The UK is not a soft touch for refugees

I am disgusted at the quality of reporting when it comes to how our nation is dealing, or failing to deal with refugees.  Listening to journalists who should know better, they do not mention several things. 

1- The European nation with the largest number of refugees is Germany.  When the migrant caravan happened, most refugees went to Germany, not to the UK.

2 - France (which has more refugees than the UK) has offered to stop the boats by allowing refugees to apply for refugee status in a legal manner.  In addition to this, action has taken place in France to stop them using ports and the Channel tunnel to get to the UK.

3 - The safe and legal routes that we do have for refugees from Afghanistan have left too many in danger.  

And now we want to house asylum seekers in a barge that is considered by many to be unsafe...

Arsenal and the quiz

Two unexpected results yesterday.  Arsenal won the Charity Shield, a result I will be honest and did not think would happen.  In fact, in order not to get depressed, I did not watch it.  I should have had more faith in the team.  

Also, we scored our highest ever score on the pub quiz that we go to on Sunday nights.  I also got four of the literature questions right.  It made no difference to the score, as others knew the answers as well, but they were not too sure about one of them.

We went to The Red Dog for brunch earlier in the day and later, while I ironed and watched The Witcher with my daughter, my son earned money by mowing the lawn.  Now both kids have done it, though they have to be pain.  My son had initially agreed to do it for £20, thinking that is what his sister had been paid.  For some reason, my wife thought that she had been paid £45, but it turned out she realised later that it was £25.  I doubt that I will get the kids to mow the lawn that often, but getting them to do it will help me on days when I have not been able to do so.

Needless to say, yesterday was much dryer than before which was why the lawn could be mown.  It is nice to see the sun again.

Our August Monsoon

It is looking sunnier today.  Yesterday was a washout.  Both walks with Leia involved the rain and on both occasions, she wanted to get back as quickly as possible.  In fact, last night, I walked down the road, where she had done her wee and then poo, and as we walked past the house, whereas normally on a dry day she would be happy to continue to walk, she wanted to go back home!  It has been a while since that happened.

Climate change, Labour and new drilling

We only know of one planet that sustains life in this galaxy.  And we appear to be ruining it. Our government, which should be leading the world in green energy has decided to work towards pumping more carbon dioxide into our atmosphere by allowing more fossil fuels to be taken out of the ground.  For those who wish to deny the link between fossil fuels and climate change, remember that our planet was a lot hotter before plants sucked carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and the carbon was stored in the crust of our planet.  

If the government is to be believed, this will make things better for UK consumers, but the fuels will be sold on the international market which will not benefit the customer, but will give money to the government, so will help a bit with the taxes that the electorate pays.

We should look to the future.  Our nation, in the past, had the greatest empire on the planet.  It created that by looking to the future, not by looking inwards.  That ambition and drive that is still present in the nation, can be used to leading the world when it comes to green energy and the fight against climate change.

We can lead the world in this, or we can follow it.

Saying that, I do think that Labour has to honour this deal. Not doing so will cause the party a huge amount of harm with economic credibility, but I do also hope that it sticks to its promise not to had out more licences.  And on that, I disagree with Novara media.

  

What We Did on Our Holiday

I cannot believe that I missed this film in 2014. I also think that this film is underrated. I do see the similarities with Outnumbered. But this has more emotional depth. The scenery is amazing. The characters are likeable and while parts of the film fall into stereotypes, overall I would recommend watching this. 

The quote from Kirk came to mind watching this, though I did not mention it to my wife who watched it with me and like me, enjoyed it. 

It was a great day for the end of the day which was not as enjoyable as many Saturdays as I was at work for the day. But I had a great dinner as my son and wife made a great meal for me.

Sleep

Sleep is important.  I need to ensure that I get enough sleep.  Exercise is important, but so is sleep. I do take naps but the question is if I should or not.

The kids

My son has taken advantage of my daughter not being about to bond with Leia. My daughter has been enjoying France and we have sent pictures to us of her day there. It is great to hear from her, but it is also great to see the joy on the face of my son as he plays with our Cockapoo.