Going on everyone Sam here with late sports cards. We're in 23 tops to one baseball hobby 12 box case number 10 At random division style look again after your random results as always find those on the website under the results tab as well As the link that's in chat currently So good luck here. Let's do it Johnny with a spot in Star Wars Wang S with a spot in flux. Thank you guys 17 to go on Star Wars And I believe 17 to go on flux as well. I am not mistaken. Thank you all again 17 to go Star Wars we go to your one. Let's do it. Good luck here, everybody See some big cards come out of this next two breaks after this are also all sold out. So thank you everybody That's nasty to 400 a l west ozale to they Let's go Greg. Good start Really awesome one here three of 25 and a West the big unit Randy Johnson For the Diamondbacks congrats on that Socrates pick it up a spot in Star Wars So great and Peyton Burtick to 299 for the NL East nice one there Carol's ballin already We have another steel. I'm assuming Andy. I'll see a knob short I See what you did there And at least the 400 Jeff McNeil super short I'll do that We've got nice one here and at least is gonna be a Francisco Alvarez Rookie Otto nice one there nice Alvi And going to the NL East Francisco Alvarez We've got a lease to 199 Willie Randolph Rats on that and NL East to 299 Rookie Otto heavenly heavenly heavenly heavenly heavenly That one's good That one's funny Now it's funny It's funny does you're holding back tears of laughter right now tears of laughter at his a Eloi him and s to 400 a l central Eloi Oswald Parazza Rookie Otto to at the AL East and Jeff McNeil to end up to the NL East to 249 tier ones out. I just thought it's up that I have to tell Sean It's not stream appropriate What are we doing on that one? That's the 400 Luis Severino at least what's up 25 Fromber Valdez AL West nice one there Grats on that AL West Fromber Valdez Nice one here NL West Larry Walker for the Rockies nice one again Greg Good stuff there buddy Central Travis Swaggerty to 99 He does honestly WSOP WSOP would be tough just that one reason Max freed to 400 and a least Brian T with two spots in Star Wars. Thank you, Brian Down to 13 to go on that second Star Wars break now everybody are 14 to go 14 to go To 299 Joe Musgrove NL West Nick Vespi to 299 AL East AL East. Oh god look at that Randy Arosa ran at a 400 nice one there for the AL East Jacob with Oklahoma in Bowman Chroma University. That's down to 16 to go now everybody and Reggie Jackson AL West to 200 AL West nice you can add this next one This one's solid and L central to 99 is Jordan Walker on the rookie auto congrats on that. There you go L central Brian B with the Colton flawless down to 14 and flawless PYT everybody And rookie auto 18 of 25 bronze, Inc. Oscar Gonzalez Yeah, another unique sig is right Andy For sure on Walker that's sick Jose Berrios AL East. That's really cool. I love the checklist of this Nice one there congrats to the AL East AL East again to 99 Bernie Williams 87 to 99 game use bad auto game used that auto nice one there And that is to 299 Jose Quas for the AL central I'm dropping guys a link to flux as well $32 the spot gets you a random team in a four box break a flux 16 to go on flux Four box Jake typed in Fluck K and X not near each other on the keyboard That's a problem Blake's now to 400 and L central Nasty sinker just not fast enough. Yeah, fair Reese with a spot in prism draft Darrell M with a spot in Star Wars down to 13 in Star Wars now Nice one here to 149 Riley Greene Riley Greene AL central Get 11 out of 149 7 to 10 Jason Alexander and L central Silver and cold on trying to sneeze Thank you and L central Jason Alexander No, I want that. Oh god Aurora Labor Torres AL East the 400 nice one there AL East AL East To the AL West that is gonna be a Jose Altuve to 149 tier one talent Here Juan talent and Derek Halt to 299 and at least and L East Derek Holt Will Myers the 400 this next one's kind of a crime NLS nice one there Darrell with a spot in flux number one down to 15 halfway sold out on that everybody. Thank you again Going to the AL West Mark Desheres as a Texas Ranger. That's a crime Congrats on that though AL West very nice. Go into Peter and Max Castillo AL central to 99 rookie on Too bad. Yeah, too bad has signed a lot. He's been in like every product Hobbs in the mega dual case today two spots in the mega dual case for Hobbs. Let's go Come on Hobbs Logan Gilbert to 400 AL West Jacob S with a spot in prism draft. Thank you Jacob knocking breaks out here very well the 299 key Brian Hayes Key Brian A's the 299 going to the NL central. I know we had him on the site. I don't know why they're off the site now to be honest Are they that makes sense and To 299 Matt Swarmer NL central that sounds like a guy Jake knows Matt's or Got CC sabat the out of 400 AL East It's when they're gaming Jersey That is an auto AL East again Alejandro Kirk to 299 Nelson V with a spot in Star Wars. Let's go. Thank you. Nelson We're down to 12 to go 12 to go everybody and AL West to 299 Michael Stefanik Grats on that. Don't panic. It's Michael Stefanik. There we go. That's a new one. Let's go, baby We have a whole run of new products coming out with Michael Stefanik in it, too. Don't panic Michael Stefanik Let's go. How did I not think of that earlier? We are firing tonight, dude. We're on honor all cylinders right now All right, here we go recap C-Saphiya, Logan Gilbert will Myers labor Torres Blake Snell Jose Berrios max freed Reggie Jackson Randy Rosarana Framber Valdez Luis Severino Eloy Jeff McNeil and Jose Al Tuvek That's what I'm saying regular genius exactly Don't panic Michael Stefanik Alejandro Kirk Greg the Matt Swarmer Cabrion Hayes Max Castillo Mark Tashara Derek Hall Jose Al Tuvek Jason Alexander Riley Green Bernie Williams Jose Quas Oscar Gonzalez Joe Musgrove Nick Vespi Larry Walker Travis Swaggerty Jeff McNeil Oswald Parazza Willie Randolph Evan Lee Francisco Alvarez Hayton verdict Randy Johnson Got a little Randy Johnson sig dude so far Jordan Walker to 99 rookie auto That's we'll do it for the break everybody. Thanks again for the fill up next mega dual case


It's great that scientists are learning more about aging than finding potential therapeutic targets, but you're probably more interested in things that can help now. Has all this research produced any tools that we can already use to live longer? The bad news is that we haven't found the fountain of youth, or discovered a drug that can stop us from getting old. But there is a simple change that does the trick in lots of different creatures. Chloric restriction. Let's dig in and find out what it's all about. Welcome to X10, your one-stop YouTube show for all things life extension. Learn the science, keep up with new research, and live longer and healthier. To get updates from X10, click the red button below to subscribe, and don't forget to hit the bell icon and select all notifications. This is part of a series of videos on diet and longevity. In this episode, we're going to talk about caloric restriction. Caloric restriction is basically just what it sounds like, a diet containing fewer calories than normal. In experiments with rats and mice, fewer has generally meant something like half to three quarters of the unrestricted diet. It's important to point out that caloric restriction isn't the same thing as intermittent fasting, which you may have heard about. Intermittent fasting is the practice of fasting for long periods between meals, but not necessarily changing the amount of calories consumed. So, caloric restriction is about how much you eat, while intermittent fasting is about how often you eat. It's also important to be clear that caloric restriction is still supposed to be a balanced diet. The idea is to reduce the number of calories while still providing all the necessary nutrients in the correct proportions. So, what happens if you pull that off? We know that caloric restriction makes lots of animals live longer. It's been reported to extend lifespan in yeast, mice, rats, monkeys, and other organisms, but it doesn't always work. In a study using house flies, caloric restriction actually shortened lifespan, and another study found that caloric restriction decreased the lifespan of mice when it was started at an older age. That's a bit of a mixed bag. From what we know, it's hard to say how useful caloric restriction is for humans. There are some studies showing that it provides health benefits, but there isn't enough data at the moment to draw strong conclusions. We also don't yet fully understand how caloric restriction affects lifespan. There's evidence that it works through several different genetic pathways, which is just a fancy way of saying it's complicated and scientists are still working out all of the details. One of the pathways affected by caloric restriction is genes related to the tor signaling pathway, which responds to nutrient status. To find out more about tor and nutrient signaling, check out our video on the deregulated nutrient sensing hallmark here. Work in yeast showed that caloric restriction reduced the level of tor signaling genes. This made the yeast live longer, but that life extension depended on the activity of several stress response genes. By deleting some of the genes in these pathways and putting the yeast on a caloric restriction diet, researchers managed to increase the yeast lifespan by 10 times. Caloric restriction also causes epigenetic changes. Studies in rats, fruit flies and other organisms have found changes in DNA methylation and histone modifications as a result of caloric restriction. If you'd like to know more about how epigenetics is linked with aging, check out our epigenetics series. The idea here is that caloric restriction somehow helps prevent epigenetic changes that cause our genes to be expressed incorrectly as we age. As though that weren't enough, a couple of recent studies have linked caloric restriction with DNA repair. A 2014 study in yeast found that caloric restriction requires the ISW2 gene in order to extend lifespan. They showed that caloric restriction reduces the level of ISW2, which leads to higher levels of a gene called rad51. Rad51 is involved in DNA repair, leading the team to hypothesize that caloric restriction improves the response to genotoxic stress. That's consistent with a more recent paper, which reported that a brief period of caloric restriction in mice improved their cells ability to repair DNA breaks. So, should you restrict your caloric intake to live longer? Well, the evidence isn't really clear at this point. For example, the NIH webpage says there is insufficient evidence to recommend any type of caloric restriction or fasting diet. It also highlights the importance of getting enough nutrients and talking with a health care professional if you're tempted to try this anyway. That's it for our overview of caloric restriction and aging. Check in again next time to learn about intermittent fasting. If you'd like to get notified about that and stay on top of new X10 videos, subscribe to our channel and remember to click the bell icon. You can also like the video and share it with your friends if you learned something new. And finally, a big thanks to the Lifespan Heroes who make this show possible through their crowdfunding support. If you'd like to become a Lifespan Hero to support X10 and Lifespan.io, head over to Lifespan.io slash hero and make a pledge.


