Well now we seem to have the cold snap in May behind us and there promises to be something approaching a heatwave as we approach the end of the month. I had forgotten that the TV I installed in the bedroom was a Samsung and as I switched it on last night it must have recognised that there was another ‘Samsung’ on the system newly installed last night and was initially a little confused but soon put itself right. So many of the modern TVs are ‘smart’ these days and installation is largely automatic with credentials picked up from one’s router, mobile phone and so on. The day promises to be a fine one which is just as well as I have a couple of trips planned for today together with my American friend. There has been some interesting commentary on the contemporary electoral scene in the UK, according to Harriet Harman, one time deputy leader of the Labour Party. Sir Keir Starmer’s achievements are being ‘completely blotted out’ by the political instability in the government, Harriet Harman has said. Speaking on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast,  Baroness Harman said despite the government turmoil, ‘the irony is that there are quite a few good things like good growth and inflation figures, improved NHS waiting lists, really astonishing figures on the cuts in small boats and in asylum hotels and the drop in legal migration The good things are just being completely blotted out by the turmoil.’ Baroness Harman said that as well as political instability in the UK, international instability such as the Iran war and Donald Trump’s presidency was also contributing. We also have the situation in which our Foreign Secretary is going to walk into a huge row with out NATO partners over the intended lifting of some of the oil sanctions against Russia. One gets the feeling that this change of policy has not been properly thought through and it might be that for a very small change in the oil price, the Government is walking into a mass of political trouble that will run and run. Perhaps it might be better for the government to quickly think again and reverse its policy against Russia to the ‘status quo ante’ but as things stand we seem to be handing quite a boost to the Russian war economy in their fight against Ukraine. Given the hostile acts by Russia against the UK (spy ships, poisoning on British streets) now seems to be absolutely the wrong time to do anything that appears to reward Russian malevolence but not the first time the Labour Government seems to have adopted an ill-thought through change of policy. One does get the feeling that there needs to be some wise and experienced senior figures with well attuned political antennae who can spot and give due warning about the impact of policy changes but it is evident that the government are desperate to do anything that seems to attack high energy prices and the subsequent impact upon both business and the cost of living. Hence we are having a plethora of government announcements (lower VAT on attractions at leisure venues during the summer, free bus fares for children during the summer) that seem to be eye-catching but in the event cost the government only a smidgeon in actual foregone revenue.

Having collected my newspaper, I then picked up my American friend and we made our way to Harvington Hall, about seven miles distant and famous for the number of priest holes (used, in the time of Elisabeth I,  to hide Catholic priests , then regarded as traitors) all seven of which remained undiscovered. We got to within about 5 minutes of the Hall when the whole of one of the access country lanes was blocked off whilst a gas leak was repaired. We tried to navigate a route around and failed and then resorted to a SatNav by which  means we eventually  discovered a whole new route to the Hall but arrived about 10 minutes late. In the Hall, they were not surprised by our late arrival and my friend and I were taken around together with two more visitors on a tour that was absolutely fascinating for both of us and must have lasted for a couple of hours. After that, we enjoyed a coffee in the grassed area near a beautiful Elizabethan walled garden and then eventually made our way to the hotel where I was being treated to a birthday lunch. The staff here were delightful and the cuisine generally excellent and my friend and I drank a bottle of a local English white wine which  was grown and bottled in the locality of the Hall. Although my dinner was excellent,  my friend had needed to complain about an overcooked burger which was really not at all pleasant, The staff were excellent and the staff cooked a piece of chicken similar to mine which proved excellent. Then my friend and I went on a long walk in the grounds of the hotel where you would imagine that you were lost in the middle of the Worcestershire countryside. Then we called back into the hotel and had a cooling drink before making our way home to my house where we arrived just before 6.00pm. We were fortunately greeted by our next-door neighbour who has very kindly invited us to her 75th birthday party to be held in her garden in a week’s time – needless to say, we were delighted to accept this invitation. My friend stayed in the evening whilst we drank tea and looked at a little TV before making plans to see each other again on the afternoon of the forthcoming Bank Holiday. When we reflected on the events of the day, many of the artefacts associated with Harvington Hall were sort of plundered and used to adorn a much larger stately home called Coughton Court which has some quite extensive connections with the Gunpowder plot. As the latter is a National Trust property of which I am a member, then this looks as though it will be high on our list of other places that we wish to visit in the vicinity and use our National Trusts memberships to the full. We are indeed fortunate that appear quite a lot of interesting places to visit in our area and there are the delights of the Severn Valley Railway to experience and we can probably go on a day before the summer holidays start for the school children when the railway might be very busy.

I received some sad news in my text messages as I had been informed of the death of the wife of one my contacts from dementia a short time ago. I had to think hard who the contact was and then realised that it was someone that we used to meet at a club organised by Age UK for dementia sufferers and their carers, but I have not seen him for probably the best part of two years. Naturally, I sent the contact my condolences, informed him about the fact of Meg’s passing of which he would have been unaware in all probability and then told him how I was making a new life for myself via ‘University of the Third Age’ activities. The day promises to be a quiet one as I am expecting a delivery later on today which entails me having to be in the house for most of the day until the delivery arrives – I was promised a time slot by text last night but it failed to arrive. If the weather improves somewhat, I may be able to get outside and get some weeding and lawn mowing done. According to the BBC weather app, the day today shows a light cloud over most of the country but there is a huge high pressure zone across France which is slowly to going to edge northwards which means that we may be due for a heatwave in a few days time. I wonder if there will be a run on ice cream and soft drinks as we head towards a Bank Holiday over the weekend and next Monday. I must confess not looking forward to any particular relish to Bank Holidays these days as it seems to impact on normal routine activities and one never knows whether the shops are going to be open, closed or restricted to Sunday opening hours.  I know from bitter experience that things like routine medications have to be thought about so that one does not run out over a Bank Holiday weekend. However  a spell of really fine weather means that I will have no excuse for not getting outside and getting some routine gardening activities undertaken. The foreign news seems to be universally depressing so I am giving myself a break for a couple of days although I am always tempted to see the latest speculation over the health of Donald Trump. Yesterday, on my trip out to a National Trust property, chatting to one of the other U3A members I was told that it might be possible for me to take along a companion to a National Trust property as a ‘carer’ and so I have in mind whether to enquire of my American friend whether I might make an application on her behalf to become an official carer for me. To be truthful, although Meg and I had a joint membership in the last year or so of Meg’s life, we did not utilise our membership for probably a couple of years as Meg’s health was declining although  we did employ deploy our membership to gain access to National Trust gardens (but not houses) in the later stages of the COVID epidemic. But as the summer beckons, so does the prospect of many interesting places to visit in the vicinity.

