Today being Sunday is a morning of early rising so that I can go down and collect my newspaper before breakfast. It was an overcast morning but not particularly cold and as is usual at this time on a Sunday morning, I was passed by the occasional jogger but that was all. After breakfast, we watched the successor to the Andrew Marr (politics) show, imaginatively called the ‘Sunday Morning‘ programme with a new presenter in Sophie Raworth. The BBC say they have plans to relaunch the programme with a new title, a new look and a permanent presenter but Sophie Raworth did a good job in some penetrating interviewing of Keir Starmer. It seems an irony that the next week or so may be some of the more dramatic weeks in British politics with the ‘partygate’ scandal running continuously but the BBC are working with a ‘temporary’ programme format each Sunday morning. After breakfast, we slowly got our act together before making a lesiurely trip down to the park.There we met with two of our Sunday morning regulars – our University of Birmingham friend and Seasoned World Traveller with whom we chatted yesterday. Today, I took along with me a couple of tubes of Ibuprofen gel which had prescribed for me by the doctor when I was suffering from an affliction called ‘trigger finger’ (now righted itself without much intervention). As my medication prders repeat themselves, the Ibuprofen supplies seem to keep expanding so I thought I would give a couple of tubes away to friends and associates ( both appreciated by the way) Just after midday, Meg and I went along to have a coffee with our Irish friends down the Kidderminster Road. The coffee transmogrified itself a beer and as it was cold outside, our friends had kindly made some soup and sandwiches for us so we finsihed off having an instant (and very welcome) lunch. We always have the most wonderful of chats and, as usual, we always seem to have masses to talk about, not least the national political scene  now that Boris Johnson’s Operation Save Big Dog is swinging into action. I think this weekend may prove to be quite significant, even though no announcements or political action takes place on a Sunday, as the weekends are times for MPs to have conversations with families and supporters in their constituencies and therefore get an intimation of what the current electorate are thinking of the goings-on on Downing Street.  When MPs return to Westminster on Monday mornings, some of these soundings can be compared with the perceptions of their fellow MPs once they return to the metropolis. Of course, everyone is waiting for the Sue Gray report into the partying at Downing Street but I have a feeling that the whole may yet prove to be a damp squib. After all, on a factual basis, the journalists have done a pretty good job in ferreting out that which needs to be known.

There are various items in the news today – and they all share common features. The principal item is, of course, the personality of Boris Johnson, because it is evident to many (not least, his house master at Eton) that Boris Johnson refuses to be bound by the rules that affect the rest of us. The second item is Prince Harry who is asking for a level of police protection when he comes to visit the UK. This request reveals a mindset in which Harry wishes to be a member of the royal family when it suits him but not a member when it suits him. The third example is Novak Djokovic whose appeal against deportation from Australia was lost. It appears from various press accounts that Djovic is a vaccine denier – when attempting to enter Australia legally for the first time, he made a false statement on the immigration form so do the normal rules apply to him? The Spanish authorities are also pursuing Djovic for the same reason in that he may have not been entirely honest when it came to declaring his vaccination status. To my mind, each of these examples (and I haven’t bothered to mention Prince Andrew yet) all share one common feature which is this. They relish their ‘elite’ status and then to argue that the rules that bind the majority of the population do not apply to them. Hence they are prepared to ‘bend’ the truth, make false or misleading statements or otherwise argue that they are a ‘special case’.  I think it is this aspect of ‘partygate’ as it is beginning to be called as members of the public are rightly incensed when they had to endure the emotional agonies of seeing relatives and loved ones die without being at their side whilst partying was going on in Downing Street. The press have seized on ‘partying’ but in most cases, the transgressions occurred in what, is effect, an ‘after-work drink’ but the wider point is still valid in that most of the population observed the rules whilst the Downing Street personnel did not.