When I knew I could do the double degree I thought that'd be awesome so it's completely separate assessments, different campuses, different lectures, different people but on the other hand they do cross over a lot and they do work into each other a lot. I think because I'm passionate about it and because it excites me it doesn't seem hard. I find it all beneficial for the future. I can look back on the two degrees rather than the one and go okay this excited me this I struggled with so I can combine this and this and make it into a thesis.


The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 7967, in the name of Alexander Stewart, on healthy ageing in Scotland. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those members who would wish to speak in the debate to please press the request-to-speak buttons. I call on Alexander Stewart to open the debate around seven minutes, Mr Stewart. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am grateful for the opportunity to bring this debate to the chamber this evening. I would also like to thank members who supported today's motion highlighting healthy ageing in Scotland study, which was led by the University of Stirling, which focuses on real-life, day-to-day experiences of older people in Scotland. This is an important issue for many across the chamber, and I have no doubt that we will hear some thoughtful contributions, Presiding Officer. It is clear that this issue will only become more important in Scotland in years to come. As we know, there are already over 2 million people aged over 50 in Scotland, which equates to around 38 per cent of the population. We also know that Scotland's population has been steadily ageing for the last 40 years, a trend that will continue. Indeed, the study highlights that there will be around 85 per cent of an increase of over 75-year-olds by 2039, which is a higher increase than expected in any other part of the United Kingdom. The study provides first-hand details and insight into the over-50s in Scotland, and it aims to look at older people's health, their economic circumstances and their social wellbeing. It is also Scotland's entry to the gateway to global ageing platform, which provides data for over two thirds of the world's over-50s population. We have already heard a number of helpful reports that have come out from this, and it has looked at specifically focused on the pandemic that affected the wellbeing of older people. The study highlights that broadly the pandemic affected older people's wellbeing at a time, and we know that older people are still dependent on that recovery even in today. The truth is that the wellbeing of older people in Scotland was a problem well before the pandemic arrived. Data from the national records in Scotland show that Scotland still has a lower life expectancy, not just in the UK but across Western Europe. That is quite damning, and I look forward to hearing what the minister has to say in the summing up with reference to that. Although life expectancy remains low, there are also huge gaps in life expectancy between the most deprived and the least deprived areas of the country. As far as the population is concerned, the gap for men is about 13 years and the gap for women is 10.5 years. Those are worrying trends, and that worrying trend continues to widen. We also know that there are public health issues with reference to smoking, alcohol and cancer rates, and they all play a part in the process. Mental health and loneliness is also a significant problem in Scotland, with over half older people identifying as sometimes feeling lonely. It is also estimated that at least one chronically lonely person exists in every street in Scotland. That is at a crisis, with more than 150,000 pensioners living in relative poverty. It is virtually impossible and important that the Government looks at and considers what older people are dealing with when it comes to their expansion when they talk about social security programmes. Older people are more likely to have a higher level of disability, but a significant percentage are not claiming the disability benefits that they may be entitled to. We cannot allow older people to be left behind from not receiving the support and financial support that they require. The Scottish Government needs to do more to address that area. It must also engage both with older people and stakeholders, including Age Scotland, when they talk about developing their benefit take-up strategy. Of course, the waiting list for older people now that we face in the NHS is at a tipping point and is spiralling out of control across many health board areas. It is also the fact that the new health secretary should scrap his predecessor's failed recovery plan to bring in new measures that will get waiting times back on track. That is vitally important. Given all the problems that we have, the Scottish Government must make a clear message that it needs older people and that they should be seen as a key priority going forward. The First Minister yesterday gave many priorities, but he did not specifically mention anything with reference to the ageing population that we have and anything with older people. Having given that, we used to have a dedicated minister who looked after the older people. That, I know, has not been incorporated into other remits. That, I feel, is something that should have not taken place and, in my view, is a fault and a flaw within this new Government setup. That is not to mention that previously, comments have been made by a member of the Government, suggesting that older people passing away since 2014 is a gain for independence. That comment was made, Presiding Officer, which is an astonishing comment to be made by anybody when we are talking about older individuals in our community. After comments such as that is perhaps not surprising that research by Age Scotland has found that just 21 per cent of over 50s in Scotland feel that they are not valued by society. The study is a work in progress. It is already clear that the findings that we see are increasingly important for years to come. The University of Stirling and its partners, including universities in Edinburgh and Strathclyde, should be commended for the work that they have done so far. Scotland could truly be a great country in which to grow old and the findings of the study were a key in making that division a reality. However, there has to be support from Government, there has to be understanding, and it is clear that further action from the Scottish Government in this area is needed. I hope that members from across the chamber can join me in pushing this for the years to come. Older people are important, older people are valued, and the Scottish Government needs to assist, support and treat older people with the respect that they deserve. They are an asset to our communities and our constituencies, not a liability to Scotland and the future. I remind those members who are seeking to speak in the debate to ensure that their requests of speak buttons are at press. I now call Christine Grahame to be followed by Rachel Hamilton. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and technology is working for me. I congratulate the member on securing this debate and the University of Stirling, which has a proven track record on issues regarding the elderly. I declare an interest having entered this Parliament in 1999 already according to this definition of ageing. I was elderly and I was only 55. I am now on track to be 79, too soon for my liking. Where did all those decades go? Thank you, Mr Whittle. The first comment that I would make is that not only are we, those aged in quotes, all individuals, we represent a substantial age range spanning five decades, so one cannot generalise. The challenges of ageing are not only physical—I know that—but, as the motion states, it is cognitive and social. I would expand this to include isolation and loneliness, referred to by Alexander Stewart, who is very young. We have the research, but what can we, as politicians and individuals, do? Generally—I say generally—we are reasonably well catered for in health. Vaccinations are regular, for example, but it is when we may be unable to care for ourselves that it is then that we are vulnerable, especially if we do not have savings or a decent pension. That is why reform of the care sector and support for the workforce must be a priority. Too many language in hospital when, with aids and adaptations to their home, care support at home or, indeed, access to care home, it not only would free up the beds and staff servicing those beds but keep people hail and hearty. Mental wellbeing as well as physical wellbeing can soon disintegrate when you are stuck in a bed far from your home when that is where you should be. Integrated joint boards was a first step, but we do need cohesion between the NHS and the care sector. Then there is the plague of isolation and loneliness. There are folk who are strict to the local shop or the supermarket is the only social interaction they have. Travelling on the bus with the passes is a bonus because it may be your only social life. The phone is silent unless it is a cold call. The front door remains locked even in daytime because there is no one coming to visit. Many will not admit that they are lonely or have only the television or the radio for companionship. But retirement needs not be absolute for some continuing to work whole or part-time if compatible with the demands of the job as a choice. I know that with the diminishing workforce many elderly people are turning work, but it should be a choice and not to prop up, for example, a poor state pension. Of course, 40 per cent, entitled to pension credit, a UK benefit do not claim and that percentage has remained unchanged in my entire time in this Parliament. But for many, especially very elderly people, there is that sense of being invisible, of melting into the background, confidence erodes, a sense of self-worth, of value. It may not be like this. As a society, older people are too often regarded as a burden, patronised, not given the respect that, frankly, age has earned. I can also report that age discrimination is alive and well even in this building. Remember, we were young ones too. We recognise the path that young people are treading as we trod it before them. But perhaps only with age do we appreciate time, because it is not on our side. In conclusion, there are other cultures that value their elders, and we should do more of that in Scotland, and I can assure you that I will make sure that the Scottish Government does not ignore us. I am grateful to my colleague Alexander Stewart for bringing this important matter to the chamber this evening for debate. He has worked incredibly hard to provide a voice for older people in the Scottish Parliament, although I know that his youthful complexion may lead to some of us finding it hard to believe, and the same would go for my constituency neighbour Christine Graham. Disappointingly, I struggle to recall the last time that we were able to debate a matter relating to older people in this chamber. There is no question that the issue of healthy ageing is a key challenge that we face in Scotland today, yet less than holding a debate on the matter, the First Minister failed to mention our ageing population in his statement on Scotland's priorities yesterday. Older people will be frustrated by that. They will also be frustrated by the fact that the Scottish Government has dropped the ministerial portfolio for older people. I would add that the SNP may have dropped this portfolio, but the shadow ministerial team in Alexander Stewart has no such plans to drop this important subject. The value group has been subject to a catalogue of many let-downs, which Alexander Stewart has already alluded to, particularly in the lower life expectancy, particularly in deprived areas. We can and we must do better. Doing better in this context means looking at the evidence. The evidence is available to us to drive change and referencing the University of Stirling's healthy ageing in Scotland's study will provide us with the opportunity to do that and to use it to good effect. It is by no means the only source of evidence that we can use to drive change for Scotland's ageing population. We cannot hope to cope with the demands of an ageing population without utilising the findings of the study and the work done by other nations to develop best practice. One example of where this is being done very well is in my constituency in the Scottish Borders, where earlier this year Scottish Borders Council endorsed plans to build a Dutch-style care village. The scheme is very much part of a shake-up of care provision in the region and a good demonstration of proactive action within the local authority to look at evidence-based practices that can make a real difference for older people and encourage healthy ageing, but also to combat social isolation, as Christine Graham has quite rightly pointed out. It is one of the main issues of poor health outcomes is social isolation. I completely agree that we should be combating that, particularly through areas such as the Dutch-style retirement village. We want to move away from institutionalised care and place residents in a neighbourhood because they are closer to broader society. Similar schemes in the Netherlands have found that this, as I said, helps to tackle loneliness and improves outdoor access, which are key factors in healthy ageing. I am delighted that our Conservative run Administration in the Borders is leading the way in finding an innovative solution to cope with the challenges of an ageing population and social isolation. I encourage the Scottish Government to take note of that and to join it in thinking outside of the box when it comes to dealing with those challenges. I reiterate the importance of having this discussion tonight in Parliament. The message sent by the Scottish Government in dispensing with ministerial portfolio for older people is deeply concerning. However, as long as we have the opportunity in here to speak up for older people and continue to do that, we can be their voice in this place. I thank Alexander Stewart for bringing this important debate to the chamber, and I thank all the members for highlighting how important a group this is and that we should be having debates, making sure that we are addressing the issues for the