No Helicopters Required.

Long time readers will know that about a decade ago I was volunteering for a UK charity called Mind. The purpose of the exercise was to improve the rehabilitation of people suffering from mental illness. After all as with physical illness suffering from mental illness can be a bit crap.

Unfortunately the estate of the Church of England Protestant Bishop of Whitgift who were funding the project made some poor choices. So I quit and took my protection with me.

Mind have now recruited my sister. In the autumn of 2016 she was the guest of honour at a parliamentary meetings of the lower House of Commons. As our grandmother used to regularly attend meetings of the upper House of Lords that alone seemed like an insult.

Sunday (15/1/17) saw the finale of season 4 of the BBC's "Sherlock." This centred around the star of the show visiting his long forgotten sister in a special secure psychiatric facility. Although I don't want to give away spoilers if you have seen it you will understand the depth of my opposition to Long Kesh.

On January 8th (8/1/17) the UK Prime Minister Theresa May gave her first big speech of the year. This focused on her plans to improve mental health care in the UK and tackle the stigma associated with the issue.

Today Prince William, his wife the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry have together launched the "Head Together" campaign to tackle mental illness.

As such I think it's fair to say that Britain has been attempting to hype up the issue.

Today my father went to visit my sister. He travelled by train.

At around 16:00 this afternoon I got a phonecall from one of my lesbian mothers telling me that my father had been admitted to the emergency department of a local hospital after suffering a fall. Obviously given his mother's history and Hillary Clinton transient ischemic attacks (TIA's) are a concern.

I should point out though that both my father and my sister are rather prone to medical dramas. I should also point out that my father is exceptionally lazy. Last Thursday (12/1/17) he suffered a bout of food poisoning which left him asleep on the sofa from midday until early evening. In short exactly how he spent the previous day. He was also visibly shaken by the Sherlock finale.

So after several hours in hospital EKG and CT scans have confirmed that being a bit of a prat he simply went to sit on a stool and missed.

Also today Prime Minister May has given her first big speech outlining Britain's plans to exit from the European Union (EU) - the so-called "Brexit."

Previously Prime Minister May has said that she won't be giving a running commentary of Brexit. This is a very sensible approach to take because these negotiations will be long and complex. They have yet to start. So it is difficult - particularly for me - to give a running commentary of the negotiations without wrecking the negotiations.

For example today's speech was primarily what I would consider a range finding exercise.

The gist of it was that Britain will withdraw from both the single market and the customs union. However because Britain is so brilliant and has the cure for mental illness and everything the EU will allow grant Britain tariff free trade without it being a member of the single market or customs union.

Based on the response to this speech Britain will then assess whether this plan is in fact realistic. Obviously if it is indicated that this plan is not realistic certain members of the Conservative Party who think it is face sidelined.

Suggesting those elements may have a journey ahead of them any final agreement will be put to a full Parliamentary vote diluting their influence.

21:10 on 17/1/17 (UK date).