Happy birthday!

Tomorrow, I  am celebrating my birthday by going to the dentist for my three monthly check up and shine. It will allow us, my wife has her dental appointment after me, to go to the local Marks and Spencer and clear the shelves of Empress Grey tea bags.  We might, if the dental charges are reasonable, fork out on some overly priced M&S gluten free produce.

We go private dentist wise - what else can you do with your money  other than hand it to the free market traders in energy. I suffer from ( no, live with) psoriasis. Over recent months it has got worse to such an extent I saw a...doctor on the NHS...through him I arranged a consultation with a NHS dermatological clinic except my appointment coincided with my Covid, which meant cancelling the appointment.   I phoned twice and got a voice mail. having explained why I'd miss the appointment I asked for another. I heard nothing back.

Such is the damaged faith in the effectiveness our NHS, I immediately thought I ought to organise another (private) consultation. I googled and hit on the Mayo Clinic. To cut to the chase, a 60 minute in person consultation would cost £500, an online one was only slightly less exorbitant. ( I hear a distressed record in the background stuck on "Levelling Up, Levelling Up").

I can afford £500, in the same way I can afford to pay over £3000 for my gas and electricity, but I baulked at £8 a minute. I again phoned the NHS clinic and spoke to a human and have a new appointment in two months time.

 

As I said tomorrow is my birthday. Storming the Bastille - setting off the French Revolution and leading inexorably to President Macron who is about to nationalise the 70% state owned EDF because he insisted they'd take the hit, not consumers, for the energy cost increase. The sheer lunacy of the UK's (lack of) industrial/energy policy is brought into sharp contrast. EDF is one of the major players in the U.K.'s privatised energy supply industry, yet it's a state own company ( as is much of the U.K's privatised postal delivery

 

service).

A result of Macron's political decision EDF, which  operates one our major nuclear power plant at Sizewell B, is having problems delivering on the UK's new nuclear plant it's contracted to deliver. Something to do with investors being spooked.

Although investors seem sanguine about the current world events. They see through the war in Ukraine, the recession in the EU and Germany's economic collapse, China's re-introduction of its zero policy and inflation. The American consumer is still spending - just. Even if things sort of level up (there we go again) and markets ride out these disruptions, in the real world millions are going to suffer. Less of everything for many

Which brings me to the Mad Party leadership race,

and their promise of tax cuts. It's a lie. The major role of our government is to level up (seriously) by redistributing wealth - not offering tax cuts to get the 100k Tory party members salivating. Their God given intellect should be used to seriously think through an economic, fiscal and productivity policy that doesn't just pick "oven ready" ideas off the shelf. And get rid of the over middle class, over privately educated. overly deluded people that represent the party. 

Finally, how is it the President of Sri Lanka can escape to the Maldives? So much for the  Commonwealth spreading accountable democracy around the world.