Relaxing restrictions for Christmas Day

[102 fan]

And in the West Midlands, the Police & Crime Commissioner has said that police will enter people's homes

Cops WILL enter homes and break-up Xmas family gatherings, warns police chief

COPS will go into Brits’ homes and break up Christmas family gatherings if they break lockdown rules, a police chief has warned. David Jamieson, the West Midlands police and crime commissione…

www.thesun.co.uk

(OK, this is The Sun, and you have to take everything they say with a pinch of salt)

Well I live in the West Midlands, Mr Jamieson, and I am going to visit my mother on Boxing Day even though we don't live in the same house, and you know what you can do with your threats. Too right there will be some civil unrest if you try and enforce this.

The thin end of the wedge. Any respect for the police will disappear if they prosecute over the Christmas season. If they go into houses on Christmas Day or Boxing day, as you say, there will be civil unrest.

There's only so much people can take.

 

[MikeWM]

Per Adam Wagner (who knows his stuff):

https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1321220492167204869

The police have no power of entry under the Tier 2 (or 1 and 3) regulations. They would have to be invited into homes to exercise their power to disperse gatherings.

Unfortunately there does appear to be such a power in the current Welsh 'firebreak' regulations, but not in the English ones (yet).

 

[duncanp]

The thin end of the wedge. Any respect for the police will disappear if they prosecute over the Christmas season. If they go into houses on Christmas Day or Boxing day, as you say, there will be civil unrest.

There's only so much people can take.

I presume the police will be waiting at the bottom of the fireplace on Christmas Eve, and if Santa Claus comes down the chimney they will arrest him for unauthorised mixing between households.

After all, considering the number of households that Santa has to visit on Christmas Eve, he must be the ultimate superspeader of the virus.

The police have no power of entry under the Tier 2 (or 1 and 3) regulations. They would have to be invited into homes to exercise their power to disperse gatherings.

I don't think the inconvenient fact that the police don't have the power to enter someone's home is going to stop them trying it on.

 

[adc82140]

It's Sun silliness only. The PCC is not the "police chief" for a start. That would be the Chief Constable. By and large PCCs are nothing more than ignorant overblown parish councillors, and have no influence over day to day operational matters.

 

[C J Snarzell]

And in the West Midlands, the Police & Crime Commissioner has said that police will enter people's homes

Cops WILL enter homes and break-up Xmas family gatherings, warns police chief

COPS will go into Brits’ homes and break up Christmas family gatherings if they break lockdown rules, a police chief has warned. David Jamieson, the West Midlands police and crime commissione…

www.thesun.co.uk

(OK, this is The Sun, and you have to take everything they say with a pinch of salt)

Well I live in the West Midlands, Mr Jamieson, and I am going to visit my mother on Boxing Day even though we don't live in the same house, and you know what you can do with your threats. Too right there will be some civil unrest if you try and enforce this.

If that is enforced (which I doubt!) assaults on police will go through the roof at Christmas.

CJ

 

[DB]

This is true; the holiday at that time of year pre-dates Christianity by a long way, and is to celebrate the winter solstice and the days getting longer!

Yes, absolutely. Only a small minority of the population now are practicing christians - e.g. the national church, the Church of England, is in long-term decline and less than 2% of the population attend its services at least once a month.

Christmas is effectively now a secular midwinter festival for most.

 

[greyman42]

One thing is for sure - Prince Andrew won't be on the invite list, nor will Harry and what-so-er-face from Suits.

Come to think of it, Phil the Greek will be in complete isolation from everybody given his age and health. He's determine to get a telegram off his wife next year.

CJ

I would imagine that Prince Philip is the sort who could not care less about the virus.

 

[102 fan]

I would imagine that Prince Philip is the sort who could not care less about the virus.

I've found that the people who lived through the war, fought in the war, went through bombing in the war, were a lot more hardier than the generations that came after them.

 

[C J Snarzell]

I've found that the people who lived through the war, fought in the war, went through bombing in the war, were a lot more hardier than the generations that came after them.

..........and they were lead by the legendary Churchill to keep their spirits up..........80 years later we have Boris..........

CJ

 

[Mugby]

I think Boris would genuinely like to be able to offer a glimmer of hope for the Christmas period but he's firmly in the grip of the SAGE Committee, Whitty, Vallance and co. who are stopping him. The best thing he could do in the new year is have a massive clear out of that lot.

