New 4-tier system for England

[Silver Cobra]

I predicted that Central Bedfordshire was going to be moved up to tier 3, so this comes as no surprise.

 

[joncombe]

And Labour back on the "why isn't Christmas cancelled" bandwagon. See here here

Ashworth turns to Christmas - adding that clinicians have been "pleading" with Hancock to put in robust measures to protect people over Christmas, and warns the UK will see a similar spike in cases after festive gatherings - as seen in America following Thanksgiving.

 

[yorksrob]

And Labour back on the "why isn't Christmas cancelled" bandwagon. See here here

Complete waste of space that lot.

 

[DJH1971]

Tier 2 now confirmed for Liverpool City Region, Warrington, Cheshire West and Chester as well as Cheshire East.

 

[yorkie]

Do we have a full list, or even better, a map yet?

The information available so far seems to be patchy, and requires prior knowledge and/or knowledge of regional boundaries.

Covid: What is the guidance across the UK now?

Almost all of the UK's Covid rules have ended, two years after they were introduced.

www.bbc.co.uk

From 00:01 on Saturday the following areas will move from tier two to tier three:

• Bedfordshire
• Berkshire
• Buckinghamshire
• Hastings and Rother
• The whole of Hertfordshire
• Peterborough
• Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant
• Surrey, except Waverley

Greater London, and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire were moved to tier three on 16 December following an emergency review.

 

[Mojo]

Do we have a full list, or even better, a map yet?

The information available so far seems to be patchy, and requires prior knowledge and/or knowledge of regional boundaries.

Covid: What is the guidance across the UK now?

Almost all of the UK's Covid rules have ended, two years after they were introduced.

www.bbc.co.uk

Excellent proof reading from the BBC in that article (not!): "Two areas will drop a tier from Saturday. Bristol and North East Somerset will move from tier three to tier two."

(Bath and) North East Somerset was never in Tier 3, it was North Somerset which is the one that was upgraded to Tier 2.

Interesting that South Gloucestershire will not be moving down to Tier 2 along with the City of Bristol given that to all intents and purposes the majority of the population in South Gloucestershire live in a continuous urban area with the City of Bristol. Kind of makes a mockery of the excuse that the whole of Greater London has to be placed into the same tier because of how the boroughs are interlinked.

 

[trainophile]

Shame they couldn't see it in their hearts to put Cornwall and the Isle of Wight into tier zero.

 

[52290]

And Labour back on the "why isn't Christmas cancelled" bandwagon. See here here

It is cancelled if, like me, you live in tier 3.

 

[joncombe]

It is cancelled if, like me, you live in tier 3.

That's your choice and nothing to do with the tier restrictions, which don't apply for the 5 days over Christmas.

 

[Ascotroyal]

Sod all cases in my area yet gone from tier 2 to tier 3 with the rest of Berkshire. Sick to death of all this crap now. Went to football last night for the first time since March and every thing was well organised but now cant. That ***** Hancock and the rest of the morons running this country sure are sucking the joy out of things at the moement.

 

[geoffk]

Excellent proof reading from the BBC in that article (not!): "Two areas will drop a tier from Saturday. Bristol and North East Somerset will move from tier three to tier two."

(Bath and) North East Somerset was never in Tier 3, it was North Somerset which is the one that was upgraded to Tier 2.

Interesting that South Gloucestershire will not be moving down to Tier 2 along with the City of Bristol given that to all intents and purposes the majority of the population in South Gloucestershire live in a continuous urban area with the City of Bristol. Kind of makes a mockery of the excuse that the whole of Greater London has to be placed into the same tier because of how the boroughs are interlinked.

I grew up in Bristol and boundary between the city and what is now South Gloucestershire goes right through a built area, in some places dividing streets in two or even I believe, pairs of semi-detached houses. But I suppose it's the same situation with e.g. Manchester and Trafford.

 

[Kite159]

Shame they couldn't see it in their hearts to put Cornwall and the Isle of Wight into tier zero.

