Friday, 11th February, 2022

[Day 697]

Another working week has rolled by and here we are, still with a spell of fine weather. It may be a case of enjoying it whilst we can because a heavy band of rain is due to sweep across the country. Meg and I needed to wait in this morning because an electrician was due to come and assess a light unit over our shower which will probably need replacing. The electrician and I had a quick decision whether to try and effect a repair of the existing unit or replace it with a more modern LED so it was quite an easy decision for us to go with this latter option. All being well, he will be around early on Monday morning so hopefully we will things fixed in a few days. We have been surviving with an admittedly very powerful LED light which we have affixed to the wall of the shower and which has served us very well on a temporary basis. Once the electrician’s visit had been completed, we went by car to pay a visit to the dry cleaners, picked up our newspaper, and then whizzed around Waitrose. Whilst we were in the store, the staff informed us that the re-opening of the cafe had been delayed for a further five weeks so the next scheduled date of the cafe to reopen is 30th March which is evidently some weeks away. Whilst we were in the park, we were spotted by our University of Birmingham friend accompanied by Seasoned World Traveller who had been having a coffee together but spotted us on our bench and came to join us. Naturally, we discussed the Cressida Dick dismissal yesterday evening and its possible ramifications. I have two theories about what may pan out from all of this. The first scenario is that Boris Johnson and Priti Patel between them may seek to further delay the Met investigation into ‘partygate’ and between them choose a candidate to lead the Met who may not absolve them over ‘partygate’, at least ensure that they are not given a hard time. In order to understand the mindset of government ministers at this juncture, I have read an opinion in ‘The Times’ that the effective business of government has almost come to a halt whilst all ministers do whatever they can to preserve Boris Johnson (and therefore themselves) in power. If a new Prime Minister were to come into office, then there would be a cabinet reshufffle and many of the existing office holders would lose their jobs and the perks that go with it so preserving the present occupant of No.10 is the over-riding preoccupation of the day. However, a second scenario is possible although not (unfortunately) very likely. This is that Cressida Dick may say to herself that she now has nothing to lose, having been the human shield for Boris Johnson for a long time now. One can only adduce in evidence the fact that the Met have not seen fit to investigate ‘partygate’ until the transgressions and the evidence became glaringly apparent whereas other corruptions (financing of the Tory party, dirty Russian money making London the ‘money laundering’ capital of the world) were ignored. So in this second scenario, Cressida Dick may feel she has nothing to lose and will try to ensure that the Met concludes its investigations as quickly as possible and that any judicial punishments (probably fines) are administered as quickly as possible and without fear or favour. As events unfold, no doubt we will discern which of these two scenarios best fits the drama unfolding before us. Before leaving this topic, I have just read the almost incredible view of the legal counsel for the Met that ‘partygate’ had not been investigated since ‘no-one admitted to attending a party’ and that in the absence of social media, they had no proof of any transgressions. So using these criteria, I can continue to commit my multiple and various internet frauds secure in the knowledge that if none of my mates ‘snitch’ on me and I avoid social media , then I should be free from investigation. Just to conclude this thought, just 3% of incidents reported to Action Fraud result in a charge or summons and as little as 1% of police resources are dedicated to this form of crime.

We were just in the process of cooking lunch when our next door neighbour popped around to invite us around for ‘tea and sandwiches’ on Monday afternoon next. My next door neighbour and I have both invested in the same brand of soupmaker and are both fairly early on in our learning curve for all of this – so we are going to swap our soupmaking stories and recipes when we meet on Monday. I must say that is on the one of the best investments in kitchen equipment that I have ever made and no doubt I can get more ambitious once I have the basics mastered.