Davie P

Careful when you say 'we elect them' on the bass you describe. I, for one, don't elect them on the assumption they're going to be talking 'pure baloney'. I value the integrity of elected officials, as do most people I discuss politics with. 
 
Regardless, Cummings wasn't elected - he's an employee of the government, and like other high profile employees of the government that have been found to be in breach of lockdown guidelines, he should step down or be removed from his position. I suspect that the reason Johnson hasn't sacked him is because Cummings is the brains behind Johnson's bluster

Careful when you say 'we elect them' on the bass you describe. I, for one, don't elect them on the assumption they're going to be talking 'pure baloney'. I value the integrity of elected officials, as do most people I discuss politics with. 
 
Regardless, Cummings wasn't elected - he's an employee of the government, and like other high profile employees of the government that have been found to be in breach of lockdown guidelines, he should step down or be removed from his position. I suspect that the reason Johnson hasn't sacked him is because Cummings is the brains behind Johnson's bluster

Hi Philip
 
It's probably difficult for a Shetlander to judge how welcoming Shetland is, but I like to think we are, and I've been told by many folk who have settled here that we're a friendly bunch!
 
There's been a lot of inward and outward migration to and from Shetland over the centuries due to the location - particularly for the fishing industry and more recently oil - and there's people from all over the world who have settled here.
 
There are plenty of ways to get involved and bedded into a community here. Lerwick, I suppose, is not too much different from most other small towns in terms of amenities, and there's a strong sense of community in most areas of Shetland. There's lots of events like Up Helly Aas, agricultural shows, sailing regattas and Sunday Teas to get involved with, and community councils, village hall committees, and various groups are always looking for volunteers.
 
This is an excellent resource for general info > https://www.shetland.org/live/live-here
 
Cheers!

I'm not very sociable at the best of times and I regularly work from home, so there's not much change for me!

I'm not very sociable at the best of times and I regularly work from home, so there's not much change for me!

100% agree. And the knockon effects of health services being inundated with coronavirus cases is other more 'routine' treatments being affected. And if we hit saturation with coronavirus, other urgent cases will be competing for resources.
 
For the people on here advocating the 'survival of the fittest' approach', spare a thought for the health professionals who would be left with the hellish decision of who would receive treatment and who would be left to let nature take it's course.

And what about completely skipping over the effects of the NHS being flooded with cases? It's a pretty sizeable gaping hole in the take it on the chin approach. It was enough to get the government to change their plans - which should be telling you something (and it's not just about their reelection chances before anyone makes that cheap shot). Also the fact that it was near universally slated as a terrible idea across the globe by the majority *gasp* actual experts.

We already know how deathly this pandemic is. We just need to look at other countries, such as Italy, or are their figures all made up as well.
 
Whilst I accept older people’s immune systems deteriorate with age, can I remind you this is affecting people if all ages. We all know and accept that death us part of life, but try telling that to the parents of the healthy 14 year old who has just died with Coronavirus.
 
As the owner of a business that’s had to shut it doors, I for one would rather be bankrupted than dead. At least I can do my best to rebuild my business. These conspiracy theories does nothing to help the situation and at worst invite sceptics to ignore the advice and put more strain on our vital services

Flawed logic. A "balanced view" would involve discounting "viewpoints" for which there is no evidence, and adjusting your position as more evidence becomes available.
 
Also, for your conspiracy theory to hold water, it would require many thousands of healthcare workers, including locals who have already been willing to stand up against central NHS advice, to en masse be willing to mislead the public. I consider that to be very unlikely indeed.

Flawed logic. A "balanced view" would involve discounting "viewpoints" for which there is no evidence, and adjusting your position as more evidence becomes available.
 
Also, for your conspiracy theory to hold water, it would require many thousands of healthcare workers, including locals who have already been willing to stand up against central NHS advice, to en masse be willing to mislead the public. I consider that to be very unlikely indeed.

Whit a load of bruck ghostrider. I ken 8 o da folk dat hae or ir had it (including twaa relatives), and ken whaa a lot o da rest o dem ir. Joost because du doesna ken dir names doesna mak it some sort o conspiracy.
 
And as fur sayin (** mod edit - potentially identifiable info removed **) was a "willing and malleable patsy"... get a grip o desel.

I don’t think many are panicking, but I’d like to think they are taking on board the advise and lowering the risk to themselves and others.
 
The idea that this is some world wide conspiracy is just daft, the large numbers of people dying around the world is worrying and where this differs from flu is younger, fitter folk are also being killed by it.
 
One of my close friends can confirm that they are related to one of the latest people from a care home, who has been tested and confirmed to be positive for Coronavirus. Despite being very healthy for their age, they have been hit hard and whilst your own views may be “If it’s gonna get me, it’s gonna get me and if it’s gonna kill me I’ll be dead” is all very well, but for my friend this is a very worrying time of concern for her much loved relative. 
 
To suggest that, as we don’t know who the 27 locals are, therefore is someone feeding us a pile of bull, is not only ridiculously but unfair to our medical services. I agree it’s unlikely to be 27, because due to the lack of testing it will be 100s more. So I , like many others who care about catching this vile virus and want to continue living, are hoping that if I take all the precautions and advice, that it’s not gonna get me, it’s not gonna kill me and I’ll remain alive.
 

