July update- political turmoil; Covid infections rise; and the Lionesses roar

 The 7th July brought to an end three of the most tumultuous days in the history of British politics, with the resignation of Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party. Following yet another bout of lies due to another Tory sleaze scandal, two of the Government's most senior ministers, the Chancellor and the Health Secretary, resigned within minutes of each other. The following day saw a flurry of resignations with nearly 60 Tory MPs quitting the government at senior and junior levels, but after clinging on like a leech it was obvious that Johnson's position was untenable and on Thursday July 7th he formally announced his resignation as party leader, while insisting he remain as Prime Minister until his successor has been appointed, within the next couple of months. His resignation brings to an end three years of probably the most divisive and controversial eras in British politics. 

Covid infections were rising again across the UK at the beginning of the month, an estimated 1 in 20 people in England having the virus by mid-month, rising to 1 in 17 by the end of the month, driven by two new fast-spreading sub-variants of Omicron. Cornwall's infection rate soared above the national average, and there was an unusually high number of cases in Falmouth, probably due to the crowds pouring in for the annual Sea Shanty Festival in mid-June.

A packed Chain Locker for the Sea Shanty Festival on June 18th 

A heatwave in the middle of the month, with devastating fires and a record high UK temperature of 40.3C, also brought tourists flocking into Cornwall and its beaches.

Falmouth's Gyllyngvase beach

Also in the middle of the month we held what we hope will be our last online conference, before going back to face to face events for Process Mineralogy '22 in Sitges in November. Sustainable Minerals '22 was a very low-key event compared with the same online event a year ago, suggesting that people are becoming tired of meeting on-screen and are yearning for the social interaction of conventional pre-pandemic events. It's hard to build relationships using Zoom and other online platforms, but it is now a feature of our lives after Jon's recent move to Luxembourg.

Granddaughter Josephine 'Zooming' from Luxembourg

Jon, Kathryn and family missed our big event of the year, Amanda's 50th birthday.

Another major event for me in July was the hand-over of my position as Editor-in-Chief of Minerals Engineering to my admirable successor Dr. Pablo Brito-Parada. I have been with the journal for 35 years, since I established it in 1987, and I am honoured to have been invited to Melbourne in a couple of week's time to present a keynote lecture on my time with Minerals Engineering at the IMPC Asia-Pacific conference. I am really looking forward to catching up with old friends after this long lay-off.

And finally something to cheer about at last in England. Four and a half hours ago the "Lionesses", the English team, beat Germany 2-1 in the final of  the Women's  UEFA Euro 2022 championship. The standard of football throughout the tournament has been exceptional and the team can feel immensely proud of their performance, the first time an English team has won a major football tournament since 1966 when the men's team beat Germany in the World Cup final.

Source: insidesport

@barrywills