Saturday 20th June
Up to 1/4million protested today against austerity. They are angry with the Tory Government and do not agree with the Tory cuts. But sadly it’s a bit too late; they should have gone out on the streets before the election, they should have campaigned against the Tory’s before the election, they could have demonstrated to voters that things could be different and what a conservative MAJORITY could do…but they didn’t and I didn’t!

And it would appear Osborne is going to go for the £12bn working age welfare cuts; cuts to tax credits and cuts to housing benefit is not One Nation Conservative.

Sunday 21st June
Andrew Marr is a fantastic journalist and broadcaster; no notes, informed conversation, he is fabulous.

Monday 22nd June
Even more concerns about the NHS…it appears to be a daily headline. First there weren’t enough nurses, then GPs might go on strike and now it looks like we may lose 1000’s of nurses because they do not earn enough to remain in the UK. I can sympathise with the nurses’ position – many are not paid enough and it is no longer seen as an attractive career for young adults; I agree that the country should invest in training British people, but if they do not have the skills and desire to do these jobs then there will be nursing shortages which will continue to be filled from those from other countries. Making them leave these jobs because they are not able to earn £35k is not right.

But I can’t sympathise with the GPs. When many GPs are earning over £100k and do not have to work at weekends or late evenings (like nurses do), I find it hard to understand what they are striking over. Even when money is tight the Government are going to plough even more money into GP services. Giving money to new GPs to work in unpopular areas is beneficial, but please don’t give it to those GPs who earn enough already just to make them stay; let them retire and take their fantastic pension – giving them even more money is not the answer. If medical student’s don’t want to be GPs anymore then we should ask ourselves whether we need GPs. Perhaps we need to spend the money on specialist nurses, social workers and clinicians who can assess our needs and refer us onto the specialist doctors…that is what many GPs do anyway! That would save the NHS billions!

So those receiving a share of the £30bn tax credits look like they’re going to have their money reduced. £30bn is a lot of money and I am sure it is not all going to those who really need it, but cuts to tax credits can only be achieved at the same time employers are willing to pay higher wages and/or people being able to reduce the amount they can spend…both of which are difficult to do. Many small and medium sized businesses will not be able to substantially increase the wages they pay out of their profits, if they actually make any. Also, as a significant proportion of a person’s spending goes on housing, unless we do something to reduce rents or reduce the price of houses then it’s not really going to happen. What is going to happen is an abrupt cut in income to low paid workers that will force them into debt; so this is what One Nation Britain looks like?!

Even Tory MPs are criticising the Government, saying that stopping payments to benefit claimants leads them to start using food banks. Maybe they’re worried that their constituents will wonder why they thought a Tory might support them, help them. And having just watched Dispatches, it makes me wonder even more about why people voted Tory – it highlighted the real issue of the housing market and seeking housing association accommodation; another policy all about getting headlines and not about helping those who really need help. What a disaster!

Tuesday 23rd June
I love meeting up with old friends and family who share the same politics! Tonight demonstrated the wide range of Labour Party members there are and even wider range of labour voters. The question of the night was ‘do we want a Labour Party that can win an election or do we want a Labour Party that has credibility or can we have both?!’ Answers in comments please.

We didn’t come to any conclusions but hopefully convinced an old, dear friend not to vote for Andy, that Liz could win us an election but would she deliver the kind of labour policies we would want her to, that Jeremy would actually bring labour back to its roots and attract people who are not Labour Party members but loose some current labour party members (which may be a good thing) and Yvette might be the safe, dull choice.

Invigorated to get more involved. Feel this could be the time for change and feeling a little bit less frustrated.

Gove has actually said something I agree with.  It is the first, and I am sure it will be the last, but commercial solicitors and the most successful lawyers should contribute more of their time and expertise, voluntarily, to supporting those who cannot afford to access the justice system; it’s payback time!

Wednesday 24th June
The huge immigration crisis in Calais is not being dealt with and people are linking this with leaving the EU. Leaving the EU will not stop migrants travelling across Europe and wanting to settle in the UK. The UK is an attractive place to live for many and, having suffered significantly to get themselves to Calais, the next step across the English Channel is not such a big deal to them. We, and the rest of the world, are not dealing with the reasons why people feel the need to leave their own countries, we only get involved and condemn when they arrive in Calais.

An ‘English Labour Party’ may be a good thing. Still thinking through how this could work, but it could provide a more focussed labour offer to those who live in England. I think that may attract those people who are more interested in their local area, their local communities, their local lives and their own lot; they may be more willing to get involved and to vote for a Labour Party that feels relevant and more local to them; ie. not Westminster. To go one step further, Labour may also want to consider how to make devolution happen more extensively. The Tory’s focus on the Northern Powerhouse could be challenged by Labour offering further devolution to a wide range of communities, not just the big cities. Politics needs to become more localised and then people may start to see the link between their lives and politics.

Child poverty is getting worse so we’ll just change the definition and make it better! That’s going to really impact on those children’s current and future opportunities!!

Thursday 25th June
Cameron off to Europe to commence our renegotiation with Europe, but Europe is more concerned about the huge number of migrants entering Italy and Greece, and many European countries (including the UK) are not keen to help. Surely we’re either in Europe, where we need to help one another, or we’re not. Italy and Greece are not capable and should not be expected to deal with all the immigrants. Each European country should be given their share of the migrants to assess and either accommodate or deport back to their own country if they are not eligible; it is not sensible for just a few countries to take the brunt of this. European countries should stand up and help their fellow countries and provide support to the numbers of people who are seeking humanitarian help.

Friday 26th June
International shock at the terrorist attacks in three different countries in three different continents. The world is far less stable and predictable than the one I was brought up in. Governments don’t really know what to do, so they do nothing; paralysed to make any impact to make a huge difference. Labour would be no different!