IntenseDebate - FrankyJ29

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - David Gauke: Ten years... · 1 reply · +1 points

Then we are legislating against the hypothetical - in which case the current red list isn't what you are proposing - We should simply make a quarantine law based on infections/thousand people. In which case we should also quarantine people moving within the UK from high infection areas to low infection areas. As for countries with high infection rates, many of these have them because of our own exported mutation.

And why stop at covid-19 if the hypothetical is what we are quarantining against? We never heard of it a few years ago. Shouldnt we simply quarantine people coming from anywhere exotic? We dont know where the next deadly pandemic will come from. The next hypothetical pandemic might be worse. What you are proposing is to constantly live in fear of what may come to exist one day.

And as for the cost deterring people going away - surely it would be better to simply stop flights coming from anywhere risky if that is really the objective? If we really want people to quarantine then we would make it more attractive for them to quarantine? If we think it is too expensive then we obviously dont think it is that much of a risk.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - David Gauke: Ten years... · 3 replies · +1 points

But would it likely result in hundred perhaps thousands of extra deaths? I see no evidence that any of the current mutations would do that or that people returning from these red list countries would add much to the current death toll. And if it were the case, then why isnt the government removing a key contributor to likely attempts of evasion? - i.e. the cost. The fact that they are leaving it to individuals to pay indicates the government itself doesnt take it that seriously but want to get some mitigation simply through a policy of fear.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Iain Dale: Why would a... · 0 replies · +1 points

I'd say the UK is also quite comparable. The conclusion is that some countries that have had lockdowns have seen high levels of Covid deaths whilst other countries that haven't had lockdowns have also seen high levels of Covid deaths. Tells me that lockdowns might not be key factor in preventing death.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Henry Hill: Gove's cha... · 0 replies · +1 points

The UK simply shouldnt take the "legal" content of the protocol too seriously. It should be implemented only so far as there is serious pushback and eventually, as the UK becomes less dependent on the EU, the protocol can simply be overruled. Politics trumps legalism.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Sammy Wilson: The Nort... · 0 replies · +1 points

Irish Ferries disagrees with you:
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and...

Taking the slow boat to Europe certainly makes sense for some exports that are bulky and for which there is no hurry. For the rest, the landbridge is preferable. Any increase to the cost or time associated with the land bridge is negative to the Republic of Ireland and has an even greater impact to more exporters than export volumes alone might suggest.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Sammy Wilson: The Nort... · 0 replies · +1 points

Even I wouldnt suggest that the protocol is causing starvation in Northern Ireland. And English policy to Ireland in the 1840s wasn't to use food as a weapon. The famine was the result of the type of mindset that seems to be more prevalent within the EU these days - lets remember that it is the EU making life hard to import foodstuffs into Ireland at the moment.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Sammy Wilson: The Nort... · 0 replies · +1 points

This wouldn't have bought time to reduce dependence on the EU -if anything it would have entrenched dependence.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Sammy Wilson: The Nort... · 2 replies · +1 points

Yes, and encouraging increased ferry use is a longstanding policy for inter-EU trade. However, the land bridge offers advantage in speed and cost that ferries generally can't provide . Making it difficult incentivises compromise on the NI protocol.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Sammy Wilson: The Nort... · 11 replies · +1 points

Firsty, the idea of extending the grace period as Michael Gove is asking, is not worthless because it buys time. This allows the UK to develop new supply lines with the rest of the world and lower dependence on the EU. Lower dependence on the EU puts us in a stronger position when in conflict with the EU over the withdrawal agreement. At the end of the grace period we then have to make the legalism of the text collide with political reality - i.e. sloppy implementation and ignoring it. Let the EU take the UK to court - this will take time. Furthermore, we should tighten the screws on the Republic of Ireland as far as possible economically...make imports from the Republic of Ireland painful, Make the costs of using the the UK as a landbridge expensive etc.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - O'Brien and his critic... · 0 replies · +1 points

You wrote about lockdowns. The study demonstrates these aren't useful. If you are saying that actually it is only those arguing for absolutely no restrictions including light touch restrictions that have lost the argument then I won't disagree. Can you clarify that is actually your point?

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