Another day dawned under our current wave of high pressure where the skies are generally clear and the nights cold. This morning, we had evidently had a frost overnight but not an incredibly heavy one and we prepared slowly for our walk down into town. We walked down as far as the newspaper shop, now thankfully reopened again after the proprietors had negotiated a quick burst of having tested positive. We were trying out a little experiment this morning in which Meg used our portable stool as a type of walking stick when negotiating the downhill sections of the route (which is most of the journey down into town) This seems to have worked as intended because Meg managed all of the journey down to the newsagent without undue difficulty. We then made our way into the park to our usual bench and no longer had we consumed our coffee than our friend, Seasoned World Traveller, hove into view. As we both had had medical consultations in the last week, we swopped notes and travellors tales but didn’t tarry too long as we were all in danger of getting a little too cold. Towards the end of our chat, our Catholic friends from down the road popped along the path as they were evidently having their own ‘constitutional’ as well. Compared with the balmy days of summer and even the autumn, we did not linger too long though as it was quite piossible to get chilled if you were standing still (talking) instead of walking briskly. When we got home, we treated ourself to a curry that we have not made for ourselves for quite a time but used to be a regular once-per-week part of our diet ever since our student days. Today, I tried a slight variation and instread of using the more conventional curry powder we used a Chinese curry paste which our home help had kindly let us have. This was delicious and slightly unusual – I suspect there may have been slight less chilli  powder which made the difference. This afternoon, we settled down to watch a little post-prandial TV and tuned into the second half of the second half of a really exciting rugby match (between Wasps and Toulouse), made all of the more enjoyable because Wasps were narrowly in the lead but Toulouse always looked threatening and one wouldn’t have been surprised if they not managed to snatch a victory in the last few minutes. However, Wasps played some brilliant defensive rugby and made one or two key intercepted passes which made all of the difference.

There are reports that emerged today that  Downing Street staff held ‘wine-time Fridays’ throughout the coronavirus pandemic, with alcohol fetched from a nearby Tesco Metro in a wheelie suitcase and kept in a specially bought £142 fridge. All of this is adding to the steady drip-drip of ‘partygate’ news that is dogging the Tory Party. As it is the weekend, MPs have returned to their constituencies and many (if not most) of them are consulting with their constitutency parties to assess the state of public opinion. Most of these are ‘true blue’ i.e. quite traditional Conservative voters (as opposed to the ‘red-wall’ Tories only elected from ex-Labour seats at the last election if 2019) and by all accounts, they are utterly dismayed by the constant shenanigans emerging from Downing Street. One influental MP, Andrew Bridgen, who represents North West Leicestershire and used to be one of Boris Johnson’s most ardent supporters has indicated that he had had 150 emails expressing dismay about the behaviour of Boris Johnson but by the time these had been responded to by midday, another 168 had arrived (a total of more than 300) This has led Andrew Bridgen to conclude that Boris Johnson has lost his moral authority to lead and that his position is now ‘untenable’. The response from Downing Street has been amazing. A special operation to save Boris Johnon’s own skin in the event of an adverse report from the civil servant Sue Grey (charged with investigating the numerous ‘parties’ in Downing Street) under the code name Operation Save Big Dog. Apparently lists of officials are being drawn up to see who should be sacked and which order once the Gray report is published. It looks as though the strategy might be to blame civil servants and other Downing Street officials in order to protect Boris Johnson and his immediate coterie. One view is that Boris Johnson might just about manage to save his own skin if he can deflect the criticism from himself onto others. It is being pointed out that as a civil servant conducting the investigation, Sue Gray does not have the power to suggest that crimes have been committed and she may be inhibited from a full investigations if officials have destroyed evidence by deleting incriminating emails and the like. All of the pronostication at the moment is that the Gray report will be as factual as possible – the only person who issue sanctions against an individual breaking the Ministerial Code is the Prime Minister himself. In the case of his own misconduct he will be the judge and jury of himself (as our current conventions tend to assume that the Prime Minister is a man of the utmost integrity)

Today was the day when our domestic help comes to ‘do’ for us and she is always a welcome sight as we chat over the week’e events. The weather was one of those days when the sky is the clearest blue and the weather was icily cold but not bitter as there was a complete absence of wind to add a chill factor – this is always the kind of climate I associate with Switzerland. It proved to be quite an interesting morning for Meg and I. On our way down the hill, we bumped into our Irish friend and we exchanged our perceptions of the new priest who has just taken over at the parish. We have been invited round for a coffee in the days ahead to which we shall look forward as well as to chat over lots of other things. We also said ‘Hello’ in passing to yet more friends of friends and then proceeded onto our our local newsagents. The shop was open today for the first time in days as it is has been closed as a result of the virus. Apparently, the newsagent and his wife had a light sniffle, tested themselves and were dismayed to find that they tested positive, even though their symptoms were extremely mild. So they had shut the shop for the requisite number of days only to reopen today. Whenever I visit (each morning) I also register my presence via the ‘Test-and-Tace’ app and I had always imagined that in the face of a proximate infection, I would have been informed so I am a little puzzled as to what is going on – perhaps the ‘Test-and-Trace’ has not or is not working as was intended.  Once we got into the park, we met with our Italian friend who we have not seen for a few days and we had a good chat. I showed how to access this blog on her own smart phone so that she can follow our comings and goings, pedestrian though they might be. Then after we had had our coffee, another couple hove into view who we know by sight but had not seen them for a week or so – we exchanged pleasantries and compared notes about the damson gin that we both make. Then we made for home and, together with our domestic help, rationalised a few of the drawers in our bedroom where clothes we had not worn for years and were dispensable were junked to make additional storage space for more recently bought items. Then we treated ourselves to a good meal of trout fillets that we had purchased from Waitrose last Thursday. This was delicious and I felt it probably tasted better than had it been salmon. I cooked it in the same as the seabass we often have but made sure it got turned regularly, as the filletts were quite thick. 

