17 May 2011

The electricity was turned off at nine o’clock this morning until 5.10 late afternoon. The electricity board were working their way down the road trimming any branches from the trees that might be overhanging the electric wires that, in a gale, might fall on the wires and cause the electricity to be shut off .. In the normal way this would have been a great inconvenience with all of our electrical equipment particularly which we use to hoist me up etc. However, being a Tuesday it is a geriatric golf day so that most of the time we were without power I was out anyway.

Barry took me as usual and got me into the buggy, this week driven by John Stevens. The combined age of the four players in the little group that I followed was 340 years! Pretty incredible stop. It just shows you how wonderful golf is keeping the body going Three of them, of course, were octogenarians who all still play a reasonable game of golf even if their drives are somewhat shorter than they were 30 or 40 years ago. The wind was a little chillier than I thought, however, I was still able to sit outside and smoke the accident Monte Cristo No.2 that John Gray very generously produced for me. It seems that I am the benefactor of the days when John himself used to smoke.. My smoking stick received a great deal of approbation from a visiting group of golfers from Royal Mid-Surrey, whose centenary celebrations I was fortunate enough to be invited to some years ago. In describing the three clips at the top of the loo roll holder I rather jokingly tell people that the top one is for the cheapos (Villigers), the slightly larger one on the left, for Romeo and Juliet,s and the largest one on the right is for the Monte Cristo No.2’s.

Despite further calls to Social Services, still then use about our Continuing Care. Harriet, from Ross Nursing, popped in early evening on low-wage of Newport, and I guess was that our application had not been heard last Thursday but hopefully would be in two days time.

 For light relief here are some amusing signs for you

 

 

 

15 May 2011

With a chilly wind blowing and an overcast sky, I deferred yet again venturing out in my electric wheelchair. As a result I spent some part of the day ,at last getting to the end of Anna Karenina and am no less impressed than I was when I last made mention of this book Anna Karenina herself is a sad subplot and, like so many modern films, the book has several stories going on at the same time, but what impressed me was the way that every now and then Tolstoy branched out into some deep philosophical discussion.. For example, towards the end of the book he devotes a whole chapters to Levin’s personal battle in desperately trying to believe in God whilst all along rationalising against God’s existence and poses a number of questions with which I have personally struggled. Apart from going through all my unanswered questions about infinity, may question the existence of God, he interestingly concludes ‘… If the chief proof of the Divinity was His revelation of what is right, how is it that this revelation is confined to the Christian church alone? What relation to this revelation and the beliefs of Buddhists, Mohammedans, (Jews) who preached and are good too?’………Can these hundreds of millions of men be deprived of the blessing without which life has no meaning? (And what about the millions of people who lived before Christ, are they not too to be admitted to the Kingdom of Heaven?)

A little further on towards the end of the book there’s a whole section on the morality of going to war. Not so much one race or religion against another but the situation where innocent children, women and old people are being massacred. Tolstoy asks can we really stand by and ignore such a thing? – shades of Libya today!. 

A thoroughly fascinating and thought provoking book which was well worth while re-reading.

After all this excitement I needed two attempts to get up out of my chair and onto my frame at 9.30 with Alice & Sam assisting. I really thought we were going to have to use a hoist but I expect it was just the panic I feel when I don’t make it first-time.

14 May 2011

Late last afternoon an enormous bouquet of flowers arrived from Alice from Richard, as yet another thank you for arranging for him and my mother to be driven down from Shropshire to come here for lunch. I think Richard must have been something of a dark horse as a young man, every girl’s dream, flowers, chocolates and the works. I always thought he had a twinkle in his eye!

Barry and wife Denise – who conveniently happens to be a care home manager – came this afternoon to discuss what we would need to take with us to Cornwall for the wedding. It’s going to be quite set out for us without any of our mechanical hoisting equipment but between the three of them I’m sure they will manage. Barry is particularly good at hoiking me around. However, the 6/7 hour car journey may be a bit of a trial particularly with loo stops? We have been counting down the weeks for this wedding so hopefully nothing but now interfere with those plans

I had helped to brave the elements today in my electric wheelchair after all the fuss we have had over the past few days getting it right, however, we both thought it was a little too cold to go out, particularly as short, sharp, heavy showers were forecast. As usual the weather people got it wrong and it remained sunny all day. However, there’s always tomorrow.

