Homelessness

My husband & I started married life in a rented council terraced property in Bracknell. When our daughter was born we had enough money for a deposit on a semi detached house & could just about afford the mortgage. It was a financial stretch & there were weeks when we had egg & chips several times for supper.

Over our life together we moved up the property ladder as we both had professional jobs & our salaries increased. We ended up in a valuable property & mortgage free. We both worked hard, but we were so lucky.

Homelessness in the UK is a blight on all of us. We are a relatively wealthy nation, yet we seem to tolerate this epidemic. In March 2025, an estimated 3,438 people were sleeping rough on a single night in England. This represents a 2% increase since December 2024 and an 11% increase compared to the same period last year. There are other forms of homelessness, such as those in temporary accommodation, which brings the total number of homeless people to at least 354,000.  

Poverty, unemployment, lack of affordable housing, relationship breakdown and systemic barriers in welfare support are understood to be significant systemic primary drivers of rough sleeping. These underlying causes can often be exacerbated by personal vulnerabilities like poor health or substance use.

Poverty can arise from low wages, unemployment, and the rising cost of living, making it impossible for some to afford basic necessities like housing. Low-income individuals and families can't find suitable, secure & affordable accommodation to rent or buy. Eviction from private rentals, often due to rising costs or 'no-fault' evictions, is a major trigger for homelessness. Cuts to welfare benefits and inadequate support systems can leave vulnerable individuals with limited resources to meet their basic needs and prevent homelessness. Family or relationship conflicts, domestic violence, and the loss of a support network can lead to sudden homelessness. Mental health problems and substance abuse can significantly impair an individual's ability to manage daily life, maintain employment, and secure housing. Young people leaving the care system often lack the necessary support network to transition to independent living, making them vulnerable. Individuals leaving prison may face challenges finding housing and employment.

https://www.crisis.org.uk/ending-homelessness/about-homelessness/causes-of-homelessness/ 

It isn't a simple problem to solve. We need more affordable social housing. Charities like the Salvation Army have innovative projects like "Nap Pads" https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/homelessness/nap-pads

 

Rough sleeping will be decriminalised next year under government plans to scrap the 200-year-old Vagrancy Act which outlaws rough sleeping in England and Wales. Given all the drivers of homelessness & rough sleeping I think this should have happened ages ago. 

There are undoubtedly people on the streets who cause a nuisance due to associated behaviours like begging, street drinking & anti social actions, which can negatively impact communities. But I have seen anti social behaviours by non rough sleepers too, far too often. People can be needlessly confrontational & aggressive, rude & abusive, in public. Dealing with bad behaviour is very difficult & it is all too common. I have had intimidating neighbours I actually thought were capable of violence.

We should also consider the many people living in unacceptable, mainly rented, housing. In 2022-23, approximately 3.5 million households (14%) in England lived in homes that failed to meet the Decent Homes Standard, according to the Gov.uk website. This includes 2.1 million households (9%) with at least one Category 1 hazard and 1.0 million households (4%) with damp.

Human beings are such a mixed bunch. We need to learn what to tolerate & what to confront. We also probably need a dose of empathy & understanding for the many people less fortunate than we are. I do worry about the knee jerk, very right wing, political responses to problems like this because we are in dire financial straits as a country because of poor previous political decision making. 

As humans we need to learn to care for people. Homelessness isn't a "lifestyle choice". We shouldn't just pass by on the other side of the road like the Priest & the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan. 

 

Life & Tennis

I learned to play games at grammar school - netball, hockey & my favourite, tennis. I can't remember when I started watching Wimbledon, but I do clearly remember the Rosewall / Laver era in the 60s & 70s. I really got bored knowing that Laver was going to win almost every time. I also remember the beginning of the open era in 1968. I have been lucky to watch decades of tennis in which the game has changed in every way possible, not always for the better in my opinion. I got very fed up when the hard serving, baseline, game came in & there was very little nuance or skill. Just blasting your opponent off the court - Not engaging to watch. 

Watching tennis has taught me that there is far more to sport than physical fitness. Tennis is a game of the mind, psychology is really important. Personality matters. Not as some sort of icon, but in the sense of how you win. You do need to be competetive, but you also need to respect your opponent.

