Just being curious - what do you think will happen .....

[Ally]

I'm just glad we got our annual wee VV meet.

[Kaz]

Ah yes, me too! It was an oasis of normal (well, nearly ) amidst the strangeness

[cromwell]

.... in the next few weeks / months.

I wonder if we compare notes in one years' time - what our views are then?

Mine are increasingly that the government have very dubiously voted themselves a vast increase in power over the ordinary citizen, and that no UK mainstream political party will willingly surrender these powers.
If I'm wrong fair enough, but if I'm right then my days of voting for any mainstream party are over for good.

[Workingman]

My take is that any party or parties vowing to get rid of the emergency powers and reduce some others will get a landslide of votes. Once in if they do not do the job they will be out, but if they do they will be in again.

[meriad]

Well here we are - one year since I posted my original question. And what a year it has been

[Workingman]

It has certainly been a roller-coaster ride that's for sure. The question is: When will it end?

I am thinking that we might have to hang on to our hats for a while yet.

[meriad]

I am thinking that we might have to hang on to our hats for a while yet.

Yes, agree.... the virus will obviously never go away; it's now a matter of figuring out best way (medically and economically) to cope with it; and that will take time. Mistakes will be made along the way as will some excellent decisions - I'm sure

[cromwell]

.... in the next few weeks / months.

I wonder if we compare notes in one years' time - what our views are then?

Mine are increasingly that the government have very dubiously voted themselves a vast increase in power over the ordinary citizen, and that no UK mainstream political party will willingly surrender these powers.
If I'm wrong fair enough, but if I'm right then my days of voting for any mainstream party are over for good.

And tonight we find out that digital vaccine passports are a reality. Grant Shapps has announced that "Covid certification status" is now available through the NHS App.
And if you think that not owning a Smartphone is going to get you off the hook, think again. A non-digital Covid passport is also being worked on.

So, how long is it before these Covid passports, sorry certification status documents, have to be used within our own country? And not just for travel abroad?

I have said many many times that we are supposed to be a representative democracy and that actually we are not.
That our politicians regard themselves as our rulers, not our representatives. And rulers control people; they don't "represent" them.

Well, here we go. We are looking at a situation where we will effectively have to have the governments permission to go to various establishments, or maybe even just to travel around the country full stop. No passport, no visiting a theatre, or football, or a restaurant, or whatever.

Once attained, no UK government has ever willingly surrendered any power over the people. Also what is very noticeable is the almost total lack of political opposition to vaccine passports. Hardly a whisper.

In China they are trying to roll out a digitised "social credit" system. Just about all of your activity is logged and acted on. Be a good girl or boy and you might be allowed to travel abroad. Be a good citizen and you might be offered a discount on your heating bills.
But what if you are a bad citizen?
You are forbidden to travel abroad. You are effectively banned from traveling freely around China. You may find that your bank account is frozen.
Of course if you just get drunk and arrested, or commit a minor crime, only some of your social privileges will be removed.

And that's the point. The Chinese system is a method of controlling the population; and imo UK vaccine passports are similarly an instrument of control. We are headed down the same road.

How strange that a "conservative" government and political parties of all persuasions should be should ardent fans of the Chinese Communist Party.

[TheOstrich]

And tonight we find out that digital vaccine passports are a reality. Grant Shapps has announced that "Covid certification status" is now available through the NHS App ......
So, how long is it before these Covid passports, sorry certification status documents, have to be used within our own country? And not just for travel abroad?
I have said many many times that we are supposed to be a representative democracy and that actually we are not.
That our politicians regard themselves as our rulers, not our representatives. And rulers control people; they don't "represent" them.
Well, here we go. We are looking at a situation where we will effectively have to have the governments permission to go to various establishments, or maybe even just to travel around the country full stop. No passport, no visiting a theatre, or football, or a restaurant, or whatever.

And if one can't download the NHS App?

As I can't; I've just attempted it and my iPhone doesn't have the compatible standard of software ......

[cromwell]

Well,that's a points deduction for you citizen. No discount on the gas bill this year!