The media aren't helping either, the BBC in particular, whenever they do a news report about the latest town to enter Tier 3, there are never any dissenting voices in the interviews they do, like they've all been filtered out.
Also, in their daily, doom laden propositions which they conjure up to fill their over-long news programmes, they always manage to find some 'expert' or very obscure professor to back up their claims, however preposterous they may be, in order to keep the Covid show rolling.

 

[HSTEd]

I've found that the people who lived through the war, fought in the war, went through bombing in the war, were a lot more hardier than the generations that came after them.

I imagine once you've been in a fleet engagement (at Cape Matapan, in Valiant) as well as taking part in the evacuation of Crete, it would put things in perspective.

 

[Bantamzen]

I've found that the people who lived through the war, fought in the war, went through bombing in the war, were a lot more hardier than the generations that came after them.

You mean that people who were being bombed were more likely to try to live their lives as normally as possible, whereas a squishy section of today's society want to be wrapped in cotton wool & hidden away at the small possibility of getting ill from the virus? Then I agree.

 

[Pete_uk]

Yes, I like the war photos including a milkman clambering over debris to deliver so someone's milk or the lady hanging her washing up in the kitchen even though it now only had three walls to to a German bomb!

 

[The Ham]

Personally I think that if there restrictions on relaxing for Christmas Day there'll be a lot of unhappy people, as indicated by the thread title!!!

 

[birchesgreen]

Oh no not the Blitz spirit myths again

 

[Class 33]

I didn't know whether to start a new thread for this or not. So just put it in with this thread.

On a related note, New Year's Eve this year is going to be very different to what it usually is. I bet many many people on New Year's Eve last year were really looking forward to 2020 thinking it could be a great year. A fresh new year, a fresh new decade. But my god, apart from January and February, 2020 has proven to be an absolutely dire year because of this blasted virus, and the accompanying lockdowns and restrictions which have dragged on for months on end. Ruining many people's plans and hopes for this year, and many people's livelihoods and mental health have been greatly effected this year.

This New Year's Eve. Well I expect the 10pm curfew will still be in place, meaning no one will be able to go out to pubs/bars/restaurants to see in the new year. A fair portion of the country could still be in Tier 3 lockdown by then, meaning no pubs/bars/restaurants will even be open in those areas. Of the pubs and bars that will be open, well they'll have to close at 10pm and there will still be this "social distancing guidelines" in force, making it not very easy to mingle with other people. So practically everyone will be at home this New Year's Eve, either on their own or within their own household, and maybe just have a small numbers of others around obeying "The rule of six". But I think a fair number of people won't adhere to "The rule of six" for New Year's Eve, having small house gatherings which go a little over 6 people. Though I think , many people won't really feel like celebrating New Year's Eve anyway, as 2020 has been an absolutely dire year beyond belief and this looks set to drag on until at least the first few months of 2021 and with no certainty as to when it will all finally end and we can go back to a normal life again.

It will be interesting to see what the schedule of the last few hours of 2020 and early hours of 2021 will be like on BBC1 this year. Normally they show some upbeat feel good pop concert, with a break for the fireworks in London at midnight. This year there will be no fireworks display in London. And can't see them putting on an upbeat pop concert this year. I think they'll just put some film on this year instead.

 

[VauxhallandI]

I didn't know whether to start a new thread for this or not. So just put it in with this thread.

On a related note, New Year's Eve this year is going to be very different to what it usually is. I bet many many people on New Year's Eve last year were really looking forward to 2020 thinking it could be a great year. A fresh new year, a fresh new decade. But my god, apart from January and February, 2020 has proven to be an absolutely dire year because of this blasted virus, and the accompanying lockdowns and restrictions which have dragged on for months on end. Ruining many people's plans and hopes for this year, and many people's livelihoods and mental health have been greatly effected this year.

This New Year's Eve. Well I expect the 10pm curfew will still be in place, meaning no one will be able to go out to pubs/bars/restaurants to see in the new year. A fair portion of the country could still be in Tier 3 lockdown by then, meaning no pubs/bars/restaurants will even be open in those areas. Of the pubs and bars that will be open, well they'll have to close at 10pm and there will still be this "social distancing guidelines" in force, making it not very easy to mingle with other people. So practically everyone will be at home this New Year's Eve, either on their own or within their own household, and maybe just have a small numbers of others around obeying "The rule of six". But I think a fair number of people won't adhere to "The rule of six" for New Year's Eve, having small house gatherings which go a little over 6 people. Though I think , many people won't really feel like celebrating New Year's Eve anyway, as 2020 has been an absolutely dire year beyond belief and this looks set to drag on until at least the first few months of 2021 and with no certainty as to when it will all finally end and we can go back to a normal life again.

