Friday November 20th 2020

08:00 Lois and I tumble out of the shower. 

09:00 I look at the Danish news media (ekstrabladet) on my smartphone. I see that Denmark's former centre-right prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who was ousted in a general election a couple of years ago, has decided to take part in a Danish TV reality series, "Across the Atlantic", in which 6 celebrities without sailing experience have to sail a boat across the ocean, under the guidance of Olympic sailor Jesper Bank [who he? - Ed]. 

"Løkke" has told reporters: "I have for a long time been thinking about taking a mental break - unplug, and go completely off-grid for a while. I have that opportunity now. I am currently in a position where I am not in the front line politically and I need to sit and stare at the endless ocean and think about what I am going to do with my life in the years to come. I hope the trip can help to give me a direction, because I do not know when that opportunity will reappear' [my translation].

Lars Løkke Rasmussen is also joined on the voyage by TV chef Umut Sakarya and actor and singer Johannes Nymark. Former swimmer Sarah Bro is also in the crew: plus Danish TV host Felix Smith, and cake book author and lecturer Ditte Julie Jensen, which became nationally known in the Danish version of "Bake-off". [Who they? - Ed]

Their boat is heading out of Lanzarote for the Caribbean on November 26, and the team expects to go ashore again approximately 21 days later.

I must say, Lois and I think it's a little bit sad that Løkke can only work out the "new direction" for his life by staring at the endless ocean. How much more focussed he was when he shook hands with us in the centre of Copenhagen all those years ago, when he was on the threshold of becoming the country's new prime minister!

Flashback to June 2014: Løkke (right) is preparing to shake us by the hand,

as we  sat eating lunch in the middle of Copenhagen

Plus, Lois and I suspect he'll be far too busy on that boat to have time to sit and stare at the endless ocean haha!

Poor Løkke !!!!!!

10:00 Today is the day for ordering next week's groceries from Budgens, the convenience store in the village, so we have to get our order together and phone it through, which we do. 

We also want to order on line from the other shop in the village - Waghornes the butcher, but unfortunately we forget to do this until nearly 1 pm when we're just finishing up lunch: and so we miss their deadline for next day delivery - damn! Now the next delivery day is going to be next Wednesday (25th) - damn (again) !!!!

Waghorne's, the local butcher's shop

These are the things that, sadly, preoccupy us more and more, plus, making sure we are in for other deliveries, Amazon etc. The Christmas presents to us from our elder daughter Alison in Haslemere have started to arrive, plus my presents to Lois, and Lois has ordered some lavender plants from Thompson and Morgan, to put in our new flower bed in front of the front door, now that Mark the Gardener has cleared out all the old, clapped-out plants.

Lois walking past our flower bed, before Mark cleared out the old, clapped-out lavender plants

11:30 It's drizzling steadily but Lois and I decide nevertheless to do a walk over the local football field - today it's a "walk day" for me, according to the schedule worked out for me by my physiotherapist, Connor, so we decide to brave the cold wet weather again.

Lois and I have a cold, rain-spattered walk over the local football field

Apart from us there doesn't seem to be a soul about, although as we near the exit we notice two people skulking in the so-called "shelter", chatting about something or other.

16:00 After lunch and a nap in bed, we relax with a cup of strong Earl Grey tea and a piece of bread with Lois's delicious home-grown, home-made gooseberry jam. I tell Lois about an email from Tünde, my penfriend in Budapest, highlighting an article in InsightHungary.

"Hungary and Poland blocked adoption of the European Union's 2021-2027 budget and coronavirus recovery package on Monday, over a new mechanism linking access to EU funds with rule of law criteria.

They were the only countries in the 27-member bloc to do so. 

The veto by the two countries draws the fate of the €1.1 trillion budget and €750 billion recovery package into uncertainty as the economies of many European countries are hit by new lockdowns amid the worsening pandemic.

The rule of law conditionality, which would tie disbursal of EU funds to member states' adherence to democratic standards, was approved by EU ambassadors on Monday with a necessary qualified majority, but Hungary and Poland used their veto power to block an agreement on the framework of the economic recovery package, effectively stalling progress of the measures.

....Hungary and Poland were the two largest net beneficiaries of EU funds in 2018.

Hungarian officials have argued that the rule of law condition is an attempt by Brussels to force Hungary to change its controversial policies on immigration, and blackmail the country into accepting dictates from the European Union...." 

In a statement on Tuesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote, "In Brussels today, they only view countries which let migrants in as those governed by the rule of law. Those who protect their borders cannot qualify as countries where the rule of law prevails." 

[However here comes the InsightHungary factcheck! - Ed] But the EU's concerns over Hungary's adherence to the rule of law have actually focused primarily on media freedom, judicial independence and corruption, and migration has not been featured among the rule of law conditions articulated by the new mechanism.

Aha!  

In the Brexit debate of 4 years ago, I was on the Remainers' side, and I still think that Brexit was voted for largely because of the views of older voters harbouring (a) some sadly virulent anti-immigration feeling, as well as (b) the misguided notion that Britain was still a world power strong enough not to need to be in any trading bloc. But I must say that these days I'm sometimes quite glad we're leaving the EU - and the Polish and Hungarian governments in particular are not governments I am happy for our own country to be associated with, to put it mildly!!!!

21:00 We watch a bit of TV, the satirical news quiz "Have I Got News For You", where two 2-person teams are asked questions about this week's news.

We notice with surprise and pleasure that one of the panellists tonight is Joan Bakewell (87), a broadcaster and journalist who is more our age-group: game-show host and comedian Richard Osman (49) doesn't seem to be taking part for some reason.

The news about the coronavirus vaccines comes up, and the Government's plans to start rolling it out soon, starting with the most vulnerable groups in society. And Joan (87) seems enthusiastic, to put it mildly.

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!!