older population. On behalf of Scottish Labour, I too welcome the healthy ageing in Scotland study, led by the University of Stirling and put on record my thanks to the team who will start the extremely important work. It is important to note at the start of my contribution that, although the study is the first of its kind, I will look at many different factors, including health, social and economic circumstances. The main aim set out by the team of research is a simple but critical one to improve the health and wellbeing of Scotland's older people by fully understanding their lives. The health of our population must be the priority for any Parliament and any Government, and that is clear now after the last few years, perhaps, than it has ever been so before. However, to be healthy does not just mean to be physically healthy, as other members have stated, but to be mentally healthy, socially healthy and economically healthy. Each of those crucial aspects of life all play a role in determining the health and outcomes of an individual, a family or a population. The motion correctly notes that our older population is going and people are living longer, but it is also right to state that significant and divisive income inequality exists in our society today. To Alexander Stewart, I absolutely agree with much of the content of the motion and the words that he has brought forward. I know that Alexander Stewart has been a champion of older people, but, in my view—I have to say this, it is important—it is the policies of his own party that are responsible for much of this division. We need to see a whole-take change approach in regards to improving pay, closing pay gaps and supporting the lowest paid to improve health and wellbeing outcomes later in life. It starts early in life and it continues. People start an unhealthy life and they live an unhealthy life, and a lot of that is linked to the austerity that we see in this country. I think that it is important that we touch on health inequalities right now. It is my view that health inequalities are one of the greatest strains in our society, and members will not be surprised to hear me say that often. An action, far greater action that we have had, needs to happen. The First Minister rightly focused on tackling poverty, but in this country we see those from deprived areas less likely to attend screening appointments, and that remains a stark gap and an avoidable gap. That is not always just about incumbents, but about how we make sure that those people can attend those really vital screening appointments. We know that health inequality exists from birth, but we also know that it continues to negatively impact throughout people's lives and can determine outcomes in later life. As the project embarks on this study, it will be interesting to see if we, as parliamentarians, can act more decisively and more effectively to address the issues that ultimately have led to the study of that kind being undertaken. A staple of any healthy, progressive modern nation should be the ability of its citizens to age healthily and to grow old with dignity, and hopefully that study will allow future improvements to be made to positively impact the health and wellbeing of the older population. Many of the challenges facing our older people in Scotland today have been challenges exacerbated by poor Government decisions. In some cases, Governments just take and have an action. We know that we need to improve the health and wellbeing of our population if we want to improve the health and wellbeing of our elderly population, and we need to be quite radical and have some urgency about that. Health and wellbeing should be a priority. I once again thank Alexander Stewart for bringing the motion and to all the members who contributed to the debate. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It had been my intention to come along today and just listen to what has to be said, given my advancing years, apparently, according to what my old is. However, I have to take part today in a webinar on a university report that looked at the life expectancy around elite sports people. It turned into more of a discussion around early years and attitudes. You will be pleased to hear, Presiding Officer, that I can expect to live an extra five years according to this report. However, what is more important than that is that the sportsmen and women who were on that call will look more at the reason why we would live longer. It is not necessarily because of the excessive physical activity that we did in our younger years, but more about the attitude that is ingrained into a sports person's mind. It is not a big leap to think that we know that being physically active has a positive influence on our life expectancy in later years. It is not a big leap to think that those of us who were doing that to excess would benefit from that. During that discussion, we talked about being active early in life and having that positive effect on life expectancy and living well in our later years. To follow on from a colleague's previous discussion, we have a health inequality in our society that has yet to be tackled in my view in the whole seven years that I have been in here. I have talked about the obesity crisis, smoking and alcohol, the mental health crisis, MSK conditions, type 2 diabetes and a preventable gender—like 40 per cent of cancers. A lot of that is again on the discussion today. We have tackled that in two ways. We can either decide that we are going to shovel more and more of our resource into treatment of those conditions or we bite the bullet and we start to look at how we long-term look at how we prevent those conditions in the first place and we have less people seeking medical conditions, of course. In a discussion like this, what I am discussing here is the ability or the need for us to make our youngsters active. In 70 years' time, they can live a long and active life, and that is something that we struggle with as parliamentarians to look further than five years. I am talking about six or seven decades' worth of how we lay the groundwork for that. I think that what we know now is that if we do that now, it will take four or five years to see any benefit from that kind of policy and decades to bear the full fruits for an elderly population living that long and active healthy life and later life. What we have to do is look at how we ensure—as Carl Morgan said—my biggest inequality is inequality of opportunity and how we make sure that we encourage our preschoolers to be physically active and how we give that opportunity to them so that we can tackle that inequality of opportunity so that the outcomes in later life are much better than they currently are. It should be noted that, as I said earlier, in some areas of Scotland, you are near the end of your life expectancy if you are 50. That is a disgrace. That is an utter disgrace in a constant error. As I said, it was not my intention to speak, Deputy Presiding Officer, but in conclusion, looking at how we live well in later life, I think that what we have to do is look at how we encourage our youngsters to live well. I thank Alexander Stewart for raising the motion for this debate. As I am, most of my colleagues included in the age range, such as Brian Whittle, who was slightly taken aback in the 50s, and Christine Grahame's comment about joining this Parliament in your 50s. I recognise that as well. I have listened very carefully to the contributions. I thank everyone for engaging in this very important debate. I, too, welcome the data that the University of Stirling led healthy ageing in Scotland. Haggis study provides on Scotland's 50-plus population. As Alexander Stewart mentioned, the Scottish population is ageing. In 2020, there was an estimated 1 million Scotland residents aged 65 years or older, and by 2040, that will raise to an estimated 1.4 million. It is clear that Scotland must adapt to our increasingly older population and ensure that all older people are afforded the opportunity to age well and be resilient. I confirm that my colleague Ms Emma Roddack has clear responsibilities for diversity, inclusion and equality, including older people. The Scottish Government wants to make sure that all our policies on ageing are informed by evidence, and we regularly review the evidence available. For example, the Scottish Government is co-designing girffy or getting it right for everyone. That will form the future practice model of all health and social care professionals and shape the future design and delivery of services, including those for older people and frailty. The Scottish Government consulted on a health and social care strategy for older people in 2022, and the Government also recognises that older people are significantly likelyer than any other age groups to be living with dementia or unpaid carer for someone living with dementia. In March, I was pleased to attend the introduction to dementia meeting centre's event where I learned about the work that they are doing to support and give confidence to those with dementia and their families. I made the mistake of saying that dementia suffers. We need to change our outlook on dementia and the words that we use about people living with dementia. In my previous life—this touches a bit on what Rachel Hamilton was talking about, what we can learn from different communities—in my previous life, managing the Museum of Islay Life in my constituency, one of my strongest memories is the additional stories and information that I got about exhibits and photographs from the older members of the island's community, some who had dementia and some not. I could see the positive impact to them, contributing to the recording of Islay's social history. Both my grands lived with dementia, so I am very pleased that the Scottish Government is currently developing a new dementia strategy for Scotland, which will reflect on the challenges facing these communities, as well as building on the supports that matter to them. The Parliament welcomed efforts to develop this strategy and co-reparticipation of people with lived experience in its development during last month's parliamentary debate on the topic. I look forward to the Scottish Government publishing the strategy at the end of May. Through our new palliative and end-of-life care strategy, we are prioritising work on anticipatory care plans and looking at what can be done to promote their use by enabling people to have conversations with health and care professionals about what matters to them, even when their health changes or deteriorates, and being able to record and share those conversations as a plan so that the care and support they subsequently receive honours that plan. Care homes are where people live, and Christine Grahame talked about the importance of recognising that, and they call those places home, so they should therefore expect the same level of involvement, choice and support for their health and wellbeing as they would if they were living elsewhere in the community. We also need to recognise, with the demographics of people living in care homes have changed, having changed over the past 10 to 15 years, the needs of those who reside there are evolving too. Many people are living with increasingly complex health and care needs, and my health, my care, my home is a blueprint for improvement in care homes and makes a series of recommendations to reduce the inequalities around access to wrap around care homes and provides direction and a vision to provide high-quality personalised care that is proactive, consistent, safe and meaningful. We have unfortunately seen social isolation and loneliness being made worse by the cost of living crisis, and as part of our emergency response to the cost crisis earlier this year, the Scottish Government invested 971,000 providing support to community organisations working to tackle social isolation and loneliness. On 8 March this year, the £3.8 million social isolation and loneliness fund was launched and will run up to July 2026. The new Scottish Government funding will provide significant longer-term support for organisations and projects working on the ground to tackle socialisation and loneliness in our communities across Scotland, which Carol Mocken highlighted. Over the past two years since 2021, we have provided £36 million to the communities, mental health and wellbeing fund to support the mental health and wellbeing of individuals, particularly those who are at most risk, including older people. Funding projects such as the project in Possil Park, the concrete garden, provides a space where people can meet, eat, learn new skills and garden. Local projects such as this are focused on local solutions supporting local communities, which are key to helping people's wellbeing and reducing social isolation. It remains a sad reality that health, quality of life and even life expectancy, which Angus Stewart raised, can vary significantly among communities across Scotland. Those inequalities are driven by differences in income, wealth and power. By addressing those, we can make Scotland a healthier and fairer place to live. That is why our public health initiatives are complemented by wide-ranging action to reduce poverty and mitigate the impact of the rise in the cost of living. In a country as energy-rich as Scotland, we should not have people living in fuel poverty, but with the UK Government rolling back its already inadequate response to the energy cost crisis, we know that many people will be struggling to keep their homes warm. Despite key policy levers such as the regulation of energy markets remaining under the UK Government's control, we are doing everything in our power to help those worst affected. Most recently, the First Minister announced increased support for households with energy costs, with up to £30 million available through the fuel insecurity fund, a tripling of the fund from this time last year. With that additional funding, we will be able to further help thousands more people to stay and warm in their homes. We want to make sure that all our policies on ageing are informed by evidence, and, as I said before, we regularly review that evidence. I hope that this sets out the Scottish Government's commitment to older people and to healthy and dignified ageing, and shows that the Scottish Government believes that older people are a valued and respected part of our community.


Mr. Speaker, permit me to join the Prime Minister in extending condolences also to the Kingdom of Morocco on the tragic situation which can be classified as a national disaster. Morocco has been a great friend of ours and to this day they continue to contribute to our people, our country, its social and economic life. Mr. Speaker, today is quite historic. It's yet another historic day in the life of this parliament, one which brings to the fore history, passion, emotion, commitment and the exposure of fake individuals who parade sometimes in the name of attempting to help the people. I say it's historic, Mr. Speaker, because when the Minister for Health stood to speak, he set the tone and the atmosphere for today's meeting. He spoke of the involvement of former Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Antony. He spoke of my involvement as Prime Minister then between the period 2007-2011. He spoke of the disgrace during the period 2016-2021 and he spoke of the spirit and energy of this period under the leadership of the parliamentary representative for Cassries East. Mr. Speaker, this parliament mirrors the history of St. Jude Hospital and the journey that we all have had with St. Jude. Today I classify my own involvement as my journey with St. Jude. And I say this, Mr. Speaker, because when I became Minister for Health in 1992, as part of the National Health Development Plan, St. Jude, in my opinion, should have graduated from a community hospital into a national referral hospital with areas of specialization, some of which I thought would have to be a trauma center. But even before my time, there are others who served and the sisters of Mercy who came somewhere in 1965 in search of an old military facility to set up a hospital. Found reason, and I gave the history of that some time ago, found reason to settle at St. Jude and to establish the hospital in 1966. It was a hospital that brought community together. It was a hospital that the people of the south of this country had passion for. It was a hospital that whether you rich or poor, you received some of the best quality healthcare service down there. In fact, one of the signature attributes of St. Jude was the fact that persons who didn't have money but who had land and cultivated the land would go to the hospital and would pay for the service through a battering system of goods, vegetables, and food generally for the service. So that was the mission of St. Jude, together with the religious philosophy of Catholicism there at St. Jude Hospital. And so, Mr. Speaker, when the fire of 9th September occurred, and I often said then, as Prime Minister, that while the United States had their own 9-11, St. Lucia had its 9-9-1. And the reason I say 9-9-1 is because, Mr. Speaker, on the night of the fire, it was at one o'clock in the morning that I got the call that St. Jude was on fire. The ninth day of the ninth month, one o'clock. And I didn't hesitate, Mr. Speaker, to jump out of bed and to action my driver, wherever he was, I started driving. He connected with me and we went down to St. Jude Hospital to see whether we could have lent an additional hand or two to save St. Jude Hospital. But, Mr. Speaker, as the sun rose at 6 o'clock in the morning, the entire surgical block was reduced to ashes. And the onus and burden was on the Prime Minister and his team to find a location considering the loss of life of a number of citizens, community people from the south, to find a location for the hospital that we found the View Fort Secondary School in Larrisos as a temporary holding point. And then later, after surveying the stadium to conclude that the stadium was indeed a suitable place to transform into a hospital. And so, Mr. Speaker, if I'm to look at what we came here today, it is to connect the dots from 1966 through 92, 2009, 2011, 2016, and to say the time is now. The time is now for action. Two years after this government assumed office to get on with the job and to complete this hospital to my own passionate satisfaction that the job has finally come to conclusion. Mr. Speaker, this has meaning to all of us. I know it has meaning to the Minister for Health because St. Jude borders between North and South VFOR. It has meaning to the Parliamentary Representative for VFOR South because for him St. Jude belongs to View Fort, whether it's North or South, even though he advocates every day for View Fort North. View Fort South. For me, Mr. Speaker, the hospital is in View Fort South. It is in View Fort South. I stand corrected. And you see how passionate he is. You see how passionate he is, Mr. Speaker, and it tells you, it speaks to exactly what I'm saying. The passion, the meaning, what it is to those men and women in St. Lucia, whether North, South or East and West, a mere 50 yards away from a boundary makes a difference. And so the Parliamentary Representative for VFOR South is very clear that St. Jude is in View Fort South. And we all love St. Jude and we'll ensure that it remains in View Fort South. But Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, the thing about the passion of St. Jude from day one after the fire was that we will open that hospital within 12 months, within 24 months, sorry. And we started work and we were so passionate that we felt that we should put history together and to print booklets that we distributed one year later. Nice glossy booklets because we felt that they deserve this thing. So the first booklet is entitled Rising from the Ashes. Rising from the Ashes. And speaks of the history of St. Jude from the Beanefield Military Hospital in 1942, a dawn of a new day, driven by compassion for people with our sister Mary Irma who was the founder of St. Jude and Sir John Compton who supported her to the St. Jude history from 1965, the both of a community hospital, and it goes on and on in giving that history, the passion. And then it continued, building on a social foundation and spoke to the plans and the ideas behind establishing a new St. Jude and commending all those who have made a contribution to St. Jude. And so, Mr. Speaker, one year after the fire, we went back and did a groundbreaking ceremony to demonstrate our commitment to get this hospital going. And at that time, Mr. Speaker, we were able, out of a community endeavor, we were able to record and to announce those persons who had made contributions at the time, some of them mainly locals and overseas groups, including the Republic of China on Taiwan, the Government of Australia, the Government of Mexico, Government of Germany, Government of Israel, Government of India, you know, donation of medical equipment from HES Corporation. And I heard the member for Miku South saying all about the equipment, not all of the equipment came in at the time, HES committed to equipment. They didn't send equipment because we didn't have a facility to put the equipment. They committed to equipment, the American Government commitment to equipment and locals, of course, who gave cash. At the end of it, when the last administration decided to abandon in 2016, we had collected $41,32,662 through donations on this project. Mr. Speaker, quite a bit of money on our own, picking up the mantle, rising from the ashes and deciding that we should proceed. So today I heard the leader of the opposition speaking about the original plan as if it is his plan. And I'll come back to that about what he was reading today because if I were in his position, I would not have read that document today. It's an indictment on him, an indictment on him to have stood here today and to read that report.  And I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. It is because, Mr. Speaker, they meadow, they dabble, and they peddle in political garbage. So one time you heard them speaking about Soukouya and Black Magic and Obia. Another time you heard them speaking about Cambridge Analytica, who puts out a statement to state that a flight landed at midnight in the night and what the flight brought in. Another time they're comparing themselves even before they perform with people like Sir John Compton and Kenny Anthony and others to say that the political scavengers are better than what is here now. But Mr. Speaker, what he was reading at the time was a vision that I had in terms of St. Jude Hospital, establishing and upgrading of the healthcare facilities in St. Lucia, St. Jude Hospital. That was in 2011. But more so, it was later on, but earlier on rather, in 2010. I spoke about the vision of St. Jude and the intention of the government at the time. And yes, I spoke about refurbishing the old St. Jude. Yes, I spoke about the potential of a new and modern hospital. Yes, we spoke about the possibility of looking at a location on 21 acres of land next to the stadium to put a brand new facility. And yes, it was all part of a new vision for the south of the country so that you have a modern facility that would have been able to serve not only St. Lucia's but to serve the rest of the Caribbean as a referral centre, particularly in trauma. But Mr. Speaker, as we move on with the project, we realise that even though the $27 million we had estimated for the renovation of the surgical wing, we realised there was much more work to be done on the hospital. We realised that we could not have repaired the surgical block and not repaired the other buildings, particularly the replacement of the asbestos roof. We realised that the plumbing was bad, the aged plumbing was bad and we needed to put in new plumbing. We realised that the sewer system was deteriorating and was outdated. We needed to put in a new sewer system and we also realised that the electrical engineering needed to be looked at because of the age facility. But I had all kinds of nonsense about Mr. Speaker, the building is an 80-year-old building and why do we want to refurbish an 80-year-old building? But Mr. Speaker, it just shows the mentality of the individual that once it's aged, throw it away, demolish it because the demolition crew just demolished it all the way.  And they tried all kinds of things. Get the occupational help and safety people to condemn here. Get the engineers etc to condemn here and all of them said there is nothing wrong in this building. Tell them come and challenge me. So Mr. Speaker, there's nothing wrong with the building. When you look at the structures of St. Jude, their sound, one of the strongest roads we have in this country, Mr. Speaker, you know where they are? In Viewfort. In Viewfort. From the airport, going all the way into the town of Viewfort, built during the war. And nothing with one exception. It was Hurricane, I think it was either the Christmas Eve trough or one of them, where it lifted the pavement. But other than that, a perfect, strong piece of infrastructure, Christmas Eve trough. So nothing wrong with this. So Mr. Speaker, this is properly repaired by Obisadu. So Mr. Speaker, we demonstrated that there is something that we as a people love. We love St. Jude, we want to preserve it and I felt that this was the way to go. Dr. Anthony came and continued, and I'll come back to this, continued with it. But they came, mashed it up, take it out, build a new building which we call the block, and make people believe that that building will stand on its own and call it a new hospital. There's no way it could have happened. So Mr. Speaker, the question is why was St. Jude, the construction of St. Jude stopped in 2016? Why was it stopped? When the fire happened, Mr. Speaker, we appointed Cyril Donnelly. We all know Cyril Donnelly. I should not have mentioned his name, but it's alter, baby. He continued, the government changed in 2016. The contractor continued from my time into 2016. Until he started giving problems. Until he started giving problems, Mr. Speaker. When you look at the report, Mr. Speaker, the handover report, which all of a sudden today seemed to be the leader of the opposition's Bible, quoting from, five years he never looked at the report, or if he looked at it, never shared the report. He never brought it here to the parliament to debate. But today he's reading it like his Bible and attempting to extract excerpts from the report to utilize to give guidance or to condemn us. Mr. Speaker, in the report, in the handover report, Mr. Speaker, the project coordinator said in there that the project coordinator said in her report, let me just get it, Mr. Speaker, she said there that challenges, that's number seven on the same book he was reading, the same report, challenges with the original main contractor resulting in ongoing contracts being concluded by December 2013. The major issue with the main contractor was primarily his inability at the time to adequately finance the project and pay workers on the project. Okay, that's in 2013. That's two years, 2013, December 2013. Okay, that continued into the government, the administration of Dr. Anthony. Government change in 2011, it continued up to 2013. It then went on into January 2014 when they couldn't take it no more. And the contractor, it is said in the report, a new main contractor was contracted in January 2014. That's from December 2013 to January 2014, not a break. It demonstrated, Mr. Speaker, the commitment of the government of Dr. Kenny Anthony to continue the project regardless of the fact that it was started by my administration. But the significance of today, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that though we stood on either sides of the political spectrum, we have all found reason in the fact that the St. Jude Hospital could not be used and should not be used as a political tool and the job continued from 2011 onward to 2013 and changed in 2013 to another contractor and brought it all the way to 2016. That was what it was about, Mr. Speaker. Dr. Anthony would not sacrifice it because he needed his hospital. The people of the south needed the hospital. Regardless of the politics, Dr. Anthony continued with the project in 2014. But what happened in 2016, Mr. Speaker? What happened in 2016? In 2016, the moment they got in, they were on a witch hunt, suspended the project, fired the contractor, wasted three years trying to find a reason to abandon the main project and to move on onto their own frolic in the name of building a modern St. Jude Hospital, which I don't care how you clad it or you drip it or whatever you do, it is a box. It is a box. I visited there last week, Mr. Speaker, and what I saw wasn't at all impressive as far as that box is concerned. It is incomplete, of course, and you can see what was going on there. To use the terms of a colleague of mine is flashing mirrors, glum glum. Ahead of elections to make people believe that look at this beautiful thing you can have if we get back into office. But behind the facade, behind the facade, it is nothing but a box. But we are still sane in this government, Mr. Speaker. With the monies that we have from our own resources, with the loan that the Saudi Arabia government will give us, we are still sane. Our mission is clear. We will fix the existing original St. Jude Hospital to the satisfaction of the people, and we will find use for the box, use that will bring reward and credit to the people of this country. We won't just simply decide we're not going to build on it. We're not going to do that. We will do something with it. But don't make people believe that after you wasted three years, three years, excuses after excuses after excuses, you know, behaving as you are political scavengers.  And what this is all about is a modern facility with all of the electronics and this and that, within the walls, within the panels, insulation here and insulation there, just trying to blind people. New technology, et cetera, et cetera, after spending all that money on the facility. Mr. Speaker, this government, and I'm proud to say, Mr. Speaker, let me just say something. I'm proud to say that I am proud to be part of this government of the St. Jude Hospital. I'm proud. The reason for this, Mr. Speaker, I see men who are sincerely committed to the cause of the people. Sincerely committed. Not men who are parading like they are committed. Men and women, sorry, madam, minister for gender affairs, gender balance. Men and women who are sincerely committed to the cause of the people. I heard one saying earlier, and I can't remember which one, Mr. Speaker, saying about somebody suffering with jet lag. Is there anybody else who can suffer from jet lag than him? Flying from one place to the other.  You stay at a house at a hotel, 2,000 pounds a night while people in the country are suffering. And you want to accuse a member of suffering with jet lag? You're globetrotting. And when you look at the bills when they come out, you'll hear the kinds of monies we wasted, Mr. Speaker, of those globetrotters just running about the place, flying all over the place. And to use the term of a man who I admired, Sir John Compton, sweet talk and fancy talk, nothing but talk. Nothing but talk. Take your ball and run. Take your ball and run. And then, Mr. Speaker. Members of the Member for Microsoft did give me a very valid reason as to why he has to leave at this point in time. A very valid reason. It's a bereavement. A bereavement? Yes. I am reporting what he told me. Mr. Speaker, if it is a bereavement, let me take responsibility without the Prime Minister asking me and extend condolences to the leader of the opposition and his bereaved family. Not a family member. It's somebody who is actually due to meet later on today. Okay. So, Mr. Speaker, on that note, let me get back on track. So, Mr. Speaker, as I said, this government of the St. Louisian Labour Party that I've joined in the mission for the people, I'm proud to be part of it. Because I am sure at the end of the day, in the next two or three years, when the time comes, and we look at the scorecard of this government, you'll recognise that this government stuck to its mission, stuck to its mandate, stuck to its vision of putting the people first, serving them, providing for them, developing a country that we shall build and ensure that St. Louisians are part of that building and that operation of this country. So, Mr. Speaker, as I move on, so in 2016, they abandoned the project and then they have decided pretty close to the election of 2021 that they must attempt to make haste while the sun was shining. But that sun wasn't shining, Mr. Speaker. That sun was setting. And by the time the sun set, it was time to leave. This government has gone through and what we have done. We have looked at the plans, we have looked at St. Jude, we have studied all of the reports which were given, all of what was done, including reports from their time and everything. And we have said, we are moving in one direction. We will continue St. Jude Hospital. And based on my own visits in recent months, I've been there probably three or four times, I must admit that while we have not made any major announcements except the fact that we have negotiated with the Saudi government, the loan for the completion of the hospital of $202 million, I must admit, I'm very, very confident that this hospital will be finished by the end of next year. Latest. Latest by the end of next year. So Mr. Speaker, what does the resolution speak of? It speaks of borrowing from the bank the amount of $281 million, $250 Saudi Reals. It speaks about the use of the money to complete the hospital, but also at the same time to appreciate the fact and give value to the fact, Mr. Speaker, that in the time of need, we throughout, if I should use the term throughout the sportsmen out of the stadium, and I must take this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, at this time, because I don't think I've ever, ever done it to thank the sportsmen and sportswomen of Vierfo, the sportsmen and sportswomen of Vierfo, who at the time of need, Mr. Speaker, didn't protest, allowed us the government to have the stadium, and for 14 years, Mr. Speaker, 14 years, they have said nothing except to hope that the government of St. Lucia, whichever government would complete St. Jude Hospital so that they can have a center of health, that they know and they get injured on the playing field, they know they're going safely to a hospital that have the facilities and the competence of men and women to take care of them. And I'm very grateful for the men and women, the young men and young women of Vierfo South, particularly Vierfo North and the whole of the South. And I ask former Prime Minister, Minister for Health and those of you from the South to please convey my sentiments of gratitude to the sportsmen and sportswomen of Vierfo. Now, Mr. Speaker, I think the member for Cassie Central indicated that the box could not have operated on its own. And you know how the box became official, you know? The box could not have operated on its own. In fact, the box was part of the total complex. So whatever services they would have put into the box, whether administration and other services, etc., would only be a subset of the total complex. But that is a problem. And you heard the member for Miku South earlier making a statement. He said, well, you know the buildings that were built on roots, on tree trunks, and they were affecting the building. So they had to knock down the buildings and pull out the tree trunks and get to the bottom of the crust of the earth to build the box. I don't know, but you know, Mr. Speaker, I think that hospital created new technologies for certain people. Because at the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, the cost thing for the foundation was at $3 million. Yes. Yes, you did $3 million, Mr. Speaker. So by the time they coined the phrase about the root and the tree trunk that was down in the foundation affecting the structure, the same way they coined the analogy of a corridor and a gurney cannot go through. All of that to justify the decision of moving out or stopping construction on the original building. So the foundation, Mr. Speaker, which was estimated at $3 million turned out to be $9 million. $9 million.  A license was granted to get sand off the River Dory beach, I think it was. River Dory, one of them, the River Mouth. They extracted sand over and beyond what was required to put in the foundation and destroyed all our roads. And a member for Viewfort South certainly had the reason to put the pressure on the Ministry of Infrastructure to fix his roads. Although we treated him badly, because after we did the road, we left out a critical part, which is the Larissus Road, at least to the school. And to the highway. And to the highway down at the Marcy store. But, Mr. Speaker, yes, we're going to do something about itself. I promise you. But, Mr. Speaker, these are the kinds of things that happened, Mr. Speaker, during the reconstruction of that facility. And you tell me that there are people out there who are promoting that this is the guy who must take St. Lucia into the future. Mr. Speaker, if we've got to go and look back at what has transpired, when you think of the things that happened, Mr. Speaker, when a man can wake up in the morning and ask, I don't know if it's the accountant general, I think he was around early on, but when he can say write a check of seven million US dollars for vaccine, and you say you don't know who the person is, you thought he owned the company, that you ordered the vaccine, and today I don't know the Prime Minister has said nothing, the Minister for Finance has not told us whether it has been paid. But seven million US dollars of our people's money, this recklessness, Mr. Speaker, cannot continue.  The same way you broke down the prison, broke down custody suites, ready to break down parliament, and nobody can touch you. But, Mr. Speaker, we must bring some order to this country. We must pass legislation, as I believe the member for Cassie Central indicated, to deal with people who do things reckless in their administrative responsibility and escape without punishment. People must be accountable and must take responsibility for what they're doing. But, Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, so we spoke about the statements being made by the then Prime Minister, etc., and attempting to read a report, attempting to read a report, Mr. Speaker, that he never read, and if he did, he probably read it in the dark and didn't share it with the rest of the country. But he made a statement with Mr. Speaker, it was quite profound. When the member said that the Millennium Heights was only given a name, in other words, it was only christened. It was only christened, and it wasn't prepared for being handed over or opened for years. It stayed, after being christened, just called the Owen King, whatever, Millennium Hospital. So four years, Mr. Speaker, he said that the hospital laid there idle and not open. Mr. Speaker, in March of 2016, March, April, May, June, three months before he got in as Prime Minister, there was a new National Hospital Commissioning Project status report, and he received it. He received it. The report dated March 31, 2016. Mr. Speaker, it was a report that was produced, I believe, every month on the progress that was taking place regarding the commissioning of the OKU hospital. Under the leadership of Stephen King, Dr. Stephen King, who headed the Transition Committee. Yes, he was fired. I guess because he has the same name with me. Maybe he thought he was firing me. But Mr. Speaker, so here you have a government with a plan.  When I got into office, when I got into office in 2007, the thought of a new hospital had started already. From Anasalansiko, continued by me, and my thing was we will refurbish Victoria Hospital, put in some new blocks, break down the old Duke of Edinburgh award building, etc. That was supposed to be the new Victoria. Then Dr. Anthony came in as Prime Minister and came up with the idea of building a hospital along the Milliam Highway. In those years, I had my views about it, but it was my views. I felt, well, listen, why are we going to spend all this money? Let's do the thing where everybody knows. But the point is, Mr. Speaker, that he saw wisdom in going to a new site with a vision of putting all of the health services on one complex. Mental health, general hospital with a helipad. So I came into office now, imagine I'm back in office, I become Prime Minister, I didn't even plan for that, and the negotiations continued with the European Union. There's one thing you want to talk about, your fifth finger. They had already selected the contractor. They had, they had already selected the contractor. And we had a difficult decision to make about the fifth finger because the envelope wasn't sufficient. The point is, Mr. Speaker, we continued. I continued from where he left off. I signed it. We lost the election later. Dr. Anthony came in in 2011 and completed the hospital. But again, the egoistic individual who believes that he knows it all and wants to do, as you say, his new St. Lucia, you know, flashing mirrors, sweet talk and fancy chalk. He, Mr. Speaker, decides I'm not going to open the hospital. So he ignores the report. Fire Stephen King. Fire Stephen King, now you're prompting me. Fire Stephen King, Mr. Speaker. And then keeps the hospital closed from 2016 until COVID chased them out of Victoria Hospital. The movement from Victoria Hospital, Mr. Speaker, was not planned. No plans at all. Only because. They were smoked out. Because Pigeon Island was not viable. Because Pigeon Island, Rat Island was not viable. It was not viable foolishness.  So you left a hospital standing there from 2016 until 2019, 2020.  Thank God it was there. Thank God it was there. Member for Gaspis North, you have 15 minutes left. 15 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. But Mr. Speaker, and you know these things are important to speak about. So whereas we have come, Mr. Speaker, to speak on the resolution of a loan of importance to complete the hospital, Mr. Speaker, it is important that we create what I call the atmosphere. We create the justification.  Just imagine, Mr. Speaker, if only that government then had continued with St. Jude, today we would not have been speaking about St. Jude. And that is why while I agree to the rules of the House, that we must come and speak on the motion. Speak on the motion which is, can we afford it? Is it good? Are the terms good? Is it important that our people understand why we are doing those things so that we cannot repeat the mistakes of the past?  You waste time. COVID chased you out. You fire Stephen King and left behind a report which speaks to the project summary, policy and governance legislation, and it says that of February 2015, the Millennium Heights Medical Complex Act of 2015 was passed. In 2015, it means there was a plan. So you had legislation. The government knew exactly what it was doing. That was 2015. Then it had operations review and rationalization of services. 2015, 2016, the government said, listen, let us look at our operations. Let us review the operations for this new facility. This is no longer going to be a Victoria Hospital. This is a new, modern facility. The operations have to be different. The operation procedures must be different. So all of that was being done, Mr. Speaker, under Stephen King and his competent team, fire them. Then human resource management, Mr. Speaker. In other words, the team was saying, we cannot go in with the same set of people. Old wine and new bottle. It's a new bottle bringing new wine. So they're saying, with respect to human resource development, the ministry continues to advance the agenda with the engagement of a consultant to undertake the development of the complex. So Mr. Speaker, one, I read this report. Every step of the way, they speak about tendering. Tendering for services. Tendering for services. Keeping in tune with the financial act. Okay? Human resource management. It dealt with change management because once you move in and you're changing, changing into a new facility, new ideals, new ideas, new mission, new vision, new processes, you must have a change management. Undertake government counterpart works. Telecommunications. That was tended. The Kiblin wireless wanted. The one that tended. Hospital information systems, Mr. Speaker. Okay? Three companies tended. Equipping installation and commissioning. Administration and move management. So in other words, apart from dealing with the change management, that is for systems, they say now, move management. On the day that we decide to move, you have to manage that. You have to manage that. Manage what you take out. How do you take it out? To be able to sterilize what you're moving so that you don't carry anything that is not unnecessary in the place. But the last time they, when they moved Mr. Speaker during COVID, you know, in my constituency, you know, we have an old, I don't know if it exists in other communities. You know, when people are moving house, you have to be careful what time you move. So when people are moving and they see you passing in La Clare, everybody shouts, pines, pines. So Mr. Speaker, that's how they moved out of Victoria Hospital. Like people moving from one house to another and pines, things covering up like, I mean, unprofessional. So Mr. Speaker, this is the commerce that this guy created. This is what this guy left behind Mr. Speaker. Commerce. And speaks today in public and wants to attack everybody, wants to go after the Prime Minister, wants to come after me and speak about dead weight and this and what I said. I top it up them. They must learn a lesson. Because he has failed to understand, there was a day called the 21st of July, 20, 26 of July, 2021, in which the people of this country resoundedly said, we do not want you and your policies. We have voted a new government, the St. Lucia Liberal Party with the blue wave riding. So Mr. Speaker, this is where we are. As far as St. Jude is concerned. And I stand here with great pride of being part of this administration, with much emotion because of my sentiments for St. Jude.  She died at 97, suffered with glaucoma, et cetera. And she always looked to St. Jude for medical care. She waited whenever the foreign doctors came in and would go there to get the medical care. And therefore Mr. Speaker, for me, as then Prime Minister at the time, then Prime Minister at the time, having been involved from the inception of the fire, to travel to VU Fort, I believe in less than an hour, and to be involved for 24 hours, assisting and making sure that things went well. Having seen the process unfold and the challenges of financing, having seen the many St. Lucians who came out, the children who walked, who came and gave their few cents for the reconstruction, the St. Lucian groups overseas who hosted events and sent to us for the reconstruction of the hospital, the Taiwanese, the Australians, and all the governments who participated in the process who gave support and who believed in us, who believed whether it was my administration or the administration of Dr. Kenny Antony. They saw in us a commitment to serve, a commitment to the people, a commitment to make good on a promise to the people, a promise of good healthcare. And therefore, I'm very proud today that I'm part of the government that will see the completion of this hospital. I'm very proud and I look to this day, Mr. Speaker, with great expectation, under your leadership, Mr. Prime Minister, and also under what I must indicate today, under what I call the dynamic leadership of a good health minister, a gentleman who I know, a gentleman who I know when he started, may have had his own, you know, own jittery situation, maybe a new area, where you said him. But I must admit, Mr. Speaker, he reminds me of myself when I was in the Ministry of Health, and I'll give a story, Mr. Speaker, the next five minutes that I have. You know, after leaving the Ministry of Health in 1992, after the second election, and my leader, Sir John Compton, said, well, I will send you to the Ministry of Health. I said, oh my God, people said this is the Ministry of Health. So it took me a week before I made up my mind, before I made up my mind to go. And I went over there wondering, boy, I wonder if I'll survive. I was sitting down with my permanent secretary and my team, and full of energy about getting things done, the new hospital, the new hospital here, and all of these ideas. I got so excited that I got immersed in the whole process. And just like he does sometimes, the Minister sometimes just picks up and goes and walks, the hospital goes to the health centre. I did that also. And it's a great joy when you go to speak to the nurses, Mr. Speaker, and you meet the patients, and you get the stories, et cetera, et cetera. And the nurses give you great encouragement, Mr. Speaker. And I think I want to commend the Minister for Health for the great job he's doing in the Ministry of Health. And I'm sure that when we complete St. Jude, I'm not saying if, but when we complete St. Jude, I think we'll have a great celebration. A great celebration, a great victory for us as a government, and certainly a landmark institution that down the road we can look back, will read the history books and realize that we have populated the land space of this country with a group of individuals who are truly committed, who are devoted, and who are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices for the cause of the people. I thank you, Mr. Speaker.