Yesterday was my Tai Chi morning and this went to plan except that I needed to have a lightening cup of tea because I needed to be back inside the house for 11.00am. Some days ago, I had read a selection of ‘Which‘ Best Buys, reproduced by permission in ‘The Times’. They made particular mention of a particular 50″ smart Samsung TV that they reckoned had a picture and a sound quality well in excess of its selling price and given several ‘superior’ models a run for their money. Out of interest, I decided to see if John Lewis were selling this model which they were and they also offered a five year warranty on it as well (a manufacturer’s warranty os typically only 12 months) I think that my existing Panasonic is as least a 12-15 years old and of course the technology has come on in leaps and bounds since then. So I reckoned that my existing TV did not owe me anything and offer like this might sell out very quickly s I made an impulse buy and bought it from John Lewis. Today was the day when they came along to deliver and to install it. John Lewis had offered me a general delivery  time of 11.00am to 5pm but yesterday, I received an email telling my time slot was now 4.00pm-6.00pm. Thinking I had an hour to get the back lawn cut, I was just on my out at 3.00pm when the John Lewis van turned up one hour early. But the old hand and his young apprentice got things set up and running pretty quickly the new Samsung quickly found my internet connection. I managed to get my YouTube account linked in (which is important to me given the amount of classical music videos and liberal American political podcasts that I play) so I am relieved to get things running smoothy. The delivery personnel who installed TVs regularly were full of praise for Samsung (and LG) TVs which they reckoned really led the field these days whereas the Toshiba was regarded as old and clunky and they hardly installed any these days. My previous TV is now in the box in which the new one was delivered and is being passed onto my domestic help where she will fortunately be in the position where her husband and boys can watch the football World Cup on one TV and my domestic help can utilise the other. I managed to get all of sticky labels with model numbers and serial numbers detached from the box and stuck inside my own record book which is very valuable to have these all safely secured. Now the TV was working to my satisfaction, I did go and get the back lawn cut about which I was pleased, needless to say. The garden remains somewhat overgrown but at least I am keeping the lawns tidy and the patio in good condition, although in the fullness of time it will require a professional re-grouting and steam cleaning. When this has been completed,  I will give it an annual ‘maintenance’ professional clean.

When I awoke yesterday morning, it was after one of those nights in which one has rather jumbled dreams. In this case, I seemed to have two dreams that merged into each other and they both involved being in a meeting somewhere on the continent with lots of negotiations over this and that and one of the involved lots of discussion that seemed to take place in an airport somewhere.  When I was fully awake, though, I scanned the sky to see what kind of weather lay in store for the day ahead for our U3A trip to Bakewell in Derbyshire. I turned to the BBC weather app which informed me that it will be breezy with variable cloud and a few further, generally light, showers. So one could have wished for better weather but it looks as though we may avoid the showers if there is a modicum of luck. Some of the news being reported this morning is that the UK is lifting sanctions on Russia’s oil products to attempt to ease the pressure on petrol prices at the pumps. There seems to be a particular irony in all of this in that American  activities in the Iranian conflict has the indirect effect of assisting the Russian economy. Right at the start of the war, the Americans acting on out-of-date intelligence bombed a school killing scores of schoolchildren, most of them girls. The Americans are supposedly conducting an in-depth investigation into this atrocity but now, all of this time later, are really dragging their feet over releasing parts of a report that would pin the blame squarely upon the Americans. Immediately after the event at the start of the war, Donald Trump blamed the Iranians themselves for blowing up their own school with precision-guided missiles thus indicating that he had no idea what was really going on. Meanwhile, we have our own home-grown scandal. A high-speed train line between London and Birmingham will be more expensive, take longer to make and go slower than previously announced. The HS2 project will cost between £87.7bn and £102.7bn (in 2025 prices), with the first train services not starting until at least May 2036 and possibly not until October 2039, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the Commons on Tuesday. The project was said to be the most expensive high-speed rail line in the world, according to researchers at the Transit Costs Project. Part of the problem at least seems to have been the desire to make the high speed the fastest in the world. HS2 trains will run slower than originally planned, in an effort to keep down rising construction costs. The Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told MPs on Tuesday that the new maximum speed of HS2 services will be 320km/h, down from the intended 360km/h (224mph).

The news that broke yesterday and reported by Sky News was that police will confirm who is being charged over the Grenfell Tower fire by the 10th anniversary of the disaster The inferno was the UK’s deadliest residential fire since the Second World War. Seventy-two people were killed when the blaze ravaged the north Kensington building on 14 June 2017. At Scotland Yard today, the Metropolitan Police said up to 57 individuals and 20 organisations are so far suspected of criminal offences. One person was arrested and released under investigation, and others have been questioned under caution but not arrested. Potential charges include corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, fraud, serious health and safety offences and misconduct in public office. The final charging decisions will be revealed by 14 June 2027 – exactly a decade on from the fire. It may be an urban myth but it is reported that the day after the fire, the shredders in the offices of several organisations (planning departments, architects, building supply companies) were working overtime as several key individuals realised what was going to hit then further down the line and all kinds of potentially incriminating evidence was destroyed. It is always hard to prove liabilities  after a gap of ten years when memories fade, personnel may have retied and so on. Some of the convictions involving 2o organisations may be for Corporate Manslaughter and securing a conviction for Corporate Manslaughter is generally considered very difficult. While the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 made it easier to prosecute large organisations, establishing the offence to a criminal standard involves overcoming several demanding evidential hurdles.

