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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » 9% of members of the UK cabinet have now tested positive

SystemSystem Posts: 11,005
edited March 2020 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » 9% of members of the UK cabinet have now tested positive

BREAKING: UK says Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for the new coronavirus. https://t.co/hc4iaANa10

Read the full story here


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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,937
    Indeed and the heir to the throne and likely next Deputy leader of the Labour party are also positive for Covid 19 it seems
  • Options
    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,280
    edited March 2020
    Hurrah for British exceptionalism.
  • Options
    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    How many have/had it but are asymptomatic and untested?
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    I think it's more than two other MPs. Angela Rayner, Nadine Dorries, Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Kate Osborne have all tested positive. There may be others.
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    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,042
    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Fantastic Freudian slip!
  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,152

    How many have/had it but are asymptomatic and untested?

    50%?
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,503
    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
  • Options
    JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,006

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Fantastic Freudian slip!
    Maybe it will help us work out who's shagging whom
  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,152
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    This isn't funny. I am reading Camus's The Plague.

    It starts with rats dying in the streets.
  • Options
    BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,420
    On a brighter note - my first butterfly of the year (N Scotland). A very tatty peacock nectaring on a daisy.
  • Options
    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,703
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    I'm sure Foxy is capybaraing well.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,108
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    I hope that's a sign you're feeling better, Foxy!

    Just about to start a remote meeting. Could be a total disaster as I've never used the tech for group chat before.
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    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    On a brighter note - my first butterfly of the year (N Scotland). A very tatty peacock nectaring on a daisy.

    I misread that as a very tasty ... And thought the food shortage in your area must have gotten very bad.
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    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,306

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    This isn't funny. I am reading Camus's The Plague.

    It starts with rats dying in the streets.
    You telling us all to shut our traps?
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,838
    FPT:
    IanB2 said:
    The Democrats seem to have given up completely on 2020, and hoping that someone will emerge for 2024.

    The old Dem Nom Betfair market, that I'd not been looking at for a while, has gone completely mad now, with ten layable candidates. (four of whom can be laid below 40, and seven below 500). Andrew Cuomo is the man on the move, he's now 32-36.
    https://www.betfair.com/exchange/politics/event/28009878/multi-market?marketIds=1.128161111

  • Options
    FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195
    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    I hope that's a sign you're feeling better, Foxy!

    Just about to start a remote meeting. Could be a total disaster as I've never used the tech for group chat before.
    hope its not Webex :-)
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    bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 21,821
    Looks like we move up to 8th in total cases table today and stay 7th in total deaths
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    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,042
    edited March 2020

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Fantastic Freudian slip!
    Maybe it will help us work out who's shagging whom
    On that note, there must be blind panic from Young Conservative Ladies in Associations across the country visited by Boris in the last fortnight.

    You know what I mean...shaking hands after he had told us to elbow bump, that sort of thing.
  • Options
    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,306

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Fantastic Freudian slip!
    Maybe it will help us work out who's shagging whom
    And whether they've taken the precaution of using the wheelbarrow position.
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    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    Gove is stepping up. :scream:
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    "Let’s hope the same proportion doesn’t apply to the country as a whole"

    I understand the point being made (9% infection and say 5% serious rate across the country would be catastrophic).

    But, in a sense, our best hope is that the virus is more prevalent but less potent than feared.

    This COULD be a sign of either.
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    FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195
    HYUFD said:

    Indeed and the heir to the throne and likely next Deputy leader of the Labour party are also positive for Covid 19 it seems

    The heir to the throne is going to be deputy leader of Labour?
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,108
    Jonathan said:

    Gove is stepping up. :scream:

    To what?
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    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,079
    "will reinforce the case that the government has been making for social distancing."

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZPW2oGNLVQ

    :smile:
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    squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,328

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    This isn't funny. I am reading Camus's The Plague.

    It starts with rats dying in the streets.
    Try Agent Jack by Robbert Hutton. Fascinating book about spies in ww2
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,108
    Floater said:

    HYUFD said:

    Indeed and the heir to the throne and likely next Deputy leader of the Labour party are also positive for Covid 19 it seems

    The heir to the throne is going to be deputy leader of Labour?
    Calling @TSE for an @OxfordComma malfunction.
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    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited March 2020
    Jonathan said:

    Gove is stepping up. :scream:

    He is probably the one member of the cabinet that the virus will get near and go oh christ if I infect him, I will have to argue with him for the next 2 weeks....
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,503
    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    I hope that's a sign you're feeling better, Foxy!