Among other good matches I've watched this week, the Cilic / Draper game has stood out. It was wonderful to see Cilic triumph over the difficulties he has had for a couple of years. You had to admire such skill & determination. 

Life is a game of tennis in many ways, full of challenges & opportunities. You have to be able to adapt to the unexpected. You have to persevere & fight back in adversity. You aren't necessarily in control. If you make mistakes & fail - and you will, you have to be resilient & learn from every experience. Moving forward with enthusiasm is more positive than looking back to the past with regret.

I'm not a fan of the change in rules that allows coaching from the box during a match which started last year. The point of tennis for me, especially singles, is that its a test for each player to show what they are capable of on their own. I'm also always disappointed when players, usually when they are losing, take a very long "comfort break" in order to upset their opponents rhythm. I remember the eras of skill & personality. The current trend to fist bump at every point won & look to the box for approval sets my teeth on edge. Watching good players who just get on with the game, like Fritz & Alcaraz is so much more in the spirit of sportsmanship. 

What is important, in tennis & in life, is how you win. Not to win at all costs. 

 

Bodies - Love them or hate them?

I recently watched "Good Luck to you Leo Grande" starring Emma Thompson.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13352968/

It was a brave movie for a woman of a certain age to make. Especially the final scene where she literally bares all. It made me think about body image & sexual mores. 

A large proportion of adults are either overweight or obese in the UK, and the issue disproportionately affects those in more deprived areas. Obesity is associated with a range of health problems, including increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer, which places a substantial burden on the NHS and the wider economy, with rising costs for treatments and care. Obesity rates are also high among children, with a notable disparity between children from more and less developed areas.

I am not suggesting that Emma Thompson is obese or has any form of body dismorphia. 

At the other end of the scale the prevalence of anorexia (trying to control your weight by not eating enough food, exercising too much, or doing both), bulimia (losing control over how much you eat and then taking drastic action to not put on weight) & binge eating disorder (eating large portions of food until you feel uncomfortably full) seems to also be high. At least 1.25 million people in the UK are living with an eating disorder. That's more than 1 in 50 people – but the real number could be even higher.

Cosmetic plastic surgery & enhancement procedures seem to be on the rise in the UK to address perceived flaws or insecurities. The portrayal of "perfect" bodies and faces by influencers and celebrities on platforms like Instagram and TikTok can create pressure on young people to pursue cosmetic enhancements to achieve similar looks. Reality TV shows featuring individuals who have undergone cosmetic procedures contribute to normalizing and even glamorizing surgery, making it seem like a readily attainable option. The negative impact of unrealistic beauty standards perpetuated by media and social media is really worrying & the "treatments" can be risky. Especially as the sector isn't well regulated.

It is normal to have a wide variety of human body shapes. To my mind it shouldn't be normal to put a huge strain on your body & organs because of excessive weight or extreme thinness. I sometimes look at faces, buttocks & breasts of some women who have had fillers & feel that we have gone too far in our manipulation of what we look like. While it is good to make the best of what nature gave us, we should feel comfortable in our own bodies. Who are we trying to please, ourselves or others?

There are people who really need the help of clever surgeons, children who are born with cleft palates for example. Most of us really don't. We should be able to understand that what we look like does not determine who we are. We need to value ourselves enough to be confident & not abuse the bodies we have. 

 

 

Disability, Poverty & Labour Values

Although I have several co-morbid health conditions I don't think of myself as disabled. Currently I'm having an unusually long flare up which is painful & makes walking & doing normal things diffficult. But I'm not defined by my conditions - Just frustrated by inactivity & fatigued by pain. It know it will improve in time.

It does make me empathise with genuinely disabled people though. Although I am too old to do paid work, I know that I would struggle, even with my level of incapacity. So I am at a complete loss to understand why the Labour government has been targeting the much less fortunate among the UK population to raise much needed money - The elderly, the disabled & children.

As a pensioner I do not need or want the winter fuel allowance. So I am delighted that it will be targeted at those who do. But Labour was forced to reconsider. Bridget Philipson has suggested cutting back universal free school meals for children. Maybe this should also be better targeted, I'm not sure. Disabled people need protection & essential support to live with dignity and independence.The Universal Credit & Personal Independence Bill was going to remove that from a substantial number of people & put thousands into poverty. Again the government has been forced to reconsider.

