Update 8
I’m starting this on Sunday July 31st and this is the first day on which I’ve become really aware of significant loss of muscle mass, my arms and legs are becoming thinner and it is less comfortable to be sitting down for long periods. We went out for lunch today but I suspect I will not be doing so for much longer. We tried a new pizzeria, the Bosco which overlooks Imperial Gardens and served a perfect Caesar salad accompanied by a Gavi di Gavi followed by an even better Pork Milanese with a delicious Primitivo.
I have to decide whether to buy a rollator walker or not. They are four wheel walking frames with hand brakes, they provide real stability and the means to sit and rest if movement becomes too much. One might allow me to keep moving about for a little longer, but to be honest my confidence is lessening by the day. Palliative Michelle came to see me on Wednesday and has referred me to the Physio people in case there might be something I could do to strengthen my leg muscles. She’s also prescribed Morphine for times when Paracetamol/Codeine isn’t quite enough - she says the good news is that there’s no upper limit to the amount of Morphine I can take. I suspect Michelle knows more about my prospects than she’s letting on.
Perhaps the most depressing revelation of the week so far is the one by You Gov that in spite of all Johnson’s blatant dishonesty, his cronyism, his rejection of normal respect and decency and his trashing of almost all constitutional convention, 53% of Conservative members think he should still be in power - there is no hope. Whilst the UK economy crashes, the government is paralysed by Johnson’s total abandonment of his responsibilities.
This week has also seen a rush of Conservatives backtracking on their predictions that there would be no downsides to Brexit: Daniel Hannan, possibly the most pompous Brexiter of all, followed by Jacob Rees-Mogg and David Davis. Dominic Cummings says we won’t see any benefits until at least 2032, whilst Lord David Frost who negotiated our exit, now seems uncertain we will ever see any specific economic benefit.
As far as Northern Ireland is concerned, might I suggest that you try to ignore the misrepresentation being perpetrated by both the DUP and the UK government; looking at the third quarter 2021, GDP (measured by the ONS) for England grew by .6%, for Scotland by .9% and in Wales it fell, whereas in Northern Ireland where the protocol makes possible free trade with the EU, their GDP grew by 1.4% - more than double England’s figure. Be in no doubt, Northern Ireland is doing very nicely thank you. The tragedy is that because of Brexit, by almost every metric the rest of the UK continues to underperform continental Europe.
I can’t get my head around Keir Starmer’s objectives. On Brexit, he says he wants to make it work, but increasingly it’s dawning on the general public (and probably on Starmer’s team) that there’s no obvious way under Johnson’s deal, it can be achieved. On the strikes, is he on the side of the striking workers or on the side of the workers whose working lives are being disrupted by the striking workers?
Liz Truss and her team seem to be making up their policies on the hoof and if this week’s u-turn is anything to go by, unmaking them just as casually. I suppose it’s yet a further tribute to her own admiration of Johnson and his well established practice of saying whatever enters his head without thought for any consequences. I understand that in certain quarters Ms.Truss is now known as “Doris Johnson”.
The government’s so called price cap on energy unit prices is pointless since the so called cap already allows prices way beyond what most folk can afford to pay. It is also dishonest to call it a cap - it is the highest figure that energy companies can charge per unit of energy but in no way does it cap the amount you will pay. That is totally down to the amount of energy you need to use in order for you and your family to survive the cold. The Spanish government has already decreed that no homes should be heated above 19 degrees centigrade this winter. Watch out for similar constraints here.
I want to record my gratitude for the care that Margaret is giving me. She alone is handling catering, cleaning, laundry, and making sure I don’t become too lazy. As physical activity becomes harder, the temptation to skip a shower or not bother to get dressed can be tempting. We are trying to make sure we have plenty of days when demands upon her time and energy are minimised. Both being 78 does not exactly put us in the first flush of youth.
By the way, when it comes to drinking Port or Cognac, the golden rule is that a second glass is always a mistake - trust me, I know about these things.
