BREXIT Blues

Normally my first post of the year is the publication of one of my poems. I am breaking that tradition this year. I am not celebrating the more than six-hundred thousand viewings of my blog either.

[Image description: on a grey background the words “Sad, sad day. #BREXIT.”]

As a blog that proudly has the word European in its name, I am compelled to lament the United Kingdom leaving our friends, allies and main trading-bloc in the European Union.

I very much suspect that this action will be seen as foolhardy in the not too distant future. I fully anticipate that we Bremainers will fight for however long it takes to rejoin the EU in the future (just as the Brexiteers have fought to exit since the day we first joined in 1972, some forty-eight years ago). I suppose we need to let the old guard die off and then the youth and young adults can assert their optimism and hope in the European project.

Please do not give up on Britain, my fellow Europeans. We may be an island, but - in spirit if no longer legally - we are still part of the continent of Europe. I hope that the day will come very soon when we can once again proudly play Ode to Joy.

[Image description: the EU flag, twelve golden stars forming a circle on a Royal blue background]

Ciao! Bis bald! ¡Hasta pronto! Au revoir!

🤓

BREXIT: no party is innocent

I am very much pro-Europe, but am less than enthusiastic when it comes to the European Union. I have said since joining the Euro was proposed, that the UK should not do so until such time as the EU begins to bring its own house in order.

However, on many levels, the EU is far more democratic than the UK, and we should be learning from it and improving our own democracy. Instead, little Englanders & Welshies stubbornly insist on perceiving what the neo-liberal media feeds them as being reality rather than the propaganda it is. How else to explain the gullibility of accepting the promise that the NHS would receive the £350million.

Human Rights legislation comes from the Council of Europe (not to be confused with the European Council), NOT the EU itself. Those laws were drafted with guidance from Britain. To reject laws we helped create is quite bizarre!

The following article is worth reading: the EU is not innocent of machinations & unreasonable stubbornness. The termination of an affinity is very rarely the fault of just one side.

Britain’s divorce from the EU will be bitter. Yet the failure is Europe’s too

After Ezekiel

Today's sermon is based on the notable Prophecy of the Shepherd & the Sheep, after Ezekiel chapter 34: verses 1 to 31 of New International Version (NIV) of the Bible.

1-6

The polemical word came to me: "Mensch, apprise the politicos of Britain; forewarn and inform them: 'This is what the Sovereign British People say: Woe to you politicos of Britain who only take care of yourselves! Should not politicos take care of their folk? You eat five-star cuisine, clothe yourselves in fine tailoring, designer footwear & expensive accessories, but you do not take care of your folk. You have not supported the poor, nurtured the NHS nor cared for the disabled. You have not included the misfits nor acknowledged the lost, the suicides and deaths. You have ruled Brits harshly and brutally. So Britons despaired because there were no leaders with true vision for the people and their well-being, and whilst unemployed or under-employed or under-paid, they were forced to rely on food-banks and charity hand-outs. Brits wondered what was to become of them; from Britain's mountains through the hills to the low-lands all hope has been dispersed. No-one in authority deigned to research or even look at the people's despair.' "

7-10

" 'Therefore, you politicos, hear the polemical word: As surely as I live, declares this Mensch, because my country lacks good leadership and so has been plundered by the 10% and has become easy-money for international conglomerates, and because you politicos did not support my folk but cared only for your own pecuniary interests rather than my folk, therefore, you politicos, hear the polemical word: This is what this Mensch says: I am against the politicos and they will be held accountable to my folk. I will remove the establishment from having power over my folk, so that you politicos can no longer be solely self-serving. My country will be rescued from your grimy paws, and it will no longer be your cash-cow.' "

