Words by the Water

We had another day of books and ideas. First was Hashi Mohamed, who arrived in England a 9 year old Somalian refugee, accompanied by his 3 siblings. Now he is a barrister. This isn’t a “look what you can do if you work hard” type of story. He does explain the difficulties not only faced by a a refugee but also BAME, women people with disabilities. He acknowledges is is not just about education or class (which he talks about a lot) but also about valuing people who do the essential jobs like care workers, teachers etc, paying them enough an£ respecting what they do. It is making me think which can’t be bad!

In the afternoon we heard Polly Toynbee and David Walker taking about where we are today after 10 years of austerity. Even though we knew the most of the facts and figures, , it didn’t half bring it home to hear it itemised in the way they did, she is hopeful that if Starmer is electedLabour will b3 a more effective opposition. I was surprised though when she said they might have to make a more unified fight with the other opposition parties, naming LibDems and Greens. The SNP has 47 MPs. There are only 12 LibDems and 1 Green. This is one of the reasons so many there want independence - it’s not only the London-centric Westminster, but also the media. Someone like her should know better so I was disappointed by that.

We had a lovely meal at the Quince and Medlar.