The high success rate at tribunals indicates a significant number of initial PIP decisions are already incorrect or not fully supported by the available evidence. Approximately 7 in 10 PIP appeals are successful at tribunal hearings, meaning the original decision to deny or reduce PIP is overturned in favor of the claimant. This translates to around 70% of appeals being won by claimants. Many disabled individuals don't appeal due to stress, ill health, or lack of faith in the process. This cohort are least able to be able to go through the process.  

My questions are why has the government made such difficult to justify choices, which were bound to be controversial at the very least? Was it hubris to think that with a big majority they could railroad anything through? Who on earth is advising them? 

There are always choices, but these choices targeted the wrong strata of society.

Taxation as a percentage of GDP was 33.5% in the UK in 2021. The Nordics are well known for high income taxes, with the highest rate of tax topping 50% in Denmark. In 2023, taxes in Sweden amounted to 40.7 per cent of GDP. 

See the 2025 chart - https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/eu/top-personal-income-tax-rates-europe/

The only reason I can see for not increasing income tax on everyone, simply & fairly distributed, is that politicians are afraid of losing their jobs. The decision is not about getting us out of the black, ever increasing, borrowing hole we are in. It is not about funding health, education & all the other necessary state run departments properly & efficiently. 

It's purely about political expediency. So the government, of whatever hue, always go for the low growing fruit. In this case it's the poor & disabled instead of the well off & wealthy. 

 

 

Taxation & the Welfare State

I have just watched "Scandinavia" with Simon Reeve. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002cg5l He is a travel journalist I admire far more than any celebrity travellers, because he is actually quite brave in facing difficult issues & situations. He is always informative & interesting.

Scandinavian countries are credited as being better run than the UK. Probably because of a combination of factors - a more robust welfare state, lower income inequality, & a focus on work life balance. These countries generally have higher levels of social trust, lower corruption, and stronger social safety nets. Universal access to healthcare, education, and social security is funded by higher taxes, but the benefits are widely distributed. There are shorter working hours, generous parental leave, and a strong emphasis on leisure and family time. 

The crux of success seems to be attitude, to eachother & to the government. There is a sense of communal welfare & willingness to pay for that through taxes. As a lifelong liberal socialist I would expect those values to be present in a Labour government. But the UK is not like Scandinavia. We have lost our way. 

We did not do what Norway did when oil & gas gave them a windfall. They established a substantial sovereign wealth fund. Instead of investing our profits for long-term benefit as they did, we used the revenue to fund tax cuts & government spending. We didn't diversify the economy and develop new industries. We privatized many state-owned assets, including those related to oil and gas, rather than retaining them for long-term national benefit. Thatcher's government inherited the emerging riches of North Sea oil & pioneered 'carbon neoliberalism' – a model of managing public goods for private interests. 

Nothing has changed as the recent 13 years of conservative government showed. 

I believe that the conservatives are responsible for the financial "black hole" we are in. They have decimated public services through cuts & underfunding. Privatisation has not worked. This was the inheritance bequeathed to Labour. 

But we need to accept that we choose our governments. We should be all prepared to pay higher taxes if we have a good income. The wealthy should be prepared to pay an equivalent proportion of their income to ordinary working people, rather than taking advantage of tax havens around the world. Data from the Office for National Statistics 2024 showed that the poorest 10% of households in the UK are still paying a higher proportion of their income in tax than the richest. 

The poorest 10% of households paid on average 48% of their income in tax in 2022/23

The richest 10% of households, however, paid on average just 39% of their income in tax

It's about fairness & community. It's about caring for the disadvantaged & providing equal opportunity for all. The UK has got a lot to catch up to, but we all need to be paddling in the same direction for the good of all.

 

Consequences

If I disagree with someone & I lose my temper & begin to shout & interrupt or override what they are saying there are consequences. What might be a simple difference of opinion escalates into a shouting match or real argument. If I canot control my emotions I might become violent & physically push them away. That is assault & they may well retaliate physically. The consequence of differing opinions is a fight which could result in real injury or worse. Road rage is a good example.

