We are in a deep hole financially as a country.

 When a previous Labour chancellor Denis Healey (1974/1979) asked about the financial hole the country was in he - adroitly replied “when in a hole, stop digging”. This was on 2 June 1973. We are in a far deeper hole today, than we were back then. Interestingly we have today another John Healey, as chancellor. Will he adopt a similar attitude. The budget is on Wednesday 28 October. The first thing would be to cancel the, so called - triple lock for the - state pension. That would allow immediately, if introduced in April 2027 an extra £12 billion a year and over a parliamentary period of 5 year that would be +60 billion. And of course that would be more as the state pension is adjusted by inflation each year. So it could be as much as between £60 and £70 billion. That would thereby create - headroom for the chancellor John Healey. I will be writing to him today supporting the idea. 

A good death.

 It’s something we all want, but unfortunately many hundreds of thousands, don’t experience - a good death. The distinguished doctor Peter Fenwick, decided to specialise in - end of life experience. His seminal book The Art of Dying has had a profound impact on his profession and the wider public. He died in November 2024 aged 89. He specialised in - neuropsychiatry and neurophysiology - after his medical degree. Essentially he diagnosed the problem about - good end of life experience under a number of underpinning ideas: don’t deny the fact you are getting old; preparation; a pre-experience of forthcoming death; clearing up the debris. 

An important fact is when you pass 70 - generally speaking you are running out of time. It’s down hill from here. Health starts to get problematic - friends and family members might be popping off, you start to go to funerals more often, you read the obituary pages with more interest, you notice that the energy you once had for life and doing things is taking longer, your hearing and eyesight start to fail, incontinence might become an issue, sleeping erratically or not sleeping at all, putting on weight, drinking too much and perhaps indulging in illegal drugs etc. You get the picture. Face the - facts of life you are getting older. To deny this universal truth, will stop you - preparing emotionally and psychologically for the next stage in life.We are all mortal and there is no escaping the eventual ending, despite all the exercise, potions you take for longevity - the Grim Reaper is on his way. My father use to say - “when he calls your number, its time to go”. 

The fact that you have accepted the reality of the ageing process and eventual death - will make life much easier. It’s no good getting angry about this reality. Your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents - all went down the same road - as you are now going down. Moreover you are also an example - if you have children - there is nothing to fear about ageing and dying. My own parents were extremely good teachers in this regard. Neither feared dyeing or death - so why should I? So you are preparing the ground for a - good death. Of course this is contingent on being - compos mentis.

Peter Fenwick reported in cross cultural comparisons, the universal - pre-warning about a year before death of a dream The individual would experience - walking along a corridor and seeing a light at the far end and walking towards the light. There were often other deceased family members - there to welcome you. 

Finally, if there are relationship that you have with either friends or family that are problematic - try and sort them out and make reparations? This may not be possible, but at least give it a try? Perhaps, too much damage has been done over time, that reconciliation isn’t possible? 

So a book highly recommended for its understanding and helpful advice about the most important journey you will ever take. 

Being a football fan, can be painful.

 When I was quite young, say about 11 - I was a keen football fan of Charlton Athletic, the south London club. However they would frequently get beaten and I would - become angry and upset, so my mother - banned me from going to their matches. Many years later I lived in north London and my then local team was Arsenal. So I quickly adopted them as my new must see team. They then were housed in Highbury from 1913-2006. They moved, but to a larger stadium with a capacity for some 60,704 and one of the largest in the Premier League. It’s called the Emirates and has been well designed, but there are rumours - that this is now not sufficient as Arsenal is rapidly becoming an international brand - like Real Madrid or Liverpool. In fact in The Sunday Times, magazine on Sunday - there was a large article about how Arsenal, are becoming one of the top earners in the game of football. They stand alongside for example: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain. Six of the top ten earners in international football are in the Premier League and they are: Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. If you wanted to join the Arsenal Football Club fan membership - you would have to wait a minimum of 20 years to get membership. 

Back to normal.

