Yesterday the two carers turned up on cue starting at 8.10 and I was pleased to see them if only because the icy weather (about -3 degrees) meant that a delay in getting to us because of car starting difficulties was absolutely on the cards. But we always suspected that today might prove to be a rather difficult day to organise because although it was my normal shopping day, it was also the day when the delivery of Meg's new specialist chair was scheduled. We had been given a time slot of anywhere between 9.00am and 12.00am but in the event the chair was delivered at 8.45 as our call had been made the first drop in the morning. We knew what the chair was to look like as a sample chair had been brought along by a representative of the firm that supplies it to ensure that the correct model and fitments were supplied. The chair is actually manually operated rather than having electric controls. I am quite happy with this because once we have the adjustment just right for Meg, there is actually little need to alter anything. We knew that a certain degree of reorganisation of the furniture was due to take place but to our pleasant surprise Meg's new chair and her existing, quite wide, leather armchair would live quite happily next to each other. We realised that various little tables used for plates, cups of tea, books and the like would need to be placed adjacent to the new chair and this was performed quite expeditiously. Meg's specialist chair actually sits quite high off the ground but she is gently tilted backwards and with excellent leg and foot supports so when she is sitting in it, she is very comfortable and is starting to live up to the title of 'Queen Meg' which the younger care workers have bestowed upon her. But I did need something upon which I can sit so that I can administer both food and drink to Meg and, fortunately, I happened to one high kitchen stool which used to be part of a set but which was soon pressed into service. This turned out to be just the right height for us and I was delighted that we were in luck once again. Now that Meg was safely enthroned, all we needed to do was to give Meg her usual breakfast and then await the arrival of the carer scheduled to do a 'sit' with Meg whilst I go off and do my weekly shopping. On previous occasions,Meg has exhibited some separation anxiety symptoms but today when I returned with the shopping, the carer informed me that Meg had a very pleasant time. We had starting to listen to a selection of Fauré courtesy of Alexa and finished up watching a Jeremy Clarkson programme which involved him making a real pig's ear of a ploughing job on his recently acquired farm. As we had a fairly full morning, we were not tempted to make any trips out which was perhaps just as well because the temperatures have been pretty low all day and we are hopeful that they may improve by tomorrow.
Immigration has been an explosive issue in British politics for about a decade now and all kinds of political debates are shortly to be re-opened following the publication of the most recent set of official statistics. Net migration stood at an estimated 728,000 in the year to June, a 20% decrease compared to the year before. But that was down from a record high of 906,000, which the PM said showed the Tories had run an 'open borders experiment' Keir Starmer said the UK had become 'hopelessly reliant on immigration' and vowed to turn the page by boosting skills training for British youngsters and taking action against employers who are over-dependent on migrants. But despite an up tick in processing asylum claims, spending has hit a record £5.38bn and there are thousands of migrants in hotels. As was pointed in the excellent couple of programmes recently broadcast by the BBC, there is a lot of confusion in the public mind between legal migration, not-legal migration often for economic reasons and 'asylum seekers' many in the infamous small boats crossing the English Channel. Whilst the last government directed much of its attention and energies to a policy of 'Stop the Boats', legal migration was hitting higher and higher levels, much of it necessary to fuel the demands of the care sector. As the weather conditions have worsened and the nights have become longer so the dangers attached to crossing the Channel in boats has increased and perhaps some of the pent-up demand decreased. We know that attempts at illegal migration increase rapidly in the summer months when there are calm conditions so perhaps the reverse applies now. The new Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, has made a statement admitting that the Tories 'got it all wrong' on immigration and one suspects that she was forewarned as to what today's figures might reveal. I am not at all sure that Badenoch exactly spells out why and how the Tories got it all wrong on immigration but I suspect that she means that concentrating all of the public attention and political energies on illegal migration meant that the Tories had taken their eye off the ball when it came to legal migration. This same official release of migration data reveals that the Home Office spent a record £5.38bn over the last year on asylum - more than a third higher than the previous year. Figures just released showed spending on asylum rose by £1.43bn in the 2023/24 financial year to £5.38bn - 36% higher than in 2022/24 when £3.95bn was spent. The latest figure, covering the Conservatives' final year in government, is the highest amount since comparable data began in 2010/11.
The critical vote on the Assisted Dying bill will be held on Friday and the latest suggestions are that it will receive a small Commons majority. But I still have a shrewd feeling that even a narrow vote in the Commons will be insufficient to persuade the House of Lords as presently constituted. But a factor that seems to inform the debate is not the usual Left-Right divide in British politics but rather those who have had recent experience of the death of a family member or loved one and wish to see a dignified end. One powerful expression that is doing the rounds that the Bill is not designed to shorten lives but to shorten deaths i.e. the dying process. David Cameron, ex PM, has experienced the death of a young child in his family (although the legislation does not apply to children) and had recently changed from an 'anti' to a 'pro' position and it may well be that his intervention, at this stage in the debate, may help some MPs to come to a final decision.
© Mike Hart [2024]