LOCKDOWN

Sorry but there are some people on here who can’t.

Personally I can’t see bumbling Boris surviving this. Okay there’s nothing been proven 100 percent regarding either his apartment refurb or the piling up the bodies statement, but the vultures certainly appear to be circling. I can see him ending up on The next I’m a celebrity the way things are going.

Yeah agree with that, although it's nothing that's not been said a million times on here any elsewhere before, I can't see the value in going over old ground all the time - perhaps that will be more pertinent at the point an independent review of the governments handling of the pandemic has been carried out. And, for balance, you've listed all the negatives but neglected the positive (admittedly the only one) which was the fantastic rollout of the vaccines in coordination with the NHS. The current discussion point was did he make that comment about the bodies piling up or not, and it's fine to make our own informed judgements on that as long as we don't go championing things as fact.

You say that as if these people loved it. They had no choice, we’re pretty much forced onto furlough and most would’ve hated it - of course their wages should be supplemented.

What about those told to self-isolate but on pittance statutory sick pay? Most couldn’t afford to self-isolate, thus contributing to more and more positive cases.

As for your last point, a lot of countries have made mistakes; socialist-run New Zealand operated a Zero Covid strategy putting people before profit - 2,610 cases and 26 deaths (still, to this day).

1.4 million people were deemed not eligible for furlough and if you’re on minimum wage, 80% pay is basically f**k all.

They're also almost all far safer at home and a vast majority happier for being there too. Given we are talking about learning lessons from the pandemic, one obvious one would be to legislate for working from home wherever possible. No more wasted time, effort and money commuting to work, often on cramped public transport (hello Covid), adding further pollution to our environment, to sit in a cramped office (hello Covid). 

But as usual, profit gets put ahead of public health and we're all being encouraged back into our offices - the only reason for doing so, as far as I can see, is to ensure that the people who own the office blocks still get their rental income. 

I'm a council worker and I've worked from home since the start of the pandemic. I've never been financially better off for it - I buy the same amount of food as I always did and I was never one for meal deals etc, I'd always make my own butties. I'm not saving much on petrol, as I'm only a few mins in the car away from the office so that cost me little to commute anyway. My heating bills went up but I was able to claim a government allowance to compensate for that. So financially I'm about the same, and I know from a CW&C point of view that I highly doubt there will be an influx of people back to the office. Covid has changed ways of working - it's improved work/life balance. It's proved for many that you don't need to commute to an office every day to do your job well, you have more flexibility picking your kids up from school etc, and has environmental benefits.....the days of people travelling across the borough for a quick meeting are gone. The downside is that I miss the workplace camaraderie sometimes and I do think there's some working benefits to seeing your colleagues from time to time, so I'd have no issue going back to the office once or twice a week, but homeworking is here to stay for many now and it should be welcomed.

I agree with this as well.
I'm not saying that a lot of people haven't lost out but many have been a lot better off.
 
I work in the car industry and main dealers are telling us that they could have sold another 50-100 new cars each month.
Their reasons are that nobody has had to pay for a holiday, and most people have done up their houses so aren't looking to move.
What else can they spend their money on... a brand new car.
 

Spoken like a true Tory, where your only concern is money. An awful lot of people working from home have experienced negative health and wellbeing impacts, with the most common being a feeling of isolation and being less connected with colleagues.
Musculoskeletal problems through sitting long periods in inappropriate seating, a lack of exercise and an inability to switch off from work are also widely known problems.
Mind you, if the health and well-being of people is of no interest to you, it’s probably not an obvious one I’d have thought.

I'm quite surprised - pleasantly so, I suppose - at how much fuss these allegations are creating. He supposedly made dodgy use of funds and made mean comments - no shit! I thought everyone knew he was like this by now, and either resented him for it or didn't care, happy that at least he's not Corbyn and he "got Brexit done". Who are these people who are surprised and disappointed in Boris Johnson, and what planet are they on?

Cannot believe I am having to explain this, but I asked you the question ‘Why are they better off working at home?’ and the usual Tories piped up that in their opinions everyone was better off because they had a few extra quid. Clearly none of you have considered the well-being of people forced to mix home and work life, but that’s not a surprise with people whose primary concern is money. Having regard for their fellow man is an alien concept for some.

If it’s ever proven conclusively that he made the comment about piling up the bodies he’s history and rightly so, but the sad thing is that his Waterloo is much more likely to be an expenses scandal that anything else.

I’m not saying everyone has benefitted from furlough, far from it, I was only saying that many people I’ve talked to were more than happy to stay on furlough. But don’t let what I actually said get in the way of your usual bollocks.

You literally said ‘all better off by being at home’ about 10 posts ago.