Tier zero only 'exists' as a concept in Scotland, England only has the 3 levels.

For me with Hertfordshire going tier 3 means a relocation of hotel for the 1st January from Welwyn to Farnborough as I changed the dates on a couple advance tickets for a trip on the 2nd Jan to save wasting them from a cancelled trip last weekend.
Although reading the stuff on trainsplit seems if I want to change them again it will be £10 per ticket.

 

[52290]

That's your choice and nothing to do with the tier restrictions, which don't apply for the 5 days over Christmas.

Hospitality isn't being opened for the five days.

 

[joncombe]

Hospitality isn't being opened for the five days.

Ah sorry I thought they were allowed to open (but many will choose not to), but I see that isn't the case. My apologies.

 

[Mojo]

I grew up in Bristol and boundary between the city and what is now South Gloucestershire goes right through a built area, in some places dividing streets in two or even I believe, pairs of semi-detached houses. But I suppose it's the same situation with e.g. Manchester and Trafford.

Exactly my point; save for places like Yate and Thornbury as well as the villages, the majority of South Gloucestershire might as well live in the City of Bristol for there is really no distinction between the two save for the different types of wheelie bins and a change of road surface. Previous arguments about why the whole of Greater Manchester, or the whole of London, must always move in the same tier are surely null and void.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Exactly my point; save for places like Yate and Thornbury as well as the villages, the majority of South Gloucestershire might as well live in the City of Bristol for there is really no distinction between the two save for the different types of wheelie bins and a change of road surface. Previous arguments about why the whole of Greater Manchester, or the whole of London, must always move in the same tier are surely null and void.

Then again, there were areas like that under the old tiers. The boundary between Slough and Buckinghamshire around Burnham is just as much of an arbitrary line through suburbia.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Only Bristol and North Somerset being downgraded from Tier 3 to Tier 2.

Only Herefordshire downgraded from Tier 2 to Tier 1.

Upgraded from Tier 2 to Tier 3 are Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Peterborough, the whole of Hertfordshire and Surrey (with the exception of Waverley), Hastings and Rother on the Kent border of East Sussex and Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant in Hampshire.

North Somerset - Tory MPS Rees Mogg and Liam Fox
Waverley - Jeremy Hunt

Shame they couldn't see it in their hearts to put Cornwall and the Isle of Wight into tier zero.

Cases rising daily now and as the bar for tier 3 seems to be about 160 now they might find themselves in tier 2 in a couple of weeks

 

[MDB1images]

I feel quite sorry for many of the businesses who are posting “we’re hoping to re-open on the 16th”. That’s already come and gone, but I can’t see how places can plan on the basis of not knowing, for example a hospitality business would need to have supplies in. Sadly it seems another example of BJ’s lack of real-world life experience.

Spot on.
It was never going to be easy dealing with Covid but Johnson and Hancock have demonstrated how detached they are with the decisions they have made being communicated out that effect millions in such a flip flop way.

 

[Mojo]

Then again, there were areas like that under the old tiers. The boundary between Slough and Buckinghamshire around Burnham is just as much of an arbitrary line through suburbia.

There are plenty of examples; even through London there are streets that have immediate neighbours in London and the home counties (formerly Tier 2 and Tier 1 respectively before November); but the argument for large urban areas such as London and Manchester, was that people don't consider the council boundaries in big cities because of things like public transport, retail and hospitality venues usually being decided upon by proximity rather than staying in the same council area, and so on. The same cannot really be said for Slough or other towns.

 

[bramling]

Sod all cases in my area yet gone from tier 2 to tier 3 with the rest of Berkshire. Sick to death of all this crap now. Went to football last night for the first time since March and every thing was well organised but now cant. That ***** Hancock and the rest of the morons running this country sure are sucking the joy out of things at the moement.

My area is now in tier 3, and predictably there’s a blame game erupted all over social media. It’s all the fault of “covidiots” apparently. This sort of thing must be music to Hancock’s ears.

