PMQs and Mermaids

PMQ's today was interesting.  There were claims that the NHS is getting record funding, which if it is, is very short of what it needs.  The economy was mentioned, though it is not doing too well.  

Another U-turn has taken place, the Conservatives backing a windfall tax on energy, this only being on companies that do not contribute to global warming though.  Our new Prime Minister did not tell outright lies though, other than a question on sewage, an issue that I would love the Conservatives to take legal action against The Guardian on.     

On the topic of legal action, this brings me to an issue with Mermaids.  A question about them was raised in PMQ's, one which has been raised by JK Rowling.  It is hard to tell what is true but what is interesting is that Mermaids has not been able to get someone to represent them in this matter.  We know from McLibel, that those with money can be taken down by those with lesser funds and I am sure that just like Keir Starmer did when it came to taking down McDonalds.  Needless to say, there was a storm about this before today.  It will be interesting to see what happens, but whatever happens, I do hope the truth comes out and clears either Mermaids or JK Rowling on this. 

It was World Mental Health Day yesterday

It was world mental health day yesterday. I thought I would share some videos.  I also thought that this image of our provision for mental health in our nation was important to share as well. Remember that when Conservatives bring up this day. 

We are top of the league

I know that we are not going to be top for long, and we were not top after Saturday, but it is great to be back on top of the league.  I watched the game with Tony at his and while he was optimistic, I was nervous. He did point out that last season, we would have been hoping not to be beaten by too much and instead we were wondering if we could win this which is a change compared to the last seasons.  I am not sure if we would have beaten the Liverpool of last season, but we can only play who we play.  While the Match of the Day (2) commentators were raving about our forward line, the game was an open end to end one which allowed the players to express themselves, as opposed to the more defensive game the weekend before.  Fingers crossed, we may even stay top until we get beaten by Manchester City.  If we are really lucky, other teams will take points off them allowing us to be beaten by them and still do well.  But that only works so long as we do not drop points against other teams and those teams will now fear us.  

Energy bills

One of my children appears to think that energy bills are something we can ignore. I did ask them if they wanted my to get them Truth Social so that they could read the words of Trump directly, but they declined. Needless to say, they said all the right things about how they feel Trump is wrong about Global Warming and how action is needed about Climate Change, but let us see it change begins at home. I need to get them to appreciate the issues with fuel poverty that are present now, and will worsen this winter.  

To be fair to Liz Truss, she has acted on this, though in a manner that benefits the energy companies, not the tax payer.  When I say acted, I mean stopping things from getting much worse, though things are going to still be bad for far too many people.

A Bridge to Crimea

The bridge connecting Russia to Crimea has been rendered inoperable. There is no doubt that was an act by Ukraine. While Russia considers this an act of terrorism, the bridge connecting Russia to Russian occupied Crimea was constructed without Ukrainian permission and is a legitimate military target. I just hope that they can ensure that it is not used at all! 

Family

I have been to visit my mother. The children made a choice not to go over the issues with Leia from before, though my mother now says that she did not let Leia off the lead and instead put the lead down for 30 seconds.  Not sure what she meant by that though.  She did get to see Leia though whom she has missed as well.

We did visit my in-laws as it is around the birthday of my father-in-law.  Have watched Strictly as well.  It is good to see Tony Adams improve, loved his dance, even with the Arnold Rimmer sock suspenders!  Hopefully Arsenal will perform better tomorrow.  

Jesus was an undocumented child refugee. Should he have been deported?

I want failed asylum seekers to be quicky deported to Rwanda and I want anyone who crosses the channel illegally to be deported, but there is a caveat. I also want safe, speedy and legal routes for refugees to come here first. 

I have treated asylum seekers. Too many have no safe and legal route to come here and thanks to government cuts, the waits to process their applications, be they here or in the nation they flee from, take too long. I am not going to say that all the cases should be taken in as some of the stories, in my view, do not justify asylum here, but loads do. We have a speedy safe and legal route for refugees from Ukraine, many of whom were in a safe country before coming here), we can and should have one for those seeking asylum from other nations such as Afghanistan and others. I do not want a system where Jesus (who was an undocumented child refugee when his parents fled the Massacre Of The Innocents) would have been deported to Rwanda, if he was able to overcome the barriers to get here!

The argument that we cannot afford to take them in, from a government who wishes to help the rich to get richer when others are getting poorer is wrong.  Worse, it is an argument that is designed to spread hatred and division while distracting from the real reasons that we have increasing levels of poverty and hardship.

If we can get a speedy safe and legal framework to take in refugees from Ukraine, there is no reason why we cannot have one for refugees from other, non-white, nations.