    Just about to start a remote meeting. Could be a total disaster as I've never used the tech for group chat before.
    Yes, bright enough to potter in the garden. It is a bit up and down though.
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    FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195
    There are reports of dramatic conditions at hospitals in the Alsace region, the epicentre of the Covid-19 epidemic in France.
    According to a report by the German Institute for Disaster Medicine, compiled following a visit to the University Clinic in Strasbourg and seen by German news agency dpa, medics in the hard-hit region are no longer ventilating patients aged over 80 but were merely offering “terminal care” with opiates and barbiturates.

    The report said the hospital in Strasbourg was facing a mass influx of new patients at an hourly rate and that medics were continuing to offer care even after they themselves had been infected with the virus.

    The Strasbourg clinic on Friday rejected some of the details in the report, saying the “overall condition” of patients was crucial for prioritising access to ventilators, not age, and that the hospital had acquired new ventilators.

    Brigitte Klinkert, the president of the French departement Haut-Rhin, confirmed that Alsace hospitals were forced to triage care, meaning some patients were prioritized because of a limited number of ventilators.

    “We have already been practising triage for two weeks”, Klinkert told German newspaper Die Welt. “You can’t say it often enough, because it isn’t just the German neighbours but also the French outside Alsace who still aren’t taking the situation seriously”.
  • Options
    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,899
    On topic, the PM has a bigger immediate social network than most so is more likely to have it. He also lives and works in the centre of London.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,108
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    I hope that's a sign you're feeling better, Foxy!

    Just about to start a remote meeting. Could be a total disaster as I've never used the tech for group chat before.
    Yes, bright enough to potter in the garden. It is a bit up and down though.
    If your garden is a bit up and down either you need to invest in a decent roller OR you would be better off going back inside.
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    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    Floater said:

    There are reports of dramatic conditions at hospitals in the Alsace region, the epicentre of the Covid-19 epidemic in France.
    According to a report by the German Institute for Disaster Medicine, compiled following a visit to the University Clinic in Strasbourg and seen by German news agency dpa, medics in the hard-hit region are no longer ventilating patients aged over 80 but were merely offering “terminal care” with opiates and barbiturates.

    The report said the hospital in Strasbourg was facing a mass influx of new patients at an hourly rate and that medics were continuing to offer care even after they themselves had been infected with the virus.

    The Strasbourg clinic on Friday rejected some of the details in the report, saying the “overall condition” of patients was crucial for prioritising access to ventilators, not age, and that the hospital had acquired new ventilators.

    Brigitte Klinkert, the president of the French departement Haut-Rhin, confirmed that Alsace hospitals were forced to triage care, meaning some patients were prioritized because of a limited number of ventilators.

    “We have already been practising triage for two weeks”, Klinkert told German newspaper Die Welt. “You can’t say it often enough, because it isn’t just the German neighbours but also the French outside Alsace who still aren’t taking the situation seriously”.

    Wasn't there pictures of them taking people out of there via TGV?
  • Options
    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,215

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    This isn't funny. I am reading Camus's The Plague.

    It starts with rats dying in the streets.
    You telling us all to shut our traps?
    No he’s telling you to burrow into it further

    #CornyvirusPundemic
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    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,838
    Next PM market on Betfair:
    (not that anyone hopes the incumbent has to step down due to illness, of course)
    Starmer 4.4-4.7
    Sunak 4.9-6.4
    Raab 12.5-28
    Gove 28-42
    Hunt 27-140
    Hancock 28-90
    Patel 38-50

    Lay the two favourites?
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    FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195

    Floater said:

    There are reports of dramatic conditions at hospitals in the Alsace region, the epicentre of the Covid-19 epidemic in France.
    According to a report by the German Institute for Disaster Medicine, compiled following a visit to the University Clinic in Strasbourg and seen by German news agency dpa, medics in the hard-hit region are no longer ventilating patients aged over 80 but were merely offering “terminal care” with opiates and barbiturates.