11-16

" 'For this is what the Mensch says: I myself will seek out my folk and look out for them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when s/he is with them, so will I look out for my fellow countrymen. Britons will look to bring love and hope to those lost in confusion and despair. Britons will come together from all corners of the United Kingdom and reclaim their land. Hope will be rekindled near and far throughout the land, both in town and country. All will have sufficient to eat, in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it will not simply be mass-produced fast-food, but nutritious alimentation. The workers will be permitted sufficient rest to develop a better work-life balance, declares the Mensch. Brits will commemorate those who died as a result of the politicos' policies. We will support those with impairments, disabled by societal barriers, and the impoverished; but those who were well-dressed and in positions of power shall be brought to book. Britain will become a country known for its justness and justice.' "

[Image description: various colours, pile of gourds & pumpkins]

17-19

" 'As for you, my folk, this is what the Mensch says: the courts will judge all equally with impartiality whatever one's status or wealth or ethnicity or gender or sexual orientation or creed. It ought to be enough for all to settle for a fair citizen's income; there should be no place for greed and avarice and hoarding so that others cannot share in Britain's bounty. All must have a seat at table; none should make do with mere crumbs.' "

20-24

" 'Therefore this is what the Mensch says to you, my fellows: See, the courts will judge between the impoverished and the 10%. Because the 10% have wheedled and tricked and manipulated to enrich themselves whilst impoverishing the rest, Britain will care for its own folk, and they will no longer be plundered. The courts will pass judgement. Brits will have a genuine democracy where every voice is heard and every vote counts. We will have leaders who are inspired, have vision for a better tomorrow and who will govern justly and wisely. Menschlichkeit will be the norm in the personal sphere: social justice will prevail in the political.' The Mensch has spoken."

25-31

" 'Britain will be a land of peace where all are welcomed as fellow siblings; it will rid itself of predatory free-market economics and look to a more sustainable future. The country will be united as one and will come to be and be seen as a beacon for all peoples of our world. We will address issues of climate change and do our utmost to restore the planet, so that all can be nourished by all that Nature has to offer. Brits will be secure in our land. We will know that Justice prevails, when the courts rule against poor working practices like unpaid overtime or excessive work demands, and gaol unsuitable employers. Britain will no longer sell its workplaces to the highest bidder and will tame all-devouring capitalism to serve we the people, not vice versa. The bounty of the country will be shared equitably amongst all citizens, no longer mainly the 10%; and we shall no longer be the laughing-stock of more civilised countries. Then Brits will know Menschlichkeit and all will be Menschen one unto another', declares the Mensch. 'You are the people, the people of this land, and Britain is our country', declares the Mensch."

[Image description: landscape wit mountains & full rainbow arc]

*

Original text © NIV

1 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? ³ You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. ⁴ You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. ⁵ So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. ⁶ My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

⁷ “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
¹¹ “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. ¹² As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. ¹³ I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. ¹⁴ I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
¹⁷ “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. ¹⁸ Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? ¹⁹ Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
²⁰ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, ²² I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³ I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
²⁵ “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. ²⁶ I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.^[a] I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. ²⁷ The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety,and no one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.³⁰ Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. ³¹ You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture,and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

My Sabbatical Sojourn Is Over

This morning I awoke in pain. As I came round I realised I was rather stiff too. Was it the two-and-a-half hours of light gardening I did yesterday?

I turned on my laptop and noted that many of the facebook entries reference the rain in England. After a nearly three-and-a-half months sojourn in Spain, I had all but forgotten that damp weather completely floors me. In my time on the Costa del Sol I had three wet days and there also I was confined to lying prone until the weather ameliorated. For most of my three months I was barely aware of the nagging pain that daily, hourly, minute by minute drains one's life-force here in the UK.

More than a decade ago, my then GP advised me to either move to warmer climes or at least winter abroad. My current hospital consultant, an endocrinologist, who specialises in M.E. and C.F.S., advised me to do similarly. This year, facing the stark choice of winter in the sun or be referred to an orthopædic specialist for surgery, I plumbed for the former.

