Hurricane Irma, David Davis Storm of Derision, Historic H&S gone Mad

Hurricane Irma - photo NASA Earth Observatory

With the stand-off between nuclear powers North Korea and USA, Nature  sends yet another major storm towards the US. This time it is Hurricane Irma, a category 5 storm, the highest recorded in the Atlantic. Hurricanes can expend the power equivalent to 10,000 nuclear bombs during their life-times. It appears to be heading via Puerto Rico, Cuba and President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort just off Florida. Landfall expected on Saturday.

David Davis reported back to Parliament on progress with the Brexit negotiations and encountered his own storm - of derision, from the opposition benches. 

More worrying is the leaked government paper on post-Brexit immigration published in the Guardian. It proposes a three stage process:

1. Introduction of an immigration bill
2. Implementation period of “at least two years”
3. A final phase, when tough new rules will be put in place

Want to visit the UK? ID cards will not be sufficient, you will need a passport. Want to live here? You will need to apply for a permit and give your fingerprints. Oh, and if you are low paid, the maximum you can stay is 1 year. If you are better paid, possibly two or three years.

This might just be a proposal that has not been agreed politically. However, not only will business be extremely concerned, it is sure to harden the EU line wanting to protect EU citizens under the European Court of Justice.

The bright part of the day was this evenings Milton Local history Group meeting. I took along snippets collated about Milton by Mike Petty, Local Historian, in his Milton Scrapbook 1897 to 1990. We all took turns and read entries out, some surprising, some mundane, some amusing. Here are three:

5th April 1912 (Letter to Newspaper). Sir –Milton cemetery is a disgrace to civilisation. There is so much water almost standing within three feet of the surface (it having never been drained) that it is impossible to dig a decent grave there at all. The graves are never dug more than five feet down. The gravedigger has thrown up his job in disgust as the stench that comes through from the other graves with the water. He has to bale out the water until the funeral procession enters the cemetery then put an armful of straw in the bottom to hide the water from the mourners. –Bertram Pearson.

1st July 1924. It was alleged that because a Milton smallholder did not have a fried egg with his breakfast of fried bacon, fried onions and milk sop he assaulted his wife, striking her with his cap, a frying pan, and his hand. The magistrates, after a lengthy hearing, dismissed the case and gave both parties some excellent advice and warned them not to appear at Court again.

And finally a rage against Health and Safety gone Mad!

4th December 1925. Sir –I must utter a strong protest against the action of some person in authority in the town in trying to put a stop to skating on the Corporation Sewage Farm at Milton. It does seem a pity that when the opportunity for such a splendid form of recreation occurs only once in a generation, that some kill-joy should throw hot water,in this case, on such inexpensive pleasure for the public, with notices of ‘keep off the ice’, barbed wire entanglements, and a policeman taking the names of trespassers on skates. There were hundreds taking the risk of being prosecuted rather than miss the opportunity of such splendid sport -Bertram Pearson.