This is a fascinating report from the BBC on Coronavirus on my home city, Bradford. I had already seen some reports of smaller towns and villages which are included within the metropolitan district complaining that they had been included in measures because the local authority did not want to make distinctions within its boundaries. MeanwhileContinue reading “We won’t beat COVID-19 if we don’t understand the problem”
Category Archives: Opinion
If 30% of the public did not comply with lockdown then what good will future lockdowns do?
Here is a nugget from the Telegraph’s COVID-19 live feed. “Only 71 per cent of Brits, Americans and other English speakers around the globe followed guidelines set by their governments during the Covid-19 lockdown, according to a new study from Durham University Business School. This was drastically lower than French and Italians – where 89 perContinue reading “If 30% of the public did not comply with lockdown then what good will future lockdowns do?”
Herd Immunity – on avoiding conspiracy theories
If as Christians, we want to engage with the world around us, it is important that we engage with the facts and stay clear from conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories ask us to believe that we cannot believe the evidence in front of us because secret, malign forces are at work. A good example of thisContinue reading “Herd Immunity – on avoiding conspiracy theories”
An MP, a rape accusation and #churchtoo
In the news this weekend, an as yet unnamed Conservative MP has been arrested on suspicion of rape. There have been calls for him to have the Conservative whip suspended, for example, Jess Phillips, the shadow Domestic violence minister has expressed shock that this has not happened yet.[1]Her argument is that naming him is necessaryContinue reading “An MP, a rape accusation and #churchtoo”
Coronavirus – did we set the wrong priorities?
I am continuing to think about how we have done so far during the coronavirus pandemic. As I said in an earlier post, one measure of this is how we are doing against the objectives the Government set out. However, we should also step back and ask whether those were the right objectives. One issueContinue reading “Coronavirus – did we set the wrong priorities?”
Asking the unreasonable questions – Coronavirus
A little while back, I pointed out that we don’t ask the seemingly unreasonable questions and so we don’t get to do the real deep analysis that helps us solve problems. In that specific context, I was talking about the investigation into PHE’s reporting of COVID-19 related deaths outside of hospital. I suggested that weContinue reading “Asking the unreasonable questions – Coronavirus”
Behavioural Fatigue -did we get tired of lockdown and did the Government correctly predict this?
A lot of journalists spend their time tweeting these days and it is perhaps a better insight into their thought process than the edited results on TV. Here for example is the BBC’s Lewis Goodall. Now, the first thing that springs to mind reading the thread is “wouldn’t that have been a good thing forContinue reading “Behavioural Fatigue -did we get tired of lockdown and did the Government correctly predict this?”
If we are going to see racial justice we will need to escape the monster/angel narrative
It did not take long did it. Fairly soon after George Floyd’s murder and the outpouring of grief, anger and protest, the stories were circulating. Floyd was high on meth, Floyd was a serial, violent criminal so why was he being celebrated as a martyr. Of course those stories started with the socially required statementsContinue reading “If we are going to see racial justice we will need to escape the monster/angel narrative”
Grooming Gang ideology
Here is a link to an interview with Dr Ella Hill, a survivor of the Rotherham grooming gang scandal. Some headline comments The Home Office needs to urgently move to publish the report that was commissioned into grooming gang culture by Sajid Javid when he was in office. We need to acknowledge the shocking levelContinue reading “Grooming Gang ideology”
Fighting a pandemic, how have we done so far?
As life begins to return to normal, it is perhaps a good opportunity to look back on the past few months and reflect on how the UK has done so far in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. I say “so far” because we are still not out of the woods yet. The virus is stillContinue reading “Fighting a pandemic, how have we done so far?”
