BEERGATE

Things must be bad for the tories for the trash papers to bang on about a non-story for so long. was there an election recently?

Cost of living crisis, war in Ukraine, Foreign Office/Hoe Office shambles over migrants, women’s rights in the USA, climate crisis on Indian sub-continent, but no – Starmer eating a curry a year ago is more important for sub species like Dominic Raab. Of course I would not expect him to understand anything regarding Northern Ireland.

SPRING

Migrating birds reported to be 3 weeks late in arriving. It is still chilly and some frost around in early morning. But NO MOW MAY is here. It rained today which was unusual, and looks like being mainly dry for the rest of the month although occasional showers – brilliant typical British weather forecast! Warmer than average seems to be colder than the average I remember!

ENVIRONMENT NEEDS HELP NOW

Once again the government has no plan other than Sleaze-Dogg ripping up protective legislation. Energy costs to carry on rising and the war in Ukraine is blamed. It is government policy that is to blame. France caps energy rises at 4%, Italy offers. 110% grants for improving home energy efficiency. Government boasts of £20 million ring fenced grant for tidal power research where we are world leaders (from a tiny base!).

Put speed limits on motorways and enforce them. Subsidise energy efficiency. Allow onshore wind farms. Support organic farms. Stop allowing housing projects where car use is essential due to location away from shops and facilities.

EVERY INDICATOR POINTS TO DISASTER. But the government does nothing.

MAYBE

the world has got too complicated. Globalisation has its huge benefits, but if we lose site of the real world were are basically lost. There are many signs that we are stressing the support systems for human life on Earth.

We need a radical rethink of economics to make investment sustainable, to make education relevant, and to make social interactions beneficial to all.

MIGRATION

So Priti Patel states that migration policy is broken after 13 years of tory rule. She is probably too fuelled by hate to have noticed. However the topic does need proper discussion rather than political sound bytes and electioneering.

It was Thatcher who suggested that the unemployed should ‘get on their bikes’ to look for work – I thought I would get that in early.

WORK FROM HOME

Why does Sleaze-Dogg care? Are the workers being productive? Evidence says they are. So what is the motivation for the government? Where is the finance here? Maybe city office blocks being sold off as they are no longer needed. (Which they are not, not needing footfall or a central location). They are basically supporting the property market which is perhaps the cause of inmost poverty in the UK.

POPULATION – UK

The population of the UK has expanded a lot in the last 50 years. Investment in facilities has not kept pace as the capitalist/globalised economy has put more wealth into the hands of the rich. Concern for the environment has been confined to small areas which can become overwhelmed like parts of the Lake District. Large areas of the country remain unpopulated as they remain in the hands of the super rich. Lots of problems but no one seems to be having an oversight.

UKRAINE

Is the war entering a very dangerous phase? The sinking of the Moskva will be seen as a coup for the Ukraine and the providers of the weapons. However Putin will need to react with a show of force to counter this. Hopefully not a nuclear strike, but if he is losing /has lost large quantities of hardware …. a wounded bear is dangerous.

COVID

Can we stop mis-using statistics. There were not 651 deaths from Covid yesterday there may have been 651 deaths of people who had Covid in the last 28 days, are there similar statistics for people who had a cold in last 28 days?