Tenfold rise in A&E patients waiting more than 24 hours for a bed

The headline is from the Guardian.  It is so sad considering how Labour managed to get the length of time people waited in A&E to low levels.  

Improving the NHS will take money, it will take time and like after 1997, it will involve having to use the private sector. 

Israel killing innocent people

This week, Israel has continued to kill innocent people, but the way they have done it has hit the international headlines more, because they killed Europeans.  An aid convoy was targeted and the aid workers killed, despite the vehicles being clearly marked, and even if they were not, the aid workers had been working with Israel so that the IDF knew where they were and where they were going.

Since then, other relief agencies have pulled out of Gaza to avoid being hit in similar attacks.  I am sorry to be cynical, but I do wonder if those on the right in Israel are glad that aid agencies have done so.

Israel have stated that this was a terrible mistake, but we have seen how cavalier the IDF are when they murdered some Israeli hostages who were trying to surrender to them just because they thought that they were Palestinian.

I was in favour of Israel taking action against Hamas last year.  I was wrong to be in favour of that.  Israel has shown some restraint in trying to avoid civilian casualties, but no where near enough.  When Russia kills Ukrainian civilians, we are rightly outraged. The UK only sells a small amount of weapons to Israel, while they are using them against the civilians of Gaza, we should stop this. What is needed, is a ceasefire months ago. The USA can force this on Israel by stopping aid to Israel, a country which should exist, but would not do so without aid from the west.

Hate, freedom of speech and JK Rowling (again)

Scotland have brought about an interesting law when it comes to hate crime.  JK Rowling has already been investigated because of this. There is no doubt in my view that there is too much hatred on Social Media, notably Twitter/X and this does include hatred towards women, the transgender community, Jews and Muslims amongst others.  

While I would welcome action being taken to address this, I have concerns that the law in Scotland may be something that has gone too far.  In some ways, the stand that JK Rowling has taken is an admirable one, in that she has put her head above the parapet to see where the line between free speech and illegality lies.  But she has also offended many due to this.  

Sadly, discussing this is hard as too many people are willing to rant and not to listen.  The Newsagents covered this matter earlier in the week and it will be interesting to read the comments that come about because of this.

I hope the fears that this will infringe free speech and regulate thought will not come about.  But while the law may be interpreted in one manner now, it remains to be seen if this continues in the future. 

April Fools

April Fools came and went. None of us played a trick on the other. I did get to watch the highlights of the Arsenal game. I would have preferred a win, but not losing was almost as important. Watching Match of the Day, I see that we have the harder end of season, which means that we are the least likely to take the title. But all the teams have to be played in the league which is why winning it is so hard. I did not think at the beginning of the season that we would be so close to taking the title which, for now, appears to be heading to Merseyside.

Earlier on the bank holiday weekend we had been to see my Mum, the parents of my wife and came 5th in the local pub quiz (we are getting worse). It has been relaxing and I hope that my batteries are sufficiently recharged now as Tuesday is going to be very busy. I also spoke to one of my brothers, have not spoken to him in a while. The other is in South Africa at the moment travelling the nation with his other half, who is from there. 

Poor Things

We watched this yesterday. It was intended to be a family film, but none of us had watched a trailer. Needless to say, not all of us appreciated the film and only two of us watched the whole film. Just for the record, it is not a family film. 

Normally I am not too fond of American art-house films, I prefer European ones.  While I have not watched one in a while, I got a taste of what I have missed when I watched Drops of God. This was an interesting story, well told in its manner. Do I think that it was amazing? No. Would I watch it again? No. And I not have wanted to pay to watch this in the cinema. It was great to watch it at home though and it was nice to watch a different type of film. 

Saltburn

I finally watched the film that many have been talking about. My daughter had watched it before and my son left after a scene in the bath. If you want to watch it, do not read any more.

I enjoyed it. The beginning more than the end though. Watching it means that I doubt that my children will ever watch The Talented Mr Ripley. The beginning brought back memories of how I felt I had imposter syndrome at university and also how I was lucky not to mix too much with people I was never going to gel with. However I also have great memories of my time at Uni. 

I doubt that I would watch this again, but I do want to watch The Talented Mr Ripley again now.  

Owen Jones & Keir Starmer

Last week, Owen Jones divorced Labour.  There was a lot of comment about it at the time, but I understand where he is coming from.  Labour have not been the best at communicating their message, not just with the way that Israel are committing war crimes in Gaza, but in other ways as well.

Today, I have listened to Ed Milliband being quizzed on Labour U-turns.  And it got me thinking.  I think that a better way for Labour to appeal to the electorate is to be honest about these policy shifts.  When asked about the reversal on the Green Energy Pledge, an honest answer would be to say that Labour would want to meet the pledge, but does not think that it can so are to make a promise it knows it can keep.  He could have been clearer on the pledge on tuition fees.  

And when it comes to Gaza, I think that Labour should be honest.  I supported Israeli military action until the scale of civilian lives lost became apparent.  Labour should have the courage to say the same. 

So while I do not like everything Labour is doing, I will probably still Vote Labour. Keir Starmer was not my first choice as leader for Labour as he had promised a lot to the left wing of the party.  My choice when it came to who should be party leader was Lisa Nandy, someone who is much better at communication that Starmer.  The alternative is more years of Conservative misrule.  Labour are going to have to improve how they communicate things as otherwise, they will be quickly voted out of power.