    The report said the hospital in Strasbourg was facing a mass influx of new patients at an hourly rate and that medics were continuing to offer care even after they themselves had been infected with the virus.

    The Strasbourg clinic on Friday rejected some of the details in the report, saying the “overall condition” of patients was crucial for prioritising access to ventilators, not age, and that the hospital had acquired new ventilators.

    Brigitte Klinkert, the president of the French departement Haut-Rhin, confirmed that Alsace hospitals were forced to triage care, meaning some patients were prioritized because of a limited number of ventilators.

    “We have already been practising triage for two weeks”, Klinkert told German newspaper Die Welt. “You can’t say it often enough, because it isn’t just the German neighbours but also the French outside Alsace who still aren’t taking the situation seriously”.

    Wasn't there pictures of them taking people out of there via TGV?
    Yes
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    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,215
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    I hope that's a sign you're feeling better, Foxy!

    Just about to start a remote meeting. Could be a total disaster as I've never used the tech for group chat before.
    Yes, bright enough to potter in the garden. It is a bit up and down though.
    Given that serious symptoms appear to arrive after a week or so, do you think it is possible to identify which cases might turn serious during the early stages? Or is it pot luck.

    Dorries’s mum seems to have got away with merely a couple of days of cough.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,503

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    This isn't funny. I am reading Camus's The Plague.

    It starts with rats dying in the streets.
    Station 11 by Emily St John Mandel for me. 99p on Kindle Monthly deals, set in a post pandemic dystopia, though one with an appreciation of theatre.
  • Options
    At least our infected politicians are relatively young and fit. America seems to have a choice of a lunatic orange old man or a choice of 109 year old lunatic Democrats.
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    FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    I hope that's a sign you're feeling better, Foxy!

    Just about to start a remote meeting. Could be a total disaster as I've never used the tech for group chat before.
    Yes, bright enough to potter in the garden. It is a bit up and down though.
    Good to hear - hope your wife is likewise improving
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    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,215
    ydoethur said:

    Jonathan said:

    Gove is stepping up. :scream:

    To what?
    The pavement.
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    FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195
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    GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,077
    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,838
    Pulpstar said:

    On topic, the PM has a bigger immediate social network than most so is more likely to have it. He also lives and works in the centre of London.

    Politicians are definitely a high-risk group, as are those working in Whitehall.

    Hopefully lots of key people have made a point of having a deputy who never meets in person any of the people the boss also meets.
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    rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,905
    Sandpit said:

    FPT:

    IanB2 said:
    The Democrats seem to have given up completely on 2020, and hoping that someone will emerge for 2024.

    The old Dem Nom Betfair market, that I'd not been looking at for a while, has gone completely mad now, with ten layable candidates. (four of whom can be laid below 40, and seven below 500). Andrew Cuomo is the man on the move, he's now 32-36.
    https://www.betfair.com/exchange/politics/event/28009878/multi-market?marketIds=1.128161111

    I happily found a big green next to Andrew Cuomo which I have now laid off. Possibly should have waited as his price may come in further.

    On the subject of the GE, I remain unconvinced anyone is going to care about Biden's minor slips of the tongue when set against Trump's handling of this.

    It seems likely that the US is going to overshoot on numbers of cases by a long, long way compared to other countries.
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    EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,976
    edited March 2020
    My wife is claiming to have it, on the basis of a persistent cough (4 days in, so hopefully that's as bad as it gets). If I've got it then my symptoms are even more minor than that.

    Both my parents think they had it a few weeks ago. About half of my office seems to have had something or other; none particularly serious (although most are in their 20s).

    Either there's a lot of hypochondria going around (Ok, there definitely is) or else London will have decent levels of herd immunity within a month or so.
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    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    Nigelb said:
    What a horrible third world situation to be in.
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    felixfelix Posts: 15,124
    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Hopefully the rats of infection will tail off.
    I am sure it is an issue gnawing at their thoughts. They will need to hole up for a while.
    I hope that's a sign you're feeling better, Foxy!

