Breaking the Nuclear Deal. The Cost of Care Homes

Can't be bothered with the fuss today

Yawn. It was inevitable after the 'Brexit Deadlock' comment by Michel Barnier yesterday that their would be a flurry of activity. Junker made an analogy about ordering a round of drinks at the bar and then walking away without paying - earning snide remarks in the UK. Hammond inadvertently called the EU the 'Enemy' and then retracted. On top of this Labour pointed to the most recent YouGov poll that the majority of people surveyed (47% v 42%) regretted the leave vote. It is still a small difference. However, the same poll showed that 64% v 21% thought the negotiations were going badly.

President Trump refused to continue signing off the Iran nuclear nuclear deal, threatening to withdraw if further concessions were not made, alleging that the Iranians had not been complying with the international agreement. This is despite the fact that his own experts and military, as well as the other international partners in the UN including the EU, the UK and Russia all agree that Iran IS complying with the deal. However, the President has put Iran at the top of his list of enemies of the state after ISIS, and has passed the buck to Congress. They now have the unenviable talks of finding a solution. If international agreements are broken so easily by the US, what is the point for North korea to engage in any negotiations.

Considering that it was Friday 13th, the day started well with bacon butty, tea and conversation at the A14. Talked mainly with Margaret who had a major role in health administration before hitting the salary glass ceiling in a cash strapped public sector.

We got onto talking about the cost for care for the elderly.  I hadn't realised that the cost of care varied across the country. Checking this evening, whilst the average cost of a care home in the UK was about £29,300 per year in 2015. But in the East, the average price was £33,800, whilst in the Midlands it was £26,900. In the North it was as low as 26,300.  The same discrepancy exists for care with nursing. The worrying thing is that on average the costs are rising faster than inflation.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-3349355/Nursing-home-fees-course-reach-70k-YEAR-2035-state-pension-covers-fifth-cost.html

Snapped away happily at the Norris Museum, searching through old newspapers for a new volunteer project. Late afternoon, wandered over to the College of West Anglia to talk over plans for the two 1 h microscopy sessions that I'll be running next week. Bring on the weekend!