The news bulletins are still on a ‘partygate’ feeding frenzy, not least because revelations keep appearing very day. The latest one reveals that the night before the funeral service of the Duke of Edinburgh, some of the staff in Downing Street were partying away in two separate parties, one playing loud music before the two parties combined in the garden of No. 10. When one of the parties ran out of alcohol, someone was dispatched to a local Tescos with a suitcase, presumably to disguise the contents, so that the party could continue. On the same day, a woman in Hackney was fined £12,000 for holding a large belated birthday party and what influenced the police at the time that this should have been a day of national mourning. I have seen a videoclip of a crowd assembling outside the precincts of Downing Street, complete with  Boris Johnson masks and wine glasses pretending to hold a riotous party. It is now a case of people making fun of the Tories i.e. they are being openly the object of ridicule, which might be much more damaging to them than the conventional modes of political opposition.  What has made these events so newsworthy in visual terms is that the news editors are constantly replayng images of the Queen having to sit alone (because of COVID restrictions) at her own husband’s funeral contrasted with reports of the parties going on at No. 10. The Prime Minister has taken the almost unprecedented step of communicating directly with Buckingham Palace in order to prefer apologies – a most unBoris like thing to do but I suppose by convention he has to go and see the Queen once a week so perhaps he thought he had better get his apology in quickly.

Before we all get too excited about the wane of the Omicron variant, it looks as though a wave of Omicron cases is possible over the summer as people resume social activities and the effect of the vaccines wanes, according to scientists advising the government. I would have thought this was a cast-iron certainty as people will certainly relax ‘too much’ and all precautions will be thrown to the winds.

Today was ‘shopping’ day so it was a case of setting up the alarm, gerting ready promptly and motoring (on a very icy morning) to Droitwich Waitrose to be there at the moment that the doors open. I must say I almost enjoy doing this now that I am on a regular routine and evidently, the number of fellow shoppers is minimal. So the shopping was completely unproblematic although it never ceases to amaze me how two little people manage to consume so much. However, I don’t think I forgot anything of great importance which is always a danger if you enter the supermarket ‘listless’. Since the Christmas tree got put away on ‘Twelth Night’ (over a week ago now) the corner of our hall which the tree used to populate looks incredibly sparse. So I have installed a low-energy minimalist-style table lamp to illuminate that corner and I must say in these dark early mornings and evenings, it is wonderful to behold a little fountain of light. Whether I will continue with this little experiment once the days start to lengthen and the nights shorten, I am unsure but in the meantime it gives me a little fillip of pleasure when I glance down the hall. Meg and I realised that we had a fairly tight turn-around this morning as our hairdresser was due to call at midday. So again we decided to use the car so that we could make a lightning visit into town to get our copy of ‘The Times‘ and get back by midday. After our hair had been cut, we then prepared our lunch which was a little special today as we were treating ourselves to some venison burgers. When we were having a little holiday a few months back in the Brecon Beacons, we popped into a little market hall where we found some superior grill pans being sold off quite cheaply. We bought one of these and I must say it has proved its weight in gold to cook burgers (and fish). It has a ridged design which means that the cooked item does not stick to the bottom of the pan and it takes a real minimum of cooking oil. I have a glass lid to another cooking pot which, quite fortuitously, just happens to fit the square design of the grill pan and so I can cook away without any fear that I will be making a mess of our kitchen hob. 

This afternoon there was a lot of tidying up tp be down and after an involuntary snooze, I set to filing quite a lot of stuff that had accumulated in the last week or so. We had also put all of our Christmas cards on one side because I like to go through a little later rather than throwing them straight away so that I can extract any change of addresses (there are always some) and also keep any which merit a longer reply now that we have the Christmas season well out of the way.

