Rain, Hayfever and Pay Cap Kept Firmly On

Traveled over to Suffolk to meet up with fellow microscopist and author Lewis Woolnough to talk about a second revised edition of his stereomicroscopy book. Was treated to a lunch and returned the favour by updating Lewis on the iNaturalist site and its potential. We both share an ambition to get people engaged in natural history and microscopy.

Managed to identify a 2.5 mm insect caught in the fruit fly trap I set up last week as Ectopsocus petersi, a wild relative of the so-called book louse.  I uploaded the record to iNaturalist - see if anyone else cares to agree.

The latter was done in an evening of streaming eyes and nose as I had a bad attack of hayfever after going out into the garden briefly. The most likely explanation for this is the fact that after the rain we had earlier today, there was a particularly high evening release of grass pollens. Grasses apparently tend to release their pollen in the early evening after 7:30pm. A bin full of tissues was testament to the devastation effect.

The Tories were celebrating in parliament today after defeating a bill to remove the pay cap for public sector workers. Possibly a Pyrrhic victory, considering the high profile of fire-fighters, police and nurses in the news after all the recent tragic incidents. Fiscal prudence could now easily be misinterpreted as ignoring the needs of our front line social and safety services. Yet there is a national trend where there is now an increasing willingness to pay slightly more in taxes to maintain services.

According to the Guardian, a leaked European commission analysis finds that Theresa May's proposals for EU residents in the UK still doesn't match expectations. The income requirements would still hold for EU citizens wishing to bring in non-EU spouses. The proposal would even force children having to apply to stay in the UK. There is still a big chasm between the two negotiating positions.

According to the Spiegel, there is another unexpected consequence looming due to Brexit. With a 10bn Euro gap in EU funding, there is an increasing pressure to link the substantial financial grants to some Eastern European EU members to good and fair governance in the future. This is a response to the closing of borders and refusal to accept refugee quotas, whilst asking for more funding.