Watched a little of the Masters Tennis from Rome; read a little; made a few phone calls to my friends and generally whiled away the day quite happily until Carla came round at 9.30 to see me through to the bed.

 

 
 

13 May 2011

Another red letter day, my darling daughter Chloe’s birthday. I know she won’t mind me saying that she is 44. I remember the day she was born as if it were yesterday. She was a homebirth baby, born in our four-poster bed. Like her brother Miles she did not hang about, which is not surprising as she was almost 3 weeks late. She was due on or about the same day as son Smiler’s birthday, 27th April. As a result we had engaged, at great expense, a Norland nanny., She was a delightful elderly lady who really ruled the roost when she came, Insisting, for example, on re-washing, by hand, all of the new baby clothes that had been very carefully prepare beforehand. After hanging about four 2 1/2 weeks or so she sent my lovely’ on a three-mile hike around the village and that seemed to do the trick. Our life was not made any easier by having the builders in, constructing the breakfast room, which meant installing some steel girders in the back wall which meant propping up the bedroom where Chloe was born.

In the event of my darling daughter arrived even before the doctor arrived but we did have nanny and the midwife together with my mother-in-law-100 years old this September.. who probably knew more about it than the doctor anyway. I seem to recall that I was sent out with my beloved labrador, Woody (on second thoughts it must have been Pouche, our very gentle Doberman who we brought back with us from Aden). I certainly wasn’t up to this modern stuff of being in on the birth. All that screaming and mess I think is women’s business. I know that this will not be a popular remark amongst my female readers but you must forgive me I am old-fashioned or perhaps what some of you may call a mail chauvinist.

Chloe Olivia Wynn Cato graced this world with her presence after breakfast and before elevenses – very considerate timing which she seems to followed through with all her life – by the time I arrived back hume, she was washed and dressed in a beautiful little smock, looking as beautiful as any one’s own new born baby does. I was, of course, emotionally tickled to death. We had achieved the perfect start to our family, boy and then I girl. She has been a great joy to me every day since. The observant amongst you may have noticed that her initials were C.O.W. Cato. How on earth could we have made such a stupid mistake? She would undoubtedly have been known to her friends as MOO! In fact we only noticed our mistake when we received a. Milk Token Book with her initials written in capital letters written on the front I immediately set about changing Olivia to Victoria by advertising it in the Law Gazette at the exorbitant cost, in those days, of £80.

Our day was not without its dramas. At lunchtime I was deposited by the girls into my wheelchair in the hope that I could have gone for a spin in the afternoon. However, despite having had the engineer here the day or two before, we could not get the chair to move. It came down to all about a flashing key symbol over which we had to wave a magnet After several desperate calls to people who provided the chair they agreed to send an engineer after five o’clock.

This meant I had to sit in it until one of our girls came at six in the evening to get me out of it. In the event, once the engineer, Gary, arrived and explain things to us -he was very patient – he discovered that the solution was very simple and I have every confidence that when I try the chair tomorrow all will be well!

After lunch our kindly sewing lady, Janet, arrived to measure me for the alterations to my morning suit for the forthcoming wedding. I think she was incredulous at the expansion of my waistline, however, she is a clever seam mistress and, no doubt, will be able to stitch me up in a satisfactory way which, as I shall be seated in the wheelchair for the entire period of the wedding will not be seen by any of the other guests. Only two weeks or so to go now so we are fairly confident that I will be up to the whole business.

The second small drama occurred in the evening when Sam came round for the six o’clock walk which meant helping me out of the wheelchair. After two attempts it was pretty clear that my legs were just not up to it so we had to use a hoist. A little worrying, at that time, as one always wonders whether that is it as far as the arms and legs are concerned but then when Sam came again at 9.30 there is no problem so it must mean that they were just tired from the exertions in the wheelchair.

 

 

 
 

12 May 2011

I telephoned one of my pals today who is coming to Lord’s later in the year just to check to see if he had received his ticket which I had posted to him just in case, for one reason or another, I was unable to make it myself. He had but told me that he was about to go into hospital to have a gallbladder operation. (Today it’s no more than keyhole surgery as a day patient) I was able to recount my own gallbladder experience. Some years ago I suffered from severe pains in my stomach and occasional nausea and vomiting. After a number of investigations it was decided that I had gallstones and would have to have my gallbladder removed. A week or two later I went into the Middlesex Hospital for the operation.. Unfortunately a couple of weeks later, the symptoms, which the removal of the gallbladder was meant to cure, occurred again.

