I was sitting in Holland Park in the sun on Bank
Holiday Monday. Just in front of me, a group of young people were having a picnic: crisps, processed cheese, tortilla chips, pepperoni — all washed down with CocaCola. There were about eight of them sharing this feast and half of them were seriously overweight. The rest looked pale and unwell. It reminded me that diet is becoming a serious issue in this country and it will not be too long before we face the same obesity problems as they do in America. Walking into a British supermarket is now a depressing experience: the aisles are full of crisps, sweets, sugary drinks and biscuits. Even the breakfast cereals that claim to be the ideal start to a child’s day are covered in large quantities of sugar. And what makes me really angry is that the vending machines in our schools are stuffed full of junk food. The government has muttered about trying to lay down guidelines for food companies, and many companies claim that they are now producing healthier products, but there clearly needs to be a more concerted effort. If we don’t try a bit harder, the taxpayer will bear an even greater cost as the NHS struggles to cope with heart disease, diabetes and other weight-related problems.
AZambian friend of mine came to visit the other day. She has been studying for a year in Cambridge. She works for Unicef in Lusaka, and as vice-president of Unicef in the UK I have paid several visits there recently. My friend looked much revived as a result of her time in the UK. Living in a country like Zambia is deeply depressing. She comes from a well-educated, middle-class family, her parents were civil servants and both she and her husband have excellent jobs. But even for a family like this, there is no escape from Aids. Of my friend’s ten siblings, three have died from Aids and so, ten years ago, she adopted her sister’s two children and brought them up with her own two boys.
You need to go to Southern Africa to understand the scale of the problem. Zambia has become a nation of children. Some 68 per cent of the population are under the age of 18, and 13 per cent of the country’s children are orphaned. On my last visit there I took my own children on to the streets of Lusaka at night with an inspirational clergyman called Bishop Banda. We went to a market which, though crowded during the day, looked deserted. But under the hoardings of the empty stalls were hidden the street children of Lusaka. I got out of our minibus with my two eldest, holding boxes of warm chicken and bread, and minutes later we were surrounded by a crowd of 80 children all begging us to feed them. After the last bit of chicken went, I was left with a 17-year-old boy, pleading for food. When I explained that it was all gone, tears poured down his face. He told me that he had had nothing to eat for three days and then fell to his knees, with his head in his hands. I cannot help thinking that the money spent on the Iraq war would have been better used in Africa. But perhaps that is naive. Africa is not as economically important to America and Britain as Iraq is.
Three weeks ago, a man tried to mug me outside my house. I followed my instincts and chose not to hand over my valuables even though my assailant was holding a gun. The response from the press to this event has been interesting. Some thought I was brave, others thought me foolhardy. There were many who suggested that I should have considered my five children and not put my life in danger. To these people I would say that you never know how you are going to react in a situation like this. Also, that in the 19 years that I have been a mother, my whole life has revolved around my children. I sat by the side of my eldest child for ten years as she fought for her life against leukaemia, so I understand the value of life and its ephemeral nature. Even so, when faced with a teenage thug demanding that I hand everything over, I judged that it was right to stand up to him. Something told me that, despite the repeated threats, he did not intend to kill me and I wanted him to know that not everyone was going to give in. I wanted to make him think twice about attacking people.
Last week someone broke into our company Bramdean’s offices and went through every floor stealing electronic equipment. We didn’t lose that much in the way of property, but to my great irritation the thieves destroyed doors and ripped open locked cupboards, leaving us and our fellow tenants with a large bill for repairing the damage. During the election campaign all the parties promised to do more about crime, but now that the government is safe for another four to five years, will it really keep its word? I do hope so. The Knightsbridge/South Kensington area of London is beginning to feel like the Wild West.
After a promising start to the year, share prices have rather disappointingly fallen back again. One might think that this had something to do with the general election, but in fact the market regarded the result as a foregone conclusion. Instead, the main negative driver has been disappointing profits announcements. It has been well documented that there has been a slow-down on the High Street because of the increases in interest rates. A quarter-point rise seems of little consequence, but when interest rates are low it translates into a significant percentage increase in mortgage repayments. In both the US and the UK, consumers are over-indebted and there is a concern that, if inflation were suddenly to pick up and interest rates had to rise further, there could be a significant economic setback. At the same time, tax take has been falling in both countries (George Bush’s tax cuts did not seem so timely in retrospect) giving little room for fiscal manoeuvre. Another negative factor for markets has been the persistence of high commodity prices and in particular oil. Many argue that the oil price is still not as high relative to previous decades in real terms, but consumers have still had to face a significant increase in prices, and that has hit home in cash terms. The old stock market adage of ‘sell in May and go away’ is likely to hold true again this year. It seems unlikely that we will see any significant action in the stock market until the autumn.
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