There have been a slew of political (and quasi-political) announcements this afternoon, each of whih has been significant in its own way. The principal story today is, of course, how MPs are positioning themselves with reference to Boris Johnson’s ‘apology’  If we start off in Scotland, each one of the Tory Scottish members of Parliament (MSPs) has now demanded that Johnson should resign after which the insults started to flow as Rees-Mog called the Scottish Tory Leader a ‘lightweight’ and the recriminations have been flying back and forth all day. The Cabinet have been coralled into voicing their support for Boris Johnson which has been enthusiastic by some (Priti Patel, Liz Truss) and lukewarm from others (Rishi Sunak). But practically everybody is waiting to see what the Sue Gray report into ‘partygate’ will reveal. Some members of the Tory Party have been advancing some of the most specious explanations to support Boris Johnson’s walking into his own ‘party’. One was explaining that when he worked in the City, alcohol was often freely flowing so just because alcohol was around doesn’t mean to say that they were not at work (the riposte came from a NHS employee who retorted that if they brought alcohol into work and immediately starting to consume it, they would be sacked on the spot). The second major story is that Buckingham Palace have moved swiftly to ‘take back’ all of the honorific appointments enjoyed by Prince Andrew including his use of the honorific ‘His Royal Highness’ (HRH). This is evidently the Queen trying to ensure that Prince Andrew’s shenanigans do not completely overshadow the celebrations later this year for the Queen’s 70 years on the throne. But it  does seem as Prince Andrew is being cast into the outer darkness and is now on his own. The third big news item was the announcement that isolation periods were now to be reduced from 7 days to 5 days (but with lateral flow tests on day 5 and Day 6)

Today was the day on which Boris Johnson had to come before the House of Commons and answer PMQ (Prime Minsisters Questions) on what is being dubbed the ‘partygate’ affair. Since the publication of an invitation sent to 100 staffers in Downing Street and whose authenticity has not been denied, it was evident that Boris Johnson had to come before the House of Commons and give a credible explanation of the events of 20th May, 2020 (the height of the first wave of the pandemic). Meg and I organised our day so that we could be sitting in front of the TV at 12.00pm, so we went down to Waitrose by car and picked up a newspaper and some milk and then made our way to the park for a mini-walk so we could get a breath of fresh air. It was a magnificent blue sky and clear air but pretty cold. We walked sufficiently long to feel that we had had some exercise and fresh air and then jumped into the car to observe the ‘blood sport’  In anticipation of the forthcoming Question Time.  I was wondering to myself exactly what Biris Johnson’s lines of defence would turn out to be. In the event, the apology came in the form of ‘I wandered into the garden and assumed that the gathering was a ‘work event”. The second line of defence came in a repeated plea to wait until the investiagtion into Downing Street parties by the senior civil servant, Sue Gray, was complete and he, Johnson, would come to the Commons when all the facts were known. These explanations were treated with scorn by all of the opposition parties. In particular, Keir Starmer was forensic in the way that he dissected the Prine Minister’s assertion that this was a ‘work event’ when everybody had been asked to bring a bottle and food was laid out on trestle tables. Johnson maintained that he had only come in o the garden to ‘thank’ groups of staff but after 25 minutes he retreated back into the main building to carry on with work. The first explanation offered by Johnson that he didn’t realise that he was attending a party met with universal scorn and was simply not believed.   The second explanation i.e. waiting for the enquiry to complete its work was universally characterised as ‘playing for time’ and ‘kicking the can down the road’ I found it interesting that Johnson was accused several times of lying and I always thought that that was an example of un-parliamentary language that the Speaker would insist on being withdrawn. In fact, the Speaker issued no such request (presumably because he believed it to be true) but it is interesting that the term was allowed to be used and will be entered into Hansard (official report of the proceedings)  One senior MP has described Boris Johnson as a ‘dead man walking’ and it is hard not to agree with this conclusion. Immediately after the PMQ, Boris Johnson was seen ‘working’ the Commons tearooms, a well known technique for drumming up support but one in which Boris Johnson has not indulged before. In a highly charged atmosphere, the whole political class are waiting for any further revelations (even a photograph) and it would not take much to push Johnson over the edge. With what is coming down the road (inflation at 7%, gas price rises, National Insuramce rises, local elections in May) it seems almost impossible that Boris Johnson can survive for long. What I found disturbing was that not a single Tory MP would criticise their own PM in public (this was left to the Leader of the Scottish Tories who has argue that lawbreaking must lead to a resignation) If I were a cartoonist, I would have illustrated Boris Johnson has hanging onto a grid over a huge sewer whilst other politicans stepped on his fingers to make him lose his grip.