Now this whole episode happened around the same time as we were having trouble with our central heating. Mr Plumber was called and his diagnosis was a faulty pump which was duly replaced. (At no inconsiderable cost I might add) All was well for a couple of weeks and then the same problems occurred that had meant to be resolved by the allegedly faulty pump. I telephoned the plumber and asked if he still had my pump. He said he had. ‘Right’, I said, ‘bring it back, re-fit it, and we can start again and find out what he is the real problem. Oh, and incidentally’, I added, ‘I will not be paying your original bill’.

Now when I had a similar problem with the gallbladder I telephoned the surgeon and asked him if he still had my original gallbladder.

Of course he was a little perplexed by this until I explained the problem and suggested he might care to put it back and we would start again. He was not amused, nor was I. I just hope my friend has a little better luck than I had!

At lunchtime today we had a visit from the’ Tummy rubbing lady’ (I think her correct title is aromatherapist by the name of Karen Curdy ). She came as a result of the palliative care visit from Dr Margaret Saunders, from the Rank Hospice, in Cambridge. Margaret thought that she would be able to show Alice had to massage my tummy in order to remove some of the surplus air that obviously accumulates overnight from wearing the respirator. Karen made a special mixture of oil and aromatic herbs with which she proceeded to massage my tummy. It was very pleasant and if repeated morning and night daily, as she suggests, may well alleviate the bloated feeling with which I suffer. As part of the service Karen has arranged to come once a week for the next six weeks after which we will be on our own. Having put a little of the oil mixture on the top of my chest I must say it’s has a very pleasant soothing smell but I feel rather sorry for ‘my lovely’ as this is another thing for her to do, albeit only 5 min at a time. Maybe when the continuing care comes through we can ask the nurses to do it

11 May 2011

After Sam had assisted with the washing and the early-morning dressing, Mel, the physiotherapist, arrived to carry out final assessment prior to tomorrow’s meeting of the Continuing Care Committee. As a result of her assessment, which included watching me struggling along on my frame, I believe she will make a positive recommendation to the committee.

Great excitement today as my mother, and her present husband Richard-a splendid ex-naval officer, a saint in every respect-were driven down from Shropshire for lunch. I really cannot remember when they last came here but I suspect it is well over 10 years ago, maybe even longer. They arrived at midday and we had hoped to have lunch in the garden with me in my electric wheelchair.The first problem came after I’d been positioned in the chair by Sally, from Ross Nursing, and ‘my lovely’. Although the wheelchair people had been here yesterday and installed a new charger the chair would not move either forward or back. After half an hour of frustration and ringing the emergency telephone number we gave up and I transferred to the mobile chair.

The other bad news was the weather had taken a turn for the worst and, apart from sitting outside for a short period with Richard smoking a small cigar it was too cold to have lunch outside. In the event, we had a very pleasant lunch in the breakfast room and it was lovely to see them both here after such a long break. Richard with characteristic generosity came laden with gifts. S very good bottle of French champagne and some wonderful handmade chocolates from Church Stretton. As if that was not enough he also bought me a fine cigar and, for both of us a copy of the Royal Wedding DVD, Happy and Glorious. Extremely kind and totally unnecessary as it was a pleasure to have them with us.

After a number of telephone calls to the emergency wheelchair people, who originally told us they could come out next Wednesday. (i.e in one weeks time! Some emergency!!) Frankly, I told them that this was ridiculous. What on earth is the point in having an emergency number it takes almost a week for them to come and attend the problem. What, for example, are we supposed to do if the wheelchair is elevated and I’m stuck up in the air! I persuaded them that it really was an emergency and that I insisted they came today. As a result, a very accommodating technician arrived at 8.00 a.m and very quickly located the cause of the problem. It was quite simply that we had not taken the wheelchair out of gear by pulling up some red handles under the seat.. You would have thought they could have described this over the telephone and save the technician the journey Anyway, all is now well and the chair is ready for use. All we need now are some sunny days will. 

 
 

10 May 2011

The morning run went smoothly enough just with Becky and ‘my lovely’ helping where necessary. I hope it shortly gets to the point where they do not have to rely on Alice at all as the idea is to give her a break. Unfortunately, the Continuing Care still has yet to be approved and, indeed, Mel, the physiotherapist, rang up this morning to say that she has to do a further mobility assessment which she will be put before the continuing care committee on Thursday. I must say I am a little alarmed at this, as I thought the whole business was cut and dried. Had do we known that it was going to take so long I think we would have settled on just having someone coming in morning noon and night to assist Alice to get me up onto my frame and managed the rest ourselves for the time being.

The repair man for my electric chair came this morning to confirm that the battery charger was not working properly and so he installed a new one. Hopefully within eight hours the chair will be up and running for me to use.

Today the Arbitration Club held its AGM at Herbert Smith’s officers, in Primrose Street just behind Liverpool Street station. I decided that I would not attempt to attend in person but instead tried to join in the meeting via a laptop using Skype. It worked, after a fashion. We can see each other and I believe they could hear me quite clearly. From my end I could hear most of what the chairman said that many of the other members of the committee were indistinct, mainly, I believe, because the microphone being used was a directional one and they were all sitting around the table at different positions to that. Anyway, I think we can count it as a success.

Last evening the good Dr Michael Skyped me from his Swedish home in Loa. It was lovely to see him on my laptop, particularly as he was sitting in what was my bedroom/study when I last stayed with him. Sweden is particularly beautiful at this time of year and no more so than where he lives overlooking a beautiful lake surrounded by tall pine forests.

Harriet came with Sam for the early morning shower and dressing, by which time I had already had my breakfast, cleaned my teeth and been shaved by ‘my lovely’. We are already beginning to fall into some sort of routine.

Mid-morning Kay and Tony Dunn dropped into a coffee. (They very kindly brought me a punnet of delicious English strawberries). For many years, Kay lived in an adjacent village, Berden, in The Old Kings Head, with her previous husband, who sadly died. Her two boys, Tom and Mark, were friends of my son Smiler when they were in their teens. Now they are both married with children of their own and we still have the pleasure of seeing them and their new families here from time to time. Just after Kay and Tony left, Barbara, from Ross Nursing, popped in to give me my lunchtime walk. Then, ‘Jane the sheep’ came to babysit me. after massaging the fluid from my hands stretching my arms, staying for a couple of hours to allow Alice to go shopping

The evening walk was supervised by Harriet and yet another nice young carer, Becky, who saw me to the point of sitting on my bed after which Harriet left and Becky did the necessary to get me into bed. Literally, the only drawback to the whole performance each day is that they put me me into bed at 9.30 which is just half an hour earlier than I would wish to go, particularly if I’m watching a programme on television which goes on until 10 o’clock. It may be later on that we will change to 9 o’clock and I will watch something on my laptop for an hour before I go to sleep. I assume this will be the procedure for as long as I am able to shuffle through on my frame after which they will no doubt hoist me from my study chair into wheelchair and take me through that way.

For those readers who are not particularly interested in the minutiae of the medical details I apologise about these last few days of boring entries but as the initial objective of this blog was to assist people in a similar position to myself, I just want those fellow sufferers to understand how we are managing and, who knows, some of our ideas may be useful to them. I must say the latest aid which we have found most useful are the feet straps which lift up my toes so they do not drag on the ground when I walk. What is so good about them is that once I’m sitting down they can be unclipped but left in place and then re-clipped when I need to walk again.

The other apology I need to make concerns the lack of the pictures of the elephants that I referred to in my entry yesterday. I really don’t understand it, as they appear in the initial hardcopy before I cut and pasted it into the blog and then they become little boxes with red crosses in them. Never fear, I will sort this out, the elephants will be there shortly.

Now for something entirely different and inspirational. I think that I included this video of this extraordinary young man some long time ago but it certainly bears seeing again. It has been described as awesome and that is no exaggeration. Some of us wonder what is the best computer is in the world – undoubtedly it has to be the Human Brain.

Stephen Wiltshire of London, England is truly amazing and unbelievable

·       Click on this link
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2MBBxU .   

 

 
 

 
 

9 May 2011

Last evening the good Dr Michael Skyped me from his Swedish home in Loa. It was lovely to see him on my laptop particularly as he was sitting in what was my bedroom/study when I last stayed with him. Sweden is particularly beautiful at this time of year and no more so than where he lives overlooking a beautiful lake surrounded by tall pine forests.