    Just about to start a remote meeting. Could be a total disaster as I've never used the tech for group chat before.
    I just deleted you - cross[ed]wires!
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,937
    PrayforBoris now trending on twitter
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    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,918
    Hahahahahaha

    sorry I am having a wicked laugh at my 12 year old son's expense.

    He has been having a great time the last week with home schooling. We have been trying to make it as interesting as possible but of course it is not the same as being in the classroom. He was looking forward to this being the norm for the next few months.

    The school has now contacted us to let us know that now they have got over the initial shakeup period and got a routine going they will be moving to online teaching which will match the curriculum they would have been doing in class. With additional homework set as normal. More importantly they have decided to go ahead with the end year school exams.

    My son is mortified. :)

    I am very amused.
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    Sandpit said:

    Next PM market on Betfair:
    (not that anyone hopes the incumbent has to step down due to illness, of course)
    Starmer 4.4-4.7
    Sunak 4.9-6.4
    Raab 12.5-28
    Gove 28-42
    Hunt 27-140
    Hancock 28-90
    Patel 38-50

    Lay the two favourites?

    Already priced in, and probably over-priced in.

    Johnson is not in an at risk group, has mild symptoms, and will receive the best care. An imminent change is a very long shot and doesn't justify Raab coming in as far as he has.

    Starmer is probably reasonable value there. He is almost certainly next Labour leader and there remains a fairly decent chance the next PM will be a Leader of the Labour Party.

    Sunak is probably not amazing value. He is the flavour of the moment, and has had a good crisis, but the strong likelihood is that the next Tory leadership contest won't be for at the very least five years. A lot can happen to a Chancellor in that time (and it could possibly be in opposition, in which case the market will have been settled already).
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,503
    Endillion said:

    My wife is claiming to have it, on the basis of a persistent cough (4 days in, so hopefully that's as bad as it gets). If I've got it then my symptoms are even more minor than that.

    Both my parents think they had it a few weeks ago. About half of my office seems to have had something or other; none particularly serious (although most are in their 20s).

    Either there's a lot of hypochondria going around (Ok, there definitely is) or else London will have decent levels of herd immunity within a month or so.

    Mrs Foxy labelled it as #Coronachondria. Today I feel well enough to believe her, yesterday, getting too breathless to eat, I was convinced that I had it.
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    EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,976

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    One easy way to make things hard-to-Google is to provide photos and ask people to name the people shown. You can then make the subjects as obscure as you need for the target difficulty level.

    For a slight twist, show childhood photos, which allows you to shift the focus towards better-known individuals without compromising on difficulty.
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Less than a month since this press conference

    https://twitter.com/BradleyTiernan/status/1243517922640830464
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    TGOHF666TGOHF666 Posts: 2,052

    How many have/had it but are asymptomatic and untested?

    Hopefully a very high percentage.
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    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,838
    edited March 2020

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    There's certainly one hell of a lot of subject material for that!

    How many MPs won their next electoral test (general election or by-election), having changed political party, since 2010?
    Only two, Carswell and Reckless
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    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    TGOHF666 said:

    How many have/had it but are asymptomatic and untested?

    Hopefully a very high percentage.
    Indeed. I'm still expecting this to burn out before long with the NHS coping due to our measures and the final fatality count to be comparable to a bad flu season.

    I expect @eadric will owe that meal he mentioned :wink:
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    GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,077
    Endillion said:

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    One easy way to make things hard-to-Google is to provide photos and ask people to name the people shown. You can then make the subjects as obscure as you need for the target difficulty level.

    For a slight twist, show childhood photos, which allows you to shift the focus towards better-known individuals without compromising on difficulty.
    This is a really good idea, thank you.
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    IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    HYUFD said:
    That is because it is not the case that you cannot walk in the woods. Is he complaining that not enough is prohibited?
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    kjhkjh Posts: 10,571

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Fantastic Freudian slip!
    Maybe it will help us work out who's shagging whom
    And whether they've taken the precaution of using the wheelbarrow position.
    OK I can see the typo, but fail to get any of the jokes. Have a feeling I might be too innocent. Explanations please?
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    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,306

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    Complete the following House of Lords related put-down of the New Labour front bench, delivered by William Hague at Prime Minister's Questions:

    'Lord Robinson of offshore trusts, Lord Mandelson of Rio, and Tony Blair, Baron of _____'

    The answer is 'ideas'. Only politicos will know this quote, but if they're good with words they'll probably get it. Or it will produce some interesting answers.
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    TGOHF666TGOHF666 Posts: 2,052
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/27/italian-mafia-profits-set-grow-coronavirus-pandemic-experts/

    "Marijuana and heroin are the most consumed drugs during a time of collective anxiety. However, cocaine will be more in demand once the crisis is over.

