Happy Friday! So I’ve not been around much this week due to Ma’s birthday fun but the news is all brexit, all the time with a vote of May’s deal on Tuesday. Meanwhile, there are more homeless on the streets, Universal Credit is punishing people for being poor and needing help, councils are waiting to hear about their central government settlement (my own council is looking at a 64% cut in central government spending), the NHS is under pressure, teachers are at breaking point, pretty much nothing is being done about the housing crisis and the inequality gap is widening. Let’s talk about the backstop though….

As you can see, I’m frustrated with politics and politicians. I’m for abandoning Article 50 and staying in Europe, however, I do understand the problem that brexit causes. Honestly, however we leave Europe is not going to make anyone happy. It’s this deal or no deal. So Brexiteers need to decide. Either way all this has really improved is that politics in this country is broken. Maybe not as broken as in Italy, the US and Brazil but it’s still broken….

Anyway, rant over, here are this week’s links….

My name is Nish Kumar – so please stop calling me Nish Patel

Home is a state of mind. You don’t need walls. I heard about this last week, in the middle of the night on the World Service. I had a number of reactions to it, mostly along the lines of ‘what the bloody hell’. For me it’s a bit like the gap year students that go to the third world for a spiritual experience, I just feel that this is romantic and ridiculous. On the verge of being made homeless, I wouldn’t be taking a two year walk, I’d be doing as much as I could not to be homeless because you do need walls. And most people don’t get offered flats by kindly strangers and I would hate for people to think that this is the fate of all homeless people. Or is it that this is the acceptable face of homelessness? I don’t know, something about it puts my hackles up and I’m probably being unreasonable.

Pink terror: how sweet gins muscled in on the artisan market. I made rhubarb, plum and blackberry gin this year but they are liqueurs and not the same as proper gin. If you tell me that your favourite gin is pink Gordons, I will judge you. The Slingsby Rhubarb Gin is about the only one of these I find acceptable!

Don’t go to bed yet – too much sleep is worse than not enough

Take back control – could self-sufficiency be the answer to a no-deal Brexit?. I love my plot and I would happily have another half but overall I agree that self-sufficiency isn’t the answer or doable but yes there is something powerful in growing and making some of your food. The days I feel most smug are generally when I have toast and jam from bread I’ve baked and jam I’ve made from fruit I’ve grown. It’s useful to understand the effort involved.