Harriet came with Sam for the early morning shower and dressing, by which time I had already had my breakfast, clean my teeth and been shaved by ‘my lovely’. We are already beginning to fall into some sort of routine.

Mid-morning Kay and Tony Dunn dropped into a coffee. (They very kindly brought me a punnet of delicious English strawberries). For many years, Kay lived in an adjacent village, Berden, in The Old Kings Head, with her previous husband, who sadly died. Her two boys, Tom and Mark, were friends of my son Smiler when they were in their teens. Now they are both married with children of their own and we still have the pleasure of seeing them and their new families here from time to time. Just after Kay and Tony left, Barbara, from Ross Nursing, popped in to give me my lunchtime walk. Then, ‘Jane the sheep’ came to babysit me. after massaging the fluid from my hands stretching my arms, staying for a couple of hours to allow Alice to go shopping

The evening walk was supervised by Harriet and yet another nice young carer, Becky, who saw me to the point of sitting on my bed after which Harriet left and Becky did the necessary to get me into bed. Literally, the only drawback to the whole performance each day is a fact that they put into bed at 930 which is just half an hour earlier than I would wish to go. It may be later on that we will change is to 9 o’clock and I will watch something on my laptop for an answer before I go to sleep. She and understand I assume this will be the procedure for as long as I am able to shuffle through on my frame after which they will no doubt hoist me from my study chair into wheelchair and take me through that way.

For those readers who are not particularly interested in the minutiae of the medical details I apologise about these last few days of boring entries but as the initial objective of this blog was to assist people in a similar position to myself, I just want those fellow sufferers to understand how we are managing and, who knows, some of our ideas may be useful to them. I must say the latest aid which we have found most useful are the feet straps which lift up my toes so do not drag on the ground when I walk. What is so good about them is that once I’m sitting down they can be unclipped but left in place and then re-clipped when I need to walk again.

The other apology I need to make concerns the lack of the pictures of the elephants that I referred to in my entry yesterday. I really don’t understand it, as they appear in the initial hardcopy before I cut and pasted it into the blog and then they become little boxes with red crosses in them. Never fear, I will sort this out in the elephants will be there shortly.

 

 
 

8 May 2011

I had a bit of a fright last night eating my supper. Something ‘went down the wrong way’ as they say and I choked and choked for the best part of an hour before I cleared the obstruction. It was quite frightening and I hope that this is not a sign that my throat muscles are beginning to weaken. I know that swallowing can become a difficulty with MND patients.

I shall speak to Dr Chris Allen, my next assessment, as to whether one of their suction machines would be sensible for me to keep on hand when I am eating

We did our own thing in the early morning following our old routine but I did not attempt to walk into the bathroom for a shower. I believe the caring proper may start early next week, once the paperwork is being completed, and then I suppose the carers will take over from Alice, even in the morning. In the meantime apparently we are paying for it ourselves.

We are extremely lucky in the proximity of both the main office for Ross Nursing – no more than 100 yards or so away – where there is an office staff of eight, and both Harriet and Sam live no more than three quarters of a mile away. In effect, at present, we only need them to get me out of the chair onto my frame and after that I can then walk- after a fashion – into the bedroom and be undressed and put to bed by ‘my lovely’ in the normal way. However, as the idea is to give Alice a break, at this stage, she merely points out what routine we have established so they can adopt it. Harriet is terribly conscientious and comes herself at present to supervise whichever nurse who has been allocated to us.

.As I had hoped, Bill and Ben, who came mid-morning to fit sides onto the ramps and do a few other jobs, helped me up onto my frame around lunchtime to give me a short walk and Harriet popped in in the evening for the same purpose. This, after they hoiked me into my electric wheelchair to enable me to test my prowess in going up the ramp to the outside and back. Then I had intended to try driving me chair straight into the study up to my desk to see if I would be able to operate my laptop from the it After all a lot of disabled people are put straight into their wheelchair from their bed and spend the entire day in it so I do not see why I shouldn’t try, at least, using it from lunchtime until the six o’clock walk Then, on those warm sunny days I can take advantage of going outside of my own. The problem today was there appeared to be something wrong with the battery and the wheelchair just simply would not move after the first few yards, so I shall have to get the people who rent them out to the NHS to come here tomorrow to see what is the trouble. I am very much hoping that the chair will be up and running by Wednesday when my mother and Richard are being driven down from Church Stretton, Shropshire, to have lunch with us, hopefully in the garden.