It will be interesting to see what the schedule of the last few hours of 2020 and early hours of 2021 will be like on BBC1 this year. Normally they show some upbeat feel good pop concert, with a break for the fireworks in London at midnight. This year there will be no fireworks display in London. And can't see them putting on an upbeat pop concert this year. I think they'll just put some film on this year instead.

And the joy of the Brexit dividend to look forward to.....

 

[yorksrob]

They'd be better off sticking with repeats I think.

TBH, it was never the same since Clive James stopped doing it anyway.

 

[PTR 444]

A fresh new year, a fresh new decade. But my god, apart from January and February, 2020 has proven to be an absolutely dire year because of this blasted virus

Mind you, January and February weren’t particularly great either with the wet weather and certain tragic events in the news. I bet people were looking forward to some rejoice around that first sunny weekend in March before we all got locked down!

I’d actually say this July was better than Jan and Feb with the easing of restrictions around then.

 

[BJames]

As Julia Hartley-Brewer said to George Eustice yesterday on TalkRadio, we know they will try their best to relax restrictions around Christmas because if you don't people will just ignore them. It's all very well some of these police chiefs and spokespeople saying that they will enter houses and disperse gatherings - good luck with that one when basically every single house up and down the country is breaking the restriction. Not to mention the fact that the police will be incredibly reluctant to enforce on Christmas Day.

 

[Trackman]

Personally I think that if there restrictions on relaxing for Christmas Day there'll be a lot of unhappy people, as indicated by the thread title!!!

I know what you mean, I think I’ve dodged a bullet this Christmas.
Saying that, I always look forward going to the local pub at lunchtime on Christmas Day.

 

[TheSel]

It'll all be over by Christmas. Just look at the figures in today's press - 100,000 new cases every day, and doubling every nine days. Even if no-one had it yesterday, at these rates, the figures pan out as below:

UK Population = 67,886,011

Date​	No of Daily Infections​	Existing Number of infected people​	% of population infected​
29/10/20​	96,000​	96,000​	0.1414135233​
30/10/20​	103,680​	199,680​	0.2941401285​
31/10/20​	111,974​	311,654​	0.4590848621​
01/11/20​	120,932​	432,587​	0.6372251744​
02/11/20​	130,607​	563,194​	0.8296167117​
03/11/20​	141,055​	704,249​	1.037399572​
04/11/20​	152,340​	856,589​	1.261805061​
05/11/20​	164,527​	1,021,116​	1.5041629892​
06/11/20​	177,689​	1,198,806​	1.7659095517​
07/11/20​	191,904​	1,390,710​	2.0485958392​
08/11/20​	207,257​	1,597,967​	2.3538970296​
09/11/20​	223,837​	1,821,804​	2.6836223153​
10/11/20​	241,744​	2,063,548​	3.0397256239​
11/11/20​	261,084​	2,324,632​	3.4243171971​
12/11/20​	281,971​	2,606,603​	3.8396760962​
13/11/20​	304,528​	2,911,131​	4.2882637072​
14/11/20​	328,890​	3,240,022​	4.7727383271​
15/11/20​	355,202​	3,595,223​	5.2959709166​
16/11/20​	383,618​	3,978,841​	5.8610621133​
17/11/20​	414,307​	4,393,149​	6.4713606057​
18/11/20​	447,452​	4,840,600​	7.1304829775​
19/11/20​	483,248​	5,323,848​	7.842335139​
20/11/20​	521,908​	5,845,756​	8.6111354734​
21/11/20​	563,661​	6,409,417​	9.4414398346​
22/11/20​	608,753​	7,018,170​	10.3381685447​
23/11/20​	657,454​	7,675,624​	11.3066355516​
24/11/20​	710,050​	8,385,674​	12.3525799191​
25/11/20​	766,854​	9,152,528​	13.4821998359​
26/11/20​	828,202​	9,980,730​	14.7021893461​
27/11/20​	894,458​	10,875,188​	16.0197780171​
28/11/20​	966,015​	11,841,203​	17.4427737818​
29/11/20​	1,043,296​	12,884,500​	18.9796092077​
30/11/20​	1,126,760​	14,011,260​	20.6393914676​
01/12/20​	1,216,901​	15,228,160​	22.4319563084​
02/12/20​	1,314,253​	16,542,413​	24.3679263364​
03/12/20​	1,419,393​	17,961,806​	26.4587739666​
04/12/20​	1,532,944​	19,494,751​	28.7168894073​
05/12/20​	1,655,580​	21,150,331​	31.1556540832​
06/12/20​	1,788,026​	22,938,357​	33.7895199332​
07/12/20​	1,931,069​	24,869,426​	36.6340950511​
08/12/20​	2,085,554​	26,954,980​	39.7062361785​
09/12/20​	2,252,398​	29,207,378​	43.0241485962​
10/12/20​	2,432,590​	31,639,969​	46.6074940072​
11/12/20​	2,627,197​	34,267,166​	50.4775070511​
12/12/20​	2,837,373​	37,104,539​	54.6571211385​
13/12/20​	3,064,363​	40,168,902​	59.1711043529​
14/12/20​	3,309,512​	43,478,415​	64.0462062244​
15/12/20​	3,574,273​	47,052,688​	69.3113162457​
16/12/20​	3,860,215​	50,912,903​	74.9976350687​
17/12/20​	4,169,032​	55,081,935​	81.1388593975​
18/12/20​	4,502,555​	59,584,490​	87.7713816727​
19/12/20​	4,862,759​	64,447,249​	94.9345057298​
20/12/20​	5,251,780​	69,699,029​	102.6706797115​

