THE BUDGET

I ought to post more frequently but resist because I get so annoyed over so much.

Wanted to post after last year's Budget but didn't although I've constantly asked what on earth Rachel from Accounts was doing when she said her budget was for growth and then immediately raised NI for employers, raised the minimum wage and then lovely Angie chimed in with her bill for Workers' Rights from Day 1 of employment.

I wasn't brilliant at Maths at school but how on earth could you expect growth by hitting employers from all directions.  These measures increase expense for Employers and they are more likely to lay off staff not take on more.

And now this budget.  If you are rich you vote with your feet and leave (If only).  If you are on benefit you stay put and wait.  It's the middle classes who work hard, try and save, and are continually hit.

Contrary what many people believe, I do not have an Occupational Pension and only subsidise my less than maximum State Pension with what I saved over the years.  And I'm sure there are millions more like me.  And like them I see my expenses rising continually - food, heating, etc.  I'm shocked nearly every time I shop.  Over the last few years many items I buy have doubled in price - my income has not.  To give you an example, I like President unsalted butter which over a few years has doubled in price from under £2 to almost £4.  Today my decaffeinated coffee had gone up by 65p.  These rises are never one or two pence, they are quite steep.  Think I saw somewhere that our food bills have risen 40% in the last few years - that is one helluva rise and wages have not kept rise with the other increases like fuel bills. 

In my opinion, we have a basically communist government stuffed with young MP's enjoying power for the first time.  The PM belongs to the Fabian Society - look it up.  They want to level down the public but this hardly touches them.  Just looked up what an MP gets paid and was staggered to see it is £93.904- that's basic and has additions for extra responsibilities. And they have their index linked gold plated pensions - Nice one if you can get it. (That was the new rate introduced on April 1st 2025 having recently given themselves a raise on what I consider was already a very handsome and enviable salary.

The Two child cap.  The backbenchers appeared to be ready to revolt if it weren't removed.  Perhaps I sound harsh but having a child is 'not a right' it is a privilege and if you cannot afford  children don't expect the state to provide.  Last night on the news I saw several Mothers interviewed who were at Second hand clothes banks.  One really stuck out in my memory.  She had 4 or 5 children and complained that she was only getting just over £900  a month but if they moved the 2 child cap, she would get £2,000 a month - that's £24,000 a year which is much more than many people earn.  (That would put her into a tax band) Don't think I misheard. And this must be paid for - but how, when many businesses are shrinking.  It stands to reason that if your business is only making a small profit and you are then whacked with the double whammy of higher NI and higher minimum wage and workers' rights, you won't hire more and may even have to lay off employees.  So more employees without a job and also not paying tax - seems counter productive to me.  The hospitality industry seems to have been hit the hardest.  They have increased NI, increased minimum wage and the fear of workers' rights from Day 1 (another area which can be exploited by those with no conscience). Added to that the average punter has less disposable income. Prices go up, visitors go down - Lose-Lose.

Farmers.  Sure there are some farmers who are wealthy but there are many small farmers who don't make huge profits and stay working the land because they love their work and want to keep the farm in family ownership.  My vet, who is considering going abroad (as are many doctors) has a girlfriend who is a qualified Vet but also runs the family farm. This Government has hit small holders so hard that many are thinking of giving up as is the Vet's girlfriend.

Millionaires and billionaires.  Apparently they pay a very large proportion of all taxes. Tax them too far and off they go.  Reduce jobs and tax take reduces.  It's common sense, surely.

When I was born the population of the UK was 48 million.  It is now approaching 70 million.  I only ever remember seeing one tramp and never saw people sleeping in doorways.  We had very little but we were self sufficient and lived within our means. There weren't breakfast clubs and Clothing banks so what has gone wrong?  It pains me to see people sleeping on the streets and I'd rather my taxes went towards getting them off the streets and into accommodation and possibly a new life.  The homeless were taken off the streets and put in hotels during Covid so why were they then condemned to the streets again when illegals are housed, fed and looked after.  Surely Charity begins at home.

I could go on and on but will halt there.

