Yesterday was a day to which we had been looking forward all week as we had been invited by our French friend down the road to a coffee morning she was putting on for close neighbours. This was a great opportunity for us to have some delayed celebrations for Meg's birthday yesterday and I had already delivered a chocolate cake ready for the occasion. Our friend had taken the opportunity to put some candles on the cake and also provided some party balloons to give is a slightly festive occasion. We were nearly too late for the event as immediately after breakfast I had seated myself in my favourite armchair with a cup of coffee and almost immediately fell asleep. I was awakened by a telephone so I quickly had to rouse myself and rush down the hill but in truth the other guests were still arriving so we did not arrive late. We feasted on scones laden with jam and cream as well as a variety of cakes and so had a marvellous time. Our friend will be leaving us in the spring as she is going to sell up and then go to a smaller and more manageable flat nearer to her daughter in Cheshire. The conversation included a discussion as to how the males of the species present at little coffee morning to always hang onto furniture and possessions whereas the females were more disposed to throwing out when the occasion demanded. Whilst we were talking about de-cluttering ourselves of possessions, we were offered our friend's cat, quite a large ginger tom, which goes by the name of Vincent (after Vincent Van Gogh, the painter) This cat does not seem to be amongst the friendliest of his species and so I was not tempted particularly in view of the fact that Miggles, our adopted cat, takes every opportunity to enter the house and to receive some breakfast when she espies that the carers are at the door and the front door is shortly to be opened. Naturally speaking, we had eaten so much cholesterol rich food that we did not feel the need for any lunch after we returned home so we settled down to watch the Maggie Smith film of 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' This was one of those films that seemed to have a very slow build-up and scene setting before some quite dramatic dialogues in the later stages of the film. I sensed that Meg was not absolutely staying with the film but we watched it until the very end. Then after the team time call by the carers, we repaired to our Main Lounge where we regaled ourselves with some of the best bits of 'Black Adder' courtesy of YouTube. Probably because of the combined effects of the two jabs and the energy expended in cutting our front lawn, I have felt incredibly tired all day and have kept falling asleep which rather messes up our schedules.
It is reported on Sky News tonight that Sir Keir Starmer has said senior ministers do not need to hand back freebies and gifts like he has - as Diane Abbott said donors do not donate to politicians 'out of altruism'. After weeks of criticism over Sir Keir and his top team taking freebies since coming into office, on Wednesday the prime minister gave back £6,000 worth of gifts. Included were the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer. But on Friday, he said he does not expect his cabinet ministers to do the same. However, Keir Starmer is reported as having said that acceptance of some of these gifts is 'wrong' but I doubt this will be do much to draw a line under the affair. The whole point is that whatever the legalities of accepting some of these gifts, as the political commentators point out, the 'optics' of this are terrible. In particular, there must be a massive disconnect between Labour's High Command and the vast majority of recently elected Labour MPs who, one imagines by having been out on the doorstep in the general election campaign will have been left in no doubt about the levels of deprivation experienced by some sections of society in contemporary Britain. The depth of anger is palpable and one wonders what 'special advisers' have been doing as they are meant to be a fast route between public opinion and political leaders, bypassing the civil service for example. Not only are the Labour leaders guilty of the charge of hypocrisy but this whole scenario feeds into the narrative of 'They are all the same' or 'Snouts in the trough' But the level of Tory sleaze was on a scale hundreds and perhaps even thousands of times worse than what has been accepted by Keir Starmer and his coterie as billions of pounds were channelled into the coffers of Tory supporters during the scandal of supplying PPE (Personal and Protective Equipment) at the height of the COVID crisis. So 'they are not all the same' but the Labour Leader, by his actions, is generating the impression that Labour sleaze is of the same magnitude as Tory sleaze. Naturally, the right wing press have seized upon any weapons that they have to belabour the new Labour government but they have rather been handed their ammunition on a plate. It is interesting that it takes a left winger such as Diane Abbott to point out that donations are not made in the spirit of altruism but in the expectation that favours will be reciprocated at some point. A think that a good dash of Puritanical self denial would not be out of place for the next year or so that the Labour party can attempt to rebuild some of its credentials.
On Question Time broadcast on Thursday evening, there was repeated questioning why the Labour party was still arms to Israel at the height of the conflict. The government has put a stop to some contracts, for example denying the export of spares for some of the military jets, but the total amount of the ban am mounts to a very small row of beans. The reaction of the audience members was instructive because a common sentiment in the audience was to express the view that whilst Israel had the right to defend itself, there had to be some boundaries as to what was acceptable and what was not. The general view taken by the audience members was that the Labour government were implicitly aiding the Israeli war effort by not taking a tougher stance of the export of arms sales.
© Mike Hart [2024]