This was a big week for the UK, where I live, and it was quite a big week for me, personally, but on a really tiny scale for the rest of the world. Nonetheless, my day, like everyone else’s day, is made-up of tiny events, which become significant within the individual worlds in which we each live.
The week started with a third visit to the audiologist for microsuction of wax from my ears, but which has proved to be difficult for my left ear, and I am now additionally told that my ear canal is not straight. So, I guess that explains the loss of hearing in my left ear for a very long time. I am due to return one more time. If they are still not able to resolve the problem, I guess that will just be one more thing I have to live with. It won’t be the first, and most likely won’t be the last, at this point in my life.
Tuesday, for me, is then spent going shopping with Sandy. She collects me, and we go to Aldi and Lidl, mostly, although she also takes me to other stores, where required. We are old friends, and she is the mother of my children, so we always have lots to talk about. Thus, it is as much a social event as a shopping trip. It is also by definition, a care episode which she kindly provides, and I gratefully receive. For every ounce of energy and mobility that I don’t have, she has the opposite, seemingly in abundance for the most part. But she is as old as I am, so life is not without its challenges for her, too.
In the afternoon, I speak to my daughter, Nia, via video chat on Microsoft Teams, which happens on most Tuesdays. She has her own health challenges which are ongoing for her at only 31 years old. I love this part of the week, as I am always delighted to speak to my children whenever I can. I was particularly delighted to hear that she is doing a lot more writing these days, as that hasn’t been possible for her for a long while now.
Wednesday brought the £40billion of tax rises budget from the new Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves. It was pretty huge, and it is presented on the assumption that there will be a big increase in the growth of investment in the country, both domestically and internationally. It has been described by the media and financial institutions as a huge gamble. I can’t comment on the economics of it, but politically, I am delighted that the focus of taxation will mainly be on the wealthy, the tax avoiders and the fraudsters, rather than on ordinary working people. And the prospect of better public services and protections for employees and pensioners is very welcome too.
Back to the personal on Thursday and Friday, where I managed to get a reasonable amount of cleaning and batch-cooking done. A good couple of days, or above average for me, anyway. I am trying to fill my freezer with as much cooked food as I can manage to get done before the next teaching block of my MA course gets going on 25 November, with ‘Writing and The Self’ on the agenda. I also paid my fees for that module, alongside sorting-out smart cards for peak bus travel (off-peak is free for me), and for local rail travel (linked to my disabled rail card).
Saturday brought the announcement that Kemi Badenoch had won the leadership for the Conservative Party (Tories) which had been going-on since early July, when Rishi Sunak resigned, following defeat at the General Election. Kemi Badenoch describes herself as a first generation immigrant from Nigeria, although she was born in London in 1980, during a visit by her mother for some medical treatment.
Whilst anyone achieving such a position should be congratulated and respected for becoming His Majesty’s Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, which I am happy to acknowledge, it is unlikely that I am going to be happy with any of her policies as she has adopted an extreme right position in all her political statements to date. Fortunately, the current party of government is the Labour Party.
I also made it down to the local public library on Saturday, only to find it closed for an hour, due to shortage of staff. Thankfully, there were only 5 minutes left before it opened again. I must remember to check the website before I go there next time. The majority of people waiting to come in where young adults, and most of them headed to the study spaces, once inside. It was heartening to see for the future of the public libraries into the next generation.
On Sunday, I watched both Rachel Reeves and Kemi Badenoch on TV describing their different political stances, and they were very different for obvious reasons, but what they did have in common was each being a powerful woman being interviewed by a third powerful woman (Laura Kuenssberg – Leading senior correspondent with the BBC).
We are clearly in a new era of politics in the UK, with a new government, laying-out its tax, borrowing and spending plans on the one hand, and a new leader of the Conservative Party (Tories) tasked with rebuilding that organisation into a party of government once again. Both will be looking for definitive results before the next General Election, most likely to be held in 5 years’ time, although both have their work cut-out for them, complete with multiple challenges. We live in interesting times.
Kemi Badenoch has refused to rush to name her shadow cabinet, but if she wishes to be heard, she will have to do so before Tuesday, when all political eyes throughout the world will be on the USA for the rest of the week, barring unexpected major events.
And, in the meantime, I live to keep on writing.
Fraser
November 2024