Harriet came around 6.00 to give me my evening walk and then at 930, a nice new nurse, Paula – in fact someone we have known for many years – came with Harriet to help me through to the bedroom. So the new routine begins.                                    
Yesterday I recounted how I had been riding camels and horses in the grasslands of Mongolia. When I received the following pictures from one of my pals in the USA, I recalled an incident with an elephant, which happened to us, in the Kruger National Park, South Africa in 1964. The following photographs are reminiscent of that incident but, on that occasion we were fortunate enough to be able to drive away before the charging elephant reached us. I had heard from someone else that if the elephant is really angry he can pierce your car with its tasks. The following photographs were taken on Thursday, Feb. 17, this year by someone from Centurion in Pilanesberg game reserve/,South Africa. The guy in the white Volkswagen was only trying to get past the elephant but the elephant wasn’t having any of it.

 

7 May 2011

Last night was the first when our Continuing Care ladies were on parade. In fact, it was just Harriet who helped Alice to get me onto my frame and I walked through to the bedroom and went through the usual process of getting undressed etc. despite me being slightly apprehensive – I hate change – it all went fairly smoothly and I’m sure we will soon get into a routine. Harriet came again this morning with a nurse, Sam, and they put me into the commode chair which was used for its normal purpose and then I was move mouse down three lines showered in it. By the time they came at 7.45 I was up having had my breakfast, cleaned my teeth and been shaved.

I think the process is going to go something like this. After the morning session somebody will come in at lunchtime to help me onto my frame (or when I can still use my legs, hoist me up) and after my walk I will go into my electric wheelchair. If it is a fine day I shall go out but otherwise sit in it until someone appears around six o’clock for an evening walk (or hoist), then back into my comfortable lounge chair where I should stay until the evening team arrives, hopefully at around 10 p.m. There will be days when the routine varies slightly, for example, when I go to golf on Tuesdays, but Harriet seems very flexible, so I think we should be able to work things out satisfactorily.

Yesterday I received the delightful e-mail from one of my past students, Christine Wong, who acted as my guide on my last trip to China when I went to Inner Mongolia it was here that I rode both camels and horses into the famed grasslands. I was the only foreigner present, it being near the end of the tourist season. When we went into lunch I met a group of Chinese civil servants enjoying one of their government holidays, feasting in a yurt (a round Mongolian tent). They invited me to join them but the only language we appeared to share was downing glass after glass of wine. Each and every one of the party was determined to drink wine with me and it is insulting to them if you do not drain your glass. At the end of the meal we went out to watch the Mongolian wrestling. At which stage, well under the influence of the Mongolian wine, to the obvious delight of those assembled, I threw out a challenge to any other 73-year-old present . Thank goodness they saw me for the silly old fool I was and nobody offered to wrestle with me.

In her e-mail Christine, addressing me as ‘Dear Respectful Professor’ and was kindly asking after my health and sent me a couple of photographs of places we visited during my trip. This was the last of 10 trips around China which I always built into my lecture commitment and, as a result, travelled to most of the populated extremities of this fascinating country. I have lots of wonderful videos of my trips which unfortunately I doubt whether I will now ever be able to make into DVDs, as I had intended so must leave this to the next generation. My Chinese students have always been wonderfully attentive and respectful as they still seem to value the supposed wisdom of old age.

The big excitement nationally is the result of the recent council and district elections plus the all-important referendum on the Alternative Voting method. As I predicted the outcome was strongly against change, something like 68% voted to keep things as they are, which I am pleased about. As to the council elections, the Labour Party made very substantial gains, 681 new councillors with the Liberal Party being decimated, losing not only roughly the same number of councillors but also control of a number of Councils. The Conservatives mostly held their own which I suppose from Cameron’s point of view was a really good result in view of all the cuts they are making. The virtual annihilation of the Lib Dems was fairly predictable due to the coalition with the Conservatives but what worries me is that, if and when, there is a general election, if the same thing happens the likelihood is that someone who previously voted for the Lib Dems will vote Labour forgetting the appalling financial mess that the last Labour government left us in. Let’s hope I’m wrong and by then the coalition will have got the country back on its feet and the Conservatives will reap the benefit.