The interesting news overnight which has hit the headlines of practically each one of our national daily newspapers is that Trump is to sue the BBC for $1 billion as recompense for the Panorama item which claims that he had incited the rebellion against the Capitol Building on 6 January, 2021. We know that Trump is a litigious individual and has fired off law suits against most of the liberal media on countless occasions. These law suits either end in failure or a settlement but the amount of the settlement is rarely, if ever, disclosed. Three questions (apart from many others) occur to us this morning. The first of these is whether such suing could be in a British or an American court because a British court would probably throw it out within seconds. A second question is whether Trump would have to prove any ‘reputational damage’ because his track record of downright lies is legendary. Certainly a British court would surely take the view that Trumps record of mendacity implies that he does not have a reputation for truth or honesty which is capable of losing. But a third and intriguing possibility is that if a writ emerges, then a counter claim could immediately be issued as Trump called the BBC ‘corrupt’ which is a huge claim and, as well as being factually incorrect would be a claim impossible to sustain. No doubt a grovelling apology of sorts will be issued and the threat of court action against the BBC will be quietly forgotten. Meanwhile, the BBC has problems of its own because a new Director General of the BBC has to be found and then installed whist a campaign has to be started to restore the BBC’s claim for honesty and probity in reporting. Certainly, the role of the Daily Telegraph in bringing this whole affair into the light has to be questioned because that newspaper and other right wing elements are always seeking an opportunity to attack the BBC and, of course, this particular lapse of editorial standards has given them a gift-wrapped early Christmas present. Returning to domestic issues, my Droitwich friend is sufficiently recovered to return to her own house (although still in quite a lot of pain) but normal life (ie work! family!) has to be resumed. Our domestic help turned up in the morning and so the three of us had some jolly conversations and established some connections in common. It is true to say that my kitchen is looking a tad less cluttered now that I have had some friendly helpers who have encouraged me to put things away where they live in cupboards and to have some rationalisation of things that used to reside along the top of my kitchen work surfaces. One I have things all neat and tidy, I have plenty of incentive to keep things that way. I am still privately delighted about the way in which I got my study reorganised in such a way that I can immediately file away a document or put my hand on anything that I know is stored in the filing system somewhere.
In the morning, my friend and I had a fairly lazy time and we chatted quite a lot with our domestic help as well. Then I went off to a local supermarket both to pick up some supplies but also taking the opportunity to access the ATM and to pick up my copy of a newspaper. When I returned home, my friend and decided to cook some lunch together and we treated ourselves to some rather fine sausages which we complemented with some home-made mashed potato and some petit pois. Then we started to make arrangements for the transport of my friend back home. What I thought was going to be quite a dull November just to be ‘endured’ as it were is getting filled up with social engagements, not least the trip down to Winchester this Friday. Although I saw some of my erstwhile colleagues o the occasion of Meg’s funeral, there are several I have not seen for some 2-3 years so I am looking forward to seeing them again after all of this time. There is quite a lot of talk about the impact that the budget will have when it is delivered in a couple of week’s time. In past times, the leak of a budget secret was judged to be the most heinous of political crimes but today even governments leak some of their plans in advance. It seems almost certain that income tax will rise by about 2p in the pound and this is judged to be the easiest and the quickest way to raise a lot of money pretty quickly. The government may attempt to soften the blow by reducing National Insurance contributions by the same amount. But this probably having the effect of increasing tax on the retired (as they do not pay National Insurance contributions) and the wealthier portion of taxpayers. A few ‘back of an envelope’ calculations indicates to me that what I shall gain on the roundabouts I may lose on the swings as the planned ‘cost of living’ increases for next April will probably be cancelled out by the rise in income tax.
Now that it has been six months since I lost Meg to dementia, I have come to appreciate the importance of social relationships. When you are in the middle of the ‘work’ phase of one’s life, then the majority of one’s life space is concerned with the actual process of work, having a family life and all of the domestic jobs of running a home and social life just get fitted in ‘around the edges’ as it were. Whilst I was caring for Meg and particularly in the last year of her life, I had carers calling in four times a day and a host of nurses, medics, occupational therapists, church visitors and so on so I was never short of bodies around, so to speak. But now I am in a very different ‘life space’ if I can put it that way, and maintaining a variety of social contacts has become a central life interest for me. Some of my circle of friends and acquaintances is diminishing (as when people sell up to be nearer to their family which I well understand) but if I did nothing but chug along then my social circle would gradually shrink and this is not a good thing. So I am trying hard to maintain a good social life and to see and maintain my friendships whenever I can, as well as seizing any opportunities of expanding my social circle.