly ill during a debate. He’s tested for Covid-19 and goes home. Possibly to isolate himself but possibly to take a 260-mile drive so he can test his vision and have a cup of coffee with Dominic Cummings in some scenic town. 

Thursday. Your guess is as good as mine. I’m posting this at 8:30 a.m. and have no idea what’ll happen next. 

If you put this in a novel, I’d tell you not to be so predictable. 

40 thoughts on “A quick pandemic update from Britain: from the Department of We Told You So”

  2. R-M is right. They have set an example. If you’re inside with people you don’t live with there’s a good chance that you’ll get sick. It was very generous of our MPs to remind us of that when people were starting to get a bit slack about social distancing.

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  7. My bet is they’ll abolish quarantine regulations the day after they implement them.

    I’m still confused by the school thing mind you. Is it right you can have sixteen in a classroom but only six of them are allowed outside at once? Or is the number of people you can meet only restricted if you are related?

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    • All good–and I suspect unanswerable–questions, but I do know this much: This is an age group that will never ask, in the middle of a math class, “Yeah, but why do I need to know this?” They need to know math if because it keeps us all safe.

      In ways that are yet to be determined.

      You’re probably right about the quarantine. That’s the only thing that’s missing to make the policy completely pointless instead of only mostly pointless.

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  10. Erm. I feel like Justin Trudeau must have when asked about the Orange one – I need to have a good long think before I can come up with anything even remotely coherent. I’m just heading over to the corner to rock back ‘n forth for a while …

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  12. I forget now which despicable thing you chronicled Alok Sharma doing several episodes ago, but it seems that Karma is still in good working order.
    Several arrests have been made of instigators who didn’t belong with any of the protesters ,( in the USA) including some carrying Molotov cocktails. Despite our Attorney General’s assertion that all the intruders in these terrible demonstrations are from Far Left (“AntiFa”) groups, all the arrestees so far (in different cities) seem to have been associated with the Far Right. (ProFa) .
    The President’s new press spokes babe has compared his trek across the way to St John’s Epsicopal to Churchhill’s walk through London during the Blitz. Though in the photo, Churchhill was accompanied by some gentlemen in a suit and a woman in a dress and formal hat, not by half his cabinet and members of the National Guard and police in riot gear, and General Milly in full battle dress.

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    • Your memory’s better than mine. I had to ask Lord Google what I’d said about Alok Sharma. I didn’t even remember that I’d mentioned him. He was the kind soul who said that workers don’t automatically have a right to walk out if their workplaces are unsafe.

      His workplace is unsafe.

      I’m not surprised about the Molotov cocktails. I’ve been hearing rumors of SUVs patrolling through neighborhoods, some with out-of-town plates, others with their plates covered. And a report–no, sorry, two–of people in Klan robes riding around in cars. One shot at someone we know slightly. I haven’t written about any of this because I’m not there and I can’t confirm it, but the stories do form a coherent picture.

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  13. I have run oit of new things to day on this. Just hope the virus ends soon, and the violence as well. But neither will end altogether, they will always be lurking around. ready to pop up when we least suspect. And black swans. Beware the Black Swans.

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