GETTING TO SEE A DOCTOR

Have you been able to actually make an appointment and see a Doctor recently.  I really don't know what they do anymore.  On the odd occasion I've had to pop in a Repeat Prescription request, the surgery is almost empty - there may be one or two people sitting waiting and it's usually up the end near the Nurse who does Blood Tests.

Recently I've been referred to a Para-Medic over extreme back pain. Actually he was very helpful.  I've seen a Pharmacist at the Surgery over suspected High Blood Pressure - she is absent for a month and I was promised a call by her colleague but that is not till almost the end of October.  

Blood test revealed slightly high Cholesterol - which I've known about for years - but my Good Cholesterol counterbalances it so I've not needed medication.  However I was shocked to get a text referring me to a Link which gave advice on Diet and a Healthy Life style. As I already live under this regime and don't smoke and hardly drink, there's precious little else I can do.  But to just have a referral link surprised me.

My lovely Doctor retired last year and I've not actually 'seen' a doctor since then - it would appear that everything is parcelled out to others like Paramedics. 

One can no longer phone - if you can get through - and book an appointment.  You have to fill in the wretched EConsult - which takes about 15 minutes and many of the questions are totally irrelevant to whatever is your condition.  Then, if it is deemed necessary you might just get an appointment with an actual Doctor.

On the local news last night a Doctor said that Kent is one of the worst, if not the worst county for accessing a Doctor as there are too many patients per doctor.  For some reason Doctors don't seem to want to come and live in Kent.  Don't know why because they are building houses like they are going out of fashion.  Thank you Angela Rayner - and they aren't inexpensive either so wouldn't be within the reach of first time buyers.

To add insult to injury - Wes Streeting wants the public to be able to phone the Doctor's Surgery all day not just 8.00 to 8.30.  Apparently the doctors have responded by saying this will add to their workload and really important emergencies might be missed so they are threatening another Strike.

I am old enough to remember the days when you went to the surgery and waited - very often for a long time but you always saw a doctor. But then there were only 48 million people in the country and we are now approaching 70 million in our poor little over crowded country.  

I'm glad I'm the age I am and won't be around that much longer🤣

GARDENING EXPRESS - BEWARE

Normally I go the excellent Blue Diamond Garden Centre near Canterbury but they didn't have in stock the deep blue lavender I wanted.  My lavender had reached it's best after 7 years and needed replacing.

I found what I wanted on Gardening Express and placed an order on May 27th with a delivery date of 7 - 10 days.  Heard nothing until 17th June when I was told 'Peak Season' so a further wait.  Finally received the plants on 30th June by which time lavender was 'going over'.  They were in poor condition and the White Lavender was almost dead - I did plant it to give it a chance and now it is properly DEAD - see photo below.

I complained to the Company and have received absolutely no reply.  Looking up their website, if you have a complaint the customer has to pay for return of the plants.  The box was extremely heavy and I imagine the postage would have been around £30 not to mention the difficulty of packing.  So I've had to accept the hit.  My bill was over £50 and that included a large plastic plant pot which I intended for the largest of the lavenders.

I read predominantly adverse comments on line but it was too late.  One doesn't think of checking on line when buying a few plants.

Incredibly disappointing and that is why I'm posting the blog as a warning.

This was the white heather when it arrived.  Gave it a chance and crossed fingers - second photo is the plant dead in the garden.   

THE BLACK PRINCE - St Rumwold's Church

 Over my 14 years of volunteering at Canterbury Cathedral - always Sundays because that is a difficult day on which to have volunteers - most people have family commitments.  My one and only is in Australia so 'I'm Free'.  We Sunday volunteers have become quite a small and close knit community of friends.

One of our group last year asked me to give my René Mouchotte talk and then told me the church has no electricity.  My Presentation has a 15 minute video and several other short videos.  Well, up for a challenge, so I rehashed the talk for an audience without any illustrations. I did have large photos with which I could illustrate the story and spread them out on the pews for the audience to look at.

Another colleague was due to give a presentation next Friday - 18th on his Pilgrimage to Rome.  Sadly he will be in hospital so same friend who asked last year requested me to give my Black Prince talk.  