And I do not regret having done so. Gradually, I was able to exercise more and more using the pacing techniques I had been taught by the now disbanded specialist Manchester M.E. & C.F.S. nursing support service. From needing a wheelchair, to hobbling with two walking-sticks (canes), to shuffling with just one, to walking unsupported on the flat (but not slopes or steps), I felt my body re-awaken. Muscles strengthened. Arthritic swelling reduced and reduced until it completely disappeared. My fine motor skills partially returned. For example, I could write again using a normal sized pen. I could sign my signature instead of just a squiggle. The more I got out and about, the less I was affected by hyperacuity and photophobia as my body's senses re-attuned to normality. I was less troubled by allergic re-actions to this, that and whatever.

Unfortunately, my vision, my equilibrioception, my forgetfulness and my susceptibility to muscle cramps did not improve. On the twenty-first of March I forgot to take my phosphate medication - the only time I did so. I suffered a massive cramp in my right calf whilst walking without a stick on the flat esplanade, paseo marítimo, in Benalmádena where I was staying. However, had I taken the aid with me it would have been of no assistance. The cramp completely felled me. I fell backwards, hitting my head on a wall before hitting it again on the ground. Thankfully, Spain is not Britain and folk came to my assistance. A passing male nurse checked that I was not concussed and later telephoned for a taxi to ferry me back to my apartment. This serves as a reminder, that how ever much my body might ameliorate, I shall never have back all the faculties I once had.

Taking into account the Christmas holiday period, I have taken a sabbatical of four months from my political campaigning activities for WoWPetition (now transmuting into WoWCampaign). After eighteen months of slogging nigh on every waking minute, usually abed, my brain, my psyche was completely frazzled. I attempted to refrain from getting involved, although came out of retirement for the February WoWDebate in Parliament.

Over the next few weeks and months I hope to gradually increase my efforts for the cause of we disabled folk, the poor, the downtrodden; but I cannot put in the level of effort I previously did - my body just cannot take it. To this end, please do not take umbrage if I: do not get back to you instantly; do not post every important update; do not sign every petition; do not forward every email; etc. I shall do my best, but must be a little more constrained in my input. I hope and trust you will all understand.

[Image description: via Peaceful Mind, Peaceful Life;

an image of a solitary key & a quotation which reads,

Don't give up.

Normally it is

the last key on

the ring which

opens the door. ]

When feeling down whilst alone in Spain, the above was posted on my facebook pages. I hope it instils in those feeling downhearted a sense of "carry on; we can do it"

Thanks for reading, folks.

Colin
%)

Tory Slates Use of Food-Banks By Starving

Last week a headline in Manchester's local newspaper, Manchester Evening News (M.E.N.), read:

Tory MP: Food banks could make people too reliant on handouts

I have interspersed some of quotations from the article with my own commentary.

[Image description: Paul Maynard by Blackpool tower; courtesy Wikipedia {{subst:npd}}] 

"Paul Maynard, who works for Minister of State Oliver Letwin, said people could start going to food banks out of habit rather than helping themselves." 

Emergency food parcels should not be given to people – because they could get too reliant on handouts, a Tory MP has said.

This is total balderdash, individuals referred to a food-bank may only do so three times using vouchers given to them by a social worker, a GP (family doctor), a CAB (Citizens' Advice Bureau) adviser or a head-teacher (school principal). They cannot return to the same food-bank. Given most areas only have one food-bank, it is difficult to see how any but a tiny minority would be able to form a habit. Three visits certainly does not constitute a behavioural norm nor does it indicate dependence. According to the Trussell Trust, the UK's main food-bank provider, the main reason for folk needing food assistance is due to governmental delays in processing benefits to which the individuals are fully entitled. In a sense, for very many folk, it is the Government who are actually creating the circumstances that force them to use the very food-banks the so-called Honourable Member seeks to castigate.

"Mr Maynard, who has some of the country’s most deprived wards in his own constituency [Blackpool North & Cleveleys], said: “I value personal responsibility. 

I do not believe that immediate food relief should be the role of the government. We can’t make food banks part of the welfare state. 

What I don’t want to do is normalise food poverty."

I wrote and submitted a comment that was accepted and now appears below the article:

"Under Britain's UN obligations the State is obliged to ensure food security for all its citizens. It is currently in breach of those obligations in a similar way as it is in breach of housing obligations, as recently exposed by a UN rapporteur. 