I once saw a young man shouting at a young woman & pinning her against a wall in the centre of Oxford late at night. I intervened & told him to stop, fearing for the girls safety. Both were possibly the worse for drink. The girl rounded on me & told me to mind my own business. Intervention in other peoples affairs has consequences. I walked away. 

Micro or macro actions, or even inactions have consequences. I would do the same again, but I would be more aware of the possible consequences. 

The consequences of argument & disagreement are much more dangerous on an international scale when individual leaders have huge amounts of power, armaments & money. The ultimate deterrent that is supposed to be keeping us all from the brink of annihilation is the nuclear bomb. I'm rapidly feeling that with the madmen in charge now, who have their fingers on the button, we are all in danger. The Doomsday Clock is currently at 89 seconds to midnight. Nuclear war can be triggered by both intentional and unintentional actions. Miscalculation of risk is a distinct possibility when you have volatile & unstable conditions & political leaders like today.

I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.I was in the common room of my hall of residence in college. I was convinced that the world as we knew it would cease to exist. You would hope that Mankind learnt from experience, but no. Mankind simply repeats the testosterone fuelled patterns of behaviour over & over.

History tells us that war has dreadful consequences & does not work. In the end there has to be a negotiated settlement. That settlement may or may not be just & fair depending on who "won". There are usually compromises. The Treaty of Versailles after W W 1 is considered a poor settlement. Possibly  the consequence of that was W W 2.

 

We need to find a better way of co-existing as human beings & understand that we do not own the land. Humans are temporary occupiers & custodians. Fighting is often territorial, but we created the boundaries on maps. They don't exist in the real landscape.  

Instability

Currently I am very unstable. Yesterday was the first day for over a week I didn't use a stick. Fibromyalgia & Arthritis flare ups are a b......  But at least you do know that in the fulness of time things will improve.

I can't say that about the current state of international affairs. Instability really doesn't cover it, it's more volatility. When elected leaders like Trump, Netenyahu, Putin, the Ayatollahs et al are more interested in power grabbing & their own self interest than the people they supposedly serve we are in dangerous teritory. 

These are boys with big toys who will use those toys indiscriminately to further their ambitions. It's "willy waving" on a grand scale & it's their populations that suffer while they are in their palaces or bunkers. This is testosterone or religion fuelled autocracy that has no interest whatsoever in the devastation, death & injury they cause.

What makes men, and it is usually only men, behave like this? Is it their disfunctional childhood? Are they simply corrupted by wealth & power? They often seem to share personality traits like a strong desire for control, a preference for obedience, and a tendency to view dissent as a threat. High dominance, low agreeableness, and a tendency to be authoritarian are common traits. They consolidate power by undermining democratic institutions and silencing opposition. They weaken or dismantle democratic institutions like the judiciary, media, and civil society to consolidate power. They suppress or eliminate any form of opposition or criticism, often through intimidation or violence. 

They really are extremely unpleasant individuals with few if any redeeming features to their personality. 

In simple terms they are schoolyard bullies. On a micro scale if you allow bullies to get away with their bad behaviour they just carry on & get worse - Encouraged by the lack of opposition & sanction. In international terms this is magnified exponentially. The international community thus far has pussyfooted around these autocrats & allowed them to flaunt the rule of law. There have been sanctions, but they have not had any appreciable effect. 

Abasement, appeasement, & political cowardice have not worked. Modern warfare is technology based with drones & fighting men in bunkers, rather than face to face as used to be how wars were fought. Killing huge numbers of people without actually seeing them must be easier than shooting or knifing them. Especially for a generation who have grown up with gaming. Modern warfare is all about money & how big your arms supplies are.  

So where do we go from here? At the moment it is all escalation & the "willy wavers" digging their heels in regardless of consequences. 

It makes me sick to my stomach. If this carries on we won't have a population problem. Malthus viewed war as one of the "positive checks" that limit population growth. 

  

The world has many big problems to solve. If war takes our focus away from those, then we are all going to suffer the consequences. It really doesn't bear thinkng about. Our democratic leaders need to get off the fence or their backsides & act decisively together to stop this madness in it's tracks.