The football story in town yesterday morning was how plucky little Cape Verde islands managed a 2:2 all draw against Uruguay scoring their first every goal in the World Cup and standing a fighting chance of getting beyond the group stage of the competition. Meanwhile here at home, the whole country is gripped by two huge stories. The first of these is the extreme weather warning as temperatures are due to exceed 38° C (100° F) across large swathes of the country and this may well persist until about Thursday. Now all of this is serious stuff because temperatures of this size become life threatening. An analysis of the heatwave of last June revealed that there were about 600 ‘excess’ deaths last year and the same metrics will apply this year. 600 deaths is equivalent to two jumbo jets crashing into each other with no survivors and imagine the impact that that would have. Of course, it is the elderly who cannot cope with these extreme temperatures but at the other end of the life cycle, youngsters get tempted to swim whenever they see pools of cold water and despite the warnings, the same might happen this year. Now my American friend and I are keeping an eye on each other and making sure that we both wear appropriate cotton clothing, keep out of the sun and keep ourselves well hydrated for the next few days. The heatwave is even worse across continental Europe with France being particularly badly affected. A significant temperature rise is expected across France from Sunday until at least Tuesday, with around 53.5 million people, or more than three-quarters of the French population, affected by the red and amber warnings on Sunday, according to an AFP count based on population estimates of the departments concerned. Monday could see average temperatures across mainland France reaching their hottest ever, while top temperatures in many areas could peak between 37C and 42C (99F-108F) – levels which in some places would be unprecedented for any month of the year. Apart from the extreme temperature, the other big political story is whether or not Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister later on in the day. Some of his closest advisers are publicly calling upon to go but if he were to stay, he would be a ‘lame duck’ Prime Minister and no significant political decisions may be taken. My own view is that if the Starmer and the Burnham camps were to get together, then a deal might be stitched together whereby Starmer steps down, Burnham takes over but Starmer immediately takes over as Foreign Secretary. Now this would have several advantages for the country as Starmer is so well known from his Prime Ministerial trips abroad that he could, as the say, hit the ground running. Just because this is a sensible thing does not mean that it is going to happen but there would be several advantages. The role of Foreign Secretary takes the incumbent out of ‘domestic’ politics for a while but the global world is in such turmoil at the moment that the UK could exercise a lot more influence in keeping Starmer in office as Foreign Secretary. He would also enjoy the ‘grace and favour’ weekend home of Dorneywood which might make the transition from No. 10 easier to bear. Much will unfold during the day but it is a case of watch this space.
After I had done a few little outside jobs such as watering the plants and sweeping the patio, I had an inkling that something might be afoot politically. Sure enough, the cameras had been assembled in mass outside No 10 and soon a lectern was brought out and it was evident that an important political statement was shortly to be made. At about 9.30 Keir Starmer stepped out and then in a brief speech recounted some of the successes of the present Labour government. He then indicated that his soundings amongst the Parliamentary Labour Party was that he was not the right person to lead the party into the next general election and therefore he intended to reign. The speech as a whole was dignified but Starmer got understandably emotional towards the end of it when he acknowledged the support of his wife during his Premiership and they then embraced. The 9th July was then indicated as the opening date for the nominations for a successor. If no-one seeks a nomination other than Andy Burnham then he will become the next prime Minister before the end of July. If other people do nominate themselves there will be an election process and the result will not be announced before September. Wes Streeting, a potential contender, has already indicated that he would not put himself forward against an Andy Burnham and so other challengers are unlikely. Although some may complain about the absence of a democratic process, a smooth transition of power is probably in the best interests of the country. The point is being made, though, that we are on course for our seventh Prime Minister in ten years and so the traditional UK reputation for political stability is being shredded. One explanation that I have heard put forward is that MPs themselves and public egged on by the media and especially social media have generated a climate in which instant results are expected. But policies have to be worked out, put into legislation, implemented and then given time to work and so change can take years and not months. There is quite a lot to the argument that we have as a nation grown to expect instant results but frequent changes of the Prime Minister are not necessarily the best way ahead. After this breaking news, I went down into town by car to pick up a newspaper and then when I got back, I had a long chat with my next-door neighbour. Although it was hot outside, it was a little breezy and the front lawn looked badly in need of a cut. So I took the ‘brave decision to get it cut before the temperature rose to an intolerable, not to mention unsafe, level and whilst there was still quite a pleasant breeze. So I go this job pulled in before lunch after which I had a doze and then a salad lunch. I got a load of washing out to dry in the hot sunshine and then settled down for a cool afternoon, making sure I was taking plenty of cold drinks on board.