A second ‘how are the mighty fallen’ moment was to come in the afternoon when it was announced that Prince Andrew’s attemps to have the action brought against him by Virginia Giuffre had failed. This leaves Prince Andrew with three options, all equally unpalatable.  He can go to trial (which he will  probably lose as in civil cases a jury has only to be convinced with the ‘balance of probablitities’ burden of proof rather than ‘beyond reasonaable doubt’ in criminal cases) A second option would be to appeal the court’s rulings but this is estimated to have a success probablity of 40% at the very best. The third option is to settle for what would no doubt be millions of dollars (and would be tantamount to an admission of guilt) It is rumoured that the Queen is making Prince Andrew pay his own costs in this and hence a villa is being sold in Switzerland but I am sure the ‘bank of Mum and dad’ would be accessed as a last resort.

Today was always to be one of those days when there was a certain amount of running around to do and things to get packed into the day but in the event all ran smoothly. The prime event this morning was I due to attend one of the local hospitals for a routine monitoring and afterwards there was a Pilates session to fit in. I got to the hospital in plenty of time and was seen fairly promptly, with only three of us in the waiting area. I do think that in these pandemic days, the occasions when one had an outpatient appointment and joined a clinic of anything between 30-50 people jammed in like sardines are well and truly over. (I remember a fracture clinic which Meg had to attend which was somewhat like this in the pre-COVID days) Having been seen, I needed to have a blood test but for this I was ushered into a room next door, had the blood taken and am then to have a telephone appointment in some six weeks time. I asked the HealthCare assistant if she knew the original Tony Hancock sketch often associated with blood tests and blood transfusions but she had not. This was a particularly famous Tony Hancock sketch in an episode called ‘The Blood Donor‘.  Tony Hancock had a pin prick in his finger in order to supply a smear of blood, presumably to determine a blood group. Having been so pricked, Tony Hancock exclaimed ‘Can I have my tea and biscuits now?‘ in the belief that this was the end of the procedure. When informed by doctors that in a blood donor session, one was expected to donate a pint of blood, Tony Hancock exclaimed ‘A pint – that’s an armful!‘ (incidentally, as there are eight pints of blood in the human body, then a pint of blood being an armful is approximately correct). In my experience, many people of my age will say to the haematologist ‘Are you going to take an armful?‘ and many personnel know about the joke but not many have seen the original sketch (a videoclip of which has been shown on numerous occasions)  Having emerged from the hospital relatively quickly, I got home as rapidly as possible and prepared myself a cup of coffee and a rice-cake biscuit. Then it was down into town to call by my bank to get some much needed cash out of an ATM. I approached this task with a certain degree of trepidation as both Meg and I have had to be isssued with new debit cards, the previous ones not being accepted into the machines (although the chip driven contactless payments seem to have worked OK) Both of these cards have worked as they should on their first occasion of use. In order to make sure that that cards do not rub against each other or the magnetic strip gets compromised, out of an old diary I have constructed a special card holder which can accommodate two cards securely but safely and this little system, too, has worked very well.

Today’s political news is dominated by the seqelae to the ‘drinks party’ held in the Downing Street garden on 20th May, 2020. The few clips I have seen of the Labour-called debate in the House of Commons have been fascinating. The Labour benches are full, the Tory benches are practically empty as the Tories do not seem to relish the prospect of turning up to defend a Prime Minister who has not denied the allegation that he attended this party (at which attendance was then illegal, a crminal offence and with a potential fine of £10,000 for the organisers of a large event). Some of the contributions of MPs were heart-rending, particularly from one Northern Ireland MP who broke down in tears whilst making his speech, distraught at the death of a near relative). Tomorrow Boris Johnson did not even turn up to Parliament to face the music but tomorrow he has no option as it is Prime Minsiter’s Questions. Meg and I intend to watch this live in tomorrow’s transmission as it promises to be a blood sport. The ‘resignation’ word is now being used  and the Leader of the Scottish Conservative party has called for the Prime Minister’s resignation if any illegality is proved. The rampant hypocrisy is really cutting through with members of the public who are painfully recalling their experiences in May, 2020 when they were not allowed to be present at their relative’s demise under the then current COVID regulations whilst the Downing Street personnel seem to be enjoying themselves in a totally illegal drinks party. The rules at the time were that one should only meet with one person in the open and keep them at a distance of two metres. Athough we are awaiting for the report into the Downing Street parties by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, it also seems that the police may (at last) be taking an interest although it was evident from the last Downing Street transgression that they are not interested in ‘historic’ transgressions.

