So yesterday the start of the week saw an initial temperature of 2° which should rise to 7° later in the day. This is only to be welcomed after the cold blast of arctic air that we experienced last week. I always feel that if you have some bad weather in December, though, it is more bearable as Christmas is in sight and we are now in the last week of November. In the forthcoming week, I have nothing that stands out on my planning board where I detail appointments for the forthcoming month but I know that I need to pay a visit to a hardware type store where I can replace a shower head that fell to pieces in my hands the other day. I am still waiting for something like a fine day when I can do the last cut of our back lawn and hen 'winterise' our trusty mower. Shortly, we will have the much anticipated budget thrust upon us and it will be interesting to see how much pain is inflicted upon us and which shoulders are called upon to bear the burden. Of course, we may see 'efficiency savings' as well as tax increases but how much actual waste in state expenditures can be discerned is the subject of much political debate, Despite the political fanfare, Reform’s Doge unit – styled after Elon Musk’s US 'department of government efficiency' – never arrived in Lancashire. To date, Doge has reportedly visited just three Reform councils – Kent, Worcestershire and West Northamptonshire – and has failed to scrutinise any internal finances at any council because of legal barriers. An analysis by The Observer of financial documents from the 12 local authorities now run by Reform reveals the scale of the challenge faced by the unit, with a budget shortfall of £300m across the councils in 2026-27. Most Reform-run councils have already indicated they will need to raise council taxes, as well as implement significant cuts to balance budgets next year. Reform-run Worcestershire council is now seeking residents’ views on council tax rises next year of up to 10%. Sources from other councils told The Observer that they expected Reform would have to take similar measures around the country. Last Wednesday, Zia Yusuf was replaced as head of the Doge unit by Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader. Tice has described Doge as a 'philosophy' of saving money. Critics, however, say it is 'fantasy politics. It has all unravelled – they haven’t identified any waste. Reform’s promised Doge has not materialised' said Daniel Lister, leader of the opposition and Conservative group at West Northamptonshire council. 'For all the spin during the election, the reality is that Reform has no new ideas, no new ways of saving money and no understanding of how to run a council.' On the subject of the forthcoming budget, there is speculation or perhaps even a deliberate Treasury leak that pensioners may receive a higher than expected settlement starting from April next year. If this is true, I find it surprising but slightly strange politics unless it can be seen as a 'sweetener' to offset other policies such as the end of the triple lock system.
I had no real commitments on today so after some tidying up, I walked into town to pick sup some supplies and my newspaper from Waitrose. On my way out, I bumped into my neighbour who I was particularly pleased to see as we have not coincided for a week or so now and I know that he is gradually recuperating after knee replacement surgery. For good measure, his wife is due to have a hip replaced perhaps next week so my neighbours appear to have been in the wars a little as well. Then I put together some bits and pieces from the fridge to make a sort of stir-fry which was potato free (as I have put on a couple of pounds recently which I will shift by cutting back on carbohydrates) I watched some of the BBC executives being questioned by a House of Commons committee and as this was 'live' it was pretty interesting viewing. Earlier, I had accessed some of the liberal American podcasts who have convinced themselves that Trump is deranged and getting worse. They are citing as evidence the fact that it appears that Trump has paid several unscheduled visits to a clinic and has had at least one MRI scan performed, probably on his brain, according to this media who were quoting an ex-White House doctor. My Droitwich friend passes quite close to my house when she comes to pick up her boys from Bromsgrove (public) school and so we agreed a quick 20 minutes which absolutely flashed by. But she had prepared a special lunch of some eggs and beans in a curry sauce which I may have for my tea tonight, or more probably when return home from Pilates the next day. I am in the business of trawling through past issues of the newspaper to see if any articles are worth saving but there are quite a lot of Christmas offers of various kinds which vie for attention. I have one or two things lined up for me to catch up on, not least the edited highlights of the England vs. Argentina rugby match played over the weekend. Sky Arts are putting on a special programme on the highlights of the life of Pavarotti but at an rather ungodly hour from about 11.pm -1.00pm but I might indulge in some of it before I drift off to sleep this evening. There is an announcement today of a new national holiday which the government are proposing. A new 'national day' to honour victims and survivors of terrorism will be added to the calendar from next year, it has been revealed. The annual commemoration will fall on 21st August, and will be marked in a different place each year to recognise the widespread impact of terrorism around the country. It comes after a 12-week public consultation showed 91% supported the plan for a national day, and 84% strongly supported the proposal. But the question of the timing of a new national holiday has to be raised because it is arguable whether 21st August is a suitable date given the proximity to the end of the month August Bank Holiday. Most people would value a national holiday sometime in mid-autumn so there is still a huge, holiday-free gap between August and Christmas.
© Mike Hart [2025]