The unfairness of some things. But not all negative stuff today.

I hear that Boris Johnson has already made £1,000,000 from speeches since resigning as PM.

An update to the MPs’ register of interest showed the former PM had made more than £750,000 in fees for three speeches given in November. Added to the £276,000 Mr Johnson was paid for a speech to the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers in October, it means he has made £1,030,780 from speaking engagements since he left Downing Street.

Who knew his words were so valuable, that he had such a golden tongue?

Presumably he is still drawing his salary as a MP, but maybe he just regards that as pin money. 

When I was out walking the dog with Granddaughter Number One yesterday she told me about meeting someone with an old dachshund called Boris. He owner assured her he had had the dog for at least a decade and certainly before he had heard much about a certain Mr Johnson. He didn’t want her to think he was a supporter of that gentleman. 

Four people, at least, drowned in the Channel yesterday. That’s on top of the other casualties this year. Some 45000 people have crossed the Channel in small, unseaworthy boats this year. Why not make it possible to apply for asylum from France and then travel safely? Those denied entry will still try to cross the Channel but there would be fewer.

Those who travel are as a rule sadly ill-equipped - some of yesterday’s travellers wore only T-shirts under their life jackets. And even though the water was calm when they left the French coast in mid-Channel there was a huge swell. And it was bitterly cold. 

Apparently it’s taking up to 450 days for applications to be processed once people arrive here. The system is clogged up with bureaucracy. 143000 people are waiting for applications to be processed. No wonder some people disappear. Also these people, often well qualified cannot work, and therefore cannot fill vacancies in key areas, and therefore cannot pay taxes, and therefore cannot contribute to society. 

On radio news programme earlier in the day an expert in Calais talked about the numbers taken into the Uk from Hong Kong, from Ulraine, and so on. If we can accommodate these, she argued, we can actually accommodate all those in Calais, much smaller numbers. Why not have recognised safe routes for Iranians or Syrians for example as there are for Ukrainians?

Then on last night’s news someone from the Royal College of Nurses, when asked what had been done yesterday to prevent strikes, said that nothing had happened because nobody would negotiate with them. Who is making life difficult for whom? “We never asked for a 19% payrise. We asked for 5% above the rate of inflation,” she said.  Nurses’ pay has dropped by 20% in real terms over the last ten years.

Helen Whaley, minister for health replied that the Secretary of State for Health has said his door is open. Who exactly is it open to? “I’m very disappointed about nurses striking,” says Helen Whaley. She probably earns more than nurses do.,

This is the first time ever nurses have agreed to strike. A decade of real term pay cuts has pushed them into it. The govt has ignored recommendations from pay bodies. Vacancies stood at 39,000 before the pandemic; there are 50,000+ now. 

Meanwhile, Dominic Raab is being investigated for bullying. His fans say he is a victim of reverse bullying, whatever that means. I think it refers to the loads of complaints, In Italy Giorgia Meloni says she was bullied at school and it made her determined to lose weight. Bullying is therefore a positive thing!!

Not everything today has been negative. Granddaughter Number Two and I took the little chap out for a walk and ate sausage and chips in the park before giving in to the cold and going home again. Later in the day my daughter collected her six year old from school and came to join the other members of her family who were here at my house. As we sat around talking after tea she was multi-tasking, talking to the family and producing a document which her head teacher had just asked everyone complete by the ned if term, ie by the end of tomorrow. As she typed away the six year old stood by her and read out some of what she was typing, involving words like confidence, nurturing, environment, encouraging. We complimented her on her skill at working difficult words out, to which she solemnly replied, “With a bit of help I can read lots of stuff that is inappropriate for me!” How does a six year old know such things?

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!