    “The lack of checks at the ports during the pandemic means cocaine will be able to travel more easily. The movement of cocaine will be at the highest levels ever.”

    Mafia-linked drug dealers are already dodging the strict limits of movements placed on Italians by posing as pizza drivers, says Nicola Gratteri, the national anti-mafia prosecutor. "
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    DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 24,234

    Endillion said:

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    One easy way to make things hard-to-Google is to provide photos and ask people to name the people shown. You can then make the subjects as obscure as you need for the target difficulty level.

    For a slight twist, show childhood photos, which allows you to shift the focus towards better-known individuals without compromising on difficulty.
    This is a really good idea, thank you.
    No it isn't because (as it is online) they can simply google the images.
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    FPT
    GIN1138 said:



    From what I've heard generally most cases start off quite "mild".

    The first day or so all you have is a dry cough and possibly a sore throat. Around days 2-3 the fever kicks in with general "flu-like symptoms - aches, chills etc.

    Around day 5 onwards is when it gets to the lungs and things can rapidly deteriorate from there... Most who need mechanical intervention do so from around day 8)

    Whelp that sounds like the more than Cold not quite Flu I had in mid-Feb which finished after a couple of days of lungs full of crud when the fever suddenly went. I coughed up crud for a week afterward. Interestingly I had a couple of incidences of diarrhea which a couple of sites list as an uncommon symptom which I couldn't pin to either food, IBS or medication side effect.

    Particularly concerning as I tick 3 of the high-risk boxes and came down with it the week following visits to both my dentist & the health center to have my annual bloods taken.

    I do wonder how much of the country has actually had it already.

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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,095
    I see much of the Cabinet are going to be in a position to take advantage of cheap cruise prices....
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    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,838
    IshmaelZ said:

    HYUFD said:
    That is because it is not the case that you cannot walk in the woods. Is he complaining that not enough is prohibited?
    He thinks whatever is the opposite of the prevailing orthodoxy.

    It's time for a lockdown now, even if you are a libertarian. What is important is to make sure that extraordinary measures are temporary, and emergency legislation has sunset clauses.
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    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,306
    kjh said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Fantastic Freudian slip!
    Maybe it will help us work out who's shagging whom
    And whether they've taken the precaution of using the wheelbarrow position.
    OK I can see the typo, but fail to get any of the jokes. Have a feeling I might be too innocent. Explanations please?
    It refers to the last thread (clearly I'm on here WAY too much today) where someone mentioned the above technique as a good way to avoid amorously transmitting coronavirus.
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,095

    Endillion said:

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    One easy way to make things hard-to-Google is to provide photos and ask people to name the people shown. You can then make the subjects as obscure as you need for the target difficulty level.

    For a slight twist, show childhood photos, which allows you to shift the focus towards better-known individuals without compromising on difficulty.
    This is a really good idea, thank you.
    A friend of mine used to write to prominent politicians asking for a signed photo. This often displayed hilarious vanity, as their photos were of them in much younger times. Roy Hattersley's was of him barely beyond puberty....
  • Options
    SirNorfolkPassmoreSirNorfolkPassmore Posts: 6,248
    edited March 2020

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    How un-Googleable do you want it? A question like "How many Home Secretaries have there been since Blair came to office in 1997?" can be got off a list on Wikipedia if people insist on cheating, but isn't the first result on Google, and has the benefit that people can guess at it (whereas ultra-obscure facts about some minor MP are hard to find on the internet but are basically impossible to have an educated guess at).

    Anagrams are always quite hard to Google (so you get your obscure MP in that way - "which MP, who was caught up in the expenses scandal, is an anagram of [whatever]?"