Yesterday was the long anticipated visit to Derbyshire. U3A members are always absolutely on time and, in practice, we were all aboard and set off at two minutes before the appointed time. I had an interesting travelling companion because  we had met in the parish hall attached to our church last Sunday and had quickly established that we were both U3A members and going on the mid-week trip to Derbyshire. I had not fully appreciated what a truly beautiful county Derbyshire happens to be and the weather appeared to be fairly benign to us today.  When we arrived at Bakewell, the coach soon dispersed in search of coffee shops and particularly those that had a copious supply of Bakewell tarts and Bakewell puddings (there is a slight but subtle difference) I enjoyed a coffee and a sausage roll and bought a Bakewell pudding to be enjoyed later by myself and family members. 
Then suitably refreshed we made our way onto Kedleston Hall which was about an hour and a half’s drive away. We arrived there at midday and then had the whole of the afternoon until the Hall itself closed at 4.0pm. Kedleston is all about the power of art and design – and the art of power. Built in the 1760s to designs by the celebrated architect Robert Adam for Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale, the house was intended to evoke the grandeur of ancient Rome. In 1916 the house and estate were inherited by George Nathaniel Curzon, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston and Viceroy of India. Lord Curzon refurbished the ground floor and planned a museum with more than 1,000 objects from across Asia. Many of us went to the tea rooms to refresh ourselves before the visit and in practice I contented myself with a simple ice-cream. We then set off to explore the Hall which was relatively easy to do on one’s own. I availed myself of an informative 3 minute video and then set off on a voyage of exploration. This was quite easy to do because you could follow a circular route through the house, stopping as long as one wanted to explore the features of any of the rooms. Each room was supplied  with information guides which explained the features  of that particular room and there were two or three ‘human’ guides strategically placed in the various rooms who would answer any questions that you might have. In a music room, I was intrigued by what appeared to be double manual harpsichord whilst in the library, my attention was directed to a printed copy of the ‘Domesday book’ although I did not ascertain when a printed copy was made. The house as a whole displayed 18th century opulence and is probably one of the finest tributes to the architect, Robert Adam. After I had taken several pictures of the interior, I made my way to the tea room where I had a cup of tea before we started off on our homeward bound trip at 4.00pm, arriving back in Bromsgrove just before 6.00pm. My son, although not feeling very well, came along and gave me a lift home, which I truly appreciated and once inside the house I was able to bestow him a gift which  had bought for him (a bottle of beer labelled ‘Grumpy Old Sod’ which I think he will enjoy in the fullness of time)

Yesterday, I awoke to one of those of those wet and blustery days which, hopefully, may presage the end of this spell of cold and unseasonable weather for May.  I often turn to Sky News to see if there are any major news stories that have emerged overnight and one item made be wonder whether it was April 1st, i.e. All Fools Day. The news story was to the effect that the UK is to resume production of the Spitfire but using modern materials so that the cost of each is £0.75 million rather than £3 million of the original. Given the propensity of the UK to live in the past, then perhaps this story has some legs as they say and I suppose that as the existing population of Spitfires must inevitably dwindle but air shows and military pageants remain popular then there may be a certain logic to produce ‘modern’ Spitfires again. I wonder if the ‘modern’ versions will be used as training aircraft before pilots are let loose on an original. I followed the account of Trump’s visit to China where it looks as though China ‘played’ Trump particularly well by heaping flattery upon the US President whilst maintaining a hard line over the status of Taiwan in private talks. Like the American liberal political media, I have been following the state of Trump’s evident cognitive decline with some interest. Over recent weeks, speculation has grown about US President Donald Trump’s erratic behaviour during the US-Israel war on Iran. While questioning Trump’s mental fitness for office, various commentators have suggested he has malignant narcissism, Alzheimer’s disease or fronto-temporal dementia, and is experiencing accelerating cognitive decline and a ‘profound psychological crisis’. The claim of fronto-temporal dementia in particular has stuck. This form of dementia can affect judgement, empathy, language skills and impulse control. Trump’s critics say fronto-temporal dementia explains his escalating threats, profanities and tendency to ramble. But is fronto-temporal dementia really the answer? Diagnosing someone with this condition from afar is not only irresponsible – it’s impossible. It may also inadvertently give Trump an ‘out’ for offensive but intentional behaviour, while increasing stigma for those who live with dementia. All world leaders live in a strange type of bubble, anyway, in which their knowledge of the world is excessively filtered by those around them and it is probable that they only read the media that reflects their own view of the world. One of my early jobs was as an office junior when I worked in the Central Office of Information in London was to distribute a range of the day’s newspapers to various staff in the department in which I worked. Thus every day I got to scan the whole range of newspapers from the ‘Morning Star’ on the left to the ‘Daily Telegraph’ on the right. My bosses used to tell me that the communist organ ‘The Morning Star’ which started off life as the ‘Daily Worker’ was always very well informed on constitutional issues on the basis, presumably, of knowing your enemy. My year working at the Central Office of Information was one of the most informative of my life and I would not have missed it for the world. Two huge stories dominated the media one of which was the death of Sir Winston Churchill, the other being the 750th anniversary of the founding of the first English Parliament under Simon de Montfort in 1215.

