John Marriott: That was the year that was — It’s all over, let it go — but not just yet!

By John Marriott Columnist

Some of you may be old enough to remember a groundbreaking BBC late night satirical sketch show that brightened up our black and white TV screens all too briefly back in 1962-63. It went under the title, ‘That Was The Week That Was’. It used to start with its signature song performed by Millicent Martin, and the second line of the song went “It’s over, let it go”. So, paying homage to 1960s satire, here are a few of my specially selected ‘highlights’ (or ‘lowlights’, if you prefer) of this eventful year before we “let it go”.

THE WAR IN UKRAINE – BECAUSE, MR PUTIN, THAT’S WHAT IT IS!

I have to start with Russia’s ‘special military operation’ to drive out the ‘Nazis’ in Ukraine (well, that’s what Putin called it and that was his justification). What was reckoned by the president and his cronies to be a walk in the park has so far turned out to be a slog in the trenches, reminiscent of WW1, ending up with Russia being in the dock. So, if you can’t beat the Ukrainian army fair and square on the battlefield, or win over the hearts and minds of its people, you retreat to a safe place and pummel their cities, communities and infrastructure to destruction with artillery and missiles. Now, that’s what I call brave!

The tactics are now clear. With what has now become a war of attrition, the real victims as usual are the civilians on both sides. It has certainly been a wake up call for us here in the west and, as usual, despite all our problems, our country and many of its citizens have stepped up to the plate in many ways. It makes you very proud with all the acts of kindness on display. Next year could prove crunch time especially if the conflict drags on, both for Ukrainians and for the western allies as well. With autocracy masquerading as nationalism raising its ugly head in many parts of the world, it is clear to me at least that, if we value democracy, we must be prepared to defend it, whatever that costs. It strikes me that we have for too long taken democracy for granted and have largely allowed those with vested interests to populate the centre stage. This must change if we really want democracy to prevail.

COVID ON THE RETREAT – ARE WE SURE?

Is it really only three years since COVID struck? Whether it came from eating a corona virus infected pangolin or whether it escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, it certainly left its mark on us all in one form or another. This year has thankfully seen us here emerging from lockdown and uncertainty, although the virus is still around and likely to cause more trouble. It’s clearly messed up the world’s major economies, some more than others. Hopefully, next year we can look forward to a few of the modern day ‘spivs’, who clearly made a packet out of providing dodgy or non existent PPE getting their comeuppances.

I do hope that next year we stay vigilant and learn a few lessons. The more humankind infringes on what is left of the natural world, the more likely it is to see more potentially deadly viruses crossing the species barrier. Surely, there’s a lesson to be learned here.

CLIMATE CHANGE – MYTH OR FACT?

I reckon our climate is changing, as the floods, droughts and other catastrophes in this and recent years have shown. You can debate how much of it is down to human activity and how much to naturally occurring events if you like, but I’m prepared to believe that mankind has played a significant rôle. Perhaps you would prefer to side with people like Tory freemarketeer John Redwood MP, who once said that if climate change might lead to warmer summers, that might be quite nice. So, unless we go for carbon capture in a big way, phasing out fossil fuels and the internal combustion engine, domestic gas powered boilers will continue — as long as we don’t run out of the so called ‘precious metals’ required in battery manufacturing.

Given the unreliability of wind power and the reluctance to use agricultural land for more solar farms, I’d like to ask why wave and tidal power as a source of electricity generation isn’t making more progress. Let’s also not forget ‘green’ hydrogen either. With current energy costs mounting, partly as we in the west and Europe in particular try to wean ourselves off Russian oil and gas, 2023 could be make or break year for domestic energy consumption both here and on the continent. Let’s hope we have another mild winter. It makes you wonder why we sold off the whole shooting match to the private sector in the first place – and I include our railways as well. Also, 70% of our water is foreign owned. Is that a good idea? Whether it’s our railways or our utilities, is privatisation really the panacea any more?

WE GOT BREXIT DONE – OR DID WE?