    Pictures are also possible to reverse image search but harder if taken off a bigger image and you can of course share on WhatsApp. Can be a person, possibly "when they were younger" or a hard to decipher signature of a politico for example.
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    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    Sandpit said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    HYUFD said:
    That is because it is not the case that you cannot walk in the woods. Is he complaining that not enough is prohibited?
    He thinks whatever is the opposite of the prevailing orthodoxy.

    It's time for a lockdown now, even if you are a libertarian. What is important is to make sure that extraordinary measures are temporary, and emergency legislation has sunset clauses.
    Some people forget the difference between libertarian and anarchist.
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    eristdooferistdoof Posts: 4,883

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    Groups and Sequences like in Only Connect are hard to google. The problem is ensuring the contestants know how specific to make the answer without giving the answer away.
    Eg:Something, Within You Without You, Blue Jay Way and Dont't Bother Me. They are all songs, 60's songs, Beatles songs, Beatles Songs not released on single, songs written by George Harrison or Beatles songs written by George Harrison.
    On Only Connect VCM can say "please be more specific" or decide on the spot that something is good enough, which for a "Pub quiz" unless it is a very small one, is difficult to do.
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    kamskikamski Posts: 4,227

    Floater said:

    There are reports of dramatic conditions at hospitals in the Alsace region, the epicentre of the Covid-19 epidemic in France.
    According to a report by the German Institute for Disaster Medicine, compiled following a visit to the University Clinic in Strasbourg and seen by German news agency dpa, medics in the hard-hit region are no longer ventilating patients aged over 80 but were merely offering “terminal care” with opiates and barbiturates.

    The report said the hospital in Strasbourg was facing a mass influx of new patients at an hourly rate and that medics were continuing to offer care even after they themselves had been infected with the virus.

    The Strasbourg clinic on Friday rejected some of the details in the report, saying the “overall condition” of patients was crucial for prioritising access to ventilators, not age, and that the hospital had acquired new ventilators.

    Brigitte Klinkert, the president of the French departement Haut-Rhin, confirmed that Alsace hospitals were forced to triage care, meaning some patients were prioritized because of a limited number of ventilators.

    “We have already been practising triage for two weeks”, Klinkert told German newspaper Die Welt. “You can’t say it often enough, because it isn’t just the German neighbours but also the French outside Alsace who still aren’t taking the situation seriously”.

    Wasn't there pictures of them taking people out of there via TGV?
    Yes, and a few patients have been taken over the border to Germany.

    The German hospital federation said today they are confident of not having "Italian conditions" in Germany - at least not in the next 2 weeks (!). Supposedly now 30000 ventilation places in Germany, and adding 1500 a week.
    I'm a bit worried, because although preparation is clearly happening, there doesn't seem to be a proper nationally organised response. But this might be just the German way, lots of organisations and regional authorities cooperating behind the scenes but less of the big national announcements, I don't know (and I'm somewhat in the loop, my wife being involved in the Düsseldorf preparations. but she doesn't know either eg if there is enough PPE. there's talk of the German army being prepared to set up field hospitals and take on other tasks).

    People around seem to be generally buying the official line that Germany is better prepared than some of our neighbours, but I'm not convinced, and I think there's still a danger of complacency.

    Antibody testing might be available by the end of next week - but only through the health system (at least initially), or so I've heard.
  • Options
    EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,976

    Endillion said:

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    One easy way to make things hard-to-Google is to provide photos and ask people to name the people shown. You can then make the subjects as obscure as you need for the target difficulty level.

    For a slight twist, show childhood photos, which allows you to shift the focus towards better-known individuals without compromising on difficulty.
    This is a really good idea, thank you.
    No it isn't because (as it is online) they can simply google the images.
    It makes it hard, not impossible. If it's a timed quiz then it makes it even harder.
  • Options
    kjhkjh Posts: 10,571

    kjh said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Fantastic Freudian slip!
    Maybe it will help us work out who's shagging whom
    And whether they've taken the precaution of using the wheelbarrow position.
    OK I can see the typo, but fail to get any of the jokes. Have a feeling I might be too innocent. Explanations please?
    It refers to the last thread (clearly I'm on here WAY too much today) where someone mentioned the above technique as a good way to avoid amorously transmitting coronavirus.
    Thank you. Feel less stupid now.
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,503

    Endillion said:

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    One easy way to make things hard-to-Google is to provide photos and ask people to name the people shown. You can then make the subjects as obscure as you need for the target difficulty level.

