El clima and where to live!

Winter is coming! Or so say the Stark family in Game of Thrones. 

Winter has arrived! or so says María who runs the Midcentury Cafe here in Vigo. 

This was confirmed by my panadera weather witch who was complaining bitterly about the climate here this morning. All the damp and mist and clouds aggravate her arthritis. This is what happens when you have a bad final week in August! Temperatures are still around 20, 21 degrees first thing in the morning, by the way. It's a good job my panadera does not live in Wales, that's all I can say. 

I came across some statistics about the best place to bring up children. The UK didn't make it into the top 20! The writer of the article tried to console us by saying that 22nd out of 41 is not bad but ... even so! It would seem that Mexico and Costa Rica are better places to raise a family. A German friend of mine was astounded to find her country in 7th place. Spain came 12th. 

The winning country was Austria, labelled as the best country for families because of a combination of children’s health and safety, children’s general wellbeing, a wide range of leisure activities for kids and family life in general. 

Finland ranked second and also topped a sub-category in the poll thanks to its quality of education. In fact, Scandinavian countries on the whole did well. 

You can see the full list below… 

1. Austria 
2. Finland 
3. Sweden 
4. Israel 
5. New Zealand 
6. Singapore 
7. Germany 
8. France 
9. Australia 
10. Luxembourg 
11. Denmark 
12. Spain 
13. Poland 
14. Philippines 
15. Mexico 
16. Canada 
17. Norway 
18. South Africa 
19. Bahrain 
20. Costa Rica 

Most people, of course, don't really have an awful lot of say in where they bring their children up. In theory, anyone can choose to go and live in a place that suits their beliefs and ideas but the practicalities of such a decision are not always easy. 

Meanwhile In the UK, mayhem continues regarding elections for leadership of the Labour Party. Friends keep telling me horror stories about people they know being barred from voting, despite becoming members or supporters of the party, for a variety of reasons, some being too left wing and some too right wing. Yesterday I found this in a piece by Tim Dowling, someone I enjoy reading in the Guardian: 

"My middle son received an email from the local Labour party, regarding the scrutiny of new membership applications. It’s not about his application – he joined six months ago, and appears to be considered something of a senior figure in the party – but about those of two boys in his year at school. One, the party suspects, is actually a Conservative supporter, and therefore faces expulsion “under clause 2.I.4.B of the Labour party rules”. The other, well, they’re just suspicious. Could my son please confirm that his classmate is a secret Tory, or provide assurances that his other classmate is as Labour as he claims?" 

Big brother is watching us; well, watching the Labour Party anyway. 

Maybe this is one of the reasons why the UK is not the best place to raise children!