Silly season eh. It’s so dull following the so-called “news” at this time of the year isn’t it? Well not this year! Because — lucky all of us — several forces appear to have combined to liven things up really quite a lot. Turning on the radio has never felt more like an episode of Black Mirror and, frankly, we needed that kind of excitement to round off 2020.
And what could liven things up more at Christmas time than Christmas being cancelled? (OK yes aside from our borders closing and a new “Super-Covid” mutant virus strain and an even more panicky round of panic-buying and a fast-approaching no-deal Brexit?)
But despite the headlines, not everybody’s Christmas has been cancelled. For a start, of course, if you’re not in a Tier 4 area, you can still mix with two other households on Christmas Day itself. And, because of the “linked household” — ie support bubble — exemption, what that in fact means is that up to six households can in fact legally mix if each of those households is linked up with another. (If this is all a bit confusing, barrister Adam Wagner has done a good job of explaining it on his YouTube channel.) As Boris Johnson pointed out during his press conference on Saturday night, that doesn’t mean people should actually be aiming to mix that much. But they could do, legally speaking.
Even if you are in Tier 4, you can still get together with another household if you’re in a support bubble with them. Boris also mentioned this during the press conference on Saturday, saying this rule would remain in place “for those of particular risk of loneliness or isolation”. And we all know that includes people who live alone or single parents — for good reason.
But what we hadn’t noticed until now is that it also includes another group of people. The odd thing about this group is that we haven’t heard them being mentioned by either the prime minister or other government ministers in press conferences or any media appearances. And you would have thought an exemption that applies to, by our estimates, about three-quarters of a million households in the UK might have come up.
After all, not everyone has the time to wade through the pages of ever- changing coronavirus legislations (or even the capacity to work out what they actually mean). Fret not though, because you don’t actually have to when you have FT Alphaville (h/t to a Kelly relative for drawing our attention to this).
Take a look at the highlighted bit here:
How many of you knew about this exemption? Our impression is that it is not widely known about, and yet it means that any household that includes a baby who was under the age of 1 on December 2 (when this new exemption came into law) is allowed to form a support bubble with another household of any size, and in any tier. Even if that household includes multiple other adults and/or children, it still appears to be allowed.
Now, we imagine that if you’re the one whose job it is to set the rules, you probably are aware of all these exemptions. And, Christmas cracker question: can you think of anyone who sets the rules who has a baby under the age of one (as well as an unknown number of other children above the age of one)?
That’s right. Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds’ baby Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson was born on April 29 of this year, and thus their household is allowed to bubble up with another household of any size, both over Christmas and indeed at any time.
Now we wouldn’t want to comment on whether Boris’s own family would want to spend some time with him over Christmas, but what about Carrie’s?
Downing Street told us the prime minister would remain at Downing Street on Christmas Day, but declined to comment on whether he and Ms Symonds would be joined by members of a support bubble, or indeed whether they had made use of the linked household exemption that applies to them since it came into law on December 2nd.
Downing Street also declined to comment on where the prime minister and his fiancée would be spending the days after Christmas, saying such details are not usually disclosed about the prime minister.
But we do find it quite odd that a rule that applies to (again per our estimates) well over a million adults hasn’t been properly communicated to the public.
Even Larry the Number 10 Cat doesn’t seem to have understood the implications:
We’re not quite sure we understand the rationale for the exemption. If it’s about giving mothers with postnatal depression a break, we can kind of understand that, but we are talking here about those who have partners (or at least one other adult living with them) so one would hope that in the majority of these cases, that partner can provide at least some support. And if this is the rationale, what about exemptions for other depressed people? Surely new parents living together are not the highest-risk category for those suffering from “loneliness or isolation”?
We are of course not so cynical as to be suggesting that the rules have been deliberately tailored to give the prime minister’s family some leeway (what do you take us for). We just wanted to make sure you understood the rules so that you can have a happy Christmas while avoiding a criminal record. Enjoy your walks with one other person and your freezing outdoor swims and your last unrationed imports and your merry grouse-shooting (yes the “outdoor activity” loophole is still in place in Tiers 1, 2 and 3).
Related links:
About that ‘two-metre rule’ - FT Alphaville
‘Rule of 6’ confusion shows scrutiny must work both ways - FT
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50LzI5MGMyMzRiLWU4ZTMtNGFiYi05YzcxLTI2YWRhNWE2MzNkOdIBP2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50LzI5MGMyMzRiLWU4ZTMtNGFiYi05YzcxLTI2YWRhNWE2MzNkOQ?oc=5
2020-12-22 05:00:00Z
52781247698161
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar