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Sunday 30 October 2022

STROKE EXERCISES FOR YOUR BODY; Recognising the warning signs of stroke; Caring for a stroke survivor

 


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 TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Stroke Exercises For Your Body 4
Arm Exercises 8
Balance Exercises 14
Core Exercises 20
Hand Exercises 27
3 Evidence-Based Steps for Recovering Hand Function 31
Leg Exercises 32
Shoulder Exercises 39
Reclaim Your Independence 45
No Plateau In Sight 46
 


 
ARM EXERCISES
A stroke can often make it difficult to perform simple tasks
like moving the arm forward or grasping and releasing
objects. Physiotherapist Simbarashe Shawe recommends
eight simple exercises to help restore strength and
function in the arms of stroke survivors.
 
 https://www.saebo.com/blog/reclaim-your-strength-with-arm-exercises-for-stroke-recovery/?utm_source=ExerciseGuide&utm_medium=DownloadablePDF&utm_campaign=DownloadableExercisePDFUS2019
 
 Basic Arm Exercises
 Strokes are a frightening, life-threatening medical condition, but once you begin recovering you will experience the impact on your quality of life caused by neurological damage. It’s possible to retrain the brain to make up for this damage, but you must keep the affected muscle groups active. These basic level exercises are a starting point to add flexibility and mobility to your affected arm after a stroke.
 

 

 
Intermediate Arm Exercises

Once you have gained basic flexibility in the wrist, hand, and inner arm, you are ready to work on a full range of motion for these joints. These intermediate-level exercises, which work well in conjunction with SaeboMAS and SaeboReach, can be the key to recovering the use of your arms. They help retrain the brain to make up for the neurological damage you have suffered





Advanced Arm Exercises 
Muscles damaged due to a stroke are often weakened, mainly due to inactivity. This is why at-home exercise is so important. Once you have regained range of motion in your arm and wrist, you are ready to begin strengthening the muscles with these advanced exercises.


 


 
BALANCE EXERCISES
Struggling to walk or stumbling frequently is a common problem
for stroke survivors, as the neurological components of balance
have been damaged. Fortunately, balance is an ability that can be
relearned after a stroke through therapy, rehabilitative products,
and at-home exercises. Physiotherapists Beth Thornton and Kathryn
Smyth suggest nine exercises to help regain stability and balance

STROKE EXERCISES FOR YOUR BODY15

Basic Balance Exercises
Basic level exercises for balance may seem simple at first, but they require
strong neural connections to successfully complete. Start with these simple
exercises as you work to rewire your mental processes. The repeated actions will build mental connections that can help restore balance. Remember, always hold onto something during balance exercises to keep yourself from falling.

 


 


 Intermediate Balance Exercises

STROKE EXERCISES FOR YOUR BODY16
The intermediate level exercises use the same basic ideas as the basic exercises, but without something to hold onto. After practicing the basic level exercises for a while, you should be able to perform them without assistance. However, for safety, always have a counter or chair nearby to grab if you start to lose your balance.

 

 

 

Advanced Balance Exercises

STROKE EXERCISES FOR YOUR BODY18
Once you start noticing improved balance, do not stop exercising. You are still building those connections. Now it’s time to move on to advanced level exercises.

 

 



 

CORE EXERCISES
While the focus of stroke recovery is often on the limbs and facial muscles, without a strong core, the rest of the body may suffer. By isolating and activating core muscles with nine exercises selected by Thornton and Smyth,stroke survivors can work to regain coordination and strength that benefits their whole body.

Watch Core Exercises That Build Strength and Coordination:

https://www.saebo.com/blog/reclaim-your-stability-with-core-exercises-for-stroke-recovery/?utm_source=ExerciseGuide&utm_medium=DownloadablePDF&utm_campaign=DownloadableExercisePDFUS2019

Basic Core Exercises

 STROKE EXERCISES FOR YOUR BODY21
Strokes are life-threatening events that can cause irreversible neurological
damage, so the recovery period is as much about retraining the brain as it is about strengthening the muscles. To regain use of your core muscles, you must keep them active in order to create the brain connections you need to improve after a stroke.

 


 


STROKE EXERCISES FOR YOUR BODY23
Once you begin building some strength, you are ready to progress in your exercise practice. These intermediate exercises will challenge a larger number of coremuscles and build even more strength.
 

Intermediate Core Exercises

 

STROKE EXERCISES FOR YOUR BODY25
As you continue to develop your core muscles, you will be ready to add more intensity. These advanced exercises increase the intensity of the intermediate exercises so you can regain a strong, healthy core.
 

Advanced Core Exercises



 

HAND EXERCISES
When stroke survivors lose function and dexterity in the
hands, simple daily tasks can seem like insurmountable
obstacles. Sarah Lyon, occupational therapist, advocates
three simple, at-home exercises to help stroke survivors
regain the use of their hands.

 
Watch Hand Exercises That Will Strengthen Your Grip:

https://www.saebo.com/blog/reclaim-your-dexterity-with-hand-exercises-for-stroke-recovery/?utm_source=ExerciseGuide&utm_medium=DownloadablePDF&utm_campaign=DownloadableExercisePDFUS2019

 Basic Hand Exercise
A stroke often affects the ability of the brain to communicate with other areas of the body. While some of the neurological damage to the brain after a stroke is irreversible, it’s possible to retrain some parts of the brain to take over the movements and activities once controlled in the damaged section. If you are struggling to move your hands, start with this basic-level exercise, aimed at helping your brain re-learn how to control the most basic hand movements. If you are struggling to make a fist and release it, the SaeboGlove and SaeboFlex can help with positioning and reopening as you build up control with this simple exercise.


If you’ve mastered making and releasing a fist and feel that some strength is returning to your hand, then you are ready to move towards building the range of motion of the fingers themselves. This intermediate level exercise helps achieve that goal.

Intermediate Hand Exercise


Once you can successfully make and open a fist and spread your fingers from side to side, you are ready to try Lyon’s third and final exercise: Tip to Tip. This advanced exercise focuses on adding dexterity to the strength and flexibility you have already mastered.
 
Advanced Level Hand Exercise



LEG EXERCISES
Difficulties standing and walking after a stroke can be related to balance problems, but leg strength and mobility are also  contributing factors. Richard Sealy recommends a series of low-impact strength and stretching exercises to help regain muscle in the legs and improve range of motion during stroke recovery.


Basic Leg Excercises

Following a stroke, simple actions, like standing and walking, become difficult to perform because balance, coordination, and strength, have all changed. Exercises focusing on standing, balance, and the weakened muscles in your core and hips are vital to you regaining your quality of life after stroke. Try these Basic Leg Exercises to help restore your ability to perform functional tasks in standing. Always remember to hold on to a table  or other similarly stable surface to avoid a fall

 

As you perform your Intermediate Leg Exercises regularly, they will become easier. At the point when your strength, balance, and coordination have all improved, and you have minimal risk of falling, we recommend you move on to the Advanced Leg Exercises. Please continue to be safe with your exercises to avoid a fall. Don’t forget to be performing functional tasks around the house, work, etc. as this will help you improve your strength, balance, and coordination, even faster.
 
Advanced Leg Excercises
 



Recognising the warning signs of stroke

Prof.Dr. Badrayah Idris

STROKE is the third leading cause of male mortality and the second leading cause of female mortality in Malaysia. On average, there are about 90 stroke admissions at Malaysian hospitals daily. Almost 70% of stroke survivors live with many disabilities.

MSU Medical Centre medical director and consultant neurosurgeon Prof Dr Badrisyah Idris explains, “Occurring in 80% of stroke cases, ischaemic stroke is owed to a narrowing of blood vessels by fat deposits or blood clots that disrupt the blood supply to the brain. The remaining 20% is owed to ruptured blood vessels caused by uncontrolled high blood pressure or a weakened blood vessel wall.

“Depending on the affected brain area, stroke survivors may suffer from memory and emotional disturbances, or be challenged by speech, vision,

sensory or movement difficulties. In a transient ischaemic attack, commonly called a mini-stroke, the symptoms hit for only a few minutes or hours and then disappear. Though the brain supply is interrupted momentarily, the chance of getting a permanent stroke within 48 hours raises tenfold and the risk remains high within three months.

“With increasing age, the likelihood of getting an ischaemic stroke rises with the increased narrowing of the blood vessels. Other factors leading to stroke include smoking, obesity, alcoholism, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and high blood sugar. Lifestyle changes and treatment optimisation may reduce the risk of getting a stroke.”

Medical treatment within three hours after the onset of stroke is needed to reduce the damage to the brain. Tools such as BE FAST help society recognise the onset of stroke and reduce death and disability from delayed stroke treatment.

● B – Balancing difficulties

● E – Eye and vision disturbances ● F – Facial weakness

● A – Arm or leg weakness

● S – Speech difficulties 

● T – Time to call an ambulance 

Upon reaching the hospital, a doctor will establish the circumstances leading to the stroke by recording its history and then performing a physical examination to identify the risks and associated deficits.

A brain scan will be performed to determine whether the stroke is ischaemic or haemorrhagic and

which part of the brain is involved. An angiography may be performed to assess the brain’s blood flow pattern and blood vessel structure.

For ischaemic strokes, restoring blood flow to the affected area is crucial and should be carried out within four hours of the stroke’s onset. This can be done by injecting a blood-thinning medication called alteplase into a vein in the arm to dissolve blood clots inside the brain’s blood vessels.

Endovascular therapy is another technique used to dissolve the blood clot by directly injecting alteplase through a small catheter placed inside the affected blood vessel, or by retrieving the blood clot with a special device through a catheter placed inside the affected blood vessel.

For haemorrhagic strokes, the main goal of treatment is to control bleeding and reduce the increased pressure in the brain. The high blood pressure has to be controlled by antihypertensive drugs and the effect of the blood-thinning medication has to be reversed to reduce further bleeding. Ruptured blood vessels caused by cerebral aneurysms or arteriovenous malformations need to be treated by surgical intervention or endovascular therapy.

The prevention of stroke involves lifestyle modifications such as controlling one’s high blood pressure and blood sugar level, consuming a low-fat diet that includes fruits and vegetables, avoiding smoking or tobacco use, and staying active through exercise, jogging or hiking. 

 

Caring for a stroke survivor 

 

TAKING care of a person who is recovering from a major stroke requires your full attention and some changes have to be made to accommodate them.

Before a stroke survivor comes home, make sure the home is fall-proof. For instance, if the survivor’s bedroom was previously on the second floor, make a bedroom available downstairs for the survivor so he will not have to climb the stairs daily. You will also need to make sure that the room is fully equipped, and ideally, has a wide floor space.

You may also want to prevent falls by installing grab bars, seats and non-slip bathmats in the bathroom and shower place.

Physiotherapy exercises consisting of sit to stands, knee rotations and supported mini squats are essential to strengthen the stroke survivor’s leg muscles and improve endurance when walking and rising up from a seated position. Crumpling a piece of paper and supporting reach and grasp are additional exercises that will help stroke survivors regain movement in their hands and shoulder muscles.

Get advice from an occupational therapist on what types of clothing and material are suitable for a stroke survivor.

A pull-over is a much better option than a button-down shirt as it is easier to get in and out of than the latter. Pants, skirts and jeans with elastic waistbands are good options while loose clothing with silky material are highly recommended.

If a stroke survivor is on medication, it is advisable for you to pack sufficient medicines to last them through unexpected delays in your cabin luggage. Having a prescription letter in hand is also a good idea. If anything were to happen, treating doctors can use it as a referral.

Making frequent pit stops, especially during long travelling hours by car is one of the best ways to ensure the comfort of stroke survivors. Use routes that have rest stops along the way and plan for toilet breaks at least every two hours.

Changing the diet of a stroke survivor is vital to avoid a second stroke attack. Stroke survivors need to cut back on salt as it is directly related to high blood pressure. Salt-free seasonings such as herbs and spices are better options to add flavour to their meals.

You must make sure survivors are cutting back on meat and dairy products and encourage them to eat more vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

Taking care of a stroke survivor requires a lot of patience from your side and it is no secret that it is time-consuming. 

 

Stroke: Myths and facts

New Chinese leadership new journey begins

 

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and the other newly elected members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, meet the press at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and the other newly elected members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, meet the press at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

 

 Xi Jinping was elected general secretary of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the committee's first plenary session held on Sunday, according to the communique of the plenary session.

The session, presided over by Xi, was attended by 203 members of the 20th CPC Central Committee and 168 alternate members. Xi was also named chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission at the session.

The members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee elected at the session are Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi.

Zhao and Wang were members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee. Li Qiang, Cai and Li Xi have served as Party chiefs of municipal CPC committees in Shanghai, Beijing and the Provincial CPC committee of Guangdong Province since 2017. Ding has been director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee since 2017.

Analysts said the new central leadership of the Party with a strong core leadership, demonstrated solid unity, which is a key advantage and essential element for the Party to handle complex challenges and accomplish new great missions in the future, and to withstand "dangerous storms" in a turbulent world together.

Also elected at the first plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee were members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the session, which endorsed the members of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat nominated by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

The session named the members of the Central Military Commission, with Zhang Youxia and He Weidong as vice chairmen. The session approved the secretary, deputy secretaries and members of the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) elected at the first plenary session of the 20th CCDI.

Remarks of confidence

After the plenary session concluded, Xi led the Party's new central leadership to meet Chinese and foreign journalists on Sunday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, and delivered a speech at the meeting with the press.

Xi said China will open its door wider to the rest of the world. "We'll be steadfast in deepening reform and opening up across the board, and in pursuing high-quality development," Xi said when meeting the press, noting that a prosperous China will create many more opportunities for the world.

Just as China cannot develop in isolation from the world, the world needs China for its development, Xi said. Through over 40 years of relentless reform and opening-up, China has created the twin miracles of fast economic growth and long-term social stability, he said.

Chinese analysts said it shows that both the CPC's and Chinese people's determination on reform and opening-up is unchanged, and the Party will unwaveringly insist on the successful policy and strategy, which is a message of confidence and certainty not only to the Chinese economic development, but also to the world in turbulence and global recovery.

The Chinese economy has great resilience and potential, Xi said. "Its strong fundamentals will not change, and it will remain on the positive trajectory over the long run."

The week-long 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded on October 22, 2022, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Li Hao/GTThe week-long 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concludes on October 22, 2022, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Humanity's shared values

Xi on Sunday also expressed China's commitment to promoting the building of a human community with a shared future.

"We will work with peoples of all other countries to champion humanity's shared values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom to safeguard global peace and promote global development, and keep promoting the building of a human community with a shared future," Xi said when meeting the press at the Great Hall of the People.

Xi's remarks further highlight the core ideas of China's diplomacy since the 18th CPC National Congress, emphasizing the stability and continuity of major diplomatic policies, which drew a sharp contrast with certain countries that emphasize their own absolute security and maximize their own interests, building up small blocs, Su Xiaohui, deputy director of Department of International and Strategic Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"It shows that our diplomacy is not based on selfish and zero-sum mentalities, and the idea of promoting a human community with a shared future is winning and will win more support from the international community, especially from developing countries," Su said.

The concept of "humanity's shared values"  presented by the CPC is very different from the "universal values" promoted by the West, experts said. Based on the facts about the destruction and chaos in the non-Western world that has been caused by major Western powers, these so-called "universal values" actually serve as a pretext for hegemony to bully, interfere in and invade other nations, and the "values" are actually dividing the world rather than uniting it, as the West, especially the US, uses these concepts to create "enemies and competitors" to unite its own allies and followers, despite being guilty of hypocrisy and double-standards in many cases.

But the CPC's concept of "humanity's shared values" is inclusive and aims to unite all members of the international community and all civilizations, which also include civilizations in the Western world, and China under the CPC's leadership will always oppose and fight hegemony that threatens world peace, and will never follow the suit of hegemony or imperialism in the past to repeat the bloody and brutal path of rising in the new journey toward its Second Centenary Goal, experts said.

At this critical moment for the world to learn what China's core leadership will do, experts noted that China's core diplomatic ideas were incorporated in Xi's first address since he was elected general secretary of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, indicating that China will uphold those common values of humanity by highlighting fairness and justice.

Keep Party invincible

"A political party can only become invincible if it remains committed to self-reform, even though it has had a glorious past," Xi made the remarks when meeting the press at the Great Hall of the People.

The revolutionary travails and tempering of the past century, and especially of the first decade of the new era, have made the CPC stronger and more dynamic, Xi said.

Xi urged the CPC members to remain on high alert and stay sober-minded and prudent in the face of new challenges and tests on the journey ahead.

Zhang Shuhua, director of the Institute of Political Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that "Facing an increasingly complex international environment, especially when Western political systems are deteriorating and many Western countries have no longer been able to elect leaders with professional performance, the CPC underscores a strong leadership, showing its capability to organize, unite and execute."

Political authority, consistency and certainty of the leadership are important for a major power to prevent the risk and handle the crisis in a turbulent world, and the CPC provides crucial advantages for China to overcome challenges in the future and to win the tough competition and confrontation launched by a few countries, experts said.

"We must make sure that our century-old Party, the biggest in the world, will become ever more vigorous through self-reform and continue to be the strong backbone that the Chinese people can lean on at all times," Xi said. He stressed that the Party should always act for the people and rely on the people on the journey ahead.

The week-long 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concludes on October 22, 2022, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Li Hao/GTThe week-long 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concludes on October 22, 2022, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Li Hao/GT

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It is hoped that the US can fully and accurately receive the signals the 20th CPC National Congress has sent out, correct its strategic perception of China, meet China halfway, and push China-US relations 

 

 

China's new journey will show richer global significance: Global Times editorial

On Sunday noon, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee appeared before the press at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. This event marks that a series of important political agendas surrounding the 20th CPC National Congress came to a successful conclusion. Like a huge ship, China will move forward under the leadership of the new CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. The course the Party has charted has a global significance: It not only reflects the maturity and stability of the CPC as a major party, but also injects certainty into a world beset by changes and turmoil. 

 

China won't export devt model, opposes imposition on others

The just-concluded 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) elaborated on Chinese modernization, which offers a path for other countries to seek inspiration, senior Party officials at a Monday press conference reiterated that China will not export its model to other countries, nor will it import models from other countries; every country should explore its own way to modernization that suits its own situation, in response to questions and concerns from the West about whether "China might export its ideology or development model."

 

Existing loopholes in US electoral or democratic system require political and legal reforms, but there seems to be little momentum to achieving so. The prospect of US-style democracy is dim.

 

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How Britain fell from grace

  British Prime Minister Liz Truss enjoyed only seven days of full power before global economic forces effectively destroyed her government...

 

 

 

 

 


After reading a report delivered by Xi Jinping to the #20thCPCNationalCongress, Rick O'Shea said he has some photos to share. Check to find out the stories behind those who witnessed the significant development in the new era of China

Sunday 23 October 2022

CPC concludes key 20th congress with 'confidence to create new, greater miracles' on ...Xi Jinping,and the newly elected members of the Standing Committee

 Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and the other newly elected members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee: Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, meet the press at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

 

 

 
 
Xi Jinping elected general secretary of CPC Central Committee: communique

Xi Jinping was elected general secretary of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the ...

 

CPC concludes key congress with 'confidence to create new, greater miracles' on ...

Xi Jinping is presiding over the closing session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) ...

 

How Britain fell from grace

 

British Prime Minister Liz Truss enjoyed only seven days of full power before global economic forces effectively destroyed her government. PHOTO: REUTERS

 

 

Whatever you may think of them, the British used to enjoy the reputation of a solid, well-run and responsible nation.

A centuries-old history of peaceful political change, with none of the coups, revolutions or civil wars that seem to have afflicted most other countries worldwide. A robust parliamentary system of government in which just two political parties take their turns in holding power based on electoral procedures that produce clear-cut results and solid governments with none of the unpredictable and often unstable coalition-making that afflicts most of the rest of Europe.

To be sure, the country’s politicians have always been of variable quality. But the United Kingdom’s civil service was highly rated for its professionalism and integrity, and so was its legal system, still considered an advantage and often touted as a national asset by many countries around the world.

That’s why Britain’s sudden descent into crisis looks so surprising. In just a few weeks, the credibility of some of the most critical institutions in British national life, including the prime minister, the Treasury, the Bank of England, the ruling Conservative Party, and the nation’s asset management industry, were all torn to shreds.

The country’s currency has sunk to its lowest levels in half a century, and the risk premium international investors demand to lend money to Britain is among the highest in the industrialised world.

For the first time in modern history, the British government was forced to bow to the pressure of global financial markets and withdraw a budget it had introduced only two weeks beforehand. And in another highly unusual move, the International Monetary Fund issued a rebuke to Britain using language otherwise reserved for those who manage the economies of poor and vulnerable developing nations.

Truss versus lettuce

Consequently, British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who assumed office only last month, had to ditch her policies before these were even tried, and the speculation in London is that her days are numbered.

The influential Economist newspaper had pointed out that, if one ignores the extended period of official mourning for Queen Elizabeth II – a period during which all politics were suspended – Ms Truss enjoyed only seven days of full power before the forces of the global economy effectively destroyed her government. That, The Economist suggested, is more or less the supermarket “shelf-life of the lettuce”.

Liz Truss may never recover from this cruel jibe: a British tabloid newspaper is currently offering its readers a live video stream of a lettuce head and a photograph of the Prime Minister, accompanied by the question, “which wet lettuce will last longer?”

Britain as a whole is now the butt of international jokes. Politicians in Italy – a country that will soon get its 70th government in almost as many years – have suggested that one of their retired prime ministers may be sent to London to try his hand at managing the British because he can’t do any worse than Britain’s politicians.

Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister of Greece, a country that a decade ago had to be bailed out from national bankruptcy by global financial institutions, told Ms Truss’ government tongue-in-cheek that if they “need experience in dealing with the International Monetary Fund, we’re here to help”.

While the attention is on the UK experience, other economies and major currencies are also currently experiencing global pressure. The British pound may be down around 18 per cent to 20 per cent, but the euro is about 15 per cent weaker, and the Chinese renminbi dropped by an average of 11 per cent against the US dollar. The Bank of Japan recently spent an estimated US$21 billion (S$30 billion) trying to prop up the yen, to no avail.

However, credibility is everything in politics, finance and economics, and the UK government finally managed to lose all of these. Britain’s previously admired institutional framework and its hard-won reputation of certainty in financial policy went down the pan over the past two weeks.

And financial volatility is accompanied by political volatility. Between 1990 and 2010 – two decades – Britain was ruled by only three prime ministers. But from 2010 to now - just over one decade - the country has already known four additional prime ministers and may yet be ready for a fifth. Furthermore, no less than four politicians have served as finance ministers since January this year. These are chaotic politics Italian-style, minus the sun-drenched beaches or the delicious pasta.

More On This Topic 

‘Cakeism’ and Brexit

How did Britain get to this sorry state? A mixture of immediate failures by the Truss administration, magnified by a much more entrenched malaise.

Ms Truss won power by resorting to the oldest trick in politics: a promise that voters can have their cake and eat it. She vowed to cut taxes and increase spending, all based on borrowing from financial markets. And she dismissed the arguments of armies of economists who pointed out that hers was not an economic policy but a fantasy.

The more she faced criticism, the more she doubled down on her promises; her pledge to cut taxes became a test of wills, which she was determined to win. So, her ill-fated budget slashed taxes much further than anyone expected and sidelined Britain’s financial regulator and the country’s civil servants.

Ms Truss quickly discovered that one should not attempt to offer a spending bonanza against the backdrop of sharply rising inflation and interest rates, a punishing global energy crisis, as well as a British current account deficit which ballooned to an unprecedented 8 per cent of gross domestic product, and all without providing any indication of how Britain intends to deal with its public finances. The Prime Minister not only ran into a flat rejection by the financial markets, she unleashed a financial rout that could only be addressed by withdrawing her entire budget.

The problem of Ms Truss was not necessarily just the financial figures she peddled but the fact that her ill-conceived budget became totemic for a more comprehensive loss of British political and economic credibility, which has been cumulative over several years. 

 

The chief culprit is Brexit, as the British withdrawal from the European Union is popularly known. The damage that Brexit inflicted on the British economy - in terms of lower growth rates, lower exports and slashed inward investment – is by now well-documented.

But a much more severe impact on British credibility has been the conduct of the country’s political elite during this divorce process from the rest of Europe. The campaign to withdraw from the EU was conducted with lies; those who supported Brexit produced made-up figures about how Britain’s trade with the rest of the world would, supposedly, more than compensate for the loss of duty-free access to European markets.

And anyone who dared contradict the Brexiters by providing actual economic facts and figures was dismissed as part of so-called “project fear”, an alleged plot by the “establishment” to keep Britain shackled to Europe.

The tactic worked not only in pulling Britain out of the EU; it also spawned an entirely new class of British politicians who believe that all they need to do is to ram their policies through regardless of what the economic realities may be and if the facts don’t accord with their views, present “alternative facts”.

During the campaign that propelled her to power, Ms Truss refused to engage in any serious discussion with the critics of her economic policy, just as Mr Boris Johnson, her predecessor as prime minister, declined to explain how Britain would thrive outside the EU. Both politicians operated on the assumption that make-believe economics can become real economics.

And the reason people like them can come to power is to be found in another negative development of British politics.

More On This Topic

Who chooses the party leader?

For many decades, the Conservatives and Labour – the country’s two major historic parties – were mass movements, counting millions of members. But the election of the party leaders who could then become prime ministers was left in the hands of the few, usually just the MPs in either party.

Over the past 15 years, however, mass party membership disappeared: Britain’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, for instance, has far more paid-up members than all the political parties combined.

Yet, curiously, the choice of who gets elected as party leader was taken from MPs and given to the parties’ entire membership. The result is that an unrepresentative group of party members – in the case of the ruling Conservatives, only around 160,000 people out of a total population of 68 million – decides who would rule Britain.

If it were left to the MPs alone, Ms Truss would have got nowhere near the Downing Street residence of British prime ministers. But she won on a platform of economic fantasies sold to people who wanted to believe in the enduring myth of having something for nothing.

Ultimately, it was left to the global financial markets to confront Britain with the rude awakening it deserves by presenting the country and its daydreaming politicians with the invoice for their mismanagement.

It’s improbable that Ms Truss will ever recover from its current debacle; the only question is whether the humiliation the UK has just experienced at the hands of global financial markets will bring to an end the age of untruthful politics that has so devalued the country’s administration.

But it won’t be easy to get out of this rut. King Charles III best summed up the national mood when he recently welcomed Prime Minister Truss to an audience with “dear, oh dear!

  https://omny.fm/shows/in-your-opinion/is-the-nominated-member-of-parliament-scheme-losin

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Saturday 22 October 2022

China striving in unity will benefit the world more

 

Students at Zhejiang Guangsha Vocational and Technical University of Construction celebrate the upcoming 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Friday, in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. Photo: VCG

Students at Zhejiang Guangsha Vocational and Technical University of Construction celebrate the upcoming 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Friday, in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. Photo: VCG

 

The report delivered to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) further pointed out the direction of the cause of the Party and the country. In the report, "striving in unity" emerged as a very important phrase. Striving in unity is the only road the Chinese people can take to make historic achievements under the leadership of the Party. When our country's development enters a period in which strategic opportunities, risks and challenges coexist, and uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing, it is especially necessary for us to take "striving in unity" as a source of strength to overcome difficulties.