This morning I did not rush to get ready as I always look forward to a chat with our domestic help when she calls around. My son was due to pay a visit today but was having the morning in bed after he had been struck by a ‘lurgy’ (virus of some kind, no doubt) and had a headache and sore throat. I went into town to get a newspaper and upon my return prepared a cheese and beetroot sandwich for lunch. As soon as I completed my Pilates class in the middle of the day, I had my sandwich  in the car in the car park and then made my way to the Methodist Centre where there was a monthly meeting and an organised talk. This was on the subject of why all political careers end in failure and although I was only there for the latter part of it, it seemed entertaining and well-delivered. I offered my Denis Healy story to the group as an end as a ‘non-political’ politics story and then we had coffee and biscuits afterwards. I am now in the situation where I know many of the members by sight if not their names and, hopefully, I shall be recognised now that I have attended several events. I was chatting with the lady Chairman over our post-talk cup of tea and she was telling me about a Philosophy group which is being run locally. This sounds to me as though it might be quite interesting and I am minded to get into contact with the person who is the Group convenor and see if I can attend just one meeting and see how it goes. But I am already committed to three groups as well as the day long excursions like to trip to Derbyshire tomorrow so am anxious not to over-extend myself. At the same time, the Chairman gave me a leaflet advertising he role of a Vice Chairman which they are anxious to fill and, no doubt, in the fullness of time would become the Chair of the whole of the local group. If I were ten years younger and had very few time commitments, I might have considered this (and I may just have pushing at an open door) but as things stand at the moment, I suspect that it is quite a lot of work and could well take over a large portion of one’s life. Turning to current domestic political issues, Andy Burnham has now been formally elected to be the Labour Party candidate for the forthcoming Makerfield by-election. The Reform candidate is a local plumber who has contested the seat before and evidently, the Reform party are pinning their hopes on the efficacy of a truly local candidate. But the amount of media attention this by-election is going to attract is enormous and the date of the election has yet to be formally announced. As soon as all of the candidates have been selected, we may well see our first opinion polls conducted and published. One opinion poll, recently published, indicates that Burnham would easily beat Starmer if there were ever to be a head-to-head contest.

Yesterday being the start of the week, I always ensure that I have detached the week’s worth of vouchers for my copy of ‘The Times‘ which I then put into my wallet for the forthcoming week. I was a bit dismayed, though, that one of my precious artefacts associated with Meg – a card signed by all of the members of a European linguists group  of which Meg was a member as part of her ERASMUS (European Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) role, was missing and not in its usual place where I always keep it in my study. Then I remembered that I must have put it in a file to take down to the birthday celebrations a week ago and indeed that is exactly where it was. So it was rescued and out back into its rightful place together with a large photograph of the Lincoln memorial in Washington with Meg and I photographed (as fairly minute figures) standing at the base of it. We must have asked a passerby to take the photo for us which dates back 20 years and was probably at a time when smart phones were not part of our everyday scene. I re-discovered this photo when I was tidying up the study shortly before Meg’s death and this too is one of those ‘We were there!’ type photographs well worth preserving. The week ahead promises to be one of quite intense social activity so I am going to have to ensure that I have a domestic day in which jobs have to be done (clothes to be washed, grass to be cut) whilst I have the opportunity at the start of the week. My American friend and I were scoping out some of the activities which we might undertake jointly  and one of these is to ensure that I make a visit to Yorkshire for my sister’s birthday at the end of August. This, of course, sounds a long way away but the months seem to be rolling by at a great pace these days so I need to think about making a hotel booking before summer holidays overtake us. I was thinking that we might spend more time than normal in Yorkshire and as well as showing my friend Harrogate (not to mention seeing the members of my family) there are also interesting places to visit such as Ripon to the North and York to the East. Although my friend is very well travelled across the globe I think that Yorkshire is a relative unknown to her so this might be a little mini-holiday for us both well worth anticipating. In domestic politics, Wes Streeting has reopened the European issue making it the subject of a major campaign speech and this has the potential of opening up great rifts in the Labour-voting electorate many of whom voted for Brexit and have been siphoned off by Reform. I happen to think that it is right that we should develop closer inks with the EU and develop much better relationships but I think this is one of those issues best done not under the spotlight of politics and certainly not in the middle of a quasi-election campaign. So, the question arises whether Streeting was consciously trying to destabilise the Andy Burnham campaign at its very start and this is hard to discern. Naturally, some opponents of Wes Streeting are discerning malevolent motives but I think the whole issue of relationships with Europe has to handled with sensitivity and tact.

Later I the morning after quite a slow start to the day, I popped down the hill by car to pick up a loaf of sourdough bread and my daily newspaper and then ensured that I was back n the house by 12.00 to watch the daily Politics show. Evidently there is a lot of speculation about the likelihood of Andy Burnham being successful in the Makerfied by election in which the seat has been been vacated specifically to allow him to reenter Parliament. The optimistic voices think that Burnham may count upon his popularity and visibility as Manchester mayor to storm the seat whereas more pessimistic vices point to the success of Reform in the local elections held within the last ten days and the charge that Burnham is deploying political opportunism and may neglect the seat if he is elected as  Labour leader. Some Labour sources are putting Burnham’s chances at less than 50:50 but this itself may be part of a political strategy to ensure that complacency does not take over. No doubt an opinion poll may be taken in the next day or so and the results of this when published will be illuminating.  I made myself a lunch of chicken, broccoli and roast potato and then became quite absorbed in some Congressional hearings where several of Epstein’s victims gave evidence. Democrats tore into government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein abuse scandal last Tuesday – revealing new details of the scale of his international sex-trafficking ring, and warning Donald Trump not to grant a presidential pardon to the late sex offender’s sidekick Ghislaine Maxwell. Several survivors of Epstein’s abuse also gave tearful testimony at a congressional field hearing in Florida of their experiences as teenagers in his orbit. Some spoke of being re-traumatised after they were ‘outed’ by the justice department’s failure to redact their names from the so-called Epstein files. These hearings were quite dramatic and particularly in the cases when a victim’s identify had been revealed (contrary to the legislation) and thus personal details including address and telephone numbers were revealed to members of the public including members of the victim’s own family and, in some cases, spouses and children. But with Trump occupying the White House and the Department of Justice hollowed out to be nothing more than an extension of the Trump political regime, it is unlikely that these traumatised victims will ever get any redress until the Republicans are swept from power, The whole of this scandal reveals that how the rich ad powerful can continue to protect themselves in contemporary America. Tonight, I have scheduled myself to watch a Lucy Worsley programme which investigates the turning points that led to America’s declaration of independence from Britain in 1776 and asks whether this explosive split could have been avoided. These programmes are always a good watch, and I suspect that Lucy Worsley quite enjoys being iconoclastic and presenting some slightly divergent perspectives upon historical events.

