The R rate in Yorkshire and Humber is the lowest between 0.8 and 1 but all I hear about is Kent. It would appear we could be stuck in tier 3 for several weeks to come.
It was also reported that London based on their figures should be in tier 3 but no after intervention from Johnson it was reduced to 2, so much for the levelling up process.

Boris has just lost the next election and rightly so

"levelling up" is the biggest con in a long series of cons from Johnson & Co
Anyone who thinks that the country's wealth will ever be shared more evenly is deluded.

Mind you, the electorate still believe him.

For starters, all of us will be poorer on the back of Brexit (even the Southerners) apart from some of the ruling elite.

As for the tiers, once again the criteria is set to achieve the preferred outcome and we're all being played.
Over the coming months, if we keep the tier system, resentment will build and build.

What is it with you northerners that you always feel so hard done by?

As has been said previously it’s not just a simple number that is the criteria

You weren’t crying unfairness at the start of the first wave when London got locked down with no northern intervention.

Just get on with it.

An ex shipbuilding community is hardly going to become a uk silicone valley is it. Levelling up isn’t going to be level it’s just about lifting the north enough to stop you moaning about London and the south east.

If I remember correctly when London was racing ahead with the number of cases we all had to lockdown however, when it was reversed the tier system was introduced.

I'd actually take that but, it wont even be that level.
It was a cynical election tactic and it worked.

Mind you, with how some of the Northern towns and cities are getting shat on, it's just a case of Labour getting itself organised (not a given by any means) and they will kick the Tories out at the next GE.
They will have to unite (some how), although when the tax increases start, they (Labour), may gain some new voters.

They need to keep it together and find some aspirational policies, rather than just banging on about "looking after the poor", although this does clearly need to happen too.

Interesting point to note regarding the less stringent tiers in the South of England.
Despite, in some cases, their infection rate being higher, there is a greater number of intensive care beds per 100,000 than there is in the North of England.
Therefore, "we" get penalised twice. First of all because there is less "investment" in our hospitals (in terms of ICU beds) and then hit again because of the shortage.

Not so much levelling up but, more like, being kicked while we are down.

At least it goes some way to explaining why Londoners are generally in tier 2.

How did that work out for ya

The Tories have a new model, ditch their leader before an election and re-brand themselves. Boris will be gone, my guess is Raab will lead them into the next election.

Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire.

Cant see Raab getting the gig and many peoples favourite Tory, Sunak, may have emptied the UK's piggy bank by the time the next Leadership battle comes along.
It's going to be "interesting" times ahead for everyone and with millions more people likely to be jobless, throwing your cap into the Leadership race would be a brave thing to do, as it may be a very short lived premiership.

Mind you, Labour really need to get their act together or they will STILL be in opposition.

Well, as I posted this seven weeks ago I'd say I'm not far off the mark.

Looks like the political "gamble" to keep London in tier 2 has backfired in spectacular style.
There is talk of London moving into a tier 3 with added constraints, as cases have exploded.

Nice one Boris (again) !

Its been clear for a while that tier 2, and the relaxed behaviour of parts of the hospitality sector (admittedly anecdotally, but in Warrington at least there is plenty of suspect behaviour) doesn't do enough to keep levels down. So it seems inevitable that we will be in some kind of yo yo between tiers until the vaccination programme has reached the required level. Track and tracing would help alongside this but I think we have all given up on that ever being fit for purpose!

Northerners will be happy to see the cockneys being locked up for Xmas. I'm sure Burnham is enjoying a bubbly tonight on two fronts(Leigh and cockneys), albeit his naughty mate Kay has run off to Africa to avoid the press!

Why would anyone be happy with any of this, cockerneees have had the same regulations brought to them as others have received - nothing to celebrate in any way shape or form

Tbf, parts of London should have been in tier 3 already.
Their numbers were much worse than parts of the North and yet, once again, Bojo & Co have waited too long.
Hope you enjoyed your Scotch egg and eight pints though

Threatening head teachers who want to close schools before Xmas is ridiculous . Schools are one of the main drivers of Coviid particularly in London https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-how ... sf-twitter Having children at school for between 5 and 9 days before the government is allowing them to go and visit family all around the country is a recipe for disaster . Still a national lockdown in January will. Put the lid on the north south debate for a while. !!

Threatening head teachers who want to close schools before Xmas is ridiculous . Schools are one of the main drivers of Coviid particularly in London https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-how ... sf-twitter Having children at school for between 5 and 9 days before the government is allowing them to go and visit family all around the country is a recipe for disaster . Still a national lockdown in January will. Put the lid on the north south debate for a while. !!

Quote ="Durham Giant"Threatening head teachers who want to close schools before Xmas is ridiculous . Schools are one of the main drivers of Coviid particularly in London https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-how ... sf-twitter Having children at school for between 5 and 9 days before the government is allowing them to go and visit family all around the country is a recipe for disaster . Still a national lockdown in January will. Put the lid on the north south debate for a while. !!'" It was interesting to hear that at one of the "threatened" schools there are 1/3 of the pupils away from school, either with Covid or isolating and there were 23 teachers absent for the same reasons. Without actually being political (for once), it must be an absolute nightmare trying to manage pupils and staff etc and keep everyone safe. And getting back to politics. IF Bojo had lifted those areas into tier 3 at the appropriate time, perhaps it would have been easier to keep schools open

Quote ="Durham Giant"Threatening head teachers who want to close schools before Xmas is ridiculous . Schools are one of the main drivers of Coviid particularly in London https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-how ... sf-twitter Having children at school for between 5 and 9 days before the government is allowing them to go and visit family all around the country is a recipe for disaster . Still a national lockdown in January will. Put the lid on the north south debate for a while. !!'" It was interesting to hear that at one of the "threatened" schools there are 1/3 of the pupils away from school, either with Covid or isolating and there were 23 teachers absent for the same reasons. Without actually being political (for once), it must be an absolute nightmare trying to manage pupils and staff etc and keep everyone safe. And getting back to politics. IF Bojo had lifted those areas into tier 3 at the appropriate time, perhaps it would have been easier to keep schools open

My kids bot at secondary school have missed 7 weeks between them at school due to Covid cases and year groups having to isolate. That is 35% of teaching time during the last term . Why they could not all be sent home for the last 7 days to help reduce transmission dates prior to the Xmas free for allis beyond me

Were they not being continued to be taught during isolation, my understanding is that teachers have to provide the same teaching whether pupils are at school or at home, indeed I know of one teacher who was in isolation teaching the full class at school via Teams - obviously can’t be the same but they’d shouldn’t be losing anything like the teaching time you have indicated

Don't worry as Im out in Goves leafy Surrey, so its padded jackets, Hunters, real ale and scotch eggs this weekend.

Its ok saying parts had higher numbers etc, 1; areas are not broken down into parts, 2; it's not just about numbers........but you know that anyway

Yes they were being taught via Teams but it is not as good as the in person teaching they would have got. Also when teachers are off the classes may be taken by a teacher who is not specialised in that subject No alternative really but in poorer areas there are children who are not able to access this. Yet the government still won’t make decisions about what happens for exams next year. Not an issue for my kids but for those who, are taking exams it will be worrying.

Thought they had decided on next years GCSE exams, to be undertaken with specific assistant aids, advised of the exam subjects and able to take books in with them - grandson is in year 11 and is happy with this rather than year long assessments