As a ‘pragmatic Remainer’, I am tempted to say; “I told you so” when viewing where we stand regarding Brexit and the European Union in particular. This year has exposed the economic illiteracy of many of the Brexiters’ arguments. That said, as there is realistically no chance of our applying to rejoin the EU in the near future, if at all, we have got to make Brexit work somehow for all of our sakes. I hope that our government will seek a rapport with our erstwhile trading partners on the other side of the Channel and the North Sea. Even more urgent are our trading relations with our former partner on the other side of the Irish Sea. Sorting out the Irish Protocol would be a massive step forward in searching for a better modus vivendi with the rest of the EU. It will require compromise on both sides. Can we really afford to ignore what, despite claims of its decline, is still our biggest trading partner? It might be interesting to speculate whether things would have been different had COVID or the Russian invasion of Ukraine not happened; but they did.

HOW MANY MORE PRIME MINISTERS BY THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION?

As Lady Bracknell might have said ; “To lose one Prime Minister in a year may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose two in a year looks like carelessness.”.No, I’d call it incompetence. I’ve already given my verdict on the Truss/Kwarteng experiment with the British economy. Let’s face it, most governments eventually run out of steam. Twelve or so years seem about par for the course. As I wrote last time, this current lot resemble the Major government in the run up to the 1997 General Election.

However, I should never completely write off the Tories. I’ve seen how they operate in my own low key political career. They are an incredible winning machine, which knows how to exploit our ‘first past the post’ voting system. That’s why they have largely been able to dominate the parliamentary scene in particular, with a few notable exceptions, over the past one hundred years, without ever getting over 50% of the votes. It looks as if we shall be spared a General Election next year. The Tories would appear to need the maximum time afforded them still to cobble together a believable narrative as why we should stick with them. It would take a motion of no confidence to dislodge them sooner and, as they say; “Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas”. With multiple strikes planned for the Christmas period and into the new year, our new ‘Winter of Discontent’ is proving positively arctic!

The late Harold Wilson famously remarked; “A week is a long time in politics”. Despite Labour’s lead in the polls, I still think that tactical voting may be the only way to guarantee a change of government. The 1992 General Election result should serve as a warning to all who think it’s a done deal. Times have changed over the past quarter of a century. A purely Labour government may not be the ideal answer, but it would appear that this is the only alternative at the moment. However, before we get ahead of ourselves, you have to wonder whether our latest Tory PM will make it to Election Day, whenever that is – and, to think, I always thought that trying to herd cats was a prerequisite of any Lib Dem leader!

AND FINALLY

Those of us who grew up after WW2 know a lot about inflation. For our younger generation, inflation, like the ‘three day week’ and the ‘Winter of Discontent’, was something their parents might have told them about. Not any more. Given that much that has befallen us over the past few years has largely been self inflicted, it still surprises me that so many people I speak to would like to see Mr Johnson back in Number 10!

With what might lie ahead for many of us next year, perhaps we deserve to be able to put our worries aside for a while and enjoy the festive season. After all, if the Mayor of Kyiv, of all places, can insist on putting up a Christmas tree in the city’s main square, then why should we feel guilty about celebrating?

One person with something to look forward to (if that’s the right phrase), as all royalists may well do as well, is our new king, as he plans what is likely to be a scaled down coronation. It’s unlikely to be as lavish as the one that flickered out of the 9 inch B/W TV that I watched as a nine year old, together with what seemed like half our street, at one neighbours’ house back on our council estate in Leicester. Mama will be a hard act to follow. Little did the late Queen probably imagine when she pledged herself as a twenty one year old to a lifetime of duty and service during her father’s state visit to South Africa back in 1947 that she would be doing her duty just about until the day she passed away, some 75 years later. I reckon King Charles III has not made a bad start, which, coming from a Republican like me, is praise indeed.

Perhaps now is the time for me to let this year go and await with a mixture of hope and concern what the new one will bring. So, finally I would like to wish all of you who have managed to stay with me to the bitter end of this rather long meander through 2022 a Happier New Year!

John was a councillor for thirty years, finally retiring in 2017. A schoolteacher by profession, he served on the North Hykeham Town Council (1987-2011), the North Kesteven District Council (1987-1999, 2001-2007) and the Lincolnshire County Council (2001-2017). He was also a County Council member of the former Lincolnshire Police Authority for eight years until standing down in 2009. In 1997 he was the Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for Sleaford and North Hykeham. He is currently not a member of any political party.