Today we decided to try out an alternative way of accessing our local park. After a delayed start, we went down by car to call in at Waitrose to pick up a copy of our newspaper and to buy a few much-needed supplies. Then we drove to the park and occupy a position in the lower car park whilst we undertook our constitutional walk to our favoured spot on the top benches. We had not been sitting too long, enjoying our coffee, before Intrepid Octogenerian Hiker strode into view. He was on the first of several circuits that he makes within the park and we saw him a day or so anyway. We chatted for a few minutes about this and that before he went on his way and we started to make for home. Whenever we go to the park, we take with us an incredibly useful folding stool. This used to be (and perhaps still is) sold within  National Trust shops. It is made of aluminium which makes it incredibly light and also has a very robust construction. The seat folds down from a vertical to a horizontal position and we utilise it not as a seat but as a miniature table upon which we put our coffee cups and flask as we pour out the coffee. Naturally, we have with us a variety of cloths that we use to dry the park bench before we actually sit down but the folding stool has attracted many an admiring glance and comment.We have the feeling that if ever we left it behind outside a shop (which has happened once or twice) then we might never see it again. Today, we ‘experimented’ by seeing how much of a use it is to Meg to use particularly when traversing downhill sections of our walk which has proved a little problematic. We shall continue with these pragmatic experiments to see if is useful as a quasi-walking stick although it is intended as a temporary stool for weary travellers.

After lunch, I took my Community Bank file along to my neighbour who acts as Treasurer to our Reidents Association and secured his signature on a document designed to reset the security on our account. The staff in the local branch informed me that when the document had been received, those in charge of security at the bank would consider this and then and then email me to arrange for us to have a chat so that I can answer future security questions.  If I get through these series of hurdles, I might then be able to talk with (or at least communicate with) the safeguarding procedures of the bank who I still have to satisfy. At this rate, the saga will rival ‘War and Peace‘ and I have an uneasy feeling that it might all end in tears – but all we can do at this stage is to wait and see.

The latest Downing Street ‘sleaze’ event was first leaked by Dominic Cummings – and it concerns a ‘socially distanced’ drinks event held on 29th May in the Downing Street garden. Dominic Cummings has blogged that he and one other SPAD (special adviser) had advised against but they were ignored. When Boris Johnson was asked whether or not it was true that he had attended together with Carrie, his then fiancee, he did not deny that he had attended but referred to the ongoing investigation into  multiple Downing Street parties being conducted by senior civil servant Sue Gray. The Sunday Times yesterday cited three sources stating Mr Johnson’s principal private secretary Martin Reynolds emailed officials with an invite to the event on 20 May suggesting attendees ‘BYOB’ (bring your own bottle, or booze). All of the indications are this evening that Martin Reynolds, a civil servant, is being lined up to carry the can for all of this and indeed may only survive for a day. This may be a way, of course, that the politicians hope to deflect criticisms from themselves. The fascinating question tonight is whether this transgression by the PM just by attending is sufficient to bring about his resignation. In the past, motions have been passed by the Commons to reduce a ministerial salary by £1 as a symbolic gesture but, of course, the Gray report is still to be published. If it does see the light of day, I suspect that it might be released the day after there is a Parliamentary recess for Easter (or another natural disaster occurs so it is a good day to publish ‘bad news’ as it may be overshadowed)

I was interested to see an analysis of which countrties had fared best and worst in the pandemic crisis. According to The Economist, Denmark, Norway and Sweden are all near the top, and America has also performed reasonably well. Many big European countries, however, such as Britain, Germany and Italy, have fared worse. Spain has done worst of all. What needs further analysis, though, is to ascertain precidely which features of a society enable to fare well (or badly) in international comparisons.

Normally on a Sunday morning, I leap out of bed at an unearthly hour in order to walk down to my friendly Asian newsagent and then get back in time ready to have a breakfast in front of the Andrew Marr show. Today was a little different, however, as my newsagent has closed for a few days in a period of self-imposed isolation so I knew I would have to wait until Waitrose opened before I could pop in for my copy of the Sunday Times. So we watched the successor to the Andrew Marr at our leisure, learning nothing very much. Eventually, we got ourselves into gear and started to trek down into the town. Meg is finding it increasingly difficult to walk downhill these days so I have to keep her arm firmly linked into mine to make sure she does not stumble or fall. When on the flat or walking uphill, Meg seems to cope somewhat better so we are thinking of making some adaptations to our daily routine. Next week according to the week-long weather forecast, it appears that we may be in for a spell of dryish weather with some clear skies all of which helps to make walking more pleasurable. It may be, though, that we need to adapt our routine somewhat to make sure that Meg gets some exercise as well as a burst of fresh air and the other benefits of walking. One thing that we will probably do is to take the car down into the park and park in the lower car park and then take a walk up to our ‘normal’ benches in the upper regions of the park. This will cut the amount of walking down somewhat but I may need to take whatever opportunities there are to walk on my own to make sure that I get the exercise I need to keep myself in reasonable condition. Early on today, our University of Birmingham had phoned on two occasions. In the first of these calls, he explained that he had a very sore throat and a bad cold and did not want to come and possible infect us (and any of our friends). Then we received a second phone call from our friend explaining that he had just administered a ‘Lateral Flow’ test to himself and this had tested negative – so he wanted to pass on this bit of news to us so that we not to worry. In the park, we did meet, though, with Seasoned World Travellor as we might have expected and without excessively dwelling on the matter exchanged news of hospital appointments that were forthcoming for both of us in the week ahead. Although Meg had a somewhat difficult journey on the way down to the park this morning, she nonetheless did find it easier to walk uphill on the way home. We had hoped to bump into some of our Catholic friends on the way home to exchange news and views of the new priest who has just taken charge of our parish but no doubt we can seize the opportunity some time later on in the week.