The evening before last, having watched the Gary Oldman depiction of Churchill, I tuned for the later stages of the European Song Contest. This was won by Bulgaria in a nail-biting finish in which it looked as though until the last moment, it was possible that Israel might win the contest. If this had happened there might have been a riot as the displeasure felt amongst some sections of the crowd was manifest when Israel topped the leader board. Five nations (Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Netherlands, Iceland) had already  boycotted the competition but in the event Bulgaria pulled it off with a typical European song (‘Bangaranga’) which captured the popular vote. Sometimes I do not watch this competition but the counting of the votes is always quite exciting because sometimes the favourites of the bookies (this year, Australia and Finland) get overtaken by the popular vote. In the afternoon, I had to exercise a degree of will power to go out and get the front greened area mowed and it really needed it as the dandelions has started to run amok but the cold weather had militated against an earlier cut. But I was fortunate to get it done as it rained just after I got in so fortune had smiled on me. I watched the last quarter of the Cup Final which was Manchester City vs. Chelsea where I did not really care who won but would not have minded if Manchester City did not sweep all before them,  But City scored  a goal which exhibited some footballing brilliance and thus won the final but I could not bear to watch the excessive celebrations that would have taken place afterwards (it might have been different if Leeds had not been beaten by Chelsea in the semifinal) The day has dawned to quite a nice, bright day and, according to the weather forecasters, the cold air sweeping across Britain should be replaced by warmer air from mid-week onwards and we shall start to get something approximating to some spring-like weather. I was pleased to note that after the huge couple of demonstrations in London yesterday the police had done a good job in keeping the two ‘sides’ well apart but it is a sign of the fragmentation of UK politics that these protests draw upon well springs of opinion that are not represented in our major political parties. But the organisers of the Palestine demonstration were keen to point out that their march is not anti-Semitic and indeed there are some Jewish voices, even including Holocaust survivors, who take their place on the march. Somewhere within the hierarchy of the police, decisions have to be taken as to which placards are judged to be anti-Semitic and the slogan ‘From the rive to the seas’ (Jordan to the Mediterranean) is judged to fall into this category. But I noticed one placard in the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ (far right) demonstration which read that ‘Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism’ but this is itself is contentious. A Google search reveals the following contribution to the debate: Whether anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitic is a subject of intense and ongoing debate, with no single consensus. Broadly, it is viewed as a complex intersection of political discourse and prejudice, where the line between criticising a political ideology or state policy and expressing hatred toward Jewish people can often blur 

So after attending my normal church service, I took myself off to the  Parish Hall to enjoy coffee and biscuits as is my wont. I sat myself next to a lady who recognised me from a U3A meeting so  am now in the happy position of ‘wheels within wheels’ She, like myself, had lost her spouse about a year ago so we talked to each other about the ways in which we were both using U3A ventures to fill the evident  gaps in or lives. I shall  probably bump into her again on the day trip out to Derbyshire next Wednesday as well. Then whilst  was on the road, I tried to buy some roasting bags for the chicken I am about to cook for my American friend and I. Having tried three retail outlets and not finding any of these, I gave up the search but when I returned home and searched Google, I got the message that these bags are readily available and sold in al of the big supermarket chains (which did not accord with my experience) I got some of my living money out of an ATM, filled the car up with petrol and then returned home to cook the chicken dinner. Whilst things were cooking, I saw the Italian women’s rugby team demolishing the Welsh. When this had concluded, I finished off my cooking and my American friend called round. I opened a bottle of Asti Spumante which I have not drunk for years but at which I was pleasantly surprised. Then after lunch and an extended chat, my friend and I watched the concluding moments of the France v England rugby and were more than happy to see that the Red Roses (England team) had built up an unassailable lead and beat the French, whilst securing the championship as a whole. After more chat and some light tea, we watched the concluding sections of the Margot Fonteyn/Rudolph Nureyev performance of ‘Romeo and Juliette’ made in 1966. So all in all, we had a very pleasant  day together eating some good food, enjoying the wine and particularly happy with the TV that we watched. There is a meeting and talk of the U3A group which I shall attend (late on Tuesday as my Pilates commitment rather clashes with this) after which I have the Derbyshire visit on Wednesday and the postponed visit to Harvington Hall on Friday  next. My friend had brought a delayed birthday present for me which is an illustrated history of the first 100 years of the National Trust. I lent my friend a copy of ‘Watching the English'(by Kate Fox) which I trust my friend will find both fascinating and absorbing as the book is an anthropological examination of the characteristics and quirkiness of the English at home and at play. I have bought several copies of this book and generally given them away to friends who can fully appreciate what an odd lot the people of England can turn out to be. For example, the English generally love in peace and harmony with their neighbours, but when it comes to boundary lines, hedges and fences, then English neighbours can fall out with each other and escalate matters as far as the courts.

I woke up yesterday morning to a prospect of quite a brighter day with the weather hopefully on the turn a little. Moreover, my social prospects look quite bright in the week ahead. Yesterday will be the third Saturday in the month so there will be a meeting of the CAMEO (Come And Meet Each other) at the Methodist Centre where will be coffee and biscuits followed by a talk at some stage. Then the following  day, my American friend and I have decided that we are going to cook a Sunday chicken lunch together. Our cooking lunch coincides with the final set of fixtures in the Women’s 6 Nations rugby competition in which the crunch match will be England vs. France (the two top teams by far) late on Sunday afternoon. It is also the English football cup final afternoon which I may watch as well as undertaking some lawn mowing. Later in the week, we have a general meeting of U3A (University of the Third Age) followed by a talk on politics (‘Why all political careers end in failure’) but I shall have to turn up late for this as Tuesday is my Pilates day. Then we have our much anticipated ‘day out’ to Derbyshire (Bakewell, Kedleston Hall) on Wednesday and then on Friday my American friend and I are going to visit Harvington Hall (already paid for but a postponed visit) followed by a delayed birthday meal. My American friend and I were discussing how we were both were involved in a range of social activities that add their own weekly rhythms  but we were pleased that although we enjoyed each other’s company, it was not going to be at the expense of our other social engagements i.e. life has to be a balance of our social and domestic commitments. We both happen to be more or less in a sweet spot where we are happy enough in our various ventures  but both of us are having to keep a careful watch on our activities to make sure that we do not over-extend ourselves which, paradoxically, might be quite an easy thing to do. On the political front, I notice with a degree of pleasure that the what has been cleared by the Labour National Executive Committee for Andy Burnham to contest a parliamentary seat – one has to say that ‘Thank God’ that the Labour party does recognise that it has a potential saviour in the offing! Trump has now returned from China and with the Iranian war in a state poised between stalemate and abeyance, I wonder whether attention will turn once again to the Epstein affair where there is certainly a lot more to be revealed. In the meantime, American food prices and petrol prices are rising and Trump’s personal popularity is waning. A quick Google search revealed to me a website that I may well bookmark which charts and documents the President’s popularity. This has been a consistent downward trend and the latest data reveals that 481 days into the presidency,  the president’s net approval rating is -21, down 0.3 points since last week (36% approve, 57% disapprove, 5% not sure) After I had bookmarked the site and copied over the graph and headline statistics, there was quite a lot of further commentary in which the figures were broken down by issue, state and various other demographics so that you could track exactly where Trump was losing popularity. One of the expressions associated with President Bill Clinton was ‘It’s the economy, stupid’ and nothing much has changed since it is the 50% rise if gas(petrol) prices and the general inflation in food prices which is hurting Trump even more than the Iranian war.