Hi, hi, I'm Sam come from Genetic. I'm project manager So we're looking at here. Yeah, this is the ZGB getaway So it's got the internet port USB. Yeah What do you connect to the USB? The USB just for instant the storage and it's different with other ZGB getaway in the market Normally there are the USB from for in for connect with the LTE module dango, but ours is the only for instant Storage because our the LTE module is already in the grid inside. So this is the GTW 350. Yeah, it's running Linux open Open WT. So that means it has a lot of functionality going on. It's like a router software a little bit. Yeah So and then it takes a ZigBee really easy wave a lot of different solutions Yeah, it's the can can support a lot of different solutions now this small size already can support ZigBee a BRE and 4G Wi-Fi and What's the solution? What's the chipset? The chipset is for MTK So it has built-in modem. Yeah, this is the for SIM card slot SIM card slot. Yeah, so It supports 3g 4g. Yeah support 2g 3g 4g nice Available now. Yeah, it's available ready to go. All right, and you have a lot of other IOT. We are here in the IOT area This when you talk about this This is about Collecting all this. Yeah, it's it's a well-connected control Motoring all the sensors in the market and it's already can support 40 different brand over 200 different sensors in the market So one gateway for everything one gateway. Yeah compatible with a lot of different sensor device What is this? This one is from Hammond. It's a smart socket It's my plug. This is the PR This is Liquid water liquid This is temperature and humidity sensors So this one riddle will measure how much is raining? No, it's a magic Some area. Yeah, some area is How much in the air? Yeah, this is a door and the window sensors But there's so many different Different things, right? Yeah, and you have other stuff going on with IOT. What is this? What is this? This one is a Laura get away is for long-range Communication is used Qualcomm solution It's also So it has HDMI USB And the relay. This is the relay to to relay and also have a net This is the power socket So it has HDMI. It's kind of like a TV box also No, it's the totally different. This is why the HDMI is for connect with the display to show in the sensors data And now you can control the sensor the sensors So Laura is very long distance. Yeah Kilometers kilometers Aware yeah for for farm for smart city like a smart smart parking solution and also smart the the street light Solution and also can tracking tracking the animal And this one gateway can go to many different things can connect with the different kind of Laura Device hundreds thousand thousands thousands for one gateway one gateway thousands and Then can in the mesh expand the size Can you you need to connect each one to the internet So you connect the internet port. Yeah, it's this one is the Wi-Fi. This is the Laura and This one this one is the GPS No sim card right a sim card have this is a sim card sim card here, so it goes on 3g 4g also. Yeah All right So what is this cable do this is the Laura Laura cable? Laura antenna nice, so what people do with this one? What's happening? What's the latest? This is also is a Qualcomm chipset. It's a dragon board With they use this board to do the H computing So here's the information about that. Yeah Qualcomm 410 What people do with this? Usually customers what they do usually they use this this board to connect with the Equipments and Analyze all the data from the equipments So it's also important for the IOT business right normally they use this one as a basic industry get away Does it do also? Zigbee's we see waves everything or do you have an adapter to do that, right? Yeah We have to use the adapter board to support the give you the wave or Laura for example like this way This Laura get away is using this solution to make this Laura get away So that means this one is inside is inside It's paring the whole gateway. Yeah, so that means there's a lot of different projects happening around this Yeah, definitely, and it's all in the open source. Yeah Linux. Oh, yeah, you news Debbie Debbie and then you have Something like this can you show? Here so those are your famous Android TV TV boxes, right? Yeah Very popular I guess. Yeah, and certified Android TV So you have a little box like this affordable and what do you do with this? This one is pretty new stuff. This one is the Zigbee dango. It's a well Working together with the traditional set up box and then make the the set up box to be Smart get away and the control the Zigbee device around this sort of box So that means you take a traditional set the box. Yeah, you connect this on the USB port. Yeah Oh Maybe here have a USB port so you just connect on USB and then it becomes an IoT gateway Yeah, it's a web the smart get away and you have this support in your software already. Yeah already So all the genetic genetic all of them So simple to become a gateway. Yeah, also you can use the voice to talking with the Android box and the control the the Zigbee device around Does it doesn't have microphone these? Use the remote voice control remote control. Yeah, yeah, you can speak with the remote and the control the sort of box And then the sort of box we are talking with this Zigbee dango and the control the Zigbee device in the house Nice That's cool. And so this is the Google certified and your TV box running on the It's not on the amlogic. I'm logic 905 D. What's D? D is It's not a not a new one. It's already in the market Three years. All right. All right. And then you also have something like this. What is this? This is the HDMI capture is the for recording the HDMI video stream So you can capture it to USB 3 Yeah, USB 3 so this is great for people who want to Maybe live stream. Yeah live-streaming video on PC using OBS and it's great for people who play video games and want to stream the video games or Like I do I like to stream for my camera directly on YouTube live So this would be a great way to take the HDMI source for my camera and live-stream it through the OBS and Because you are genie take your experts in capture also, right? Yeah. Yeah All right. That's a lot of pop box. And so how's it going here at the fair? This is the IoT area Yeah, busy busy It's the second day second day with all these different Laura Zigbee IoT solutions All right. And can you explain some of the other project projects you work with many different things? Yeah, we normally we we're doing some customized project is based on our the current solution and the eight some specially requirements and doing some different box for our customers So like some customer have very special requirements. Yeah, you can do it. Yeah And then of course, we should have a lead the unit first and then we can do for example What is one of the crazy ones? Oh advanced advanced project you do like Currently we have make a big box and it's a traditional set of box But the in the grid the Zigbee the sensors and also display and then with the multiple HDMI input and the for the for the for the user to to can connect with different kind of device and the switch by themselves very flexible for them to change the HDMI port Multiple inputs multiple multiple that means you this one box control everything one box to control a lot of different device and And you have full expertise in doing TV box together with the gateway Yeah, definitely. You just showcase this but you can now you can do one box is a brain for the whole house Yeah, and also have for health Health care for example in the house a people wear a Bluetooth device in the hand and then just to control When you leave the house when you back that to the house also have for the some sensors put on your back on your bed And when you sleep and the how long time you sleep every day they also can detect Nice, so there's a smile healthcare. Yeah, and in general to be the gateway for everything smart Yeah, everything is connected to the cloud and the control and the monitoring by our Apple The phone the ABP in the phone. How's it with software updates? We support our OTA update and you provide a lot of updates. Yeah for a long time It's gonna be support and device. Yeah, cool You


clinic in Snowmass, Colorado with me today. We got LES. He is an army veteran and first this isn't your first time here at the clinic, right? No, my first time was in 2017. And through there, I was hoping to get my ski. Just things happen, but so I'm really glad to be back out here and able to do it again. Yeah, I just saw you zooming down the mountain first run of the clinic so far this year.  It's honestly just amazing. I mean, just with the staff in the facility and just their accommodation and helping us to get set up and then just to make our experience really, really good. It makes it really helpful for me. I'm trying to get my own chair so it's it's really nice that they have so many different chairs to try and that way we can you know make a choice without having to try it and then not like it. And so it's really helpful to have all the experience and just everyone to help you just learn how to ski. Yeah, nice. So you know, this is our first year back.  Last year, we're half we're at full capacity now. What's what's your impression just of this year's event so far? Super awesome and just amazing. Honestly, everyone I think everyone's just excited to be back out. And I know that it kind of put a damper on everything for a while. But it's one of those things that once you get back out here, you remember why you come back out here, you know. So it's a really awesome time. Well, that's a good segue, because I was just going to ask you, you know, if there's a veteran out there who might not know about this clinic or might have learned about it could be a little apprehensive about coming out here. What would you say to him? You don't have to be. I mean, the good thing is you can go from super beginner to all the way to like really advanced. So what's really nice about that is that even if you're just coming out just to have fun and not race or be competitive, you can still get a lot out of it. So that's what I enjoy about it. Okay, any any events, other events that you're looking forward to this week? Definitely snowmobiling and maybe fly fishing. Okay, right on. Appreciate your time. Hey, if you're out there, you want to learn more about the clinic, go ahead, check out wintersportsclinic.org and follow the hashtag wintersportsclinic all the way throughout the week. We'll be out here until Friday having a blast having some


Alright, it's now time for Interactive. Remember, you can download the Sportsmax app from the Google Play Store or the App Store and catch all our content from the tip of your fingers and say our occasions where you can interact with myself, Lance or Ricardo in the live chat feature. Also, check out our clips on ex-Instagram and YouTube. One more Westonese all-rounder, Ricardo Powell, smashed a fabulous 56 ball hundred in the Legends C20 League on Saturday. Let's take some reactions. Ajit Sada, my favourite player from Westonese those days, Amid Pisada. He was an amazing hit of the ball remembering his all-time favourite sixes out off the ground. Punkstar, still a good player for franchise leagues and a terrific fielder. Samir, this dude gave belt treatment to Indian bowlers 20 years back. Il Chopper North, 1999 called it once its superstar back. Seriously, I just want to address that to you. They want Powell to come back and play. Do they not know there's an age? No, no. I think the suggestion was relating to his stunning 1999 century against India, which was just an amazing knock. You know, Ricardo Powell was before his time earlier. Had Ricardo Powell been around in the heights of T20 franchise cricket, he would be an absolute superstar. He was a marvellous hitter of the cricket ball, decent offspin and was a terrific fielder. And he would be a millionaire. Playing this C20. Had he been around in the peak of T20 cricket. All right, well, let's continue. We have some reactions to Darren Bravo's social media announcement that he's taking a break from international cricket. Vignesh Mohan, the pin could be seen. Suraj, all the very best bro for your future endeavors will miss your wonderful performances in all formats. Kartik, sometimes it's okay to take a break, come back strong, junior Lara. Afzal, feeling sad for Windy's cricket. Zack, very disappointing from West Indies cricket board. So a lot of reactions there, of course, these reactions are supportive of Bravo and you're already sad that they won't get to see him perform. Somebody said junior Lara. Yeah, and I think ultimately individuals are disappointed because of the reason put forward by the head of the selection committee. And I think that's where we're all trying to reconcile what Desmond Haines is saying against what has been done. So I don't know. I don't know. West Indies cricket. I first traded Ricardo Chambers. We're closing the show on that note. Thank you so much viewers for tuning in and we'll be back tomorrow. Same time, same place. Remember, Lance will be back. So looking forward to hear what he has to say on the latest topics in sport. Have a beautiful evening.


