Two of our regular carers called around in the morning at 8.00am and although Meg was still sleepy, we got her up and dressed without any delay. Being a Tuesday, we were looking forward to seeing some of our regular Waitrose friends and, indeed, we did meet up with two of them including our friend who had experienced the unfortunate fall in Waitrose the other day. Over coffee, I ensured that I had got her telephone number so that I could send her a couple of useful telephone numbers, one being the contact that we have for the 'LifeLine' alarm worn around the neck and activated in the event of a fall and the other being my contact within the 'Falls' team itself. No sooner had we got back from our coffee break down the hill, I was met with the representative of the 'LifeLine' organisation because given that Meg is no ambulant and therefore in danger of falling, we are discontinuing this particular service as we need it no more. As Tuesday is a 'sit' day, one of the newish carers that knows Meg quite well was sitting with her whilst I made a lightning visit to a local shop. By now it was getting rather late for the fishcakes that I had planned so I made a 'quickie' lunch from a tin of chunky vegetable soup, a baked potato and one leek enhanced by an onion sauce. During the course of lunch preparation, I received a telephone call from a local physio who thought he could pay us a quick visit to give up some advice on Meg's legs. He turned up at about 3.00pm and we had a very useful discussion with him. He confirmed that the recently ordered Riser-Recliner chair would be invaluable and in the short term gave us some invaluable advice how to keep Meg's legs in the correct orientation.The source of my concern was that if Meg sat in a wheelchair for about 4-5 hours in the afternoon, this might 'set' Meg's leg at a 90 degree angle and, for this reason, we put Meg into an armchair and a small, low height stool, to keep Meg's legs at a less acute angle. The young male physio was very helpful and he explained some of the basic physiology involved and we were relieved to ascertain that Meg's knees joints were not themselves being adversely affected. The physio was satisfied that we were doing the right things and gave us some simple stretching out exercises for us before Meg is moved into the hoist.
There was some unexpected economic news this afternoon after the Bank of England had made a cautious cut in interest rates the other day. A string of big lenders have announced interest rate hikes one after the other - as the mortgage market takes a turn for the worse. HSBC, Santander, Nationwide, TSB and Virgin have all announced hikes today and in recent days. It follows a budget that analysts fear could prove to be inflationary. There is concern extra costs for businesses, such as the minimum wage uplift and the national insurance rise, could be passed on to consumers. Last week the Bank of England cut the base rate to 4.75% but struck a cautious note, saying further rate cuts would be 'gradual' - prompting markets to further scale back forecasts for another cut in December. So I imagine that this news is unwelcome to the government and I wonder to what extent it was either modelled or anticipated. Donald Trump's latest appointment to the person who is going to look after trade negotiations i.e. tariffs, seems to be one of the most protectionist it is possible to imagine so, once again, I expect some shudders and frowns deep within our own Treasury who are having to digest this news. With the various cries of distress that are coming from both farmers, sections of the hospitality industry and private schools after the last budget, I still think it is an open question whether there is genuine economic distress here or just significant groups crying 'wolf' and that the changes to taxation levels are capable of being absorbed.
The political landscape is full of two stories this morning. One of these is the fact that the Assisted Dying bill has just been published, ready for a free vote in the House of Commons later this month. Speaking absolutely personally, I have no objection in principle to this bill but a massive misgiving in practice. Were our hospice movement to be in good financial health so that there was no count that anyone who requested help could readily receive it, then I would feel happier were the bill to pass.(Incidentally, the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, seems to have exactly the same position) However, I feel that this bill is unlikely to pass through the House of Lords which may feel that its view needs to be heeded whatever majority might be in the Commons. At this stage, I would predict that the bill would narrow pass in the Commons on a free vote but fail in the Lords.
When I heard the discussion surrounding the Archbishop of Canterbury, Britain' foremost prelate, I was not in the lest surprised when his resignation came when it did. When I heard the criticism levied against him - that he had known about the Smyth affair in which across five decades in three different countries and involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, John Smyth QC is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.The Archbishop of Canterbury has resigned after a report found the Church of England covered up sexual abuse by a barrister.The independent Makin review into John Smyth QC's abuse of children and young men was published last week. Although Justin Welby was by no means a party to the abuse, the charge against him is that he did not pursue with sufficient rigour the rumours that he was told about Smythe which turned out to be true. It is being said that whilst safeguarding issues are generally dealt with well at parochial (i.e. individual church) level, the problem appears to lie in the labyrinthine hierarchy of the Church of England.Indeed it is being said that several bishops ought to resign as they all had collective knowledge of the abuse taking place but did not take any real action , presumably thinking that they had to defend the integrity of the Church. The criticisms in the media the night before were trenchant and I thought to myself that Justin Welby was a 'dead man walking' and I think this view was widely shared in the House of Commons itself.
© Mike Hart [2024]