I spoke to the milkman earlier this morning. He said the roads were uncannily quiet. This reminded me of the day of Lady Diana’s funeral back in 1997, when I went to rescue my daughter and her baby from a relationship that wasn’t working. I drove along totally empty roads. It was rather eery! As regards the milkman, well, cows still need milking. They are no respecters of any kind of protocol.
The day started dull and cloudy, so much so that I have hung washing up to dry indoors in the spare bedroom. Of course, having done that, I see that the sky has cleared and the sun has come out. So it goes. I really can’t be bothered to go and collect the washing from the spare room. I reckon I’ll compromise by hanging the next load put in the garden.
A group that I follow on social media has been posting stuff about Russian interference in the 2016 referendum and how proof of that interference makes the referendum void. They reckon Theresa May should be prosecuted for not following advice to hold a second referendum when the first suggestions of malpractice were mentioned. There’s even talk of a civil case being brought privately. The trouble is that the damage is done. Even if it were completely established that referendum was fixed, we’ve gone through the “divorce” proceedings and the system is messed up. Even if we were to rejoin it surely wouldn’t be the same and the various businesses that have folded or have relocated have gone for good.
And even our use of language and vocabulary has been changed. Here’s a little gem Phil passed on to me:-
Nigel Short on Twitter: "One of the most common errors in chess is Brexiting: that's when you form a bad plan, suspect it is a bad plan, but decide to go through with it anyway - just on the off-chance it might work."
I would love to see what history makes of this period, how it will be regarded in fifty years’ time. Unfortunately, unless I prove to be immortal I’m not going to be here to see that commentary.
And here we are still in the middle of a crisis, even if the news has largely been dominated by other events. Today might be the last day when the major news item is dominated by pictures of members of the royal family in military uniform, or conspicuously not allowed to wear military uniform but still displaying medals. Gradually other items are creeping back into the papers. Here’s a suggestion of a possible, no doubt partial, solution to the crisis:
“A four-day week with no loss of pay would save parents thousands of pounds a year in childcare and commuting costs, according to a thinktank that suggests the policy could help to alleviate the cost of living crisis.
Someone with a child under two would save £1,440 in childcare and £340 from commuting on average across a year if they did not have to travel to work one day a week, the leftwing thinktank Autonomy calculated.
Campaigners and economists in favour of a four-day week have tended to focus on the benefits to workers in the form of increased leisure time and potential improvements in productivity that enable companies to carry out the same amount of work but in less time.
Autonomy said the policy would also help workers struggling with the increased cost of living, with the UK in the middle of a period of high inflation, particularly of energy bills.”
It’s an idea! Further taxing of the rich is another!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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