When did we become Third World? I am listening to the tales of hardship on Channel 4. A mother who has no money to feed her daughter until the next Universal Credit check arrives. A father who has nothing left after paying the utility bills. What happened to this rich Western Country? Are we third world now? In 1974, I fled from a bad marriage to the United Kingdom. I lived in lodgings on Lower Richmond Road. I was paid 59 p an hour and the rent was nine pounds a week. I had a gas metre in the room and had to feed it to stay warm. I remember the careful shuffling of expenses until, a few months later, I got a job teaching Maths in a Secondary School in Wickford. The Department of Education would not pay for the ten years previous teaching experience, or my Maths degree, until six months later. I had to get verification from the University of Madras direct to the DES. Teachers were not paid very much in the seventies anyway until the Houghton award, and we got a huge pay-rise. Meanwhile, I did dinner duty to get the free meal that went with it. I had no Winter garments, coming as I did from Africa, so I layered. I lived in a high-rise Council flat and took a bus from Basildon to work. I watched the electricity meter frequently and bathed in small amounts of hot water when the meter seemed to be going round too fast. I was glad the children were not with me. The Houghton awards trebled my salary and the accumulated back pay made me feel rich. So, I put down a deposit of eight hundred pounds on a house that was selling for 9350 pounds. I have memories of not buying the Whippy that I was greedy for, getting my first overcoat for nine pounds after six months of saving… The mothers and fathers who struggle to feed their children are in a very bad place now. For this, the Tory government is responsible.

THE FAB FIVE Did you see the soap opera yesterday? The edifying sight of Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak tearing into each other, the raking up of mistakes made by the Tories in Government over the last decade, the excavation of ancient biographies – who went to school. Where? Labour’s job is being done for them. When McDonnel makes an ugly swipe at Starmer, I want to send a message to him to shut up. Go and do this in Committee, I think, not on the media outlets. I am on his side; I am left of left. Brought up in Kerala, what do you expect? I want a redistribution of wealth tomorrow, my wealth included… The LEADERS’ DEBATE yesterday was a catfight. How did these guys not know at least after the first debate that they were doing a Labour party political broadcast? How stupid are they? Mind you, I have always believed that anyone who joins the Tory Party is, by definition, stupid. But a lot of morons vote for them, and they are a reality like plant pests. Interestingly, the discussion of policy was minimal – it was all about who is the best top dog. No one will call a general election; they know they will be wiped out. 2024 seems a long way away.