The so-called party of law & order seems to only want to follow the legal requirements that suit; hardly an exemplar to its citizens!"

The news item continued:

"But charities hit back, saying they had been left to face a huge number of people going hungry because of changes to welfare payments." 

"Representatives from debt advice charities and food-growing schemes said they feared the bedroom tax had left people too poor to eat…" 

And "the Poverty Commission warn[s] 1.6m people across the region are in danger of sliding into severe poverty."

Alas there are gullible and uninformed individuals who actually believe much of the rhetoric and polemic spouted by Maynard and others within the ConDem administration and the main-stream media (MSM). One such chap stated about the MP's comments:

"What he says is right, what do these "customers" spend the benefits they get on? Yes there are essential fuel costs but it's sometimes a lifestyle choice, ie have takeaway/supermarket prepacked meals v the cheaper make it yourself meals."(sic)

I felt obliged to stand up for folk…

"In response to James Wales (8.32): many disabled & elderly have to buy pre-packed meals; some due to physical inability to cook (arthritis/pain/spasms/shakes/weakness/etc.); some because they only get 15mins from social care to prepare & cook a meal as well as any other assistance that is required."

I am part of the WoW campaign which is trying to raise awareness of the difficulties, stress and unfortunately tragedies that have been and will continue to be caused by the so-called 'welfare reforms'. If the reader would like to help, please add your signature to the WoWpetition.

Oh, and by the by, this IS the Member of Parliament who described we disabled campaigners as "extremists" putting us on a par with terrorists. Though he did later apologise and attempt to retract the statement.

Margaret Thatcher (or Britain?) R.I.P.

There has been much lionising of the late Baroness Thatcher. Many have suddenly discovered their love of the Iron-Lady icon viewed through the rose-tinted spectacles of revisionist histories. Whilst I have a modicum of respect for a woman who succeeded in the male hegemonies of power, I have no love for her, her memory nor her legacy.

Glenda Jackson's speech (video below) brought back memories of just how awful life was in 1980's Britain for one who was all too aware of the amorality &/or immorality poisoning British culture and society, then and now: dilapidated public buildings, including schools; hyper-inflation; no pay increases; no overtime; mass unemployment, much of it hidden in incapacity figures and useless training schemes equivalent to today's Workfare; years-long hospital waiting-lists; Section 28 - the notorious anti-homosexuality law; riots and civil unrest; avariciousness; selfishness; egoism as a good; demise of whole communities, indeed regions & countries; and so on...

I do not hate Mrs. Thatcher - and I am certainly not going to gloat over her death - but whilst she did some good for the State, she did little for the Nation. Only my rich fellow countrymen prospered then and have continued to do so ever since under the neo-Thatcherite/neo-liberal governments that followed to this very day.

I shall not mourn Mrs. Thatcher's passing; I shall however continue to lament the great harms done in the name of Thatcherism/neo-liberalism to individuals, families, communities, regions and countries.

The Malefic ConDems' Idealogical War on Welfare

This is a personal account of my journey from inert citizen to politicised activist.

In whose name?

[Video description: Kaliya Franklin's speech - you may know her better as Bendy Girl; © Graeme Lamb Media via Youtube.]

"Over two hundred people rallied in Manchester’s Albert Square on Saturday in opposition to government cuts to support for disabled people. Similar demonstrations were held across the country as part of a national day of action called for by the Hardest Hit campaign." (Manchester Mule)

I was one of those two hundred or so people freezing in the Mancunian chill & damp on Saturday 22nd October 2011. At forty-seven I was attending my first ever political rally and in a wheelchair to boot. The evil done and which continues to be done in the name of and at the behest of the Conservatives and their lackeys, the misnamed Liberal Democrats, via the unconscionable wraiths in the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) and Office for Disability Issues (ODI) has had and is having dire consequences that ultimately will touch most families. Disabled people are committing suicide, attempting suicide, harming themselves, starving, freezing, deteriorating because of withdrawal of all or some benefits and/or support or even just from the threat of it. And this in twenty-first century Britain - I can no longer bring myself to use the term Great Britain! I have written elsewhere about the similarities between what is happening in the UK and what occurred in fascist Germany (Nazi Treatment of Disabled). I was asked this past week by a fellow-sufferer where on a scale of 0-10 I thought we are in respect to a potential genocide; I responded about 1934.

