End of the year report:
2024 a year of many blogs – some interesting insight, some humour, some great music recommendations and a load of waffle. Quite enjoyed it – but may go slightly less frequently next year. 2024 was also the year I went fully tilt at middle class and started making my own granola – which I have to say has got better as the year has gone on. Next year it’s pickled garlic and cheesecakes (seperately).
So here is my review of the year:
New Government – some positive signs. Confirmed commitment to funding of drug treatment and services to reduce homelessness / rough sleeping welcomed. Lack of interest in alcohol strategy deafening by its silence. Poor messaging and unneeded ‘red lines’ making a hash of things. Employers National Insurance hike with no exemptions for charities providing health services whilst exempting NHS doesn’t make sense. Fixations on prison building programme whilst trumpeting the appointment of a prison reformer (James Timpson) into MoJ is similarly senseless. The pretend ‘black hole’ in public finances could have been much more easily filled with a one off wealth tax – some very rich people will have bleated for a while but would have saved loads of grief about freezing pensioners and rampaging farmers. Passing at first reading of the Assisted Dying bill is to be welcomed on many levels – as a sensible sign of compassion but also as a symbol of how parliamentary democracy can work when debates are unwhipped and decisions taken on conscience. Next year – lets hope they actually get the money to the post officer staff, those affected by the Infected Blood scandal and make some real progress on the Grenfell inquiry.
Global politics – feels like a pretty unstable time. The populists and totalitarians are in the ascendency – nearly all men obviously. And worryingly they are being drawn ever more into the orbits of the mega rich. None of that bodes well. When Ukraine is given up – fear for Taiwan. The Palestinian people have been sacrificed, the fate of people in the Sudan is ignored and women in Afghanistan left in appalling circumstances we need strong collaborative leaders. We’ve got this bunch. 2024 is also the first year that has exceeded the 1.5C temperature rise, we’ve seen large swathes of the world either on fire or under water (or here in the UK just constantly damp and wrapped in fog). Yet we have a vacuum in global leadership in tackling the greatest existential crisis of our time.
Work – has been fun for most of the year. Managed a nice balance of some paid work comprising a healthy mix of needs assessment, service design and improvement, impact evaluation and strategy development. All within the spheres of local government and the VCSE. I’m reaching the fag end of my career I’m sure – but I remain as energised when I am around colleagues in these sectors as I was at the start. The humour, fatalistic optimism and downright compassion is always a joy. Also continued to chair the wonderful Trust for Developing Communities in Brighton. Worked with some new colleagues and some very familiar faces. Hopefully more of that to follow next year. In the world of drug treatment – the ongoing rise in drug related deaths continues to overshadow everything. There are areas of the country that have really bucked this national trend – have kept harm reduction as their guiding star. The failure of other areas and providers to look at what is really working and replicating it at scale is a mystery.
Social media – left the cess pit of Twitter and things are just a bit nicer. Am reading Nexus – which I’d highly recommend for anyone interested in how AI has the potential to develop and how some of the big tech media platforms can wreak such havoc. Just look at how Musk wants to de-stabilise the UK government for daring to limit the scope of media platforms. You never have to scratch too deeply into the skin of a ‘free speech absolutist’ to unearth a nasty, right-wing snowflake.
Gigs of the year – (still got a couple more to go – but can’t see them making the top 5) – Big Thief (Gunnersbury Park), Paul Weller (pre-tour warm up Shepherds Bush), SNAYX (album launch in-store at Resident), The The (pre-tour warm up Norwich waterfront), Nitin Sawhney (Brighton Dome), Lime Garden (resident in-store and Chalk), Cassandra Jenkins (Prince Albert). I’ll soon be making my Spotify playlist of the bands I saw live during the year.
Sadnesses of the year – lost the old dog Ledley. Vespa stolen. Life generally as a Spurs supporter.
New dog of the year – Sonny.