This study investigates the potential use of bare-bub-bast fibres as reinforcement in polymer composites and found that the fibres have a density of 1.10 for 1gCm3, a crystallinity index of 48.01% and thermal stability up to 250°C, making them suitable for use in such composites. This article was authored by Hafiz A. El-Tahir, Wei-Lin Xu, Xinlu, and others.


When managing your woods for timber and wildlife, you will likely hear the term basal area. The basal area of a tree is defined as the cross-sectional area of a single tree at four and a half feet above the ground. To imagine what this looks like, visualize looking down on a one-acre plot where all the trees have been cut at four and a half feet tall. The total square footage of all the trees in that one-acre plot is your basal area per acre. Forests with 70 square feet or less of basal area often allow for sunlight to grow beneficial understory vegetation. However, forests with 100 square feet or greater basal area can lead to closed canopies that shade out desirable understory plants. Implementing a thinning operation may be beneficial to lowering your forest basal area.


Droganeis,CO without I have some very exciting news,I have be nominated for the Best British Podcast, I m'are up again on some very big names,so if everybody could take it a minute and click the link in my bio and type in James English and play chef vote. Thank you for the support and hopefully I can win it. At Collins Morgan we offer friendly, regulated and ethical advice for anyone living in scotland. Over the last six years we have helped thousands of Scottish residents become debt-free. Our organisation always have your best interests at heart. And our advisors are trained to help you in any situation with a range of solutions always available. If you're struggling with debts, act now and call one of our friendly advisors on 0141 218 450. Ben, we're on! And it is, guys. We've got the bellator, Chris Bungart, how are we, brother? Good to see you. It's been a lot of big time, mate. It's getting real. The bad guy, you know what I mean? The badest guy about here. What's happening, man? Not a lot, mate. First of all... You've had a lot of people wanting to get around. We tagged up left, right and centre. First of all, mate, congratulations on your win. Thank you, mate. What was that boy 9 in... The one he's last 9, two-week world champion. Took him at first round. Army veteran in all that jazz. Light work, man.  That means what was already there. Even before I was fighting him, the name got floated a bit. That's right, let's prepare for him. Cos he's good. He's beat hundreds of great guys in two minutes. That's it, man. Dain breaks wet. I'd actually done it. The warm-up and the changing room was harder than my actual fight. That's how bad it was. The first Scottish guy. The first Scottish person, I've had the fright for better. Is that correct? Is it second? No, second. The first guy first. I'm still going to be second. How's it feel to be... That was cool, man. Cos I always remember Rob Whiteford singing for the UFC for Scotland. He was the first guy there to bring the UFC to Scotland. I was like, that's cool. Even if you... ...carrier goes, I didn't align. They can always look back. He was a first. For me to be Bellator. Cos Bellator and UFC are rivals. People say, you've got to go to UFC next. It's not like that. It's not like I've got to go there after that. They're actual competing against each other. So they're rivals. That's how big they are as well. So it would be the first Scottish guy to be signed. That was pretty sweet, man. I was always saying I can look back. Congratulations. You never feel short anyway mate. First round, stoppage. Absolutely. You came out on fire. Junkie were underrated. Junkie were underrated. I think even when I hugged his back. I must have thought this guy's never choked me.  As you do. Kick it right back. So all the fighting stuff. When did it all begin for you? When did it all start?  Just when I was a wee guy.  I was in school fighting. Suspended all the time. I wasn't a bully. Fights came to me. I would always fight. I wouldn't pick on anybody. I'd usually batter the bullies basically. I was like a teenage dexter. But no killed them. Just battered them. But then I love pro wrestling. The fake wrestling as you just call it. So I used to always watch that. And wrestle and fighting. Put people in submissions and stuff like that. And that's where I started. Just fell there. I was a team in Hollywood Town. I was a gym. I started then cage fighting. I mean my mate got a wee pair of UFC gloves.  It was like grappling. Sparring. Just took it for there. That's where I started. Nine years ago man. The kids were watching. I think it was cool. When did you start taking it more serious then?  I was like constant partying. Taking drugs and just shagging about.   So about a year ago to a year ago I lost my job. We all got sacked. Cos I was going to watch Celtic away. Training Dublin and all that. Just pulling sickies and I got caught man. My boss has brought me in. It was a woman. I just thought I was going to slap my wrist. And there was a table like this. And I walk in and she's got a folder man. And I can just see through the A4 bits of paper. It's like I can see pictures on my Instagram. I mean like. I could just see it on my way. Three Asian tourists in Germany. I'm just like.  I've heard it's in school man. And she's like this is funny. Nervous laugh and then she goes. Put these bits of papers at this full table. And it's got papers, newspapers. And I felt like I was getting interrogated with the CIA. Now this burst out laughing. This date you're in Germany with Celtic. This date of the paper you're doing and going to fighting. But you say you're not well to be off work. All these days I'd pull sickies man. She's like I just had a heart attack. I thought I was going to have to slap my wrist still. Cos people's done worse. Sure as hell the next day I worked there for years. I should have sacked me man.  Where's my income? Got to come fame. And that was single handedly the best thing that ever happened to me. Cos I went to full time fighting. And I concentrated, knuckled down. I rested, trained twice a day. Three times a day like a professional. And for the year I've been on a tear. I think I've only lost one out of my last nine fights. And it was a fight of the year. Coast loss that I fought a one. So that was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I was losing that job. It was in the steelworks.  But it was easy and it was right where I stayed. It was money every week, not mean it's money every week. But I was going anywhere. I was just floating through life doing that. Just existing basically. Taking the fighting as part of time and no care. I know guys have done that all their life for four years. And just the same factory, same routine.  Now I get to train when I want. Get to travel the world. And it's the best thing ever happened to me. Your circle is very tight. You get good piles. You get like carrying tear in the corner of McGregor. Conor McGregor. Big Paul Craig UFC fighter. That's a no bad unit. How did the Conor McGregor think of him? How did you end up good piles with Conor? First, it was five years ago. I mailed John Calvner, who is the SPG coach. That's Conor's coach. He owns the Dublin gym. I just mailed him. I can look him over if I'm training.  Of course, he welcomes all fighters all over the world that should go there to train. All different nationalities. It's amazing. It's some facility on Dublin. I went over there and just trained with a professional team, pro team, and then obviously Conor was just inmixing about. I've been there for five years. Every fight camp. Even in between fights I'll go over there for a couple of days or a week to start training. The guys might wait over there. It's just brilliant for me. It's my gym. We've got good fighters, good amateurs. Paul's a lot of heavyweight. He's got a size difference. They're all lightweights and weatherweights. 30, 40 them when I'm at a professional. It's good for me as well. Up my game. I love Dublin as well. It's a great country. It's lovely. It's just brilliant. When you go to college, for Bellator, did you know that was happening? Were you working your way to get a contract? Obviously that's the big time when you hit Bellator or UFC. Was there an incline that you were going to get? I had a contract in Faith Cage Warriors, which is like the biggest in Europe. Cage Warriors is the biggest in Europe promotion. So we had a five fight deal sitting there. We got to sign it, but the money was shite. But it's still a good platform. It's on BT Sports and it's a good stepstone to the UFC. So we're like, we'll go for that. So I was actually working on a film set down in Cambridge at a time in my mind. I was in the hotel. My coach, Brian Gallacher, fought me like Bellator's just came in my own offer and all that. He's obviously good money, blah blah blah and he's like accented of the contract. He's got a game two days. The guy says the matchmaker who's that. So we weren't really trusting it until it was in Black and White until it was right in front of us. So I woke up my next day. They emailed me the contract through and I was literally in a double bed of Premier in Cambridge.    Double legs man, honestly. It wasn't easy. It wasn't a hard choice, not mean signed it right there but I've sent it over. It was life changing money. It's enough money so I can make a living. Actual make a living to fighting a wee bit of comfort because when I was working at Steelworks I had no money. I had a car and I had no money to put petrol in my motor that was walking to work and people were like where's my motor? It's broke but I was just embarrassed to say I didn't have any money to put fucking petrol in it not mean so that to there and now and I'm still I've got a wee bit of breathing space I can, it's just comfort that's all you want, you know what I be flashing this guy, I've got this more, I've got that, you just want a wee bit of comfort where you're no worrying how you're going to power your bills and stuff like that not mean.  Do you know what I mean?