A peculiar week

We have had a rather strange week thus far. I have never  known Annette to be so engaged with politics before. Like me she is appalled at the referendum results. She feels very strongly because of the effect on our eldest daughter, Alison. She works on regulatory affairs for an agrichemicals company. On Friday she talked with their commercial director who said their EU regulation is likely to move to an EU country and the consequence would be that she would be out of a job. They regard the UK as a declining market.

This wasn’t what upset Alison the most. Apparently a Polish friend was harassed immediately after the results in one of the hate incidents which have increased.  She was appalled this could happen in what was seen as peaceful area. She set about organising a “Guildford Stays” rally which was held on Tuesday and gained about 200 attendees. There was some concern but it passed off peacefully ( as it should ). As she works from home she could rearrange her time to do this organising which was supported by a speaker from the local area. (#Guildford stays ).

For the first time I took to social media to express my feelings. I noted that Farage was challenged by MEP’s about the leavers promise that the supposed £350m saving from leaving would be spent on the NHS. This was an undertaking rapidly withdrawn and  Farage had no answer. There is a clear tendency in UK politics to always pretend  in some way defend the NHS and provide better funding- the Leavers cashed in on pro NHS attitudes but the speed with which they reneged was surprising.

We have had cousin Brenda to stay. She is George’s widow. All of circumstances of George’s death gave her ample preparation and eased the blow. We are pleased she has a son living nearby and her other son, living in Sheffield is expecting another baby. We organised our other Midlands cousins to visit. Both Dorothy at nearly 90 and Winifred at just over 80 are old ladies. We collected them from Coalville and Bedworth respectively. In truth I don’t think it was a huge success as both were rather stilted with Brenda while we were careful in our conversation. I’m afraid Dorothy is racist in her attitude ( a “kipper” par excellence ) and so the referendum subject was avoided.  Dorothy has lived all her married and widowed life in one street and has very narrow views. In contrast Winifred is very far from the normal aging spinster. She was a midwife in London for many years and is a devout believer. She was very much a “call the midwife” as portrayed in the TV series. Her life now revolves around the church and the Citizens Advice Bureau where she is a volunteer.

During the early years of the war Winifred stayed with my parents in the country to be away from the bombing of Coventry. Eventually her home was bomb damaged and her mother came to live in our village. Her father was in the army and fought in the Middle East and then Europe. I say fought although as a transport driver he wasn’t in the front line. Her father, Jim, was a remarkable man. He was easily the most silent man  I have ever known. When visiting he would say hello, busy himself with handyman jobs or read the paper then say goodbye when he left and that was the extent of his conversation. His wife, Aunt Amy, more than made up being one of the most talkative people I’ve encountered. Maybe she was starved of conversation.

I’m fairly certain in my own mind that my conception owed a lot to Winifred. My parents, particularly mother, were delighted to have this little girl staying with them. I’m sure mother thought how wonderful it would be to have her own daughter. In that sense I was a disappointment, not interested in knitting or sewing or any of the crafts mother was eager to reach. Mother never gave even the slightest hint of her preference to me and I have only gained this from other relatives. Hopefully I made up in other ways.

The political situation has unfolded as the week progressed. The Tory party succession struggle was as expected although opportunist Boris dropping out wasn’t. Clearly he recognises he has antagonised many fellow MP’s. The Labour party struggle was less predictable with the margin of the no confidence vote surprising.

The financial markets have stabilised a bit for the moment. The largest international companies shares have done better than I expected. While there has been overseas buying it would appear this is in the hope, even expectation, that the Bank of England will ensure even looser financial conditions. The more UK centred smaller companies have fallen more. The fall in the pound has  apparently also stabilised at a much lower level.

Clearly business would like a Norway style agreement; while a poor second best it would preserve access to the single market. However as free movement is part of the agreement the bigots will oppose and on present form damage us even more.