Meanwhile there remains nothing in practise to stop people gathering in houses as long as they don’t draw attention to themselves.

The whole thing is a complete joke. Surely we can’t be far from civil disobedience now, it’s noticeable there’s been some downbeat stuff about the impact of these latest restrictions on the economy today. Is the media finally starting to wake up to this?

 

[Mojo]

North Somerset - Tory MPS Rees Mogg and Liam Fox

Jacob Rees Mogg is not an MP for North Somerset. His constituency is part of the council area for Bath and North East Somerset which has been in "new" tier 2 throughout (since start of the month). North Somerset is a different council and not represented by Rees-Mogg.

 

[johntea]

You can't win sometimes...

"Herefordshire's acting director of public health Rebecca Howell-Jones has raised concerns about the county's move from tier two to tier one."

Herefordshire's acting director of public health Rebecca Howell-Jones has raised concerns about the county's move from tier two to tier one.

It is the only part of the country to move into the lowest tier - Cornwall, the Isle of Wight, and the Isles of Scilly are already there.

Asked if she was pleased by the move, Ms Howell-Jones told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "From a public health perspective, I would have to say no, we are disappointed by this news.

"Our rates in Herefordshire have come down from the peak but we are still around 50 [positive cases] per 100,000 [people] and we are beginning to see that decrease has plateaued over the last couple of days."

Much of the decrease was probably due to England's lockdown rather than the county's tiered restrictions, she said.

She added the relaxation of the county's tier restrictions ahead of Christmas socialising and the further easing of the rules over the festive period, was "inevitably going to result in more infections, it feels like it is too soon".

"I would rather we weren't yo-yoing out of different tiers and the likely impact of increased infections occurring over the Christmas period is a concern."

The high rates in neighbouring Wales were also a concern, she added.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Is Herefordshire popular with second homes like Cornwall?

 

[trebor79]

This is all a sideshow now really. The only game that matters now is vaccine deployment. Hancock and Johnson must be rubbing their hands with glee that the focus is all on tiers, and not upon the terrifically slow and poorly rolled out vaccination program.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Jacob Rees Mogg is not an MP for North Somerset. His constituency is part of the council area for Bath and North East Somerset which has been in "new" tier 2 throughout (since start of the month). North Somerset is a different council and not represented by Rees-Mogg.

However John Penrose is an MP for North Somerset (he covers Weston super Mare). His wife? Dido Harding.

 

[TheSel]

With Herefordshire moving into Tier 1, will there be a 'run' on West Midlands Day Ranger tickets?

 

[trainophile]

Is Herefordshire popular with second homes like Cornwall?

As a resident I would say not especially, but there is a lot of sparsely populated countryside around so it wouldn't surprise me if there are a few.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Dec 2020 ==

With Herefordshire moving into Tier 1, will there be a 'run' on West Midlands Day Ranger tickets?

Undoubtedly. Also people coming over the border from South Wales I bet.

 

[Bantamzen]

Well quelle surprise, no move for anywhere in T'Grim North of England, despite rates plummeting. Any hopes of seeing even a tad bit of normality smashed for 2020. One small consolation is that it has already angered quite a lot more people, including some supporters of previous lockdowns. I think this is rapidly becoming a North vs South issue in the eyes of a lot of people. A cynical person, I mean really cynical person might suggest that this is a deliberate move by the government to get people so riled up that they ignore the Christmas "guidance". Then if numbers increase again, the government have got themselves another few months of scapegoats and excuses.

The Harrying of the North continues....

 

[MikeWM]

Divide and conquer continues. If we're discussing tiers and trying to ascribe logic to them then we're being distracted from the bigger picture. There shouldn't be any tiers.

(Not to underplay the fact that sadly, clearly it does matter to *businesses* what tier they land up in. This is potentially the final hammer blow not only to pubs and restaurants, but also hotels, cinemas, theatres, etc.)

 

[island]

Herefordshire’s director of public health has come out and said she’s disappointed about moving from tier 2 to tier 1
(Source: BBC Radio 4)