Relaxation day. Torrential rain. Post-Brexit problems.

Today is the day! The great lifting of the lockdown is here. You can go inside a pub ... and from the way the rain has fallen a few times this morning you might want to do so just to stay dry. You can go to the cinema - as hugging is now permitted, will snogging on the back row be allowed as well? Ah, but! the government is advising us to be cautious and to unlock carefully! So maybe no snogging - socially distanced snogging?

Bolton is still crazy. Tables for Greater Manchester show Oldham at the bottom with 17 cases per 100,000, most other boroughs on the low side and then Bolton with 250 or so per 100,000! Now they wait to see if this will lead to further hospitalisation. 

We can legally get on a plane, if we have been tested beforehand, but the places we can go are limited. Normality but not quite as we know it. Some people have rushed off to Portugal. Friends keep asking when we plan to visit Spain again. The answer is, I’m not at all sure!

Within the UK, I hear there are people who got up at 5.00 this morning to drive to the 

Lake District in time for breakfast. An indoor breakfast, of course, as the weather is seriously inclement. 

Things have gone fairly quiet on the Brexit front but I keep seeing posts like these:-

“My mum, (82) from Germany, married my British dad in 1965 & became a UK national. She has a UK passport & has lived in the UK since the 80s. Yesterday she got a letter saying she has to apply for settled status or will lose NHS & pension & right to stay. This can’t be? She’s in bits!”

“I read with great interest your long read article about the Home Office. Little did I know the range of its cruel activity. I am Polish, came to the UL in 1978, have been married form42 years to an English citizen, raised a family here and had a fulfilling career as a consultant pathologist working for the NHS for 33 years. Since 1980, I have been the proud owner of British citizenship and a British passport. 

Last week, I received a letter from the Home Office advising me to apply for the EU settlement scheme, and,min threatening tones, stating that I am getting benefits from the Department of Work and Pensions. Yes, this is my state pension, for which I worked for 33 years!

Dr Isabella Moore

Southampton. “

Now, I have taken these from posts on Facebook. It is, I suppose, not beyond the bounds of possibility that these are invented by some group who like to make mischief. If I were a believer in conspiracy theory, I might think that. However, I tend to think these are genuine cases. If the letters people like Dr Moore have received are the result,of clerical error, then the system needs a serious overhaul. 

My mood seems to match the weather. It is currently pouring down!

I shall do a bit of escapism and continue research into Futurism ready for my zoom Italian class this afternoon.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!