    For a slight twist, show childhood photos, which allows you to shift the focus towards better-known individuals without compromising on difficulty.
    This is a really good idea, thank you.
    A friend of mine used to write to prominent politicians asking for a signed photo. This often displayed hilarious vanity, as their photos were of them in much younger times. Roy Hattersley's was of him barely beyond puberty....
    Perhaps Roy got a 100 printed when first elected, but only got 1 request per year, so they lasted well.
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    TGOHF666TGOHF666 Posts: 2,052
    Uk dead up to 759
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    dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,287
    kjh said:

    eadric said:

    The Cabinet is going to be a political version of the Diamond Princess.

    We can watch the rats of infection, severe illness and so on, and extrapolate to the larger population

    Fantastic Freudian slip!
    Maybe it will help us work out who's shagging whom
    And whether they've taken the precaution of using the wheelbarrow position.
    OK I can see the typo, but fail to get any of the jokes. Have a feeling I might be too innocent. Explanations please?
    Hands on position.
  • Options
    DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 24,234
    eristdoof said:

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    Groups and Sequences like in Only Connect are hard to google. The problem is ensuring the contestants know how specific to make the answer without giving the answer away.
    Eg:Something, Within You Without You, Blue Jay Way and Dont't Bother Me. They are all songs, 60's songs, Beatles songs, Beatles Songs not released on single, songs written by George Harrison or Beatles songs written by George Harrison.
    On Only Connect VCM can say "please be more specific" or decide on the spot that something is good enough, which for a "Pub quiz" unless it is a very small one, is difficult to do.
    Put the following into their correct order:
    Gordon Brown rules out joining the euro with five tests
    William Hague successfully campaigns to save the pound
    Dominic Cummings successfully campaigns against joining the euro.
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    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,042
    HYUFD said:

    PrayforBoris now trending on twitter

    Were I of a religious disposition I would have been praying for Boris' soul long before anyone had ever considered Covid-19!

    Anyway, a speedy recovery Sir!
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    AndrewAndrew Posts: 2,900
    UK +25% cases, not the figure we'd like to see.

    +9k tests.
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    RobDRobD Posts: 58,961
    Scott_xP said:
    Given that the UK has left the EU, why would it participate anyway? It has clearly got its own scheme going on.
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    TGOHF666TGOHF666 Posts: 2,052
    RobD said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Given that the UK has left the EU, why would it participate anyway? It has clearly got its own scheme going on.
    Have any of the EU initiatives got as far as Dyson ?
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    BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    We'll be sure to post equally unamusing shit when Corbyn gets it.
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    rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,905

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    I organized a quiz recently - based it on trust and worked well.
    But if you're really worried, then the hardest thing to google would be 'dingbats' of politicians/phrases.

    E.g. have a picture of a circle and an arrow pointing inside.
    = "In the loop". Then have a question that says what politics movie is this?

    PS - there's a great pic of Tony Blair in his youth rock band days which got a good laugh when I used it for a quiz.

  • Options
    SirNorfolkPassmoreSirNorfolkPassmore Posts: 6,248
    edited March 2020

    Endillion said:

    I’m putting together a WhatsApp group pub quiz round, British Politics 1997-2020. Does anyone have any ideas for out-there questions, preferably hard to Google ones?

    One easy way to make things hard-to-Google is to provide photos and ask people to name the people shown. You can then make the subjects as obscure as you need for the target difficulty level.

    For a slight twist, show childhood photos, which allows you to shift the focus towards better-known individuals without compromising on difficulty.
    This is a really good idea, thank you.
    A friend of mine used to write to prominent politicians asking for a signed photo. This often displayed hilarious vanity, as their photos were of them in much younger times. Roy Hattersley's was of him barely beyond puberty....
    There was a politician who was well known on the Devon scene called David Morrish (who sadly passed away a couple of years ago). He'd led the County Council, and was regularly a councillor and stood for Parliament for the Liberals (and had stayed with the continuity Liberals in 1989, still getting re-elected for many years after).