In today's world, especially in the political arena of the West, striving in unity has become scarce. In the UK, shortly after Liz Truss announced the end of the shortest tenure ever for a British prime minister, MPs from her Conservative Party began taking sides and betting on who would become the new leader. Some Western media claimed that, plagued by internal divisions, Truss' successor will face a "long winter of discontent." In the US, although some media outlets are laughing at the drama their "iron brothers" across the ocean are embroiled in, it's just a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Surveys show that more than two-thirds of American adults are worried that this year's midterm elections will further divide the US. In an article titled "The US Is Heading Toward a Second Civil War. Here Is How We Avoid It," Time magazine said that because of political differences, approximately 20 million Americans are ready to fight in a country with over 400 million guns.

This is a common problem faced by many countries, including developed countries in Europe and the US. Partisan confrontation, social division, and internal political friction, catalyzed by weak economic growth or stagnation, are forming a dead end in a vicious circle. Dangerous extreme populism is also surging. All these have made "striving in unity" a vital form of national competitiveness - as unity is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve, it's also become increasingly valuable. It can be said that different countries face their own challenges, but there is only one thing that all societies need, and that is striving in unity. Without unity, society will be torn apart by internal friction; without striving, no matter how many family assets have been accumulated, they will be dissipated sooner or later.

As the lyric of a song that is well-known to Chinese people goes, "Unity means power." Since modern times, the Chinese people's understanding of unity has been very profound. The Chinese phrase "a plate of loose sand" corresponds to a collective memory of humiliation, suffering, turmoil and war suffered by the Chinese nation. It is the CPC that has united and organized the Chinese people to completely bring this nightmarish experience to an end. Because of the CPC, it has been possible for the Chinese nation to achieve the greatest extent and greatest degree of unity, which is also positive energy. "The Party has made spectacular achievements through its great endeavors over the past century," and this is one of the institutional advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The unity of the Chinese people is the unity that closely revolves around the backbone of the CPC.

Today, striving in unity has been endowed with a new significance of the times. The acceleration of major global changes not seen in a century has brought the world into a new period of turbulent change. One thing deserves our utmost vigilance - external forces, which regard China as a zero-sum competitor or enemy, are looking for cracks in Chinese society and Party organizations with a magnifying glass and trying to take advantage of them. However, as long as China is internally united, no outside force can shake it. External suppression can only make the Chinese people more proud, confident, and assured, as well as the Chinese society more united to defeat all forces that try to provoke us and repel all those that try to sabotage us.

It must be stressed that in contrast to the scattered "unity" which the US has formed through creating an outside "enemy" and enhancing its aggressiveness, the ultimate aim of China's striving in unity is to focus on doing its own things well. We deeply understand that for a huge and developing country like China, instability, uncertainty and insecurity from the external environment are not decisive. Since reform and opening-up, we have encountered many external risks, but have managed to overcome them by doing our own things well and focusing on domestic affairs. "The great achievements of the new era have come from the collective dedication and hard work of our Party and our people." This was the case in the past, and so will it be in the future. Meanwhile, doing our own things well contributes to building the community with a shared future for mankind.

Striving in unity is the precise refinement and vivid expression of the strong consensus of the Chinese nation. The Chinese people have never had any illusions that realizing national rejuvenation would come easily, nor have they had any illusions that some external forces would stop provoking China and lend it a helping hand. When we are facing difficulties and challenges, the Chinese people's spirit of striving in unity will be even higher. Let us "fight one battle after another," move toward new victories in unity, and strive to achieve new success!

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Tweet:  #20thCPCNationalCongress came to a successful close. Delighted & privileged to have participated in & witnessed this historic event.
 
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