I made sure that I breakfasted early and went down early to the Methodist Centre to secure a car parking space and then had coffee with diverse old ladies, including one from my (Catholic) church. The we had a talk which I did not think I was going to enjoy but turned out to be very informative. It was given by an employee of AbilityNet which is an organisation, partly funded by BT itself, which is set up to provide free digital skills training for older people and disabled adults. The point was well made that the (4-bit) technology that put men on the moon in 1969 and in which the astronauts were incredibly well trained was now replaced by technology  which was millions of times more powerful and was now in the hands of most of us wit no training whatsoever. The talk that was given was well delivered, sympathetic and reassuring in nature and very informative. The instructor handed out a leaflet which detailed  for us a free weekly newsletter from Which which alerted one to the latest scams, the specialised 159 number to report fraud and scams, the AskSilver website to check out whether a suspicious offering is in fact a scam or not and a website enabling one to ascertain enabling the spotting of AI fakes. So I actually learnt quite a lot about services of which I was previously unaware and I must say that I was impressed by the range of help (including in one’s home in selected cases) for these members of the population for whom this was an important need. This afternoon I am going to divide my attention between  gardening, blogging and the FA Cup Final depending on how the mood takes me. For lunch, I decided to cut up some already cooked him not quite small squares and then fry these off with onions and make a Spanish ham omelette. this turned out to be a lot bigger than I had anticipated and I ended up throwing half of it away. For my TV viewing this evening, I shall probably the repeat of the Churchill biopic ‘Their Finest Hour’ which had recently some pretty positive reviews (which I have already seen but probably worth a re-viewing). Meanwhile, in London this afternoon there are two rival demonstrations to keep the police well and truly busy. Tens of thousands of protesters have descended on London for two rival marches – the Unite the Kingdom rally, organised by far-right figure Tommy Robinson, and a pro-Palestinian demonstration. More than 4,000 police officers have been deployed to the capital, and they are managing a so-called ‘sterile zone’ between the two marches. Officers are also using drones, police horses and dogs, and have armoured vehicles on standby. The Metropolitan Police has called it one of the most significant policing operations in years. Protesters attending the Unite the Kingdom march gathered in Kingsway, before heading to Whitehall and a rally in Parliament Square Many could be seen waving Union flags, and chants of ‘we want Starmer out’ could be heard. Protesters could be seen wearing ‘Make England Great Again (Mega)’ red hats, with others draped in Union flags. Reporting from the scene, BBC correspondent Tom Symonds said people there had a wide range of views – including those who want to see the end of the current government, and others who feel that white people, in particular white working class people, are being discriminated against in the UK today.

Yesterday, as it turned out, was one of those really momentous days in British politics. It all kicked off, as it were, at 6.00am in the morning when Angela Raynor let it be known that the tax authorities had cleared her of deliberately withholding tax on a second home and this cleared the way for her to make a leadership bid should she feel so inclined. Then Wes Streeting actually did resign from the government as Health Secretary so that, he too, could make a bid for the Labour Party leadership although as things stands, it is doubtful whether he actually has the numbers at this point of time to support his bid. But the really momentous political news came late in the afternoon when the Labour MP who holds a seat adjacent to Andy Burnham’s old seat of Leigh in Lancashire agreed to resign to make way for an Andy Burnham return to Parliament. But there is one big problem which is in the local elections held recently, in every ward of the soon to be vacated seat, Makerfield, Reform had won every single ward. On the face of it, this seems to indicate that Andy Burnham has a massive fight on his hands to win this Parliamentary seat. But I would concur with the opinion of some analysts that Burnham may prevail quite easily and this for two reasons. Most importantly, many of the Labour voters who did not turn up to vote in a local election would be energised to vote in such a crucial by election where, in effect, a Prime Minister was being chosen.But secondly, there will be a huge personal vote for Andy Burnham and some who voted Reform may be more than happy to vote for Burnham, particularly as the seat was then won by Labour at the last General Election held two years ago. If, and when, Andy Burnham returns to the House of Commons, then an actual challenge will still have to be mounted against Keir Starmer but one could almost see a situation where no one apart from Burnham actually puts up against him allowing him to be crowned as a new Prime Minister almost by acclamation as the returning ‘king from over the water’ (first said of Bonnie Prince Charlie of course) So there will be lots of feverish speculation over the weeks ahead but at least the Labour Party may have a new leader around whom the party can unite. I have a very interesting thought about Andy Burnham which no commentator has yet mentioned and that is the simple fact that if Prime Minister makes it to be Labour Leader (and Prime Minister) this will be the first northerner since Harold Wilson resigned in 1976 which is, of course, half a century ago. It seems a fairly self-evident fact but perhaps the fact that voters in the north who have traditionally supported the Labour Party feel left behind, forgotten and taken-for-granted is that the Labour party has been led by Celts or a London metropolitan elite for decades. So major transport investment has been made in the transport infrastructure of the South whilst HS2 which was meant to link the North to the rest of the country has foundered. One does not have to be a professional northerner not to give voice to this fact and I am wondering how long it will be until it is mentioned by any of the current crop of political commentators.