A fart-bourne virus is a terrifying prospect

Textbook attempts to politicise a pandemic.
 
Pandemics are relatively common (HIV, Cholera, Influenza, Typhus, Smallpox, Measles.....) and each outbreak is accompanied by scapegoating and attempts to further political agendas. It's unhelpful to say the least.

What?

Textbook attempts to politicise a pandemic.
 
Pandemics are relatively common (HIV, Cholera, Influenza, Typhus, Smallpox, Measles.....) and each outbreak is accompanied by scapegoating and attempts to further political agendas. It's unhelpful to say the least.

It's from today. It appears to be behind a paywall now, but the text I an access reads:
 
CORONAVIRUSCoronavirus: Swine flu piles more pressure on Shetland’s health system Marc Horne | Saturday March 21 2020, 12.01am, The Times 
Shetland, the area of the UK worst affected by coronavirus, has also been hit by an outbreak of swine flu, heaping further pressure on its health services. With 24 confirmed coronavirus cases the islands, which have no intensive care facilities and a population of 20,000, have the highest rate of the condition per head of population of anywhere in the British isles. It has recorded more than seven cases per 10,000 compared with about 0.5 cases per 10,000 in Glasgow. Susan Laidlaw, a public health consultant with NHS Shetland, confirmed there had also been an outbreak of H1N1 or swine flu. She told BBC Radio Shetland: “We have had positive results for swine flu that caused the pandemic several years ago.” In 2009, 457 people........

Yup, not good news at all for Shetland
 
https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2017/09/27/ten-year-plan-to-boost-isles-economy/
 
SIC man Cooper, who has overseen the local authority’s development committee for a number of years, said there is a growing need to expand the pool of available workers in Shetland to enable companies to grow. “From a development perspective, we’re trying to encourage folk to come and domicile in the island and broaden the economic base,” he said. “We have a lot of businesses here in Shetland that can’t expand because they can’t get anymore staff. What we’re looking to do is to encourage another 800 or so folk to come and live and work in Shetland and help to strengthen the economy.”

This is a very pertinent point. The 'leftists' (and to a large degree centralists too) have been on the wrong side of many key votes recently so will naturally be in a position of opposition. And voicing an opposing viewpoint to government is a central tenet of a healthy democracy.
 
However, violent protest and failure to accept decisions arrived at through established mechanisms is fundamentally undemocratic and unlikely to achieve anything constructive.
 
My politics are pretty much down the middle and it's vexing to watch everyone on the left and right telling each other to shut-up. We're all in this together, and the more people who engage in fact based positive political discussion the better.

That's a pretty dubious video from a dubious source. Misattributed quotes, footage edited to make people look like they've said something they haven't, strings of insults... and I stopped watching at 2 mins.
 
If you're going to take umbrage to a local journalist writing "left wing slurs" about Boris Johnson, then using videos from Paul Joseph Watson as evidence to back up your points is somewhat ironic.

That's a pretty dubious video from a dubious source. Misattributed quotes, footage edited to make people look like they've said something they haven't, strings of insults... and I stopped watching at 2 mins.
 
If you're going to take umbrage to a local journalist writing "left wing slurs" about Boris Johnson, then using videos from Paul Joseph Watson as evidence to back up your points is somewhat ironic.

That's a pretty dubious video from a dubious source. Misattributed quotes, footage edited to make people look like they've said something they haven't, strings of insults... and I stopped watching at 2 mins.
 
If you're going to take umbrage to a local journalist writing "left wing slurs" about Boris Johnson, then using videos from Paul Joseph Watson as evidence to back up your points is somewhat ironic.

If we take left and right out of the equation, basically what is happening here is that the 'winning' side is telling the 'losers' to shut up, and one side sees the other as engaging in far worse behaviour than their own side.
 
This happens when democratic systems become polarised and those with more extreme opinions become emboldened (currently there is a global trend toward electing rightwing populist leaders which is pushing the left further too).
 
Political discourse then moves from trying to achieve a mutually beneficial consensus to idealogical rhetoric. Note that this thread has no discussion about policies - it is almost entirely rhetoric, name calling, telling people to shut up, calling for people to be lined up and shot etc from people who seem to have a leaning to the political right. It makes for pretty grim reading.

There is evidence to support all of those accusations against Boris Johnson. 
 
And yes, the same accusations were levelled against Trump, and again there is abundant evidence to back them up.
 
Trump is fond of saying the US economy is the strongest it's ever been, but that is factually inaccurate. The US economy is quite strong at the moment, but there have been many periods is recent history when the US economy was in much better shape, and most positive trends under Trump are largely the result of policies put in place during the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis that pre-dated his administration. 
 
Trump's fondness for protectionist and populist economic policies, and trade wars, are generally considered to have had a negative impact on the economy.

^ an interesting take on democracy - if you're not a 'winner', then shut up? And if you do dare express an opinion contrary to 'the winners' then it's a tantrum?
 
Surely part of a healthy democracy is to have a forthright opposition, debate and plurality of viewpoints?