 Since 1 July last year - I have suffered the indignity of a catheter. If you have been fortunate enough - never to be  exposed to this indignity - count yourself lucky. The last 14 month have been the worse medically in my 83 years. I have had five infections and as a consequence - have had five lots of antibiotics. In addition - there is the added humiliation of every 12 weeks having a new catheter inserted. It’s also an extremely painful and unpleasant process - not something you would ever volunteer for. Just to put you in the picture - I have what it’s called an enlarged prostate and need an operation to reduce it’s size. Thankfully there is a treatment to reduce it and that is Laser treatment. I had the Laser operation on the 27th of July which went well. On Friday I went for an out patient appointment - to cut a long story short - I am 100% okay and ready to rock en roll’. Thank goodness for the NHS - all the staff were outstanding good and I told them so. I’am now recovering at home in Kent - from the last 14 months of trauma, pain and discomfort. I would say the next week is - convalescence time and getting back to normality, but its been the most terrible 14 months. 

The Hippie trail.

 Way back in the late 1960’s many young people - decided to go east to Afghanistan, it was known back then as the hippie trail - to a life of - sex, drugs and rock n roll. The final destination was Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan Some would stay there for only a few weeks and then go on to Kathmandu in Nepal. However, there was a large number who just stayed and stayed in Kabul, smoking dope, having sex and generally chillaxing. They got - marooned there for years and some never came back to their previous western lives. At that time in 1967 - I was working on a Kibbutz, called Erez in the northwest of the Negev desert about 60 miles from Tel Aviv to the south. I had gone there as a volunteer in the Six Day War - which stated in June of that year. Personally, I was having a great time, but didn’t join the legion of others going further east. Eventually I went to another Kibbutz, Ein Gedi, next to the Dead Sea. This was in the Judaea Desert and very close to the famous fortress of Masada. I decided to move further south to Eilat some 80 miles away. I worked there for a number of months in a beach bar in Eilat and had a wonderful time. I stayed to roughly the end of November and came back to London. I had had a fantastic and life enhancing experience for the best part of 6 months. I’am pleased I decided not to join the - hippie trail and go further east - perhaps I would never have come back to Blighty either? 

Mega-boats with 230 illegal migrants.

 We had this week the first of the - mega-boats crossing the English Channel with some 230 illegal - mainly males between 18 and 25. The government claims that the numbers crossing the Channel are lower, than they were before. However the British public - doesn’t swallow this nonsense. They are concerned only with the fact that illegally immigrants are still crossing the Channel and until that becomes zero - any protestation to the country will be dismissed. The government has got itself into a political pickle and - doesn’t know what to do to - stop the boats.They are made in China and provide the criminal gangs with a steady and regular income. 

Jason Arday, 41.

 The black academic at Jesus College, Cambridge was found - unresponsive at his flat in Battersea on Friday afternoon. The London Ambulance Service, contacted the Metropolitan police to inform them about Mr Arday being deceased. The police statement said - ‘the circumstances were not suspicious’. Mr Arday, was professor of the sociology of education at the college. He claimed there had been a - sustained campaign against his appointment in 2023. It was claimed his PhD was plagiarised, but the awarding university - John Moores University, in Liverpool, dismissed these accusations. How does this impact on the - place of black academics in British universities? Is this an expression of the - culture wars, in action? Universities are undergoing rapid changes, with the advent of AI rapidly coming down the track. Only recently Kent university and Greenwich universities decided to - merge into one mammoth institution in the next few years. Many other institutions will go bust - if they are not at the top of the pyramid. 

Unfortunately, those with a racist agenda, will see this as proof positive - black academics cannot be trusted and moreover should not occupy positions of authority and prestige in our universities. Moreover there was something of the lynch mob mentality about the way he was - hounded as if the KKK was alive and well and living in Cambridge. A very depressing and disturbing event as there was a - cascade of events, with a negative feedback loop. 

Given as mentioned above - the AI revolution will upturn many roles within universities and accordingly some academics will be made redundant. This has made the situation even more acute. As we know the Industrial Revolution started in this country in about 1760. Whole new ways of working were quickly established and people were displaced to other parts of the country - where the new jobs were. Are we about to witness a similar seismic change, not only here, but across the globe? The race in AI is very consequential - between China and America for the top position and will affect all our lives.