As here we are at the end of the week, I went down the hill to park the car and pick up m newspaper before I set off to the ‘Gifts of Love’ outlet which I frequent on Friday mornings. But I had a particular mission which was to go along the High Street and pay a visit to Boots, a store I tend to avoid since most of the profits that they declare are to a US private equity firm, Sycamore Partner, and this raises the whole question whether they pay the appropriate amount  of tax which would be paid if they were owned by more conventional UK owners. I was in search of a bristle hairbrush (my principal one having been lost over the weekend) and was delighted to find a bristle brush at a very reasonable price with the opportunity to purchase a second at a 50% discount. So I was pleased initially with my purchases but when I got them home and examined them closely, the bristle tufts surrounded a longer nylon ‘spike’ which, admittedly, leave one’s scalp a pleasant tingle when brushed. Nonetheless, I had something akin to buyer’s remorse when I discover that the brush advertised as ‘bristle’ was actually ‘bristle and nylon’ so I might wait until my hairdresser next calls around to get a more expert and professional opinion on my purchase. After I got home, I cooked myself a risotto lunch and then later in the afternoon, my American friend called round with one or little goodies as delayed birthday presents. In return, I had a portion of risotto left over which I heated up for my friend. We discussed some of the arrangements that we have made for a week’s time where once my friend is free of her virus we shall go to Harvington Hall in the morning and then go and have a good lunch in the afternoon.  The hotel is one in which Meg and I used to eat often on special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries and I know it well, so after we have dined we can have extensive walks around their grounds which are so extensive that you feel as though you are walking in the open (Worcestershire) countryside, so that is a treat in store for both of us. The evening before last, I saw a fascinating interview with an American military exert on a YouTube liberal podcast, who divulged the contents of an American intelligence report that suggested that Iran may still be in control of as much as 70% of its mobile strike capability. The Americans had evidently bombed the sites of which they had become aware but not with the enormously expensive ‘bunker busting’ bombs which would have been an excessive strain on America’s military resources. So the Iranians having hidden their missiles deep inside caves and mountains were now extracting them and using them in other locations The American military expert made the startling revelation that he did not believer a word of the propaganda made by the Iranians – but neither did he believe the Trump military regime either.

I have got so fed up with waking up to quite cold weather that I turned to the BBC weather app on my laptop to get some commentary on current conditions. Yesterday  in particular, there was quite an icy blast and even today I read that that I can anticipate a day filled with heavy showers and quite a sharp wind. In fact, yesterday I noticed a pile of hailstones lodged in my rear garden gate and it looks as though this bad spell of weather may well persist for a few days more, The temperatures are definitely below the average for mid-May and I am finding this particularly frustrating because I am anxious to go out and get some weeding and general garden tidying-up done but I don’t intend to do this if I m subject to icy blasts the whole time. The last thing I could  do with is a bad back induced by gardening in adverse conditions but I may have to wait for the best part of another week until the weather starts to rise to conditions which are average for mid-May. We will have to see what the afternoon brings for us but although the days seem to start bright enough, clouds and rain soon seem to sweep over us. The political scene is dominated by suggestions that the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, is poised to resign and to attempt a challenge against the Prime Minister. Ny prognostication is that this would be a terrible move by Streeting although he may feel as though he is being swept along by a media surge and feels powerless to resist it. There are two reasons why a Streeting strike at this time may be ill-judged although he probably feels impelled to make his bid before Andy Burnham has the chance to re-enter Parliament. The first of these reasons is to ignore one of the first rules of contemporary politics which is to ensure that you can count! Although the best part of 100 MPs might have signed a letter indicating that they  think that Starmer’s days are numbered, it would be folly in the extreme to assume that this will translate over into the 81 firm votes that Streeting needs to have to mount a leadership challenge. Signing a letter is one thing but an actual vote to de-fenestrate an existing leader is quite another. A second  factor is a simple reading of political history. The  candidate who proffers the first blow in a contest rarely emerges as the ultimate winner and Streeting, on the right of the party and a good media performer, is probably is not a good judge of the depth to which he is disliked on the left of the party, not least because  he seems open to letting the private sector rip open the body of the NHS. I have a small but indicative reason why people may feel discontent with the NHS. I was asked to apply for a routine diabetes monitoring but the app (sourced to a third party) told me it could not process my application at this time. So I phoned my surgery which told me in the introductory blurb that there are very long waits for hospital appointments at this time and therefore do not pressure the GP service at this time because there is nothing they can do about it. I was offered a routine appointment, eventually, but this was in three weeks time for, admittedly, a non-urgent appointment. But if you multiply these instances up, there is no wonder that the population feel that ‘their’ NHS (reportedly, the nearest thing that we have to a national religion) is actually crumbling around us.