The COVID news is a little confusing, as I read it. According to some sources, there are some slight indications that the incidence of the Omicron variant may have peaked in London, whereas the rate is still rising dramatically in the Northwest of England, where 17 hospitals are declaring ‘critical incidents’ as they struggle to cope. There is also some talk emanating from government that we may be passing from the stage of a ‘pandemic’ to an ‘epidemic’ and we should look forward to living with the Omicron variant for the foreseeable future – much as we do with flue each year (from which, incidentally, some people will die). The emerging data tends to suggest that the  hospitalisation rate and even more, the death rate, is dramatically different with the Omicron variant – the death rate may be 21 times lower than it was during the country’s second wave. For this reason, following a large wave of cases in the U.S., some experts say that the variant could lead to even higher levels of population immunity – meaning that future surges will be even less severe. To make sense of this, I am speculating as follows. Firstly the metropolitan effect may mean that our decision makers assume that what is true for London may be true everywhere else. Also, in a polity in which stock exchange philosophies predominate (discounting the present, anticipating the future), perhaps our decision makers were thinking as though they were dealing with an economic trade cycle in which a boom will follow a slump. Therefore, the reasoning goes, we are over the worst and all we have to do is to ‘tunnel through’ the hump. There are masses of assumptions built into all of this anaylsis but I wonder if we are relaxing our grip a little too soon (just as we did before the Omicron variant hit us) and we shall have to live with the consequences.

We were looking forward today to a fairly quiet and relaxing day and so it turned out to be. The weather was rather playing ‘ducks and drakes’ so we were in two minds to take a walk down to the park which is always our preference, or to make a journey by car. As the weather was overcast when we were ready for our excursion, we decided to walk down to the park but within a short time we encountered a very fine drizzle which rather put a damper upon things. We called in at Waitrose to collect our newspaper (our usual newsagent is still in a self-imposed isolation) and some milk and then made our way to the bandstand in the park – our normal ‘refuge’ when the weaher turns a little nasty. There we drank our coffee and ate our biscuits fairly rapidly and then had a fairly miserable walk home as the drizzle persisted. But when we did get home, a little late in the day, our dinner of fresh-seabass did not take long to prepare (3 minutes on the skin side, 2 minutes on the flesh side) and then served on a bed of lettuce.

We scoured the TV schedules for anything diverting during the afternoon but nothing really appealed to us. So I decided to ‘turn out’ one of the cupbaords in our outer kitchen which was threatening to become a little jumbled. I turned up both an iron and a travelling iron which promptly went to the back of the cupboard again. Then we organised some soups (both in tins and in packets)  so that we could equally put our hands on whatever we fancied and then tidied up our supplies of potato and onions that we keep in the cool of the outer kitchen. Then a good job having been done, we got ourselves ready for our departure to church in the late afternoon. We have a new priest in charge of the parish after the retirement of the Monsignor more than a year ago and then one or two ‘stand-ins’ followed by a more permanent ‘stand-in’ who looked after the parish for about 10 months. The new priest is Indian and is a member of a missionary society in the Indian state of Kerala. Meg and I feel that it might be difficult to quickly establish a report with a traditional, but largely white population in Bromsgrove – however, the new priest is still finding his feet having been in charge of the parish only for a matter of days.