 

[HSTEd]

It'll all be over by Christmas. Just look at the figures in today's press - 100,000 new cases every day, and doubling every nine days. Even if no-one had it yesterday, at these rates, the figures pan out as below:

Obviously the exponential growth approximation colllapses long before it burns through.
Indeed R will be below 1 by mid December on that curve.

 

[C J Snarzell]

As another forum member has mentioned I do think New Years Eve is going to present a greater challenge than Christmas.

Many people will be having a good p**s up this NYE because it has without doubt been one of the worst years on record and all of us will be glad to see the back of 2020.

CJ

 

[VauxhallandI]

As another forum member has mentioned I do think New Years Eve is going to present a greater challenge than Christmas.

Many people will be having a good p**s up this NYE because it has without doubt been one of the worst years on record and all of us will be glad to see the back of 2020.

CJ

I don't see anything to celebrate - I see 21 being a pile of.........as well

 

[Trackman]

I don't see anything to celebrate - I see 21 being a pile of.........as well

My thinking too.
Trying to stay positive, but it's looking glum.

 

[greyman42]

As another forum member has mentioned I do think New Years Eve is going to present a greater challenge than Christmas.

Many people will be having a good p**s up this NYE because it has without doubt been one of the worst years on record and all of us will be glad to see the back of 2020.

CJ

It will be a bigger problem for Sturgeon as the Scots celebrate New Year with a lot more enthusiasm than the English. In Scotland New Year is a two day event, hence the extra days holiday on the 2 January.

 

[DustyBin]

I don't see anything to celebrate - I see 21 being a pile of.........as well

Agreed. We're currently in the process of cancelling or postponing our 2021 plans on the basis that restrictions will remain in place for at least the first half of the year. I have a feeling that we'll spend next year reaping what we have sown....

 

[Class 33]

Yes as I mentioned, I seriously think not many people will be celebrating New Year's Eve this year. I think for many it will be just a quiet night in, with no special New Year's Eve food and drink "treats". There's nothing really to celebrate. This year has been a dreadful year for many, and likely that at least the first few months of 2021 will be just as bad. God forbid if the large bulk of 2021 turns out to be as bad as this year.

 

[Huntergreed]

Yes as I mentioned, I seriously think not many people will be celebrating New Year's Eve this year. I think for many it will be just a quiet night in, with no special New Year's Eve food and drink "treats". There's nothing really to celebrate. This year has been a dreadful year for many, and likely that at least the first few months of 2021 will be just as bad. God forbid if the large bulk of 2021 turns out to be as bad as this year.

I was a Facebook post “this time next year, will we be back to normal” and the vast majority of replies were “no, it won’t be safe”, sadly