It’s not been the best day in January so far, though in a little while I am due at a neighbour’s hose for thank-you drinks and nibbles as I was one of those feeding her cats while she was away for three weeks. Notice I say feeding, not looking after. I barely saw either cat. When I did see Nina she looked at me as though suspecting I was about to make off with the family silver. Teddy didn’t mind me opening the door to him, but then rushed away from me as though I might attack him. If I’m sitting in our garden, he’s all over me, so what the disconnect is, I don’t know. Anyway, it meant I opened cans, rinsed bowls, replaced water, topped up biscuits but feline interaction was not on the cards. It meant my visits were a great deal shorter than anticipated, and therefore less onerous, but also a bit sad.
It has rained today. A lot, though fortunately not constantly. I managed my several sorties between heavyish rain. Last night O woke in the small hours and I was thinking about ICE, and how some politicians here, notably the lamentable Farage, would like a version of it here. That led me to think about how some politicians bad mouth London and London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, trying to make out we all live in fear and Khan is introducing some sort of Islamic republic in the capital. All nonsense, but the lies are repeated and spread. Some outside London, truly believe there are no go areas here, that each time we leave our homes we are in serious danger of being knifed. The statistics show a different story. Crime in London, particularly violent crime has fallen, and the figures compare favourably with elsewhere in England and Wales. So, why does the Reform candidate for the position of Mayor of London say outsiders pity those who live here, as London is not safe? She’s a Londoner, a Muslim, as is Sadiq Khan, but while Khan is extremely proud of our multi cultural, multiethnic, vibrant city, Laila Cunningham is not. Both Khan and Cunningham come from legal backgrounds, He was a solicitor specialising in human rights, she a senior Crown prosecutor. Khan points to the statistics, Cunningham says we cannot trust them.
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