Some years ago when the Cathedral was swathed in scaffolding both inside and out and they couldn't afford to drop the price (it costs over £30 million with NO State Aid to run the place annually) we were asked if any of us could give mini talks to enhance visitors' experience.  I had briefly told the story of Becket so many hundreds of times whilst standing in the Martyrdom, I volunteered to enlarge it into a 15 minute piece.  It appeared to be successful so I added in the Black Prince. However in the Cathedral I have the magnificent tomb of the Prince and copies of his Funerary Achievements hanging over the Tester as my props.  In St. Rumwold's I've no aids  and have to extend the presentation to at least double the length.  So have been madly looking up information - and you know what it is like - one thing leads to another and you can get lost in the plethora of info - often conflicting.  Have been madly pulling off and printing photos from my own photo library and the internet and am hoping that I will be able to remember all the extra information.

By sheer chance, I'm going to France for 2 days visiting the battlefields of Agincourt and Crécy with a friend who is also a history afficionado.  So I'll have to buy some posters and postcards to illustrate my talk next week.

Ah well, it is a challenge and the venue is delightful even if it doesn't have a Loo!

Was there last night when the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral gave a fascinating talk on Richard 111 - his discovery in a car park in Leicester - how they'd traced it to the actual spot - how they'd proved it was him and how with mitocondrial DNA they found 2 existing relatives one in Canada and the other in Australia and their DNA was like a mirror image. He told us how decisions were taken as to the re-burial and the Tomb and it's design.  Fascinating.

Two Roof Bosses of Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent (quite a gal by all accounts). First is rather flattering and hard to find in the North side of the Nave.  Second is in the Black Prince's Chantry aka The Huguenot Chapel - not nearly so beautiful!

FOLKESTONE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - PROM CONCERT

 I'm very proud to be President of this excellent Orchestra.  They usually perform at the Holy Trinity Church in Folkestone.  However, for their annual Prom Concert they move to The Leas in Folkestone.

I think the programme for this coming Saturday 19th July is a great one.   Do join us for some great music by a great orchestra.

BABIES IN THEATRES

Did you know that it is permitted to take babies into Theatre Performances?  Well I didn't and was horrified when I saw a woman with a baby in the seat behind us at a performance of 'Chicago' at the Marlowe in Canterbury.

I asked an Assistant and was told it was allowed provided the baby was on a lap!  My friend had her seat bashed twice and then the child began to make loud noises.  At least the woman had the decency to leave her seat but came back once the child was asleep.  How on earth it slept through a very loud musical is amazing.

I checked on line and saw that in most theatres this is allowed.  I'm staggered.  First of all, surely a young baby should be in bed after 7.00 pm and I read that loud noise can create permanent damage to the ear drums of small children.  I can almost understand a family outing to a Panto or a Child friendly production  with a babe in arms but not to an evening out for other people.

Theatre tickets aren't cheap. Surely if you can afford a theatre seat, you can pay a babysitter for the evening.  I would also have thought it more relaxing for the mother.

JONATHAN'S ENGAGEMENT

 Never thought it would happen.  Decades ago my gorgeous son told me he would not get married and would not have children.  I was unhappy at the thought of not being a grandmother - which I would have loved - but agreed with his reasoning. The world is overpopulated and he didn't want the responsibility. Well he hasn't changed his mind on the latter but certainly has on the former.

I was in a shop in Sandwich today and the phone rang.  Normally I'd never make or receive a call in a public place - but I know the assistant well.  Jonathan rang to tell me that he'd proposed to his girlfriend Sveta.  He had done so in a most romantic way.  They both have birthdays this week so took a small break down to the Margaret River winelands in South Australia.  He organised a helicopter trip over the winelands, pilot landed on a deserted beach and Jonathan proposed.  I've had some pretty romantic moments in my life but absolutely nothing like that.  He is a very kind and caring young man - well youngish as he will be 44 on Sunday but like his mother, he is young at heart.

The wedding will be in Australia but whether on a beach or at a Vineyard, I've no idea but I know he will make it a very special day for them both.

He has not had a charmed life - testicular cancer early 20's, losing jobs, changing the whole course of his working life in 2019 when he was very unhappy, losing his father  3 years ago and seeing me through some very difficult times with broken marriages.  So I hope and pray this is the calm period in his life and he and Sveta will continue to love each other and have good times together for many years t come.