    Every time he appeared in a Liberal leaflet, my mother used to get it off the doormat and say, "That vain old bastard has been using the same photo on his leaflets since the early 1970s! He must be in his 60s/70s/80s [delete as appropriate] now!"

    Anyway, towards the end of her working life, she got an office job at Devon County Council, and he came into the office and she met him for the first time in the flesh. That evening she came over all apologetic... turns out he was just one of those lucky chaps who never really aged (at least in the face) and he'd been updating the photo every election without her noticing!
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    RobDRobD Posts: 58,961
    TGOHF666 said:

    RobD said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Given that the UK has left the EU, why would it participate anyway? It has clearly got its own scheme going on.
    Have any of the EU initiatives got as far as Dyson ?
    The UK would probably end up being a net contributer, as usual.
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    nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    There are fears about the long-term implications of a global condom shortage after the world's largest manufacturer was forced to stop production due to the coronavirus outbreak.

    Karex Berhad's three factories in Malaysia have been shut for 10 days already, meaning there are already 100 million fewer condoms, the company's chief executive Goh Miah Kiat told news agency Reuters.

    The company, which produces one in five of the world's condoms, is now appealing to the Malaysian government for a partial exemption from a nationwide lockdown
  • Options
    JonCisBackJonCisBack Posts: 911
    One of my team has apparently been told by Greater Anglia he can;t use the train to go to work as he is not a key worker. This is not official advice. What's he supposed to do? Share a car with someone? Make himself de facto redundant?

    Anyone else heard this? National Rail website is ambiguous about what even their official interpretation of the advice is (be it right or wrong). Different train companies appear to have interpreted it differently.

    Grrrr
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    nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    edited March 2020
    ..
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,336
    kamski said:

    Floater said:

    There are reports of dramatic conditions at hospitals in the Alsace region, the epicentre of the Covid-19 epidemic in France.
    According to a report by the German Institute for Disaster Medicine, compiled following a visit to the University Clinic in Strasbourg and seen by German news agency dpa, medics in the hard-hit region are no longer ventilating patients aged over 80 but were merely offering “terminal care” with opiates and barbiturates.

    The report said the hospital in Strasbourg was facing a mass influx of new patients at an hourly rate and that medics were continuing to offer care even after they themselves had been infected with the virus.

    The Strasbourg clinic on Friday rejected some of the details in the report, saying the “overall condition” of patients was crucial for prioritising access to ventilators, not age, and that the hospital had acquired new ventilators.

    Brigitte Klinkert, the president of the French departement Haut-Rhin, confirmed that Alsace hospitals were forced to triage care, meaning some patients were prioritized because of a limited number of ventilators.

    “We have already been practising triage for two weeks”, Klinkert told German newspaper Die Welt. “You can’t say it often enough, because it isn’t just the German neighbours but also the French outside Alsace who still aren’t taking the situation seriously”.

    Wasn't there pictures of them taking people out of there via TGV?
    Yes, and a few patients have been taken over the border to Germany.

    The German hospital federation said today they are confident of not having "Italian conditions" in Germany - at least not in the next 2 weeks (!). Supposedly now 30000 ventilation places in Germany, and adding 1500 a week.
    I'm a bit worried, because although preparation is clearly happening, there doesn't seem to be a proper nationally organised response. But this might be just the German way, lots of organisations and regional authorities cooperating behind the scenes but less of the big national announcements, I don't know (and I'm somewhat in the loop, my wife being involved in the Düsseldorf preparations. but she doesn't know either eg if there is enough PPE. there's talk of the German army being prepared to set up field hospitals and take on other tasks).

    People around seem to be generally buying the official line that Germany is better prepared than some of our neighbours, but I'm not convinced, and I think there's still a danger of complacency.

    Antibody testing might be available by the end of next week - but only through the health system (at least initially), or so I've heard.
    Apparently not yet specific enough ?
    https://www.oldenburger-onlinezeitung.de/nachrichten/bericht-antikoerper-studie-soll-immunitaet-gegen-covid-19-feststellen-37572.html
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    DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 24,234
    OT for the past few days, I've been getting adverts for courses at Imperial College, presumably as a result of all its mentions on pb.
This discussion has been closed.