The COVID-19 pandemic has passed a symbolic milepost today as the number of deaths from the virus has now passed 150,000. A further 146,390 COVID cases have also been reported, according to the latest government data, taking the total number since the beginning of the pandemic to 14,333,794.  Saturday’s figures compare to 178,250 coronavirus infections and 231 fatalities reported yesterday. The Omicron variant seems to have gone its peak in London but the concern is now that the NorthWest region of the country is seeing a sharp increase in hospitalisations.  As well as this regional effect, there is also an ‘age-related’ effect and the elderly are now beginning to feel the effects of the Omicron wave, which will send shudders through the NHS. The latest COVID surveillance report from the UK Health Security Agency shows a steep rise in the number of over-85s being admitted to hospital in England. Hospitalisations in the age group doubled from 62 in every 100,000 in the week leading up to Christmas to 121 in every 100,000 a week later. How should the government respond to such alarming trends? It does look as though the number of new hospitalisations is already ‘baked in’ as any current hospitalisation rate is a lagged function of the infection rate of some 2-3 weeks previously. It looks as though the government strategy is to try and ‘tunnel through’ what is going to be a really tough 2-4 weeks during the reminder of January and then hoping? trusting? that the figures will start to move past their peak at that point. Apart from sending in army medics which has already happened for some London hospitals, there seems to be precious little that can be done at this stage. 

There is some speculation that later in 2022, we as a society will move into a ‘post-pandemic’ phase in which COVID-19 settles into place as an endemic disease, in much of the same way that we currently experience colds and the ‘flu. Of course, this presupposes that another variant does not come and out-compete even the Omicron variant. Although a new variant has been identified in France, it does not seem to have the infective propensity of Omicron and might not make too much headway.  However, I do get the impression that as COVID-19 has been with us for nearly two years there is a certain ‘world-weariness’ and even complacency has settled in. 

Well, today is the day when I am scheduled to visit the bank which looks after our residents association affairs  to attempt to get through their Safeguarding procedures. As it was the day for our domestic help, we did spend a certain amount of time catching up on our post-Christmas news. We both expressed the view that it is quite a lot of hard work for not very much pleasure at the end of it and although it sounds a little curmudgeonly to say so, it is rather nice to have it all over and done with and everything put away. Once we had got ourselvs sorted out I walked down to the bank and enlisted their help to get through to the SafeGuarding unit – and then the problems started all over again. My passport was checked and so far, so good. Then could I please supply evidence that our business address is where it says it is (yes – the address to which they send letters and statements of account) by supplying a tax demand (we do not pay any tax), a council tax demand (we do not pay any council tax) or a bill (our only regular bills are paid by a couple of direct debits). In extremis, a driving licence would do (even though it does not tie me to the Residents Association) So I walked home and Meg and I had an ‘instant’ type meal. Then I went  down in the car, raced down to the bank and let them have my driving licence (to scan), a communication from the company that services our BioDisc (even though it said ‘date as postmark’ and was probably not valid) and finally a duly signed form which I had downloaded from the relevant website and then filled it and signed. But when this was submitted, it also needed the signature of our Treasurer (ie neighbour) on it but of course, he wasn’t in. On checking my documents, I found I had lost my driving licence – so I raced down to th bank for a third time that day to see if I had left it at the bank. After I had paid for my parking fee and was returning to the car, I discovered my driving licence had escaped from the file and was nestling on the passenger seat so there was huge sigh of relief. I have to admit to saying my prayers than for a long time to secure its safe return and so it proved. So I need to get my neighbour’s signature over the weekend and then to return to the bank for the fifth time to try to make progress. I did say to the local counter staff (who were sympatheric but helpless under these circumstances) that I had in mind to bring a camp bed down on Monday morning, plus an invoice for £4,000 (20 hours of work at £200 an hour). They grimaced but did not demur. When I got home, I made sure that the driving licence and the passport were returned to their proper homes, waiting for the next time.

Today, Meg and I took our first ‘Lateral Flow’ test. We had in stock two boxes of 7 tests which I had pre-ordered a few days ago, ready for when we might need them. The impulse to use them this morning was the fact that we had visited some relatives yesterday. Also, when we called in at our normal newsagents before setting off for Derby, the newsagent was closed for a few days with the note that he was self-isolating for a few days. When I use the store, I always use the COVID app on my iphone before I enter the store and the system has not informed me of any potential contacts. Does this mean that the ‘Test-and-Trace’ app was not working as intended or does it mean that the cause of the self-isolation was so indirect that there was little to be worried about? However, it is always reassuring to test negative and I have ordered another box of tests so that we have a supply in stock. The government website tells me that I can order a new set every day  so I trust I am just being prudent and am not contributing to any shortages. 

Having been ‘boosted’ there is a natural feeling that we might have that we are ‘protected’ against the virus. However, protection wanes fairly rapidly. On the positive side, protection against hospitalisation is about 90% for people aged 65+. But protection against mild symptoms is more short-lived and drops to about 30% by about three months ago. As our booster jab was on 7th October, our booster jab is now exactly 3 months old. When will a 4th jab be rolled out (if at all)?The Government has set its face against so far so I am not very hopeful.