[Image description: the author in wheelchair, helper & a fellow activist behind being interviewed by reporter from Manchester Mule (manchestermule.com).]

On Tuesday the twenty-eighth of August 2012 I went on my second ever political demonstration, this time outside the offices of ATOS in Manchester. This inevitably required the storing of spoons and the expense of taxi fares for the eighteen mile round-trip from and to my home. Thankfully I did not have to do much self-wheeling as a fellow activist loaned me his strapping son for the occasion.

My comments are quoted several times in this Manchester Mule article (q.v.), in this article (q.v.) by Black Triangle (blacktrianglecampaign.org) and in this article (q.v.) from the very personable and witty Lipstick Socialist (lipsticksocialist.wordpress.com). I personally am non-partisan but have voted throughout my life for candidates belonging to the as was Social Democratic Party (SDP), the as was Liberal Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Green Party or independents. I would have been a Macmillan-type Conservative, but Mrs. Thatcher and the Tories lurch to the right repulsed me, as did the Labour Party's concomitant destructive and unappealing in-fighting. I am a liberal with a lower-case ell. This means I am open-minded. I want to see the evidence and judge for myself. The evidence that has been accumulating under the current coalition government's duplicitous austerity drive is one of harm, destitution and in some cases death.

[Image description: the author holding a placard which reads, "32 die a week after failing test for new incapacity benefit [ESA]."]

Since the demonstration the figure of thirty-two deaths per week occurring within six weeks of the notorious work capability assessments (WCA), the DWP's own earlier figure, has been revised upwards to more than seventy per week (q.v.) per Disabled People Against Cuts (dpac.uk.net) at the end of November 2012!

Not in my name!

No-one in power it seems is going to stand up for disabled folk. I have chatted (q.v.) with the president of the LibDems, Tim Farron, and asked a direct question (q.v.) in person of the leader of the opposition and the Labour Party, Ed Miliband. Neither of them was willing to make comments in support of disabled and/or chronically sick people. Neo-liberalism or neo-capitalism holds sway amongst all major parties. The weak are left to fend for ourselves. And so, I have become a sort of activist: I tweet & retweet; I sign & share petitions; I facebook news items; I blog about our troubles.

And now I am actually directly involved in the WoWPetition, against this phony war on welfare, or social security as it used to be more aptly called. I have paid tens of thousands in taxes and national insurance contributions on the understanding that the State would support me if my circumstances became straitened. Such has occurred for me and many, many others. And now the State has unilaterally pulled out of the contract despite having taken the dues. If they were an insurance company they could have been sued via the courts. Unfortunately courts in England tend to side with governments, so it is unlikely we could seek redress there. And, in any case, any such action would take years, in which time thousands more are likely to suffer and many more die.

The WoWPetition website, wowpetition.com, and the attendant forum, wowpetitionforum.co.uk, will over the coming days and weeks provide facts & figures, true tales of disabled and/or chronically sick folk and much more besides. Please visit them if one requires more information. To join in with conversations:
on Twitter @WOWpetition & @WOWpetitionchat; or,
on Facebook WOWpetition.

Join my name!

Whatever, I hope each and every reader will sign the WoWPetition either via the official website (click link above) or here. If you do sign, I should greatly appreciate if one would add a comment below to that effect.

%)

Spain for the Elderly, Disabled and Infirm?

This past week the wonderful disability & welfare rights advocate, Sue Marsh, blogged about a great idea she had and which was supported by several well-known economists. See here for more details as it is well worth a read.

