Conservative Reaganomics

I can't help but think that the modern Conservative party still feels very Thatcherite. Now I hear of Sajit Javid and others wanting to tax-cut our way toward growth and, combined with what the administration's done with personal independence payments, universal credit, etc., I can't help but imagine even pre-purge Republicans smiling. Apparently we haven't learned anything from the US' track record since, up to and including the tax cut that came early in the Trump administration.

Decades ago, I like to believe that policymakers were looking at evidence and honestly trying to do their best. Perhaps that's how we achieved triumphs like Milton Keynes. Now? Maybe I'll yet hear something more persuasively coherent than soundbites from the Opposition but I've been disappointed in Labour leadership and I don't know that I ever noticed Sal Brinton. Sure, I'll vote, but I'd love to do so with any enthusiasm.

As somebody in Colorado asked recently, Britain has 60 million people. Surely there should be hundreds of people capable of doing a better job than Johnson, but none are presenting themselves. Yeah, I should be part of the change I want to see but I'm rather overwhelmed with other things right now, hardly settled domestically.

A pleasant walk

I had no errands planned for today but, just as when I first moved here, the weather is glorious and ideal for a walk, sunny and pleasant, it seemed wrong not to go out. It is amusing to see the fuss about the hot weather, given what I know from Tennessee and the Philippines, though this far north is cool indeed, I don't think it got much over 20°C today, not that that stopped me from buying ice cream in a cone from a van.

I have a couple of lovely parks within an easy walk of my flat and I took the opportunity to explore them. Both are well-tended, and well-used with families and dog-walkers and such. I think the water features are strictly ornamental rather than for paddling in.