After my Tai Chi session this morning, I spoke with two of my fellow class members both of whom seemed to be having a torrid time with ill and failing relatives. My bank manager friend was experiencing a situation in which his mother-in-law was failing fast and whilst  some members of his family were being cooperative others were not to add to his distress. And another class member seemed to be surrounded by failing relatives at the moment so naturally I was very sympathetic to their respective plights. With the UK’s ageing population we now have a situation in which the aged are looking after the extremely aged, raising, of course, the interesting question of ‘Who cares for the carers?’ After an extended chat, I left and called in at a couple of shops but, as so often happens these days, neither  of them stocked the items for which I was searching. So I came home and cooked myself a meal of chicken pieces, heated up in some onion gravy and supplemented by a type of stir-fry of onions, tomatoes, garlic and a few mange-tout peas. As I turned on the TV news when I was sitting down to eat my dinner, I see that the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has resigned in order to challenge the Prime Minister  followed by the customary exchange of letters. But Wes Streeting now has to demonstrate that he ‘has the numbers’ of others supporting him and I suspect this may well be not the case. So now the Labour Party is entering a period of complete turmoil as despite the unhappiness of many Labour MPs, any leadership campaign might be protracted, messy and possibly leading to a narrow victory which is inconclusive. In the meanwhile, Keir Starmer remains in office and, as yet, nobody has yet to challenge him directly. So I am reconciled to a fairly damp and gloomy afternoon, in which if I had hoped to get the lawns mown, then this hope is dashed as the grass will now so wet as to make mowing  a rather messy business. My American friend phoned up to tell me how her cold is progressing and, very sensibly, she has decided that she had better stay out of direct contact with me so that does not pass her cold onto me, which of course I appreciate. On the first and the third Saturday of each month, there is a more general meeting in the Methodist Centre which goes by the acronym of ‘Cameo’ which initials stand for ‘Come And Meet Each Other’ in which the unattached (generally widows and widowers) meet for a coffee and then we have a talk or a communal activity  of some kind. Next Saturday will be the third of the month so I shall turn up and see what is on offer. As might be expected, the numbers of widows far exceeds the numbers of widows by a ratio of about 10:1 from what I remember of the last meeting but the ratio in UK society as a whole is about 4:1. Perhaps women are better joiners than men in their widowed status and hence they are more likely to turn up to these communal events than are men.

I awoke yesterday to a beautiful bright day but there is still quite a cold wind around to lower temperatures a little way below the seasonal norm. Last night, I watched one of the Simon Scharma ‘History of Britain’ programmes and this was concerned with the Jacobite rebellions and the gradual incorporation and union between England and Scotland at the start of the eighteenth century. Right at the end of the programme, reference was made to Robert Adam who designed houses in neo-classical style, one of the most famous of which is Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire. There were just a few shots of the glorious interior and what was so interesting is that this is the National Trust to which the U3A group have organised in a week’s time. So naturally, I am looking forward to that trip as well as to the town of Bakewell in Derbyshire. This is my next trip ‘out’ as it were and these trips are always worthwhile as the cost of the coach trip is even less than that of the petrol cost if you were to make the journey as independent travellers. The war in the Middle East is in a kind of abeyance or even a stalemate as Donald Trump goes off to visit President Xi of China in a visit already delayed once because of the war. I saw a very interesting analysis on Sky news on what is going on in the Middle East at the moment. The state of Qatar is heavily reliant upon LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) exports which can only be conveyed by tanker. There seems to have been a tacit deal whereby one tanker (and possible three more)  has left Qatar and has been granted passage around the Straits of Hormuz in order to offload to an oil terminal to Pakistan from whence the rest of the Asian market can be supplied. As of early 2026, Pakistan Army Chief (and appointed Field Marshal) Asim Munir has been central to managing energy security and geopolitical volatility, acting as a key intermediary in a US-Iran ceasefire following rising hostilities. Munir has brokered deals, including potential investment in Pakistani oil and mineral sectors, to secure economic stability after Iran-related disruptions. So according to the analysis I have seen, although Iranian control of the Straits of Hormuz is contrary to international law, it is quite possible that Iran is settling up several side deals from which Iran can benefit and which can only act to the long term detriment of the USA. Trump hoped to go and see China’s President Xi with the war already won but it is not which puts Trump in a weaker position in terms of being able to negotiate better trade deals with China. Of course our attention is diverted by the shenanigans at home which will probably resume in earnest once the Kings Speech has been delivered in Parliament and a six day debate starts on the contents of he King’s speech. The latest situation is that 86 MPs have signed a letter expressing no confidence in Starmer whilst another 100 have signed a letter of support, leaving the stock exchange in rather a nervous condition (which always pushes up our borrowing costs).

Yesterday was the morning in which I normally go to the Methodist Centre to have a chat with whoever is available.I had promised to take my Italian friend with me as she has lived in Bromsgrove for decades and was bound to run across some people that she knew. We both bumped into the person who had introduced me to the Methodist Centre and was a volunteer serving teas and coffees to the rest of us. Anyway, we three of us had a jolly good chat and I think it was a good strategy to take my friend there to see what friendships she could recreate. Whilst I was there, I was approached by someone who knows me by sight and he as telling me about an organisation which was in effect ‘North Worcestershire friends of the National Trust’ which organises trips and other activities. So I said I would do some research and see if this another network of friends and acquaintances that I might  join. I eventually dropped my Italian friend off home and it was so late by this stage that I cooked myself a lunch of quiche and beans and then set forth to my weekly shopping. This I did after lunch trying not to buy too much but making sure I had plenty of fruit and vegetables. Then I sorted out some newspapers as I need to get them into our green recycling bin as this is the week when the green and brown lidded bins get emptied. Then I had a long telephone call with my American friend who is trying to fight off a cold and a virus – we are both hopeful that we might be able to meet for a cup of tea or something a little stronger when she is feeling better. In the meanwhile, I am roaming the airways in search  of some comedy. There is a fairly obscure channel (65) called ‘That’s TV (UK)’ which is showing some classic 1970’s and 1980’s British comedy including ‘Rising Damp’ This used to be broadcast at 6.50 in the evenings but I thought I saw a glimpse of it on one of the TV schedules early in the day. I tuned in 16.20 and got about one half of a showing on ‘Rising Damp’ so to get my daily ‘fix’ of comedy, I probably need to tune in at about 6.05 each day (which I intend to do from now on) Most, if not all of the episodes I have seen before but the humour is pretty timeless and always worth another  viewing. I am going to treat myself to a science programme on ‘Temperature’ later on this evening followed by a regime of ‘early to bed, early to rise’ before I go off to ‘Tai Chi’ the following day. After the texts, emails and messages of goodwill I have received over the last few days, I sent off several messages this morning hoping that we can arrange to meet up with each other in the weeks ahead. One has to say that now that the summer months are almost upon us, it is much easier to arrange these meetings as we do not have the dark, cold and wet evenings of autumn and winter with which to contend. Having said that, it is unseasonably cold at this time of year with icy blasts of rain – and worse. As I was putting the wheelie bins out ready for collection, I noticed that lodged in the door frame of our backdoor gate was a collection of small hailstones which is not normally expected in mid May!