The article prompted me to add my two pennies worth:

Criquaer 2 July 2012 20:38

I've been going to Southern Spain for more than a decade for my health on GP's advice. In a similar vain, I do not understand why Govt./LA's do not send well-ish elderly/disabled to Spain to be cared for during the winter - cheaper than costs in UK, less need for fuel allowance, carers, meals-on-wheels, etc. Also benefit from better climate and social activities - thus less loneliness. I believe Germany & Denmark (???) send some folk there to recuperate.

[Image description: the author shuffling along the esplanade in Benalmádena, Andalusia.]

More than a decade ago, my then G.P. advised me to winter in southern Spain for health reasons. My osteoarthritis (inter alia other conditions) is greatly affected by Manchester’s (north-west England) damp climate to my detriment. This results in my not being able to walk and so needing to use a wheelchair, and, worse from my perspective, being confined to my bed for approximately two in every three days. Being bed-bound unsolicited is no slacker’s dream; but rather a Kafkaesque nightmare of imprisonment within the same four walls and exile from social contact (well, prior to facebook anyhow!). Despite the current Government's media approved scrounger narrative: no-one in their right mind would willingly choose this as a lifestyle. However, once in Spain my condition considerably ameliorates as it does for many OAPs (retirees) who also winter there themselves.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition is desperate to find ways of saving money. Spain is desperate to create jobs and boost its economy.

I suggest that Britain sends those of its elderly, disabled and ill-health sufferers who are willing and able to Andalusia during the autonomous region’s off-peak tourist season, roughly October to March. The Junta de Andalucía could co-ordinate consortia consisting of hotels, medical establishments & town councils to bid for contracts and/or they could calculate a fair rate to charge the UK Government or individual local authorities.

The advantages to the UK might include:

A reduction in excess winter deaths;

A reduction in the need for winter fuel allowance;

A reduction in CO2 emissions due to reduction in energy use;

A reduction in water use;

A reduction in winter pressure on the NHS;

A reduction in the need for ‘flu jabs;

A reduction in the need for (humane) social care;

A reduction in the need to import foodstuffs;

A reduction in the number of travel journeys made & use of public transport, thus reducing stress on the transport infrastructure;

A reduction in the need for meals-on-wheels;

A reduction in the demands on the charity sector;

A reduction in the workload of social services departments;

A reduction in crime against the person;

A reduction in loneliness for those sent out to Spain;

An increase in health & well-being for those sent out to Spain;

An increase in employment and/or job-security in the airline industry;

An increase in employment and/or job-security in the policing/security industry.

Disadvantages might include:

An increase in property crime;

A reduction in spending locally.

The advantages to Andalusia might include:

An increase in hotel room occupancy rate and thus income of hotels;

An increase in employment and/or job-security in the tourism/hospitality industry;

An increase in spending in the local economy by those sent out to Spain;

An increase in spending in the local economy by those newly employed and/or retained in employment;

An increase in employment and/or job-security in the medical industry;

An increase in demand for locally- or nationally-grown or reared foodstuffs;

An increase in use of public transport and/or taxis, so supporting the transport industry;

An increase in employment and/or job-security in the airline industry;

An increase in employment and/or job-security in the waste management industry;

An increase in teaching jobs to give all those sent out to Spain the opportunity to learn Castilian Spanish;

An increase in Spanish cultural awareness;

An increase in cultural activities for both locals & those sent to Spain;

An increase in employment and/or job-security in the cultural industry;

An increase in the need for policing/security thus an increase in employment and/or job-security for the security industry;

An increase in well-being of locals gaining employment and/or increasing their hours/job-security;

A reduction in the need for benefits for those obtaining jobs and/or those with extended hours.

Disadvantages might include:

An increase in the use of precious water resources;

An increase in CO2 emissions;

An increase in pollution;

An increase in waste;

An increase in pick-pocketing, muggings, etc.

[Image description: the author on a two-stick day in Míjas, Andalusia.]

I understand other countries have similar schemes: but I believe what I am suggesting is on a scale not previously contemplated. Is it worth a go? Or am I being hopelessly naïf and idealistic?