Update 7
I had a call from a different nurse this week. Vicky explained that they want to get my steroid dose even lower so when the pharmacy receives my next prescription, they will issue .5mg tablets with a view to my taking 3.5 mg each day. The reasoning is to minimise the side effects which apparently can include problems with blood sugar levels. I can now see that my leg muscles are wasting and walking becomes ever more difficult. I forgot to report last week that Michelle said that because of the tumour’s location it is possible I will lose my hearing - that’s quite a blow for someone whose life has been built around the world of audio.
This is Eddie, he’s been a key member of our extended family since 2010 and on August 3rd he’ll be twelve which in human years means he’s a little bit older than me and still utterly adorable.
I don’t believe the debates between the would-be candidates to lead the Conservative Party have filled many of us with confidence - apart that is from the likes of the somewhat unhinged, a category that includes Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees Mogg - whilst the rest of us watch in disbelief as they continue to reveal just how low their governance over the last 12 years has brought our country: the good news is that in every single poll the Conservatives are currently incapable of beating Labour with either Truss or Sunak in charge.
Both candidates have embraced the lies established by their former leader. They insist that the problems in and around Dover have nothing to do with Brexit whilst everyone else knows that our departure from the EU is exactly where the problems lie. In 2020 the Port of Dover pointed out that the facilities were designed to handle the traffic in a free flowing port. They estimated that to change it to one that could handle constant passport checks would cost £33 million. In response the Conservative government refused to invest any more than £33,000 - the result of that Conservative decision is the chaos we’ve all seen and that thousands of drivers have experienced first hand.
The candidates are also trying to tell us what a healthy state our economy is in, so healthy in fact that we can afford to cut taxes, and then to cut services in order to pay for those reductions. The reality is that our economy is way down in the doldrums, according to the IMF, the UK economy is the worst performer in the G7. Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England says this is down to the “trade barriers and labour shortages” inflicted by Brexit. The OECD reports that next year the UK will perform worse than every country in the G20 apart from Russia. Their Chief Economist reported that “The UK is unique in simultaneously grappling with high inflation, rising interest rates and increasing taxes”. The factor that puts us in that “unique” position is of course Brexit.
Let’s just remind ourselves that Brexit happened because 17,410,742 people believed the lies they were told and voted to turn our backs on our neighbours with all the harm that has followed. Those folk represent just 38% of the electorate. Just 38% of us managed to change life in Britain for the worse with not a single tangible benefit yet to be experienced. Jacob Rees Mogg is trying to list the benefits but as far as I’ve read, his only claim is that we’ll be able to lower some of the standards that apply to environmental and other controls. How’s your enjoyment of your new-found sovereignty going? Or as one wit observed: “if we now rejoined the EU, which of the Brexit benefits would you miss the most?”
For the last five years M and I have been volunteers at our local arts centre ‘The Chapel Arts’ financed and run by Ian James. My role as a volunteer has been to take care of the audio, video and lighting systems so it’s pretty much been a return to the role in which I began as a Technical Operator for the BBC. Such has been the hit from COVID, and the impact of rising prices on people’s disposable cash that the project is no longer financially viable and will finally close this weekend. Tonight was a special farewell concert featuring Chris ‘Snake’ Davis (saxes), Alex Voysey (guitar) and the Grammy nominated pianist and arranger Robin A Smith. I was asked if I would compère the show and after initial doubts, I did just that and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I suspect it was my last public appearance, and in retrospect the performer in me now wishes I’d chosen to do more at the microphone in my professional life. The programme consisted of works by many of my favourite songwriters including: Hoagy Carmichael, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, and Jimmy Webb.
