Paul Brownjohn @Paulos_the_fog@social.cleverlibre.org

I describe myself as a leftish radical in my bio so I thought I had better pin my colours to the mast in terms of what I think we should be doing politically. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the policies as I write then down as I think of them and don't always remember.

This is then part of my manifesto - comments please:

A universal basic income paid to all over 18, whether working or not, of about £300 - £400/week. This will be paid to those who have been legally resident in the UK for 3 years or more regardless of nationality and will replace the state pension for the retired. Taxation on income above that level will be substantially increased.

An absolutely ring-fenced, explicit contribution to pay for the NHS that will be a flat percentage of earnings no upper ceiling and levied on both earned, individual unearned income and individual capital gains. In the case of employees, the employer will be liable for a proportion of this tax.

A massive programme of house and apartment building, all for low cost rental and the abolition of Thatcher’s “right to buy”.

Introduction of a free national identity card and National ID number to be issued to all residents. The underlying database will contain details of driving license, entitlement to NHS healthcare, current address, criminal record details, immigration status. Each organisation using the system will have access to an appropriate sub-set of the information held.

Introduction of the specific offence of “texting at the wheel” which will incur automatic permanent confiscation of the device used and a driving ban. The addition of permanent confiscation of the device, to the penalty for using a hand-held mobile phone for voice calls whilst driving, on a second offence.

Legalization and taxation of marijuana, the decriminalization of all other currently unlawful intoxicants. Further research to support other possible legal changes.

Break-up of the banks between retail banking and investment banking.

Abolition of zero hours contracts. A review of the employment laws with a view to eliminating the “gig” economy. Much more severe penalties for employers who flout employment regulations.

Voting to become obligatory for all those eligible even if only a spoiled vote along with implementation of the transferrable vote or another proportional representation system.

Removal of marriage as a legal concept to be replaced by Civil Partnership which will be open to all regardless of gender or relationship (marriage will continue to exist as an exclusively religious institution, but it will have no legal significance, status or implications. It will, however, be a requirement, if a religious marriage is sought, that the celebrants shall be in a civil partnership first). Bigamy as a concept under criminal law would be abolished however, existing civil partners would by law, be required to assent to any further partner.

The creation of a national, multi £ billion, fund to develop new antibiotics and other medication.

Complete overhaul of dental, optical and GP services under the NHS to ensure that every single resident can access a decent standard of appropriate care at minimal cost. NHS Dental clinics to be established in all large towns and cities to ensure provision of comprehensive dental services.

Abolition of road tax and the provision of 3rd party liability and passenger liability through increases in taxation on road fuel. Restrictions on young and/or inexperienced drivers driving the most powerful cars and heavy vehicles as is the case at present with motorbikes.

Restructuring of the driving test to include driving on main roads and motorways.

The introduction of a right to broadband with the poorest families provided with service at a no charge.

Negotiate re-joining the single market and customs union.

Reform of the house of Lords to remove all hereditary and nominated peers to be replaced by elected representatives.

A change in the laws of inheritance of titles and Lordships (including the royal family) so that the first born, whether male or female will inherit hereditary titles.

A code of conduct for civil servants and local government officers under which abject failure to achieve realistic goals or to uphold the law of the land will result in sanctions or, in the most serious cases, dismissal.

Creation of a law under which an elected politician deliberately lying to the public will become a criminal offence punishable by automatic disqualification from public office, a heavy fine, imprisonment or any combination thereof (as is currently the case in Canada).

A new type of taxation on companies, “tax on UK turnover”, will be introduced. This will be levied as an alternative to the usual tax on profits, where companies repeatedly attempt to use abusive tax avoidance schemes (like Starbucks, Amazon, eBay and many others). As the description implies, it will be levied on all UK turnover and will be at a lower rate than the more usual tax on profits.

Removal of the charitable status of all private (public) schools, private hospitals & clinics along with all religious institutions except where they can clearly demonstrate using the majority of their income to aid others like, for example, The Salvation Army.

Financing of major political parties from public funds and only public funds. No other source of financing to be permitted. Nascent political parties and movements to be licensed. Bank accounts of political parties and of politicians to be completely open to public scrutiny. Likewise, with all lobbying groups.

Tax returns of all individuals and companies to be made freely available to the public (as is pretty much the case in Norway).

All landlords, both public and private, to be obliged to maintain their residential rented property in a decent habitable state. In case of default the responsible local authority shall carry out the necessary works, invoice the landlord for them and if necessary, take possession of the property in case of default.

A requirement to pass a written and oral exam in English for all wishing to acquire British citizenship.

Introduce legislation that by default, a woman shall keep her maiden name following marriage, unless they choose to make an explicit declaration to the contrary (this is currently the case in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy).

Having made it through several years of the COVID pandemic without catching it, I thought I'd got away with it. Wrong! A few months back I started coughing and feeling a bit off colour and the lateral flow test indicated that I had finally caught COVID-19. I tested positive for about 5 days and then the tests went negative. Other than an annoyingly persistent cough for about four days, a bit of a sore throat and a mild general feeling of malaise, it really wasn't that dramatic.
However, I noticed that I was forgetting things more than more than I usually do and that I was suffering from what I thought to be “brain fog”. This was characterized by an inability to bring words to mind when speaking and the general slowing down of my mental processes. For example, if I wanted to create a new Word document, something I do quite frequently, it would take anything up to 30 seconds between me thinking “I need to create a Word document” and my brain remembering how you do that. As I used to be a computer programmer, I found that really scary. This mental fog persisted for several weeks following the infection. Thankfully, several months later, I seem to have regained my mental agility.
Has anyone else experienced similar symptoms?
Does the description above qualify as “brain fog”?