On the road to where?
Nov. 5th, 2020 03:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ruthct21Just less than a year ago, we were in Athens for the last ALDE Congress (European Liberal Democrats: Europe-wide, not just EU). We felt good, with successful campaigns for local elections and European elections a few months earlier and a clear majority of British voters in favour of remaining in the EU. Our European colleagues were much more positive and welcoming than they had been 2 years earlier, the last time Mick and I attended.
So where are we going now? There will be an online ALDE Council Meeting in about 10 days. I am one of the Lib Dem Party's elected representatives to this body. It makes policy between Congresses and helps to prepare for the next Congress, which would have been about now, has been postponed to next April, and seems likely to be yet another mega-online event. No-one believes that we will be free of the curse of covid as soon as next Spring.
The resolutions we will be discussing at the Council are about how the EU needs to adapt and develop and work together to combat all the current threats to economic, social and political life: and the practical steps that must be taken in harmony so that we can live with covid rather than be destroyed by it. Yes, I am glad we will have a voice in the future plans for out continent, but will anyone in the government at home be listening?
I did feel quite excited to arrive in Athens on Sunday. This was our first trip away from home since we went to ALDE in Athens in October 2019 (other than an overnight stay in North Yorkshire on our wedding anniversary) and certainly our first trip to another country. The Greek Government required comprehensive details from us immediately before we travelled, otherwise we would not be allowed in, and Mick was whisked off for a covid test once we landed, but that didn't take long. Four days later and no follow-up contact from the officialdom suggest that he is fine!
Although it is great to be here, I feel exhausted by the unremitting stress of the past year. I'm wondering whether I will ever catch up on my sleep and whether I will recover from all the small niggly aches, pains and irritations that I have developed during these past months. The Town Council meeting, which we dutifully attended by Zoom last evening, was a real downer: the Labour Group refuse to contemplate any plans to relieve hardship in Todmorden that could be perceived as "letting the Government off the hook." So they'd rather leave the people they purport to represent without help. Great political point, totally unfeeling and inhuman.
Britain will still be in lockdown when we are supposed to return so maybe we will not be allowed in. Maybe we will have to stay here ........
So where are we going now? There will be an online ALDE Council Meeting in about 10 days. I am one of the Lib Dem Party's elected representatives to this body. It makes policy between Congresses and helps to prepare for the next Congress, which would have been about now, has been postponed to next April, and seems likely to be yet another mega-online event. No-one believes that we will be free of the curse of covid as soon as next Spring.
The resolutions we will be discussing at the Council are about how the EU needs to adapt and develop and work together to combat all the current threats to economic, social and political life: and the practical steps that must be taken in harmony so that we can live with covid rather than be destroyed by it. Yes, I am glad we will have a voice in the future plans for out continent, but will anyone in the government at home be listening?
I did feel quite excited to arrive in Athens on Sunday. This was our first trip away from home since we went to ALDE in Athens in October 2019 (other than an overnight stay in North Yorkshire on our wedding anniversary) and certainly our first trip to another country. The Greek Government required comprehensive details from us immediately before we travelled, otherwise we would not be allowed in, and Mick was whisked off for a covid test once we landed, but that didn't take long. Four days later and no follow-up contact from the officialdom suggest that he is fine!
Although it is great to be here, I feel exhausted by the unremitting stress of the past year. I'm wondering whether I will ever catch up on my sleep and whether I will recover from all the small niggly aches, pains and irritations that I have developed during these past months. The Town Council meeting, which we dutifully attended by Zoom last evening, was a real downer: the Labour Group refuse to contemplate any plans to relieve hardship in Todmorden that could be perceived as "letting the Government off the hook." So they'd rather leave the people they purport to represent without help. Great political point, totally unfeeling and inhuman.
Britain will still be in lockdown when we are supposed to return so maybe we will not be allowed in. Maybe we will have to stay here ........
