If we essentially know that smartphones are designed to milk you of time & attention, and can impair cognition, reduce rationality & increase emotion, shouldn't there be a greater effort to keep them out of driver's hands?

Seeing more and more drivers rolling along, eyes down and it terrifies me.

I like that the €325 Basic Income for the Arts has been made permanent. It's a good thing.

It's still worth pointing out that carers, who look after other humans, must evidence a significant workload of care & evidence financial hardship, to receive a much lesser amount, also set by the government.

If we essentially know that smartphones are designed to milk you of time & attention, and can impair cognition, reduce rationality & increase emotion, shouldn't there be a greater effort to keep them out of driver's hands?

Seeing more and more drivers rolling along, eyes down and it terrifies me.

We made a Bayeux bauble and resisted the urge to make it tapestry themed. Though, we still might do that.

If you've experienced another European country, even Ireland, it's so much harder not to see the reality & discourse around welfare in Britain as absolutely bizarre & Dickensian.

Carers Allowance in the UK:
£83, means test of £196

In Ireland:
€260, means test of €1000*

*Starting Jan 2026 (Budget)